I've played HoN, trying LoL currently

[fabiojuanton]

Hi everyone, former WoW/SWtoR player, gone HoN because those games have lost my interest. I play HoN with my buddies, but for a change of pace I downloaded LoL last night and I think I like it a lot. I have some questions though, as I currently don't know much at all about the game.

1. When I hit level 2 after winning my first game, I got 400 riot points (those must be the equivalent of gold coins in HoN). Will I ever get more riot points through level ups?

2. What do level ups on my account do? I understand I get access to new summoner spells, but is there anything else?

3. What the heck are runes? I just hit level 4, and when I went back to the home page it said I had unlocked another rune slot. And masteries (okay, I kind of know what that is - basically like a talent tree. So I can have as many talent trees I want and switch between them before a game to better suit the character I am playing, right? So if I'm playing Volibear, I whip out my tank mastery.)

[StephanieMcK]

1. No, you only get the 400.

2. Level ups just get you new spells except at 5(?) you get access to public chat channels and you are queued based on your level until 30.

3. Runes are basically just more small bonuses like the talent trees only you have to buy them with IP/RP.

[Necrotan]

There are two currencies in LoL Riot and Influence points. Riot are the more valuable because normally you only can get them with money and they are the only currency to get skins with (but can be used on anything except runes). Influence points will be what you normally get from games and can be used to get anything but skins.

Im not sure how the bonus Riot points happen at lower levels but I know you do get a boost to influence points at lower levels to help permantly unlock a champion or two fairely quick.


Leveling up gets you access to more summoner spells and unlocks rune slots.

Runes are various enhancments you add to whatever champ you are playing. There are 4 kinds that specialize in certain things. You will have a rune page (yo uget a second page later) And inbetween games you can switch up runes however you want (with whatever you have got) Before each game yo udecide which rune page you want to use with that champ. Just like with the mastery trees (talents) yo ucan decide which tree you want to before the game starts.

[Thallidomaniac]

In addition to what everyone else said, leveling also unlocks other thing such as higher quality runes. Tier 1 runes (the lowest quality ones) are available from level 1, T2 ones from level 10, and T3 (the highest quality) ones from level 20.

At level 20, you gain access to the Tribunal to "vote" on cases of misbehavior in League matches, and rewards IP for doing so. It used to be a level 30 requirement, but was recently reduced to 20.

At level 30, you can participate in Ranked games, a.k.a. the competitive games where people play to win.

[Maldezzar]

At level 30, you can participate in Ranked games, a.k.a. the games where people play to win.

It should be noted that you need to own 16 champions to queue for Ranked games, even if you are level 30. This isn't too difficult with how many cheap champions there are to fill your roster, but this should answer any possible questions in the future as to why the ranked button is greyed out once you get to level 30.

[Banos]

At level 20, you gain access to the Tribunal to "vote" on cases of misbehavior in League matches, and rewards IP for doing so. It used to be a level 30 requirement, but was recently reduced to 20.

You need level 30 for the tribunal, not 20.

[Thallidomaniac]

You need level 30 for the tribunal, not 20.

Here's the red post confirming the change. Unless of course, that red is just pulling that statement out of his/her ass to troll.

[Banos]

Here's the red post confirming the change. Unless of course, that red is just pulling that statement out of his/her ass to troll.

Ah, well. Wasn't aware of that change. That's cool then, I guess, lol.

[Daetur]

1. When I hit level 2 after winning my first game, I got 400 riot points (those must be the equivalent of gold coins in HoN). Will I ever get more riot points through level ups?

----- You will not. You of course gain IP through playing, but RP can only be purchased (and is occasionally awarded after unexpected periods of server instability as recompense). It can also be won from major tournaments, but most of us are not in that position. :P


2. What do level ups on my account do? I understand I get access to new summoner spells, but is there anything else?

----- Your account level is used to match you against players with roughly the same level/experience, along with other factors. Leveling up also unlocks additional Mastery points, Rune slots, and Summoner Spells.


3. What the heck are runes? I just hit level 4, and when I went back to the home page it said I had unlocked another rune slot. And masteries (okay, I kind of know what that is - basically like a talent tree. So I can have as many talent trees I want and switch between them before a game to better suit the character I am playing, right? So if I'm playing Volibear, I whip out my tank mastery.)

----- Runes are supplemental pieces to your Masteries that can be purchased from the store for IP. They will do things like add attack damage, armor penetration, movement speed, armor, magic resistance, etc.
I don't recommend buying or worrying about them much until level 20, at which point you unlock the top tier of Runes to buy-- purchasing them beforehand in any great number is often a waste of IP.

[Shadzta]

Each level up of the account you get a mastery point...think of mastery points like talent trees in wow.
In an order each level up also gains you one more rune slot unlocked. Think of these like glyphs from wow.
The pattern for rune unlocks is red yellow blue red yellow blue etc....however at 10 20 and 30 you unlock the purple ones.
Runes have 3 types refering to tier 1 2 3 runes...these runes dont change what they do from tier to tier but they change how MUCH they do. Aka tier 1 arm pen is say 2 arp tier 2 will be 4 arp tier 3 will be 7 arp or something along those lines.

Tier 1 runes are availiable from the get go...they are cheap...i recommend them while leveling.
Tier 2 runes are not worth it at all touch these and be ridiculed.
Tier 3 runes unlock at level 20...find a hero you like and save up for these for level 20.

Brief summary but hope it helps.

[fabiojuanton]

Wow, thanks a lot guys! That was a very detailed response from all of you, I appreciate it a lot.

Although, I must say that I'm disappointed that the only currency you can buy different skins with is riot points. That means if I want to customize the way my favorite heroes look at all, I have to throw down money? Lame.

[Thallidomaniac]

Wow, thanks a lot guys! That was a very detailed response from all of you, I appreciate it a lot.

Although, I must say that I'm disappointed that the only currency you can buy different skins with is riot points. That means if I want to customize the way my favorite heroes look at all, I have to throw down money? Lame.

Skins give no performance advantage in the game though, so the only instances of where you can "buy power" is through IP and XP boosts and extra rune pages, although even those can be obtained given enough time. Pretty much it comes down to a "money vs. time" decision on how you want to obtain things.

[Deleted]

just to clarify everything:

1. You get 400RP for free on Lv3. after that you always have to buy them. on rare occassions, riot awards you some free points, for example on christmas. otherwise you have to buy them. (i recommend using them either to buy a champion who got halved rp cost, or to buy some ip boost.. or you just stick to them for now, they never expire.)

2. Every levelup grants you one more talent point for your masteries, thus making you slightly stronger each LvUp. the masteries are quite funny. its best to read them all to get a basic understanding on what might be useful to get and when. you can "respec" anytime you want for free, and you can save up to ten different mastery settings!

3. runes can only be bought with IP, and they grant you some small benefits. They are quite expensive and help you to further specialize your gameplay.
my advice is to buy NO runes until Lv20. On 20 you get access to the best runes and should try to buy a few useful ones from your IP gathered.
it is recommended to start off with some basic builds.
some basic AP build, and some basic HP build for any non-AP user should be the best. After that try to buy another rune page and add in a basic AD rune setup and you are fine for most of the champs.

[fabiojuanton]

just to clarify everything:

1. You get 400RP for free on Lv3. after that you always have to buy them. on rare occassions, riot awards you some free points, for example on christmas. otherwise you have to buy them. (i recommend using them either to buy a champion who got halved rp cost, or to buy some ip boost.. or you just stick to them for now, they never expire.)

2. Every levelup grants you one more talent point for your masteries, thus making you slightly stronger each LvUp. the masteries are quite funny. its best to read them all to get a basic understanding on what might be useful to get and when. you can "respec" anytime you want for free, and you can save up to ten different mastery settings!

3. runes can only be bought with IP, and they grant you some small benefits. They are quite expensive and help you to further specialize your gameplay.
my advice is to buy NO runes until Lv20. On 20 you get access to the best runes and should try to buy a few useful ones from your IP gathered.
it is recommended to start off with some basic builds.
some basic AP build, and some basic HP build for any non-AP user should be the best. After that try to buy another rune page and add in a basic AD rune setup and you are fine for most of the champs.

Great, thank you that helps a lot!

And yes, I know that different skins don't affect performance at all, but I'm the kind of person who is all about visual customization

[Duilliath]

Well, it's a free game after all.

Selling RP is how they make their living, so it makes sense that some things are RP only.

[Banos]

Great, thank you that helps a lot!

And yes, I know that different skins don't affect performance at all, but I'm the kind of person who is all about visual customization

You can also change the visual appearance in your files from websites that only you can see, and no one else can. But I won't always suggest doing that.

[Axethor]

You can also change the visual appearance in your files from websites that only you can see, and no one else can. But I won't always suggest doing that.

My Xerath splash arts are still broken from doing this once. For certain skins it certainly was worth it, like molten skarner or sylvanas ashe, but I just missed the skins they replace.