League of Legends – Ultimate Beginner’s Guide – Part Three: Choose Your Class

How To Choose Your Class In League of Legends

This is Part Three if our Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to League of Legends. In Part One, we went over the basic gameplay. In Part Two, we explained the different types of Champions. This time, we will give you an overview of the different roles in a game of League of Legends. This will help you choose a suitable Class for the role you want to play as, or vice versa.

These roles are determined by the ‘meta’, which are unwritten rules about what is the most effective playstyle, based on experience by the player base. The meta is usually relatively stable, but it can always evolve. For example, a player can figure out a style of playing that consistently beats the current meta, and then everyone is likely to adapt that playstyle as well.

As of now, the current meta has been in place for quite a while. However, if the game developers change certain elements of the game, or add in new Champions that shift the game balance, it’s always possible that this could impact the meta and other playing styles become viable alternatives. Riot Games frequently updates and patches League of Legends, which can influence the game balance.

Taking the current meta into account, let’s go over the established roles and the type of Champion you should play in that role.

Do note – these are general rules of thumb. There are over 160 Champions in League of Legends, each with their own skillset and abilities. Some Champions actually do well in roles that are usually not suited to their specific class. As you play the game and learn how to play the different characters, you’ll start to pick up on these nuances. But as a beginner, just stick to the basic principles listed below.

Which Class to choose for Top Lane

As we’ve established before, the Top Lane has a few distinct characteristics.

• It is a lane with a longer distance, as opposed to the Mid Lane
• It is further away from the more frequent jungle farming grounds (monsters and dragons)
• It is closer to the Rift Herald / Baron Nashor, which are jungle objectives that don’t need a lot of attention in terms of playtime

First of all – all parts of the map need attention if you’re going to play effectively. Each lane requires a Champion to hold it. That means at least one team member must be assigned to each of the lanes. Another one needs to farm in the jungle.

That only leaves one team mate left to divide between any of the four areas of the map. Since the common jungle objectives could use some assistance from time to time, it’s more effective to put the fifth team member at the bottom lane, where it can assist both the jungler and the Bot Lane player.

Because of the longer distance to reach the objectives on each lane at the top / bot, and because the Top Lane player needs to hold the lane all by himself, he will need to have enough defensive power to stay alive and be dangerous enough for other players not to engage him.

This requires a Champion that lacks fragility. That usually leaves Tanks, Fighters and some Specialists. So if you’re going to play Top Lane, when starting out, you’d choose one of these Champions.

Which Class to choose for Jungle

The player that is responsible for playing Jungle has different roles. First of all, he has to clear objectives such as monster camps and Dragons to provide resources and bonuses for the team.

Second, since he has to be all over the map, he is able to move from lane to lane with ease. This allows him to ‘gank’, which means he can suddenly join another team member in a lane and shift the balance of combat.

Playing in the jungle requires a certain level of survivability, because you are constantly fighting monsters and you have to engage in combat when ganking. This means the more fragile Champions don’t do very well in this role.

Because you are constantly fighting something, someone who plays jungle also needs to be able to do a consistent damage output, preferably without the need of replenishable resources such as mana.

The jungler also needs to be very mobile since he needs to move from lane to lane and from objective to objective fast.

The lack of mobility and/or survivability means Mages are usually not the best choice. Some Mages can perform well with the right items and strategies. If you are a beginner, we suggest you don’t start practicing Jungle as a Mage. Controllers (Support) are also unsuited because their damage output is pretty low.

Marksmen / ADC are also less suited for this role, because:

• They are more dependent on gold to become stronger, which is less abundant when clearing jungle camps.
• They are more suited for single target combat instead of camps with multiple monsters
• Their lack of crowd control makes them less suited for ganking
• They are pretty fragile

While Slayers (Assassins) are relatively fragile, they are very mobile, can hit hard with burst damage in close range, and aren’t dependent on mana to dish out damage. This makes them suited to clear neutral objectives, such as monster camps, in a swift manner.

It also makes them good choices for ganking. Do note that there are also exceptions to this rule. Some Slayers, like Akali, can be unsuited for Jungle, so do your research before you pick one.

Tanks and Fighters are also good choices for obvious reasons. They can take a decent amount of damage, and deal enough damage to take down neutral objectives. Their damage output and hard-to-kill stats also makes them a good choice for ganking.

In short – if you’re going to play jungle, you’re going to want to pick a Slayer, a Tank or a Fighter for that role.

Which Class to choose for Mid Lane

The Mid Lane is unique in the sense that it is relatively closest to everything: the other lanes, both parts of the jungle, and the base if you want to retreat.

Because it is closer to the base and distances between towers are shorter, being fragile and less mobile is less of a problem. If you get hurt or you’re being ganked in Mid Lane, it is easier to retreat to the closest tower or get back to base to heal up.

The jungle lane is close to neutral objectives and all the other lanes. Again, a lack of mobility isn’t as big of a deal because you can reach all of these places in a short amount of time.

Mid Lane is mostly a solo lane. Occasionally, 2-versus-1 situations occur, but one-on-one matchups are the rule. Technical skill and proper use of abilities are very important in these kinds of fights. In solo lanes, the player also gets all of the experience and gold from minions. In duo lanes, experience is shared and gold goes to the one who made the killing blow.

Mages do very well in Mid Lane, because they can quickly get to cover when hurt and go to base to heal up, and get back into the fight fast. Because they are very dependent on gold and experience to get stronger, their monopoly on these resources in Mid allows them to level up their skills and abilities faster.

Getting more gold allows them to get better gear to increase their damage output, making them much more dangerous. The central location also makes up for their lack of mobility.

Assassins are also more dependent on gold and experience, and do better in Mid for this reason. Just like Mages, they tend to be more fragile as well. In Mid Lane, they can get back to cover fast and go and heal up at the base.

Also like Mages, a lot of gold allows them to buy items to increase burst damage and hit hard in short periods of time. They are also akin to Mages in that they are very dependent on technical skill and positioning, which is crucial in the one-on-one combat of Mid Lane.

Tanks are less suited for Mid Lane, because their damage output is too low to advance in the lane. Mages and Assassins are more fragile, but in Mid they can acquire much more experience and gold, allowing them to scale their power much faster. As we said before, they can get back much faster to the fight after a retreat. This makes them much more dangerous to Tanks than they would be in Top Lane.

Fighters have limited mobility, and while they have more damage output than Tanks, they are still vulnerable to the ranged attacks and zone control that Mages can exert, making them less effective in this role.

Their damage output is also more sustained. This means they are better in long term fights, while Mid Lane favors fast and hard burst damage. They also lack Area of Effect damage, which makes them less suited for clearing waves of Minions. Fighters can still do well in Mid Lane, especially when they are up against Assassins. But most of the time, they are not the most optimal pick for this role.

While Marksmen / ADC have a high damage output and can deal decent damage from a safe distance, they are still at the bottom when it comes to survivability. Marksmen usually do better when paired, which is at odds with the solo nature of Mid Lane.

If an Assassin is able to pair the gap, or the opponent suddenly ganks Mid Lane, the Marksman gets outnumbered and outgunned pretty hard. An opponent Mage can zone control and do damage from afar as well, making he Marksman less effective. These elements combined make Marksmen unsuited to handle Mid Lane.

Support is also simply unsuited for the role because of the lack of damage output and survivability. The abundance of resources that Mid Lane offers is less useful to them than it is for other classes. The Support class doesn’t need as much gold to play its role well. Marksmen, Assassins and Mages have a much higher need for this.

All things considered, if you’re playing Mid Lane, when starting out, go for either a Mage or a Slayer to get a feel for the Mid Lane playstyle.

Which Class to choose for Bot Lane

As we said before, Top Lane is pretty far from most other critical locations, and requires a long time to get to. Mid Lane, on the other hand, is relatively closest to everything else, but the Classes that are ideal for Mid need all the resources that they can get to perform at their best.

Leaving Jungle without a Champion just leaves money on the table, but having two players doing Jungle and ganking doesn’t provide the lanes with enough manpower to break through the waves of minions and take down the turret, let alone two enemy Champions in one Lane.

That leaves two Champions which can be allocated to Bot Lane. Bot Lane also has the characteristic that it is closer to Dragons than Top Lane. Taking down Dragons in early game can provide a serious boost that can turn the tide of a battle.

The second Champion in Bot can help assist the Jungler take down a Dragon while the other Champion stays in lane and holds the lane. Or, both Bot Lane Champions can quickly go and take down the Dragon.

Also, because the Bot Lane is closer to the Dragon Pit, it is more likely to be ganked by a Jungler. This makes a two player setup all the more necessary, to mitigate the risk.

The question remains, which types of classes are most suited for the role of holding Bot Lane?

First, we have Marksmen. These have a high damage output, and scale exceptionally well when they acquire items and levels. Once they reach a higher level and acquire some good gear, they can do some serious damage from a safe distance. This can make close ranged Fighters or fragile Mages quite vulnerable to them.

Marksmen, due to their consistent DPS (damage per second), are also able to do consistent damage over time. This also allows them to make quick work of incoming waves of enemy minions. As such, they are able to move up the lane quickly. This is all the more important in the longer Bot Lane.

However, Marksmen are also very fragile, and usually don’t do very well on their own. This is especially true when the enemy is able to quickly close the gap, like Assassins can do. Marksmen do especially well when they have the backup of an ally, which they have readily available in Bot Lane.

Aside from this, they are usually backed up by a Support type Class. These don’t really need a lot of money. The Support can  heal or protect them, or make it harder for enemy Champions to reach the Marksman by stunning or rooting them. This makes the combo Marksman / Support an obvious choice to handle Bot Lane.

Fighters, as we said earlier, have a more limited mobility and are vulnerable from a distance to Marksman attacks. They are also very dependent on leveling (and to a certain extent, gold as well) to maximize their potential. Since experience is shared with kills and they have to share some of the gold from minion kills with Support as well, this decreases their ability to scale properly.

While the same goes for Marksmen, these are less dependent on experience and more on items. The abilities Marksmen get from leveling are secondary to their sustained damage auto-attacks.

Tanks have the same problem as Fighters, with the additional problem that they lack the damage output to push through on a lane.

Assassins in turn can be dangerous to a solo Marksman. But since they rely on burst damage, and are pretty vulnerable themselves, they can be shot down fast.

The Marksman’s support can also shield and heal the damage the burst damage caused by an Assassin. He can also can trap the Assassin, making him extremely vulnerable. This makes the Assassin an inadequate choice for Bot Lane.

Mages are also an inadequate choice for bot lane. They can hit hard with an initial attack from a distance. But since they rely more on burst damage instead of a sustained amount of high DPS, they can’t follow up.

They also benefit less from the help a Support can offer, since they rely mostly on burst attacks and positioning, instead of sustained damage on the frontlines. This makes healing and shields less useful. The lack of sustained damage also makes it harder to clear turrets.

Which Class to choose for Support

The Support is the fifth player. He is not specifically tied to either a certain lane, nor the Jungle. That does not make him a fifth wheel, though. The Support can help another Champion achieve objectives faster and complement his weaknesses. The more fragile Mage can be supported by a Tank or a Fighter who holds enemy Champions at bay.

Let’s go over the classes that work well in Support.

Any type of Support class that can complement the Marksman / ADC in Bot Lane will work well. (I mean, it’s in the name.) Support Champions can also complement other types of Classes in their role, some better than others.

Of course, the Support Champions are specifically designed for this role. They can heal, shield and buff to make their allies more dangerous. Some can draw fights and make enemies more vulnerable.

Using a Support class is the obvious choice. However, it is not necessarily the only possible choice.

Tanks can work well in some situations. They can help with crowd control and absorb damage for their allies on the frontlines.

Mages can support with damage from afar and through zone control.

Other classes tend to struggle as Support.

Marksmen need consistent gold farming to reach their maximum potential through items. Playing Support prevents them from getting enough gold, which hinders their power scaling.

Fighters have the same problem as Marksmen. In addition to needing a lot of gold, they are also more dependent on their abilities, which means they need more experience. When playing as Support, they will have to share experience, which prevents them from optimal power scaling.

Assassins are also a bad choice, since their main role is to hit hard and take out single targets, not support their allies. They lack any sort of crowd control. They need a lot of gold to get items that boost their burst damage and playing Support means they’ll have to share their income. Being fragile, they are especially weak if they can’t max out with the proper items.

To Summarize…

If you are just getting started in League of Legends, you should stick to these basic rules of thumb when choosing a Champion:

• Top Lane: Choose a Tank or Fighter.
• Mid Lane: Pick a Mage or Assassin.
• Bot Lane: Opt for a Marksman.
• Jungle: Select a Fighter or Assassin.
• Support: Focus on Support roles.

As you become more familiar with the game mechanics and all the different Champions in League of Legends, you can deviate a bit from the standard path. It’s not all black and white. There is a lot of variation between all the different Champions and their skills and abilities. Some Champions, even though their class is generally not suited for a specific role, have abilities that can still work well in that role

However, it’s best to learn to walk before you learn to run. Before you try out exceptions, we advise you to make sure to get the basics right.

This concludes Part 3 of our Beginner’s Guide. In Part 4, we’ll discuss the general flow of a game in League of Legends. We’ll also delve deeper into specifics about certain objectives.