Champion Classes. A Guide.

So I read through these boards and find a lot of confusion around certain Champion types.

Juggernauts like and being mistaken for tanks are some common ones.

But what about Divers VS Skirmishers VS Assassins? These are often much harder to distinguish to the untrained eye.

So I scrounged up some info from the LoL Wiki (if anything here is inaccurate blame them) and decided to put it here for easy access.

There are outliers/hybrids of course, but these are the main classes that champs fall into.

#Tanks

These are the big guys who are the frontlines. Big melee brick walls that sacrifice damage (insert tank burst joke here) for good CC. These guys focus on applying CC to EITHER distrupt the enemy's movements/actions, making easier for their teammates to kill them OR staying close to their allies and peeling off threats to the squishy carries.

There are two main subcategories of tanks, Wardens and Vanguards.

• Vanguards These guys are the offensive tanks. Peeling is a second priority for them; their job is to jump into the enemy team and start the action. These guys are the common initiators to a fight. Enemy team wants to trade poke forever? Vanguards say LOL NOPE and jump into the fray and lock down the enemy carries for easy kills. Examples of Vanguards are , , , and .

• Wardens These guys are the defensive tanks. As a carry you should feel safe when one of these guys are around, as they will keep any enemies from jumping down your throat and sending you to grey-screen land. Enemy assassin gets cocky and tries to instagib the carry? Wardens say NOPE and peel them off, allowing the carries to fight the assassins off. Examples of Wardens are , , , and .

#Fighters These champions are short ranged and are balanced between durability and damage. They love drawn out fights because they have the tankiness to survive and the damage to take out the enemy. They usually enter the teamfights alongside the Vanguards, unless they are the initiators themselves.

The subcategories of fighers are Juggernauts and Divers.

• Juggernauts are the toughest fighters out there, but all that armor slows them down, and they have mobility issues and can be kited. (Insert Ghost Darius joke here.) These guys are the ones that love the drawn out fights the most, and while they have trouble getting in, they thrive once in the action. These guys have good base damage and usually buy one damage item then full tank afterwards. Examples of Juggernauts are , , , and .

• Divers are the fighters that are balanced the most between toughness, damage, and mobility. These champs often have dashes or other ways to get to their target to avoid being kited and can enter fights very easily, but usually have to depend on their own innate defenses to survive while they get the job done. A Diver's job is usually to jump (or Dive) into the enemy team and take out the enemy carry, and they have the damage to do so quickly while having the durability to last long enough to do so. They usually build equal parts damage and defense. Examples of Divers include , , , and .

#Slayers As the name suggests, these guys focus on slaying one target as fast as possible then retreating into the darkness. Since these guys lack AOE damage and durability, they are usually sub-par as far as teamfight utility is concerned, but they will get the job done when an enemy squishy is out of position. They usually lack durability but have far superior mobility than fighters, so a lone carry will have little hope to fight them off. High-Risk, High-Reward, they thrive when enemy teams rotate between objectives and otherwise leave their carrys vulnerable.

The subcategories of Slayers are Assassins and Skirmishers

• Assassins need no explanation. They jump in, murder a carry, then jump out. Because Assassins are almost always melee, they depend on their mobility to outmaneuver the enemy attempts to peel them or otherwise kill them before they dispatch a priority target. Examples of Assassins are , , , and .

• Skirmishers are Slayers that are less concerned with murdering a squishy than murdering whoever they come across. They lack high burst compared to Assassins and do not have the reliable mobility of Assassins, but they have defensive tools to help them out in brawls to complement their immense DPS. No lone target will survive a Skirmisher's attention for long. Examples of Skirmishers are , , , and .

#Mages

Mages are the ability oriented champions. Dealing high AOE magic damage to their foes along with bringing utility and CC to the table, mages are a formidable foe in a teamfight. Mages have long reach compared to other champs, but most are squishy and will die when focused. Investing almost entirely in damage items with some utility items, mages usually depend on comboing their abilities to win fights, but their damage can be avoided easier than other classes, mainly because most of their damage comes from telegraphed attacks at a distance that can be dodgeable.

Subcategories of Mages are Burst, Battle, and Artillery.

• Burst mages are the most damage focused of the mages. Sacrificing utility and reach (compared to other mages) for the best kill potential, these mages often have powerful CC to pick out targets. However these mages typically are held back by long cooldowns. (insert MYMU joke). Examples of Burst Mages are , , , and .

• Battle mages are the most DPS focused of the mages. They lack upfront burst but they can stay in the fight longer than burst mages, who blow their combo then sit around waiting for their abilities to come back online. They usually have the shortest range of the mages but in return have useful defensive capabilities, low cooldowns, and can easily shift targets in a fight if needed. Examples of Battle Mages are , , , and .

• Artillery mages boast the highest range of all the mages, but often are much squisher. They sit far back from the fight and throw their spells into the fray without much risk, at the cost of having little to no defensive capabilities or utility. These mages are usually the ones who poke the enemy team, wearing them down before the real fight starts. Examples of Artillery Mages are , , , and . (hybrid marksman)

#Controllers

These are the most team focused of the champions. They forgo personal power to boost the effectiveness of their allies with utility and have powerful CC to keep the enemy at bay. Weak when alone, controllers excel best in teamfights, often being responsible for the clutch moments that win a teamfight with their massive utility and CC.

Subcategories of Controllers are Enchanters and Disruptors.

• Enchanters focus on boosting their teammates (insert DQ joke here) and defending them from danger with their abilities. These champions are usually the ones that augment the carries in team fights to stomp the enemy. However these champs are fragile and do not have much damage, meaning they work best with others. Examples of Enchanters are , , , and .

• Disruptors are champions that are the best at locking down opponents or in some cases create giant NOPE zones in battlefields that enemies would be foolish to walk through. If Enchanters focus on helping out your team, Disruptors focus on hindering the enemy. They are not as helpless as Enchanters 1v1, but they still need their allies to capitalize the best from their abilities. Examples of Disruptors are , , , and . (Hybrid Marksman)

#Marksmen These are the DPS champions whose main source of damage is through their basic attacks. With their reach and DPS, left to their own devices they can decimate objectives and the tankiest targets given enough time. However with their power comes many weaknesses. They are exceptionally weak to burst and are the weakest class early game, as they need expensive items to function. They are often the carries protected by the Tanks and Controllers, and the highest priority target for the Slayers, Fighters and Mages. In team fights they work best when they can hide behind the safety of their team and whittle down their opponents one by one.

Examples of Marksmen are , , , and .

Hope this guide helps you out next time you're about to confuse Divers with Assassins!

Sorry , , , , , and ... Riot has yet to find a class for you guys. But at least you have each other.