Massively Speaking http://massively.joystiq.com This is the Massively podcast http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Massively SpeakingJoystiqMassively Speaking<![CDATA[The Summoner's Guidebook: Getting friends to enjoy League of Legends]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/13/the-summoners-guidebook-getting-friends-to-enjoy-league-of-leg/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/13/the-summoners-guidebook-getting-friends-to-enjoy-league-of-leg/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/13/the-summoners-guidebook-getting-friends-to-enjoy-league-of-leg/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Summoner's Guidebook Getting friends to enjoy League of Legends
I find the mainstream success of League of Legends to be extremely baffling. If you break down the skills you need to be an effective player in the MOBA genre, they are daunting. The mechanical skill cap to be acceptable is unacceptably high, and the knowledge burden is enormous. Other MOBAs have dozens of characters and hundreds or thousands of matchups. League of Legends' character pool is so unbelievably large that even professionals cannot grasp the entirety of its design space.

While I can't fathom how normal people find a game this hard fun, I can simply accept it. That makes it quite possible to get our friends and significant others hooked. However, because League is a hard game, it is probably best that we be careful when we try to teach our friends. It's pretty easy to scare them with the enormous difficulty in the game.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Getting friends to enjoy League of Legends originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Team leaders roam League of Legends' jungle
Leader. Shot caller. Playmaker. The jungler is the heart of a League of Legends team. On both Summoner's Rift and Twisted Treeline, the jungler is the leader of the pack. More than any other role, the jungler is called upon and expected to swing the game in his favor. He's expected to be everywhere at once. If a laning player dies to an enemy jungle gank, it is her jungler's fault for not being there. If a laning player fails to make a kill happen, it's also her jungler's fault. It is any jungler's personal experience that if lost game is not lost in the laning phase or blame cannot be pinned on a specific person, the jungler is always to blame.

With this responsibility comes great power, however. The jungler has the ability to influence a match in numerous covert and overt ways. He can steal enemy creeps to disrupt the opposing jungler or even influence lanes by stealing the enemy blue buff. He can make his presence known via ganks and directly impact the outcome of lane confrontations. Perhaps most notably, the jungler can place wards to warn his teammates of enemy incursions and/or allow them to make better strategic decisions.

While the support can be a team leader as well, the role defaults to the man in the jungle. When he comes from the cover of the trees to strike at his foes, they quake in terror.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Team leaders roam League of Legends' jungle originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Jun 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook League of Legends isn't just one gametype
After last week's edition of the Summoner's Guidebook, I realized that one of the things I sort of take for granted is the advantage of taking many of LoL's different gametypes into account when I value a particular item. For instance, last week we talked a lot about Rabadon's Deathcap, but it (and its sister item Wooglet's Witchcap) has drastically different values in different game modes. It's a lot easier to justify buying a Deathcap when you have easy sources of gold and a lot of time when you're trying to gather it. If you have to fight, more defense becomes an imperative.

If you don't play a lot of Dominion or Twisted Treeline, you might not realize that Bloodthirster and Infinity Edge are hard to buy when fights can erupt faster than ultimate skills can recharge. Expensive items like a Needlessly Large Rod or BF Sword are hard to justify when you can get some interim item that provides more balanced stats and will help win the fights you're fighting now.

Playing other game modes also gives you a broader look at League of Legends. You don't see the value of certain stats -- particularly HP -- until you realize that an extra 200-500 HP can cause a huge swing in the course of an engagement.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: League of Legends isn't just one gametype originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 30 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Why you shouldn't always buy Deathcap on LoL casters
Once upon a time (OK, a few weeks ago), I was playing an ARAM as Diana. I had a fairly bad score (I'm passive and don't chase kills), and we lost. One of my teammates blamed me, claiming my item build was awful. It was largely because I didn't build Rabadon's Deathcap.

Deathcap is one of the perennial caster items in League of Legends. Not only does it give an enormous amount of ability power, but it also increases all of your ability power (including what it grants) by a whopping 30%. This seems so ridiculously powerful! Even though it's expensive, 30% increase in AP is such a huge boost to damage that it can't be beaten.

Is this really the case, though? In Summoner's Rift, I completely agree that Deathcap is a great item. In Twisted Treeline, Wooglet's Witchcap (the replacement item for Deathcap) is also incredible. However, in Dominion and ARAM, the fast-paced action and frequent conflicts change the nature of the wizard hats considerably.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Why you shouldn't always buy Deathcap on LoL casters originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 May 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Teaching ourselves LoL matchups
I'm always looking for things to teach players in the Summoner's Guidebook. We have, however, covered a lot of the low hanging fruit in one way or another. In League of Legends, and virtually every other asymmetric competitive game, matchup knowledge comprises the huge bulk of information that is truly useful to read about. This week was originally going to be a counter-Ryze guide, but then I decided to cover a broader topic to help reach more people.

I don't really like discussing specific character matchups largely because the character you're using matters almost as much as your opponent's. What does Ryze do against Kassadin in lane, for instance? The answer is not a whole lot if the Kassadin is decent. I could write a counter-Kassadin guide, but a lot of it wouldn't be usable by Ryze. Instead, this week we'll discuss how to think about the opponent's kit and develop a strategy to win on your own (or at least survive).

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Teaching ourselves LoL matchups originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook How do assassins work in League of Legends
In case you didn't notice, the title of this week's column is a question. It's not because I know the answer; it's because I've been thinking a lot about it lately and don't have a really good answer.

Assassins are in a strange state when it comes to teamfights. In League of Legends, there's a period when teams tend to group up to fight over objectives. This marks the midgame in Summoner's Rift, it happens after altars unlock in Twisted Treeline, and it occurs anytime both teams know where the other team is on the Crystal Scar. We've discussed teamfights a lot already, but what is troubling is the presence of assassins in these fights. Assassins are best when they're able to jump in and kill an unprepared target, ideally before a teamfight starts. Once that's done, their team can jump in with a numbers advantage and take the objective or wipe out the enemy.

When both teams are grouped up ahead of time, assassins lose a lot of their might. Assassins can't kill without exposing themselves to heavy risk, which makes them a liability to their team until they jump in. After they jump in, they're still likely to be the first ones to get focused down.

What do we do about this? What's the solution? I don't have a clear answer -- but I can still share my observations.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: How do assassins work in League of Legends? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 May 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Playing LoL's new ARAM mode
Many of you already know what ARAM is -- it's a phenomenon that is hardly exclusive to League of Legends, and even in MOBAs where there isn't a map built for it, ARAM matches are played. Before the 3.6 patch, I tended to play ARAM matches either before or after my normal play sessions. I typically played a couple of games of Classic or Dominion, with a game or two of ARAM either before or after. As I've mentioned in the past, I enjoy ARAM as a way to unwind and practice without stress.

Patch 3.6 changed this by removing the Proving Grounds, replacing it with the Howling Abyss, and making ARAM a dedicated gametype with its own matchmaking. Now I play probably twice as many games as before, typically 8 to 10 ARAM games with no other matches. As it turns out, even I'm vulnerable to casual fun. The 3.6 patch also added in quite a few cool features that make ARAM much, much better than the pick-up custom games. I think that it's a great addition to League of Legends, especially for those who aren't particularly hardcore.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Playing LoL's new ARAM mode originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 02 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Support in League of Legends doesn't mean healing
Out of all the roles in League of Legends, support is the most misunderstood. People expect supports to be similar to healing classes in other games, the kinds of characters who knit sweaters and cook dinner while the real warriors go out and fight on the front lines. When people first learn about the metagame, they often have the mistaken impression that because the support doesn't farm, there are fewer expectations of the playstyle.

However, supports are less like MMO healers and more like the shortstop in baseball. He's not a baseman, but that gives him flexibility to be where a baseman can't be. He's constantly in the thick of the action, and his team regularly relies on him to make plays. In League, the support's freedom from farming gives her the freedom to roam, to fish for aggressive opportunities and shut down the enemy. She can even wander into mid lane or the enemy jungle in search of these opportunities. Far from a shrinking violet, the support is one of the biggest playmakers on her team.

I got my start in LoL playing support, and it's a role I inherently understand well. I'm not really happy making aggressive lane plays and would prefer to relax and let my mechanics win my games for me (hence why I like ADC), but when thrust into the role of playmaker, I do reasonably well. For team leaders or just people who like to make others play by their rules, support is the role of choice.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Support in League of Legends doesn't mean healing originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook It takes skill to right click stuff in League of Legends
I've mentioned in passing that my favorite role on Summoner's Rift is ADC, otherwise known as "AD Carry" or "ranged DPS." This might be a bit of a surprise for some of you. Typically in League of Legends, the jungler is the playmaker, and if not, the support is. The playmaker roles seem like more suited to me, especially because I write guides on how to make plays. The ADC is the opposite of a playmaker. She's incredibly reactionary, relying on others to start things so she can finish them. Bruisers, tanks, junglers, mages, and supports all have tools to make things happen, but not the ADC.

I didn't learn to love carrying right away. It was sort of an evolutionary process, moving from support to mid to never-playing-SR-again to top to jungle to ADC. One of the things I love about ADC is that you can't be good at it starting out. You can be better than the people you're playing against, but you can't be good at it at all. The huge technical curve, more than anything else, is what attracts me to the role.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: It takes skill to right-click stuff in League of Legends originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ad-carryadccarrycarryingf2pfeaturedfree-to-playleagueleague-of-legendslolmobaopinionpassive-aggressivepatiencepatientranged-carryranged-dpsriotriot-gamessummoners-guidebookthe-summoners-guidebookThu, 18 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Summoner's Guidebook: Reworking three League of Legends champions]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/04/11/the-summoners-guidebook-reworking-three-league-of-legends-cham/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/04/11/the-summoners-guidebook-reworking-three-league-of-legends-cham/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/04/11/the-summoners-guidebook-reworking-three-league-of-legends-cham/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

The Summoner's Guidebook Reworking three League of Legends champions
The Karma rework was probably one of the most-anticipated events to happen in recent League of Legends history. Karma was a character that was well-liked by the whole community but was almost universally seen as bad. With a surprising change to her model and lore as well as her ability set, Karma has risen from the ashes as an entirely different character. The changes to Karma are similar to the changes to Evelynn, in that Riot completely removed an old character and transplanted someone else that superficially resembled the old character in her place.

However, I was really surprised when Riot decided to rework two additional champions as well. The studio took Trundle out of the jungle and into the frozen mountains of Freljord, reworking his kit to reflect the changes in his lore. Sejuani, on the other hand, was much like Karma: a champion that didn't mechanically fit. Little changed about her lore, but she decided to put on some clothes and storm off to Summoner's Rift as a new woman. But are the changes to these three characters good for the League, or were the characters better off staying the same?

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Reworking three League of Legends champions originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Dealing with emotional stress in LoL
League of Legends is a frustrating game. As much as I portray myself as an unfeeling robot in the Summoner's Guidebook, I am not a paragon of precise execution and flawless decision-making. I've mentioned that I experience rage at my fellow players just as much as the next person. In fact, I probably get upset when I play more frequently than a typical player does.

As many of you have probably noticed, I take League of Legends pretty seriously. I don't screw around or play oddball characters. I don't like the idea of "playing for fun," even though I like to have fun as much as the next person. Saying "I play for fun" is just an excuse to dodge responsibility for my failures, and I don't like to play that way. I like to think that my contribution in a game matters, and two to four other people are counting on me to play my best. Even though that responsibility is hard to carry sometimes, it's better to shoulder it than to mindlessly mash my face on the keyboard and expect a win.

The problem is that sometimes it wears on me. I will frequently play only one game in a day if that one game ends up causing me a lot of frustration. It isn't about winning or losing; it's about dealing with the emotional frustration that comes from a game outside my control.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Dealing with emotional stress in League of Legends originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook The best ways to ruin a gank in League of Legends
In League of Legends' Classic mode, jungling is my second-most preferred role. I prefer ADC first, since it is very taxing on attention and raw skill matters more than strategy. However, as a jungler, I can impact the game more meaningfully. While being ADC allows me to usually win the game in spite of awful teammates, jungling helps me prevent those awful teammates from throwing the game away.

When I'm going for a gank, there's nothing worse than someone mucking it up for me -- except when I screw it up myself. It's frustrating when I ping for a gank and my mid lane proceeds to engage and die to his opponent before I get there. It's even worse when I run through a place that I know is warded, attempt a gank anyway, and get jumped by three opponents. Sometimes a gank wasn't meant to be, but most of the time, we botched it all on our own.

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: The best ways to ruin a gank in League of Legends originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook League of Legends' hardest choices
Sometimes League of Legends gives us hard choices. As a jungler, I'm frequently tasked with the difficult decision of whether to gank or counter-jungle and where I should do so. After a lost teamfight, you also have to make a lot of decisions about how to turn the game around. Should you buy elixirs? Should you try to farm and stall the game out or force another teamfight in a better position?

These are all difficult choices. However, most players have to deal with the toughest question of all: Which champion should I unlock next?

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MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: League of Legends' hardest choices originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Staging the perfect comeback in League of Legends
The chips are down and you're behind. The enemy has only two turrets down, and your inhibitor turrets are barely standing. Your own jungle is warded, and the only thing that lets you know your enemies aren't going for Baron is that you can see them charging up your mid lane.

We've all had those kinds of games in our League of Legends career. While I'm a big advocate of surrendering early, there are those who want to fight until the bitter end. Is there any chance of winning? Maybe, maybe not. This week, we'll look at how to win games when you've probably already lost.

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Staging the perfect comeback in League of Legends

MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Staging the perfect comeback in League of Legends originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook The little stories League of Legends creates
Recently, one of you guys asked to see more personal stories showcasing my experiences in League of Legends. Normally I'm not as fond of doing that sort of thing unless there's a moral in the story somewhere. I like teaching, so that is what the Guidebook does a lot of. The column's name is the Summoner's Guidebook for that reason, after all!

However, I was thinking about it when I was playing last week, and I ended up playing a really great unranked, blind pick game. The outcome was very close, and the overall dynamics of the game were a firm reminder of why I play League of Legends. There was no "mid or feed." It began with good communication by our team and good sportsmanship by both teams at the end. In my mind, that makes this story one worth sharing with you.

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: The little stories League of Legends creates

MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: The little stories League of Legends creates originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook LoL melts special snowflakes
Never let it be said that I don't listen to feedback. Recently, one of you readers suggested that I write about following the metagame, and I thought, "Hey, why not?" This was largely spawned by the Penny Arcade comic suggesting that somehow, a player should pick the champion he wants without regard for what his team needs.

Who actually believes that this is a good thing to do? League of Legends is a team game. Characters in LoL are designed with strengths and weaknesses. It is not only important but natural to pick characters that fit together. The natural evolution of this thought process is the metagame: a series of standard roles that characters can fill on a team. I've talked about meta before, and you guys seem to have differing opinions than I do. "Meta is for the sheep," you say. I don't think that picking the right man for the job makes you a sheep. I think of it more like running with the pack rather than being a lone wolf.

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: LoL melts special snowflakes

MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: LoL melts special snowflakes originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Punishing common LoL laning mistakes
This week in the Summoner's Guidebook, we're getting back to the basics of League of Legends. Laning tactics are an incredibly broad topic, and they're also a springboard to developing good teamfighting skills. When you can take your narrow laning focus into a teamfight and think broadly about a situation, you'll know that you've really made a big leap in skill.

Although the header suggests we're talking about mistakes, this week's column is largely on the topic of counting cooldowns. We've already talked a bit about positioning mistakes, so the only option left on the agenda is timing mistakes. By the time you're finished reading today, you should have a good grasp on how to make an opponent waste a useful skill and take advantage of that skill's cooldown to punish him.

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Punishing common LoL laning mistakes

MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Punishing common LoL laning mistakes originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Our least favorite LoL champions
Everyone has preferences. We're naturally attracted to the aesthetics of certain characters, or perhaps we really like a character's gameplay or even his voice actor. For instance, everyone knows that I really like Poppy, but I'm attracted to a lot of other characters. I tend to like the "mature" seductive women like Ahri, Nidalee, or Zyra, for instance. I also really love Jax and his overconfident fighter attitude (plus "Pizza the Champ" jokes), and I really love Udyr and Sona's stance mechanics. Everyone loves Riven, too; the combination of a shy, talented warrior woman with really cool, combo-oriented gameplay tends to make her a favorite of many summoners.

League of Legends is a big game and has a lot of characters, though. Not all characters are equally loved. This week, we're going to look at some of the champions I personally can't stand, generally because I hate fighting against them.

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Our least favorite LoL champions

MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Our least favorite LoL champions originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook Winning LoL games takes good decisions
Decision-making is a broad topic, so I am a bit hesitant to cover it directly. It's the little things that contribute to victory in League of Legends, and decision-making is not a little thing. It's a big topic with a lot of ground to cover. As I've said many times in the past, experience is the best teacher, and I can only tell you what to look for.

However, I wanted to bring the column back around to talking about what it takes to step up your game. By now, you've heard me talk at length about mechanical things -- things like last-hitting or aiming skillshots that you can sit down and practice. I've talked more on narrow things like how to make a good team composition or execute ganks. Now I'm going to begin to put everything together and talk about what things you should think about before you click to move on the minimap, place a ward, or ping your team to go for dragon. Good decisions win LoL games, and whether you're a pro or an amateur, you can improve on the choices you make.

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Winning LoL games takes good decisions

MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Winning LoL games takes good decisions originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook A year of summoning Guidebooks
It feels sort of strange to be writing the one year anniversary of the Summoner's Guidebook. On the one hand, it feels like yesterday since Shawn asked me to do more MOBA coverage and I pitched the idea of a League of Legends column to him. On the other hand, it feels like I've been writing about League for ages. I've grown tremendously as a player; from a guy who stomps pubbies in low-Elo games to a guy who gets stomped by experts in high-Elo games. I have no illusions about going pro, but I've made a lot of progress up the skill ladder.

I don't chalk up this advancement to chance or aptitude. I know I didn't get here on my own. I have you guys to thank -- faithful readers who have read my column, either silently or vocally in the comments, who force performance upon me. I can't just be a hypocrite and tell you to practice a skill. I have to practice what I preach! When my authority in this column falls on my ability to execute on the battlefield, I need to step up my game. This week's Guidebook is my love letter to all of you.

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: A year of summoning Guidebooks

MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: A year of summoning Guidebooks originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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