However, if you’re at a plateau and not making any progress in your journey to the top, it’s not because the climb is just too “difficult” – nor is it because of your teammates or because you’re stuck in “Elo-hell.” If you’re not climbing, the only thing holding you back is yourself. You’re not currently at a skill level where you can carry the majority of your games to victory. But don’t worry. We’ve gathered the most effective (and quickest) ways to get better at League of Legends in this article. If you work on the areas we talk about below, you’ll be climbing the ladder again in no time!
How to Get Better at League of Legends: Mechanical Improvements
If your in-game mechanics are substandard, no amount of macro will save you. Here, we’ll go over the fundamental mechanics you need to master to get better at League: last-hitting, kiting and positioning.
Practice Last-Hitting
It goes without saying that one of the quickest ways to get better at League is to brush up on your last hitting. The better you are at securing CS, the better chance you’ll have at securing that victory screen. If you can out farm your opponent, you’ll always have a gold (item) advantage. This will in turn give you the upper hand when it comes to applying pressure, trades, and securing objectives like turrets. Below are a few tips that’ll help you last-hit like a pro:
Cannon and melee minions are worth much more than ranged minions, so prioritize accordingly. Don’t forget to farm throughout the game. Ideally, you should be aiming for at least 70 CS at the 10-minute mark, 140 at the 20-minute mark and 210 at the 30-minute mark.Left-click a minion to bring up their health bar. Hit the minion once its health is below the amount of damage your auto-attack does.Several minions at low health? Use an ability to try and secure them all.Before each game, go into the practice tool (under the “training” tab), and practice CSing for 10 minutes. This will give you a feel of how much damage your auto-attacks and abilities do to the minions. Make sure to practice on all the champions you main.
Farming Under Turret
When farming under turret, take into account how much damage the turret does to each minion type:
Siege Minion: A siege minion is the tankiest: it will die after eight turret shots. Last-hit once the siege minion has been hit seven times. Melee Minion: A melee minion will die after three turret shots. Last-hit after the turret has hit it twice.Caster Minion: A caster minion will die after two turret shots. Low Auto-attack Damage: Auto-attack the minion once before the turret hits it, then auto-attack it again.High Auto-attack Damage: Let the turret hit the minion once, then auto-attack it.
Kiting
Kiting is another important mechanic that if mastered will improve your gameplay tenfold. Kiting involves creating as much distance as possible between you and your opponent while ensuring your damage output is still as high as possible. It’s pretty complex, so we won’t be able to cover the ins and outs of it in this article. We highly recommend you watch this in-depth kiting video guide to gain a better understanding: With that said, we do have a few kiting tips here that’ll set you on the right path:
Canceling attack animations is a core part of kiting: doing so allows you to move and attack with no time wasted. Memorizing your champion’s attack animations is therefore of utmost importance, as it ensures you can time things perfectly.If you’re able to, move left or right while kiting; this will help to prevent your opponent from predicting where you’ll move, making it harder for them to land their skillshots.Turn on the “league of legends High auto-attack damage” option (located in the client settings under “interface”). This setting will make it easy to identify your max attack range.
You should also try to use the “attack move on cursor” option; it drastically reduces the chance of misclicks. To switch on this setting, follow the steps below:
Go to the client settings.Click on the “game” tab, then scroll down to the “gameplay” category.Tick the “attack move on cursor” option.
You can also make attack move on the cursor a toggle:
Go to the “hotkeys” tab. Open up the “player movement” category.Set a toggle hotkey for “player attack move.”
Positioning
Positioning can easily dictate if you win or lose the game. Without good positioning, you’ll have fewer opportunities to gain the upper hand, and you’ll also be more vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks. How you should position will depend on many factors, such as the match-up, game state, and your role.
How to Get Better at League of Legends: Macro Improvements
Next up, we’ll take a close look at how to get better at macro. Macro is related to your game knowledge – it’s the strategic side of League, and all the “big picture” stuff. Examples of macro play include shot-calling, map awareness, and vision control.
Familiarize Yourself With the Meta
The meta is everchanging; a single patch can nerf an “OP” champion to smithereens, or buff a “mediocre” champion to God-tier level. Put simply, if you don’t keep on top of the meta, you’ll be playing with outdated game knowledge, which will leave you at a disadvantage. Always make sure to familiarize yourself with the meta and read up on patch changes as soon as they’re released. This will give you the best opportunity to “exploit” the meta, and not be held back by it.
Learn to Ward Effectively
Sure, you might be buying wards and control wards, but are you truly placing them effectively, or are you just scattering them about while walking around the map? A ward that can’t give you any information – or be used to apply pressure – has as much use as it had when it was in your inventory: none. Mobalytics has a helpful vision control guide that covers practically everything you need to know to become a master at warding, including where to place wards at various stages of the game.
Make It a Habit to Check the Mini-Map
Get into the habit of checking the mini-map every few seconds; the main purpose of warding effectively is to allow you to gain information from the mini-map, like the enemy team’s whereabouts. If you’re struggling, play this map awareness exercise video in the background. You can also enlarge the mini-map so it catches your eye more:
Open up the client, then go to the client settings.Click on the “interface” category.Look for the “mini-map scale” (under interface size) option. Drag the scale to max.
Learn to Adapt
League has a massive (and ever-expanding) champion pool. With over 150 champions, every single game you play will be unique. You’ll be joined by different allies, and you’ll be up against different enemies. Common mistake players make is not taking this factor into account, and adapting accordingly.
Adapting Build
Plenty of low elo players build the same items every single game. If you’re doing this, you’re not assessing the enemy team and considering how to counter them. A great way to learn how to adapt your build is to study high-elo or professional games. While watching, make notes of how their build varies each match, and crucially, why it varies. This will give you a much better understanding of itemization, and you can apply this knowledge to your own games. A useful resource for this is Probuilds. Probuilds lists all the games played by professional League players and also shows you their build paths.
Adapting Playstyle
Besides your build, your playstyle should also be based on the enemy’s champion picks and game situation. For example, if you’re squishy support like Brand up against Blitzcrank, a single hook can be a death sentence. You’ll need to adapt your play style and position behind minions to avoid this outcome.
How Else Can I Get Better at League of Legends?
Here are some smart strategies that’ll help you quickly improve.
Minimize Champion Pool
As the saying goes, quality over quantity. If you’re playing an endless amount of champions, you won’t be able to hone your mechanics on them, nor be familiar with the intricacies of their kit (like their power spikes). Plus, if you can’t play a champion confidently, you also won’t be able to truly focus on the macro side of the game. So, stick to a couple of champions. Master them, and you’ll master your enemy (and the game) too.
Play Some ARAM Games
ARAM will expose you to new champions and fighting situations in a less overwhelming game style, making it a fast (and fun) way to learn what each champion does, how to position, and how to team fight.
Watch Your Replays
Watching your replays is one of the quickest ways to get better at League: it allows you to easily identify your mistakes, and pinpoint precisely what areas you need to improve on the most. Unlike the fast-paced environment of a match, you have the opportunity to take it slow, watch and assess your every move, and even pause or “slow-mo” critical moments. Unsure how to review your recently played games? Here’s how:
Open up the client.Go to your profile, then click “match history.”To spectate (review) a match, click on the download replay icon.
Adjust Your Settings for Best Performance
We all love the look of flashy graphics, but if the flashiness is causing performance issues like dropped frame rates, it’s going to hinder your gameplay, and no doubt your chances of winning your games. Luckily, in our guide on how to fix stuttering in League, we cover how to adjust your settings for best performance. As a side note, make sure high ping isn’t holding you back too.
Stay Positive
You’ve probably heard this a thousand times, but there’s a reason for this: a positive attitude truly helps you get better at League. It helps you stay focused, motivated, and working with your team. In comparison, a negative attitude will only leave you tilted, and bring your team (and yourself) down. Remember that you – and every other player – are bound to make mistakes now and again. No one is perfect. Even professional players make game-changing mistakes!
Related Questions
How Long Does It Take To Get Good at League?
How long it takes to get good ultimately depends on the player; just like any skill, some pick it up faster than others. It also depends on what you define as “good.” It’ll take a significantly shorter time if you’re aiming for gold than aiming for a high elo rank like a diamond!
Is League Difficult?
LoL isn’t exactly “beginner-friendly,” especially if you’re new to MOBAs. It’s a complex game that requires immeasurable game knowledge and excellent mechanical mastery. While it can be difficult to get to grips with, don’t be put off and keep at it. Once you understand the fundamentals, League offers one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences out there (hence why it reportedly has a 115 million monthly player count!)
What Makes a Good League Player?
A good League player is patient, dedicated, and committed to improvement. They have a positive, tilt-free mindset, and will focus solely on analyzing their own gameplay and mistakes (and will certainly not blame everything on their teammates!).
How to Get Better at League Faster?
The best way to get better at League faster is to work on the areas we’ve discussed above. However, if you’re really struggling, we advise working with a League coach. A coach will give you tailored advice, one-on-one teaching, and also review your games. They’ll be able to help you identify exactly what your strengths and weaknesses are, as well as what’s stopping you from climbing up the ladder.
