Where each of the five roles plays, what it does, and which one to start with. Fly to any role on the 3D map below, then meet the six champion types and the words your team will use.
Every team has exactly one player in each role: Top, Jungle, Mid, ADC (also called bot) and Support. Pick one to see where it plays.
Drag to move, scroll to zoom, right-drag to turn.Swipe sideways to move the map, pinch to zoom.
The map for Normal Draft, ranked and Swiftplay games.
Your base is bottom left. The enemy's base is top right.
LanesThree roads: top, middle and bottom.MinionsSmall soldiers that walk the lanes on their own. Blue ones are yours, red ones the enemy's.
JungleThe forest between the lanes, full of monster camps.
RiverSplits the map in half. Dragon and Baron live in its two pits.
How you winDestroy the enemy towers along a lane, then the Nexus, the big crystal in their base.
A typical game played out on the map, on the real objective timers. Drag the timeline or pick a moment.
Also called top lane or top laner.
Alone in the top lane, 1 against 1.
Also called jungler or JG. Always takes the summoner spell Smite.
No lane: moves through the forest between the lanes.
Also called middle, mid lane or mid laner.
Alone in the middle lane, 1 against 1.
Short for Attack Damage Carry. Also called bot, bot laner or marksman.
Bottom lane, together with your Support, 2 against 2.
Also called supp or sup.
Bottom lane, together with your ADC, 2 against 2.
Big monsters spawn on fixed timers. Draft and ranked games follow the standard clock; Swiftplay runs faster and skips some objectives. Patch 26.21 timers.
| Draft and ranked | Swiftplay | |
|---|---|---|
| You start at | Level 1, 500 gold | Level 3, 1,400 gold |
 First Dragon | 5:00, then 5 minutes after each kill | 5:00, then 5 minutes after the kill |
| Dragon Soul | 4 Dragons | 2 Dragons |
 Void Grubs | 8:00, gone at 14:45 | None |
 Rift Herald | 15:00, gone at 19:45 | None |
| Baron Nashor | 20:00, then 6 minutes after each kill | 12:00, then 6 minutes after each kill |
 Elder Dragon | After a team takes Dragon Soul | 15:00 |
 Tower plates fall | 14:00 | 10:00 |
| Average game | About 28 minutes | About 20 minutes |
Average lengths come from games tracked by Hexgate.
Your role is where you play. Your champion's type is how it fights. Players mix the two all the time, so one sentence can carry both:
So when a teammate types "I'm going Jinx ADC", or asks for "a tank top", they are naming a type and a role together. Each role has a few types that fit it best, and the champion types below show which.
Riot sorts every champion into a class. These are the six types you will hear about most, in plain words, with Riot's own class name under each. The gold bar shows how far each champion's basic attacks reach, on the same scale for every type, from Riot's champion data.
Riot's class: Tank (Vanguards and Wardens)
Walks in first and soaks up the hits. Stuns and holds enemies in place so the rest of the team can hit them.
Ranged reachMelee: Malphite has to stand right next to an enemy to hit it.
Riot's class: Fighter (Juggernauts and Divers)
Fights up close for a long time. Hits hard and can take a beating too.
Ranged reachDarius's axe reaches a little further than most melee champions.
Riot's class: Slayer (Assassins)
Jumps on one fragile enemy, takes them down in seconds, then escapes.
Ranged reachZed has to get close, and the spells are built to dash in fast.
Riot's class: Mage (Burst, Battlemage and Artillery)
Casts magic spells from a distance. Big damage to groups of enemies, but goes down fast if caught.
Melee reachLux hits from more than four times as far as Malphite.
Riot's class: Marksman
Shoots basic attacks from far away. Gets stronger with every item, but needs teammates to keep enemies off it.
Melee reachJinx hits from about four times as far as Malphite, and the rocket launcher reaches even further.
Riot's class: Controller (Enchanters)
Heals and shields teammates and makes them stronger. Stays safe at the back of the fight.
Melee reachSoraka heals and attacks from a safe distance.For your first games, from easiest to hardest:
You learn next to a teammate and never have to last-hit a minion. A tank like Leona has one clear job: start the fight and protect your ADC.
Your Support is there to help, and simple marksmen like Miss Fortune are easy to pick up. The hard part is last-hitting minions and staying out of reach.
A long lane, alone. Few teammates come by, so you learn at your own pace, but nobody saves you from a mistake. Garen makes it much easier.
The shortest lane, in the middle of everything. Enemies from both sides can reach you, so you need to keep an eye on the whole map.
No lane tells you where to go. You plan your own route, decide when to help a lane, and keep track of the enemy jungler and the river monsters.
A good start: queue Swiftplay with Support and ADC as your two roles, and learn two or three easy champions for each. Our guide to the best champions for beginners has three easy picks for every role.
You know your role. Hexgate sets up the rest.
Runes and summoner spells for your champion and role in one click, then in game the next item to buy against the five enemies you face, with the reason on the card.
Ahrivs
Zed and Kha'Zix
Zhonya's Hourglass jumps to first for the 3rd item, tagged Heavy AD.
Jinxvs
Akali and Malphite
Mercurial Scimitar leads the 5th item, tagged Heavy AP.
Leonavs
Diana and Mordekaiser
Kaenic Rookern leads the 3rd item, tagged Heavy AP.
Vivs
Sivir
Guardian Angel moves to the top of the 3rd item, tagged Heavy AD.
Top, Jungle, Mid, ADC (also called bot) and Support. Every team of five has exactly one player in each role: Top, Mid and the bot duo each take a lane, and the Jungler moves through the forest between them.
Attack Damage Carry. It is the ranged champion in the bottom lane, usually a marksman like Jinx or Caitlyn, who deals steady damage with basic attacks and becomes the team's main damage later in the game. Many players simply call the role bot.
Support, with a tank like Leona or an enchanter like Soraka: you learn next to a teammate and you do not need to kill minions for gold. ADC is a close second. Jungle is the hardest role to start with.
Jungle. No lane tells you where to go, so you plan your own route through the monster camps, decide when to help a lane, and keep track of the enemy jungler and the big objectives.
At 20:00 in Draft and ranked games, then 6 minutes after each kill. In Swiftplay Baron spawns earlier, at 12:00. The first Dragon spawns at 5:00 in both modes.
A melee champion that is both tough and hits hard, built to fight up close for a long time. Riot's own class name for them is Fighter (Juggernauts and Divers). Darius, Garen and Sett are bruisers, and most of them play top or jungle.
Before you queue for Normal Draft or ranked, the lobby asks for a main role and a second role. Swiftplay asks for two roles with a champion for each. Pick the role whose job sounds most fun, learn two or three easy champions for it, and play a few games before you switch.
Yes. For free it shows the best champions for each of your Swiftplay roles and puts their runes and summoner spells into your slots in one click, sets runes in champion select with counters and ban targets, and in game ranks the next item to buy against the enemy team. Pro+ adds a Match Breakdown of every game with a tip for the next one, Lane Scouting on the loading screen and Clips of your deaths.
Garen
Nasus
Warwick
Amumu
Vi
Annie
Malzahar
Miss Fortune
Ashe
Caitlyn
Leona
Sona