League of Legends - Spending IP Wisely

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What is IP?

IP, or Influence Points, is a type of currency used in League of Legends. IP cannot be bought directly and is hard to accumulate, especially if you are a casual player.

This guide will teach you how to spend your IP wisely starting from Summoner Level 1, without spending money on IP boosts. By the time you hit Level 30, if you have been following this guide, you should have a decent selection of champions and a good starter rune set. Definitely take a look at this guide - there are two champions you can get for free!

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Runes

Generic DPS Rune Page with Tier 3 Runes

Runes are used to enhance your champion. There are four types of runes: Marks, Seals, Glyphs, and Quintessences. The Marks, Seals, and Glyphs have nine slots each, while the Quintessences have three slots. Here are the best starter runes for each type:

Marks (Red)

Desolation - Armor penetration - for DPS (Autoattackers)/junglers
Insight - Magic penetration - for casters
Strength - Attack damage - for DPS (Autoattackers)/junglers

Malice - Critical chance - for DPS (Autoattackers) [I recommend these only after you buy one set of the more general purpose runes above]

Seals (Yellow)

Resilience - Armor - for everyone
Clarity - Mana regen per 5 seconds/ lvl 18 - for mana-reliant champions

Glyphs (Blue)

Warding - Magic resist - for everyone
Focus - Cooldown reduction - for everyone
Clarity - Mana regen per 5 seconds/ lvl 18 - for mana-reliant champions

Quints (Purple/Brown)

Fortitude - Health - for everyone
Swiftness - Movement speed - for everyone

Finally, there are three tiers of runes:

Tier 1 - Buy these runes to start off, and don't buy more runes than the number of slots you have available! Or, you can just wait till level 20 and buy Tier 3 runes straight away.
Tier 2 (unlocked at level 10) - NEVER BUY TIER 2 RUNES! They are very costly and do not provide a significant benefit over Tier 1 runes.
Tier 3 (unlocked at level 20) - These are the runes used in competitive play. Once you reach level 20, you should be buying these runes.

Free Tristana and Riot Girl Tristana Skin!

Free Trist + Riot Girl Trist SkinTristana - Ranged DPS - Normally 1350 IP

How to obtain Tristana + a pink skin for free:
1. Visit the store in the LoL client at least once.
2. Create/Login to your Facebook account.
3. Go to the League of Legends Facebook Page and click the Like button.
4. Go to the Free Tristana Webpage and claim your prize (Make sure you are logged in to the LoL website first)!

Free Alistar + Skin!

Alistar skin

1. Go to this link.
2. Login to your League of Legends account (if you are not already logged in).
3. Click "Subscribe" and login to your Youtube account.
4. ?????????
5. Profit!

Champions

ChampionsThere are 5 tiers of pricing for champions: 450 IP, 1350 IP, 3150 IP, 4800 IP, and 6300 IP. I strongly recommend that you stay within the 450, 1350, and 3150 IP range. You will have a nice variety of champions that you can pick from, which allows you to be more versatile when filling a team role.

For champions 3150 and above, I suggest that you try them out when they are available during a "Free Champion Rotation." Every week, the free champions are changed. Here are champions that I feel are fun, powerful, and not too hard to play:

450 IP Champions

Ashe - Ranged DPS
Nunu - Jungler
Ryze - Mage
Sivir - Ranged DPS

1350 IP Champions

Alistar - Tank <------------------DO NOT BUY! YOU CAN GET HIM FOR FREE!!!
Annie - AOE mage
Amumu - Tank + Jungler
Janna - Support
Tristana - Ranged DPS <-------------DO NOT BUY! YOU CAN GET HER FOR FREE!!!

3150 IP Champions

Gangplank - Melee DPS + Ranged skill
Garen - Fighter/Tanky DPS
Sona - Support
Taric - Support
Warwick - Powerful in lane ("Lanewick")/Safe jungler

4800 IP Champions

Jarvan IV - Tank/Tanky DPS
Rumble - Mage

6300 IP Champions

Caitlyn - Ranged DPS
Graves - Ranged DPS
Irelia - Melee/Tanky DPS
Kennen - AOE mage
Miss Fortune - Ranged DPS
Nocturne - Jungler

First Win of the Day Bonus

First Win of the Day

Every day, you will gain +150 IP for your first win of the day. This bonus is not affected by any percentage penalties such as the Coop vs. AI IP penalty. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you get at least one win per day. If you are short on time, play a Coop vs. AI game. You should almost be guaranteed to win. If you are very confident in your skills, you could play a Dominion game. But beware, if you lose, you would waste lots of time.

Free RP

QuizzetEarn Riot Points at Quizzet by asking or answering other people's homework questions!

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Comments

  • biggking May 28, 2012 @ 6:20 am | delete
    is league of legends a good game?
  • Trig Mar 18, 2012 @ 3:25 am | delete
    Thanks for the tips. I like Karthus and Fiddlesticks myself, sorry they didn't make the list :P
  • Renwin Jan 5, 2012 @ 5:40 pm | delete
    A quick and clear run down on what to get for runes. And good thing I didn't touch tier 2 because it looks like a waste from a far. Overall, good len with decent suggestions.
  • jadehorseshoe Dec 29, 2011 @ 1:33 pm | delete
    Useful Lens!
  • jakx77 Dec 6, 2011 @ 7:55 pm | delete
    Thanks for the free champion info. Riot should definitely advertise these more clearly.
  • Load More

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