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Tips on how to last-hit minions?

Claret Tree·4/24/2016, 2:07:11 PM·11 votes·18,514 views

This is gonna sound terrible, but I really have no clue how to CS effectively.

My average CS in top lane by the end of a 35 minute game is around 30-40. Yeah, you heard that right, 30-40. I'm about level 24 now and I've only played support up to this point. The one tip that I'd heard was to not hit minions (unless you had like Face of the Mountain) so I followed that to the letter, but unfortunately I never picked up the skill to effectively CS.

I have now started branching out and learning other lanes such as top and adc, which definitely need farm.

Every time I try I fail terribly. I either hit it when I think I'll last hit it and It'll stay alive and the minions will get it, or I'm not fast enough and the minions will get the kill first. I also usually hit the minions from full health until I think I can kill them, but I'm sure that's not what you're supposed to do.

Can anyone give me tips on how to properly CS, and how to practice? Thank you in advance.

Edit: Thanks for all of the advice! I've started practicing in custom games. My average right now is about 50 cs, but I'm sure it'll get better. Thank You!

31 Comments

Teeana4/24/2016, 2:14:37 PM16 votes

Go into a custom game with runes and masteries... don't add a bot.

Practice csing for 10 minutes.

You can get 100+ CS by 10 minutes. Practice a few times try to raise your score each time. Leave the custom after 10 and write your scores. You will see improvement over time.

When you master this try without runes and masteries. You get good as this you will be soooo good at CSing

Do this every day before you go into games even if you play support that day. This will keep it fresh and transitioning to other lanes will be easier.

D3m37r14/24/2016, 2:18:45 PM6 votes

My csing skills aren't that good either but something that helps is to left click on a minion and when it's hp reaches a value equal to or lower than ur ad u can last hit it.Minions (not counting super minions) have 0 armour and magic resist so they basically take true dmg from everything.

Also some champions have spells that are good for last hitting.Akali Viktor Annie Gangplank

Mhihnj4/24/2016, 5:01:07 PM5 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfmm40Ow-T8

Chatillon4/24/2016, 5:35:22 PM3 votes

I think the biggest thing that helps me last hit is basically knowing my champs attack animations

  1. Like I used to main anivia in early levels, and her auto used to go really slow, but once you know the wind up and the speed it travels with, it really helps. Fizz, I am really familiar with his auto animation as well. Melees in my opinion are easier to cs with as well, because you dont have to deal with the travel speed of projectiles.

  2. Watch the minions hp, and look for trends in dmg. If you see 3 casters aggro'd on a minion, and they shoot roughly the same time, you can time it better

  3. Hold your auto's so you're not stuck in the animation when the minion hits its 'sweet spot' for a last hit. Also learn to cancel autos effectively in case you time it wrong

Those are what I do, and usually on adc i average 70- 80 cs by ten. Im not too good at cs'ing but it works

The trick is getting used to the champs that dont build ad

Something else i do is click around a lot so my champ doesnt auto aggro on the minions and when i see a minion get low, i start walking and then cancel the walk with the click. It's hard to explain that one

Spizzle90004/24/2016, 4:36:12 PM3 votes

Tbh, you just have to be aware of how much AD your champion has and how low a minion is based on health bar. It just kinda comes with practice. Vladimir is another really good champion to learn to CS, same with Nasus.

Spoofghoul4/25/2016, 9:42:28 AM2 votes

use viktor E

The Deckowner4/24/2016, 2:19:40 PM1 votes

put 25 ad in ur runes and u are good to go like i am

Gunpoint4/24/2016, 2:36:24 PM1 votes

aa

MrBuffington4/24/2016, 2:42:36 PM1 votes

Practice in a custom by yourself; it's how I got better at last hitting (and I still do it from time to time). Load into a custom game by yourself, take the right runes/masteries (if you don't have the IP for runes, wait until the T2 runes go on permanent sale, if they haven't already; they'll be 1IP each which can help until you have enough for T3 runes). If you want to up the difficulty, don't take runes/masteries and add bots to harass you while you try to CS.

If you get pushed to tower, Melee minions take 2 hits from turret and you can last hit them; caster minions you need to auto once before the tower hits, then you can last hit them. This will change in the mid-late game, as minions get more HP. If you're ranged, you can move closer to the minion so your auto attack/spell has less travel time.

Some champions have unique things that make it easier to last hit (for example, Annie can last hit with her Q, Ashe has an easier time last hitting a minion that she's already attacked, MF has an easier last hitting a minion that she didn't just attack), but for the most part it just comes down to practice.

Just be consistent with practice; 10 minutes a day, aim for 100 CS @ 10 minutes (very difficult, I probably average around 60-70. I need more practice lol).

DrDiaga4/24/2016, 2:56:44 PM1 votes

As people said practicing in a bot game is a super good way to practice.

You will get the feel of when they are low enough to kill it.

Also watch how much damage minion attacks do. They attack in predictable repetition, so the minion you are focusing as they whittle it down will get chuncked the same amount by every wave of attacks from your minions. Get your timing down between their attacks when minion is low.

Also what champ your using matters. They all have slight variations based on their as animation, so you have to have a feel for your specific champ. Especially with anyone ranged.

With mages I've heard of even pros running some ad runes on mages to make last hitting easier.

But yeah practice in bots. 100 by 10 min is top tier but 70-80 is t bad either is a huge improvement.

Imperial Japan4/24/2016, 4:09:02 PM1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Claret Tree,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=YGQp6Jre,comment-id=,timestamp=2016-04-24T14:07:11.787+0000)

This is gonna sound terrible, but I really have no clue how to CS effectively.

My average CS in top lane by the end of a 35 minute game is around 30-40. Yeah, you heard that right, 30-40. I'm about level 24 now and I've only played support up to this point. The one tip that I'd heard was to not hit minions (unless you had like Face of the Mountain) so I followed that to the letter, but unfortunately I never picked up the skill to effectively CS.

I have now started branching out and learning other lanes such as top and adc, which definitely need farm.

Every time I try I fail terribly. I either hit it when I think I'll last hit it and It'll stay alive and the minions will get it, or I'm not fast enough and the minions will get the kill first. I also usually hit the minions from full health until I think I can kill them, but I'm sure that's not what you're supposed to do.

Can anyone give me tips on how to properly CS, and how to practice? Thank you in advance.

Basically, when the minion is low, you hit it. It depends on what champ you're playing but it'll generally be the same. Just see how much health a minion will be at when you last hit and try to last hit all minion when they're around that health

Under turret meelee minions take two turret shots and then you last hit Ranged ones will take 2 of your autos and a turret shot to kill Cannons are weird

1st Movement4/24/2016, 2:16:47 PM1 votes

melee caster takes two hits

for caster on early levels aa then after one tower hit aa again or one tower hit then aa (depends on the champion you are playing )

*comes from experience

increase the amount of clicks you do per second to maximize csing effect you want to have right timing for every last hit

magic pole4/24/2016, 4:57:55 PM1 votes

just practice mostly. Each champion's aa animation is slightly different, so it might take a couple games to really get the feel for a particular champ's windup.

if you're harassing your lane opponent a lot, and taking enemy minions agro, you wave will push, which definitely makes last hitting harder. But yeah basically you just have to slightly anticipate the death of a minion, idk, it's kind of intuitive and i think just comes with practice. You're only level 24 so that's great. I didn't get serious about lasting hitting til well after 30. 24 is a baby summoner :P

last thing to mention is that it's helpful to bind "Attack move-click" to a key that you can press once. I use the A key because it's right below where your fingers rest. Then, it's also helpful to bind "Stop" i believe it's called, the hotkey that cancels all your commands and makes you stand still. That way, you can cancel accidental auto's that wont get the last hit. And the attackmove click is helpful because it's gives you a bit room for error if you don't precisely right-click the minion.

Lastly, the drills Teeana recommended are greaat. Just practice a bit here and there in custom games where the pressure and chaos of normal games is gone.

it's basically a muscle memory kinda thing so you just have to practice and actively try to improve.

Weathered4/24/2016, 2:15:45 PM1 votes

Go into a custom game as Malzahar and cs with only your auto attacks for 10 mins. Record the number, then exit the custom game and try again. Eventually, you will get better, and if you can cs as Malzahar you can cs as just about anyone. I would shoot for a high of 70 cs in 10 mins for your grand total.

It's pretty much just practice.

soh1gh24/24/2016, 2:15:30 PM1 votes

maybe u push too much early game and opp freezes the lane on ya try to be patient and and see how ur opp reacts when he gets to lane u should never really hit the minions until they are 1 hit kill unless u are trying to push lane to tower and deny your opp from getting gold from killing your minions and try to learn how to last hit under your tower melee minions take 2 tower hits and 1 auto and ranged minions u have to auto let em take a tower hit and then auto again gl bro hope this helps

MrryZ4/24/2016, 6:23:11 PM1 votes

Honestly I think we've all had trouble csing at one point. it'll come naturally as you learn the roles and champions but you can speed it up by practicing in bot games. Remember to account for the time it takes between you right clicking and the damage being applied is probably my top tip.

SoMNia4/24/2016, 7:05:17 PM1 votes

Don't forget the windup on your attack animation, and projectile travel time (if ranged). It's different for each champion. If you start too late, minions can often die before your attack lands. You need to predict when their health will fall low enough for you to get the last hit (select them to watch their health, and compare it to your AD), and start your attack just before then. I lose a lot of CS from five or more allied minions attacking the target at once and out-damaging my autoattacks. It gets most difficult when you have to land your attack in the middle of a round of minion attacks. It's all in the timing.

And yes, for the most part, you'll want to wait for your minions to get them low before last-hitting. If you continually attack, you'll often move the front line towards the enemy tower ("push the lane"), which can leave you vulnerable to attacks from behind by their jungler or other laners roaming. Try to only last-hit on minions, unless you're about to go back to base, or you see their jungler on the other end of the map and you're ready to attack their tower.

When farming under tower, remember that melee minions at full health will survive two tower shots. Don't hit them until after the second shot, unless they've already taken damage. Casters will only survive one shot, so unless you can finish them with one attack, you'll need to start attacking them earlier instead of last-hitting only. Cannons are a bit different, because they'll survive multiple shots, but also end up taking damage from minions in the next wave due to how long they last, which can make killing them under tower somewhat unpredictable. You'll need to try to control how fast their health falls so that a tower shot gets them into kill range for you.

The Taco Kat4/24/2016, 7:39:45 PM1 votes

What champions are you playing as? Some have better animations than others.

Strawberrycocoa4/24/2016, 7:57:19 PM1 votes

Be wary of going for the "easy CS". If a bunch of minions are ganging up on one of them you have a good chance of the last-hit slipping away from you at the last second. Work down one of the minions not being gunned down so you can get it reliably. Always try to pick up cannon minions if you can though, hey give a little more gold.

Also, sometimes the non-AD champions can benefit from use of AD runes. You lose a small bit of early game AP, but AP scalings mean you don't get the full benefit of them anyway, while auto attacks are always 1:1 for AD. That will help a non-AD champion last hit a little better, and you can offset the loss of AP on your early game spell trades by poking with auto-attacks.

MunchCrunchLunch4/24/2016, 8:21:48 PM1 votes

or you can play yasuo and just have the easiest csing possible in the game. or build rageblade and click on one minion and u got 100/100 minions

Akali is SO HOT4/25/2016, 12:17:51 AM1 votes

You go into a custom game with any champion (one that you play a lot preferably) and add in a Sivir bot and then cs without trying to kill her. You want to try to poke her out of lane but don't go directly into killing her because it makes the whole practice session easier. This way you can practice csing while being under the pressure of being poked by a champion.

People might say that you should get 100 cs by 10 minutes but unless you play absolutely perfectly and have teleport with you and never recall unless you have to then you aren't gonna get 100 cs. 80 is about the highest you can go with a reasonable amount of recalls and roams. By 20 minutes it should be about 170-200 and by 30 minutes it should be a lot more.

Do note that it isn't the end of the world if your cs isn't that high as long as you are getting kills/assists or taking objectives because those also give tons of gold as well. For example: http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2168865618/201824488?tab=overview

In that game I did terrible csing and had 4 people beat me in the game. However, because I roamed so well and took so many objectives for my team that I was able to basically solo carry the game and win it for my team. Hope that helps.

Edit: I tend not to do very well in cs in a lot of my games but I usually can use the fact that I get a lot of kills and objectives to snowball the game and win it so just note that not getting a ton of cs isn't the end of the world.

EndlessSorcerer4/24/2016, 2:09:24 PM1 votes

Make a custom game without any opponents and focus on getting every last-hit you can in a lane within 10 minutes.

When you've gotten better at that, add an enemy bot and try to CS effectively while they harass you.

Then, move on to Normal games.