The bot laner in League of Legends is the carry that plays alongside a support in the bot lane. As the position is often home to marksmen who deal physical damage it is often referred to as ADC (Attack Damage Carry).
Like any role or skill in League of Legends mastering the bot lane role will take years of practice and learning, so it is best to get to grips with the basics first. These beginner tips are ideal for players looking to try out the role for the first time or for those struggling to find success.
10 Play With A Duo Support
The bot lane can be a scary place, especially for a lonely ADC playing with a random support of questionable skill. Therefore, it can be a good idea when learning the role to play alongside a friend.
Not only should the overall experience be more fun, but by communicating when to go in, when to recall, and generally fighting as an in-sync duo, players should find more success. Fun and powerful bot lane combos can also be made by mixing and matching different champions, some of which don't usually call the lane home.
9 Practice Last Hitting
One of the main aims of most bot laners is to play safe, get gold and be strong in the later stages of the game. To do this players need more farm. Although good wave management and recall timings will help tremendously, the easiest way for beginner players to get more farm is by consistently last-hitting minions.
Other than focusing on which friendly minions are attacking low HP enemy minions and learning how much tower shots do to each minion type, the best way to get better at last hitting is purely through practice. The Practice Tool available in the League client is perfect for this as it provides a safe environment that can be controlled to suit the player's needs. Just simply load in and practice last-hitting minions without any distractions.
8 Know How To Get Level 2
Because experience is shared in the bot lane, reaching level 2 takes a little longer than in solo lanes. As usual, the entire first wave of six minions must die, and then to tick over to level 2 the three melee minions from the second wave must also die.
This is important to know as level 2 is a volatile time in the bot lane, where the difference between one side having access to more spells and stats is heightened due to their being four champions rather than two. Players should be aware of which minions they need to kill so that they can either engage or zone the enemy with their level advantage. Similarly, they should keep an eye on when the enemy will reach level 2, especially against aggressive bot lanes.
7 Focus The Enemy Bot Laner
2 vs 2 fights are the standard form of combat in the bot lane and to find success duos should focus on attacking and killing one target instead of splitting their damage between two. Sometimes supports will be low on health or out of position making for easy pickings, but for the most part, players should prioritize killing the enemy bot laner first.
As they are likely to have more damage than their support, especially in longer fights which come down to auto attacks, eliminating the ADC eliminates the threat. This increases the chance of survival and often allows bot lanes to clean up the support after. Bot laners should also be focused because when they are dead they miss out on gold and experience, which are much more important to a carry.
6 Understand The Support Role
As part of a duo lane, bot laners or ADCs should have a decent idea of how the support role works and what kind of help supports require from their partner. The easiest way to learn is simply by playing a few games as support. Even just getting familiar with support champions and their abilities can be extremely useful.
Now paired with a random bot laner, players can also watch and identify both good and bad things their ADC does and apply it to their own games. Any experience in the bot lane on either side will help with both roles.
5 Blue Wards Save Lives
Although supports carry most of the responsibility for vision control, bot laners still need to do their part. However, as a squishy champion, approaching bushes to drop wards is a risky business. Thankfully upon reaching level 9, players can swap out their basic Stealth Ward for a Farsight Alteration, otherwise known as a blue ward. This exchange is free, but can only be done in the fountain.
Blue wards can be safely used at long range and don't just provide safety for the user, but also for the poor tanks or supports that would otherwise have to walk in blind. Farsight wards are particularly important when a team is behind and does not control vision, especially around objectives like Baron.
4 Play Champions With Utility
There are many bot lane champions that despite their potential to carry, are useless when behind in gold and experience. These champions only have damage in their kits, and the pressure to get ahead can be overwhelming. To avoid miserable games where players feel like they have no impact on the outcome, players can instead opt for champions like Ashe and Jhin who have utility in their kits.
Ashe for example will always provide slows from her attacks and her ultimate Enchanted Crystal Arrow is one of the best in the game, providing a long-range stun for her team. Thanks to her E - Hawkshot she can also provide vision at any time from a safe distance. It doesn't matter how far behind she falls, these tools will always be useful.
3 Don't Die If You Are The Carry
In the late game, an ADC is often the most important player on the team, especially if fed. They can deal the most damage in teamfights, siege towers the fastest, and provide immense DPS against objectives like Baron.
Therefore, as much as it is their team's job to protect them, they also have a responsibility to play safe and not get caught. The enemy team will be looking for any opportunity to shut down key carries, so fed bot laners should avoid using their Flash and other Summoner Spells aggressively and remain with and behind their teammates at all times.
2 Who To Target In Teamfights
Late game teamfights are often the ADC's time to shine with the potential to deal extraordinary amounts of damage after scaling up all game. However, these 5 vs 5 fights can be difficult to navigate, and knowing who to attack can be overwhelming when faced with multiple options. While this is highly situational and only the very best bot laners will know who to attack in every scenario, the basic thought pattern is simple.
Out of the targets that are safe to attack, players should prioritize the champion that poses the biggest threat. For example, if a tank and a fighter are both in range, the fighter should be focused as they are more likely to be a threat soon. However, if there is only a big meat-shield tank in the way, that is fine as it's the ADC's job to kill tanks; players should not delve deeper into the enemy's ranks in search of juicer targets.
1 Play Mages And Other Champions
One major misconception about the bot lane position is that players can only play ranged marksmen, however, this just isn't true. Over the years many mages and even some fighters like Yasuo have found success in the bot lane.
Playing other champions can not only be fun and sometimes safer when farming at range on a mage for example; but when a team has too many AD champions, the flexibility to provide the team with magic damage is extremely useful. Bot lane mages can be particularly good when the team has an AD marksman in another role, like Graves or Kindred jungle.
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