How To Play AD Carry as a Beginner in League of Legends

Having a hard time playing AD Carry? Fret not! We’ll show you the basics of how to get started, what to do, what to buy and what champions to go for when learning to play AD Carry.

What is your primary objective?

Stay out of range, lead your enemies into ganks, get the kill, escape, rinse, repeat. Prepare for the mid- and late game team fights by farming minions and holding your lane with your support.

While you’ll be relying on your support having your back for the first part of the game, it won’t be long before you’ll be able to help your team. That is, if you’ve pushed your lane successfully. If not, focus on taking objectives and use team fights to get back in the lead. This is your chance to deal some damage, so pick the enemy closest to you and wait for your team to engage.

As one of the main powerhouses of the team in terms of pure damage, the AD Carry relies heavily on farming minions and getting gold to buy better items for the late game. With their somewhat squishy nature, positioning is key. You’ll need to deal as much damage as possible, all while dying as little as possible. Bear in mind that you won’t have the same toughness as you did on top lane, so keep your distance, even in the late game.

The AD Carry needs to deal sustained damage, which means that you’ll want to harass your enemies constantly. Constant waves of attacks against opponents looking to dive in on you, make you a much less attractive target, leaving you to decide when to strike instead.

What champions should you pick?

Newcomers to the role of AD Carry should look into Caitlyn, Miss Fortune, Ashe and Varus as their starting picks. These are perfect for learning the dos and don’ts of playing bot lane.

With a strong early- and late game, Caitlyn is a serious threat throughout the entire game. She has long ranging auto-attacks, making her a tough opponent against almost anyone. Her ability to push and pressure the lane makes her a fantastic choice for beginners looking to see what the role is about. On her list of weaknesses, you’ll find that she is vulnerable to crowd control. Similarly, her squishy nature means that she’ll need to use her ranged damage to her advantage.

How to play: Her range is her strength, and you’ll need to use it to avoid getting caught by crowd control. Auto-attacks and her Q ability, Piltover Peacemaker, are great at keeping enemies at bay, while her traps, Yordle Snap Trap and 90 Caliber Net, wreak havoc during team fights. Place Yordle Snap Trap under crowd-controlled enemies, place it in front of your turret, around your base or leave it as a nasty surprise in the brushes.

Abilities include Piltover Peacemaker (Ranged Attack), Yordle Snap Trap (Triggerable Trap), 90 Caliber Net (Fireable Trap), Ace in the Hole (Ranged Ultimate)

Her superb range and great poking abilities make Miss Fortune a real lane bully. Using her ranged attacks, she focuses on dealing heavy damage to individual targets and dishes out devastating blows to the enemy team with her ultimate, Bullet Time. She has a strong early game and truly comes in to her own in late game team fights.

How to play: You’ll want to make full use of her poke ability, Double Up, and auto-attack. Engage in short bursts with help from your support and keep harassing as much as possible while focusing on taking the turret or holding the lane. During the mid- and late game, stick close to your team to prevent being caught in unwinnable solo fights. In team fights, time her ultimate ability, Bullet Time, to trap enemies in a rain of bullets that does great damage. Ideally, you’ll want to save it until you have a good position or when you’re safely behind your support or tank.

Abilities include Double Up (Ranged Attack), Strut (Damage or Speed Buff), Make it Rain (AOE Attack), Bullet Time (Ultimate Attack)

Newcomers will enjoy her straightforward set of abilities, her great crowd control and her knack for effectively chasing down enemies on the run. Using her auto-attacks, she is able to harass enemies with constant slows. Drawbacks include her reliance on auto-attacks for damage, her low mobility and somewhat lacklustre passive.

How to play: For Ashe to maximize her late game, you’ll need to focus on farming effectively from the get-go. Keep your distance to aggressive lane opponents, and keep poking with her Q ability, Volley, to prevent them from getting too close. Help your team by scouting for enemy movements with her E ability, Hawkshot. Her ultimate, Enchanted Crystal Arrow, is perfect for setting up ganks, and it should be your go-to ability for engaging and picks.

Abilities include Ranger’s Focus (Attack Buff), Volley (Ranged Attack), Hawkshot (Reveal Spell), Enchanted Crystal Arrow (Ultimate Damage, Stun and Slow)

Deadly from a distance, Varus is fantastic at dealing long range damage and a genuine threat from beginning to end. His ability to crowd control with his ultimate makes him perfect for team fights, rooting the entire enemy team with a single move. With his low mobility however, he’s easily caught by pursuers and his damage output depends heavily on his ability to hit his targets.

How to play: Start the game by farming up and harassing enemies as much as possible by poking with his Q ability, Piercing Arrow. This is also great for bringing down enemies on the run or when setting up a team fight. If you’re ahead in items, don’t be afraid of going for the kill if you see an opportunity on your lane. In team fights, position yourself around the edge of the fight, wait for the enemy team to use their crowd control and dive in. Use his ultimate, Chain of Corruption, to peel of any crowd control on you and escape.

Abilities include Piercing Arrow (Ranged Attack), Blighted Quiver (Buff), Hail of Arrows (Ranged Attack), Chain of Corruption (Ultimate Chain Attack)

How to make your team happy

Stay alive, defend your lane and stay out of the chat. You could say, that League of Legends has one of the most unforgiving playerbases around. Playing it safe in the early game is generally the best way to avoiding any unwanted attention from your team. It helps you focus and maybe you’ll even play better than you would worrying about the chat.

Stick to your objective. One of the simplest ways to keeping your team happy, is doing your part towards winning the game. It doesn’t have to be getting kills or assists – helping your teammates by pushing turrets, roaming and participating in team fights goes a long way at keeping everyone on their best behaviour.

Communicate with your team, let them know that you’re switching roles. If you made it to Silver 5 on top lane, you probably won’t be playing as comfortably on bot lane. Inform your team that you’re trying something new and that you’ll probably need your support to help you a bit more than their used to.

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