League of Legends: Top 10 Champions For Beginners
Charlotte Adams League of Legends is already a complicated game to learn, but certain champions can make the learning process easier for beginner gamers.
League of Legends isn't a simple game by any means, and many of the champions are also quite complicated. For new players, complex champions like Azir and Irelia may not be the best choice, but there are fortunately champions for players at all mechanical skill levels.
Importantly, there are beginner champions for every role. It's key for new players to realize that even in the five roles, there are different traditional niches those champions can occupy. Top laners can go tank or fighter, supports have ranged and melee options. Thankfully, all of these niches have a perfect beginner champion that will enable anyone to get a hang of the game.
Top Lane Fighter - Garen
Garen: The Might of Demacia has no skill shots (targeted abilities that aren't guaranteed to hit) in his kit. His gameplay is largely rooted in the concept of spinning around mindlessly before casting his ultimate: a guaranteed burst of damage on any target.
The fact that all of Garen's kit is guaranteed damage paired with how bulky and difficult to kill he is early on makes him a perfect starter champion. Garen mains can also get a lot of lore from playing him. And between his sister Lux and his sworn Legends enemy Sylas, Garen is an essential figure in many other champions' stories.
Top Lane Tank - Malphite
Malphite: Shard of the Monolith is a rock-solid tank with a crushing ultimate. Malphite's ultimate ability, Unstoppable Force, sends him flying toward an enemy while doing massive damage and knocking them out in the process.
Malphite is a simple character who can't really miss his abilities. He also does well into many ranged champions, something that not all top laners can boast about. Malphite's ultimate ability is the main reason people choose him, with the ability to engage fights from far away and do massive damage (despite his status as a tank) being incredibly useful.
Tank Jungler - Warwick
Warwick: The Uncaged Wrath of Zaun is a monstrous werewolf with the ultimate ability Infinite Duress. Warwick's ultimate, similar to Malphite, allows him to leap to any opponent and leave the opponent unable to move while Warwick leeches health from them.
Fans will be excited to know that Warwick will likely appear in Arcane season 2. But Warwick is more than just a fun potential cartoon antagonist, he's also a menace on the rift. Warwick's simple kit is great at starting team fights or picking off unsuspecting targets, and his mix of tankiness and damage means he's rarely useless even if newer players take a few deaths early on him.
Carry Jungler - Master Yi
For junglers that want to sacrifice durability for damage, Master Yi: The Wuju Bladesman is the champion. Yi's ultimate, Highlander, is incredibly simple. While his ultimate is active, his attack speed and movement speed spike.
Yi's entire kit is based around two core principles: running up to people and auto-attacking them. He may be the simplest carry champion in the game, and unlike top and mid lane melee carries, he's always farming in his jungle, making him more difficult to punish early game. The champion is also perfect for players who get a rush for pentakills: according to Riot, Yi is one of the best in the game at killing all 5 enemies in one fight.
Mid Lane Mage - Annie
While some may see Annie and think she's just a cute League of Legends champion with a stuffed bear, "The Dark Child" is actually a terrifying mage with a dangerous ultimate. When Annie uses her ult, her stuffed bear Tibbers is brought to life and does constant magic damage to opponents in his range.
Last hitting minions is one of the most essential parts of the game, and Annie makes this process incredibly easy with her Q, which restores mana when it last hits a minion. Aside from easy farming, Annie also has a killer stun that's simple to execute, and an ultimate that can take out enemies on its own.
Mid Lane Assassin - Talon
Talon: The Blade's Shadow is a killer mid lane assassin that has also historically been able to be played in the jungle. Talon's ultimate, Shadow Assault, lets him become invisible before dashing to a champion and dealing intense damage.
Part of what makes Talon a beginner-friendly assassin is his ability to roam across the map so freely. Early laning and last hitting can be tricky for newer players, and Talon makes both of those easier by forcing a playstyle that revolves around quickly wiping out minion waves before roaming to the other lanes and picking off enemies.
Bot Lane Utility - Ashe
Ashe: The Forst Archer is part of a sub-genre of marksman that trades damage for crowd control and other types of utility. Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrow is a map-wide ultimate that stuns the first enemy hit, and her basic ability Hawkshot can spot out enemies anywhere on the map.
Ashe's ability to slow and stun enemies makes kiting, the most essential part of playing a marksman, much easier. Players won't get the same damage out of her that they might from other champions in the same role, but the team will also get more information and have an easier time because of Ashe's utility.
Bot Lane Hypercarry - Jinx
On the exact opposite end of the spectrum from Ashe is Jinx: The Loose Cannon. Jinx is invested in doing as much damage as possible. Like Ashe, her ultimate is a global skill shot: Super Mega Death Rocket. Unlike Ashe, Jinx's ultimate all damage.
Fans may be thrilled to know that Jinx is one of the best champions from Arcane, and is often one of the best marksmen in general. She's not as easy to pick up as other beginner champions, but compared to other hyper carries her versatility in range makes her a bit more forgiving. Ultimately, the investment to get good at Jinx will be worth it since she's usually strong regardless of the patch, and she's relatively straightforward for a hyper carry.
Enchanter Support - Soraka
Soraka: The Starchild is a champion focused completely on healing. Her ultimate, Wish, is a global ultimate that heals every single ally at once. Her W ability is another healing spell that allows her to transfer her own health to her allies.
There are certainly easier enchanters than Soraka, notably Yuumi. However, Soraka actually teaches players a lot of the basic fundamentals of playing ranged supports, so the skills picked up will be more translatable. Unlike most beginner-friendly champions, Soraka has a skill shot in her Q. However, it's a decent hitbox on the ability and it isn't the end of the world to miss a few of them.
Engage Support - Leona
For melee engage supports, Leona: The Radiant Dawn is a powerful tank with a ton of crowd control in her kit. Leona's ultimate, Solar Flare, is an AoE blast that stuns champions in the center and slows those in the outer ring.
Leona's tankiness makes her hard to punish early, and her skill shots have fairly forgiving hitboxes. She can also carry fights from the beginning with her surprising early game damage. Leona's biggest weakness is that her only option is to charge into the enemy, but that simplistic playstyle also makes her very beginner-friendly.
