Wondering which are the best League of Legends champions for beginners looking to learn the game? This is the updated list for the 2025 season.
While LoL has been the most popular esports title over the last decade, the game is also known for its incredibly challenging learning curve. Even players with several years of experience might not have absorbed all the needed knowledge to succeed in the game. I myself have spent hundreds of days of game time to pick up most of the fundamentals, and I’m still learning new things every time a new patch is released.
With the introduction of the new season and a couple of game-changing updates, this is the updated list of the best champions to learn as a beginner in League of Legends.
Our list will cover two champions per role, explaining the reasons why I think they are quite suitable for beginners who have to master the basics of the position or role. Without further ado, let’s jump right into it!
Best League of Legends champions for beginners for Top lane
First choice: Garen
Why Garen? Garen is without a doubt the best champion to play in the top lane. He has a simple kit to pick up, and his trading patterns are mechanically easy to execute. Pair it up with his healing passive, the champion is very forgiving and gives room for players to make game-decisive errors.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Perseverance: Garen regenerates health when out of combat, allowing him to quickly heal up in case of bad trades.
- Q – Decisive Strike: Boosts movement speed and silences enemies, perfect for engaging or escaping. Bread-and-butter ability for short trades.
- W – Courage: Grants defensive stats and a damage reduction shield that can be used during any skirmish.
- E – Judgment: Garen can use this ability to deal damage to enemies while also quickly clearing minion waves if necessary.
- R – Demacian Justice: A point-and-click ability that deals true damage to one single target. What more could you ask for?
Second choice: Shen
Why Shen? Unlike Garen, Shen is a much more team-oriented champion. His abilities and playstyle is heavily revolved around playing for his team, emphasizing teamwork and coordination. What makes him strong for beginners is the ability to join fights with both teleport and the ultimate, allowing him to join fights more often than other champions.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Ki Barrier: After using an ability, Shen gains a shield, allowing him to get better trading potential.
- Q – Twilight Assault: Empowers Shen’s attacks, dealing bonus damage. Shen’s key ability to farm and fight opponents.
- W – Spirit’s Refuge: Blocks all incoming basic attacks within a small area. A particular strong tool against auto-attack based champions.
- E – Shadow Dash: A taunting dash that lets Shen engage, escape, or protect allies effectively. Provides good crowd control and also gives Shen more mobility.
- R – Stand United: Shen’s signature global ultimate shields an ally and teleports him to their location, creating game-changing moments.
Best League of Legends champions for beginners in Mid Lane
First choice: Annie
Why Annie? Annie has been for years treated as the go-to champion to learn all the key fundaments in League of Legends so it’s only logical to see her as a key choice for beginners looking to learn the mid lane role. She has good damage output and her kit is designed different basics of the game, from farming to trade patterns to the teamfights.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Pyromania: After casting four abilities, Annie’s next spell stuns enemies. Can be used during short trades or key teafights.
- Q – Disintegrate: A low-mana, single-target ability that refunds mana on kills. Her bread-and-butter ability that allows players to learn to farm minions.
- W – Incinerate: Deals AoE damage in a cone, great for wave-clearing.
- E – Molten Shield: Provides a shield and reflects damage, defensive item during trades
- R – Summon: Tibbers: Unleashes Annie’s bear Tibbers, dealing damage. You can command it by pressing the R button.
Second choice: Lux
Why Lux? While Annie is typically preferred to learn how to play mid lane, Lux is a great alternative when you need more long-range and higher burst damage. In other words, she deals more damage from a longer distance.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Illumination: Lux’s abilities mark enemies with a debuff that causes bonus damage when hit by her basic attacks. Use the passive to farm minions and increase your damage during short trades
- Q – Light Binding: A skillshot that roots up to two enemies while dealing damage, a great tool to lock down opponents to take them down or run away.
- W – Prismatic Barrier: Throws her wand in an arc, shielding herself and allies twice on the return. Good defensive tool for skirmishes.
- E – Lucent Singularity: Creates a zone of light that slows enemies and explodes for damage. Ideal for poke and zoning. It’s Lux’s main ability to poke and farm minion, max it first.
- R – Final Spark: A global-range laser that deals massive damage, finishing off enemies or turning the tide of fights. Remember that taking down opponents with it will reduce the cooldown. Later in the game, you can fire this ability on average once every 30-40 seconds, which is usually twice as fast as other champions’ ultimates.
Best League of Legends champions for beginners in the jungle
First Choice: Warwick
Why Warwick? If you have watched Arcane, you probably know who Warwick is. In the game, the developers have given him one of the easiest kits to learn to play jungle. Thanks to his sustain, crowd control, and several engaging tools, he can track and hunt down enemies with relative ease.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Eternal Hunger: Warwick’s basic attacks deal bonus magic damage and heal him for a percentage of the damage dealt, providing excellent sustain. With this, you can force several skirmishes even if you’re low on health.
- Q – Jaws of the Beast: Warwick lunges forward, biting an enemy and healing based on the damage dealt. Holding the ability allows him to follow the target through dashes. Use this to stick to enemies or just heal up the damage taken right before the end of the trade.
- W – Blood Hunt: Passively reveals and increases movement speed toward low-health enemies. When activated, it grants bonus attack speed against a target and tracks them, enabling strong ganking potential. This ability is particularly effective for beginners because it tells you which lanes are easier to gank at any given point and it also helps you increase the success rate of said ganks.
- E – Primal Howl: Warwick gains damage reduction and, after a short delay, fears nearby enemies, disrupting their positioning during fights. Use it to reduce incoming burst damage or escape from enemies
- R – Infinite Duress: Warwick leaps to suppress and damage an enemy while healing himself, perfect for locking down priority targets. Bear in mind that the ability can be interrupted by enemy crowd control so wait for the right moment to use it.
Extra tip: Warwick can also be played as a top laner, giving you one extra choice if you need one.
Second choice: Amumu
Why Amumu? There are two reasons why I think Amumu is a great champion for beginners in League of Legends. He has a simple yet effective kit when you need to be the engage tool for your team but most importantly, he can both go damage or tank build based on the team composition.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Cursed Touch: Amumu’s attacks reduce magic resistance. Great to amplify your and teammates’ damage
- Q – Bandage Toss: A skill shot that stuns and pulls Amumu to the target. The ability was previously reworked to have up to two stacks, giving the champion an extra chance if the first skill shot is missed
- W – Despair: Deals AoE damage over time. Strong ability to quickly clear jungle monsters without having to attack-move
- E – Tantrum: Reduces incoming physical damage and deals AoE damage, ideal for skirmishes
- R – Curse of the Sad Mummy: A massive AoE ability that damages and stuns. A well-hit ultimate can single-handedly win you fights and games.
Best League of Legends champions for beginners for ADCs
First choice: Miss Fortune
Why Miss Fortune? Miss Fortune is a fantastic choice for beginners looking to pick up the ADC role due to her high damage output and mechanically easy-to-play kit. She has both strong laning and teamfighting, making her a versatile pick as you learn the most important fundamentals of the role.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Love Tap: Miss Fortune’s basic attacks deal bonus damage when switching targets, adding extra poke and trading potential.
- Q – Double Up: Fires a shot that can hit two targets, dealing bonus damage to the second target. A great tool to farm minions while also poke enemies during the laning phase.
- W – Strut: Increases movement speed passively after not being attacked and grants bonus attack speed when activated. Allows to her get quickly back to lane and improve positioning before the start of a fight.
- E – Make It Rain: Creates a zone of bullets, slowing and damaging enemies over time. Useful for zoning and wave control. Best for poke and to run away from chasing opponents.
- R – Bullet Time: Channels a devastating cone of bullets in a targeted direction, dealing massive AoE damage in teamfights. All you have to do is to find a position where you can freely fire your ultimate. Wait for the right moment for enemy threating abilities to be used.
Second choice ADC: Ashe
Why Ashe? If you want an ADC that auto attacks a lot but isn’t as mechanically demanding, then go for Ashe. Aside from good DPS (damage per second), she has great utility and a powerful ultimate to dictate engages, something that other ADCs do not have.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Frost Shot: Basic attacks slow enemies, providing excellent kiting potential.
- Q – Ranger’s Focus: Grants an attack speed boost and enhances basic attacks. Use it to quickly increase your DPS and kiting potential
- W – Volley: Fires a cone of arrows, slowing multiple enemies. Best for poke during the laning phase
- E – Hawkshot: Reveals areas of the map, helping with vision control. This is probably the hardest ability to master for Ashe. The main reason is to maximize its use by getting information of the enemy jungler or other laners to know if you’re being under threat or there is a potential gank coming your way. Since it has a high cooldown, be cautious when using it.
- R – Enchanted Crystal Arrow: A global ultimate that stuns the first enemy hit. You will have to learn to snipe people across the map. A good tip is to practice shooting some arrows in practice tool to get a hang of the ability.
Best League of Legends champions for beginners in support
First choice: Leona
Why Leona? I think that engaging supports are some of the hardest champions to master in the game. Not necessarily because they have difficult kits, but mainly due to the playmaking potential and game sense they require to initiate fights at the right moments. Compared to other supports, Leona is much tankier while offering similar levels of crowd controls, making her ideal for beginners who still need to properly master those aspects of the game.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Sunlight: Allies deal bonus damage to enemies marked by Leona’s abilities. Great for skirmishes.
- Q – Shield of Daybreak: Stuns the target with a melee attack. Keep in mind that the ability is an auto attack reset, meaning it will immediately initiate a second attack after the first one is hit.
- W – Eclipse: Grants bonus resistances and deals AoE damage. Allows Leona to survive for longer
- E – Zenith Blade: Pulls Leona to an enemy, setting up combos. Great to initiate fights on single targets.
- R – Solar Flare: A large AoE ability that stuns and slows, perfect to start fights and equally effective to protect your allies.
Second choice: Lulu
Why Lulu? If I were to choose an enchanter champion to learn playing support, it would be none other than Lulu. She is a great choice for beginners that want a versatile champion to protect and empower allies. Thanks to her kit, she provides a good mix of shields and crowd control to peel your ADC and the rest of the team.
Abilities Overview
- Passive – Pix, Faerie Companion: Pix fires additional magic damage bolts at enemies when Lulu or an ally she shields attacks. Particularly effective for early-game trades.
- Q – Glitterlance: Fires a skillshot that slows enemies – use it to poke the enemies when in range.
- W – Whimsy: Can polymorph enemies to disable them or grant allies bonus movement and attack speed. Based on the situation, assess on whether you want the defensive or offensive aspect of the ability.
- E – Help, Pix!: Shields allies or damages enemies while sending Pix to the target, increasing their utility. Try to time the ability to surprise opponents during the trades. In teamfights, it’s often good to spam it whenever it’s off cooldown.
- R – Wild Growth: Instantly increases an ally’s health and knocks up nearby enemies, creating space in fights or saving allies from danger. You can use it on engage allies to chain up more crowd controls or to protect your allies from dying. In most scenarios, using it on your carries is most effective.
Final Thoughts
While learning to play League of Legends can be difficult at first, playing the game with these champions should make it much easier for you. It’s always advised to learn fewer champions at first and stick to the same role for a fixed period of time, before making a switch. Try to understand which champions or roles you enjoy and start to hone them first. Once you have picked up the basics, you will be ready to learn more advanced things. See you on the Rift!
