User:Bachoru/Guide: Team Jobs

Disclaimer: Please note that nothing written on this page is an actual in-game mechanic; it is shifting towards a general guide for the practical use of certain aspects of the game.

Your job in a team

Every champion in League of Legends is unique, has a different set of abilities, and overall has different ways to help win the game. There are several champion categories, into which all champions have been placed, and although you can play any champion the way you like, these categories show what the champions’ abilities and natural stats help him do best. There are several different roles of which only a few major ones will be mentioned here; check the Champion Statistics page for more info.

'''1. The Carry '''

A "carry" is a champion that generally has a weak early game but blossoms into a powerful damage dealing champion late-game, once they've received some good items and high-ranked skills. These champions need their team to carry them through the early game while they carry the team later in game with strong skills and item builds. Usually, the term “carry” refers to the “AD carry”, while the “AP carry” will be called simply the “Mage” (sometimes caster too). AD carries are usually ranged, but there are melee examples of AD carries; AP carries are exclusively ranged, with high-ranged abilities.

A "soft" carry is a champion that only require powerful skills to do well and aren't as item reliant. Soft carries include Anivia and Annie, for example, since they can still do great damage without good items (although better items are obviously preferable). Most mages are soft carries.

A "hard" carry is a champion that needs a powerful item build and isn't as skill reliant in order to dominate a game. Hard carries include Tryndamere and Ashe. Things to remember when playing carries:

1. Carries tend to be VERY weak early game. Against an equally skilled team/opponent, they just can’t deal lots of damage compared to the damage they will be receiving if they engage in a fight. The first and most important part of early-game carry play is farming and last-hitting (more explained in its separate section). As carries, both AD and AP, and both soft and hard benefit from good gear more than other classes (hard benefit the most, but soft carries also usually have very good scales), it’s extremely important to get as much last hits (also called cs) as possible. Using mana for last-hitting is fine, as long as you get as much gold early game as possible.

2. Know your “zone of safety”. This is called “zoning” and it’s effectively a hidden mechanic that all good players have to master. Every champion emanates a “zone of pressure” around him; this zone has the range of his highest-ranged skills/autoattacks. If you managed to get your enemies to low health, standing between them and your minion wave denies them gold from last-hits, and also experience. If they move too close to your minions, just damage them with a spell or attack, and never let them too close. This way you gain experience and deny them theirs, increasing the gap between them and you, and possibly reducing their capabilities for the rest of the match. As mentioned above, there is also a zone of safety. This zone is essentially any zone that isn’t covered by enemies. If you were brought to low health, just stay outside your enemies’ zone of pressure, but as close to their dying minions as possible, to still gain experience yet not risk being killed. Here’s the Riot Staff member, Shurelia’s zoning guide:

3. Don’t start teamfights and don’t be too keen on getting kills early in the game. If anything puts you into even the slightest danger, don’t do it. Your team should have champions with much better chasing abilities, who are able to survive some damage too. Carries are very easy to kill, and usually have a built-in escape mechanism, but if somehow disabled, they can easily be killed.

To sum it up: Carry champions are champions with usually a weaker start, a mediocre mid-game and a very strong late game.

The role in a team:

The AD carry is generally the highest damage dealer, putting out sustained damage mostly with its autoattacks. As carries are squishy, these will usually stay at the far back of the team, safe from most damage and having a good chance to retreat if the fight goes bad/they are focused somehow.

The AP carry/mage stays behind the melee champions, and its job is to deal extreme amounts of burst damage to a single target (nuking), usually the enemy AD or AP carry, disabling them from the fight (eliminating most of their Health pool will result in them not being able to participate, because they could be killed too easily) or even eliminating/killing them. They will usually come up front to cast all their spells (at least those with a low Cooldown), then retreat back till they can repeat this combo.

Please note that not only “carry” champions can carry the team to victory. Almost every champion, when played right, can be such an overwhelming power on its own that the game can be won even if this champion is a tank (refer to the section bellow) or jungler. Even support champions can carry with a good advantage. Carry champions, however, are best suited for this role, as their main focus is damage, a necessity to carry the team to victory.

'''2. The Tank'''

Tanks are the most durable members of the team. They are usually melee champions with some ranged abilities and are supposed to be hardest to kill, since they will usually have lots of HP, or MR and Armor to reduce incoming damage. While this is very desirable, this also means that a tank won’t be dealing lots of damage. Since they are hard to kill and deal minimal damage, they should never be focused by the opposing team, especially if there is a carry nearby, dealing lots of damage. The job of the tank is to protect the carry, disabling the enemy champions from focusing fire on it. A tank champion is essentially the opposite of the carry. While carries specialize in dealing lots of damage (be it sustained or burst) and are generally squishy (low HP, Armor and Magic Resistance), tanks focus on keeping themselves and the team alive, have a much lower damage output in trade for enormous survivability. Most tank champions have an early-game almost indistinguishable from other champions, as they are usually pretty reliant on items (although much less than carries). Tank champions will typically have these assets:

1. Naturally bulky, higher natural HP, MRes and Armor

2. Some form of Crowd Control (CC), usually a stun, slow, or taunt.

3. Great synergy (due to abilities) with certain defensive items, making it very desirable to get them

4. Most tanks have some sort of initiation; an ability to open up the fight giving their team an advantage.

To sum it up: Tank champions are durable champions that are literally impossible to kill when properly built. Their damage output is rather low because of this, and their primary goal in the team is to take damage and shake off focus from the carries thanks to their abilities. They usually have a good initiation ability.

The role in a team:

Tanks typically have no problem surviving even the focus of multiple enemies, so if an enemy attacks the tank instead of the carry, that’s a desirable situation. The tanks will usually use their skillset to disable enemies from attacking allied carries, and should generally be the last ones to retreat and be at the front lines of the team. Also, when tower-diving, the tank should attack the enemy champion first, so that the turret targets him and not the other members.

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<p style="text-align:center">'''3. The Support '''

<p style="margin-left:.5in">Support Champions are typically ranged champions that have very low damage output and low durability in general. These champions usually have abilities that help their teammates, such as shields, heals, various buffs to attack damage, movement speed, etc; they also commonly have some kind of disable, and generally want to stack Cooldown Reduction and/or Aura items, as well as some AP to boost the power of their spells. The goal of the Support Champion is to have a high Assist/Death ratio. The support champion should NOT:

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3">1. Steal minion kills from the carry. Support champions are generally least dependent on items, and their builds are usually pretty cheap. Any other member of the team will make better use of the gold. Of course, support champions should attempt to get last hits if their lane partner is unable to for some reason, but not steal them

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3">2. Steal champion kills. Support champions generally deal low damage and can’t chase alone; if chasing with a partner, make sure you disable your opponent, but if possible let your partner get the kill. The gold gain difference is not huge, and if your partner can’t get the kill, you by all means should, but it is always better if the carry gets the kills. This is because the killer receives 100% gold, and 70% additional is split between each assist.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3">3. Attempt to take damage for the team, or deal damage. The main priority is to keep all positive buffs up at all times possible (e.g. shield whenever possible) and whenever possible, to hit enemies with disabling skills.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3">4. Be the one leading the chase, solo-pushing, etc. At all times, the support needs to be with the tank and Carry (can be with offtank too, check section below).

<p style="margin-left:.5in">To sum it up: Support champions are extremely important and valuable during teamfights, but they are usually very poor at doing anything without the team. They have a low damage output and durability, but their disables and buffs to allies are a huge asset when fighting the enemy team.

<p style="margin-left:.5in">The Role in a team:

<p style="margin-left:.5in">Support champions should assist the champion in the dual lane in laning phase, then always be with the team, healing them or otherwise increasing their chances to win. Support champions should usually buy Aura items, as they benefit the team rather than the individual, and they will usually be the ones warding, using the spell Clairvoyance etc.

<p style="text-align:center">'''4. The offtank/tanky DPS '''

<p style="margin-left:.5in">The offtank, or tanky DPS (also known as bruiser) champions are currently probably the most common champion type. They are typically melee champions who have more durability than carries, while still potentially dealing significant damage. The two terms essentially represent the same champions, offtank referring to those who built tank items, and tanky DPS to those who built more Damage items. The offtank is supposed to take some burden off the main tank, tanking damage while still doing a significant amount. The tanky DPS has a role similar to carries, although tanky DPS is usually melee. Their job is to deal as much damage as possible, their close range balanced out by increased durability.

<p style="margin-left:.5in">Subcategory: Assassins

<p style="margin-left:.5in">Assassin champions are champions who specialize in eliminating the most threatening opponent in seconds, mostly with their extreme burst damage. Assasins typically possess a dash ability to cover the distance quickly without being focused, and usually enter the fight after it has begun, so that they survive.

<p style="margin-left:.5in">Summary: Offtanks and tanky DPS champions are generally melee champions, with a high damage output yet still pretty high survivability to complement their low range. Offtanks support the main tanks while tanky DPS dive in the heart of battle, damaging their squishies and taking advantage of their durability. Assasin champions are champions with high burst potential, they dive into the battle only after most of the enemies are occupied, and eliminate the greatest threat immediately. They typically possess a dash or stealth ability to avoid focus.

<p style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:center">'''5. The Jungler '''

<p style="margin-left:.5in">The Jungler is a champion who doesn’t level up by fighting minion waves on their lane, but instead gains money and levels by killing the monsters found in their “camps”. The area out of lane is called “the jungle”, thus the name. Junglers have to possess high natural stats and a good skillset in order to be able to jungle efficiently. They commonly have some sort of CC effect, as well as a way to enter the fight quickly, to be able to successfully execute a gank. Junglers will typically be the tank or offtank/tanky DPS, as carries seldom possess the important assests a jungler needs to be successful. The advantages of having a jungler are obvious:

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4">1. You get 2 solo lanes and 1 jungler, who can often keep up with solo lanes in terms of experience. This means that 3 players on a team with a junglers will have an advantage over the other players, while only 1 player will have this advantage on a team with no jungler.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4">2. The person holding the 1v2 turret will usually be pushed to their turret, not being able to harass their enemies. This may sound like a disadvantage, but that makes it literally impossible to gank that person, allowing him to gain experience safely. Also, occasionally an enemy may attempt to tower-dive a low health 1v2 lane, and die at it. This will be avoided by more experienced players, but the 1v2 lane should always be prepared for it

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4">3. The Jungler is extremely unpredictable, and it is rarely known where he is. If team A has a jungler, team B has to play extremely cautiously, as a jungler will often gank an overpushed lane. Junglers typically have a good way to get inside the fight quickly, and also have a good CC move to disable opponents. If coordinated properly with the team, a jungle gank will often result in a kill.

<p style="margin-left:.5in">The disadvantages are:

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo5">1. Junglers often stay at low health later when jungling, as they rely only on their natural stats, abilities and starting health potions (if bought) to keep alive. Junglers can often be ganked and disrupted in the jungle, so they have to always have an escape route prepared.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo5">2. Monsters found in the jungle are very powerful and cannot be fought by any champion: only a few champions can effectively jungle without modifying their builds, pre-game setup and ability order.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo5">3. A solo 1v2 lane held by a less experienced player will sometimes get outharassed and even killed. A jungler has to make sure the 1v2 lane has some experience with it.

<p style="margin-left:.5in">To sum it up: The jungler is a champion like any other, and this role is usually only assigned to him early game. The jungler needs to be able to clear out the monster camps efficiently, while also having a skillset allowing him to successfully executing a gank.

<p style="margin-left:.5in">Role in a team:

<p style="margin-left:.5in">The jungler role is to clear minion waves in the beginning of the game, allowing an additional teammate to gain solo lane experience and level up faster. The jungler should always be on the look-out for ganks, and gank any lane overpushed, to get a kill. Also, the jungler should place wards and help control the Dragon. Later on the jungler will fulfill his regular role, usually the main tank or offtank/tanky DPS.

<p style="margin-left:.5in">A more extensive guide to jungling can be found here.

<p style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:center">'''A regular game (a summary of early, mid, late game, different champions and the roles they fulfill, teamfight and gank examples etc.) '''

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo6">1. Preface: This is the phase in the champion selection screen (and before). Each member chooses his masteries, runes, summoner spells and, of course, champion. In game they also choose a lane and starting items.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto">In preface it is important to coordinate with your allies. If someone has already picked Sivir and Miss Fortune, then it is advised no other member picks a ranged DPS carry. If someone picked a 3rd carry like this, the team would be too easily countered by buying armor, or the team would be too squishy due to lack of a tank.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto">You want to have 2-3 ranged carries/supports, and 2-3 melee tanks and/or offtanks (assasins, bruisers, tanky DPS etc. will be labeled just offtanks in this guide). It is advisable each player can play at least one champion from each role, to best suit the team’s needs. An ideal team would be, e.g. Sivir (ranged AD carry), Anivia (ranged AP carry), Amumu (tank, jungler in this case), Janna (support) and a flexible 5th member (melee). For this example I will use Jarvan IV (can be built full tank, offtank or full DPS, in this game he will be offtank). The team must coordinate before the battle starts that everyone fulfills the role he’s supposed to.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo6">2. Laning phase: The basic concept of laning phase is that everyone stays in their respective lane (the jungler stays in the jungle). Each lane has a certain goal to attempt:

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto">The solo mid lane’s job is to get as many last hits as possible. Ideally, the solo mid lane can get a BF Sword/Needlessly Large Rod (depending on whether they’re AD or AP) at the first recall. Secondary objectives include harassing the enemy, zoning them to prevent them from getting experience, and with champions with global abilities also helping the side-lanes. The mid lane should be:

<p style="margin-left:1.0in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo7">a)     A carry champion, as the mid lane has the most experience and last hits, and therefore helps the carry to get strong sooner in the game

<p style="margin-left:1.0in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo7">b)     A ranged champion, as melee champions can’t harass that well and can also be harassed better

<p style="margin-left:1.0in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo7">c)     A champion who is less durable than most, as mid lane has only one opponent and therefore champions can survive better here.

<p style="margin-left:1.0in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo7">d)     Sometimes the mid lane should have a champion exclusively suited for fighting the enemy mid lane. Example: Their mid lane contains LeBlanc. Normally, in our example, we would choose Anivia (she’s easy to kill and needs lots of last hits to get her gear soon), but LeBlanc is extremely good against Anivia (Anivia’s skillshot can be dodged by LeBlanc’s Distortion, her ice wall can also be passed by it, and LeBlanc has a Silence and a Snare, possibly killing Anivia with two rotations of her combo, and the egg too). We should therefore send the other carry into mid, in our detailed example Sivir, as she has a spell-shield to counter LeBlanc’s combo, and is much less ability-reliant, possibly dealing more damage to LeBlanc than LeBlanc’s combo could do to her.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto">The jungler’s objectives are to efficiently clear out the neutral monster camps, doing it as fast as possible and skipping camps as little as possible, while still staying at high health and being prepared to escape from any ganks. His other main objective is to gank an overextended lane (a lane pushed close to your turret is called overextended), surprising the enemies and killing them with the help of the lane. Coordination is extremely important for this, as a jungler will sometimes gank a lane without notifying the team, often dying himself. His secondary objective is to defend any turrets that need defense, and to “babysit” lanes (if a lane has to recall, the jungler should get into that lane to gain experience and defend the turret).

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto">The 1v2 lane (called solo lane by most, if both teams have junglers it’s actually 1v1) should be occupied by a ranged carry champion with some durability. The goal of the solo lane is to defend the turret. If this wouldn’t be possible, it is advised that the jungler stays in lane most of the time. Side goals of the 1v2 lanes include getting last hits, semi-harassing enemies in lane (keeping them at lower health for the jungler to have an easier gank), assisting the jungler in a gank, and champions with stun abilities can lure enemies into tower-diving them, possibly even getting kills. The advantage of the solo lane is that it gets experience equal to that of the mid lane. However it is harder to get last hits, because out of turret range the solo lane will often get harassed, and in turret range the turret can “steal” last hits. Soft Carries are logically the best suited for this lane. However, due to usually low durability or soft carries, often a more durable champion will take the solo lane.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto">The dual lane is the lane where the support champion will usually be, as they help their team and don’t need last hits that much, allowing their laning partner to get most of them. Also, support champions do worse solo, since their damage is usually not that high, and they tend to be squishy too. The other champion in the dual lane is usually the least suited for any of the above-mentioned lanes, and is usually the tank or offtank. In our example, Jarvan and Janna would take the dual bot lane. Dual lanes are almost always the bottom ones, as they can reach the dragon quicker if necessary. Another factor when determining the dual lane is champion combos. If a champion has a high damage output, the team will want a champion who can counter his weaknesses, allowing for an extremely powerful lane. In our example: Jarvan and Janna. Jarvan is naturally pretty durable, and combined with Janna’s shield it’s almost impossible to harass him. Also, Janna has a Slow effect and a knockup ability, allowing Jarvan to move in and deal some damage. This is not the greatest possible combo, but almost every support can combine his skills with those of a different champion for extremely devastating effects. The goal of the dual lane is to not die. The dual lane has to face two opponents, yet since there are two champions there too, it is often a pretty balanced fight. The dual lane is supposed to harass enemies, also has the greatest chance to get the first few kills or deaths. The dual lane is prone to ganks if overextended, yet this is often an undesirable side-effect of harassing (if an enemy is low, they will let you push to their turret, still gaining experience yet staying safe). A right balance must be found, and dual lanes are advised to be most cautious, as it is possible, with the right timing, to have 4 enemies there at once (the enemy duo, the jungler and even the turret, with a right-timed stun). Also note that without a jungler both side lanes are dual lanes.

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo6">3. Mid-game:

Ganking

Pushing

Skirmishes

<p style="margin-left:.75in;mso-add-space:auto; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo6">4. Lategame:

Teamfights

Teamfight scheme

Determining the “Victor” of a teamfight

When to push, take dragon, baron?

<p style="text-align:center">Ending tips, tactics, combo suggestions