Your friend has just announced that they’ll be trying out League of Legends – the catchy K/DA songs and flashy cinematics have finally lured them in. But let’s be real: you probably know from experience that LoL isn’t… the most beginner-friendly game. That’s why today I’ll be sharing with you some easy ways to make their first matches fun.
Your friend has just announced that they’ll be trying out League of Legends – the catchy K/DA songs and flashy cinematics have finally lured them in. But let’s be real: you probably know from experience that LoL isn’t exactly… the most beginner-friendly game. In fact, it’s downright daunting; the learning curve is huge, with over 150 champions, thousands of potential matchups and an ever-changing meta.
But hey, your friend doesn’t have to suffer quite like you did when you first started out! You’re there to help them, and I’m here to help you through the process; today I’ll be sharing with you some easy ways to make their first matches fun.
If your friend has no experience with MOBAs, it’s a good idea to get them to first read a LoL beginner guide before they dive into the Rift. However, that doesn’t mean sending them a long, arduous “all you need to know” guide, and telling them to read, learn and consume all the knowledge it bestows.
Sure, in a perfect world, your friend will enthusiastically accept the quest, and spend their evening learning everything there is to know from the guide. But it’s not a perfect world, and in a not so perfect world most people aren’t going to spend their evening reading an hour-long guide about a game they haven’t even played. In fact, sending your friend such a detailed guide will probably have the opposite effect: it’ll put them off the game completely.
However, your friend does need to understand the basics; we’re talking stuff like what the objective of the game is, how turrets work and what lanes are. Otherwise, they’ll be utterly confused from the get-go and get frustrated when you ramble on about turrets, lanes and minions.
The solution? Send them a quick beginner guide – 10 minutes tops – which covers the bare minimum. It’ll give your friend a good grasp of what they need to know, so when they do play their first game they won’t spend the initial 10 minutes dying repeatedly to turrets.
Garen with his spin to win mechanics may be the best champ for a new player to pick up, but remember: your goal is to ensure they have a fun time. Your friend needs to pick champions they’re drawn to – maybe they think Annie looks cute and love the idea of controlling an oversized plush bear (shoutout to Tibbers!), or maybe they’ve fallen in love with Darius’s brawn and dunkin’ ultimate.
Even if your friend wants to play the two terrible brothers, Yone and Yasuo, don’t stop them. Breathe. Exhale and resist that urge to scream that they can’t become one of “those” players.
Let them play whatever they like. Let them experiment and get a feel for the game. If you dictate which champions they can and can’t play, it’ll be frustrating, feel seriously limiting and deter them from playing altogether.
What you can do, however, is politely guide their choices. For example, if you know they really enjoy playing the support role in other games, you can point out all the support champions to them. That way, they’ll definitely be playing a champion that they’ll like the look AND playstyle of!
When your friend hits level 3, you might be tempted to introduce them to blind pick so they can get some “real player” experience. But don’t. Stick to bot games. If you throw them into a blind game as soon as they hit level 3, there’s no telling what kinds of opponents they may face. They might be put up against a smurf in lane and going 0/20 in their first proper game is probably going to shatter any enthusiasm they had for League.
In comparison, bots enable your friend to learn the ropes at their own pace; you can gradually increase the difficulty of the opponents when you feel your friend is ready.
Giving your friend some fun, mini-goals will motivate them to play more, and it’ll help make the game feel rewarding even if they end up dying repeatedly.
Of course, just make sure the goals you set them are completely reachable – if you make them too difficult, you’ll just end up perma-tilting them. If you need some inspiration, here’s a few easy goal ideas:
You can even consider giving them goals specifically for the champion they’re playing. For example, if your friend is playing Blitzcrank, tell them the goal is to land 3 hooks.
Don’t rush your friend to hit level 30, and certainly don’t imply to them that the “real” game begins at level 30 when they can play ranked and battle for LP. If they dive straight into ranked, they’ll probably end up with a rank that isn’t exactly shiny, and it might ruin their morale when it comes to climbing.
As the old saying goes, slow and steady wins the race. Let your friend take all the time they need. Encourage them to get a feel of the game and to strengthen their knowledge before they attempt any ranked games.
As I mentioned earlier, overwhelming your friend with game knowledge is a recipe for disaster: they’ll feel lost, get frustrated, and eventually implode and smash their head against their keyboard (well, maybe not the latter, but you get the point).
When your friend first starts playing, your goal isn’t to teach them how to get better at the game, your goal is to allow them to explore the game, and to help them have as much fun as possible! If they have questions along the way, then obviously answer them, but keep it simple. Don’t ramble on about lollypopping, stutter-stepping and other advanced concepts.
If your friend dies walking into the turret, simply remind them that doing that without minions is probably not the best idea. If your friend forgets to buy items, remind them to recall and tell them to purchase the recommended items.
When you’re playing with a new player there’s no denying it can be tilting – you tell them to not walk into turrets. They get executed 5 times. You teach them to only use heal when they’re about to die. They use it for movement speed at full health.
But no matter how tilting, remember that your friend is bound to make mistakes. LoL is painfully complex, so be patient, don’t belittle them and certainly don’t get frustrated. If your friend can tell you’re getting frustrated at them, it’ll put them off the game completely.
Keeping a positive attitude also means never flaming your opponents or other members of your team. If you show toxicity you’ll be passing on this negative attitude to your friend, and it can actually hinder their game performance in the long-term.
For example, if you claim the enemy Nasus only won against you because the champ is “OP,” your friend will take that to mean there’s no point in learning how to play around him, and every time they’re up against a Nasus they’ll simply ff15.
Stay calm and reflect on your own mistakes. Explain to your friend your own flaws and what went wrong. Both you and your friend can learn a lot more about the game this way, and you’ll also be showing them the best way to improve is through reflection and staying positive. Plus, it’ll be pretty reassuring for them to know that even you, with years of experience, still make mistakes just like them!
This leads on from our last point – keeping a positive attitude also entails praising your buddy. If you’re thrashing the game while your friend is dying left, right and center, they’re going to think that they suck, even if they’re playing pretty well for a new player.
Remind your friend that you’ve been playing the game for much longer than they have, and praise them for their small victories. If they manage to get a kill, (yep, even if they stole it from you), praise them. If they manage to use Flash successfully and escape certain death, congratulate them.
The more your friend feels like they don’t completely suck, the greater chance they’ll want to get better at the game.
Once you feel your friend is ready for PVP, we recommend starting with ARAM. ARAM will expose them to plenty of new champions and fighting situations in a less overwhelming game style, making it a fast and fun way to learn what each champion does, how to position and how to team fight.
Plus, because it’s a group brawl, your friend will virtually never be a 1vs1 situation. This means if they end up going 0/10, they probably won’t take the blow too personally!
As ARAM is more of a fun game mode rather than a competitive mode, players are also typically less toxic. In other words, it’s a great way to get your friend to experience some PVP without being exposed to the harsh, toxic darkness lurking underneath the Rift’s colorful façade.
Of course, the /muteall option will do the trick as well.
If you introduce your friend to League while keeping in mind the tips above, you’ll be able to help them explore what League has to offer without them feeling like they’re beyond all its complexity.
Of course, League won’t be everyone’s game of choice, so don’t feel disappointed if your friend’s not into it. There will be plenty more games you can play together – you could even try TFT or Valorant. And hey, who knows? Your friend might have a change of heart when the next epic League cinematic gets released.
