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Lore Recommendations?

Butterwood·6/25/2018, 10:18:37 PM·3 votes·2,547 views

I'm really interested in LoL Lore, but the "Universe" tab of the website is pretty overwhelming.

If I wanted to start from "square 1" with lore, any recommendations on where to start? A path to follow?

9 Comments

Sharjo6/25/2018, 10:43:21 PM3 votes

Realistically the best place to start is generally with Bilgewater and Shurima, for three reasons:

  1. All champions are up to date
  2. They're well fleshed out regions with a lot to dive in to
  3. Both of them have storylines that have been progressed and established far more than other places in Runeterra atm.

I'd recommend a ready strategy like this:

BILGEWATER: 0.5. Bios for the core Bilgewater champs (MF, GP, TF, Graves and Illaoi. Optional)

  1. "Down Among the Drowned Men", "Blood in the Water", "Double Down" and "One Last Shot" (Short stories for MF, GP, TF and Graves respectively)
  2. Burning Tides (Bilgewater story)
  3. The Burden (Illaoi short story. Can be ready before the epilogue of Burning Tides) 3.5 No One Lives and The Collection (Hecarim and Thresh short stories. Optional)
  4. Shadow and Fortune (Bilgewater/Shadow Isles short story)
  5. Fortune Smiles (MF comic)

After that just dive in to the rest of bilgewater. Do keep in mind that Fizz, Pyke, Nautilus and Tahm Kench all have audio dramas for their short stories, and I'd highly recommend listening to those rather than reading their short stories (Though in Pyke's case he has another short story "Then, Teeth", that's just a written story with no audio drama. Still a good read). Tells the same story, but through a great actor's perspective!

SHURIMA: 0.5 Bios for the champs core to Shurima's fall (Azir, Xerath, Nasus, Renekton, in that order. Optional)

  1. "Unbound" (Xerath short story) 1.5 Sivir's bio (Optional)
  2. "Descent in to the Tomb" (Short Shurima video)
  3. "Rise of the Ascended" (Short Shurima video)
  4. "Arisen", "Darkness Renews", "Oroborus" and "Water" (Short stories for Azir, Renekton, Nasus and Sivir respectively) 4.5 Taliyah bio (optional)
  5. The Bird and the Branch (Taliyah short story)
  6. Bloodline (Shurima short story)
  7. Homecoming (VERY SHORT Taliyah video)
  8. Echoes in the Stone (Taliyah short story)

Then you can read up on Rammus, Skarner and Amumu to your heart's content.

After that I'd say it's best to go by individual champions and branch out:

  • If you wanna read on the vastaya start with Eduardo Santangelo's Field Guide on the vastaya page, then read Nami's bio, comic "In to the Abyss" and short story "First Steps" in that order, or Ahri's bio, and stories "Garden of Forgetting" and "A Fair Trade". Then go on to the rest of the Vastaya.
  • If you wanna read on the Void, start with "Where Icathia Once Stood" and then read up on Kai'Sa, Malzahar and Kassadin. Be careful about reading the bios for the voidborn, as they're out of date presently aside from Rek'Sai.
  • If you wanna read on the darkin, start with "The Legend of the Darkin" and then go from there. Tips: darkin are better read with some Shurima knowledge in mind, and Kayn is basically inconsequential to their story so read about him last.
  • If you wanna read about Demacia, start with everything Lux and Galio have, then go to Garen and Poppy, then expand out from there. Keep in mind that Lucian, Xin Zhao and Sona aren't up to date.
  • If you wanna read on the Freljord, leave it till last, then start with Ornn, as his lore is the most complete. Then go to Lissandra and expand out from there.
  • If you're gonna read about Mount Targon, start with Aurelion Sol. This will probably leave you with some preconcieved bias but it's also the most clear cut lore that exists for Targon atm, and also the most easily understandable since he doesn't carry any of the questions about Aspects the rest of the Targon roster have.
  • You can go on to Independent champions basically whenever you want; their stories are generally find to read on their own. Would recommend Ivern, Ryze and Annie here as they've got some cool stuff going on.
  • Don't touch Bandle City atm, cuz they've got not much of anything. We're still waiting on big lore stuff for yordles as a whole, though individual yordles like Poppy, Kled and Fizz are good to read right now.

If there's any questions, feel free to ask. All of these are either on the champion's own page or on their region/species page.

Ebonmaw Dragon6/25/2018, 10:28:06 PM2 votes

I always recomend start with "Burning Tides" https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/bilgewater-story/ then you can read the Bios and Stories of the champions from Bilgewater. After that, read "Shadow and Fortune"* https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/shadow-and-fortune-story/ a story that continues the other story and connects Bilgewater with the Shadow Isles. After Shadow and Fortune, you can read the lore of the champions from the Shadow Isles.

After Finishing with Bilgewater and Shadow Isles, i suggest to go to Shurima and read the lores/bios of Azir, Xerath, Renekton, Nasus, Sivir and Cassiopeia in that order... All those stories are important in order to understand the Darkin Lore. Then you can read the stories of Yasuo, Riven and Taliyah. After that, you can read the lore of Ionia and Noxus in order to understand the war between those nations or go back to Shurima. If your read the Noxian stories, i suggest you to read the stories of Piltover and Zaun.

After going back to Shurima, you should read the lore of Targon, but before reading the lore of Taric, i suggest you to go and check the site of Demacia.

... and that the path that i follow.

*Note: If you want to read Shadow and Fortune, i recomend you to read the bio of Olaf and Lucian first

Fasmodey6/25/2018, 10:37:26 PM2 votes

There are many regions. So I will give you 2 options.

  • You start big regions, like Shurima, Mount Targon, Void. They are very important parts of League of Legends. When you learn them, you learn the lore superficially. They are most of Runeterra's history.

So, if you choose this option, start with Azir, Xerath, Nasus, Renekton, Aurelion Sol, Zoe, Diana, Leona, Pantheon, Taric, Aatrox, Kayn, Varus.

They are strong characters with mythical feeling.

  • You start with small regions, like Demacia, Zaun, Piltover, Bilgewater, Noxus. They are less global and more detailed. So when you learn them, you don't quitely understand the big picture, like who are big daddies of League of Legends. This option gives the daily life of Runeterra better than first option though.

If you choose this option, you start with Garen, Lux, Vayne, Graves, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, Caitlyn, Camille, Jayce, Ekko, Urgot, Darius, Swain, LeBlanc.

They feel more realistic and you can relate with them better.

And then there is a combination of both, Shadow Isles, Freljord and Ionia. Leave them last IMO. But it is definitely my personal opinion.

Then there is Bandle City that even I fucking don't know lol.

SSmotzer6/25/2018, 10:29:47 PM1 votes

Square one huh? I would recommend reading the champion summaries to get a lay of the land. They are only like a paragraph long and say who's from where, who's fighting who, etc.

Butterwood6/26/2018, 4:15:51 PM1 votes

These are all fantastic suggestions - starting on Bilgewater and making my way down! Thanks guys!