Looking to better myself as a player.

BLiNDYxxvii·2/10/2015, 4:43:41 PM·1 votes·1,713 views

So just a few questions to help myself improve in my LoL experience and maybe help others.

Is it better to learn 2 champs from each role so that I can play them really well? or is it better to play upwards of 5 champs from each role and learn them somewhat decently.
I play camera locked so should i practice with unlocked camera or does it even matter?
I look up a lot of guides and follow them to an exact science, same masteries, runes, and items. I mean everything.
To get out of bronze should i learn one role extremely well so that i can carry my team? or be able to hold my own in all roles?

Any tips would be really great so thank you in advance.

15 Comments

Chaos Open2/10/2015, 4:55:28 PM1 votes

Generally, you want to expand your champion pool as you get better, but for the most part it's better to get really comfortable with a small number of champions. People talk about counter-picks, but a champion someone is comfortable with will almost always beat a counter-pick by someone who doesn't know how to play the champ.
Yes, you should unlock the camera. It simply gives you a broader view of the map and what is going on.
That's really not a good idea. You can use a guide as a general reference, but every game is different and you should be building according to the game, not the guide. It's important to understand what each item does and how it will effect the champion(this is part of getting very comfortable on a single champion).
Silver are very well-rounded players with large champion pools that they are very comfortable with. They also build very well and base their build upon the game, not just following a guide. This takes literally thousands of games to reach that level. So, don't expect to get out of bronze 5 for awhile, much less making it to silver and beyond.

bzhen09152/10/2015, 5:03:59 PM1 votes

I believe it's best to learn 2 champs very well. Eventually you would want to expand your champion pool but learning few champions really well is better than learning a lot of champions but still being mediocre at them.
You can still continue to play in a locked camera if you wish, but you should unlock the camera a lot just to look around what is going on. I personally play on locked camera but I unlock it very often. This is more of personal preference, and some will say that it's best to just play on unlocked but even I can't get used to playing unlocked all the time (and I don't like holding space for centering my camera).
Guides are great for reference. And you should keep referring to them if u don't have an idea as to what to build. Most guides will also give you situational builds for different types of games, so pay attention to that. If a guide only shows ONE particular build and it doesn't explain when it's best to get what, it's not a good guide.
For getting out of bronze it's best to just learn one role really well in order to get out. However you still need to be prepared to play other roles fairly well in case you can't get your preferred role.

GaleWinUnleashed2/10/2015, 5:48:59 PM1 votes

1&4) It's best to at least know how every role works, but specialize in one role in particular, while being able to play another 2 or so decently. My rule of thumb is to know how to play 3-4 champions in each of 3 different roles (for me, those would be Support, Jungle, and Mid). My main would be Janna, with backup picks of Braum, Thresh, and Nami, just in case the other team takes Janna. If I can't go support, I'll aim for jungle, and go as Sion, Zac, Nautilus, or Wukong, whichever feels right (I like being tanky). And if that doesn't work either, I'll try for Ziggs, Orianna, Ahri, or Lux mid. I warn my team beforehand NEVER to let me play ADC, though; I'm absolutely pathetic at teamfighting as one, and I don't cs very well either.

If you're willing to take the time to adjust, I'd strongly recommend playing with unlocked camera. Locked camera limits how far you can easily see, though it still works well enough for the most part.
Don't feel locked into playing the same way others do. You're free to improvise or find a strategy or build that is comfortable for you. And keep in mind that guides can't cover every situation. Try putting together an item set for your favorite champion that covers a wide variety of scenarios.

ShmeckleMancer2/10/2015, 7:29:54 PM1 votes

I think everyone has touched on most of your point pretty well, but I just wanted to add to the camera unlock.

Force yourself to play with it unlocked. You will see yourself making way better plays once you get used to it. The amount of information you will have on hand is going to be huge! You don't need to "see" your champ a lot of the time, you just need to know where you are. You get way more out of being able to extend your vision to see the enemy champs, especially in laning phase. It helps if you have wards placed so that you can get a handle on the minimap.

Try a game or two of bots, ( i know, I know) just to get a feel for having it unlocked and trying to make plays and getting used to the space bar centering when you need it.

Then take it in normal for a few games. It's disorienting at first, it took me forever to finally break the habit, but I'm so glad I did I'm a better player for it. (Not that i'm a great player mind you... ;)

Rawrful2/10/2015, 8:00:48 PM1 votes

1: Kinda. You want to get really good at 2 or 3 champions per role, but understand all of them. Which means you should play them a time or two at the minimum (Just play whoever is in rotation that you haven't played) to feel out their strengths and weaknesses. Especially champions you struggle against. The best way to figure out how to beat a champion you struggle against is to play them yourself.

2: As other have said, unlock and use spacebar to center on yourself/hold spacebar in teamfights if you need to be locked. I can't imagine you even being able to play Jungle with locked camera. How would you know exactly when to gank?

3: Guides are a good place to start, but understand that most guides are flawed because: A lot of guides are written by people no better than you. A lot of guides are outdated because Riot patches so often that things change constantly. A lot of games require you to build off-guide to counter enemy team composition or to just adjust for how the the game is going.

4: See 1. If you have two champions per role that you can carry with, you're golden. But to get to that point, you need to understand every other champion in the game. And that takes a lot of time. So just keep working at it!

AwesomeChad2/10/2015, 10:06:31 PM1 votes

{quoted}

So just a few questions to help myself improve in my LoL experience and maybe help others.

Is it better to learn 2 champs from each role so that I can play them really well? or is it better to play upwards of 5 champs from each role and learn them somewhat decently.

I play camera locked so should i practice with unlocked camera or does it even matter?

I look up a lot of guides and follow them to an exact science, same masteries, runes, and items. I mean everything.

To get out of bronze should i learn one role extremely well so that i can carry my team? or be able to hold my own in all roles?

Any tips would be really great so thank you in advance.

Its better to be able to play 2 champions really well for each role. Some of the top solo que players are 1-trick pony players who are known for playing 1 champion. You're already making yourself a versatile player by learning every role so you can fill in for your teammates (this is the most important thing you're accomplishing that will help you climb solo que). Going further to learn 5 champions for each role is unnecessary for solo que ranked and only increases your champion pool (having a big champion benefits professional players more)
I play with unlocked camera and utilize a hotkey to emulate a temporary locked screen. I recommend not locking your screen because you want to be able to move your camera around to check different parts of the map and in some fights depending on what champion you're playing, you need to be able look at areas that extend beyond what you see on locked camera.
Okay so you should understand 1 important thing about guides: They're meant to guide you towards a specfic playstyle for the champion. Going the same build/masteries/runes may not be optimal or effective for every game/match-up. My advice is that you should use guides to help you ease into learning a new champion but as you get better on the champion, you should be able to change the build according the current situation and pick runes /masteries that benefit you more in your match-up.
I personally think you should become really good at one champion to climb out of bronze because in games where you get to play that champion , you should be able to carry and win the game. Like i mentioned above, there are alot of 1-trick pony high elo solo que players.

The Chin2/10/2015, 10:15:58 PM1 votes

I think the most efficient way to get out of bronze is to have a 'main' champ that you try and play every game, but you're flexible enough to fill any position if you have to.

My get out of bronze champ was MissFortune ADC

A buddy of mine who was silver last season, got placed in low bronze carried himself out with Cassiopeia

DyingFuture2/11/2015, 4:41:52 AM1 votes

Coming from someone who started from gold and went to diamond (I played MOBAs before league) here's some advice.

Try to have as many champs as possible for swapping in ranked but master 2-3 for every role.
Having the camera locked or unlocked doesn't matter as long as you do it well. If you have trouble keeping track of your champ in a teamfight, keep the camera unlocked for normal laning and checking map, and locked for teamfights.
Do not follow guides exactly. Guides are meant to be just that...guides. They are not secret scriptures how to play a champion perfectly because each match is different so you should be building and playing differently to adjust. If you are new to a champion check out a guide to learn how to play that champ and maybe a video or two. After 5 or so matches with that champion you should be getting a feel for how they play. Try adjusting your build and thinking about what you need to counter the enemy team.
The better you get as a player the more competent you should become in all roles. However while you should be able to play every role, mastering 2 roles should give you some flexibility while allowing you to dominate your competition.
Personal advice: Sometimes you will get upset at this game and the people playing it. Try not to let a poor attitude show in your chat. When people have fun playing the game they will perform better.

Most importantly the best thing you can do to improve is be intentional in everything you do. Think about why you are where you are on the map, is the last hit worth trading damage, etc etc. Even when i go 0-12 (and it still happens even when I smurf in silver) I win, not because I killed everyone every time, but because I was intentional and my deaths meant something. Sometimes it's drawing pressure away from certain areas of the map, sometimes I don't group because we won't win a teamfight and I can split push harder. Whatever you do be intentional and you will grow and better yourself as a player.