League of Legends is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game with roots from the widely popular game, Defense of the Ancients or otherwise widely known as Dota. Dota was first created on Blizzard’s Warcraft III via user made maps. It was surprisingly popular and immediately became the most played game on Warcraft III. After the decline of users on Warcraft, many people sought alternatives which is where League of Legends stepped in. League of Legends, commonly referred to as “LoL” first started their closed beta in 2009 and has now spread worldwide.
At first glance you would notice the unique “cartoon” art style of the game which I personally enjoy. The play style is relative similar to Dota with a few additions and tweaks here and there. Some interesting things for new users would be:
Brush
Brush is the tall grassy terrain on a map that provides a champion with a form of stealth. Upon entering the brush, a champion immediately (no fade time) becomes invisible to enemy units outside of that particular patch of brush.Summoner Spells
Summoners are allowed the use of two Summoner spells during any fight in the Fields of Justice. These spells have a direct impact on the action in the battle arena. Summoners, for example, can heal their champion, damage opposing minions directly, teleport their champion anywhere in the Field of Justice they are in, fortify their team’s turret defenses, and a slew of other game-impacting results.Runes
Before a battle arena match begins, a Summoner will make use of Runes to augment their champion’s fighting abilities.Masteries
A summoner is able to focus their intense magical training into three specific categories – offense, defense, and utility – which collectively are known as masteries.
Aside from the traditional Dota map, LoL offers two new maps; Twisted Treeline (3v3) and Crystal Scar (5v5 Dominion) to play on giving users a new twist on the normal. The LoL community is amazing and there are videos on Youtube showing user created art for the game. There is a learning curve to LoL but don’t let that get you down. Play with a friend(s) and most importantly, have fun with it! More information can be found at the League of Legends website here.
