Can't believe this exists. The ultimate ADC guide 😅 This is actually insane
Table of Contents
1. Before the Game Starts
2. Laning Phase
3. Macro
4. Teamfighting
5. Itemization Tips
6. Champion-Specific Tips
7. Tips Against Specific Enemy Champions
8. Tips for Synergizing with Ally Champions
1. Before the Game Starts
"Before the game starts" refers to everything from picks and bans to the loading screen.
During this time, you can plan out so many strategies.
Look at both team comps and decide which pick is best and which runes/masteries are most optimal.
Beyond that, think about how to play out the game, what your role is in this specific match, etc.
It's not just a time to mindlessly pick a champion and wait.
Specifically, how you handle picks and bans is crucial.
ADCs have very distinct identities, so your choice can drastically change how much impact you have on the game.
Because of this, if you just want to play ADC casually, learning a few meta picks is enough.
But if you truly want to be a great ADC, you need to know how to play every single one.
Mid lane has dozens of champions, but ADC doesn't even have 20.
I'm not saying you need to be a one-trick pony for every ADC. But if there's a champion that's the absolute best fit for a situation, you should at least be able to perform your basic duties on them.
Try picking the best ADC for every situation. Your win rate will inevitably go up.
Once you've made a thoughtful pick, analyze both team compositions.
Think about what role you need to fulfill based on the comps.
If thinking about the whole game is too hard, at least think about the synergy you have with your support.
Team comp is vital. Just look at why Lucian/Braum was broken during the tank support meta, or why Varus/Malzahar is busted now.
Once the game starts, check the enemy's Summoner Spells.
At the very least, check if the enemy support has Exhaust or Ignite, and if the enemy Mid/Top has Teleport.
If the enemy support has Ignite and you don't use Heal early during an all-in? You'll probably lose.
If the enemy support has Exhaust and you Flash in for a kill only to get turned on? You're going to tilt.
Knowing basic info before the game really kicks off allows you to use it to your advantage.
You think you don't need to know this? How many ADCs die because Ignite cuts their Heal and then type "Oh, they had Ignite 😅" in chat?
How many Flash in like idiots, die, and then type "Oh ffs Exhaust"?
These things are incredibly important. Keep them in mind.
2. Laning Phase
There's so much to track in the laning phase, so I'll just list them out as they come to mind. (I'm avoiding champion-specific stuff for now since I'll cover that later.)
1. You've probably heard this a million times, but the bot lane duo hits Level 2 after the first wave's 3 melee minions (or 2 melees and 2 casters).
2. Standard jungle gank timings for bot are: Level 4, Level 6 after their second buff, and anytime after that.
3. Everyone knows hitting Level 2 first is huge, but managing the wave at Level 2 is even more important.
If you're playing someone like Vayne and you know you can't hit Level 2 first? Give it up and pull the wave from Level 1.
If your wave clear is superior or you won a Level 1 trade so hard that there's a massive HP lead, zone them off the minions and delay their Level 2 as long as possible to deny them.
4. If you've pushed the wave to the tower, ward up before you keep sieging to prepare for potential ganks.
5. If you have vision and lane priority, shove the wave and chip at the tower.
However, if you need to shut down the enemy's growth, focus on harassing them while they try to farm.
6. If your jungler is playing around Top side, play safe. It's best to bait the enemy into pushing the wave toward you.
7. If your jungler is Bottom side, decide whether to pull the wave to set up a gank, or shove it to chip the tower, get vision, and give your jungler priority to invade.
8. Don't get so obsessed with the enemy jungler that you miss MIAs from Mid or Top. That's how you die.
9. In a 1v1 trade with the enemy ADC, the one who lands the very last auto-attack wins.
10. In a 2v2, if the enemy focuses your support, you focus their ADC. If your support survives, you win the trade.
11. Counter-trading is almost always more advantageous. What flips that is skillshot accuracy.
12. If the enemy ADC has more range than you, never initiate a trade.
In lower tiers where spacing is bad, it might not matter, but as you climb, people will abuse that range difference to poke you for free.
13. When heading to lane after leashing, if the enemy bot duo are Level 1 bullies, there's a high chance their jungler started top side and is waiting in the bush. Ward early or take a long route back.
14. I've written a lot, but the basics of trading are: land your skills and dodge theirs. If you do that, you can't lose.
Movement is a must for ADCs. If you aren't a god like Deft who dodges everything on reaction, just get hit a lot until you learn the patterns.
15. If your jungler is bot and the enemy jungler shows top, shove the wave into the tower immediately.
If a dive is possible, go for it and take First Brick. If not, take Dragon.
16. If a big fight breaks out but your Mid is late to rotate, play to keep everyone alive.
But since this is solo queue and that won't happen, just make sure YOU don't die and deal damage carefully.
17. Your recall timing should be: "No loss for me, maximum loss for the enemy."
To minimize your loss, back when a Cannon wave is coming.
To maximize their loss, shove the wave all the way to their tower before backing.
18. If the wave is pulled toward your side and you only last-hit (or the enemy is gone), a "Big Wave" will form on your side.
If the enemy isn't in lane while you're building this big wave, they lose a massive amount of XP.
19. Don't just shove mindlessly. Learn to create waves that force the enemy to lose out.
Think from their perspective. There are times they HAVE to play safe. If you slow-push then, they can't step up and the wave won't come to them. That's how you create a CS lead.
20. If you're sure you can take the tower by crashing a big wave, let the tower kill all your minions before you finish it off. The enemy will tilt from the lost CS.
21. Always consider the reverse. If your jungler is top, the enemy jungler is missing, and a huge wave is crashing into your tower, get vision to prevent a dive. If you have no vision, just give up the tower.
22. If you shove the wave before backing, you'll see a big enemy wave waiting for you when you return.
If you've been reading carefully, you should know exactly how to handle that.
23. If your jungler looks like they're going to invade, shove the wave so you can rotate first.
If you can't shove but your jungler invades anyway, they're an idiot. Spam the back ping.
24. Stop popping the Blast Cones on your side of the jungle. That's a gank path.
On the flip side, pop the enemy's Blast Cones whenever you get the chance.
25. If you see a Scryer's Bloom pop from the enemy side toward bot, someone is there. Play safe.
26. Shoving the wave gives you better sustain because you can go grab the Honeyfruit in the river.
27. A smart ADC tracks other lanes.
If every other lane is pulled back but you're shoving, where do you think the enemy jungler is going?
If other lanes are being dove under big waves, that's one thing, but usually, they're coming for bot.
If you can use this to bait a counter-gank, your game sense is top-tier.
28. Getting a kill in a pure 2v2 is actually rare.
It usually happens by punishing a positioning mistake with CC,
Using a level advantage to force a fight,
Or abusing a tiny window where their Summoner Spells are on cooldown.
29. If you get Exhausted, save your main burst skills until it wears off.
30. Against an Ignite support, you have to be the one to find the kill angle first.
This means using Heal BEFORE the Ignite hits (before the enemy support realizes it's an all-in).
31. Aggressive junglers have much wider gank angles than you think.
If you want to avoid ganks, you need to learn their pathing.
32. In any fight, the key is tracking enemy cooldowns.
Knowing what they've used and what you MUST dodge will win you the fight. Especially if you have a dash.
33. When your jungler is covering you and you're baiting a fight, don't make it obvious.
Baiting while you're at low HP is the most effective. People go crazy trying to finish off a target with 1 HP.
34. Always manage your mana.
Basic level: Save enough for a trade or a gank.
Advanced level: Save enough to shove the wave after the fight.
35. How to last-hit under tower alone:
Full HP Melee: 2 tower shots -> 1 auto
Half HP Melee: 1 auto -> 1 more auto right after
75% HP Melee: 1 tower shot -> 1 auto
Full HP Caster: 1 auto -> 1 tower shot -> 1 auto (Once you have some AD, it's just 1 tower shot -> 1 auto)
80% HP Caster: 1 tower shot -> 1 auto
Lower HP Caster: 1 auto -> 1 more auto right after
36. A very difficult micro technique is juggling aggro with your support.
If the enemy ADC hits your support, you step up and hit them during their auto-attack delay.
If they try to switch to you, you kite back out of range.
37. A lot of people think that poking the enemy ADC when they go for a low-HP minion is a guaranteed win-win.
But the moment you auto the enemy ADC, their minions aggro onto you, and the minion they were going for might not die.
If they auto you back, it's just an even trade and they don't actually lose the CS.
Of course, if you have more range, it's a win because you can hit and run before they can retaliate.
38. If the wave is pushing into you, you have two choices:
Clear it early to save tower HP and prevent a dive,
Or let it crash and farm under tower to avoid bad trades.
Usually, if you can't win the trade, go with the latter.
39. When managing the wave, you have to care about your tower's HP, not just your own life.
In this meta where First Brick is huge, giving it up in a 2v2 without outside interference is a massive blow to the team.
40. Don't back early unless it's absolutely unavoidable (like a dive you can't stop because your jungler is gone).
Backing at a bad time leads to wave loss, which snowballs into a massive gold gap.
41. Deciding whether to rotate to a jungle fight between Mid and Bot is crucial.
If the enemy bot rotates but you can't make a difference by going, or if you rotate when you shouldn't have,
Focus on making the enemy lose as much CS as possible.
Rotating can lose you the lane, so always think twice.
42. Quick decision-making for objectives is key.
If you shoved bot and your Mid/Jungle win a 2v2, you can instantly rotate Mid to 4-man shove the tower.
43. Never beg your jungler to come when you're losing hard. You'll just get counter-ganked or TP'd on and lose the game right there.
It'll make the game unrecoverable. A smart jungler will come bot while the enemy is busy top.
44. Ideally, you should watch the map the whole time, but that's hard during laning.
Pro tip: Use your gut feeling to check the map when it "feels" like a gank is coming.
Downside: If the enemy jungler is a psychopath, this won't save you.
45. Grab the Scuttle Crab when you have a chance. it helps both Bot and Mid breathe a bit easier.
46. If you're shoving, always check if there's an enemy ward in the lane bushes.
That's a prime spot for the enemy Top to Teleport behind you.
47. Ask your Top laner to track TPs. They might not do it, so you should really check yourself.
If your Top can't match a TP, avoid fighting bot at all costs.
48. If you're crashing a big wave, you MUST have vision.
If you don't have vision, you'll have to play safe, and the enemy can freeze that big wave. You'll be stuck doing nothing until your jungler shows up.
49. If a wave is slow-pushing toward you and your jungler is top, don't walk up until it's in the safe zone.
Walking up is just asking to die. Go take Gromp or Krugs with your support instead.
50. If your support leaves to ward, play safe. Don't assume they'll be back in time; the enemy will jump on you the second you're isolated.
51. If it looks like an easy kill but the enemy jungler is missing, it's a bait.
52. A common mistake people make is that their movement changes the second they know their jungler is behind them.
If you can spot this in the enemy, it's a huge advantage.
53. Time your gank follow-up so the enemy can't escape even if they notice it.
Too early and they just walk away; too late and the gank fails.
And don't overextend and die, or you'll just throw the lead.
54. In a fight, if you have Flash, it's better to use it aggressively to dodge a key spell.
Otherwise, you'll just end up in a scenario where you Flash after them or Flash away only to die to their Flash anyway.
55. If you don't have a Control Ward on the map, buy one every time you back.
56. If you've lost lane priority but don't want to back first,
Fake a recall. The enemy will shove to back themselves.
Then you can pop back out to catch the wave and regain control (though they'll likely cancel their back),
Or wait for them to actually leave, catch the wave, shove it, and then back or take the tower.
57. If you got a kill but can't shove the wave all the way, just don't back yet.
Wait for the Cannon wave and then back.
58. Always pop a potion while fighting to get that slight edge.
59. In a 3v3 counter-gank scenario, your priority should be:
Isolated target > Target you can definitely finish (especially those without sums) > Support with save abilities > Carry jungler with buffs > ADC > Jungle > Support
60. The ideal laning phase is:
Pressure the enemy bot duo, force their jungler to come bot, and then NEVER die to the gank. Vision is mandatory for this.
61. You don't win lane alone. Use your jungler.
And to use your jungler well, wave management is everything.
62. If your jungler is top, never shove.
If you shove, you have to play safe because of the gank risk, and if the enemy doesn't shove back, you can't even walk up for last hits.
63. If your jungler is clearing bot side, pull the wave to force the enemy to lose CS while playing safe.
If your jungler is in the river near Dragon, shove to secure priority for an invade.
64. If you have more range than the enemy ADC,
Stand behind your casters and auto them every time they step into range.
It's a lot of pressure. Just don't get excited and overextend.
65. Don't be an ADC who just follows the support's lead.
Be proactive. Ping back if they're doing something stupid, and use the "On My Way" ping aggressively when you see an opening to win.
That post was way too long, so here are the two things I thought of: 1. Before the game starts - If your support is trash -> ask someone who can play support to swap, and if that doesn't work, just dodge. 2. Laning phase (when queued with a support main) - Try not to lose trades, but your goal is to not die and just farm well.
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Most of it's just common sense though
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Wish my rank went up one tier every time I read through this whole thing properly...
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That's a bit too long though...
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At this elo, just permaban new champs.
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Too long lol.. fatal for someone like me who doesn't read past 5 lines..
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ugh... too long didn't read
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even if you know this shit, theres people who actually put it into practice and people who dont, that's why theres ranks from bronze silver gold plat diamond master challenger lol. if everyone did this they'd all climb. so yeah, it's just up to you in the end.
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Most of it is just stating the obvious
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Good post and all true, but the biggest problem is there's way too much repeated content. It's all basically the same stuff said over and over.
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Thanksss, tons of useful stuff in here lol. Even though you just grabbed it off Inven, still appreciate it!
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it's a decent post tbh.. higher elo players might think this is obvious so they can just skip it, but for low elo scrubs like me these tips are actually helpful af.. too bad the stuff is too much to memorize in one go sigh is getting to high elo in league even harder than getting into a university in seoul..
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It's a 6 year old post, but fundamentals never change.. this is pretty much the ADC bible.
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wow so THIS is what they call unreadable..;
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