Source: Riot Games
Entering the world of multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) can be quite intimidating. Players must master a wide range of mechanics while also familiarizing themselves with each character and item available. Failing to do so can leave you unprepared to counter opponents or make the best item purchases.
While League of Legends: Wild Rift serves as the mobile adaptation of League of Legends, it still demands a specific degree of understanding and expertise to fully appreciate the gameplay. This guide for newcomers will equip you with the necessary resources to reach that level.
Wild Rift is a multiplayer online battle arena game.
Contents
Whether you’re choosing Wild Rift as your initial mobile gaming experience or you’re a dedicated enthusiast of different genres venturing into the MOBA realm for the first time, it’s crucial to grasp what lies ahead.
A multiplayer online battle arena usually features two teams of five players each competing against one another on a shared battlefield. In Wild Rift, the arena is aptly named Wild Rift and is bisected diagonally by a river.
The map is a mirror image, indicating that the landscape in the upper section is a reflection of that in the lower section, with two notable exceptions: the Dragon and Baron, which will be explained in more detail later.
Every team starts the match from their respective bases, positioned on opposite ends of the map, which are marked in red and blue. Your team and you will consistently appear in blue, accompanied by green health bars, while the opposing units will be marked in red, featuring red health bars.
As a team, your objective is to eliminate the opposing Nexus, which is safeguarded by a network of turrets positioned along three distinct lanes. These lanes, indicated on the map, include the top lane (Baron lane, typically a solo lane), the middle lane (also a solo lane), and the Dragon lane (designed for duo play). Additionally, a jungler is present, who navigates the jungle area instead of participating in the lanes, aiming to provide an advantage for the team.
Every participant strives for a common objective by accumulating experience points (XP) to advance in levels and collecting gold. Players earn both XP and currency by defeating lane minions, jungle creatures, rival champions, enemy turrets, and key objectives such as Dragon, Rift Herald, and Baron. Increasing your XP allows you to level up, enhancing your stats. Meanwhile, gold enables you to purchase more potent items, boosting your champion’s strength.
At the beginning of the match, the upper section is under the control of the opposing team, whereas the lower section is managed by your team. As turrets are destroyed and waves of minions advance, both teams make strategic moves to advance towards the enemy’s Nexus.
What distinguishes MOBAs as a distinct genre is that every player steps into a shared battlefield, each managing their own specially chosen character. In Wild Rift, these characters are referred to as champions.
Grasping the layout of the Wild Rift terrain
Between your base and the opponent’s base, there are three pathways and the jungle area. The mid lane traverses the center of the map, whereas the Baron lane and Dragon lane stretch outward, following the contours of the edges.
Mist of Battle and Perception
In Wild Rift, the Fog of War introduces an additional layer of complexity to the strategy, similar to League of Legends. Take a glance at the mini map located in the upper left corner of your screen. Notice the darkened regions? These areas are shrouded in Fog of War, indicating that your team lacks complete visibility of the entire map.
If flawless vision were a reality, everyone would be aware of each other’s locations, eliminating the excitement of the game. This is the reason for the presence of wards, represented by yellow trinkets. When deployed on the map, they provide a restricted view of a nearby area. Additionally, you can eliminate enemy wards by using a red sweeper.
You maintain complete visibility of your own base at all times. However, visibility can be temporarily enhanced by minion waves, your allies’ champions, trinket wards, enemy units entering tower range, or your team capturing the Scuttle Crab in the river. If an enemy champion approaches your teammate or enters a warded area, they will be detected, providing your team with a strategic information edge.
The jungler, in particular, spends the most time in the Fog of War, as they engage primarily with jungle monsters rather than minion waves. This allows them to surprise opponents in the lanes, as the enemy team often lacks information about their whereabouts, enhancing their chances of securing kills.
Water Feature and Pedestal
The location where all players begin is referred to as the Fountain. In this spot, you can purchase items to enhance your champion’s abilities, as well as restore your Health Points (HP) and Mana Points (MP). Should your character perish during the game, you will respawn at the Fountain.
Right near the Fountain, you’ll find your Nexus, the prominent blue crystal located at the center of your base. Your objective is to safeguard this crystal while devising a plan to eliminate the enemy’s red Nexus located at the far side. Three turrets positioned at the perimeter of the base provide additional defense.
At the beginning of the match, waves of minions emerge from the Nexus, dispersing across all three lanes. Additionally, jungle creatures appear at designated camp sites for the jungler to engage. This process occurs simultaneously on the opposing side of the map at set intervals.
Consequently, the minion waves in the lane will meet in the center. When they collide, the enemy minion units will begin to engage in combat with one another. After a 12-second countdown, the initial wave is unleashed. Following that, a fresh wave will appear every 25 seconds.
Minions
Minions can be categorized into three distinct types: melee minions, caster minions, and cannon minions.
Melee minions have a close combat range, caster minions attack from a distance, and cannon minions are positioned within fortified tanks. Cannon minions appear only once every three waves. They inflict additional damage, and when a champion eliminates them, they provide a greater amount of gold compared to melee and caster minions.
Starting from 12:15, the waves will switch between having either a single cannon or two cannon minions, with no ranged minions present. The composition of these waves significantly influences the game’s tempo, so anticipate a quicker pace after the 12-minute mark. If a champion consistently targets and eliminates minions more rapidly than their opponent, they will create a beneficial wave push.
Additionally, when a base turret is taken down, super minions—powerful, enhanced minions—will emerge, increasing attack strength and exerting additional pressure on the opponent’s base. This provides the team that destroyed the turret with greater chances to secure victory.
Jungle
The jungle area is taken by the player who chose the jungler role, utilizing Smite as their Summoner Spell.
Smite inflicts a specific amount of true damage to jungle camps, enabling junglers to eliminate these monsters more efficiently. These camps are scattered across the map, positioned on both sides of the river. Clearing a camp rewards junglers with experience points and gold.
Due to the camps being situated in various areas, the jungler plays a crucial role in impacting the lanes. They have the ability to show up in a lane, setting up a two-on-one scenario that can either pressure the opposing laner or eliminate them completely. This tactic is known as “ganking,” and it represents one of the two primary responsibilities of a jungler.
Junglers play a crucial role in managing the jungle, often venturing into enemy territory. Their responsibilities include capturing key objectives such as the Herald, Dragon, and Baron. Equipped with Smite, they can deliver significant burst damage to these objectives, ensuring their team gains control.
Turrets
Every champion has a distinct role within the game, so it’s essential to position your character in the lane where you excel. As you make your way, you’ll encounter your own turrets, which inflict damage on enemy units that enter their vicinity.
At the perimeter of your base, there is a series of turrets, along with two additional turrets positioned in the lane, which are symmetrically placed on the opponent’s side of the battlefield. The turret that is the farthest from your base is referred to as the first outer turret, followed by the second outer turret, and finally, the base turret.
Turrets possess a constant health of 3,000 HP. Attacking them will grant you additional gold while decreasing their health. Ultimately, you can deplete their HP to zero, resulting in their permanent destruction, with no possibility of revival.
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Essential objectives in Wild Rift
Turrets
Destroying turrets brings you nearer to the opponent’s base. It expands the map for your team, enhancing your dominance over the territory. This is achieved by advancing minion waves, entering the enemy’s jungle, and placing wards.
Properly positioning your waves and collaborating with your teammates enables you to take down turrets more effectively, as the collective damage from multiple champions accelerates the process. In particular, your bot laner, or AD carry, is best suited for this task due to their long-range capabilities and high physical damage output.
Dragon
In the game, players can encounter four varieties of Elemental Dragons: Ocean, Infernal, Mountain, and Cloud. When a team defeats one of these dragons, all members, whether they are currently alive or have been defeated, will gain a lasting enhancement based on the dragon’s element. The initial dragon will appear after four minutes of gameplay.
Ocean drakes provide lifesteal benefits, Cloud drakes enhance movement speed, Mountain drakes boost your defenses, and Infernal drakes amplify your attack strength. All these dragons appear in the dragon pit, which is situated closest to the duo lane, leading to the lane being referred to as Dragon lane.
In each game, there will be just three distinct types of elements. Once the initial two unique elemental drakes are vanquished, an Elder Dragon will emerge, representing a third random element. This Elder Dragon is larger, possesses a greater amount of health, and grants a more substantial buff to the team that defeats it. It appears only once per game, making it a valuable target to contest.
Rift Herald
The Rift Herald will appear at the six-minute mark in the Baron pit located closest to the top lane, which is why it’s referred to as the Baron lane. Inflicting damage to the Herald’s rear, where its eye is located, will result in increased damage. This formidable creature only makes one appearance per match, and after it’s defeated, the player can collect its eye, which will take the place of their trinket.
Herald’s main function is to accelerate the destruction of towers. A player carrying the eye can head to any lane of their choice to call forth Herald. When in proximity to a turret, Herald will charge at it, dealing significant burst damage while sacrificing a portion of its health. Appreciate the help, friend!
Baron Nashor
At 10:00, the most formidable creature, Baron, emerges. When defeated by a team, it grants a powerful enhancement to all surviving players. If a champion with the Baron buff is close to a wave of minions, it boosts the abilities of allies, enabling them to inflict greater damage on the enemy’s minions.
In general, the Baron buff provides the team that obtains it with enhanced pushing capabilities. By advancing alongside their minions, they can exert pressure and dismantle enemy turrets in various lanes while advancing toward the enemy’s base.
When a team secures the Baron buff, champions will have a quicker recall time, enhancing the pace of the game. After Baron is defeated, it will reappear after three minutes, providing both sides an opportunity to take it down again and gain its advantages. This is the reason Baron is vital in the late game, as its buff can significantly shift the momentum, even for a team that is struggling.
Champions, roles, and positions in Wild Rift
Categories of harm
To grasp the various roles, it’s essential to recognize the two primary categories of damage within the game.
Ability Power (AP) enhances magical damage and is favored by mages, many support characters, and certain assassins.
Attack Damage (AD) inflicts physical harm and is the top option for ranged attackers, close-combat fighters, and certain assassins.
Smite, along with specific Champion skills such as Vayne’s Silver Bolts, inflicts True Damage, meaning it bypasses armor and is not diminished by it. This type of damage is consistent and remains the same every time.
Positions
With five distinct positions available in the game, players can select from five unique roles. The top lane, often referred to as the Baron lane, typically features melee champions like Darius, Garen, and Fiora. The mid lane, being the shortest lane on the map, is primarily occupied by mages and assassins, including Zed, Yasuo, and Ziggs.
The Dragon lane, often referred to as the duo lane, features a ranged marksman accompanied by a support champion. Marksmen excel at dealing damage, making them the top damage dealers in the game, but they are also quite fragile, which makes the presence of a reliable support crucial. Additionally, since the dragon provides lasting bonuses, having two champions close to the dragon pit enhances the likelihood of successfully claiming it.
Each player can utilize two Summoner Spells (SS), found in the lower right corner of the screen in CS. For example, Soraka possesses Exhaust and Flash, and her Keystone rune is Aery. In Wild Rift, the selection of these spells is automatically determined for all players, tailored to the best fit for their selected champion.
If you don’t customize your rune sets or change your summon spell during champion select, you’ll at least have something to work with when you enter the game, even if you forget or struggle to make a decision. Flash is the most frequently used summoner spell, as it enables champions to instantly move a short distance in a chosen direction, making it ideal for securing a kill or fleeing from dangerous scenarios.
Fundamental mechanics of Wild Rift
Targeting
To choose particular targets, you must pull your auto attack or ability icon outward. This action will create a slender yellow line with a target icon in the middle, which will be displayed on the map.
In the tutorial, you’ll discover that simply dragging it close to or directly over a unit will allow you to target it.
Final strike
While champions do accumulate gold over time, the rate is insufficient for acquiring the necessary items to secure a win. As a result, junglers focus on clearing camps, and laners prioritize defeating minions to ensure a consistent flow of income. To earn gold from a mob, you need to deliver the final blow.
This implies that right before a minion’s health points reach zero, you must strike it to claim responsibility for its defeat. For instance, if a minion has 79 health remaining and your auto attack deals 33 damage, but it is simultaneously being attacked by your other minions and subsequently dies, you will not receive any gold. It’s essential to monitor the rate at which its health is dropping in relation to the number of your minions attacking it, and to time your spell or auto attack to ensure you secure the final blow.
Fortunately, in Wild Rift, there’s a helpful indicator for players. When a minion’s health drops to a level suitable for a last hit, its health bar changes from red to white, as illustrated in the screenshot above. This signals that the minion is ready to be taken down.
Conversely, other creatures lack that specific marker. If your squad begins working on the objective, opposing champions, particularly the jungler equipped with Smite, can potentially secure the last hit on the objective, risking a theft right before your eyes.
Skillshots
Not all abilities require precise targeting. Most champion skills in Wild Rift must be directed and aimed at a specific angle and timing to be effective. These are known as skillshots, as they demand a certain degree of skill to ensure they strike the intended target.
Nami’s initial skill, Aqua Prison, along with her ultimate ability, are both skill shots. When you activate Tidal Wave, it is designed to launch in a predetermined direction, making it easier for newcomers to use, though it might lack the precision you desire.
To aim your skillshot, pull the ability outward. This action will display a circle that indicates its trajectory. At the same time, the map will show the silhouette of Nami’s Tidal Wave, assisting you in your aim.
In comparison, using Ebb and Flow and Tidercaller’s Blessing will trigger a self-cast by default. You can primarily direct these abilities towards allies or enemy champions, as they are inherently not classified as skillshots.
Depending on your lane position, your jungler may require support to secure the Dragon or Herald. After you’ve pushed your wave, it’s an ideal moment to seek chances to assist your team, whether by placing wards or providing support. This is often the moment when skirmishes or battles may erupt in the river as more players come together to aid one another.
Once the initial turret has been destroyed, the game shifts into the mid-game phase. During this time, the duo will move to either the mid lane or the top lane, concentrating on taking down the next outer turret, as the marksman is best equipped to handle these structures.
When the Elder Dragon and Baron appear, the game transitions into the late stage. With lane assignments no longer set, strategic planning becomes crucial. There are ideal locations and timings for champions to position themselves on the map, taking into account the minion waves and other factors. However, the presence of these significant objectives often leads teams to engage in battles for control, resulting in intense contests, fierce clashes, and dramatic last-minute steals.
