10 Mistakes New LoL Players Make and How to Avoid Them
League of Legends is a game that millions of people love to play, yet it can be difficult to get started. There are lots of new players in the League community who make some common mistakes when starting out. This post will discuss ten of the most common beginner mistakes that new LoL players make and how you can avoid them!
There are a ton of new players and veterans alike. In fact, the most recent League of Legends player count has that number well over 100M active players! We want to help out those millions of new League of Legends players with this guide on the most common mistakes to avoid.
1. Not Using Wards
Not using wards is the most common mistake new LoL players make. Success in League of Legends depends on knowing where the enemy champions are. Knowing where your enemies are, allows you to make bigger plays and set up ambushes.
When you start a game, you pick between a vision ward and an oracle lens (which can uncover hidden wards to let you destroy them). When you are just starting a game, it rarely makes sense to pick the oracle lens over a vision ward.
When you start a game, you pick between a vision ward and an oracle lens (which can uncover hidden wards to let you destroy them). When you are just starting a game, it rarely makes sense to pick the oracle lens over a vision ward.
Try your best to place wards in effective locations whenever they are available to you. If you see two idle wards ready to be placed, you are most likely wasting them and losing out on vision control.
If you are unsure of where to put your wards, we have you covered. Great locations to place wards are near your flanks and around the river objectives (Dragon and Baron).
For 75 gold, you can buy a control ward. These uncover hidden wards and block enemy vision, yet you can only have one on the map at a time. Vision control is paramount in League of Legends. You should always try to have one of these wards out at a time.
New players don't think the 75 gold expense is worth it, but a well-placed control ward pays you back with so much more gold and map control. Don't forget to buy some control wards every time you go back to base!
2. Focusing on Kills over Gold and Objectives
You win every League of Legends round by destroying the enemy base. You don't win by getting kills. Your team could be down 0-10 in kills and still win. Ok, that's probably unlikely, but it could happen 🤣.
Players start out from level 1 at the beginning of each match. You grow in power through only two mechanisms: 1) gaining experience and 2) accumulating gold. Taking out minions, champions, and objectives will all provide gold and experience.
Many new LoL players think that kills are the safest path to victory. Yet, the most stable source of income is killing minions. It is not going for player kills. The amount of gold you earn from a champion kill is roughly equal to 15 minion kills, and that is only if you get the player kill. If someone else gets it, your assist will be worth far less gold.
Many new LoL players think that kills are the safest path to victory. Yet, the most stable source of income is killing minions. It is not going for player kills. The amount of gold you earn from a champion kill is roughly equal to 15 minion kills, and that is only if you get the player kill. If someone else gets it, your assist will be worth far less gold.
Focus on killing minions in lane and monsters in the jungle. If the opportunity arises to kill an enemy player, definitely take it, but it shouldn't be your primary focus.
Likewise, focus on objectives whenever possible. You must destroy towers and inhibitors before you can damage the enemy Nexus. Thus, the only path to victory runs through the enemy structures. Take them out!
3. Overextending in Lane without Vision
The current meta in League of Legends has players dueling in lanes until the first towers fall. In lane, combat can go back and forth between your tower and the enemy's tower.
Unfortunately, if you push the combat close to their tower, you will be an easy target for an enemy jungler to gank you. If you feel you need to extend beyond the mid-line of your lane, you must ward the most obvious ganking routes.
Don’t overextend if you do not have a ward available to counter the enemy jungler's gank. Either poke to secure last hits on minions or just hold back altogether. Overextending usually leads to you losing your lane.
4. Not Sticking with One Champion Long Enough
There are over 158 champions in League of legends. For new LoL players, this can be a bit overwhelming and they often bounce from one champion to another to just try them all out.
While that may be fun, it's not going to get you anywhere, and winning a round is usually more fun than just playing a new champion into a loss 😅.
It's best first to do a little research into choosing a champion that will fit your playstyle. Then, once you have selected a champion to practice on for a few games, just focus on learning how to play that character.
Having a core champion from which you can learn the game and experiment with other skills and techniques is valuable. It should make your introduction to League of Legends much smoother.
5. Picking Champions Based on Win Rates Posted Online
Many new players pick their beginner champions in LoL based on overall champion win rates posted online. While it's true that some champions are better than others, there are a lot of factors that affect which champion you should choose.
Some of the most important considerations are your skill level, current lane matchup, and the composition of your team. Some champions do very well in low-skill tiers, while others only do much better at higher-skill levels.
If you want to use win rates, make sure to use a service that lets you break down win rates by tier, matchup, or lets you predict your win rate based on your overall team's composition. LoL Tier Lists are usually great tools that combine multiple factors to help you pick your next champion.
6. Focusing the Wrong Champion During Teamfights
The drive to chase down and kill low health champions must be primal because almost every new LoL player does it. You should only focus fire on the most impactful and dangerous champions. The most dangerous champions in team fights deal high amounts of damage or have a lot of crowd control (with low cooldowns).
The drive to chase down and kill low health champions must be primal because almost every new LoL player does it. You should only focus fire on the most impactful and dangerous champions. The most dangerous champions in team fights deal high amounts of damage or have a lot of crowd control (with low cooldowns).
For instance, a tank with 25% HP that has used its abilities and is fleeing the battle should not be focused if it will pull you out of position. The best targets to focus on are those that will deal a lot of damage or who can still inflict a lot of crowd control on your team. These are often the AD Carry champions that you should target.
New LoL players should also hit champions with poor mobility caught out of position when able, but they shouldn't be primary targets.
Teams should also try to focus their damage. Focusing one champion at a time helps eliminate the other team's damage output sooner. Don't be afraid to call out targets before the battle. Use the target pings during the fight to help focus fire without wasting time typing.
7. New LoL Players Often Ignore Their Allies Requests for Help
Don't ignore your allies' requests for help. Follow pings and use your own to call for aid. If you help your allies, they will usually help you in return. If you are playing as your team's jungler, and one of your lane's is pinging for help, do your best to get there to help them.
Don't ignore your allies' requests for help. Follow pings and use your own to call for aid. If you help your allies, they will usually help you in return. If you are playing as your team's jungler, and one of your lane's is pinging for help, do your best to get there to help them.
Often, players asking for help are on the brink of losing their matchup. If you ignore them and let them lose, the enemy may start to snowball out of control unless you can help your ally get back on their feet.
Fix problems before they get worse. It'll make it much easier for you as a new LoL player to win.
8. Pay Attention to the Map
In addition to following friendly pings, don't forget to watch your mini-map. The most important things to note are how close your allies are and all the enemy champions are.
Track your allies to know when you can be bolder. If you have backup nearby, you can risk some amount of overextending. Likewise, if you know that the other enemy champions are far away, they won't be a significant threat to you, and you can harass more.
If the enemy is hidden for an extended period, there is a good chance that they are trying to take out either of the river objectives (baron or dragon). Keep vision on these objectives and be aware of when the enemy is trying to take them. This is one of the most important pieces of advice we have that we feel is very useful for lots of new players.
9. New LoL Players Tend to Give Up too Easily
In low-skill tiers, many games are turned around by winning a critical exchange in the mid or late stages of the match. New LoL players tend to give up too easily. A 15-40 kill game is very difficult to reverse, but a 10-15 game is just one good team fight away from becoming even.
Keep fighting and try farming to build up a lead or get into a more favorable position. Having good awareness of where the enemy champions are, helps your team avoid combat while you are in an unfavorable position. Do your best to even out the gold difference before seeking another big fight.
Don't give up and don't be a toxic player in League! New LoL players will win many of the games that they think they have already lost.
10. Facechecking Brush Alone
Champions can hide in tall brushes. Riot has placed brush all around the Rift in strategic locations. It’s common for players to hide in them and wait for others to run by or through them in order to ambush them.
Don’t run into a brush without checking if an enemy is hiding within. You can check with both wards and abilities.
Final Thoughts on the Most Common Mistakes New LoL Players Make
If you are just coming to LoL as a new player and want to snag an awesome name (or if you are a veteran looking to make a fun smurf account), you can make use of this name checker for LoL that will help make sure your best and most fun names are available. We hope it was useful! If not, please let us know what we could do better in the future so that our guides are more helpful for you.
In addition to this guide for new LoL players, we also offer data-driven champion builds and counter matchup guides.
Images Courtesy of Riot Games.