Philipp Hansen, a MeinMMO author, played League of Legends for the first time in 2019. However, his experiences were rather negative. In 2020, he tries again with League of Legends: Wild Rift and concludes that it is better than its big brother on PC.
Why Wild Rift? I hang around in the shooter area for MeinMMO. However, colleague Alexander Leitsch suddenly raved about the mysterious new game Wild Rift… I didn’t recognize the name at all.
It was only when he said “That’s LoL, play it!” that it dawned on me: Because I made my first attempts in MOBAs with League of Legends a year ago, I should now dive back into Summoner’s Rift.
Everything unspeakable that happened to me back then can be found here:
One thing I can tell you, LoL: Wild Rift is much more fun for me personally than the “big” LoL and does many things better. And exactly that is something I would never have expected from a mobile title. By now, I have played every evening for a week, racking up over 30 matches.
Here’s my take on mobile gaming: I must admit that I don’t take smartphone games very seriously. I never played them and never had the desire to.
- To pass the time during short waits, I already use my phone. But then I surf the Internet or read only the most serious subjects from the most reputable sources. Well, and I watch silly videos.
- For gaming, I have my consoles. There, complex video game experiences come with appealing graphics and depth. The PC remains my primary work tool, which is why I experience almost all digital adventures with the controller.
- Especially those virtual controller areas on the mobile screen only deterred me from even thinking about it. When my sausage fingers are fumbling on the screen, I can’t see anything – logical, right?
Only for my childhood love Pokémon did I once make an exception and downloaded Pokémon GO on my phone.
Why is it the better LoL for me?
What annoyed me in big LoL: The sometimes endless waiting times before matches and the rather clunky entry still stick in my memory. Although there were tutorials, LoL has become really complex over the years and somehow unmanageable for newcomers.
Whoever joins now suddenly has over 150 champions in front of them, which they can either play or must survive against. Additionally, many players simply have thousands of hours of experience while you’re still just making your first attempts.
This comes with my biggest issue, being targeted, which bothered me massively. If I died – which happened often as a beginner – I hardly dared to look in the chat.
That’s why there’s little hate: I’ll start with the most noticeable point for me: I rarely receive hate messages. And LoL is infamous for its toxic community. This is probably due to two aspects:
- On the smartphone, the chat is not as easy to find and handle quickly as on the PC. For me, that’s a clear plus. However, communication doesn’t really suffer. You can set warnings, emotes, and pings in seconds and choose from pre-made messages.
- The second point probably lies with me: I retained some things from last year’s LoL excursion and simply give fewer reasons to be “hated”.
The entry is easier: Everything looks leaner and sensibly arranged for the smartphone. The small tutorial missions are in German and can be completed in one or two minutes each. You can play normal matches and familiarize yourself with your champion.
In between, you learn new tricks in the brief missions, which you can immediately apply and feel genuinely “smarter”. If you’re such a bloody LoL noob like I was, get the right tips for entry here:
The most important question is easier: Which champion should I even play? Here, Wild Rift is also very accommodating for us beginners.
- Currently, there are 49 champions who want to bash each other’s heads in (as of December 18, 2020). On PC, you have the agony of choice from over 150.
- Due to the initially smaller roster, there is also less to learn when you’re new. This makes the current entry easier.
- However, more fighters are to be added step by step later.
But don’t worry, everyone is catered for, from archers to demon mages to cute robots. My champions of choice are here the shining knight Garen and the Anubis doppelgänger Nasus. Both can withstand quite a bit, are classified as “easy,” and can also deal strong damage.
I have therefore decided on the top-lane role, just like back in the day on PC. Here I usually linger the most time with only one of the 5 opponents nearby.
Wild Rift seems to me not only clearer but also gets to the point faster. I start the game, and immediately there’s skillful bashing.
Just a quick round of Wild Rift, why not?
What makes Wild Rift so good? Everything happens noticeably quicker in this LoL mobile than in the big brother. I’m not talking about the quick start of a match – although I never had to wait longer than 15 seconds. No, the games themselves are much faster.
Due to some adjustments compared to the PC version, the games also end faster. My average time across over 30 matches is about 15 minutes. Only in ranked mode have I rarely had matches that dragged on for more than 25 minutes.
This gives you a reason to start a quick round in between. The numerous challenges and special events currently taking place give me good reason. This way, I can unlock skins and new heroes.
Especially cool for noobs like me: There’s significantly more gold. Whenever a minion dies near me, cash goes into my pockets. This way, I can initially avoid the duels with the real opponents and still quickly buy cool items – which all have a significant impact.
Anyone who thinks this makes it boring is wrong. Because experienced players also find depth in Wild Rift, which provides significant advantages when mastered. The keyword here is “last-hitting,” meaning dealing the killing blow to a minion to earn gold. Those who master this will get much richer, and those who can manage waves will always be in a favorable position.
The professional stands out not only by knowing their champion but also by knowing which skills the opponent possesses.
That’s why I need to rethink: I must admit, I have a lot of catching up to do and essentially know nothing about my opponents’ skills. For me, it was at times extremely frustrating to be juggled in the air, seemingly hopeless, and then cut down slowly – that calls for revenge!
I’m glad that I’m getting along with Nasus and Garen. But that’s already enough for the first hours. I can still (usually) keep up well and play my role. However, I always have further goals on the horizon.
Eventually playing a different champion or lane is a carrot on a stick that can provide significant motivation even after a long time.
And here I must also warn: Anyone looking for a casual game to play during commercial breaks while binge-watching will not be very happy. You have to really engage with Wild Rift and pay attention.
Wild Rift is a mobile game that I actually enjoy
Wow! That clears one of my mobile concerns: The depth and tactical component that are supposedly only available in “real” games also exist on mobile.
How is the control now? Here, too, I was pleasantly surprised that the control and overview work so well, I never expected that. The controls via touch screen of the phone work great:
- The controls are positioned so that I can comfortably reach everything with my joystick-trained thumbs.
- On the right, I use my thumb to select my champion’s abilities or set markers for my teammates.
- With my left thumb, I control my champion. Practically, I don’t have to hit a position precisely. The touch area moves dynamically with my thumb.
- During attacks or abilities, Wild Rift supports me strongly (or rather my thumbs): It defaults to beating the target with the least health. However, I can also select precisely from above and below the attack area whether I want to target units or towers or aim directly.
Just so you know: I play LoL: Wild Rift on my Huawei P30 Lite. The display measures 6.15 inches (about 16 cm), and I can easily reach everywhere with my relatively large hands.
Should I thank my colleague now? I am a naturally grateful person, so yes. Just for the enlightenment that you can control games well on the phone and that such a complex concept as LoL works in a small format, I am grateful.
As the game also plays faster and is more beginner-friendly in my opinion, it adds to that. It remains to be seen whether my teammates will eventually find their chats and use them to insult me; until then, I will have a great time in Summoner’s Rift!
More tips, guides, and articles can be found on our topic page on LoL Wild Rift.
