League of Legends has attracted some new players with the Netflix series Arcane. We at MeinMMO have picked 4 key characters from the series and created small guides for you so you know how to unlock them and start playing with them immediately.
What is this about? In this guide, we want to introduce you to 4 characters from LoL and explain in short guides how you can start playing with them immediately. Because the champions from the series are currently very popular.
These guides are primarily aimed at newcomers and not veterans who like to experiment or maximize the champions’ potential.
Which 4 characters are we introducing? We have selected 4 popular characters:
- Caitlyn – a relatively easy AD-Carry
- Vi – a relatively beginner-friendly jungler
- Jinx – a harder AD-Carry
- Jayce – a moderately difficult fighter
The guides were created by MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch, who has played LoL since Season 2, and our freelance video producer Anna Alberg, who has played as a supporter and AD-Carry in Platinum to Diamond rank over the last 9 years.
Caitlyn – The Sheriff of Piltover
What role does Caitlyn fulfill? Caitlyn is a so-called marksman or AD-Carry. These are usually ranged fighters who can take little damage but deal a lot of damage, especially in the late game.
With this character, you go to the bot lane (the bottom of the map) and your goal there is to kill as many minions with the last hit as possible. Because that gives you gold, which you can use to buy useful items.
On the bot lane, you are usually supported by a supporter, for example through healing, shields, or special abilities. So you’re not alone.
Caitlyn generally has one of the highest ranges in the game, making her a relatively good character for beginners.
How do you unlock Caitlyn? You can acquire Caitlyn for 4,800 Blue Essences (in-game currency) or 880 Riot Points (about 8 euros, but you have to buy the 10 euro package).
What can her abilities do? Like most champions, Caitlyn has a passive and 4 active abilities.
Headshot (passive):
- Your normal attacks generate one stack of Headshot. Attacks from bushes grant 2 stacks. Upon reaching 6 stacks, her next normal attack deals bonus damage. The damage is increased by 100% if it hits targets that are not enemy champions.
- You also land a headshot every time you hit enemies affected by the Yordle Trap or the Caliber-90 Net.
Piltover Peacemaker (Q):
- You aim the rifle for 1 second and then fire a shot that deals normal damage. Each target after the first hit takes 60% of the original damage.
- Enemies hit by the Yordle Trap or the Caliber-90 Net always receive 100% of the damage.
Yordle Trap (W):
- You set a trap at the chosen location, which becomes active after 1.1 seconds. It lasts between 30 and 50 seconds, depending on the level.
- If an enemy steps into the trap, they are immobilized for 1.5 seconds and revealed for 3 seconds.
- Caitlyn gets an additional headshot on the target during these 3 seconds.
- You can have 3 to 5 traps active at the same time, depending on the level.
- Enemies who walk into a trap are immune to other traps for 4 seconds.
Caliber-90 Net (E):
- You fire a net in one direction and move yourself 400 units in the opposite direction.
- Enemies hit by the net are slowed by 50% for 1 second.
Ace in the Hole (R):
- You target an enemy and gain absolute vision on them for 1 second. The range of this ability is very large at 3,500 units.
- After this second, a shot is fired that deals a lot of damage. However, enemy champions can block the shot.
You can watch all of Caitlyn’s abilities in this video (from minute 1:51):
In which order should you level the abilities? You first unlock the Q skill, then the E skill, and lastly the W skill. You also maximize the Q first, then the W, and finally the E. The Ultimate R is always learned at levels 6, 11, and 16.
Which summoner spells should you choose? In general, Flash is recommended for teleporting in emergency situations or securing kills.
Additionally, Heal, Exhaust, or Barrier are suitable options.
Which runes should you choose? For runes, you should first select Precision. There are the key runes:
- Deadly Tempo (second)
- Triumph (second)
- Legend Bloodthirst (third)
- Cut Down (first)
Rune number 2 is Domination. Here you select:
- Taste of Blood (second)
- Ravenous Hunter (first in row 3)
For general runes, you choose:
- Attack (second)
- Offensive (first)
- Flex (second)
This is how the distribution looks in-game:
What items are the best?
- You start the game with “Doran’s Blade” and a health potion.
- First, you should aim for the mythic item “Stormrazor”. This costs a total of 3,400 gold but can be gradually bought in individual items. It is important that you get an active ability that allows you to jump in a certain direction and fire projectiles from there. You can use it both offensively and defensively.
- Your second item should be Berserker’s Greaves. This increases your attack speed but primarily your movement speed.
- The third item is particularly well suited to be “The Collector”. This item increases your attack damage and brings the passive effect that you instantly kill enemy champions who fall below 5% health with an attack.
- Item number 4 is the Rapid Firecannon. Here you also accumulate charges that deal additional damage.
- Items number 5 and 6 are “Infinity Edge” and “Guardian Angel”. However, in most games, you won’t reach the point of being able to buy these.
Gameplay tips for Caitlyn:
- In the lane, you should especially focus on last hits and punish the enemy whenever they come too close, preferably with a headshot.
- Set traps in bushes or chokepoints to catch enemies.
- If you find yourself in a precarious situation, use your net (E) on the opponent! This slows them down, pushes you away from them, and allows you to fire a strong attack at them.
- In team fights, you generally should stand at the back and attack enemies from a distance.
- Although it’s tempting, you should not spam the ability Piltover Peacemaker, as it consumes a lot of mana, which you should rather reserve for the net or the ultimate ability.
Vi – Piltover’s Enforcer
What role does Vi fulfill? Vi is a melee champion and is currently played mainly as a jungler in League of Legends. You move between the various lanes and kill jungle creatures to gain gold.
As a jungler, it’s important that you quickly defeat your side of the jungle and then try to support your lanes by attacking them at the right moment. This is called a “gank”. Timing plays a big role here.
You are also responsible for ensuring that the bosses dragon and baron are really defeated by your team. For this, you have the summoner spell Smite, which deals “True Damage”. You don’t need to calculate armor and resistances; you deal exactly the damage specified in the ability description.
How do you unlock Vi? You can acquire Vi for 4,800 Blue Essences (in-game currency) or 880 Riot Points (about 8 euros, but you have to buy the 10 euro package).
What can her abilities do? Like most champions, Vi has a passive and 4 active abilities.
Shield Bash (Passive):
- Each hit with an ability grants Vi a shield equal to 15% of her maximum health that lasts for 3 seconds. This has a cooldown of 12 to 16 seconds, depending on the level.
- Whenever Denting Blows is triggered, the cooldown of Shield Bash is reduced by 3 seconds.
Vault Breaker (Q):
- When pressed: Vi starts charging her attack for up to 4 seconds, increasing her range.
- Upon release: Vi dashes towards the selected direction and deals damage to all targets. However, Vi stops at enemy champions, knocking them back and pulling other enemies towards her. You do not need to wait the full 4 seconds.
Denting Blows (W):
- Passive: Normal attacks and Vault Breaker build stacks of Denting Blows. Upon reaching 3 stacks, they are consumed to deal additional damage
- Active: For the next 4 seconds, Vi gains additional attack speed and the targeted enemy’s armor is reduced by 20%.
Excessive Force (E):
- Passive: You gain charges of Excessive Force, up to 2 stacks.
- Active: You can consume these stacks to gain 50 additional range and additional damage for your next attack.
Assault and Battery (R):
- You select a target to charge at. Upon arrival, you deal normal damage and knock the enemy up for 1.25 seconds.
- Enemies in your path are shoved aside and take damage as well.
You can check out all of Vi’s abilities in the latest skin spotlight (from minute 1:20):
In which order should you level the abilities? You level the W first, then the E, and lastly the Q. However, you maximize the Q first, followed by the E. The ultimate is leveled at the usual levels 6, 11, and 16.
Which summoner spells should you choose? You use the spells Flash and Smite.
Which runes should you choose? For runes, you first select Domination. The key runes there are:
- Sudden Impact (fourth)
- Relentless Hunter (third)
- Argus’ Legacy (third)
- Unforgiving Hunter (third)
Rune number 2 is Precision. Here you choose:
- Triumph (second)
- Legendary Eagerness (first in row 2)
For general runes, you choose:
- Attack (second)
- Offensive (first)
- Flex (second)
This is how the distribution looks in-game:
What items are the best?
- You start with the “Glutmesser” as a jungle item and the “Refillable Potion”.
- Your first item should be the Mythic item “Divine Sunderer”. It brings damage, health, and a useful passive effect that adds extra damage to your attack after using an ability.
- Your second item should be boots, in this case the “Plated Steelcaps”. They grant additional armor and movement speed.
- The next item is “Sterak’s Gage”. It grants you a shield when your health drops below 30%.
- The fifth item can be offensive (“Death’s Dance”) or defensive (“Thornmail”).
- For items number 5 and 6 (you then sell your Glutmesser), you can choose the corresponding counterpart of item 4 and either “Guardian Angel” or “Black Cleaver”, depending on what is more useful for the team. Use “Black Cleaver” for more damage, “Guardian Angel” for more defense.
Gameplay tips for Vi:
- In the jungle, you should defeat your camps as quickly as possible. Start with the Blue Buff golem, which gives you level 2. Then kill the frog nearby, then move to the wolves for level 3. From there head through the mid lane to the other side of the jungle and kill the Raptors and the Red Buff.
- Since Vi is a very strong jungler at the beginning of the game, you can go to the river to kill the crab after the Red Buff. There, you can encounter the enemy jungler and try out your skills in the first fight.
- After killing the crab, you can choose whether to gank a lane, invade the enemy jungle, or teleport back to base to buy items.
- As the game progresses, your task is to look for a good team fight. Depending on the situation, you charge at the enemy carry (a champion that deals a lot of damage) or protect the carry from your team.
Jinx – The Trigger-Happy
What role does Jinx fulfill? Jinx is, like Caitlyn, a ranged champion, usually called AD-Carry. Unlike Caitlyn, Jinx has a shorter range and no net to shoot herself to safety.
So, when playing Jinx, you need a bit more skill to pay attention to proper positioning. However, she rewards you with two different weapons and a massive rocket as an ultimate that can fly across the entire map.
How do you unlock Jinx? You can acquire Jinx for 4,800 Blue Essences (in-game currency) or 880 Riot Points (about 8 euros, but you have to buy the 10 euro package).
What can her abilities do? Jinx also has 4 active and 1 passive ability, but her “Q” is a weapon switch that affects her auto-attack.
I’m going crazy (Passive):
- Whenever Jinx defeats an enemy champion, tower, inhibitor, or an epic monster (dragon, baron, herald), she gains 175% additional movement speed for 6 seconds.
Weapon Switch (Q):
- You switch between the two weapons Bang Bang and Fishbones as soon as you activate the ability.
- While equipped with Bang Bang, you gain additional attack speed from normal attacks for 2.5 seconds. You can stack this up to 3 times.
- While equipped with Fishbones, your normal attacks cost mana. In return, your range is increased, and you deal 10% additional attack damage. Furthermore, your attacks deal damage to units around the hit enemy.
- When you switch from Bang Bang to Fishbones, you do not lose your additional attack speed, but the buff expires after 2.5 seconds at the latest.
Zap (W):
- You fire a shock shot that deals normal damage to the enemy and reveals and slows them for 2 seconds.
Flame Chompers (E):
- You throw three grenades that are lined up in a row and become active after 0.7 seconds. They explode either after 5 seconds or upon contact with an enemy champion.
- If an enemy runs into the grenades, they will be immobilized for 1.5 seconds and take damage. An enemy can only be hit by one of the three grenades.
Super Mega Death Rocket (R):
- You fire a rocket that explodes upon contact with an enemy champion and deals a lot of damage. The damage increases the further the rocket travels. Upon explosion, surrounding enemies also take damage.
In which order should you level the abilities? You level the Q first, then the W, and lastly the E. You maximize the Q first, then the W, and finally the E. The ultimate is leveled at the usual levels 6, 11, and 16.
Which summoner spells should you choose? In general, Flash should be taken for teleporting in emergency situations or securing kills.
Additionally, Heal, Exhaust, or Barrier are suitable.
Which runes should you choose? For runes, you should first select Precision. There are the key runes:
- Deadly Tempo (second)
- Presence of Mind (third)
- Legend Bloodthirst (third)
- Cut Down (second)
Rune number 2 is Domination. Here you choose:
- Taste of Blood (second)
- Ravenous Hunter (first in row 3)
For general runes, you choose:
- Attack (second)
- Offensive (first)
- Flex (second)
This is how the distribution looks in-game:
What items are the best?
- You start the game with “Doran’s Blade” and a health potion.
- First, you should get the Mythic item “Kraken Slayer”. This ensures that every third attack deals additional true damage.
- The next item should be “Berserker’s Greaves”. This increases your attack and movement speed.
- The third item should be something with additional attack speed. Here you can choose between “Rapid Firecannon”, which provides additional damage through charging, or “Runaan’s Hurricane”, which distributes two extra bolts when attacking enemies in the immediate vicinity.
- Item 4 should then be “Infinity Edge” for more critical strike damage.
- For items 5 and 6, “Bloodthirster” is suitable for life steal, and “Lord Dominik’s Regards” for extra damage against tanky enemies.
Gameplay tips for Jinx:
- Zap (W) is a good ability to punish enemies in the lane who come too close or do not hide behind their minions.
- You can also punish enemies with Fishbones (the other weapon that fires rockets). It has a long range. Just make sure not to use it too often, or you’ll quickly run out of mana.
- If you get ganked by an enemy jungler, use your Flame Chompers (E) to block their path.
- Use your ultimate ability (R) when enemies are low on health to deal much more damage. If you see an enemy on another lane who is low on health, try your luck and fire your rocket across the map.
- The additional movement speed after a kill on a champion can be used both offensively to chase down further enemies and defensively to escape.
- Make sure to stand at the back of the group in team fights and not in the middle of the melee since you have limited defensive options.
Jayce – The Defender of Tomorrow
What role does Jayce fulfill? Jayce is a type of offensive fighter who can switch between melee and ranged combat. He is usually played in the top lane and is a challenging but manageable character for beginners.
It is important that you are on your own in the top lane. So you need to land good last hits on minions without dying in direct duels or being surprised by the enemy jungler.
How do you unlock Jayce? You can acquire Jayce for 4,800 Blue Essences (in-game currency) or 880 Riot Points (about 8 euros, but you have to buy the 10 euro package).
What can his abilities do? Jayce is the first champion with 7 active abilities. His weapon switch changes the abilities Q, W, and E.
Hextech Capacitor (Passive):
- Whenever Jayce switches between hammer form and cannon form, he gains additional movement speed for 1.25 seconds.
We will first introduce the abilities in hammer form:
To the Skies (Q):
- Jayce dashes to an enemy and deals normal damage to nearby enemies, slowing them for 2 seconds.
Lightning Field (W):
- Passive: You regenerate mana every time you hit an opponent with normal attacks.
- Active: You gain a lightning shield for 4 seconds that deals magical damage to all enemies in the vicinity every second.
Thunderous Blow (E):
- You strike the enemy and deal additional magical damage.
Transformation: Mercury Cannon (R):
- You transform your hammer into a cannon, gaining 500 additional range, and your next attack reduces the enemy’s armor and magic resistance for 5 seconds.
The abilities in cannon form:
Shock Blast (Q):
- You fire an electric ball in the chosen direction, dealing normal damage.
- If the Shock Blast passes through an Acceleration Gate, the distance, damage, and projectile speed are increased.
Hyper Charge (W):
- You gain additional attack speed for the next 3 attacks within 4 seconds, dealing additional damage.
Acceleration Gate (E):
- You place a gate for 4 seconds that grants additional movement speed to all allied champions who pass through it for 3 seconds.
Transformation: Mercury Hammer (R):
- You switch back to hammer form and gain additional armor and magic resistance. Your next normal attack deals additional magical damage.
In which order should you level the abilities? You level your Q first, then your W, and lastly your E. You maximize the Q first, followed by the W and lastly the E. Your ultimate is always available for selection.
Which summoner spells should you choose? You generally choose Flash as a summoner spell. Usually, you also use Teleport as a second spell. In some situations, it can be helpful to have Ignite for extra damage.
Which runes should you choose? You start with Inspiration runes:
- Electrocute (third)
- Magical Footwear (second)
- Cookie Delivery (third)
- Tonic of Timewarp (third)
As a second rune, you choose Domination:
- Taste of Blood (second)
- Ravenous Hunter (first in row 3)
For general runes, you choose:
- Attack (second)
- Flexible (second)
- Defense (third)
What items are the best?
- You start with “Doran’s Blade” and a health potion.
- Then you can already get a “Tear of the Goddess”.
- However, your first finished item should be “Eclipse”. This provides bonus damage when hitting an enemy with 2 attacks or abilities within 1.5 seconds.
- Next, you should buy boots, specifically “Ionian Boots of Lucidity”. These increase your ability haste and movement speed.
- Your third item allows you to upgrade the “Tear of the Goddess” to “Manamune”.
- As the fourth item, “Serylda’s Grudge” is a good option. This slows down enemies affected by your abilities for 1 second by 30%.
- For items 5 and 6, “Yomuu’s Ghostblade”, “Guardian Angel”, and “Night Harvester” are suitable depending on the situation. We recommend starting with “Guardian Angel” for beginners.
Gameplay tips for Jayce:
- Jayce is very strong against melee champions and enemies who cannot take much damage.
- In the laning phase, you should use your ranged abilities to consistently deal damage to the opponent (known as “poke”). The combination of Acceleration Gate and Shock Blast is very strong, but also quite mana-intensive. Use them wisely.
- Jayce must be played aggressively and offensively in lane; otherwise, you risk falling behind.
- In team fights, you are weaker. You need to carefully “prepare” the team fight for your team. Use your ranged abilities E+Q to keep the enemies’ health nice and low. Just be careful not to run out of mana.
- Jayce excels at destroying towers. If your team is gathered in the middle, look to push other lanes and attack towers. This will split the enemy team because if they don’t defend their towers, you’ll destroy them quickly. This is called split-pushing.
- While split-pushing, be ready to use “Teleport” to quickly join your team when a team fight begins.
What are your favorite characters in LoL in general and in Arcane in particular? And which characters would you generally recommend to newcomers in LoL? Feel free to share in the comments.
