Overview
League of Legends is a free-to-play high-fantasy action real-time strategy game developed and released digitally by Riot Games for the PC on October 27, 2009. It was later released for the Mac on March 2013.
Inspired by Defense of the Ancients (a mod for the 2002 game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos that popularized the "Multiplayer Online Battle Arena" sub-genre) and was developed with involvement from two of the mod's developers (Guinsoo and Pendragon).
Similar to the mod its based on, the main gameplay pits two teams of five players against each-other as they work to escort their three endless waves of AI-controlled monsters ("Minions") towards the fortified enemy base in order to destroy the enemy base ("Nexus"). Each player controls an individual character ("Champion") and, throughout the match, earn experience (to level up their stats and abilities) and gold (for purchasing items and equipment) by eliminating enemies.
As a free-to-play game, League of Legends restricts the amount of Champions available from the start (focusing on a weekly "free rotation") and features microtransactions (using the "Riot Points" premium currency) for unlocking new Champions, alternate Champion appearances, Summoner XP boosts, and other cosmetics and services. Some of these could also be unlocked using "Influence Points" (later "Blue Essence") earned by playing the game. The game also received a retail boxed edition (the "Collector's Edition"), adding $10 worth of RP while unlocking 20 Champions from the start and adding two exclusive Champion Skins.
Summoner
The Summoner is the player's representation in League of Legends and is the only aspect that is constant between battles. Summoners select and fight as a champion of choice for the duration of a match. Summoners are not static entities, but gain experience and influence points from each battle fought. The Summoner levels up through gaining experience, unlocking summoner spells and one point per level which is placed in a mastery tree. Influence points allows the summoner to purchase new champions, runes and rune pages.
Summoners cap at level 30. Riot has said that they expect it to take approximately eight weeks of consistent casual play in order to reach level thirty, and hardcore players will be able to reach the level cap much faster.
Summoner Spells
As Summoners rank up in levels, they gain access to various Summoner abilities, two of which may be equipped to be taken into battle. These spells are not tied to any specific champion and do not require mana to cast, but are on very long cooldowns and should only be used when absolutely necessary. Some spells are restricted to certain game modes.
Available Spells
- Barrier: Grants a damage absorbing shield for a short duration.
- Clairvoyance: Reveals a targeted area anywhere on the map for a short duration. Only available in Dominion.
- Clarity: Restores 40% of a champion's maxium mana for you and nearby allies.
- Cleanse: Removes all crowd control effects and debuffs from your champion, also momentarily reducing the duration of incoming disables.
- Exhaust: Reduces the movement speed and attack speed of an enemy champion, lowers their defense and damage for a short duration.
- Flash: Instantly teleports your champion a short distance towards your cursor. Can be used to cross terrain.
- Ghost: Your champion gains movement speed and ignores unit collision for a short period.
- Heal: Restores health and grants a short burst of movement speed to you and a targeted allied champion.
- Ignite: Sets an enemy champion on fire, dealing damage over time and reducing all healing effects for its duration.
- Smite: Deals a large amount of True Damage to a monster or enemy minion. Can be augmented by certain items to be cast on enemy champions. Only available in Classic mode.
- Teleport: After a brief channel time, teleports your champion to an allied structure, minion or ward. Can be cancelled to half its cooldown. Has shorter cooldown when used on turrets. Only available in Classic mode.
- Mark: Toss a snowball in a target direction. If it hits an enemy unit the user has a brief window recast the spell and blink to the unit hit.
Runes
Runes are items that can be purchased by the Summoner using influence points that passively enhance a Champion's statistics. Each rune has three tiers, with higher tiers becoming available at higher levels. There are four types of runes; glyphs (blue), marks (red), seals (yellow), and quintessences (brown/purple). Glyphs, marks, and seals each have a type of statistic that they improve to a greater extent than the other two. For example, glyphs enhance magical ability, marks enhance offensive prowess, and seals enhance defense. Quintessences are larger runes that have stronger effects than their smaller counterparts.
Each Summoner has no maximum capacity for the amount of runes they can possess, but to have them take effect in battle, they must be placed in a rune page and selected after their champion is chosen. Each rune page can hold nine glyphs, nine marks, nine seals, and three quintessences. Each summoner has access to two rune pages to change as they see fit, but additional rune pages can be bought with Riot points or influence points. One rune slot is unlocked every time your Summoner levels up.
Mastery System
The last and most important impact that Summoners have on the battle is through the mastery system. As the Summoner gains levels, they also gain mastery points that can be assigned to an enhancement in a skill tree. There are three trees, offensive, defensive, and utility, each adding bonuses to the champion the summoner chooses. Most of these talents do add a slight advantage to each hero as it can be used to boost strong points of a hero or strengthen the weakness of champions, much like the rune system. Some talents also improve your summoner's abilities, such as Improved Ignite, which activates while Ignite is on cooldown, increasing the champion's ability power and attack damage by 5. These points can be re-allocated at any time between matches and multiple mastery profiles may be saved and selected in the lobby of each game, allowing the Summoner to shift focus between types of Champions.
Champions
The base game included 40 Champions to choose from, with additional ones added post-release. As of the release of Vex, there are currently 157 Champions in the game's roster.
Players start the game with no Champions unlocked, relying solely on the game's weekly free-to-play rotation (which randomly selects 10 Champions to be temporarily unlocked, later increased to roughly 10% of the total roster). The game's ARAM mode increases this amount (with Champions from the two previous rotations), while newer players (before XP level 11) have an alternate rotation. Specific champions can be unlocked by either spending in-game currency (Influence Points / Blue Essence) or through microtransactions (Riot Points or special bundle purchases).
During the selection screen, the champions are broadly classified into assassins, fighters, tanks, mages and support. However, quite a few of them can serve multiple purposes depending on the kind of equipment, runes, summoner spells, and masteries the summoner picks.
All Champions are broadly classified into six types: Assassin, Fighter, Tank, Marksman, Mage, and Support. Not all Champions fit their officially-classified type, with some of them serving multiple purposes based on their equipment and the player's chosen Rune Page.
Assassins
Melee Champions with very high mobility and quick damage output, allowing them to strike less durable targets with ease (such as Marksmen). Their low resilience and limited continuous damage output tend to make them weaker against Fighters and Tanks.
- Akali, the Rogue Assassin - Added on April 11, 2010.
- Diana, Scorn of the Moon - Added on August 7, 2012.
- Evelynn, Agony's Embrace
- Ekko, the Boy Who Shattered Time - Added on May 29, 2015.
- Fiora, the Grand Duelist - Added on February 29, 2012.
- Fizz, the Tidal Trickster - Added on November 15, 2011.
- Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress - Added on April 15, 2021
- Jax, Grandmaster at Arms
- Kassadin, the Void Walker
- Katarina, the Sinister Blade
- Kayn, the Shadow Reaper - Added on July 12, 2017.
- Kha'Zix, the Voidreaver - Added on September 27, 2012.
- Lillia, the Bashful Bloom - Added on July 22, 2020.
- Master Yi, the Wuju Bladesman
- Nidalee, the Bestial Huntress - Added on December 17, 2009.
- Nocturne, the Eternal Nigtmare - Added on March 15, 2011.
- Pyke, the Bloodharbor Ripper - Added on May 31, 2018.
- Qiyana, Empress of the Elements - Added on June 28, 2019.
- Rengar, the Pridestalker - Added on August 21, 2012.
- Riven, the Exile - Added on September 14, 2011.
- Shaco, the Demon Jester
- Talon, the Blade's Shadow - Added on August 24, 2011.
- Tryndamere, the Barbarian King
- Viego, the Ruined King - Added on January 22, 2021.
- Yasuo, the Unforgiven - Added on December 13, 2013.
- Yone, the Unforgotten - Added on August 06, 2020
- Zed, the Master of Shadows - Added on November 13, 2012.
Fighters
Melee Champions who are balanced both offensively and defensively, tending to focus on extended fights better than Assassins and Tanks. Their limited range, however, tend to make them weaker against Marksmen.
- Aatrox, the Darkin Blade - Added on June 13, 2013.
- Camille, the Steel Shadow - Added on December 7, 2016.
- Darius, the Hand of Noxus - Added on May 23, 2012.
- Dr. Mundo, the Madman of Zaun
- Elise, the Spider Queen - Added on October 26, 2012.
- Gangplank, the Saltwater Scourge
- Garen, the Might of Demacia - Added on April 27, 2010.
- Gnar, the Missing Link - Added on August 14, 2014.
- Hecarim, the Shadow of War - Added on April 18, 2012.
- Illaoi, the Kraken Priestess - Added on November 24, 2015.
- Irelia, the Blade Dancer - Added on November 16, 2010.
- Jarvan IV, the Exemplar of Demacia - Added on March 1, 2011.
- Kayle, the Righteous
- Kennen, the Heart of the Tempest - Added on April 8, 2010.
- Kled, the Cantankerous Cavalier - Added on August 10, 2016.
- Lee Sin, the Blind Monk - Added on April 1, 2011.
- Mordekaiser, the Iron Revenant - Added on February 24, 2010.
- Nasus, the Curator of the Sands
- Olaf, the Berserker - Added on June 9, 2010.
- Pantheon, the Unbreakable Spear - Added on February 2, 2010.
- Rek'Sai, the Void Burrower - Added on December 11, 2014.
- Renekton, the Butcher of the Sands - Added on January 18, 2011.
- Sett, the Boss- Added on January 14, 2020.
- Shyvana, the Half-Dragon - Added on November 1, 2011.
- Skarner, the Crystal Vanguard - Added on August 9, 2011.
- Trundle, the Troll King - Added on December 1, 2010.
- Udyr, the Spirit Walker - Added on December 2, 2009.
- Urgot, the Dreadnought - Added on August 24, 2010.
- Vi, the Pilotover Enforcer - Added on December 19, 2012.
- Volibear, the Thunder's Roar- Added on November 29, 2011.
- Warwick, the Uncaged Warth of Zaun
- Wukong, the Monkey King - Added on July 26, 2011.
- Yorick, Shepherd of Souls - Added on June 22, 2011.
- Xin Zhao, the Seneschal of Demacia - Added on July 13, 2010.
Tanks
Melee Champions with very high durability, allowing them to soak up damage for their team (most notably against "burst" damage, such as those from Assassins). Their low damage output and mobility, however, tend to make them weaker against continuous damage (such as those from Fighters and Marksmen).
- Alistar, the Minotaur
- Amumu, the Sad Mummy
- Braum, the Heart of the Freljord - Added on May 12, 2014.
- Cho'Gath, the Terror of the Void
- Galio, the Colossus - Added on August 10, 2010.
- Gragas, the Rabble Rouser - Added on February 2, 2010.
- Leona, the Radiant Dawn - Added on July 13, 2011.
- Malphite, Shard of the Monolith
- Maokai, the Twisted Treant - Added on December 16, 2011.
- Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths - Added on February 14, 2012.
- Nunu, the Boy and His Yeti
- Ornn, the Fire Below the Mountain - Added on August 23, 2017.
- Poppy, Keeper of the Hammer - Added on January 13, 2010.
- Rammus, the Armordillo
- Rell, the Iron Maiden - Added on December 10, 2020.
- Sejuani, Fury of the North - Added on January 17, 2012.
- Shen, the Eye of Twilight - Added on March 24, 2010.
- Singed, the Mad Chemist
- Sion, the Undead Juggernaut
- Tahm Kench, the River King - Added on July 9, 2015.
- Zac, the Secret Weapon - Added on March 29, 2013.
Marksmen
Ranged Champions who can provide strong continuous damage from a distance, making them strong against Fighters and Tanks. Their low resilience and mobility, however, tend to make them weaker against Assassins.
- Akshan, the Rogue Sentinel - Added on July 22, 2021
- Aphelios, the Weapon of the Faithful - Added on December 11, 2019.
- Ashe, the Frost Archer
- Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover - Added on January 4, 2011.
- Corki, the Daring Bombardier
- Draven, the Glorious Executioner - Added on June 6, 2012.
- Ezreal, the Prodigal Explorer - Added on March 16, 2010.
- Graves, the Outlaw - Added on October 19, 2011.
- Jhin, the Virtuoso - Added on February 1, 2016.
- Jinx, the Loose Cannon - Added on October 10, 2013.
- Kalista, the Spear of Vengeance - Added on November 20, 2014.
- Kai'Sa, Daughter of the Void - Added on March 7, 2018.
- Kindred, the Eternal Hunters - Added on October 14, 2015.
- Kog'Maw, the Mouth of the Abyss - Added on June 24, 2010.
- Lucian, the Purifier - Added on August 22, 2013.
- Miss Fortune, the Bounty Hunter - Added on September 8, 2010.
- Quinn, Demacia's Wings - Added on March 1, 2013.
- Samira, the Desert Rose - Added on September 21, 2020.
- Senna, the Redeemer - Added on November 10, 2019.
- Sivir, the Battle Mistress
- Teemo, the Swift Scout
- Tristana, the Yordle Gunner
- Twitch, the Plague Rat
- Varus, the Arrow of Retribution - Added on May 8, 2012.
- Vayne, the Night Hunter - Added on May 10, 2011.
- Xayah, the Rebel - Added on April 19, 2017.
- Zeri, the Spark of Zaun - Added on January 20, 2022.
Mages
Champions who, despite being weaker in general combat, focus on using their magical abilities offensively, whether through quick barrages of ranged damage or sustained area-of-effect damage at short ranges (for crowd control).
- Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox - Added on December 14, 2011.
- Anivia, the Cryophoenix
- Annie, the Dark Child
- Aurelion Sol, the Star Forger - Added on March 24, 2016.
- Azir, the Emperor of the Sands - Added on September 16, 2014.
- Brand, the Burning Vengeance - Added on April 12, 2011.
- Cassiopeia, the Serpent's Embrace - Added on December 14, 2010.
- Fiddlesticks, the Harbinger of Doom
- Heimerdinger, the Revered Inventor
- Jayce, the Defender of Tomorrow - Added on July 7, 2012.
- Karma, the Enlightened One - Added on February 2, 2011.
- Karthus, the Deathsinger
- LeBlanc, the Deceiver - Added on November 2, 2010.
- Lissandra, the Ice Witch - Added on April 30, 2013.
- Lux, the Lady of Luminosity - Added on October 19, 2010.
- Malzahar, the Prophet of the Void - Added on June 1, 2010.
- Neeko, the Curious Chameleon - Added on December 5, 2018.
- Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork - Added on June 1, 2011.
- Rumble, the Mechanized Menace - Added on April 26, 2011.
- Ryze, the Rune Mage
- Seraphine, the Starry-Eyed Songstress - Added on October 29, 2020.
- Swain, the Noxian Grand General - Added on October 5, 2010.
- Sylas, the Unshackled
- Syndra, the Dark Sovereign - Added on September 13, 2012.
- Taliyah, the Stoneweaver - Added on May 18, 2016.
- Twisted Fate, the Card Master
- Veigar, the Tiny Master of Evil
- Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void - Added on February 27, 2014.
- Viktor, the Machine Herald - Added on December 29, 2011.
- Vladimir, the Crimson Reaper - Added on July 27, 2010.
- Vex, the Gloomist - Added on September 23, 2021.
- Xerath, the Magus Ascendant - Added on October 5, 2011.
- Ziggs, the Hexplosives Expert - Added on February 1, 2012.
- Zoe, the Aspect of Twilight - Added on November 21, 2017.
Supports
Champions who prefer to stay out of direct combat and instead use their magical abilities defensively to directly assist their team, whether it be buffing allies or disabling enemies.
- Bard, the Wandering Caretaker - Added on March 12, 2015.
- Blitzcrank, the Great Steam Golem
- Ivern, the Green Father - Added on October 5, 2016.
- Janna, the Storm's Fury
- Lulu, the Fae Sorceress - Added on March 30, 2012.
- Morgana, the Fallen
- Nami, the Tidecaller - Added on December 7, 2012.
- Rakan, the Charmer - Added on April 19, 2017.
- Renata Glasc, the Chem-Baroness - Added on February 17, 2022.
- Sona, Maven of the Strings - Added on September 21, 2010.
- Soraka, the Starchild
- Taric, the Shield of Valoran
- Thresh, the Chain Warden - Added on January 23, 2013.
- Yuumi, the Magical Cat - Added on May 14, 2019.
- Zilean, the Chronokeeper
- Zyra, Rise of the Thorns - Added on July 24, 2012.
Fields of Justice
There are currently four maps (also known as Fields of Justice). Riot had previously confirmed they were working working on a "larger" map to release called the "Magma Chambers," but that map was canceled to focus on the Crystal Scar for the Dominion game mode.
- Summoner's Rift - The two bases are separated by a river, which serves as the 'middle' of the Field of Justice. There are three lanes to each base. One lane goes through the middle, and the other two go around the outside of the Field of Justice. On both sides of the river are forests, which are populated with enemies that can be killed for experience, gold, and temporary buffs. The most noteworthy enemy is Baron Nashor, whom is a challenge to take down that usually requires an entire team.
- Twisted Treeline - The Twisted Treeline is a dense forest area set on the Shadow Isles with only two lanes connecting the two opposing nexuses, making it the game's dedicated 3 vs 3 map. The jungle area towards each base hosts an altar that can be captured by either team, granting a team-wide buff that is further improved if both altars are held at the same time. In the very North of the map, a powerful boss monster called Vilemaw has her lair. Defeating her grants the team bonus health and mana regeneration, cooldown reduction and increased attack speed.
- The Crystal Scar (Removed) - The map that all Dominion matches were played upon. Similar to Battlefield, both sides start out with a set number of points representing the nexus health for each team. There are five control points on the map, and controlling a majority will constantly damage the other team's nexus.
- The Howling Abyss - Introduced with the Freljord event patch in April 2013, this Field of Justice is the official ARAM (all random, all mid) battlegrounds, as well as the tutorial map. An icy bridge serves as the sole connection between the two bases, each protected by a line of turrets as well as an inhibitor.
- The Proving Grounds (Removed) - The original tutorial map for the game featured a single lane without adjacent jungle territory. An altered version had served as a map for the custom ARAM mode. It was replaced by The Howling Abyss with the release of the Freljord patch in April 2013.
There are a few common features that most Fields of Justice have in common:
- Bases - Players start in their team's base. Inside there is a shop as well as the structure that they must protect, called the nexus. Each side's minion "waves" spawn from their base and march down the lanes to fight each other.
- Lanes - These are the pre-determined paths that the minions from each side walk down. The majority of the fighting will occur in the lanes.
- Jungle - This term is a carry-over from Defense of the Ancients. In the area between lanes there are neutral monsters of varying difficulty, including an epic monster that bestows advantages upon whomever kills it. The term "jungling" also comes from DotA, and means that a player is focusing on killing the monsters in the jungle instead of the minions in the lane.
- Turrets - Defending each lane are three turrets. These must be "pushed" or destroyed in sequence in order to progress to the enemy minion inhibitor.
- Minion Inhibitor - In each lane, each base has a minion inhibitor, once all the turrets in a lane are down, a summoner's champion may engage and damage an enemy inhibitor. Once a team destroys an enemy inhibitor they will begin to spawn super minions in that lane, that are great for "pushing" or destroying the final two turrets defending the enemy nexus.
- The Nexus - The final piece of resistance to enemies, and the objective of each game. The nexus is defended by one or two turrets, however these two turrets are more powerful and will slowly regenerate health when left alone. It is important when making the final push to have a decent minion army to help push through or a proper tanking champion to take the damage.
Jungle Creeps
Summoner's Rift
- Baron Nashor - An homage to Roshan from DotA, Baron Nashor is the epic monster on the Summoner's Rift map. Killing the Baron usually requires the whole team, though he can be defeated by a smaller group later in the game when the champions are higher level and carrying stronger items. Anyone attacking him is very vulnerable to an ambush by their opponents. He has various attacks, knock backs, and stuns as well. Killing him grants a large amount of gold, and gives a buff to the entire team for three minutes which powers causes players to grant a powerful buff to any nearby minions. This allows the team to be extremely aggressive, pushing into the enemy base with charged-up minion armies. Baron respawns seven minutes after being defeated.
- Rift Herald - A miniature version of Baron Nashor. The Rift Herald has a lot of health and usually takes 2 people minimum to take down. He spawns very early in the game and despawns 20 minutes into the game. The Rift Herald's eye opens when in combat and striking it deals a very large amount of true damage to the herald.
- Dragon - The Dragon is a very tough enemy at the early stages of the game, second in difficulty only to Baron Nashor, although the dragon can easily be solo'ed later on by most champions. He has high hitpoints and his attacks deal significant damage while applying an attack speed debuff. Killing the dragon no longer grants gold as of the season 5 (October 2014) updates, but it grants a stacking buff to the team which lasts the entire game. The buff effects include increased damage, movement speed, and greatly increased damage to enemy minions and structures. The dragon respawns six minutes after being slain.
- Ancient Golem - A large animated stone creature. Killing it grants the "Crest of the Ancient Golem" buff that greatly increases mana regeneration and reduces the cooldowns of all abilities for two and a half minutes. Because the buff creates a blue circle around a champion enhanced by it, it is commonly referred to as "blue buff." Killing a champion with "Crest of the Ancient Golem" will transfer the buff over to his killer, refreshing the duration. Respawns five minutes after being defeated.
- Brambleback - A large vine monster. Killing it grants the "Crest of Cinders" buff which adds bonus damage over time and a slow effect to all normal attacks for two and a half minutes. In opposition to the ancient golem buff, the Brambleback's buff is commonly named "red buff" and killing a holder of the buff will also transfer and refresh the buff. Respawns five minutes after being defeated.
- Krugs - In the north and south on Summoner's Rift, two small golems known as Krugs spawn. They give more gold and experience than normal minions, but are more difficult to kill. They respawn frequently. Smiting the large Krug gives the "Gift of Heavy Hands" buff, which stuns any minion/non-epic monster every 5 autoattacks. This buff lasts a few minutes.
- Wolf Pack - Two smaller wolves accompanied by a bigger pack leader. Respawn frequently.
- Crimson Raptors - A group of four bird creatures, one stronger than the others. Respawn frequently.
- Gromp - A large bullfrog-like creature. Respawns frequently.
Twisted Treeline
- Golems, Wraiths, Wolves - Each half of the map has three frequently respawning Jungle camps surrounding the altar, granting gold and experience to anyone who kills them.
- Vilemaw the Spider - A large boss encounter on the north side of the map, grants a powerful buff for several minutes to all members of the team that kills it. Respawns every 5 minutes.
Dominion
League of Legends: Dominion was a mode that was added to the game but now is no longer playable. It was retired in February 2016. It was played on a new map called The Crystal Scar and its gameplay is quite different from the Classic maps like Summoner's Rift and Twisted Treeline.
Instead of focusing on taking down turrets to reach enemy's Nexus in order to win, in Dominion players will compete in a Capture-and-hold style gameplay. There are five Control Points on The Crystal Scar, each with its own distinct appearance (The Windmill, The Drill, The Boneyard, The Quarry and The Refinery), along with The Seal, which contains powerful buffs. The Crystal Scar also has Health Relics placed at some points on the map, as well as some Speed Shrines.
Dominion is designed for quick and dynamic matches, which is why players start at higher level and more gold than in regular matches. Players also constantly receive gold and experience to eliminate the need for farming and to ensure the quick flow of the game. It also features new items specific for this mode (And some of the other items were made unavailable).
The goal in Dominion is same as in classic games, but it is achieved differently. To win, one team still has to bring down the enemy team's nexus health to zero. Nexus cannot be harmed directly, but it is slowly damaged if one team controls more points than the other team. The rate at which nexus is being destroyed depends on how many points one team controls over the other. If the number of controlled capture points is the same, neither enemy team's Nexus will receive any damage. Enemy nexus can also lose health when an enemy is killed (that effect no longer exists once the nexus' health drops below 100), and by completing newly introduced Dynamic Quests.
Instead of the normal scores, Dominion features a new "Personal Score". Players increase their Personal Score by completing Quests, defending Control Points, capturing enemy Control Points, killing enemies, assisting allies, etc.
ARAM
ARAM is an abbreviation for "All Random, All Mid", a custom game mode originally played on Summoner's Rift and later adapted to a special version of the tutorial map, Proving Grounds. It has since been replaced by the Howling Abyss.
As per the rules of the mode, all players pick randomly assigned champions among their owned pool as well as the weekly, free champion rotation, although it is possible to select either blind pick or tournament draft mode. Champions start the match at level three and gain bonus starting gold as well as a passive experience boost, allowing for faster leveling. However, once leaving the base, a player can no longer buy items from the shop until he or she dies. Additionally, the recall option to teleport to the homebase is disabled on Proving Grounds and the fountain won't restore mana or health anymore. For sustain during the game, four relics respawn periodically along the bottom side of the lane.
ARAM, once only available as a custom game option, now has a dedicated matchmaking lobby as of April 2013. The game mode takes place on the new single-laned Howling Abyss map and includes pieces of lore offered by the two new shopkeeper characters. A new feature is the ability to reroll your randomly selected champion. Players can store a maximum of two rerolls. Points for replenishing rerolls are awarded at the conclusion of ARAM matches.
Payment
League of Legends is free-to-play, with a premium edition for those who wish to pay. People wishing to pay can purchase Riot Points using real currency. Riot Points cannot be used to purchase anything that would give one player a advantage over another such as Runes. Instead, only Champions, Champion Skins, Rune Pages, and Boosts can be purchased Riot Points. 'Boosts' give players greater rewards after finishing a match, such as extra points to spend on Runes, or more experience points for their Summoner.
There are two ways that a player may create their account. Either they can create a free-to-play account or purchase the Collector's Edition. Those who purchase the Collector's Edition have 20 Champions unlocked from the start with a bonus skin and 10$ in Riot Points, while free-to-play accounts only start with access to ten heroes who are on a weekly rotation.
Every player gains Influence Points every time they play a match. These points can be used on extra Champions, or new runes. Champions cost from 450 to 6300 influence points, and their prices are usually scaled based on difficulty to play. Runes increase in price as they increase in power.
In November 2009, Riot introduced a way to buy Riot Points via SMS and Playsafecards.
Events
League of Legends is often updated for special events and holidays. During these special events, unique skins for champions are offered for a limited time. Special "mid tier" runes are also offered. Some previous events include:
- Snowdown Showdown - (December 17, 2009 to January 6, 2010) - The first official event of LoL which featured a winter themed map and holiday themed skins for champions. Health were replaced by Egg Nog (same effect) and Zilean, Teemo, Tristana, Nidalee, and Nunu had unique skins briefly available.
- Winter Games Celebration - (February 12, 2010 to March 2, 2010) In honor of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, LoL changed the winter map again to feature olympics-related decorations. Unique skins will be available for Jax, Veigar, Amumu, Corki, Twitch, Anivia, Kassadin, and Fiddlesticks.
- The Harrowing 2010 - (October 18, 2010 to November 2, 2010) This Halloween patch added a new themed map, as well as new creeps and new skins for Dr. Mundo, Poppy, Katarina, Fiddlesticks, Ryze, and Vladimir. Health potions are replaced by candy corn, mana potions by mana-encrusted apples, and different colored candies for elixirs. The map also randomly features the ghost of Urf, the manatee champion, as an un-attackable mob. Special "Tier 2.5" quintessances were also made available for purchase. The runes had slightly lower stats than Tier 3 runes (almost barely a difference), but their cost was almost half the price of the Tier 3 equivalents.
- The Harrowing 2011 - (October 18, 2011 to November 1, 2011) This Halloween patch added new limited edition skins for Blitzcrank, Annie, Nidalee, and Nocturne. Many other champs received "Halloween skins", though they were not in a limited quantity like the previous four. All health potions, mana potions, and elixirs were changed just like The Harrowing 2010. The only other significant change was that minions were also Halloween-themed: purple minions had pumpkins on their heads, while blue minions wore bat wings on their hats. "Tier 2.5" quintessances were also brought back for purchase.
- The Harrowing 2012 - (October 25, 2012 to November 13, 2012) This massive Halloween patch added a re-worked version of Twisted Treeline, a new champion in Elise, the Spider Queen, updates to the background lore of several champions and offered Halloween-themed skins for Fiora, Hecarim, Ryze and a legendary-tiered Zombie Brand with a dance animation mirroring Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Additionally, this event marked the first appearance of ward skins.
- Snowdown Showdown 2012 - (December 19, 2012 to January 6, 2013) The year's Christmas celebration event offered winter-themed skins for Fiddlesticks, Katarina, Veigar and Ziggs, new temporary wards skins as well as a new gifting center to purchase Riot points, champions or skins for other players. Several new summoner icons were also tied towards donating various gifts to friends.
Competitive Scene
Seasons
League of Legends operates on a season-based schedule similar to battle.net ladder seasons, each season bringing massive changes to the gameplay.
- Season 1 - Began on July 13, 2010 with the arrival of ranked match-making, a ladder system and a new interface. The season concluded on June 20, 2011 at the Dreamhack LAN with the European team Fnatic beating Against all Authority in the grand final for a $50'000 first prize. Over the tournament, more than 1.6 million unique viewers had watched the competition with as many as 200'000 simultaneous viewers.
- Season 2 - Following the overwhelming public interest during the season 1 finals, Riot announced a total of $5 million in prize money to be handed out over the course of the game's second season. The season officially started on November 29, 2011 after changes to the masteries as well as a complete re-work of the Summoner's Rift jungle and other balance changes. It concluded at the World Finals a year later on October 13, 2012 in Los Angeles, where the Taiwanese Taipei Assassins defeated the Korean Azubu Frost team. At the time, the event was the most watched videogame tournament with more than 1.1 million unique concurrent viewers at peak times and a total of 8.2 million unique viewers total.
- Season 3 - Beginning on December 4, 2012 with the pre-season 3 patch, Riot introduced the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). Eight teams from North America and Europe respectively had to qualify to compete in the LCS, a seasonal tournament with weekly matches broadcast by Riot live with professional commentators, match analysis and interviews with players. The top-ranking teams at the end of the season will be elected to represent the region in the Season 3 World Finals.
League System (Season 3)
While ranked play in the first two seasons used a elo-based ladder system, Riot introduced a new League System in February 2013, which split the ladder into six tiers (bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond and challenger) with five divisions in each tier except challenger.
After being initially placed into a tier and division, players gain or lose league points depending on their performance. Reaching 100 league points then triggers a promotion series, either a best of three for a chance to advance a division or a best of five to advance to the next higher tier.
Other events
Outside of the game's ladder seasons, League of Legends is featured in e-Sports tournaments such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League or Dreamhack, many of which are partnered directly with Riot and winners may earn opportunities to compete in the LCS.
Streaming
Many professional players offer live streams of their daily practice on streaming services such as Twitch.tv, interacting with their fanbase or giving general advice. Due to the game's massive popularity, League of Legends is consistently the most watched game on these sites at most hours.
Trivia
- Tom "Zileas" Cadwell, the Design Director of League of Legends, was previously a professional Starcraft player.
- Pendragon, the head of community relations, is responsible for the website dota-allstars.com.
- Urf the Manatee was a Champion whose information was released on April 1st, 2009. It was confirmed to be an April Fool's joke, and is unlikely to be released. However, Riot later released a skin for the champion Corki titled "Urfrider Corki." Instead of riding a helicopter or other flying contraption as he normally does, Urfrider Corki rides a hovering Urf into battle. Urf as also shown up in other skins such as "Urf the Manatee" for Warwick and Fisherman Fizz.
- Each of the champions has a unique taunt, dance, laugh and joke. For example, a joke can be told by typing /joke or /j in chat. Holding shift and pressing numbers 1-4 will also play the respective emote, for example Ctrl+4 makes your champion laugh. Any sounds the champion makes from these commands can be heard by nearby players of either team.
- The game features several easter eggs such as special interactions between characters due to their lore. For instance, any ninja champion loses one health for every other ninja on their team while characters wearing sunglasses suffer one less damage from Leona's passive Sunlight ability.
System Requirements
Minimum | Recommended |
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- Processor: 2 GHz processor
- RAM Memory: 1 GB
- HDD Space: 750 MB
- Graphics Card: DirectX 9.0c capable video card with Pixel Shader 2.0 support
- Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible
- Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7
| - Processor: 3 GHz processor
- RAM Memory: 1 GB
- HDD Space: 750 MB
- Graphics Card: GeForce 8800 or equivalent video card
- Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible
- Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7
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