League of Legends

[Vipershark]

Useful Links:
Official Site · Client Download · Wikipedia Article · New User Guide
Leaguecraft.com Champion/Rune Build Calculator · Previous thread
Lolbase.net Match/Item/Player/Everything Stat Tracking
Goon LoL Wiki - Sign up and contribute to the wiki!

Other cool links:
stonewall008's YouTube channel, which is loaded with good jungling videos/tutorials.

What is League of Legends?
LoL is a FREE frantically paced session based action RPG where up to 5 players per team battle each other for supremacy. Based off the popular Warcraft 3 mod Defense of the Ancients, it introduces new elements such as a persistent summoner leveling system to aid you in future games, rune system to effectively socket your champion for your playstyle, summoner spells for free tactical based aids, and a mastery page for a talent tree style additional power boost.

Gameplay
For those not familiar with DotA, you start at level 1 with a small amount of gold, gain experience, and over the course of the game you complete objectives, gain bounty, and kill enemy players on the other team in a race to destroy your opponents' base. At the end of each session, players will gain persistent experience and influence points, used to level up their summoners and to use as currency to purchase runes or champions. The magic of the game resides in wisely combining the diverse champions available and their unique abilities with a myriad of items for sale on the battlefield in order to gain leverage against your opponents. Of course being the best isn't necessarily enough, even professional players will need to coordinate with their team to control the map and strategize effectively to emerge victorious.

Summoner System
A player in League of Legends takes on the role of a summoner - a gifted spell caster who has the power to bring forth a champion to fight as their avatar in Valoran's Fields of Justice. As the summoner controls the champion in combat, the summoner also influences the outcome of the match through the use of spells, masteries, and runes. Once a match is over, the summoner gains experience and influence points. Experience points allow the summoner to gain increased powers, while influence points allow the summoner to gain access to new champions and power ups for use in future fights. Summoners may also spend influence points to change the aesthetics of the champions they summon.


Click here for the full 1280x800 image.

Summoner Spells
Summoners are allowed the use of two summoner spells during any fight in the Fields of Justice. These spells have a direct impact on the action in the battle arena. Summoners, for example, can heal their champion, damage opposing minions directly, teleport their champion anywhere in the Field of Justice they are in, fortify their team's turret defenses, and a slew of other game-impacting results. Summoner spells don't drain a champion's mana on use, but rather are usable again only after a period of cooling down. As a summoner gains experience and increases their power by fighting in multiple battle arenas, new summoner spells will become available for use.


Click here for the full 1280x800 image.

Runes
Before a battle arena match begins, a summoner will make use of runes to augment their champion's fighting abilities. There are four kinds of runes a summoner will use: glyphs (magical ability runes), marks (offensive runes), seals (defensive runes), quintessence (powerful all-purpose runes). Before a match begins, a summoner will be able to choose from at least two different rune configurations they have previously set in their runebook, with a maximum of eleven configurations. This allows the summoner maximum flexibility in choosing a runebook configuration best suited for whatever champion they might use in any of Valoran's Fields of Justice.


Click here for the full 1280x800 image.

Masteries
A summoner is able to focus their intense magical training into three specific categories - offense, defense, and utility - which collectively are known as masteries. Some of the more advanced masteries require not only a working knowledge of previous masteries within a single category, but also the knowledge of a specific mastery. As a summoner gains levels of power within the League, they are able to select which specific areas of interest to focus on. Summoner masteries are not set in stone; based on the type of champion you wish to control in a battle arena, masteries may be changed to better suit a summoner's needs.


Click here for the full 1280x800 image.

Store
The League of Legends Store allows summoners to purchase additional options through Riot Points (RP) and Influence Points (IP). Riot Points must be bought using real money, while Influence Points are earned by playing the game.


Click here for the full 1280x800 image.

I need some help/I'm new! Where do I go?
While the thread is a good source for information, requests for help and advice can be easily missed. The best way to get quick and useful help is in the IRC channel, listed above (in the "Come chat with us!" link). The channel is active at almost all times of the day and there are many helpful people who are willing to give you a hand.

How do I play with goons?
Most games are started either on IRC or Ventrilo. Hop on either and introduce yourself and see if any games are forming soon. Vent is the easiest way to get a game; if a channel is not full ask if you can join when they are done. Add people to your friends list after the game and soon you'll have a regular group to play with any time. Common courtesy is to let people know your summoner level before you start, so you don't get put against players who will eat you alive, and to never play a character for the first time in a premade game.

I recommend you check the easily vandalized and awkward LoLnames spreadsheet! to see which guy prefers what!

Someone was a huge jerk in-game! What do I do?
At the post-game score screen, you can right click that player and use the "Report Player" function. Alternatively, you can email [email protected].

Who's this "Brackhar" guy everyone's asking favours of?
Brackhar is a developer at Riot Games. A Rabid Llama, Randuin, and Kyuriko are also developers. Kyuriko's Riot name is Shurelia. The poster who has the name "Shurelia" is an impostor and paid 15 dollars to be an impostor. Everyone laugh at him.

Hey, I'm hitting up down left right up up down down and it's not letting me get past "unavailable" anymore! What gives?
The access code was recently changed to left right left right down down up up 3 4 (lrlrdduu34). You have to use the number keys above the letters; the numpad won't work.

[Woppet*]

Devin you should list the people from TSR that play LoL together in the first post,
We'll have a shit ton of new people to play with once they find out woppet plays.

[Vipershark]

List of Champions and Their (Primary/Secondary) Roles

This is a list of all the champions and the various roles they play. This is a very simplified and loose list and is not set in stone. The primary roles have lots of variation within themselves, so even if two different champions have the exact same roles, the specifics on how they play and how they fulfill their role may be VERY different. While the roles will guide your item builds, they DO NOT dictate optimal item builds. Just because a champion may be listed as a caster doesn't necessarily mean that it's optimal to build ability power; some of them are best built with purely tanky items, for example. Try a wide variety and see which champions appeal to you the most! For info on what the roles mean, see the legend after the list.

Akali, the Fist of Shadow - Assassin/Burst Caster (Melee, Stealth)
Alistar, the Minotaur - Initiator/Disabler (Melee)
Amumu, the Sad Mummy - Initiator/Tanky Caster (Jungler, Melee)
Anivia, the Cryophoenix - Tanky Caster/Disabler (Ranged)
Annie, the Dark Child - Burst Caster/Disabler (Ranged)
Ashe, the Frost Archer - Carry/Initiator (Ranged)
Blitzcrank, the Great Steam Golem - Initiator/Disabler (Melee)
Cho'Gath, the Terror of the Void - Disabler/Tanky Caster (Melee)
Corki, the Daring Bombardier - Carry/Pusher (Ranged)
Dr. Mundo, the Madman of Zaun - Tanky DPS/Debuffer (Melee, Mundo)
Evelynn, the Widowmaker - Assassin/Burst Caster (Melee, Stealth)
Ezreal, the Prodigal Explorer - Carry/Assassin (Ranged)
Fiddlesticks, the Harbinger of Doom - Burst Caster/Disabler (Ranged, Jungler)
Galio, the Sentinel's Sorrow - Initiator/Tanky Caster (Melee)
Gangplank, the Saltwater Scourge - Carry/Support (Melee, Asshole)
Garen, the Might of Demacia - Tanky DPS/Assassin (Melee, Lawnmower)
Gragas, the Rabble Rouser - Tanky Caster/Debuffer (Melee, Jungler)
Heimerdinger, the Revered Inventor - Burst Caster/Pusher (Ranged)
Janna, the Storm's Fury - Support/Disabler (Ranged)
Jax, Grandmaster at Arms - Tanky DPS/Disabler (Melee)
Karthus, the Deathsinger - Tanky Caster/Debuffer (Ranged)
Kassadin, the Void Walker - Assassin/Burst Caster (Melee)
Katarina, the Sinister Blade - Burst Caster/Assassin (Melee)
Kayle, the Judicator - Carry/Support (Melee, Ranged [has toggle])
Kennen, the Heart of the Tempest - Disabler/Tanky Caster (Ranged)
LeBlanc, the Deceiver - Burst Caster/Disabler/Assassin (Yes, all three. Ranged) [no link for LeBlanc yet]
Kog'Maw, the Mouth of the Abyss - Carry/Debuffer (Ranged)
Lux, the Lady of Luminosity - Support/Burst Caster (Ranged) [no link for Lux yet]
Malphite, Shard of the Monolith - Initiator/Tanky DPS (Melee, Jungler)
Malzahar, the Prophet of the Void - Burst Caster/Disabler (Ranged)
Master Yi, the Wuju Bladesman - Carry/Pusher (Melee, Jungler)
Miss Fortune, the Bounty Hunter - Carry/Pusher (Ranged)
Mordekaiser, the Master of Metal - Pusher/Tanky DPS (Melee)
Morgana, Fallen Angel - Tanky Caster /Disabler/Support (Yes, all three, again. Ranged)
Nasus, the Curator of the Sands - Tanky DPS/Pusher (Melee)
Nidalee, the Bestial Huntress - Pusher/Support (Ranged, Melee [has toggle])
Nunu, the Yeti Rider - Tanky Caster/Support (Melee, Jungler)
Olaf, the Berserker - Tanky DPS (Melee, Jungler)
Pantheon, the Artisan of War - Tanky DPS/Pusher (Melee)
Poppy, the Iron Ambassador - Burst Caster/Assassin OR Carry/Assassin (Melee)
Rammus, the Armordillo - Initiator/Disabler (Melee, Jungler)
Ryze, the Rogue Mage - Burst Caster (Ranged)
Shaco, the Demon Jester - Assassin/Pusher (Melee, Jungler, Stealth)
Shen, Eye of Twilight - Support/Disabler (Melee)
Singed, Mad Chemist - Disabler/Tanky Caster (Melee)
Sivir, the Battle Mistress - Pusher/Carry (Ranged)
Sion, the Undead Champion - Tanky Caster/Disabler (Melee)
Sona, Maven of the Strings - Support/Initiator (Ranged)
Soraka, the Starchild - Support (Ranged)
Swain, the Master Tactician - Tanky Caster/Support (Ranged) [no link for Swain yet]
Taric, the Gem Knight - Support/Pusher (Melee)
Teemo, the Swift Scout - Pusher/Debuffer (Ranged)
Tristana, the Megling Gunner - Carry/Pusher (Ranged)
Tryndamere, the Barbarian King - Carry (Melee)
Twisted Fate, the Card Master - Pusher/Burst Caster OR Pusher/Carry (Ranged)
Twitch, the Plague Rat - Carry/Assassin (Ranged, Stealth)
Udyr, the Animal Spirit - Disabler/Tanky DPS (Melee, Jungler)
Urgot, the Headsman's Pride - Disabler/Tanky DPS (Ranged)
Veigar, the Tiny Master of Evil - Burst Caster/Assassin (Ranged)
Vladimir, the Crimson Reaper - Tanky Caster/Debuffer (Ranged)
Warwick, the Blood Hunter - Initiator/Tanky DPS (Melee, Jungler)
Xin Zhao, the Seneschal of Demacia - Tanky DPS/Initiator (Melee, Jungler)
Zilean, Chronokeeper - Support/Burst Caster (Ranged)

Primary roles
Assassins are champions who are capable of very quickly killing a single champion. Most assassins are fragile themselves and need to quickly get out after a kill, but there are some who are sturdier and can stay around for longer.
Supports primarily focus on healing or buffing friendly champions and may also have a secondary role of dealing small amounts of damage and disabling enemy champions. These champions tend to be fairly fragile, but they also rarely have to put themselves in harm's way.
Disabler/Debuffer are similar to supports, but focus more on damage dealing and disabling/debuffing enemy champions rather than healing and buffing friendly champions. These champions tend to be sturdier than supports. I use these interchangeably because the difference is so small.
Initiators are very good at starting fights on their terms, allowing their teammates to have positional advantages during the fight. Initiators are generally able to disable someone, either with a long distance stun or blinking/dashing into the enemy team and stunning them. Champions in the former category tend to be more fragile than champions in the latter category.
Carries are champions which primarily deal damage with their autoattacks. These champions usually have low damage outputs early game, but scale very well with items. These champions usually dominate the late game.
Burst Casters are champions which deal high amounts of damage in a very short period of time. These champions usually have strong early and mid games and scale well with both items and levels. Burst casters tend to be rather fragile and are sitting ducks after their abilities are on cooldown but they haven't killed their targets and/or do not have support.
Tanky Casters are champions which deal damage primarily through their skills. These characters usually can't deal damage as fast burst casters, but they usually have more utility or sustained damage, and are not very successful unless they have a fair deal of survivability.
Tanky DPSers are champions which deal consistent amounts of damage over the course of a battle. These champions are not usually capable of very quickly killing someone, but will wear someone down over the course of fight while staying alive themselves. Tanky DPSers are almost always melee.
Pushers are champions who are focused on very quickly killing minion waves and turrets, allowing the team to push further into the enemy's base.

Additional descriptors
Melee and Ranged: This is the range at which a champion autoattacks.
Jungler: This is a special role that some champions perform. Junglers are champions that best spend their early games not in lanes, but in the jungle area. They must be capable of ganking the enemies in the lane. Many junglers require runes and masteries to be successful. If you are a lower level summoner and you are playing a jungler, you're better off just using them in a lane, though there are exceptions. Junglers can take on a large variety of the main roles.
Stealth: These are champions who are capable of going invisible.

Important Information
* Don't die. Death gives the enemy gold and experience.
* Towers are not a guarantee against being killed.
* Pay attention to the minimap. If an enemy is missing from your lane, tell your team.
* Learn the basics of every champion by playing them at least once. There are ten champions that are free to play at any time, and they rotate weekly.
* Get on Ventrilo. (http://www.ventrilo.com)
* Buy wards. If you get just one kill or save one death because of a ward, it is worth the cost.
* G is the keyboard shortcut for pinging. You can ping the minimap, ping the real map, or tag an enemy. This is extremely useful for designating targets in the heat of the moment.
* Typing /l, /t, /j, or /d will cause your character to emote.
* Don't auto attack creeps, focus solely on getting the last hit so your lane doesn't get pushed up. You want the enemy to be closer to your tower so you aren't overextended past the river and so that your allies can kill them more easily.
* Your first item should usually be related to either HP or mana regen, depending on your champion. Getting a Doran's Shield on physical champions/tanks or a Doran's Ring on casters are very common, solid choices. People tend to buy HP/mana potions with their leftover gold. Junglers usually grab Cloth Armor or Long Sword + Potions and build it into Madred's Razor as their first item. On casters, some people like to rush a Catalyst (gives hp/mana on level-up) so they can get their Rod of Ages done as quickly as possible, while others like to rush for a Zhonya's Ring. Play around with your builds and see what works best for you!
* The middle lane is usually reserved for champions that benefit from leveling quickly, require a lot of gold, and are good at handling a lane solo.
* Learn to zone. Zoning is when you deny the enemy XP and gold by pushing them away from their own creeps with lane dominance. Think about strong lane partner combinations that can do this.
* Control the jungle. This means wards, this means getting dragon, golem, and lizard.
* If the enemy has stealth champions, buy vision wards and oracles if you need to.
* Have a plan to push towers and win the game. Waiting just ramps up the enemy's power level. Chip away at towers whenever possible, but be mindful of your positioning.

Team Fights
* Don't focus the enemy tank unless there is literally no one else in range.
* Press Tab and see who is dealing the most damage/is the most fed on the enemy team. Make sure you kill them first.
* Do not chase unless your team can handle whoever they are fighting. Most chasing just gets your delicate teammates killed by whichever enemy you left behind.
* When retreating, make sure you cover your team. If you retreat in a ragtag line the enemy will pick you off. Retreat evenly in formation and they will rarely follow you.
* Your tank needs to be good at initiating and map awareness. You need to be good at following your tank.

Commonly Used Terms:

Map Related
"Lane": The pathways which both yours and enemy minions will follow. Depending on how you and your minions are fighting the lane will either gradually progress toward the enemy's base or yours. Typically referred to as "top, middle, bottom" lanes.
"(champion or lane position) mia": This means that an enemy champion is not where he usually is and could be going somewhere to kill one of your teammates. On European servers, "mia" is sometimes "ss"
"Dragon": Looking at the middle of the map, there is a diagonal in the middle. On the southeast side there is a skull that represents the "Dragon", a somewhat harder neutral monster that gives you team-wide gold and experience.
"Baron": Baron is the giant red skull in the northwest. He is very hard to kill, requiring your whole team, but grants a powerful buff to your entire team and is useful for ending games.
"jungle": Jungles are the areas inbetween the lanes on each side of the river. They have neutral creeps and are useful for ambushing enemies.

Tactics Related
"b" : Means "get away from there, staying there means the enemy can rock your world."
"care" : Means "Watch your backside, the enemy is probably coming for you. Might want to pull back." Typically used when one or more or your teammates is deep in enemy territory.
"Gank" : This usually refers to as having multiple team members come and catch an unaware enemy champion off-guard and kill him. This is what happens if you don't heed "care" warnings. =p
"push" : Help your minions and press forward into enemy territory, usually to kill one of their towers or inhibitor.
"backdoor" : Means to go attack enemy structures while your minions are nowhere near the base, and the enemy champions are not near the base. While legal, a lot of people think it's an honorless, jerk tactic and don't like it.
"poke" : Using long-range attacks (such as a skillshot) to try and weaken the enemy before you actually break into a full fight.
"buy" or "shop" : Means "I'm going to buy some shiny loot, I'll be gone for a minute or two."

Thanks to Vier for the original OP and thanks to Dragongem for the list of terms.

[DadNier]

oh thanks for doing what I said I'd do because I wasn't gonna do it (not sarcasm i'm lazy)
I'll link this page in the first post and put a list of everyone who plays

[Cobalt Blue]

i was never competent enough to play dota, plus i never bothered to dedicate it more time.

boy, wc3 surely had a huge variety of great ums maps.

[DadNier]

okay the first post now has a list of people who play plus some other info, if you want any other suggestions I'll take them and add them

[Woppet*]

Woppet [Woopington]- Fiddlesticks, Fiddlesticks, Fiddlesticks, he tried Rammus once, Fiddlesticks

You forgot to mention bandito fiddlesticks and spectral fiddlesticks

[SKELTON S. SKELETON]

i play too

gangplank

[Shawn]

Woppet [Woopington]- Fiddlesticks, Fiddlesticks, Fiddlesticks, he tried Rammus once, Fiddlesticks

he also has an amumu ehehueuheueuheu

[DadNier]

for shawn
how to build nasus:
until level 30, start with a meki pendant and 2 health pots, build it into a chalice
at level 30, you can spec 0/9/21 plus having mana regen blue runes and have plenty of mana and can bypass the chalice
get sheen and boots 1
upgrade to merc treads if they have lots of stun/taunt/fear/etc., ninja tabi if they have don't have lots of that but lots of physical damage
if your team is too squishy, build tanky
if it's a magic-heavy team you're tanking against, get things like banshee's veil, aegis of the legion, force of nature
if its a physical-heavy team you're tanking against, get things like randuin's omen, sunfire cape, and thornmail

if your team needs damage, build stark's fervor, trinity force, bloodthirster, manamune

regardless of your item build or path, EVENTUALLY you'll upgrade your sheen to trinity force
how early you do it is up to you (except for the damage-focused build, in that case you do it right after stark's)

[megaMasquerain]

Oh hey I play sometimes but I'm not very good at it.

Summoner name is Mojanbo. I play Kog'maw and sometimes Sona in 5v5.

[Rosencrantz]

roommate plays this game all the time

I'm considering getting it too

[FRET]

I support you doing that.

[Rosencrantz]

and I did

I'm going to play with my roommate's group to get a feel for everything then I'll totally join you guys with a champion I'm willing to use and everythinggggggg


oB2KoMario is my name on the game btw

---

and turns out I suck

I want to improve as Heimerdinger since I liked to play as him, but too bad I was horrible as him.

[DadNier]

I tried adding "oB2KoMario" but it said that that is not the name of someone on the game