How to Play League of Legends

A beginner's complete guide to LoL, from opening new games to strategizing for the win

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: October 25, 2022

Installation

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Playing LoL

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New Games

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Video

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Q&A

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Tips

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Warnings

This wikiHow teaches you how to install, set up, and play League of Legends (or "LoL") on your Windows or Mac computer. League of Legends is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game that emphasizes teamwork and strategy to beat the other team.

Things You Should Know

To install LoL, you'll need to visit the game's webpage and have a Riot Games account. Then, go through the game's tutorial to master the basics.
Use your champion to destroy the opposing team's Nexus. To do this, kill champions, destroy structures, and farm for gold.
Familiarize yourself with the game's controls. Right-click to move to a location, right-click on an enemy to attack, and hit "B" to teleport home.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Installation

1
Open the League of Legends website. Go to https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/ in your preferred browser.
- League of Legends is playable on both Windows and Mac computers.
2
Click PLAY NOW. It's a blue button in the upper-right side of the page.

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3
Enter your account details. Fill out the following fields:
- EMAIL ADDRESS - Enter a working email address to which you have access here.
- USERNAME - Your preferred Riot Games account username
- PASSWORD - A password for your account.
- CONFIRM PASSWORD - Repeat the password.
- DATE OF BIRTH - Select the month, day, and year on which you were born. You must be at least 13 years old to play League.
4
Check the "I agree" box. It's near the bottom of the page.
5
Click CREATE MY ACCOUNT. This button is at the bottom of the page.
- You may be prompted to select a different username.
6
Click DOWNLOAD THE GAME. It's in the middle of the page. The game setup file (EXE for Windows, DMG for Mac) will download onto your computer.
- If you're on a Mac, you may have to click the Download Mac Installer link.
7
Install League of Legends. Double-click the installer file that you just downloaded, then do the following depending on your operating system:
- Windows - Click Yes when prompted, click Next, check the I agree box, and click Next. Click Finish when prompted.
- Mac - Verify the download if prompted, then click and drag the League of Legends icon onto the Applications folder icon and drop it there.
8
Wait for League of Legends to install. If prompted, you'll also need to allow League of Legends to install a patch, which is a software update that fixes or improves an aspect of the game.
9
Click ACCEPT when prompted. You'll see this option in a pop-up window.
10
Sign into your account. In the upper-right side of the main launcher window, enter your League of Legends username and password, then click SIGN IN.
11
Enter a username when prompted. This name can be different than your Riot Games username. Type in your preferred username, press ↵ Enter, and click YES when prompted. You are now ready to play League of Legends.
- There's a tutorial here that you can skip by clicking SKIP if you like. The tutorial is incredibly helpful if you've never seen or experienced League of Legends gameplay before.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Playing LoL

1
Learn the basic principles of League. There are several key aspects of gameplay that you'll need to know before jumping into a game:
- Objective - The objective in most League maps is to destroy the enemy team's base (referred to as the "Nexus" in-game).
- Enemies - There are two main types of enemies in-game: minions, which are AI-controlled bots, and champions, which are player-controlled.
  - There are also turrets, which auto-attack enemies, and monsters, which populate the map.
  - Killing monsters grants your team bonuses for a small amount of time.
- Champions - Champions are purchased with in-game currency, but there are several free champions that new players can use each week.
- Lanes - Lanes are paths on maps. There are typically three lanes—top, middle, and bottom—as well as a Jungle section that fills in the space between the different lanes. Champions typically stick to one lane in the beginning of the game.
- XP - You earn experience (XP) from killing other champions, minions, turrets, monsters, and so on, as well as by completing in-game objectives. XP is used to level up your character's abilities; you can level up to as high as level 18 in a game.
  - All levels are reset once a new game starts.
2
Understand the different types of champions. Different champions are suited to different roles. There are six main types of champion in the game:^{[1]
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- Mage or APC - Ranged attacks. Low health, low defense, high damage.
- Marksman or ADC - Ranged, non-magic attacks. Low health, low defense, high damage.
- Tank - Melee attacks. High health, high defense, low damage.
- Fighter - Melee attacks. Balanced health, defense, and damage.
- Supporter - Varying attacks and stats. Focused on non-combat roles, such as supportive spell-casting.
- Assassin - Varying attacks. Low health, low defense, high mobility, and high damage.
3
Know how to win. You win by destroying the other team's Nexus. Winning in League of Legends isn't contingent on getting more kills than the other team; objective control and execution is the main strategy used to win LoL games, meaning that a successful player might only kill a few champions while controlling points on the map or focusing on farming the AI enemies for XP points, gold, and bonuses.
4
Use minions to your advantage. Killing a minion rewards you with gold, which can then be spent back at your team's Store (near the Nexus) to redeem weapons and consumable items.
- A vital component of League of Legends is resource denial, which entails killing minions while preventing champions from the other team from killing your team's minions. This will allow you to level up while they remain at a low level.
5
Prioritize structure destruction over champion kills. Destroying enemy turrets and inhibitors will weaken your enemies' defenses, making it easier for you to access and destroy their Nexus. It may seem like going after champions is helpful to your team—and in some cases, it is—but the main initial goal should be to eliminate as many structures as possible.
- Destroying an enemy inhibitor will also prompt your inhibitors to spawn super minions, which are high-health, high-damage AI units that can distract the enemy team for quite some time.
6
Support your team with items and buffs. Things like Wards, which increase the distance that your team can see, help your team gain an advantage over the enemy. Similarly, if you have non-offensive abilities that buff your team, using these abilities to support teammates is key.
- Killing any jungle monster will reward your whole team with a buff, though the buff will vary depending on the monster. For example, killing the giant toad monster will apply poison damage to all of your teammates' attacks for a limited time.
7
Keep an eye on your health. If you have healing items, you can heal yourself if your health gets too low during a fight, or if your health is almost depleted following a fight.
- If you don't have healing items, you may need to teleport back to the spawning area once you're safe. This is typically accomplished by pressing the B key.
8
Communicate with your team. There's a chatbar in-game that allows you to tell your team mates where an enemy champion is and what they're doing. While you don't need to update your team on every minor occurrence, make sure that you're paying attention to the normal aspects of the battle and reporting any irregular instances.
- Keep your communications positive and clean. Negativity and bad language are generally against the League of Legends code of conduct.
9
Play your role. Perhaps the most important aspect of any multiplayer game is playing your selected character's role. If you're a marksman champion, for example, it doesn't help your team for you to try taking on tank champions at point-blank range. Similarly, tank characters should stick to lanes or places on the map in which they can deny resources to the enemy team rather than trying to go on a rampage.
- There are very few points in LoL gameplay in which you'll be the sole reason that your team won. Playing your role and sticking to your objective while everyone else does the same is the best way to ensure victory.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

New Games

1
Know the controls. League of Legends uses standard RTS (real-time strategy) controls:
- Right-click a location to move to it.
- Right-click an enemy to attack it.
- Press Q, W, E, or R to select an ability or spell.
- Press B to teleport home.
- Press D or FTo Activate either of your 2 chosen Summoner Spells.
2
Make sure that the League window is open. You should be logged into League of Legends at this point.
- If you were signed out earlier, sign back in by entering your username and password in the upper-right side of the launcher window.
3
Click PLAY. It's in the upper-left corner of the window.
4
Select a map. Click SUMMONER'S RIFT for the most popular map. This is the map that most League of Legends players, from professional to casual, frequent.
5
Click CONFIRM. It's at the bottom of the window.
6
Click FIND MATCH. You'll see this option at the bottom of the window. Doing so will search for a game near you.
7
Click ACCEPT when prompted. This will join the match.
8
Select a champion. Click a champion who you'd like to use. If the champion is greyed out, it means that someone else took the champion first.
- Since you won't usually be able to view a champion's stats before the match, it's best to research the current free champions to see which class of champion you're selecting.
9
Click LOCK IN. It's near the bottom of the window. Doing so will lock your champion to you, meaning that other players won't be able to select your champion for their own use.
10
Wait for the game to begin. Once the League of Legends match is full and loaded, you can begin playing. Keep in mind the strategies discussed earlier, and your first game should prove to be a successful one!
- Many players will call their lanes (e.g., "top", "mid", "bot") in the chat section.

Community Q&A

Question

What does ganking and blue bluff mean?

TreeEar59

Community Answer

The term "ganking" is when a jungle comes out to a lane to preferably sneak attack the enemy when they are farther away from their turret, helping a teammate by helping to kill the enemy. "Blue buff" is a buff from the Blue Senteniel, or the blue rock golems, when you kill it. It gives you more mana regeneration and a bit more damage.
Question

How do I text and signal people in League of Legends?

Banana Head

Top Answerer

Chat by pressing [Enter] and typing in your message, then press [Enter] again to send it. For signals, Press [G] and click on the game or minimap to ping. Pressing [V] and clicking will send a warning in that spot. If you Press [G] and hold your mouse, it will bring up a wheel with 4 options: "Be Careful", "Enemies are missing", "I need Assistance", and "On the Way."
Question

Can I play every Yordelinthe Jungle?

Banana Head

Top Answerer

You can. It's not recommended; some yordles (like rumble, fizz, heimerdinger) are not designed for jungle play.

Warnings

Don't take criticism or negative speech personally. The League of Legends community is passionate, which means that sometimes the chat section can get heated.

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You most likely won't be a triple-A League player the first time that you play. Keep practicing and take tips from successful players to improve your game.

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