454 replies to this topic

[The Hound]

Before the creation of this sticky, nearly 25% of the posts on general were threads asking for advice on which champion to buy.

This is where those types of questions should go.

First though, a little generic advice:

How should we know?

You're the one who knows what you find fun to play, not us. A lot of the time people try to remedy this by saying "who should I buy Vlad or Ezreal. I play Morde and Sion." This only makes it harder to answer, because on one hand you're saying "he already plays two beefy guys, maybe he wants to try something new" and on the other hand you're saying "he only feels comfortable with beefier champs, so Vlad".

The only thing we can really give less subjective (but still very far from objective) advice on is which champions are currently considered more powerful - but this should be a complete non-factor in your decision since

• you should play who you have fun with and
  
• power is fleeting.

If you have to ask...


...you probably shouldn't buy either one of them. Feeling that you don't know which is the better choice implies one or more of the following:
- you don't understand the game very well yet
- you haven't tried the champions in question ever before
- you tried them and didn't know what to make of them (because you don't understand the game very well yet)
If one or more of these is true, you shouldn't buy either champion yet. Wait until they're free and play some games with them. See how you like them. Would you buy an expensive pair of shoes without even trying them on and seeing if they fit?
If you're still at this stage, you should focus mostly on buying runes and practicing with the champions you do own and those that are free.


Fun and what matters to you

If you find one choice more fun but think the other is "better", get the first. You having a good time and wanting to practice will easily close the gap between the relative "power levels" of any champions. Don't feel that you shouldn't buy X just because Y exists. Just do what you want to do.

Edited by The Hound, 23 March 2012 - 01:44 AM.

[Anyrra]

So first of all, I am a noob. Summoner level 12, and pretty new to this game. So, I've been bouncing around the different champions trying to decide which one I would like to mainly focus on, but I'm not sure. Most of them I just end up failing on. What is a good champion for a noob/learning person like me?

[finkiboy]

Buy a new one, for example Jarvan that just came out (will come out in EU tomorrow). Nobody knows how to play him yet, so the gap to close is a little smaller for you.

He is also a meelee tanky/dps, a class that forgives some newbie-mistakes.

[Mormon Jesus]

Ashe, Annie, Garen... Can't think of many others.

If you want, you can add me. I don't mind helping low level people.

PM me for my summoner name

finkiboy, on 02 March 2011 - 12:00 AM, said:

Buy a new one, for example Jarvan that just came out (will come out in EU tomorrow). Nobody knows how to play him yet, so the gap to close is a little smaller for you.

He is also a meelee tanky/dps, a class that forgives some newbie-mistakes.

If he/she is new, using a champ that requires skills is not a good idea. Jarvan is, to a degree, like Xin - burly DPS, but can actually die to mistakes. Use your flag+dash at the wrong spot...

Edited by Mormon Jesus, 02 March 2011 - 12:04 AM.

[Accelerant]

Actually as a need summoner, I wouldn't reccommend that you buy any champions at all! That is because you don't know which role you play the best and you should keep playing different free champs each week. Eventually you'll find a champion you love! Then buy him

[zwischy]

I think a good champ to learn on is Nasus. You might still fail with him for a while, but few other champs will teach you how to last hit properly. That is one of the key skills in playing ANY champion, but you get particular rewards with Nasus because his Q scales with every last hit you score on a minion OR champion. It will also teach you how to survive in the lane against ranged champions (teach you to hug the tower and not overextend when necessary) and how to use CC (Wither) and AoE (Spirit Fire, ult).

The real beauty is, there is one build out there for him that is almost universally accepted for him in Hyfe's guide. Now, of course, some more advanced players have their own builds for him, I'm sure, but building Sheen, Merc Treads, Aegis, and Triforce and Banshee's Veil will serve you well for any games you'd play with him.

Nasus will teach you how to combo well. Spirit Fire can help his Q hit even harder thanks to its armor reduction, you will learn to use Wither/Ghost/Exhaust to catch champions, and use his ult in the middle of a team fight to both survive and open a can of whoopin' (R, W, E, Ghost, Q on a single target).

Finally, while Nasus isn't a true tank, he's tanky enough (and has a passive lifesteal) that he's fairly forgiving, and I still think learning to play a melee character well against ranged opponents will make playing a ranged champion yourself seem very easy.

[Baakr]

Accelerant, on 02 March 2011 - 12:12 AM, said:

Actually as a need summoner, I wouldn't reccommend that you buy any champions at all! That is because you don't know which role you play the best and you should keep playing different free champs each week. Eventually you'll find a champion you love! Then buy him

This.

[Rageboy]

^
i second that

[Anyrra]

Thanks for all the replies! I just tried Jarvan, and wow, he's kinda OP.

[Frisch]

zwischy and Accelerant gave good advices imo i like the idea of learning nasus is rewarded all over

and save your IP for runes at lvl 20, buy a champion you get to know, from playing free champions by playnig all the free champs, you'll also learn how to counter them better, and a big part of this game, is to know your opponent, so if you only know a single champion, you'll get fucked no matter what

EDIT: if your EU, feel free to add me, and i'll gladly help you out abit...

summoner: Frisch, im also in the leaguecraft chat

hf gl

Edited by Frisch, 02 March 2011 - 02:07 AM.

[Anyrra]

I just tried Nasus, and I have to say, he's pretty awesome. I got a 10 3 7 KD ratio, which I'd say isn't bad, and he wasn't super hard to play. I might try him again, that was fun.

[Anahadri]

I would wait to find out what play style fits you best. I made the mistake of thinking "Hey mages are cool. And I only wanna play girl champs." So I bought Annie, Kayle, and Lux when she came out. I was mediocre at best with Annie, fairly bad at Kayle, and only good with Lux if I had a really really good team. Then I tried out Taric and found out that I am better at in your face melee champs. I now main as Sion and destroy people. So I would wait until you know how you play best.

[kintler1]

Ok, now i know that there are a lot of topics similar to this, but i just need some quick help in deciding. I like playing champs that kill fast...bursty people but i dont like playing mages...i LOOOOVE miss fortune, but playing her constantly is kinda boring...i was thinking akali...but with tanky dps meta, i dont know if she can do the job. OOOORR should i learn to play support, maybe janna?? i have sona but after her nerf and the locket removal, i dont find her as good as she used to be. Let me know in the comments below, but PLEASE PLEASE dont flame me or any of that sort lo.

[Baakr]

Akali or Kassadin, kill a squishie in a nano second, then GTFO, go in, kill another squishie = make their carries rage, they are going to tell their whole team to focus you meanwhile your carries rape their team and carry you to victory,and then ust laugh about their carries QQ: "KASS IZ SOU OP NURF NAO".
But they are both Casters (they both build AP).

[Smitra]

Janna with locket, you mad ?

Maybe Jax oe jungle udyr/shaco.

Mages has the most burst potential, physicalbased champs are more based on substained damage, so kinds biting the hand that feeds