Beginner ADC tips For A Scrub

The Chuckler·8/14/2015, 10:41:37 PM·1 votes·1,034 views

Hi there, I am a support main (who in the world mains support?) scrub who is trying to diversify his league skillz (yus) and I have been trying to do at least decent in the ADC role. I have been trying repeatedly to do well, but whenever I play as the ADC, I just feel lackluster in the position. I do not usually feed, and I do not usually get insta-nuked, but I just feel clunky in my mechanics as well as kiting. I also tend to not be around at the right time for teamfights and the last game I played as ADC (I do not count bot games as a game as even a potato can do well in those), I did the second least amount of damage on my team. I just feel as is I am not providing my team as much as I should be. I also have a few questions about the role:

  1. Do I need to attack move on every AA, what seems like just for the sake of attack move (this seems to lower my DPS compared to enemy ADC), or do I stand still, attack moving only to re-position myself?

  2. What ADCs would be good starting ones, specifically ones where I will not feel under-powered/useless like

  3. Do I need to constantly harass while CSing (tend to miss more CS this way), or should I focus more on the CS aspect (I typically play Caitlyn)

  4. when should I kite, and when should I just run?

  5. when should I use abilities, and when should I just AA?

  6. Are there any safe ADCs that focus more on farming in the early game who are also safe?

    As I have previously mentioned, I have been playing Caitlyn as my go to ADC, but I have just felt kinda weak and useless in the game. I would also like to ask if anyone has Caitlyn-specific tips that I could use. Please help an unranked scrub in need, I do want to improve and feel bad when I do not do my part in teamfights as well as I should.

5 Comments

katt58/14/2015, 11:00:42 PM2 votes

Rule 1: DO NOT PLAY VAYNE

Okay then...

  1. You should really get used to moving between Autos and repositioning after every auto. Keep in mind that not only the opponent ADC but also the opponent support will (possibly) be trying to harass you, and by repositioning you can also move in to harass them without running straight up, wasting time, losing farm etc.

  2. For a good starting adc I would really go with Ashe. She's pretty good since the rework. Kiting is easy since her new passive makes all her autos apply a slow. Her new Q gives you bonus atk speed when used, something she previously didn't have, and if you stack it enough you can do lots of damage with the flurry of autos, and it strengthens her slow from passive when used. Her W is still an AoE cone slow, her E is now global (you can easily check objectives or check brushes without facechecking), and her Ult still stuns as usual. While she doesn't have much mobility she does have plenty of CC and I personally am most comfortable with her auto attacks, they feel very smooth.

  3. You don't need to harass when CSing unless you can keep your opponent from getting CS that way. If you play lost of Caitlyn try to always hit your opponent with your passive autos, and try to line up Q so that it hits minions and the opponent. Harass when you can but I would personally prioritize having a higher cs than your opponent over harassing (and sometimes widening that cs gap means harassing to keep your opponent from cs!) It depends mostly on matchup I'd say. If you can easily harass, yeah, go for it. Being able to move between autos can make csing and harassing easier.

  4. If you are chasing your opponent, definitely kite. As in, auto attack, move, auto. If you just run after them sure you keep up with them but you aren't doing any damage. Kiting with Ashe is easy since your autos slow. However, remember that if you just right click them after an auto you will move into range to auto them again, which will allow them to simply run away. That's why you must manually move between each auto, so you can keep up.

If you are running away, don't kite unless you have an ability that slows/stuns (you should use it then.) After that, just run. With Ashe you can auto/run away because her autos slow. With other champs it's usually easier to just run away. Most ADCs without mobility spells (like Ezreal's E) usually have some sort of CC you can pop down (like Ashes W, Jinx's flame chompers, etc etc) so use those when escaping.

  1. the safest ADC for early game farming is Caitlyn, however she does tend to fall off a bit later in the game. But yeah, for safe farming, Cait.

Uhhh, cait tips? Sure.

You have range, use it, especially if your opponent is playing an ADC you can harass easily. Hit them with your passive empowered autos, Qs, etc, you can do this while maintaining decent CS and keeping them from CS.

Your range is your greatest advantage. Use it. A lot. Remember, as an ADC your job is not to kill the opponent's fed champ but just do to as much damage with autos as possible, so focus whoever is closest and just auto them. Especially when ahead and well farmed you can do noticable damage. Her ult isn't that good in teamfights so you can usually do more damage by not wasting the time on ulting somebody who will probably have a teammate tank for him and just auto auto auto. Late game with Cait you Q sometimes but mostly auto auto auto and escape with the net.

Cait is a pretty straightforwards ADC and the best way you can contribute is bullying the opponent ADC hard early game and trying to push and end early before you start to fall off/opponent's ADC catches up. You also should probably build this:

Berserkers Greaves Phantom Dancer Bloodthirster Infinity Edge Last Whisper Defensive item (Banshees Veil, Guardian Angel, etc)

Most people start Doran's Blade and a potion. I personally go Long Sword just because I have a weird phobia of Doran items, but you should probably do the normal thing and go Doran's. First back go for probably boots/bloodthirster OR BF sword if you can afford it. First big item is bloodthirster, followed by either Phantom Dancer of Infinity Edge. Also upgrade boots to berserkers sometimes. After you have Bloodthirster/Phantom Dancer/Infinity Edge it's time for either the defensive item or last whisper, you may need to get the defensive item early depending on how much you die.

Oh, and usually Q first. whether to get yordle traps or net next depends on how much bush control you want, if your enemy support is blitz/leona/thresh you might want to get the yordle traps to put in bushes to keep them from hiding in them. Basic rule is just be sure to max Q first :p

It can be hard to secure a kill with Cait's ult because of the whole opponent-can-block it thing but use it to go for kills anyways, you can maybe force opponent support to flash in front, maybe they will miss. When you go B use your ult on the opponent even if it won't kill them because it's CD isn't too long and you can maybe do enough damage to make them want to go B as well :3

That's about it, hope this helped

Hope this helped!

Amelie8/16/2015, 3:09:09 PM2 votes

Starting with Caitlyn is good I think (but maybe I'm biased because she's my main ADC).

  1. Yes you need to move between every AA, you need to get in the habit of always moving around. You don't want the enemy support to engage on you because they know you're just gonna stand still most of the time.

  2. Good starting ADC will still feel underpowered/useless until you learn the role. Caitlyn and Ezreal are the safest to start with.

  3. You don't need to harass constantly, but as Caitlyn you MUST harass with AAs to make use of her properly. But you don't do it if you'll miss CS. You do it when the enemy is about to last hit a CS (watch your minions health bars). When they go in to AA, you AA them once or twice with your long range, then move back and go back to farming. Keep doing this and you will whittle them down.

  4. You should always try to kite, unless you are very low hp and know you will 100% save yourself if you simply run. If you're going to die, do as much damage as possible before you drop.

  5. For Caitlyn, you should be placing traps in lane. I personally like to trap the edges of bushes so they can't see them and will get snared as soon as they try to check the bush. Then you send a Q or AA their way. Putting a wide triangle shape of traps in lane is also good for zoning them. In general, you want to Q (if it's in range) when your support lands CC or they get snared. Unless it's going through all the minions for reduced damage. Always save some mana for E so you can escape if needed.

  6. Caitlyn, Ezreal, Tristana are your safest ADC choices. Of those, Tristana wants to farm for late game, but she can be annoying to farm with because of her splash damage passive. Jinx also wants to farm for late, but is less safe.

General advice... farm up until you can afford a pickaxe or BF sword. Then depending on the lane, you get the other piece and/or boots. You want to get Infinity Edge as soon as possible. (Unless you're Ezreal; he has many builds.) In teamfights you should be hitting the nearest target of highest priority. If your team is tanking, don't be afraid to fight.