New Player Looking for Suggestions (1 Viewer)

[|Fever| Logan]

Hello Everyone,

I have been with Fever for a few years but am relatively new to this section. I think I played my first game of League of Legends (LOL) the year it first came out, but I was busy and other games took my time. I was put off a bit by the MOBA genre in general since I disliked the DOTA WC3 map that my real life friends often preferred to 1v1 games. Perhaps that colored my perception of LOL, but I quickly decided to stick to other games (primarily SC2). I also have been fairly busy IRL due to work and responsibilities that come with getting older (turning 30, etc). I have a relatively hectic work schedule, which further cuts into my time for games.

In the last few months, I have enjoyed playing LOL and find myself getting interested in both the actual game as well as the e-sports aspect of it (streams/watching worlds, etc). I recently hit level 30, and am seriously thinking about playing ranked games in the near future. I am hoping that providing some information about my experience and goals will help some of you give me advice on what I should do next.

I have bought a fair amount of RP and unlocked over 100 (missing 9) champions over the last few months (mostly through sales and self mystery gifting). I also spent RP on XP and IP boosts. I have a fairly robust set of runes due to the IP boosts and saving of IP from not buying champions. I do not have all the runes I want, but I do have a fairly decent set (op.gg profile below has my rune pages). I have only played a handful of Champions and have a champion mastery score in the mid 50s (i.e. played only a few). I also only have about 140ish normal wins under my belt. I don't play a ton, but I am trying to play 10+ games a week if I can.

Should I jump into ranked now or wait and do so later? I can recognize most champions due to watching pro-games, but I have not played with or against many. I also have very limited experience with top and mid lanes. I do okay top lane with Quinn or with a tank if the opponent is not ranged. I am comfortable in the ADC - > Jungle -> Support roles. I am not worried about my rank placement or toxicity among players. I just want to work on improvement. Are normals sufficient? Should I try draft pick or teambuilder? Or would ranked be a better choice? I plan to eventually play ranked. I am just not sure if I should start now or wait till I am more experienced.

Thanks in advance for any advice! My op.gg profile is here Amplified Rowdy - 소환사 검색 결과 :: 리그오브레전드 ( LOL : 롤 ) 전적 검색 (LOL Stats)

 

[|Fever| Idolator]

100 Champions with RP? Damn lol I've been playing LoL on and off since season 1 and I've got maybe 40 champions (only using IP).

I would suggest you do not go to ranked right away. Games are played very differently up until lvl 30. When you reach lvl 30 the game changes.

I would suggest you work on your creep score (CS). As an ADC you should try to get as close to 250-300 CS at 30min, or 150 CS at 20min for Mid. Obviously this is not obligatory, your main goal is to have more CS than your lane opponent, but its a good way to measure how well you are farming.
Learn to, and where to, ward. Wards win games, and its everyone's job to ward crucial areas of the map.
Play all the champions you can, if you don't have them, play them when they are on the free rotation. This is mostly so you know their strengths, weaknesses and what their skills do. You can do this in either normal games or vs bots.
Focus on 1 or 2 positions only. Do not try to master every position, stick with 1 or 2, but still learn how to play each position (just the basics for now).
Watch videos with tips and tricks on the champions you play the most, and the ones you lane against the most. That way you know what they might try to do to trick you.
Get some item builds, masteries and runes for your favourite champions. Later you can tweak the build to better fit your playstyle.

When you know all of that, and you can guess what your opponent is going to do next (by instinct) and you know how to adapt your item build to each match, then you are ready for ranked.

 

[agrolazer]

In my opinion, there's almost no downside to continuing to learn the game while you play ranked. Given, we're all still learning the game and always trying to improve and gain more knowledge about champs, matchups, etc. LP/Elo is just a number that gives an estimate allowing you to be matched with players of similar skill levels. If you get placed in bronze 5, and unless you've built a crazy winrate while levelling you probably WILL be placed in bronze/low silver, it's really not a big deal. If your goal is learning and improving, that number will rise.

With that said, IMO the only downside to playing ranked, especially in lower elo, is that people tend to be more toxic. And especially in bronze-gold, you'll probably get raged at over things that actually don't make sense or are simply not true. My suggestion is to simply take an attitude of "what can I do better next time" instead of "this other player sucks and is wrong" and try your best to ignore the general toxicity. But whether you start playing ranked now or later, it's something you will always have to deal with in LoL and the internet.

 

[|Fever| Idolator]

In my opinion, there's almost no downside to continuing to learn the game while you play ranked.

The downside is not so much towards you, but towards other people trying to rank up.
No one likes when they are doing their best to go up and they have someone in their team who went right into ranked as soon as they hit lvl 30, instead of practising before doing so.
One should have a good understanding of the core mechanics of the map (like warding, buffs, farming, etc) and a decent understanding of champions' skills before going balls deep into ranking queues.

I do agree with what you said about the people being toxic (although not only in low elo, but especially in low elo)

 

[agrolazer]

No one likes when they are doing their best to go up and they have someone in their team who went right into ranked as soon as they hit lvl 30, instead of practicing* before doing so.

1. There's no rule saying "thou shalt know everything about 'core mechanics' before thou enters ranked queues."
2. You're assuming that time spent playing the game directly correlates to skill and understanding, which is untrue. There are people in bronze 5 playing their first ever ranked game. There are people in bronze 5 who have played thousands of ranked games. By that logic, no one should ever play ranked because everyone will always need more practice since everyone make mistakes in every single game.
3. I highly doubt someone who doesn't understand csing, wards, and positioning will be placed in a ranked game with someone who does. That's like saying it's a bronze 5's fault for being placed with platinum players, which makes no sense. Like i said, by the rating system, you're placed with people of similar skill. Therefore, someone who has little game knowledge will be placed with others who have little game knowledge.

 

[|Fever| Logan]

100 Champions with RP? Damn lol I've been playing LoL on and off since season 1 and I've got maybe 40 champions (only using IP).

I would suggest you do not go to ranked right away. Games are played very differently up until lvl 30. When you reach lvl 30 the game changes.

I would suggest you work on your creep score (CS). As an ADC you should try to get as close to 250-300 CS at 30min, or 150 CS at 20min for Mid. Obviously this is not obligatory, your main goal is to have more CS than your lane opponent, but its a good way to measure how well you are farming.
Learn to, and where to, ward. Wards win games, and its everyone's job to ward crucial areas of the map.
Play all the champions you can, if you don't have them, play them when they are on the free rotation. This is mostly so you know their strengths, weaknesses and what their skills do. You can do this in either normal games or vs bots.
Focus on 1 or 2 positions only. Do not try to master every position, stick with 1 or 2, but still learn how to play each position (just the basics for now).
Watch videos with tips and tricks on the champions you play the most, and the ones you lane against the most. That way you know what they might try to do to trick you.
Get some item builds, masteries and runes for your favourite champions. Later you can tweak the build to better fit your playstyle.

When you know all of that, and you can guess what your opponent is going to do next (by instinct) and you know how to adapt your item build to each match, then you are ready for ranked.

I did spend a fair amount of money to unlock champions. I earn relatively well and lack the time to play a lot. I figured unlocking champions would let me save IP for runes. In retrospect, maybe I should have been slower with unlocking champions since I have only played a few

Thanks for the suggestion. My CS can be reasonably good when I have a calm lane with limited trading. I don't consistently hit anything close to the numbers you mention, but part of it is because I get forced into trading situations. I am not very good at CSing while trading and that is something I am working on. I tend to play ADC a lot since mid/top get taken and jg/adc/support are the spots left. I was considering playing all roles a bit to expand my knowledge before specializing in one role, but I will try sticking to 1 or 2 roles for now first if that works better.

In my opinion, there's almost no downside to continuing to learn the game while you play ranked. Given, we're all still learning the game and always trying to improve and gain more knowledge about champs, matchups, etc. LP/Elo is just a number that gives an estimate allowing you to be matched with players of similar skill levels. If you get placed in bronze 5, and unless you've built a crazy winrate while levelling you probably WILL be placed in bronze/low silver, it's really not a big deal. If your goal is learning and improving, that number will rise.

With that said, IMO the only downside to playing ranked, especially in lower elo, is that people tend to be more toxic. And especially in bronze-gold, you'll probably get raged at over things that actually don't make sense or are simply not true. My suggestion is to simply take an attitude of "what can I do better next time" instead of "this other player sucks and is wrong" and try your best to ignore the general toxicity. But whether you start playing ranked now or later, it's something you will always have to deal with in LoL and the internet.

I can deal with toxic people. I have a fairly thick skin and have gamed for years. I am not a big gamer now, but I was a very active one before. My only concern is getting focused on winning games instead of improving. I want to improve and am worried that if I play ranked I might do things to win the current game instead of to improve as a whole. Ranked games should be played to win or it is unfair to your teammates. In normals I can focus on one thing even if it means I play worse that game. But I am not sure if I can do that in ranked. Do you think ranked is a better for learning? If so, I will consider it. Thanks!

I appreciate the time you both spent to give me input. Thanks a lot!

 

[Stickz]

1. There's no rule saying "thou shalt know everything about 'core mechanics' before thou enters ranked queues."
2. You're assuming that time spent playing the game directly correlates to skill and understanding, which is untrue. There are people in bronze 5 playing their first ever ranked game. There are people in bronze 5 who have played thousands of ranked games. By that logic, no one should ever play ranked because everyone will always need more practice since everyone make mistakes in every single game.
3. I highly doubt someone who doesn't understand csing, wards, and positioning will be placed in a ranked game with someone who does. That's like saying it's a bronze 5's fault for being placed with platinum players, which makes no sense. Like i said, by the rating system, you're placed with people of similar skill. Therefore, someone who has little game knowledge will be placed with others who have little game knowledge.

If you just hit level 30 and are in my ranked game, causing us to lose because you're 0-20 but you're "learning the game", I'll absolutely report and blame you. There is literally no answer to why you shouldn't practice in un-ranked before playing ranked.

1. There isn't a rule. It's common sense and being smart about it.

2. Practicing in unranked before doing ranked is the most logical approach. The game is very different compared to when you're level 10. While games played doesn't correlate to rank, it's much better to have say, 100 unranked games at level 30 under your belt, than 0 and your first one is a ranked game. That just sounds like a terrible idea.

3. Your starting MMR is Silver. There is no "he's a fresh level 30, place him with other fresh level 30s." Knowing that, you will be placed with people who have at least a general understanding of warding and CSing.

 

[agrolazer]

If you just hit level 30 and are in my ranked game, causing us to lose because you're 0-20 but you're "learning the game", I'll lose my shit.

That is the definition of toxicity.
There is never a reason to "lose your shit" at teammates over an internet video game which they are still learning.
Please adjust your attitude. There is no reason for that type of language or aggression.

 

[Stickz]

That is the definition of toxicity.
There is never a reason to "lose your shit" at teammates over an internet video game which they are still learning.
Please adjust your attitude. There is no reason for that type of language or aggression.

No, there is. I'm not losing a game because you decided that the first thing you do when you hit level 30 is learn the game at the cost of my time and LP. It's very rude of said person to not educate themselves via experience.


Not sure where you got language either. I never said I would cuss the person out and call them shit. I just said I would be mad. That doesn't mean I direct it towards them. I never actually type in my games to begin with.

 

[agrolazer]

I'll absolutely report and blame you.

Sound like you are directing it towards them.

But you stick to that negative, offensive, closed mindset. I'll stick to treating human beings with respect.

Best of luck.