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New Player w/ Questions about Lane Play

Darius Bøt·6/2/2015, 3:47:09 PM·1 votes·1,358 views

I'm pretty new to League, my buddy got me playing about three weeks ago. So far I mainly do bot lane ADC with Varus or Caitlyn which I really enjoy, but on to the main point. Whenever my other League friends aren't on I've been trying other lanes and champions. I'm mainly looking for advice on which champions are "good". I've never tried mid lane yet and I'd like to, is Karthus good? I've been wanting to try him but like I said I'm mostly an ADC and don't really get how the whole ability power thing works, just that you want a lot of it.

I would also like some tips on top lane. I've been using Pantheon to differing success, he seems to 1v1 really nicely except against any Warwick or Chogath I've fought. But he also seems to "fall off" in the late game imo. I also played Yi a few times and I was horrendous, it was probably my lack of experience though. What are some of your suggestions for top lane? I do like tanking, so what are some good tank builds or if anyone could direct me to a page with examples. Thanks in advance!

25 Comments

Their Jungler6/2/2015, 8:03:05 PM3 votes

Also Shyvana is a good option . She is also a very good champ to start jungling with, but you want to do that at higher levels. Basically her ulti is amazing in teamfights but you can also catch people. It is also a Flash that cools down very quickly. She uses no mana. Her W makes her uncatchable.

Darius Bøt6/2/2015, 4:06:37 PM2 votes

Thanks! I never thought of watching other games, I didn't even know you could. Just goes to show how green I am at this.

Toa of Death6/2/2015, 7:24:04 PM2 votes

For Top Lane, I would suggest Cho'Gath, Maokai, and Garen. Cho is pretty easy to learn but Q takes some practice, Maokai is a pick that is relatively safe and relevant even if your behind, and Garen has no resource and is naturally tanky. Here's the Cho guide I follow: http://www.solomid.net/guide/view/120517-chogath-build-guide-apc-jungle-fighter-by-jiggaflip. It's slightly outdated since it doesn't have the Ekko matchup yet but I have found much success on Cho with this guide.

dinkaroo6/2/2015, 5:35:57 PM1 votes

Karthus is good, but his Q can be difficult to land.

Ability Power is the damage scaling you see in skills with a green number next to the base damage of the skill. It does the same thing as Attack Damage in skills (that are used by AD champs), but it just is used by different champions. Vayne benefits from AD, but has no use for ability power because she does not use it. benefits from AP because he has only green numbers in his damage-dealing skills, but has no use for AD. AP= Magic power AD= Attack power

Good top laners are going to be tanks, some assassins, most fighters and some ADC champions. Heimerdinger is also really good top, but of course, sticking to the meta too hard gets boring. Top usually has the champs with the most sustain

For tanky builds, item 3143 item 3083 item 3075 item 3026 item 3102 item 3512 item 3065 item 3110 item 3022 item 3068 are all viable items, but build based on the enemy's team comp (Mres. against AP, armour against AD). Don't stick to this too heavily as some champs ( Elise , Bard , etc.) call for different items if you choose to build them as tanks.

Amelie6/2/2015, 6:06:51 PM1 votes

You're still new, so try the free week champions that look interesting to you and don't worry about winning or picking only "good" champions or whatever. Anything is possible to play if you are good at it.

If you have no idea about builds for certain champions, you can check probuilds.net and get ideas there.

Lugg6/2/2015, 6:41:27 PM1 votes

If you want to main ADC, just learn a couple champions you like that can fill 2 of those roles (like top/jung, etc). You shouldn't have much problem playing support since you play with one every game as an adc.

Darius Bøt6/2/2015, 6:52:34 PM1 votes

I wanted to thank everyone who's replied so far. This place is downright the most helpful gaming forum I've been to.

TMIT6/2/2015, 8:23:46 PM1 votes

Pre-30 you're really looking to build up to tier 3 runes once you can buy them. Tier 1's are really cheap so slot those in until you can get tier 3 (skip tier 2). AD + magic pen marks, armor seals, MR glyph, and AD or AP quints are good generic sets depending on whether you're AD or AP.

Here are some inexpensive champs that aren't that hard to use in their role. All are 1350 IP or less:

Top: Garen/Nasus/Tryndamere/Mundo/Teemo. Nasus is more farm oriented, Mundo is also very tanky and pretty straightforward. Everyone hates Teemo lol. His mushrooms double nicely as wards for objective control and he can bully in lane.

Mid: Annie/Ryze/Kayle/Morgana/Twisted Fate. Strange is that there are no inexpensive assassin-oriented mid laners (unless you count Alistar with a sheen, which is actually pretty hard for assassins like Zed and Kat to deal with due to his ult, but his WQ is touchy). Annie is a true burst mage.

Jungle: Nunu/Warwick/Fiddlesticks/Chogath/Xin Zhao/Amumu. Nunu is suited to counter-jungle and is pretty safe/sustaining, Fiddle can do it w/o runs and has a nasty team fight ult + okay ganks, Xin deals a lot of early damage and Warwick is something between Nunu and gankers. Amumu is for team fights.

ADC: Tristana/Sivir/Ashe Positioning is everything with ADC. Of these 3, the only one that's pretty straightforward is Trist due to her easy escape; there aren't many good cheap ADC. Spell shield requires experience with champions to realize their tells for spell shield, and playing Ashe against mobility champs/assassins will feel like you're running 100 meters dragging a car tire unless you're used to ADC positioning.

Support: Annie/Soraka/Janna/Taric/Morgana. Annie is a burst mage all-in type here too, while Soraka is more of a poke + heal bot. Janna is good all around as a support with a strong shield and nasty disengage. Taric is probably the most aggressive cheap support, along with Alistar. Morgana is really good too due to how devastating it can be to get hit by her bind in a 2 man lane + strong shield.

All of these champs should be reasonably easy to pick up and play without minding their special mechanics much. The exception is Sivir, where spell shield is rewarding but requires experience to use effectively. I don't recommend Sivir for beginners but you have so few cheap ADC options to try.

Take advantage of free champion rotations to get experience with champs you don't have too.

DEGplays6/2/2015, 9:59:14 PM1 votes

The only advice I could give here: Think outside of the box. Maybe you are good with lets say Pantheon (which you stated you are) but you keep on building tank (all Armor, MR, and Health) That's definitely fine but then you are on the same team as a Braum thus eliminating the need to build tank. Now here you are, playing which you always played tank with, but is kinda not needed. What you should do: build attack items, find out what your champ builds off of. Many people say this (and it is true) Look at the other team's build. If you need a item 3155 to go against a full Ap team and still want to build damage, go for it but if they are building Ad and you do not switch that out for a item 3134 there is something wrong here and you need to think in a different way. Not only should you think outside of the box with builds, but think of different champions. On a limb, I bought Zilean and surprise, he has insane poking power. Just do not run into a match with a support champ which you have no idea what his Abilities or what he builds off of. Watch a pro, try it in customs, or be insane and try it out in blind draft. And get the right summoners. Maybe you saw some pro get summoner 12 and summoner 11 as a top. Its fine if they do this cause THEY ARE PRO. DO NOT GO OUT THERE AND DO IT YOURSELF. that is an insanely bad way of losing a game. Unless you are challenger, don't do it. If you need more advice, just tell me. I am a seasoned top laner and I too use Pantheon along with other top lane champs Jax Nasus Yasuo and heck some supports as well Sona Blitzcrank Zilean

Ken Arm6/2/2015, 3:56:55 PM1 votes

You basically need to figure out what works for you. Each player has his/her own style and therefore which champs will work and which will struggle with. I myself watch the pros on lolesports to see what they use for ideas.

Ih8ucuzurtoxic6/4/2015, 8:17:19 PM1 votes

Almost every champ when played well is a "good" champion.

Karthus can be great, his ult is brutal and punishing at times.

Early on Tops I like are Shyvana, Garen, Fiora. Fairly straightforward play and can snowball easy.

The best thing to do right now is to learn how to lane and build.

Mobafire.com is a great resource for finding some of the best ways to play a particular champion. They aren't the only way but it's a good place to start.

lolnexus.com helps you see who you're up against.

There's a few youtube videos out there about things like the trading stance and how to poke by abusing your opponents auto attack arc. Check those out and remember that everything is a learning process.

Their Jungler6/2/2015, 4:11:07 PM1 votes

Rumble is a top champion that anyone can play. Literally all you have to do is spam your abilities. Rumble has no mana uses. He has heat. Every time you use an ability, he heats up. If you are above 50 heat you will deal more damage. If you reach 100 you will overheat and you will not be able to use your abilities (but you deal more auto damage). You will reset to 0 in a few seconds. All your abilities generate heat and it decreases every few seconds. He can roflstomp many champions in lane simply by spamming his flamethrower (q), which has a low cooldown and deals tons of damage. His ult is a BEAST in teamfights and you can also go all in and get a kill with it in lane. Sometimes bad junglers will fail gank you and you can get doubles with it.

exteminator236/2/2015, 4:19:05 PM1 votes

you should Teemo. If you do build up on Ability power and speed and go mostly mid and top if you do use him