On the last Multiverse we had Jeremy from MMO Voices on the show and he was excited about League of Legends. He explained it a bit to me and I thought it seemed interesting enough to download. Unfortunately I did so without getting a referral from him (sorry about that)! On the positive side of things I’m absolutely in love with the game despite the fact it is PvP focused. It is also one of the few games that work really well for me here in Germany. There is always someone to play with/against and I can sneak in a quick game here and there. It isn’t my EverQuest II but it is a lot of fun!
The general premise of League of Legends is that you play the role of a summoner and control a champion. There are a whole lot of champions to choose from and this concept is based off of the heroes from Warcraft III. They each have three regular abilities and one ultimate ability. All of these are unlocked over time as your champion gains levels in a given match. Summoners can also buy items in the match to augment their chosen avatar.
Each match is self contained. All levels, items and abilities earned during a match are lost when it is over. The persistence comes from your summoner. As you complete more matches you gain experience and influence points (IP). Experience earns you levels which unlocks spells, mastery points and rune slots. Spells can be cast in a match, mastery points let you build a specialization (think WoW talent trees), and runes give small bonuses to the champions. On the other side of things you can use IP to unlock new champions and runes. Everything you need to play is absolutely free! If you want to get things sooner you can spend some cash and buy riot points. There is nothing game altering that can be purchased with riot points that cannot be purchased with influence!
I’ve been enjoying the quick matches the game offers. You don’t have to go out and look for one. The matching system will help you find it easily. You can play with friends, meet some decent people, ignore some really annoying ones, and have a good time. It really feels like a mini-sport to me. This is how I expect PvP to go. Every match starts out relatively even. You can get a small advantage via your runes and mastery choices of course but I have yet to be completely destroyed. This works and I like it!
The game is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it to anyone who might enjoy a little PvP every now and then. It is completely free and allows you to spend as little or as much as you’d like. I haven’t spent a penny yet but I plan to at least send a bit of money to Riot Games because I’ve certainly got enough entertainment out of the product to pay for it. If you’d like to play with me you can get the game (via my referral) here and add FerrelES to your friend list! I’m not amazing but I’m learning my character pretty well!
A basic tip that you might find useful as a new player is that you don’t start with any champions. Each week there is a list of free ones for you to use. Just know that if you learn one really well you’ll have to buy it to continue to use it once the week ends. That can be done with IP (aka free)! So figure out who on the list is relatively inexpensive and practice with that one. That way you can start earning enough IP to buy a more expensive one later on!
When you’re working on a lane (the path from your towers to the enemy towers) do not leave the safety of your minions. They will mindlessly wander towards the enemy to engage other minions and towers. It is very dangerous to be out there by yourself!
Have you entered the EQ2 Traveling Trivia Contest yet? Answer some simple lore questions for a chance to win EverQuest 2 Extended Gold Membership game time!
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Riot Games should put up a new slogan: “League of Legends: Almost as Addictive as Minecraft!” =p