Strategy Guide - Guide for League of Legends: Clash of Fates

~~~ League of Legends ~~~~

Created by: Remanemporor
Version: 0.67
Date Started: 7/22/10
Date Updated: 3/20/11

Contact me for ANYTHING that you think should be added, removed, 
expanded, contracted, replaced, transposed, inverted, or changed in any 
way (I'm lonely enough that I will respond to almost anything). If you 
see any typos, tell me. Any bad info, tell me. I will give you credit.

GameFAQs.com is guaranteed to have the latest version of this guide.

Also, if you have a guide/build for a champ that you think is particularly
awesome, send it in! The more variation the better.

Contact: [email protected]
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Table of Contents

[1] Introduction
   [1.1] The Game
   [1.2] The Successor of DotA
   [1.3] Terms and Abbreviations
[2] Basic Elements
   [2.1] A Basic Rundown
   [2.2] Controls
   [2.3] The Roles
   [2.4] Attributes
   [2.5] Recommended Items
   [2.6] Champion Statistics
[3] Early Game Strategies
   [3.1] Lane Compilation
   [3.2] Before the Minions
   [3.3] Top and Bottom
   [3.4] Middle Lane
   [3.5] A Junglers Guide
   [3.6] The Transition
[4] Late Game Strategies
   [4.1] Ganking
   [4.2] Team Fighting
   [4.3] Exit Strategies
   [4.4] Warding and the Jungle
   [4.5] Backdooring
   [4.6] Timing
[5] General Info
   [5.1] The Map
   [5.2] Is it a Gank?
   [5.3] Being a Team Player
   [5.4] Minions and Buildings
   [5.5] Neutrals
   [5.6] Items
     [5.6.1] Consumables
     [5.6.2] Basic Items
     [5.6.3] Advanced Items
     [5.6.4] Legendary Items
   [5.7] General Tips
[6] Outside Preparation
   [6.1] Summoner Level
   [6.2] Influence Points and Riot Points
   [6.3] Runes
     [6.3.1] Quintessences
     [6.3.2] Marks
     [6.3.3] Glyphs
     [6.3.4] Seals
   [6.4] Masteries
     [6.4.1] Offense
     [6.4.2] Defense
     [6.4.3] Utility
[7] Character Info
[8] Other Stuff
   [8.1] The Summoner's Code
   [8.2] The Forums
   [8.3] Backslash (/) Commands
   [8.4] The Language Filter
   [8.5] Lore and City States
   [8.6] Leaving
   [8.7] Acknowledgements
[9] Version History
[10] Copyright

*As of now, chapters 1-6, part of 7, 9, and 10 are done.
the rest of 7, and 8 to go.

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[1] Introduction
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This guide provides background on League of Legends from your first 
attempts all the way to some of the higher level concepts of the game. It
assumes that you already know how to log in to the LoL Client (the name of
the main menu). If you don't, there is a guide on GameFAQs by randomsome1
that explains this. 

This is my second attempt at writing a FAQ. I picked League of Legends 
(abbreviated LoL) because I have been playing it A LOT recently, so it 
seemed like a good candidate. I was also shocked at the lack of other 
complete guides (there are hundreds of guides on character building, but 
these don't give tips on the game in general).
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[1.1] The Game
League of Legends is one of the first self proclaimed "MOBA" (massive 
online battle arena), and is available free for download off the internet.
It has some RPG elements, but is primarily a RTS with a heavy emphasis on
teamwork. It has been out for about a year now (since the start of this 
guide), and has a playerbase in America of almost one million.

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[1.2] The Successor of DotA
If you've ever played Warcraft 3, you've probably heard about its most 
popular mod, DotA (Defense of the Ancients). The mod was so successful 
that it spawned its own lineage of game. The other two main ones that I 
can think of are Heroes of Newerth (HoN) and Demigod. As of now, LoL is 
the only one of them that is free to play, so it was the one I chose.

If you are coming from DotA you'll notice a few changes. The addition of 
brush allows you to become invisible to surrounding enemies, unless they 
enter the brush themselves. This is useful for launching ganks, as you 
can have the first strike. The other main difference is that you can no 
longer deny. This can be annoying sometimes when their Heimerdinger gets 
over 300 minion kills by the 30 minute mark, but overall its not such a 
big deal. It allows for a last hitting strategy, where you only attack for
the killing blow, ensuring that you get the kill and gold, rather than 
your minions. Other than these two major changes, the rest has remained 
relatively the same.

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[1.3] Terms and Abbreviations
You will hear many terms in the game, forums, and on this guide that you 
may not know. Here is a compilation of some of the most popular. This is 
by no means a complete list, but at least it will get you started.

ability: each champion has 3 abilities and 1 ultimate that usually do 
       magic damage
AD:    attack damage; increased by leveling up and by items, this helps 
       normal right-click attacks to do more damage
AFK:   away from keyboard; when people are not playing at all, they are 
       considered AFK (this is highly shunned in the LoL community)
AP:    ability power; used for casters to help their spells do more damage
aura:  some items give an aura that allow you AND your nearby allies to 
       receive benefits
b:     back; used to signal that a teammate should retreat
backdoor: when a champ attempts to take out a turret or inhibitor without
       the help of minions, usually when the enemy team is away 
baron: baron nashor; the huge worm in Summoners Rift that, if killed, 
       grants large bonuses to everyone on the team
basic attacks: each champion has the ability to simply right click on an
       enemy to do physical damage, but can be augmented by passive 
       abilities or magical items (such as sheen)
beefy: champs that have a lot of health
bg:    bad game
blind: a move that makes an enemy champion unable to use normal attacks,
       but still able to use abilities
bot:   referring to the bottom lane in Summoners Rift
bruiser: high HP champ (although not as high as a dedicated tank) that can 
        still do a fair amount of damage
brush: an area of grass where you become invisible except when an enemy 
       enters it
buff:  a temporary increase to some stat, can be received through allies,
       items, or slaying certain neutrals
       also, it can be referred to as a permanent increase of a stat or 
       ability by the developers of the game, if they see that some 
       champion or item is underperforming
build: the items on a champ
care:  careful; used to tell your allies that they are in danger, can be 
       accompanied by pings or someones name, such as "care pantheon"
carry: these champs (if played correctly) will be the deciding factor in 
       the late game fights; the generally start off weak but will become
       very powerful later on
cc:    crowd control; general term that describes an ability that would
       hinder a champions ability to fight, stuns, blinds, and silences 
       are the most common
cd:    cooldown; all spells have a certain time before they can be used
       again
CDR:   cooldown reduction
champ: champion
creeps: minions spawned by each nexus
cs:    creep score; the amount of minions you have slain
d:     defend
dc:    a player who disconnects from the game before it is over
debuff: a temporary ailment cause by enemies; can be anything from slows
       to damage over time
DoT:   damage over time, spells where damage is dealt over a period of 
       time rather than all at once, examples are ignite and Teemo's 
       mushrooms
DotA:  Defense of the Ancients; the game that inspired LoL
DPS:   damage per second; these champs are specialized to do the most 
       damage possible
Elo:   in a very small nutshell, how good a player is
farm:  to kill a large amount of creeps or neutrals to get experience and
       gold
FB:    first blood; the first kill in the game grants 400 gold instead of
       300
fear:  an ability that causes the target to run around like an idiot 
       for a period of time, making them unable to attack or move where 
       they want to go
feed:  when someone constantly dies, they are said to be feeding the 
       other team, when a player has many kills they are said to be fed
focus: target a specific player, generally low HP ones
gank:  ambush
gg:    good game
gj:    good job
global: able to affect any/every character on the map, like Karthus' ult;
       in another context, the Baron Nashor and Dragon give global gold 
       and XP, which means it is granted to you and everyone on your team
harass: hit the enemy with non lethal bursts of damage to force them to 
       go back and heal
inc:   incoming; a variation of omw, but can also be used to say that an 
       ult is coming, such as saying "pantheon ult inc"
jungle: in between lanes is typically called the "jungle"
lane:  referring to the top, mid, or bottom lane in Summoners Rift
leaver: a player that quits a game before it ends 
lol:   League of Legends or laugh out loud, depending on context
mage:  (aka magic DPS) a champ that is built to kill others by using their
       abilities
mia:   missing in action; used to alert allies that a certain enemy is 
       away from their lane, and may be trying to gank
mid:   referring to the middle lane in Summoners Rift
nerf:  making something worse, done by the developers of the game if they
       see one champion or item is performing better than others
neutrals: referring to the AI controlled monsters in the jungle
omw:   on my way; used when you are moving to a certain location
oom:   out of mana; used when you or an enemy is out of mana, and is 
       vulnerable because of it
physical DPS: a champion that is built to kill other champs by using their
       basic attack
pot:   potion; for instance a health pot would be a health potion
push:  when you gather with allies and minions and try to destroy enemy 
       towers and/or inhibitors
ragequit: to quit a game because of anger
re:    if someone calls an mia, but realize that they weren't mia, the 
       would just say "re", for instance, "nidalee mia..... re"
Riot:  the developer of the game
silence: a move that makes an enemy champion unable to use abilities, but 
       still able to use normal attacks
skillshot: most abilities are auto aimed and always hit the target, but 
       skillshots are aimed manually and can miss
slow:  a move that slows the movement speed of a target or group of 
       targets
snare: a move that immobilizes a champion, but allows them to attack
squishy: a champ with low health and armor that can easily be killed if 
       they are alone
SR:    the Summoners Rift map
stack: referring to snowball items like Mejai's Soulstealer where a 
       "stack" is awarded every time the player gets a kill or assist
stun:  completely immobilizes a champion or group of champions, making 
       them unable to move or attack, but usually lasts for a shorter time 
       than slows
support: these champs are based solely on helping their allies through 
       buffs, heals, and disrupting the enemy
tank:  the primary goal of these champs is to keep their allies alive by 
       absorbing incoming fire, usually aided by health and armor items
taunt: a move that forces the targeted champ to attack the champ that used
       the taunt
top:   referring to the top lane in Summoners Rift
ult:   ultimate; the defining move a character
unique: some items say "UNIQUE passive" which means that if you buy 2 of 
       the same item, the passive doesn't stack
YP:    An acronymn I use in this guide (it isn't used in game) that stands
       for "you pick" and is used for champ builds when I really don't 
       have a suggestion, so you choose what goes there

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[2] Basic Elements
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Here is a guide to the most basic elements of the game. If you have 
played the game at all, you'll probably know most of this. You should know
that each champ has 1 innate ability (also called passive because it can't
be activated), 3 regular abilities, and 1 ult (except Udyr).
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[2.1] A Basic Rundown

League of Legends starts off with each champ buying their starting items.
This can give a first glance into their playing style, but isn't always
a foolproof method (an AD Master Yi could easily start out with mana 
regen too). Once everyone has their items, they head out, 2 to the top 
lane, 2 to the bottom, and 1 mid (unless there's a dc, jungler, early 
game gank, etc.). Top and bottom lanes fight their enemies for control of
the brush at the corners of the map, and many first bloods occur before
the first minion has even spawned.

Once the minion armies come, the first 15 minutes or so is termed the 
"laning phase" where each champ tries to kill as many minions as possible
to get gold. Champs are always harassing each other to try and make their
enemies go back to heal and lose valuable gold and experience, but this
happens to an extreme level in the middle lane. It is truly a war of 
attrition at mid, and even going back to heal once is considered a small
defeat.

After the laning phase ends, most champs head mid to help out in 
team fights. Both teams try to push their enemies towers, while some 
champs may go to the top or bottom lanes to farm or backdoor the other 
towers. Eventually a team fight ensues. Usually there is a clear-cut 
winner, and if they are a good team, they will attempt to push some 
turrets. Bad teams may get lucky and win a team fight, but if they don't 
destroy some towers, it is a very shallow win.

At the 20 minute mark teams are allowed to surrender. Because of this, 
many games simply end here. If it is a good game, however, it can take as
long as 45 minutes or more (my longest was a 72 minute game). It will boil
down to not only which team wins team fights, but also who can push the 
best. Many games are won where one team loses every team fight up until the
50 minute mark, finally wins one, and pushes so well that they end up 
destroying the nexus.
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[2.2] Controls

Here is a list of all the controls in the game. All of them can be rebound
in-game.

Q =           cast spell 1
W =           cast spell 2
E =           cast spell 3
R =           cast spell 4
ctrl + Q =    level up spell 1
ctrl + W =    level up spell 2
ctrl + E =    level up spell 3
ctrl + R =    level up spell 4
D =           summoner spell 1
F =           summoner spell 2
alt + Q =     smart cast spell 1
alt + W =     smart cast spell 2
alt + E =     smart cast spell 3
alt + R =     smart cast spell 4
space = c     enter camera on champion
F1 =          select self
F2 =          select ally 1
F3 =          select ally 2
F4 =          select ally 3
F5 =          select ally 4
Y =           camera lock
up =          scroll up
down =        scroll down
left =        scroll left
right =       scroll right
mouse wheel = zoom in/out
C =           show character names
O =           score board
Z =           chat history
P =           shop
1 =           use item in slot 1
2 =           use item in slot 2
3 =           use item in slot 3
4 =           use item in slot 4
5 =           use item in slot 5
6 =           use item in slot 6
B =           teleport to base
shift + L =   show health bars
H =           minion health bars
shift + K =   summoner names
G =           ping
F5 =          draw hud
ctrl + F =    toggle FPS display
alt + click = control pet
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[2.3] The Roles

There are 3 general roles in this game, as well as hybrids (magetank). The
3 roles are tank, physical dps, and the mage.

As a tank, it is your sole responsibility to make sure that your allies 
stay alive, even if that means sacrificing yourself. To do this, you'll 
want to make yourself as annoying as possible, such as by stunning the 
enemy team, or taunting them, forcing them to attack you. You need to have
items that prolong your life to absorb as much damage as possible before
you die, enabling you to protect your team longer. You will be focusing 
health, magic resist, armor, or a combination of these. 

As a physical DPS, your main goal is to deal physical damage to the enemy 
team by using your basic attack. You'll want to get items that boost your
attack damage, attack speed, and critical chance to help you. Usually you 
are weak on health, so you should ALWAYS be protected by a tank in team 
fights. Usually, you'll only want to attack the enemy with the lowest 
health (don't focus the tank).

As a mage, you can have 2 goals. Some mages such as Soraka and Zilean are 
supports, and they help their team by giving health, aura buffs, escapes,
etc. Your main job is to keep your team fighting fit. The other mage type
is the offensive caster, otherwise known as the magical DPS. These guys 
(such as Annie and Fiddlesticks) use their ability power to strengthen 
their spells, which they use to kill enemies. Both types of magic users 
need to stay behind tanks whenever they can.

Finally, the bruiser is a champ that is best built tanky, but can also do 
some damage. Characters like Mundo, Garen, and Mordekaiser all fall under 
this category. You want to have as much health as you can, but still do 
enough damage to the carries to force them to either focus you, or retreat. 
This covers up the hole that tanks bring, where they can CC people, but 
once their spells are gone they can be simply ignored because their damage
output is too low.
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[2.4] Attributes

Riot has given each of the champions certain "attributes". These do 
nothing in the game, but can help you to discern what kind of character 
you are looking at. Are they a carry? Can they farm well? Here is a list 
of all of the attributes and what they mean.

Assassin: These guys can kill enemies quickly, and usually have some skill
   to make them invisible or close distance with an enemy quickly
Carry: Champs that are carries are the ones who will win late game team 
   fights, and although they start off weaker (on average), they scale 
   well into the late game
Disabler: A champ that interfere with a summoners ability to control their
   champ, such as a fear or stun
Farmer: These champs have skills that allow to farm with efficiency,
   usually they have AoE skills
Fighter: A champ that performs best in team fights
Flee: A champ that possesses a skill that allows it to escape from fights
Haste: A champ that can speed itself up, or an ally
Heal: A champ that can heal itself, or an ally
Mage: AP based champs
Melee: A champ that has to be next to an enemy to use their basic attack
Ninja: A champ that uses energy instead of mana
Nuke: Usually AP champs that have the ability to do a large amount of 
   damage in a wide radius in a short time. They don't scale well, however
Pet: A champ that can create a pet, sometimes controllable by using the 
   alt key
Pusher: Good for destroying towers and, to some extent, minions
Ranged: The opposite of a melee, these can use their basic attack from a 
   distance
Silence: A champ that can silence enemies
Snare: A champ that can immobilize enemies for a short time
Slow: A champ that can slow enemies
Stealth: A champ that can become invisible
Stun: A champ that can stun
Support: Usually AP champs that help their allies
Tank: Champs that are designed to get killed to save their allies
Teleport: Champs that can teleport to the target location
Tough: A champ that is harder to kill than most
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[2.5] Recommended Items

At the top of the shop menu there is a list called recommended items. It 
is different for each champ, and it is what Riot says would be a good 
build if it is your first time as that character. 

Should you use it? If you have only played a few games, then yes you 
should. They at least get you in the right direction for playing the 
character. If you are a newcomer, you might try an AD Annie, or AP Twitch.
After a few games, you should switch a few items up for a build that makes
a bit more sense (I cringe when Riot recommends a guardian angel for a DPS
character). After a while, you should have a good strategy going, and you
can completely forget recommended items.
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[2.6] Champion Statistics

Here is a rundown of what makes up a champion

HP: How much health a champion has, and how much damage they can take
HP Regen: How fast champions regenerate health
Attack: How much damage your physical attacks do
Armor Pen: If a champ had 100 armor and you had 20 armor pen, your attacks
   would treat that champ as if he only had 80 armor
Lifesteal: How much your physical attacks heal you. If you had 10% 
   lifesteal and attacked for 150 damage after armor and whatnot, you 
   would gain 15 HP. This is good for staying out in the field longer
Attack Speed: How many times per second your champ attacks
Crit Chance: How likely your champ is to deal double damage
Range: How far your champ can attack
Speed: How fast your champ moves
Mana: All spells cost mana (for most champs), and this is how large your
   mana pool is
Mana Regen: Like health regen, only for mana
Ability Power: How much ability power your champion has, which affects how
   much their abilities do
Spell Penetration: Like armor penetration, only for magic resistance
Cooldown Reduction: How much percent shorter your cooldowns are
Dodge: How likely you are to dodge physical attacks, and take no damage 
   from them
Armor: How resistant to physical attacks you are
Magic Resistance: How resistant to magical attacks you are

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[3] Early Game Strategies
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The Laning phase occupies approximately the first 15 minutes of every game
on Summoners Rift. It is critical not to make many mistakes here, because
they snowball into huge problems by the late game.
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[3.1] Lane Compilation
Which champions go in which lane can have a huge impact on your entire 
game. Generally, you'll want someone capable to handle mid, due to its 
attrition like nature (I detail which champs are best for mid in the 
champion section). For the other two lanes, you'll usually want to have at
least one ranged champ in each, be it a physical dps or a mage. 

If your team is running low on ranged champs, you can always substitute 
some in. Gangplank can make a suitable ranged because of his Parrrley 
ability. Chogath can also fill in, due to his ability to harass with his
spikes.

Sometimes though, you'll just get a bad team combo, or a team that won't 
listen to where they should go. If this happens, just sit by your tower 
and snipe minion kills when you get the chance. An easy way to do this is
for the tower to hit melee minions twice, then you strike. For caster 
minions, strike them, have your turret hit them, then you hit them again 
for another kill. Doing this can allow you to stay competitive in the game.
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[3.2] Before the Minions

In the minute and 30 seconds before minions spawn, there is quite a bit to
accomplish. First you'll want to get your starting items, then you need to 
decide which lane to go in, and finally try and grab the brush before your
enemy can.

So which starting item should you get? Doran's items (shield, ring, and
sword) are always good, especially with a health potion. If you are a 
ranged character, you could go with the Vampiric Scepter, but this isn't
recommended if you are a melee. If you want speed quickly you could go for
boots and a few health potions, but only try this if you have been playing
for a while. Also, some champs have good starting items that don't build
into their overall strategy. An example would be Master Yi getting a Meki
Pendant for mana regen. Even if he didn't become an AP character later on,
his Meditate and Alpha Strike skills are vital enough that extra mana is 
viable in the early game.

Once you have your items, set out for your lane. If it is the middle lane,
just get to your tower and sit there until your minions come. If you are
top or bottom, you can rush into the brush and try to get a first blood by
killing your enemies if they come into your side of the grass. Don't try
too hard (AKA don't turret dive), and if you are injured even a little bit,
you should go back and heal. Its better to start the laning phase at full
health rather than get a few seconds of killing minions.
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[3.3] Top and Bottom

The top lane and bottom lane play pretty much the say, due to the map 
being somewhat symmetrical. You start out by rushing to the brush that is
in the corners of the map. If you arrive too late, however, don't bother
going in. The enemy has probably already arrived and you trying to get 
into the grass is just a way to die quickly. If you can, get there before 
the enemy team can, and try to kill them before they can escape. 

When the minions come you should try a strategy called "last hitting". 
Since you only get gold for the finishing kill, it only makes sense to 
save your strikes for the last hit of a unit. This way you can control who
you kill and hopefully get the maximum amount of gold.

If you can, you should harass your enemies. Obviously some champs do this
better than others, but you should still try to make them go back to heal.
If you can do it a lot, you can prevent them from getting experience and
gold, drastically increasing how long they have to farm.

Every once in a while, or at the request of a team mate, you should gather
with your allies and try to gank a lane for a few easy kills. To do this, 
have the people in the lane go back as far as they can to your turret, 
then have everyone else come out and attack them all at once. If you do it 
well, you'll get a kill and/or assist.

The general rule of thumb if you are on the side lanes is that you should
try to harass the enemy while getting kills of your own. How you perform 
now will have a significant impact on the rest of the game.
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[3.4] Middle Lane

The middle lane plays much differently than the top and bottom. You start
off by running to your tower, and usually just sitting there for a while 
until the minions come. Since there is no brush to fight over (at least 
for now), not many first bloods occur in the middle lane.

Once the battle begins, you'll have to contend with many obstacles. For 
one, your enemy will always be trying to harass you. Recalling while in 
the middle lane isn't a good thing to do a lot, because your enemy can 
easily destroy your tower while you are away.

You'll also have to deal with ganks. Hopefully your allies will call MIAs,
but you always have to have an eagle eye on the minimap. If you see a 
champ missing from their lanes, and you're far away from one of your 
towers, you have a huge risk of being ganked, so back up a little and try
to play it safe. The worst thing you could do is die because you were too
aggressive. Also, some champs (Teemo for example) can place traps that 
give a line of sight into the grass, which helps to prevent surprise 
attacks. If you want, you could buy some sight wards to help you.

While this is going on, you also need to be worried about getting the last
hit on minion kills. If you can, you should also try to harass your 
opponent and try to make them recall. If you can do that, you will get a 
slight experience and gold advantage over them that can last through the 
entire game.

Although you have to contend with lots of different aspects at the same 
time when you are mid, it does have its benefits. You will get gold and 
experience faster (as long as you don't go back and heal too often), and
you can build your champion faster. You can also launch ganks on the two
lanes beside you as long as your tower doesn't fall while you're doing it.
_________________________
[3.5] A Junglers Guide

Jungling can be an entertaining way to start off the game if you prefer 
not to be put under the stress of the laning phase. Instead of going into
a lane and helping an ally, you will go in between the lanes and kill the
neutrals to gain gold and experience. The positive is that you won't have
to try to last hit, because there aren't any minions/towers/team mates to
worry about. One of your allies will gain experience and gold faster too,
because you aren't there to steal it. The negative is that one of your 
lanes will be 2v1, and the turret and champ are incredibly vulnerable 
because of this. Some team compilations simply can't afford this (if your
team is all melee, its not advised to jungle).

To start out with, you'll need the right champion to jungle with. The 
four best (in my opinion) are Warwick, Amumu, Udyr, and Shaco. Others can
try, but these four can simply do it more efficiently. As for summoners 
spells, Smite is a great option to help you kill most neutrals in 1 hit 
and take a large chunk out of the golem and lizard. The downside is that 
after the laning phase, Smite is less effective than other spells. Also, a
Warwick with Smite almost always indicates a jungler, and your enemies may
try to gank you even before the minions spawn. If you want, you could also
bring along Heal or Clairvoyance to help you stay out in the field longer.

Starting items for each character differs greatly, but at least a few 
health potions are advised. Warwick could just skip these and go right for
the Vampiric Scepter, but this would be harder for the others. 

To start out, Warwick and Amumu should go to either the wolf/mini golem 
camp or to the wraith camp. Udyr can attempt to kill the big golem to get 
the buff. Shaco can pop as many Jack in the Box's as he can around the 
big Lizard to get the red buff. After level two, jungling becomes much 
easier as you can bounce around to any of the neutral camps. If you need 
mana, take down the golem. If you need more damage, take out the lizard. 
If you don't need either than go kill the mini golems/wolves/wraiths. When
you get to level 5 (or higher), you can try to take on the dragon. Be sure
to have good enough stats before you try it, and make sure to watch your
MIAs. Rinse and repeat until you are around level 6. 

Once you get your ultimate, you should immediately try to gank the lane 
that your enemies have pushed in the furthest. About 50 percent of the 
time you'll be able to land a kill, and you can use this to try and take 
down a turret. You can also gank or help out another allied lane if they 
are having trouble, but getting kills before level 6 is much harder.

Once you see that the laning phase is over, you should stop jungling and 
help out your teammates. Don't fall into the trap of "I'll just kill one 
more golem" and miss out on a team fight. It could just cost you the game.
_________________________
[3.6] The Transition

One of the toughest concepts for new players to understand is when to make
the transition from the laning phase into the team fight phase. It can be
very tempting to keep on farming minions to gain gold and experience at a 
steady rate, but you are hurting your team and your chances of winning 
drop astronomically.

There is no definite way to know when to make the transition. Generally, I
have found that it is around level 6 or 7 on the side lanes and about 10 
or 11 in the middle lane. This can vary immensely, though, and factors in 
game will have a dramatic effect on it. If it is a fast paced game with 
ganks left and right, it can be several levels lower. If it is a slow game
where there are few ambushes and people seem content to continue laning,
than it can be several levels higher. In some rare instances, the laning
phase can end when players reach the shockingly low levels of 2 or 3.

What makes this tough for new players is that it varies so widely. You 
can't put a tag on it and simply say that "laning phase always ends at the
15 minute mark" or "when mid hits level 9". If you see the rest of your 
team grouping up, then it would be wise to join them. Some peoples 
strategies revolve around them farming all the time and not helping their 
team until the 45 minute mark or later. I strongly recommend against this
as I have seen victory rate of teams who have one diehard farmer drop from
50 percent to around 20 percent.

The bottom line is that help your team when the time arises, but gather 
gold and experience until then. As you play more and more games, you will
be able to more easily recognize when the time comes. It is a skill that 
often goes unmentioned, but is actually fairly important.

====================================================================
======
[4] Late Game Strategies
====================================================================
======

After the laning phase comes a time of team fights, pushing, and ambushes.
Although the initial parts of the game have all of these, they really only
become widespread after the first 15 minutes or so.

And as for the title, "Late Game Strategies" doesn't really refer to the 
latter half of the game, but refers more to everything after the laning 
phase. So if you find that your team just doesn't want to go by the rules
and jumps into team fights right away, you might not use the beginning 
strategies at all.
_________________________
[4.1] Ganking

A critical skill that you must be good at, ganking is when you (and your
allies most likely) ambush an enemy or group of enemies. Even if you do 
have less of a capable team, the element of suprise should help you win.

Brush is your friend when trying to gank. Hide in it until the enemy has
pushed far into your territory, then pop out, lay down some crowd control
(slows or stuns) and pick up a kill. 

If you can, you always want to fight at an advantage. Don't try to gank 
unless you have the numerical advantage or you know that you are so much 
better than they are that you can take on multiple foes. The element of 
suprise is pretty good in itself but don't rely on it to carry the day.

When trying to gank try to cover all of the escape routes. Station one 
person in the side brush, one person coming up from the front, and one 
one from behind. If you have one, use a global ult to cover the quickest 
way back to their base. If the enemy has 3 routes to escape by with one 
being through brush where you have 2 allies, another being towards your 
base where you have another ally, and the final being back towards their
base with Gangplank/Pantheon's ult to go through makes it almost 
impossible for them to get away. Pop a few slows/stuns on and triple or 
quadra kills can ensue.
_________________________
[4.2] Team Fighting

The single biggest factor in deciding the outcome of a match is how well 
people can coordinate a team fight. A 7/4/4 Master Yi that jungles or 
lanes until the 35 minute mark may initially seem good, because he can run
out and solo just about anyone. The reality is that he is probably the 
worst player on a team, because he has left his allies to fight 4 v 5 for
thirty five mintues, he has cost the team many kills and assists. 

Even if you have a good enough team that you COULD legitimately get away
with doing this, if you help your allies anyway, you will find that you 
can beat the enemy by an even larger margin.

I really cannot stress the fact that you MUST support your team to be 
successful. Just because you end up with a positive K/D/A ratio doesn't 
mean that you did well. Also, when it is late in the game, don't abandon
your team like I sometimes se my allies do. Stick with the group till 
death.

Now as for how to actually conduct a proper fight. Focus the squishies is
the one rule that resounds throughout every single fight you will ever 
participate in. Kill those who hurt the team the hardest. Protect your 
squishies at all times. If you see an assassin such as Poppy or Twisted 
Fate running through your allies to get to another champ, stop him if at 
all possible.

You'll want to split the enemy if you can. Ashe is a lot less powerful if 
she has no allies around her to take the damage, and will fall quickly. 
Once she is out of the way, the enemy cannot do nearly as much damage, and
you will eventually. A good way to proceed in team fights is with this 
checklist:
1 Never fight a battle without all of your allies unless there is a lone 
  enemy or two that you know you can neutralize quickly.
2 Be wary of enemy reinforcements. Just because you see Soraka strolling 
  about the forest unprotected, don't immediately jump on her. If you are
  in enemy lands, she could just be bait.
3 Commit to a battle only when you know your allies will jump in to help 
  you. There is no worse feeling when you charge into the fray only to see
  the rest of your team flee. Ranged DPS and mages have an easier time 
  here.
4 Coordinate your attacks with your allies to kill enemies in the 
  following order: 
   1 Enemy squishy carry (ie Ashe, Master Yi, Tristana, Karthus)
   2 Enemy squishy support (ie Soraka, Janna)
   3 Enemy beefy carry (ie Jax, Sion)
   4 Enemy beefy support (ie Taric)
   5 Enemy Tank (ie Malaphite, Allistar, Amumu)
5A Flee if the battle isn't going well or
5B Chase down those who remain if you won.

By following these steps you should be able to come out on top in the 
majority of team fights.
_________________________
[4.3] Exit Strategies

But what if you don't win? What if you suddenly see what started out as a 
2 v 1 fight in your favor suddenly turns into a 2 v 5? The answer is 
usualy simple: RUN.

Many champions have abilities that can slow/stun you or immediately catch
up to you. How do you prevent them from being able to use these? clever
strategies and map awareness are the answer. 

There are three summoner spells that can help you in escape: Flash (being
able to teleport 

If you can, it is easiest to just teleport behind a wall. This is easiest 
in the jungle where the walls are relatively thin. Some champs have 
abilites that can help them do this (like Shaco) but others will have to 
have the summoner spell Flash to do this. 

Brush is your friend when you are trying to escape. It can sometimes 
confuse your enemies for just long enough to escape through teleport. You 
can also go into the brush and stay in there until your enemy comes to 
investigate. When they do, stun/slow them and run out. I've used this 
strategy so many times because they always click further into the brush, 
allowing you to bolt right past them.
_________________________
[4.4] Warding and the Jungle

Wards. Many people swear by them, and for good reason. They allow you to 
glimpse at what the enemy is doing, and where they are going. For just 90
gold they can prevent a gank, possibly saving lives and several hundred 
gold. They also give you reassurance that the enemy isn't trying to take 
your team's Golem or Lizard.

There are two major types of wards. Sight wards are your general purpose 
ones. They cost a mere 90 gold and last an entire three minutes (they were
just nerfed in the 1.0.0.107 patch, before they lasted 4.5 minutes!). 
Place them around the map in key areas such as by the dragon and in 
between the lanes so you know if somebody is ganking. If you see a group 
of enemies near the dragon, be prepared with your allies to launch a gank, 
and if one of you has smite, to steal the dragon kill for your team.

The other ward is the vision ward. The major difference between it and the
sight ward is that it can see invisible units. This can be used if you 
have a Twitch in your lane and you want to keep tabs on him, or if you 
have an enemy Evelynn trying to gank you every two seconds. These can also
be used if you think the enemy has placed their own ward down, allowing 
you to see and destroy it. This lasts 3 minutes and costs 150 gold.

The final item that gives line of sight is Wriggles Lantern. Think of it 
as basically a sight ward that recharges every 3 minutes. If you are a 
very ward based person, than you might want to give this item a try.

Some newer players may not understand why people would give up some of 
their precious gold for an item that simply dissapears after a few minutes.
The fact is that dying one time gives about 450 gold to the enemy team 
(300 to the person that actually killed you and 150 total to any allies 
that helped). You have given the enemy the cost of about 5 wards just 
because you died once. It quickly becomes apparent that these items are 
far more valuable than the 90 gold you pay for them. 

This becomes even more pronounced once the late game roles around. Being 
able to spot out where the enemy is heading allows for efficient ganking 
and allows your team to get into position. Your carries won't accidentaly
run straight into the enemy team, and your tank will be out front. This 
will prove a decisive factor in team fights again and again. 

Just keep in mind that wards are usefull in any game, no matter the 
circumstances.
_________________________
[4.5] Backdooring

Backdooring is generally defined as a champion or champions attacking an 
enemy turret without the support of friendly minions. Because turrets do 
larger amounts of damage with every consecutive attack on a champ and take 
50 percent less damage when the backdoorers minions are not around, it is 
very risky and can only be done towards the end of the game. 

Many people are divided about the usefulness of backdooring. Some say that
the permanent destruction of a turret outweighs the risks and drawbacks. 
Others point out that it removes a champion from the team for a few 
minutes (or seconds if they really know what they are doing). This may not
seem like a long time, but if a large team fight happens, that 4 v 5 
battle could be enough to turn the tide of the game. As for me, I take the
side that it can be useful ***when under the right circumstances***.

Champs with global teleportation ults or with the Teleport summoner spell 
work best for this. Start off by planting a few wards around the jungle 
and be ready to run if you see enemies coming. Too often players die 
because they are not paying attention or cannot see because of the fog of
war and are swiftly ganked. Do not be one of these players.

Next, make sure you have enough health and damage to take down the turret.
Don't make EXECUTED pop up on everyone's screens because you miscalculated.
You'll want to be at full health and have a huge damage output to do this,
or have a few allies around to help.

Finally, make sure your enemies are reasonably distracted. Still, be ready
for especially if they have a global teleport. Doing all of these things 
should help you pull of a backdoor.
_________________________
[4.6] Timing

One of the biggest failures of the lower ELO community is the simple 
inability to know when to do things. This is a crucial skill and easily 
decides games time and time again. 

Good timing is just generally knowing when to gank, when to farm, and when
to group together for a team fight. If you are out trying to kill some 
minions while your team is grouping up and engage in a team fight, you are
being just as destructive to your team as the person who has 3 kills and 
14 deaths. Your presence could give your allies just the nudge they needed
to win the fight, gaining many kills, gold, and experience as a result. 

You should focus on farming for about the first fifteen minutes of the 
game, unless you see your allies ganking or in need of a gank. Once one 
tower has been destroyed, go mid and help out your allies. You should 
stick with them until everyone disperses. Go out to the jungle and kill a 
few neutrals, but stay close enough to the majority of your team that you 
could help in a moments notice. 

Do not go for the baron nashor when all of your enemies are out and about.
It is an easy place to gank, and many teams often leave wards to see if 
the opportunity presents itself. The best times to try and kill it are 
when you have recently killed most of your foes (at least three, hopefully
four or five), or have just destroyed an inhibitor or two. Make sure they
are pinned down killing super minions before you jump in, and don't 
hesitate to plop a few wards down.

====================================================================
======
[5] General Info
====================================================================
======

Tips here don't fall into a chronological order, and usually apply over 
the duration of the game.
_________________________
[5.1] The Map

Currently, there are two(ish) maps which you can play matchmade games on 
(by the time you've read this, there will probably be more). For now, they 
are Summoner's Rift (SR) and Twisted Treeline (TT) (and maybe The Proving 
Grounds).

Summoner's is the oldest map in LoL, and generally considered the "classic"
way to play. There are two teams of 5 v 5, and the object is to destroy 
the enemy nexus. There are three lanes, and usually two people go on the 
sides and one goes through the middle. In each lane there are 3 towers, 
then the inhibitor. When the inhibitor is destroyed, super minions are 
created. After this, there are two more towers guarding the nexus.

In the bottom left is the blue team. The top left side lies purple team. 
In each sides jungle, there are two camps of golems/wolves, a camp of 
a wraith and 3 lesser wraiths, a camp for the elder lizard and two smaller
lizards, and a camp for the ancient golem and two smaller lizards. By the
river in between the two bases, there is the dragon and the Baron Nashor.

Because this map is the most popular, there are two versions of it. The 
classic summer version, and the winter version. Either one can appear 
randomly in matchmade games, and the only difference is their appearance.
Brush, turrets, monsters, and minions are all still in the same place.

The other map is the Twisted Treeline. The objective is the same as the 
Summoner's Rift, but it is on a smaller scale. This time there are two
teams of 3 and only 2 turrets that separate your enemies and your 
inhibitors. Gold and experience accumulation is also slightly faster. Some
people also state that tanky champions do better on this map. Decide for 
yourself if this is true or not.

In this the two teams face off against each other in a horizontal style. 
In the jungle there are camps for wolves, a camp for a lizard, young
lizard, and golem OR a wraith and three lesser wraiths, a camp for a rabid
wolf and two giant wolves OR a ghast and two wraiths, a camp for Grez the 
Lizard Elder, and a camp for Ebonmaw, the Terror of Zaun.

In this map the basic strategy is to have two people go in the bottom lane
and have one go to the top. This allows the one on top to level quicker 
and be much more efficient at ganking. Beware though, because laning 
shouldn't last anywhere near as long as it does on Summoner's Rift.

Finally, the thirdish map is The Proving Grounds. It is where the tutorial
takes place, and isn't a map that can be played with anyone else (yet). 
There are some rumors, however, that Riot will eventually make this a 1v1
map, but there is no evidence of this ever happening. 
_________________________
[5.2] Is it a Gank?

Knowing whether or not you are about to be ambushed or not is a critical 
skill if you want to be successful. 

In a perfect world your allies will plop down several wards amongst the 
jungle in key brush positions. Many times this won't happen however, and 
you'll have to use good judgement to stay alive.

Always be glancing at your minimap. Taking a look to see that your enemies
are coming for you takes only half a second, and can save your life many
times. If you see that an enemy lane is unoccupied, and you have pressed 
up almost to the enemies tower, then a gank may be coming. In general, if 
you don't see most of your enemies on your minimap, look to see if you are
in an exposed position. If you are trying to blow up their inhibitor alone,
you are in a very bad position and should either kill it as quickly as you
can (if you are trying to backdoor) or just run.

If the enemy has any junglers you should be extra careful during the 
laning phase. They can appear at any time, and often will (if they are 
good players). Also, be very careful when there is an enemy with mobile
stealth on their team (ie Twitch or Evelynn). A gank can appear at any 
time with these guys, so backdooring is not recommended. Also, be careful
because 1v1 fights can quickly become 1v2. If you can afford it, vision
wards or an oracle's elixir is highly recommended.
_________________________
[5.3] Being a Team Player

Why does one team lose? AFKs appear top on the list, with teammates that 
intentionally feed following close behind. But what would make an evenly 
matched team who all TRIED to win but eventually lost? The answer is 
teamwork. You could have a slew of terrible champs on your team, and you
could all be bad players in general. But if you have teamwork on your side,
you can be almost impossible to beat.

It starts off in the laning phase. If you are on one of the side lanes, it
is your job to support your ally. If you see them constantly horassing one 
particular champ, harass that one too. There will probably come a time 
when the four of you get into a fight, and if your team mate is running 
away because they have low health, use some slow/stuns on your enemies. If
you do end up attacking your enemies, focus whichever one your ally 
focuses (unless there is good reason not to).

When the laning phase is over, team work becomes even more important. You
really shouldn't ever miss a team fight unless you are dead. Many people 
will disagree with me here but from my experience it is far better to 
always help your allies and die a few times than go and farm minions for
30 minutes. Sure you will become powerful over time but your team will 
likely lose many more fights because you weren't there. When you finally
do come around and start helping out, it will be too late as your enemies
are too powerful.

Also under this category is dealing with your team mates. Remember that it
isn't your allies jobs to call out MIAs. It's your job to watch the 
minimap and make intelligent descisions. Don't get mad when you don't get 
an MIA and you end up dying because you didn't look at the minimap. It 
wasn't your allies fault. 

Don't rage at your team mates for doing stupid things either. Every once 
in a while we ALL make stupid mistakes (I've been killed by a wolf when I
walked past it with low health and a Sunfire Cape on). If you see that 
someone on your team is being stupid constantly, don't rage at them. Try 
to offer constructive critisism (as hard as that may be). If they get mad
at you, don't get mad back. One of the worst things you can do is rage at 
your team mates. I've seen it turn the tide of many games. At best you'll
get someone who just mutes you if you rage, costing you team coordination
later down the line. At worst you could get someone who reports you, 
quits, or intentionally feeds the enemy. There really is no reason to ever
flame anyone. EVER!
_________________________
[5.4] Minions and Buildings

As you are progressing through the game, you will encounter two types of 
characters. For one, there are the champs which I have gone in to great 
detail of how to combat them. The other type has been a bit neglected...
until now. Minions, neutrals, and towers do their assigned task to the death.
Indeed, a huge part of this game is based around manipulating these things
to best suit your needs.

First off we have the minions. They pop out of the nexus and suicidally 
charge the other team's base. You need to be able to last hit them to get 
the most amount of gold possible and therfore be successful. You also have
to use them as meat shields to prevent taking damage during the laning 
phase.

There are 4 types of minions. There are the caster minions who can do more
damage but have less health and give less gold per kill. There are melee
minions who deal less damage but have more health and give more gold. 
The siege minions spawn every third wave and are much stronger than the 
other two basic types of minions in both attack and defense. They also 
have a buff that makes them take 50 percent less damage from towers. This
makes them an ideal wave to push and try to destroy an enemy tower with. 
Finally, there are the super minions. These guys only spawn when an 
inhibitor is destroyed. They are extremely powerful in both attacking 
power and health.

Here is some in-depth info on the minions. All of this data was collected
by me on Summoner's Rift (it may be different on Twisted Treeline)

Melee Minion
Health: 445(~3.3 added per wave)
Damage: 12
Armor:  0  (~.33 added per wave)
Magic Resist: 0 (~.10 added per wave)
Attack Speed: 1.25
Movement Speed: 325
Experience: 64 (~2 added every time your champion gains a level)
Gold:   25

Caster Minion
Health: 280 (~2.5 added per wave)
Mana:   150
Damage: 25
Armor:  0   (~.1 added per wave)
Magic Resist: 0 (~0.33 added per wave)
Attack Speed: 0.67
Movement Speed: 325
Experience: 32 (~2 added every time your champion gains a level)
Gold: 18

Siege Minion
Health: 700 (~15 added per spawn)
Damage: 40
Armor:  17 (~1.5 added per spawn)
Magic Resist: 2 (~1 added per spawn)
Attack Speed: 1.00
Movement Speed: 325
Experience: 100 (~2.5 added every time your champion gains a level)
Gold: Varies, around 32ish
Extra Notes: Was tought to calculate because they only came every 3 waves

Super Minion
Health: 2300
Damage: 190
Armor:  30
Magic Resist: 30
Attack Speed: 0.694
Movement Speed:325
Extra Notes: 2 spawn in each lane if all of one teams inhibitors are down,
very tought to calculate because I don't know if they gain stats as time
goes on or if it's based on how many time the inhibitor is destroyed.

The next thing we need to discuss are the buildings. Specifically, there
are 3 different types. There are also 2 "buildings" that don't have health
so can never be destroyed. I'll start out with those two first.

The shop is simply where you go to the giant pig and buy your items and 
junk. Both teams have one and it can never be destroyed or used by the 
enemy team. The other "building" is the spawning fountain. This is where
you start the game and if you stand here, you will quickly regain health
and mana. Whenever you recall (via the B button or by clicking it manually)
you will return here. This is also where you respawn if you die.

Now on to the 3 others. The nexus is easiest to describe. It is where your
minions spawn and is your most heavily defended structure. It can only be
damaged if both of the defending turrets have been destroyed, and at least
one of the inhibitors is knocked out of commission. If your's is destroyed,
you lose the game. Note that it will slowly regenerate health if it is 
damaged.

Inhibitors are the next topic. These are the little flower shaped 
buildings that each team has. They will regenerate health if damaged, but
once they are destroyed, they will have to wait 5 minutes to respawn at 
full health. Once knocked out of commission, the other team will begin 
spawning one super minion with every creep wave, or two if all three enemy
inhibitors are down (presumably to end the game). 

Finally, the turrets. Also named towers (to prevent confusion from 
Heimerdinger's turrets), these structures act as roadblocks to your 
enemies advance. As you try to destroy them, each layer becomes more and 
more difficult. Each time you destroy one, your entire team is granted 
experience and 100 gold. Any buildings behind the turret cannot be harmed
until the tower is destroyed. For example, you cannot destroy the 
inhibitor without destroying the inhibitor turret. You cannot destroy the
nexus without destroying both nexus turrets, and so on.

On Summoner's Rift, there are 4 layers of turrets. The Outer Turret, 
guarding the furthest reach of your lane; the Inner Turret, guarding right
before the steps to your base; the Inhibitor Turret, guarding your 
inhibitor; and the Nexus Turret, guarding (you guessed it!) the nexus. On
the Twisted Treeline, there are only 3 layers. 

Every turret and minion in the game follows some rules about how to pick a
target. Every few seconds, they scan the area around them for something to
attack. Every time something is attacked it gives off a "call for help".
Minions and turrets prioritize targets in this order:

1 An enemy champion designated by a call for help from an allied champion.
2 An enemy minion designated by a call for help from an allied champion.
3 An enemy minion designated by a call for help from an allied minion.
4 An enemy turret designated by a call for help from an allied minion.
5 An enemy champion designated by a call for help from an allied minion.
6 The closest enemy minion.
7 The closest enemy champion. 

As you can see, AI controlled things won't automatically attack you. If 
you start to attack an allied champion, however, everything will start 
swarming over you, so be ready to take it. Towers will NOT attack you if 
there are some of your allied minions around and you attack either the 
enemy minions or the turret itself, but enemy towers WILL ALWAYS attempt 
to attack you if you hit an enemy champion. Champions stay close to the 
turret to try to stay alive while the tower attacks an enemy, it is known
as "hugging" the turret. When someone tries to attack the enemy champ 
while in range of the turret, they are said to be "tower diving". There
are some special things about this strategy.

Generally, only do it if the enemy is very low health (1-3 hits from 
death). Each successive attack that a turret lands on you will make its 
next attack increase in damage. With this being true, going along with an
ally can be helpful because you can "juggle" the tower to make sure only 
the minimum damage is inflicted. Simply take turns shooting the enemy, and
the turret will keep bouncing back and forth between the two of you, 
negating the attack damage bonus. And before attempting any of this, make
sure you have some sort of get away mechanism (flash is the best).

As a final note, almost the only way to damage turrets is with auto attack
(mages have a percentage of their AP added to their attack). A very select
set of spells can damage turrets (Rammus' ultimate and Nasus' Siphoning
Strike are ones that come to me right off the bat). Janna's shield can 
help to protect turrets but the only way (as of right now) to heal turrets
is to have Heimerdinger close by (by using his passive). I have also heard
of some aura items affecting turrets, but haven't found any yet. 

I should also include the fact that there is one turret behind the 
spawning fountain that does ridiculous damage in a short amount of time, 
so don't try and dive into an enemies respawn area.
_________________________
[5.5] Neutrals

These are the monsters that appear in the jungles of Summoner's Rift and
the Twisted Treeline. They will all grant the champion who does the 
killing blow some gold and experience. I have alphabetized a list so you
can see what is what. I haven't taken a huge amount of time on these guys,
so there is only some basic info.

Ancient Golem
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift
Health:       1450 (+175 per minute)
Damage:       110
Armor:        24
Magic Resist: -34
Attack Speed: 0.613
Movement Speed: 200
First Spawn:  1:55
Respawn:      5:00
Gold:         60
Experience:   220
Buff:         Crest of the Ancient Golem (lasts for 150 seconds, 
              transferred to any champ that slays an enemy with this, 
              causing the timer to restart).
              This unit regens 1.5% mana (or energy) per second and has 
              24.00% cooldown reduction on their abilities. If slain, this
              buff transfers to the killer. 
Additional Notes: This guy holds a very coveted buff that allows almost 
              any champ to spam their abilities as much as the like 
              without having to worry about mana. Some characters can kill
              this at level one, allowing them to horass more or jungle
              easier. Also, this creep has negative magic resistance, 
              making him more vulnerable to spells.

Baron Nashor
Description:  This is a very powerful hostile monster, approach with 
              caution! Killing this monster will yield great monetary and 
              magical rewards to the team, but it should not be confronted 
              alone. 
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift
Health:       8852 (+125 per minute)
Damage:       550
Armor:        120
Magic Resist: 35
Attack Speed: 0.208
Movement Speed: immobile
First Spawn:  15:00
Respawn:      7:00
Gold:         250 (global)
Experience:   900 (global)
Buff:         Exalted with Baron Nashor (lasts 8 minutes, is removed if 
              the champ dies)
              This unit's health and mana are regenerating and he enjoys 
              increased attack damage and ability power.
              In other words, +40 AP, +40 Attack Damage, +3% to heatlh 
              regenerationg, +1% to mana regeneration
Additional Notes: The most powerful neutral that grants a buff that can 
              turn the tide of the game. Be careful when you confront it
              because you'll soon find that your enemy likes to put a ward
              nearby and many team fights will erupt. I have killed this 
              solo as Jax and Warwick, but I'm sure others can do it too.

Dragon
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift
Health:       3910
Damage:       190
Armor:        21
Magic Resist: 0
Attack Speed: 0.658
Movement Speed: 330
First Spawn:  2:30
Respawn:      5:00
Gold:         25 (130 global)
Experience:   200 (global)
Additional Notes: Try to kill this whenever you can because the added gold
              and experience really can add up over the course of a game.

Giant Wolf
Description:  A monster that has a high chance to score a critical hit.
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline
Health:       550
Damage:       26
Armor:        9
Magic Resist: -20
Attack Speed: 0.679
Movement Speed: 510
Gold:         25
Experience:   90
Additional Notes: These guys can't do much to harm you, but do remember 
              that they will attack if you have a sunfire cape on.

Golem
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline
Health:       800
Damage:       65
Armor:        12
Magic Resist: -20
Attack Speed: 0.613
Movement Speed: 200
Gold:         30
Experience    140
Additional Notes: Two of these can replace the wolf camp from time to time.

Lesser Wraith
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline
Health:       220
Damage:       35
Armor:        30
Magic Resist: 0
Attack Speed: 0.638
Movement Speed: 330
Gold:         12
Experience:   20
Additional Notes: Three of these appear along with a wraith in the camp.

Lizard Elder
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift
Health:       1625
Damage:       35
Armor:        24
Magic Resist: -30
Attack Speed: 0.625
Movement Speed: 330
First Spawn:  1:55
Respawn:      5:00
Gold:         60
Experience:   200
Buff:         Blessing of the Lizard Elder (lasts for 150 seconds, 
              transferred to any champ that slays an enemy with this, 
              causing the timer to restart).
              This unit's physical attacks slow the target's movement 
              speed and deal damage based on their level. If the buff 
              holder is slain, this buff is transferred to their killer.
Additional Notes: This guy holds a buff that is great for DPS because it 
              makes your physical attacks not only slow but deal damage 
              over time.

Wolf
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline
Health:       400
Armor:        6
Magic Resist: 0
Attack Speed: 0.679
Movement Speed: 510
Gold:         16
Experience:   50
Additional Notes: The largest of the three wolves that appears at the 
              camps in Summoner's Rift.

Wraith
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline
Health:       350
Armor:        35
Magic Resist: 0
Attack Speed: 0.638
Movement Speed: 330
Gold:         35
Experience:   120
Additional Notes: The largest of the four wraiths that appears at the 
              camps in Summoner's Rift.

Young Lizard
Appears on:   Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline
Health:       350
Armor:        8
Magic Resist: 0
Attack Speed: 0.679
Movement Speed: 330
Gold:         10
Experience:   30
Additional Notes: Two of these come along with the Ancient Golem and 
              Lizard Elder camps in Summoner's Rift.
_________________________
[5.6] Items

Items are what makes up your "build". They greatly affect what and how
much your character will do in the game. They are bought from the hooded
pig just outside your respawn area (called the "fountain").

Because they have recently changed around the item menu, I will be listing
the items in alphabetical order, instead of the order they appear in the 
menu. I'll also list my opinion on the item, from what I've seen in game.

You'll need to know some info on items before you go buying them. First 
off, if you see UNIQUE passive or UNIQUE active, it means that the passive
or active doesn't stack if you get two of the same item. For instance, if 
you buy 2 Madred's Bloodrazor, you'll only do 4% of their max health on 
strike instead of 8%, but you still stack the other effects. So with one
Bloodrazor you'd get +35 AD, +40% attack speed, +30 armor, and deal 4% of
the targets max health on strike. With two of them, you'd get +70 AD, +80%
attack speed, +60 armor, and deal 4% of the targets max health on strike.
If you see an item with a passive that doesn't have UNIQUE, then you can
buy two of them and they will stack (for example, the Rod of Ages).

Secondly, we have boots. Enhanced movement 1 will give you +50 move speed,
enhanced movement 2 will give you +70 move speed, enhanced movement speed 
3 will give you +90 movespeed, and so on. Having more than one pair of 
boots does NOT stack, so having Ninja Tabi and the Boots of Swiftness will
not give you enhanced movement speed +5, but you'll still get the effects 
of both, which will grant you +25 armor and 12% dodge. The game 
automatically applies the movespeed from the boots that best benefits you.
Say for example you have Boots of Mobility and Boots of Swiftness. Since 
Boots of Mobility gives you +5 move speed when you are out of combat, the
game will apply that when you aren't being attacked. As soon as you are 
hit, however, they go down to +2 move speed. BUT because you have Boots of
Swiftness, the game will now give you their move speed, because it is +3.
As soon as you go out of combat for a while, the Boots of Swiftness revert
back to +5, so the game then has you use them again.

But we're not done. Some items like Phantom Dancer give you a percentage 
added to your base movement speed. Percentages DO stack with each other, 
so a Phantom Dancer's +15% move speed would stack with Zeal's +8% to give 
you a grand total of +23%. You apply this to your base move speed before 
applying the direct bonus of boots.

But there's more to come in the puzzling calculation. You get diminishing 
returns with your total movement speed. Anything over 415 is reduced by 
20% and anything over 490 is reduced by 50%. You can add all of this up to
get your grand total.

Third, we have armor. It's equation is "damage reduction = total armor / 
(100 + total armor)" For instance a champ with 76 armor would have about 
43% reduced damage from attacks. But now we need to throw in armor 
penetration. Armor pen 30 would knock off 30 points of armor, so our champ
with 76 armor would actually have 46 when hit, so damage would be reduced
by about 32%. But this is still too simple. True damage is a tricky one. 
800 true damage is supposed to knock through all armor and whatnot to do
exactly 800 damage, but it doesn't. It goes through all armor and magic 
penetration in the game, but not OUTSIDE of the game, which is your 
masteries and runes. If you have a little bit of magic resist in your 
runes, then this 800 would be reduced.

So magic resist is calculated in the same way as armor, but magic 
penetration can be a bit different. Some items like Void Staff give you a 
percentage magic penetration, as well as there being the normal magic
penetration. The percentages do stack, but do so at a reduced rate, so a
Void Staff which gives 40% penetration and Archaic Knowledge (a mastery) 
that gives +15%, the total comes out to be 49% instead of 55%. The flat 
penetration is applied to the enemies magic resist before percentages so
a champ with 40 flat penetration and 40 percent penetration using a spell
against an enemy with 100 magic resist, the enemy would be treated as if 
they had 36 magic resist.

Moving on to attack speed, to find your total you can simply use the 
equation "attack speed = base speed + (base speed * bonus speed from items/
masteries/runes/etc.) + (level * attack speed gained per level)". For 
instance a level 4 Twitch (who has a base attack speed of 0.68 and gains 
3.2% per level) with a dagger (+15%) and no other runes/masteries/etc. 
increasing attack speed, the equation would be "attack speed = 0.68 + 
(0.68 * 0.15) + (4 * 0.032) to come out with a grand total of 0.91 attacks
a second. Note that attack speed caps at 2.5 attacks per second.

Cooldown reduction is peculiar. It is unique among the same item, but not
among different items. For instance if you have 2 Deathfire Grasp (+15%),
you'll only get a total of +15%. However if you have a Deathfire Grasp 
(+15%) and a Fiendish Codex (+10%), you'll get a grand total of +25%. 
Cooldown reduction caps at 40%.

Dodge is how likely you are to avoid a physical attack from your enemy. 
You can have 2 of the same item that gives dodge chance (or two different
items) and you'll still receive dodge chance from both of them, but with 
each point you get, the less each point counts for.

Spell vamp and lifesteal each convert a percentage of damage done to the 
enemy into health for you. Spell vamp is for magic damage, while lifesteal
is for physical damage. The percentage is applied after magic resistance/
armor.

Now that we have all of that useless knowledge with us, we can look at the
items themselves.

[5.6.1] Consumables

These items are used once, then they disappear from your inventory forever.

Item                Price   Stats     
Elixir of Agility    250   Grants +12-22% Attack Speed, based on champion 
                           level, and 8% Critical Strike for 4 minutes.
-This can be great if your build relies on critical strike, because it 
 gives this and attack speed. You should usually save this for the latter
 phases of the game when your build is more complete to get its full 
 benefits. It can also be used if you are losing the game, because its stat
 to gold ratio is excellent, even if it only lasts for 4 minutes



Elixir of Brilliance 250   Grants +20-40 ability power, based on champion
                           level, and reduces cooldowns by 10% for 4 
                           minutes.
-If you are a caster, this item is great at any point in the game.



Elixir of Fortitude  250    +140-235 health and 10 attack damage, based
                            on champion level, for 4 minutes
-This item can be switched out for your starting item, because it can be 
 used like heal in the early game, instantly restoring health to you in a
 situation where you would otherwise die. It also gives massive attack and
 health benefits to anyone who uses it in the laning phase, which can help
 them gank others. But despite all of its uses, remember that it only 
 lasts for 4 minutes, then it is gone forever.



Health Potion        35     Restores 200 health over 20 seconds
-Mostly used at the start of the game to sustain a champions health, this
 is almost ubiquitous during the laning phase.



Mana Potion          40     Restores 100 mana over 20 seconds
-Again, the mana potion is mostly used in the early game to help champs 
 who run low on mana



Oracle's Elixir      400    Stealth detection to champion until death
-This is great if you are facing off against Twitch, Evelynn, Shaco, Teemo,
 or if the enemy is spamming sight wards. Be careful, though, because when
 a stealthy character sees you with this, they will hunt you to the end of
 the earth.


   
Sight Ward           75     Places an invisible ward with 1100 range. 
                            Lasts 3 minutes, max: 3 stacks.
-This is a truly great item. It only costs 90 gold, and can prevent you
 from being ganked time and time again. Place these in between the middle
 lane and your side lane to prevent any surprises from your enemies, and 
 place them throughout the jungle when the laning phase ends, so you know
 what your enemy is doing.


    
Vision Ward          125    Places an invisible ward with 1000 range 
                            magical sight (can see invisible units), lasts
                            3 minutes, max: 3 stacks.
-These are like Sight Wards, but use these when you are going up against 
 champs that can go invisible.



[5.6.2] Basic Items

These items are used to build into other items, and are the start of the 
"recipe".

Item                Price   Stats               Builds
Amplifying Tome      435    +20 Ability Power   Fiendish Codex, Kage's 
                                                Lucky Pick, Mejai's 
                                                Soulstealer, Rylai's 
                                                Crystal Scepter, Sheen, 
                                                Haunting Guise, Hextech
                                                Revolver, Void Staff, Will
                                                of the Ancients
-A possible starting item that builds into many more useful items.



B. F. Sword         1850    +50 Attack Damage   Infinity Edge, The Black
                                                Cleaver, The Bloodthirster
-The most expensive basic item, this gives a whopping +50 AD and builds 
 into other high AD items. Great if you are a physical DPS.



Blasting Wand        860    +40 Ability Power   Abyssal Scepter, 
                                                Archangel's Staff, 
                                                Guinsoo's Rageblade, Lich
                                                Bane, Rod of Ages, Rylai's
                                                Crystal Scepter, Zhonya's
                                                Ring, Void Staff
-Pretty much the same as the Amplifying Tome, but doubled.



Boots of Speed       350    Enhanced Movement +1 Berserker's Greaves, Boots
                                                of Mobility, Boots of 
                                                Swiftness, Mercury's 
                                                Treads, Ninja Tabi, 
                                                Sorcerer's Shoes
-The default boot that builds every other one. You could try to have this
 as your starting item along with a few potions.



Brawler's Gloves     400    +8% Critical Strike Avarice Blade, 
                                                Executioner's Calling, 
                                                Zeal
-Some champs relying on critical chance (Gangplank, Tryndamere) can try 
 having this as their starting item.



Chain Vest           700    +40 Armor           Atma's Impaler, Frozen 
                                                Heart, Guardian Angel, 
                                                Sunfire Cape, Thornmail,
                                                Warden's Mail
-This is a step on to building some of the best tanky items such as 
 Guardian Angel, Sunfire Cape, and Thornmail.



Cloak of Agility     880    +18% Critical Strike Atma's Impaler, Infinity
                                                Edge, Phantom Dancer
-Known for building the Infinity Edge and the Phantom Dancer.



Cloth Armor          300    +18 Armor           Aegis of the Legion, 
                                                Frozen Heart, Guardian 
                                                Angel, Heart of Gold,
                                                Madred's Razors, Ninja 
                                                Tabi, Thornmail
-This combined with 5 Health Potions makes up the basis of most jungler 
 builds, as it can build into Madred's Razors.



Dagger               420    +15% Attack Speed   Berserker's Greaves, 
                                                Malady, Phantom Dancer,
                                                Stinger, Zeal, Sword of 
                                                the Divine
-Some physical DPS could try this as a starting item with potions.



Doran's Blade        475    +100 Health,       
                            +9 Damage, 
                            +3% Life Steal
-Doran's items are a good way to start out the game, as they offer a nice 
 damage boost for last hitting minions. Even with the 100 health, you'll 
 still be vulnerable to harassment, however.



Doran's Ring         475    +100 Health,
                            +5 Mana Regen/5 sec
                            +15 Ability Power
-The Doran's item for casters



Doran's Shield       475    +120 Health
                            +10 Armor
                            +8 Health Regen/5 sec
-Doran's item for tanks, but it can be used for DPS as well



Faerie Charm         180    +3 Mana Regen/5 sec Mana Manipulator, Tear of 
                                                the Goddess, Tiamat
-The cheapest non-consumable item in the game, this can still be valuable
 to casters



Giants Belt         1100    +430 Health         Frozen Mallet, Rylai's 
                                                Crystal Scepter, Soul 
                                                Shroud, Sunfire Cape
                                                Warmog's Armor
-Adds a hefty amount of health to any champion.



Long Sword           415    +10 Attack Damage   Last Whisper, Madred's 
                                                Razors, Phage, Tiamat, 
                                                The Black Cleaver, The 
                                                Brutalizer
-Could be used as a starting item, and is also used to build many higher 
 level AD weapons.



Meki Pendant         390    +7 Mana Regen/5 Sec Chalice of Harmony, 
                                                Fiendish Codex, 
                                                Philosopher's Stone
-If your champ runs low on mana early-game, this is where you should turn.
 Some mana potions can also be included.



Needlessly Large Rod 1600   +80 Ability Power   Zhonya's Ring
-Adds a huge amount of AP and always builds into the mighty Zhonya's



Negatron Cloak       740    +48 Magic Resistance Abyssal Scepter,
                                                Banshee's Veil, Force of 
                                                Nature, Quicksilver Sash
-Usually bought on the way to higher level items.



Null Magic Mantle    400    +24 Magic Resistance Aegis of the Legion, 
                                                Chalice of Harmony, 
                                                Guardian Angel, Mercury's 
                                                Treads, Spirit Visage,
                                                Wit's End, Lich Bane
-Again, usually bought on the way to higher tier items.



Pickaxe              975    +25 Attack Damage   Bilgewater Cutlass, 
                                                Guinsoo's Rageblade, 
                                                Infinity Edge, Madred's
                                                Bloodrazor, Tiamat
-Critical for a number of higher tier items.



Recurve Bow         1075    +40% Attack Speed   Last Whisper, Madred's 
                                                Bloodrazor, Sword of the 
                                                Divine, Stark's Fervor,
                                                Wit's End
-A very powerful item that will drastically increase your attack speed.



Regrowth Pendant     475    +15 Health Regen/5 sec Philosopher's Stone, 
                                                Force of Nature, Warmog's
                                                Armor
-A very popular starting item, this will allow you to endure all but the 
 most dedicated harassers. You won't be able to buy any health potions at
 the start of the match, though.



Rejuvenation Bead    250    +8 Health Regen/5 sec Emblem of Valour, Spirit
                                                Visage, Tiamat, Warden's 
                                                Mail
-If you want health regen AND some health potions, you could take this 
 instead of a Regrowth Pendant. Alternatively, you could take the Faerie 
 Charm as well if you need mana.



Ruby Crystal         475    +180 Health         Aegis of the Legion, 
                                                Catalyst the Protector,
                                                Haunting Guise, Heart of
                                                Gold, Leviathan, Phage,
                                                Warmog's Armor
-Dedicated tanks can take this as their first item.



Sapphire Crystal     400    200 Mana            Sheen, Tear of the 
                                                Goddess, Catalyst the 
                                                Protector, Glacial Shroud
-If your champion needs a large amount of mana at the start of the game 
 (for example: Veigar, Signed), you can get this to start out with.


Vampiric Scepter     450    +12% Life Steal     Bilgewater Cutlass, Emblem
                                                of Valour, Executioner's 
                                                Calling, Malady, The 
                                                Bloodthirster, Wriggle's 
                                                Lantern
-The start of every other lifesteal item, although it is possible to buy 
 this from the start, you may want to consider other options first.

[5.6.3] Advanced Items

An advanced item is one that can be built out of some arrangement of basic
items. Most of them have some sort of passive or active (you have to click
on the item to use an active). Some of them can go on to build legendary
items, which provide even better stats.

Item              Price   Stats       Ability        Builds     Recipe
Abyssal Scepter   2650    +70 Ability UNIQUE Aura -             Blasting
                          Power, +60  Reduces the               Wand,
                          Magic       Magic                     Negatron
                          Resistance  Resistance of             Cloak
                                      nearby enemy              
                                      champions by 
                                      20
-Because it grants ability power and magic resistance, it is exceptional
 on any mage-tank hybrid, especially against a team of casters.



Aegis of the Legion 1925  +270 Health, UNIQUE Aura -            Ruby 
                          +18 Armor,  +12 Armor, +24            Crystal,
                          +24 Magic   Magic Resist,             Null-Magic
                          Resistance  +8 Attack                 Mantle,
                                      Damage to                 Cloth Armor
                                      nearby allied
                                      units
-This is essential to any support champ that wants to help their team 
 survive, like Soraka.




Atma's Impaler    2405    +50 Armor,  UNIQUE Passive -          Cloak of
                          +18%        Your physical             Agility,
                          Critical    damage is                 Chain Vest
                          Strike      increased by 
                                      2% of your 
                                      maximum health
-High health champs get the most benefit out of this, and if you see your
 enemies not focusing you when you are a tank, you could take this to make
 yourself more threatening. 



Avarice Blade     750     +12%        Gain an        Youmuu's   Brawler's
                          Critical    additional 5   Ghostblade Gloves
                          Strike      gold every 10
                                      seconds
-Many people like these kinds of items because of the extra gold they give.
 Generally speaking, you should only have 1-2 of these max, because 
 anything else would be a waste (because you have to sell them back to get
 slots available for better items). This pays for itself every 25 minutes.



Berserker's Greaves 920   +25% Attack UNIQUE - Enhanced         Dagger,
                          Speed       movement 2                Boots of 
                                                                Speed
-These boots are best on physical DPS because of the attack speed they 
 bring.



Bilgewater Cutlass 1900   +35 Attack  UNIQUE Active-   Hextech  Pickaxe,
                          Damage, +15% Deals 200 magic Gunblade Vampiric
                          Life Steal  damage and slows          Scepter
                                      the target
                                      champion for 2
                                      seconds (400
                                      range). 60 
                                      second cooldown
-This is usually just an item that AP/AD hybrids buy when going for the 
 Hextech Gunblade.



Boots of Mobility 1000                UNIQUE -                  Boots of
                                      Enhanced                  Speed
                                      movement 2.
                                      When out of 
                                      combat for 5
                                      seconds the 
                                      effect of these
                                      boots is 
                                      increased to 
                                      enhanced 
                                      movement 5
-Great if you need to gank a lot or you have a very slow character. Watch
 out though, because once you are attacked, your movespeed will drop 
 dramatically.



Boots of Swiftness 1000               UNIQUE -                  Boots of
                                      Enhaced                   Speed
                                      movement 3
-If you have a slow champ (310 movespeed or less), then these are a must
 to escape deadly situations.



Catalyst the      1325    +290 Health, Restores 300  Banshee's   Ruby 
Protector                 +325 Mana   Health and 250 Veil,       Crystal,
                                      mana upon      Innervating Sapphire
                                      leveling up    Locket, Rod Crystal
                                                     of Ages
-If you see one of these early on in the game, it almost always means that
 the champ will get a Rod of Ages.



Chalice of Harmony 890    +30 Magic   UNIQUE Passive -          Meki
                          Resistance, Increases your            Pendant,
                          +7.5 Mana   Mana Regen by             Null-Magic
                          Regen/5     1% per 1% you             Mantle
                          sec         are missing
-For a low price, this item has a great unique ability. When you are 
 completely out of mana, your mana regen is doubled. This helps champs 
 that need some mana but aren't going AP (Master Yi, for example).



Emblem of Valour   800    +17% Life   UNIQUE Aura -  Stark's    Vampiric
                          Steal       Nearby allied  Fervor     Scepter,
                                      champions gain            Rejuvenation
                                      10 Health                 Bead
                                      Regen 5/sec
-This is great for laning and is still effective during the latter parts 
 of the game, when you have bought Starks Fervor, of course.



Executioner's     1600    +18%        UNIQUE Passive -          Brawler's
Calling                   Life Steal, On hit, you               Gloves,
                          +15%        cause 4 damage            Vampiric
                          Critical    per second for            Scepter
                          Strike      8 seconds.
                                      UNIQUE Active -
                                      Attacks inflict
                                      enemy with 
                                      Grievious Wounds,
                                      causing 50% 
                                      reduced healing
                                      for 8 seconds. 
                                      20 second 
                                      cooldown.
-If you need critical strike and lifesteal (Tryndamere perhaps), than this
 item is for you.



Fiendish Codex    1245    +30 Ability UNIQUE Passive- Deathfire Meki 
                          Power, +7   10% cooldown   Grasp,     Pendant,
                          Mana Regen/5 reduction     Nashor's   Amplifying
                          sec                        Tooth      Tome
-A good item to get the first time you go back to the shop because it 
 grants additional ability power as well as mana regen AND builds into two
 good items.



Force of Nature   2690    +76 Magic   UNIQUE Passive-           Regrowth
                          Resistance, Restores 0.35%            Pendant,
                          +40 HP      of your                   Regrowth
                          Regen/5 sec, champions                Pendant,
                          +8% Movement maximum health           Negatron
                          Speed       every second              Cloak
-If you are a HP stacking tank who needs health regen, look no further.
 This is especially useful if you are going up against a team of mages.



Glacial Shroud    1675    +425 Mana,  UNIQUE Passive-  Frozen   Sapphire
                          +45 Armor   Reduces ability  Heart    Crystal,
                                      cooldowns by              Chain Vest
                                      20%
-Best for mage/tanks such as Nunu, Sion, or Singed.



Guardian Angel    2600    +68 Armor,  UNIQUE Passive-           Null-Magic
                          +40 Magic   Revives your              Mantle, 
                          Resistance  champion upon             Cloth
                                      death, restoring          Armor,
                                      40% of their              Chain Vest
                                      Health and Mana.
                                      This effect can
                                      only occur once
                                      every 5 minutes.
-This is VERY useful for tanks because it not only makes them more 
 resistant to damage, but also alows them to charge right into the middle
 of battle without fear of dying (so long as they can get away with 40% of
 their health).



Guinsoo's Rageblade 2235  +35 Attack  Passive - On attack,      Pickaxe,
                          Damage, +45 increases your            Blasting
                          Ability     Attack Speed by           Wand
                          Power       4% and Ability
                                      Power by 6.
                                      Lasts 5 seconds
                                      (stacks up to
                                      8 times).
-There are a number of things that make this item unique. First off, its 
 named after the designer of the game (Steve "Guinsoo"). Secondly, it is
 one of only 3 items that gives ability power and attack damage. Finally,
 it is the only item that stacks with every attack. Because it gives AP
 and attack speed, it is ideal for AP/AD hybrids, such as Jax and Akali.



Haunting Guise    1485    +200 Health, UNIQUE Passive-          Ruby 
                          +25 Ability  +20 Magic                Crystal,
                          Power        Penetration              Amplifying
                                                                Tome
-Good if you are a mage in need of more health.



Heart of Gold      975    +200 Health, Generates 5   Randuin's  Ruby
                          +27 Armor    Gold every 10 Omen       Crystal,
                                       Seconds                  Cloth
                                                                Armor
-Because tanks don't get many kills, many will be tempted to add 1 or 2 of
 these onto their champion builds. Just keep in mind that you should never
 get more than two of these during one game, as you'll be at a net loss of
 gold when you have to sell these for better items. This pays for itself 
 in 32 and a half minutes, or 16 minutes and 16 seconds if you plan to 
 sell it off.



Hexdrinker        1800    +35 Attack   UNIQUE Passive-          Long
                          Damage, +30  If you would             Sword,
                          Magic        take damage              Long
                          Resistance   which would              Sword,
                                       leave you with           Null-
                                       less than 30%            Magic
                                       of your maximum          Mantle
                                       Health, you 
                                       first gain a 
                                       shield which
                                       absorbs 300 
                                       magic damage
                                       for 4 seconds.
                                       60 second
                                       cooldown.
-A mid game item than can help physical damage dealers if they are in a 
 game with a bunch of burst AP mages.



Hextech Revolver  1200    +40 Ability                Hextech    Amplifying
                          Power, +10%                Gunblade   Tome,
                          Spell Vamp                            Amplifying
                                                                Tome
-This is good for mages but will build into a AP/AD hybrid item, so it is 
 best for those types of champs.



Infinity Edge     4080    +80 Attack  UNIQUE Passive-           BF Sword,
                          Damage,     Critical hits             Pickaxe,
                          +20%        now deal 250%             Cloak of
                          Critical    damage instead            Agility
                          Strike      of 200%
-Even though its only an advanced item (because its made out of all basic
 items), this is the most expensive thing in the game, and for good reason.
 It gives the highest attack boost of any item (the Bloodthirster gives 
 more, but only with its passive). It also grants a larger chance of 
 getting a critical hit, and makes them 50% more damaging. This is 
 essential for any champ or build focusing on getting critical hits (you'll
 almost always see this on Tryndamere, and often times on ranged physical
 DPS).



Ionian Boots of    1050               UNIQUE Passive-           Boots of 
Lucidity                              Enhanced                  Speed
                                      Movement Speed 2,
                                      15% Cooldown 
                                      Reduction
-Good on champs that need a fair amount of cooldown reduction but don't 
 rely too heavily on their boots to escape.



Kage's Lucky Pick  765    +25 Ability Passive -      Deathfire  Amplifying
                          Power       Generates 5    Grasp      Tome
                                      Gold every
                                      10 seconds
-The gold generating item for mages. As always, don't get more than two 
 (although only one is advised). This takes 25 minutes and 30 seconds to
 pay for itself, or 12 minutes and 46 seconds if you plan to sell it.



Kindlegem         850     +200 Health UNIQUE Passive- Shurelya's Ruby Crystal
                                      10% Cooldown    Reverie,
                                      Reduction       Soul Shroud,
                                                      Spirit Visage
-Good on tanks who need cooldown reduction.



Last Whisper      1965    +10 Attack  UNIQUE Passive-           Long Sword,
                          Damage,     Attacks penetrate         Recurve 
                          +40% Attack 40% of the                Bow
                          Speed       defender's armor
-Because of the 40% armor penetration, this is good if you are going up
 against a beefy team of tanks. Combined it with Madreds Bloodrazor to 
 maximize efficiency.



Leviathan         1275    +180 Health UNIQUE Passive-           Ruby 
                                      Your champion             Crystal
                                      gains 32 health
                                      per stack, 
                                      receiving 2 
                                      stacks for a 
                                      kill and 1 stack
                                      for an assist. 
                                      This effect can
                                      stack up to 20
                                      times; you lose
                                      a third of your
                                      stacks if you 
                                      die. At 20 
                                      stacks, your 
                                      champion takes
                                      15% less damage.
-The snowball item for tanks, be careful if you decide to use it. Since
 tanks "usually" don't get many kills, you may have to get stacks entirely
 from assists. While this will make your champion have more health, it can
 have the effect of making you more cautious to preserve your stacks, and
 tanks simply cannot afford that luxury.



Madred's Razors   1000    +15 Attack  UNIQUE Passive- Madred's    Long
                          Damage, +23 15% chance on   Bloodrazor, Sword,
                          Armor       attack to deal  Wriggle's   Cloth
                                      500 damage to a Lantern     Armor
                                      minion
-This is good if you plan to jungle, because of the extra damage to 
 minions and neutrals.



Malady            1825    +25 Ability UNIQUE Passive-           Dagger,
                          Power,      Your physical             Dagger,
                          +50% Attack attacks shred             Amplifying
                          Speed       your target,              Tome
                                      doing 20 magic 
                                      damage and 
                                      reducing their 
                                      magic resistance
                                      by 6 for 8
                                      seconds. Stacks
                                      up to 4 Times
-Good for AP/AD hybrids.



Mana Manipulator   475                UNIQUE Aura -  Innervating Faerie
                                      +7.2 mana      Locket,     Charm,
                                      regen (per 5)  Soul Shroud Faerie
                                      to nearby                  Charm
                                      champions
-If you are a support champion laning with a mage, this item can help
 sustain your pushes.



Mejai's Soulstealer 1235  +20 Ability UNIQUE Passive-           Amplifying
                          Power       Your champion             Tome
                                      gains 8 ability
                                      power per stack,
                                      receiving 2 
                                      stacks for a kill
                                      or 1 stack for an
                                      assist. This 
                                      effect can stack
                                      20 times; you lose
                                      a third of your 
                                      stacks if you die.
                                      At 20 stacks,
                                      your champions 
                                      cooldowns are 
                                      reduced by 15%
-The snowball item for mages. Just be careful that you don't die too many
 times for this to be effective.



Mercury's Treads  1200    +25 Magic   UNIQUE -                  Boots of
                          Resistance  Enhanced Movement         Speed,
                                      2. UNIQUE                 Null-
                                      Passive -                 Magic
                                      Reduces the               Mantle
                                      duration of 
                                      stuns, slows,
                                      taunts, fears,
                                      snares, sleeps,
                                      and immobilizers
                                      bt 35%
-If you see that your enemy has lots of stuns (or CC of any kind) than 
 these are absolutely essential if you wish to survive.



Ninja Tabi         850    +25 Armor,  UNIQUE -                  Boots of
                          +12% Dodge  Enhanced                  Speed,
                                      movement 2                Cloth 
                                                                Armor
-These are essentially the boots of tanks (although Jax always has them 
 too).



Phage             1315    +225 Health, 25% chance on Frozen     Ruby 
                          +18 Attack   hit to reduce Mallet,    Crystal,
                          Damage       your target's Trinity    Long Sword
                                       movement      Force
                                       speed by 30%
                                       for 2.5 
                                       seconds
-If you are a tank/AD hybrid, this is for you. This is also good for tanks
 who simply wish to slow their enemies.



Philosopher's     1090    +10 Mana     Gain an                  Regrowth
Stone                     Regen/5 sec, additional               Pendant,
                          +22.5 Health 5 gold every             Meki
                          Regen/5 sec  10 seconds               Pendant
-Another gold over time item. This one features health and mana regen, so
 it is a good option to go for as soon as you have enough gold. You should
 only buy 1 of these, because the regen is good during the laning phase,
 but is worth less during the team fight portion. This pays for itself in
 37 minutes and 10 seconds, or 18 minutes and 36 seconds if you sell it.



Quicksilver Sash  1440    +48 Magic   Active - Removes          Negatron
                          Resistance  all debuffs from          Cloak
                                      your character.
                                      120 second 
                                      cooldown.
-The only item to have a non unique passive, this was added after the nerf
 of the summoner spell Cleanse. This will remove ALL debuffs, including CC
 and damage over time.



Rulai's Crystal   3105    +550 Health, Passive -                Amplifying
Scepter                   +80 Ability Your spell                Tome, 
                          Power       damage slows              Blasting
                                      the target's              Wand,
                                      movement speed            Giant's 
                                      by 35% for 1.5            Belt
                                      seconds (15%
                                      for multi-
                                      target spells)
-Great for mages because it not only gives AP and a huge amount of health,
 but your spells slow your targets, making it much more difficult for 
 them to run away.



Sheen             1260    +250 Mana,  UNIQUE Passive
                          +25 Ability Every time you 
                          Power       use an ability,
                                      your next 
                                      physical attack
                                      deals 80% extra
                                      base damage
-This can be good for AP/AD hybrids... to an extent. Note that the passive
 does not stack with Trinity Force or Lich Bane.



Sorcerer's Shoes  1100    +20 Magic   UNIQUE -                  Boots of
                          Penetration Enhanced                  Speed
                                      Movement 2
-These boots are primarily used for mages.



Stinger           1140    +40% Attack UNIQUE Passive- Nashor's  Dagger,
                          Speed       10% cooldown    Tooth     Dagger
                                      reduction      
-This is good if you plan on being an AD/AP hybrid, because of the 
 increased attack speed and cooldown reduction



Sunfire Cape      2510    +450 Health UNIQUE passive-           Chain Vest,
                          +45 Armor   40 magic damage           Giant's 
                                      a second to               Belt
                                      nearby enemies
-A very common item. It is great on tanks because it lets them charge into
 the middle of combat and do 40 damage to all enemies every second. 



Sword of the      2170    +55% Attack UNIQUE Passive-           Recurve
Divine                    Speed       Every fourth              Bow,
                                      attack deals              Dagger
                                      100 extra 
                                      Magic Damage.
                                      UNIQUE Active-
                                      Your attacks 
                                      cannot be dodged
                                      and you gain 30
                                      armor penetration
                                      for 8 seconds (40
                                      second cooldown).
-An item best suited for physical DPS. This an effective counter against
 enemies that seem to be dodging your attacks a lot (Jax). 



Sword of the      1369    +10 Attack  UNIQUE Passive-           Long Sword
Occult                    Damage      your champion
                                      gains +5 damage
                                      per stack, 
                                      receiving two
                                      stacks for a kill
                                      or one stack for
                                      an assist. You
                                      lose a third of 
                                      your stacks if 
                                      you die. At 20
                                      stacks, your 
                                      champion's 
                                      movement speed is
                                      increased by 15%
-The final edition in a trio of snowball items. Once again, this is great
 if you can get enough kills but be careful about buying it if you seem
 to be dying a lot.



Tear of the        980    +350 Mana,  UNIQUE Passive- Archangel's Faerie
Goddess                   +5 mana     Each time your  Staff       Charm,
                          regen/5 sec champion uses               Sapphire
                                      an ability                  Crystal
                                      their maximum
                                      mana will 
                                      increase by 4
                                      mana. This 
                                      effect has a 3
                                      second cooldown.
                                      Bonus caps at
                                      1000 mana
-Perfect for any mage that runs low on mana. This can be built into the 
 mighty Archangel's for tons of ability power.



The Black Cleaver 3065    +75 Attack  Physical attacks          Dagger,
                          Damage      reduce your               BF Sword
                                      target's armor
                                      by 15 for 5
                                      seconds (maximum
                                      3 stacks)
-Offers a huge amount of damage and armor reduction. Good for physical DPS
 who need damage to counter a tanky team.



The Bloodthirster 3200    +60 Attack  Passive - Gain an         Vampiric
                          +15% Life   additional 1              Scepter,
                          Steal       physical damage           BF Sword
                                      and 0.25% life
                                      steal per kill.
                                      Maximum of +40
                                      damage and +10%
                                      life steal. 
                                      Bonuses are lost
                                      upon death
-Because you get +1 attack for every minion you kill, the maximum stats
 of this item is +100 attack and +25% life steal. This essentially makes 
 this item give more attack than any other item in the game. It also gives
 a hefty amount of life steal, which allows you to stay out in the field 
 longer. Best on physical DPS.



The Brutalizer    1337    +25 Attack  UNIQUE Passive- Youmuu's   Long Sword,
                          Damage      Reduces ability Ghostblade Long Sword
                                      cooldowns by 
                                      10% and +15
                                      armor penetration
-Usually bought on the way to Youmuu's, good if you use abilities a lot 
 but are primarily a DPS.



Thornmail         2000    +100 Armor  UNIQUE Passive-           Cloth
                                      On being hit by           Armor,
                                      standard attacks,         Chain Vest
                                      returns 30% of 
                                      damage taken as
                                      magic damage. A
                                      minimum of 15 
                                      damage must be
                                      received
-The best counter for a team of physical DPS. This is great on tanks or 
 anyone who is soaking up a lot of damage.



Tiamat            2070    +42 Attack  Passive - Your            Pickaxe,
                          Damage, +15 attacks splash,           Long Sword,
                          HP regen/5  dealing physical          Faerie
                          sec, +4     damage in a small         Charm,
                          mana regen  area around the           Rejuvenation
                          5/sec       target                    Bead
-The Tiamat is a weird little item. It deals 50% splash for melee attacks
 and 33% for ranged. It is good on physical DPS but also helps mages with
 its mana regen. It's passive stacks, so multiple Tiamats can lead to some
 interesting results.



Void Staff        2295    +70 Ability UNIQUE Passive-           Amplifying
                          Power       40% magic                 Tome,
                                      penetration               Blasting
                                                                Wand
-This is especially good for mages who have to deal with magic resistance
 stacking tanks.



Warden's Mail     1350    +60 Armor,  Passive - 20%  Randuin's  Chain Vest,
                          +25 HP      chance to      Omen       Rejuvenation
                          regen/5 sec reduce physical           Bead
                                      attacker's 
                                      movement and
                                      attack speed
                                      by 35% for 3
                                      seconds
-A tank item that can hinder the attack and escape mechanisms of physical
 DPS.



Warmog's Armor    3150    +770 Health,Passive -                 Giant's
                          +30 Health  Permanently gain          Belt,
                          Regen/5 sec 3.6 health and            Ruby 
                                      .5 health regen           Crystal,
                                      per 5 sec per             Regrowth
                                      minion kill.              Pendant
                                      Champion kills
                                      grant 36 health
                                      and 5 health 
                                      regen per 5 sec.
                                      Bonuses cap at
                                      +450 health and
                                      +62.5 health regen
                                      per 5
-An item that is good for tanks who need lots of health and can farm creeps
 quickly... I really can't think of one though.



Wit's End         2150    +40% Attack UNIQUE Passive-           Recurve 
                          Speed, +30  Physical attacks          Bow, Null-
                          Magic       remove up to 42           Magic 
                          Resistance  mana from the             Mantle
                                      target and deal
                                      additional damage
                                      equal to the 
                                      amount of mana 
                                      removed.
-If you are a physical DPS facing off against mages, this is the item for
 you.



Zeal              1195    +20% Attack                Phantom    Dagger,
                          Speed, +10%                Dancer,    Brawler's 
                          Critical                   Trinity    Gloves
                          Strike, +8%                Force
                          Movement
                          Speed
-This not only increases your chance to get a critical strike, but also
 makes you move and attack faster. Great if you have a champion build that
 uses critical strike.



Zhonya's          3300    +50 Armor,   UNIQUE Active-           Chain Vest,
Hourglass                 +100 Ability Places your              Needlessly
                          Power        champion into            Large Rod
                                       stasis for 2 
                                       seconds, 
                                       rendering you
                                       invulnerable
                                       and unable to 
                                       take any action.
                                       90 second 
                                       cooldown.
-An extremely powerful item in the right hands, several champion's 
 abilities, such as Fiddlestick's and Kennen's Ult will still do damage 
 while the active is engaged


[5.6.4] Legendary Items

A legendary item is something that is built out of 1 or more advanced 
items, and can also be made up of basic items. These are the final tier
and usually offer the best effects. These are the epitome of any build, 
and can radically alter how useful your champion is in the game.

Item         Price   Stats            Ability                 Recipe
Archangel's  2840    +400 Mana, +25    Passive - 3% of your   Tear of the
Staff                Mana Regen/5 sec, max mana is converted  Goddess,
                     +45 Ability Power into ability power     Blasting
                                      UNIQUE Passive - Each   Wand
                                      time your champion 
                                      uses an ability their
                                      maximum mana will
                                      increase by 4 mana
                                      (capped at 1000). This
                                      effect has a 3 second
                                      cooldown
-A great choice for all mages because it will be quite difficult to run 
 out of mana. It also gives a nice sized chunk of AP too.



Banshee's    2715    +450 Health,     UNIQUE Passive - Blocks Negatron 
Veil                 +400 Mana, +57   one negative spell      Cloak, 
                     Magic Resistance every 45 seconds        Catalyst the
                                                              Protector
-Counters burst-mages extremely well, and gives some awesome health and 
 mana, making it an extremely valuable item.



Deathfire    2610    +60 Ability      UNIQUE Passive - 15%    Kage's Lucky
Grasp                Power, +15 Mana  cooldown reduction      Pick,
                     Regen/5 sec      UNIQUE Active - Deals   Fiendish
                                      magic damage to target  Codex
                                      champion equal to 30%
                                      of their current health
                                      (+3.5% per 100 ability
                                      power) with a minimum
                                      of 200 damage. 1 minute
                                      cooldown.
-This is great on champions with a high amount of AP (due to the active),
 such as Veigar.



Frozen Heart 2800    +99 Armor, +500  UNIQUE Passive- Reduces Cloth Armor,
                     Mana             cooldowns by 20% and    Cloth Armor,
                                      reduces the attack      Glacial
                                      speed of nearby enemies Shroud
                                      by 20%
-Another good item for mage/tanks, this time featuring armor, mana, and an
 aura that reduces the attack speed of nearby enemies.



Frozen Mallet 3290   +700 Health, +20 UNIQUE Passive-Physical Phage, 
                     Attack Damage    attacks slow enemy's    Giant's Belt
                                      movement speed by 30%
                                      for 2.25 seconds
-A rare find because it is not only good for tanks but also for physical 
 DPS. It adds a good deal of survivability to melee physical DPS, and 
 helps slow so your enemy cannot escape. Similar to Rylai's.



Hextech      3700    +60 Attack       UNIQUE Active - Deals   Hextech 
Gunblade             Damage, +75      300 magic damage and    Revolver,
                     Ability Power,   slows the target        Bilgewater
                     +15% Life Steal, champion by 50% for 3   Cutlass
                     +13% Spell Vamp  seconds (700 range).
                                      60 second cooldown.
-Besides Guinsoo's this is the best item for AP/AD hybrids. This one 
 almost seems to be custom made for Akali



Innervating  2650    +475 Health,     UNIQUE Aura - Restores  Mana 
Locket               +450 Mana        9 mana to nearby allies Manipulator,
                                      every 5 seconds         Catalyst the
                                      UNIQUE Passive - Using  Protector
                                      an ability buffs 
                                      surrounding champions
                                      to restore 50 health
                                      and 20 mana over 2 
                                      seconds. This effect has
                                      a 4 second cooldown
-Good for any tank or support who stays around their allies.



Lich Bane    3470    +350 Mana, +80   UNIQUE - When you use   Sheen, Null-
                     Ability Power,   an ability, your next   Magic Mantle,
                     +30 Magic        physical attack deals   Blasting
                     Resistance, +7%  an additional 100% of   Wand
                     Movement Speed   your ability power in 
                                      damage. This effect has
                                      a 3 second cooldown
-This can allow hybrid builds for champions with high AP ratios, such as 
 Ezreal or Master Yi. Note that this passive does not stack with Sheen or
 Trinity Force.



Madred's     3800    +35 Attack       UNIQUE Passive - On hit, Madred's
Bloodrazor           Damage, +40      deals magic damage       Razors,
                     Attack Speed,    equal to 4% of the       Pickaxe,
                     +30 Armor        target's maximum health  Recurve Bow
-The best counter against a team of tanks. This becomes devastating if 
 a champion uses this with high attack speed.



Manamune     2110    +350 Mana,       UNIQUE Passive - 2% of   Tear of the 
                     +7 Mana Regen/   your max Mana is         Goddess,
                     5 sec, +20       converted to Attack      Long Sword
                     Attack Damage    Damage
                                      UNIQUE Passive - Each
                                      time you attack, you 
                                      gain one maximum mana
                                      (3 second cooldown).
                                      Each time you use an 
                                      ability, you gain four
                                      maximum mana. Bonuses 
                                      cap at 1000 mana.
-The physical equivalent of the Archmage's Staff, this is perfect for 
 physical champs that need large amounts of mana to be effective.



Morello's    2350    +75 Ability      UNIQUE Passive - +20%   Fiendish 
Evil Tome            Power, +12       Cooldown Reduction      Codex, 
                     Mana regen/                              Blasting Wand
                     5 sec
-Very similar to Deathfire Grasp, this item sacrifices the active to gain 
 slightly superior stats. 



Nashor's     2885    +50% Attack      UNIQUE Passive - +25%   Stinger, 
Tooth                Speed, +55       Cooldown Reduction      Fiendish
                     Ability Power,                           Codex
                     +10 Mana Regen/
                     5 sec
-This lets you attack faster with both attack speed and cooldown reduction.
 It is similar to Guinsoo's Rageblade.



Phantom      3395    +45% Attack                              Zeal, Dagger,
Dancer               Speed, +30%                              Cloak of 
                     Critical Strike,                         Agility
                     +20% Dodge, +15%
                     Movement Speed
-A purely stat-boosting item that is best on physical DPS who wish to 
 make a critical strike build.



Randuin's    2925    +300 Health, +90 UNIQUE Passive - 5%    Warden's 
Omen                 Armor, +25       cooldown reduction and  Mail, Heart
                     Health Regen/    20% chance on being hit of Gold
                     5 sec            to slow the attacker's
                                      movement and attack 
                                      speed by 35% for 3
                                      seconds.
                                      UNIQUE Active - Slows
                                      movement speed and 
                                      attack speed of 
                                      surrounding units by 
                                      35% for 2 second +0.5
                                      seconds for each 100
                                      armor and magic resist.
                                      60 second cooldown
-Tank item that is great in use for team fights.



Rod of Ages  3035    +450 Health,     Passive - Your champion Catalyst the
                     +525 Mana, +60   gains 18 health, 20     Protector,
                     Ability Power    mana, and 2 ability     Blasting Wand
                                      power every 1 min. 
                                      Bonuses cap at +180
                                      health, +200 mana, and
                                      +20 ability power
-A popular mage item that's useful because it gives all important health 
 while still contributing to mana and ability power. If you plan on 
 getting it, it should be your 1st or 2nd purchase, as the passive takes
 10 minutes to develop.



Shurelya's   2200    +330 Health,     UNIQUE Active - Nearby  Kindlegem,
Reverie              +30 Health       champions Movement      Philosopher's
                     Regen/5 sec,     Speed is increased by   Stone
                     +15 Mana Regen/  40% for 3 seconds. 
                     per 5 sec        60 second cooldown
                                      UNIQUE Passive - 
                                      Reduces ability 
                                      cooldowns by 15%
-Good on tanks because the passive can be activated to save your allies.



Spirit       1550    +30 Magic        UNIQUE Passive -        Null - Magic
Visage               Resistance,      Cooldowns are           Mantle,
                     +250 Health      reduced by 10% and      Kindlegem
                                      increases your 
                                      healing and 
                                      regeneration on 
                                      yourself by 15%



Soul Shroud  2325    +520 Health      UNIQUE Aura - Gives     Mana 
                                      nearby champions 12     Manipulator,
                                      mana per 5 seconds and  Giant's 
                                      15% reduced cooldowns   Belt
-If you are a support and you see that your allies are mostly mages, then
 this is the item for you.



Stark's      2550    +20% Attack      UNIQUE Aura - Gives     Emblem of 
Fervor               Speed            nearby allied champions Valour,
                                      20% life steal, 20%     Recurve Bow
                                      attack speed, and 30
                                      health regen per 5. 
                                      Reduces the armor of 
                                      nearby champions by 20
-The sister item of Malady, this is probably the better choice if you plan
 to be team fighting.



Trinity      4070    +20 Attack       UNIQUE Passive - 25%    Sheen, Phage,
Force                Damage, +30      chance on hit to slow   Zeal
                     Ability Power,   the target by 35% for
                     +25% Attack      2.5 seconds; on cast,
                     Speed, +12%      increases your base 
                     Critical Strike, attack damage by 130%
                     +12% Movement    for one attack
                     Speed, +300 Health,
                     +300 Mana
-Obviously the most versatile item in the game. It isn't seen much, 
 however, as many builds rely on building a few particular stats, rather 
 than a general improvement of the champion. Note that this passive does 
 not stack with Sheen or Lich Bane.



Will of the  2400    +40 Ability      UNIQUE Aura - Gives     Hextech
Ancients             Power            nearby allied champions Revolver,
                                      +30 ability power and   Amplifying
                                      +15% spell vamp         Tome
-One of the few items to give spell vamp, this is best used if your team
 has a lot of mages.



Wriggle's    1525    +23 Attack       UNIQUE Passive - 20%    Madred's
Lantern              Damage, +30      chance on attack to     Razors,
                     Armor, +14%      deal 500 damage to a    Vampiric
                     Life Steal       minion                  Scepter
                                      UNIQUE Active - Places
                                      an invisible ward with
                                      1100 range sight and
                                      lasts for 3 minutes.
                                      3 minute cooldown
-A very cost efficient item, if you find that your team doesn't place many
 wards around and your team is being ganked a lot, than this might be your
 solution.



Youmuu's     2687    +30 Attack       UNIQUE Passive -        Avarice 
Ghostblade           Damage, +15%     Reduces cooldowns by    Blade, The
                     Critical Strike  15% and +20 armor       Brutalizer
                                      penetration
                                      UNIQUE Active - Gives 
                                      20% movement speed and
                                      +50% attack speed for 4
                                      seconds. Attacking 
                                      enemy units with melee
                                      attacks increases the 
                                      duration by 2 to a 
                                      maximum of 8 seconds. 60
                                      second cooldown
-A great item for any DPS champion, and in particular, one that is getting
 attack speed.
_________________________
[5.7] General Tips

Here is a random assortment of tips and tricks that I have found through 
my play through the game.

-Leaving one neutral alive in a camp keeps it from respawning. This is 
 particularly useful when clearing out the enemies Ancient Golem and 
 Lizard Elder camps.

-DO NOT get cocky after you have won a string of team fights and go off by
 yourself. If the enemy is intelligent, they will group up and only fight 
 on uneven terms (1 v 5 for example). I have seen too many games thrown 
 away to ever go off by myself after the laning phase is over.

-The ping feature (hotkey: G) is your friend when alerting your allies of 
 a potential gank.

-If you ping an enemy, they will get crosshairs above them. The last time 
 I checked, you can use this on Shaco before he uses his clone and you can
 tell which one is the real deal.

-Continue watching your champ until they have fully teleported back to 
 base. You would be amazed at how many kills have happened when someone 
 just walks up to a ranged carry and starts destroying them. By the time
 they know whats going on, its usually too late.

-Go in brushes if you can to teleport back to base.

-Be careful about teleporting if you have low health. Enemies can snipe 
 you out from under towers, brushes, and allies.

-It's YOUR job to watch the minimap, not your allies job to call out MIAs.

-An extension from the tip above, don't yell at your allies if you make a 
 stupid mistake. It's not their fault that you didn't watch the minimap 
 and died. It's not their job to call out MIAs.

-Don't yell at your allies if they make a stupid mistake either. We all 
 make stupid mistakes. Raging will only get you reported, an AFK, or 
 a team mate that intentionally feeds.

-You cannot be reported for offering "constructive" comments to your 
 allies. You also cannot be reported for being a bad player, so long as 
 you don't intentionally feed (i.e. taking Pantheon and jumping into the 
 enemies spawning pool and dying to the fountain turret)

====================================================================
======
[6] Outside Preparation
====================================================================
======

One of the biggest attractions about this game is the fact that you gain 
levels OUTSIDE of the game as well. You can also buy various runes and 
champions, and attain new summoner spells as well. Although it does take 
quite a few games to unlock a new champion, the feeling of accomplishment
is well worth it. 
_________________________
[6.1] Summoner Level

Every time you complete a game, you earn both IP and XP. Experience goes 
towards leveling up your 'summoner', or your profile out of game. Each 
time you level up, you are granted access to new, more powerful runes, and 
a larger array of summoner spells.

To maximize your XP rate, there are a few things you can do. Winning games
will generally give you about 150 XP while losing a game will give you 
around 80. The game rewards you for winning quickly or losing slowly, so 
even if you know you won't win, stretching out the game can net you a few
more XP. Experience per game is also affected by how many towers you 
destroyed, champions killed, assists, etc. Unfortunately, the exact 
formula isn't know. 

Level   XP Needed   Rewards
  1         0       none; default level; begin with one Mark rune slot 
                    available, one mastery available, and summoner spells
                    Exhaust, Ghost, Heal, Revive, Smite, and Teleport
  2         90      first Seal slot in runeboook, another mastery, 
                    summoner spell Cleanse
  3         98      first Glyph slot in runebook, another mastery
  4         105     another Mark slot, another mastery, summoner spell
                    Fortify
  5         113     another Seal slot, another mastery
  6         448     another Glyph slot, another mastery, summoner spell
                    Clarity
  7         476     another Mark slot, another mastery, summoner spell 
                    Ignite
  8         504     another Seal slot, another mastery, summoner spell 
                    Rally
  9         532     another Glyph slot, another mastery
  10        560     first Quintessence slot in runebook, another mastery,
                    summoner spell Clairvoyance, ability to buy tier two 
                    runes
  11        1050    another Mark slot, another mastery
  12        1100    another Seal slot, another mastery, summoner spell
                    Flash
  13        1150    another Glyph slot, another mastery
  14        1200    another Mark slot, another mastery
  15        1250    another Seal slot, another mastery
  16        1300    another Glyph slot, another mastery
  17        1350    another Mark slot, another mastery
  18        1400    another Seal slot, another mastery
  19        1450    another Glyph slot, another mastery
  20        1500    another Quintessence slot, another mastery, ability to
                    buy tier three runes
  21        2131    another Mark slot, another mastery
  22        2200    another Seal slot, another mastery
  23        2269    another Glyph slot, another mastery
  24        2338    another Mark slot, another mastery
  25        2406    another Seal slot, another mastery
  26        2475    another Glyph slot, another mastery
  27        2544    another Mark slot, another mastery
  28        2613    another Seal slot, another mastery
  29        2681    another Glyph slot, another mastery
  30        2750    another Quintessence slot, another mastery, ability to
                    participate in ranked games
_________________________
[6.2] Influence Points and Riot Points

As you play through the game, you will want to unlock new champions, runes,
and maybe skins. To do this, there are two types of currency: Influence 
POints (IP) and Riot Points (RP). 

IP is gained every time you complete a match. Bonuses are given in a 
similar way that XP is given. Winning quickly or losing slowly gets you 
extra, as do how many kills you have, kills of enemy team, etc. You also 
get more every time you don't leave a match before it is over. This 
snowballs into +19 every game, so it is a wise idea not to leave, or you 
will lose this bonus. You also get 150 extra for a win every 22 hours 
(known as First Win of the Day).

You can buy most things with IP, such as champions, runes, and rune pages. 
You can increase your IP per match by purchasing a boost. It doubles your 
amount for X number of wins, or X number of matches, or X number of days, 
whichever you buy. But to get a boost, you must spend Riot POints.

Riot Points are purchased with real money, and can be used to buy most of
the things IP can buy (with the exception of runes). RP is the only way to 
buy skins however, so if you want to make your Ashe look pretty you'll have
to spend money you made in the real world. Also, there is usually a sale 
going on for skins, so watch for the ones you want to buy. 
_________________________
[6.3] Runes

Essential for any character, runes offer bonuses in many different areas.
They are purchased with IP only so you'll have to play a few games before 
buying a couple of these. There are three tiers of runes, and you start 
out only being able to buy tier one. Once you hit level 10 you can buy tier
two and level 20 tier three. Runes you buy can be used on as many different
rune pages as you want.

There is also something called the Rune Combiner. If you take two same tier 
runes and put them together, you'll get a different rune of the same tier.
If you you put five runes of the same tier together, you'll get a random 
rune of a higher tier. This is a very inefficent way to get high tier runes
so it is best to wait until you hit level 20 to start getting you tier 
threes. 

There are four different types of runes: Quintessence, Mark, Glyph, and 
Seal. On any given rune page, you can have three Quintessences and 9 of the
other groups. Each rune type has their own discipline of benefit. Marks 
give attack, Glyphs give magic, and Seals give health/survivability. You 
can purchase runes that are not of their discipline (for example, buying a
Glyph that gives attack damage) but they will be less powerful than they 
normally would.

[6.3.1] Quintessences

These are your major runes. They convey the largest benefits, although you 
can only have three of them. They can grant many niche bonuses, like an 
increased gold income, increased movement speed, or even increased 
experience gained.

Name                                 Tier  Cost  Stats      
Lesser Quintessence of Strength       1     80   1.25 Attack Damage
Lesser Quintessence of Desolation     1     80   1.85 Armor Penetration
Lesser Quintessence of Warding        1     80   2.5 Magic Resist
Lesser Quintessence of Focus          1     165  -0.91% Cooldowns
Lesser Quintessence of Knowledge      1     40   2.31 Mana per level (41.58
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Quintessence of Might          1     40   0.14 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (2.52 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Quintessence of Fortitude      1     165  18 Health
Lesser Quintessence of Shielding      1     80   0.21 Magic Resist per 
                                                 level (3.78 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Quintessence of Celerity       1     80   -0.07% Cooldowns per level
                                                 (-1.26% at champion level 
                                                 18)
Lesser Quintessence of Replenishment  1     80   0.69 Mana Regen / 5 sec
Lesser Quintessence of Alacrity       1     80   1.89% Attack Speed
Lesser Quintessence of Vitality       1     165  1.5 Health per level (27 
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Quintessence of Vigor          1     165  1.5 Health Regen / 5 sec
Lesser Quintessence of Potency        1     80   2.75 Ability Power
Lesser Quintessence of Clarity        1     80   0.14 Mana Regen / 5 sec 
                                                 per level (2.52 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Lesser Quintessence of Furor          1     80   2.48% Critical Damage
Lesser Quintessence of Resilience     1     80   2.37 Armor
Lesser Quintessence of Regeneration   1     165  0.16 Health Regen / 5 sec
                                                 per level (2.88 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Lesser Quintessence of Force          1     80   0.24 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (4.32 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Quintessence of Insight        1     80   1.05 Magic Penetration
Lesser Quintessence of Malice         1     80   1.03% Critical Chance
Lesser Quintessence of Defense        1     80   0.21 Armor per level (3.78
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Quintessence of Evasion        1     165  0.83% Dodge
Lesser Quintessence of Intellect      1     80   20.83 Mana
Lesser Quintessence of Swiftness      1     165  0.83% Movement Speed
Quintessence of Strength              2     410  1.75 Attack Damage
Quintessence of Desolation            2     410  2.59 Armor Penetration
Quintessence of Warding               2     410  3.5 Magic Resist
Quintessence of Focus                 2     820  -1.27% Cooldowns
Quintessence of Knowledge             2     820  3.24 Mana per level (58.32
                                                 at champion level 18)
Quintessence of Might                 2     205  0.19 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (3.42 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Quintessence of Fortitude             2     820  25.2 Health
Quintessence of Shielding             2     410  0.29 Magic Resist per 
                                                 level (5.22 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Quintessence of Celerity              2     410  -0.1% Cooldowns per level
                                                 (-1.8% at champion level 
                                                 18)
Quintessence of Replenishment         2     410  0.97 Mana Regen / 5 sec
Quintessence of Alacrity              2     410  2.64% Attack Speed
Quintessence of Vitality              2     820  2.1 Health per level (37.8 
                                                 at champion level 18)
Quintessence of Vigor                 2     820  2.1 Health Regen / 5 sec
Quintessence of Potency               2     410  3.85 Ability Power
Quintessence of Clarity               2     410  0.19 Mana Regen / 5 sec 
                                                 per level (3.42 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Quintessence of Furor                 2     410  3.47% Critical Damage
Quintessence of Resilience            2     410  3.32 Armor
Quintessence of Regeneration          2     820  0.22 Health Regen / 5 sec
                                                 per level (3.96 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Quintessence of Force                 2     410  0.34 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (6.12 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Quintessence of Insight               2     410  1.47 Magic Penetration
Quintessence of Malice                2     410  1.44% Critical Chance
Quintessence of Defense               2     410  0.29 Armor per level (5.22
                                                 at champion level 18)
Quintessence of Evasion               2     820  1.17% Dodge
Quintessence of Intellect             2     410  29.17 Mana
Quintessence of Swiftness             2     820  1.17% Movement Speed
Greater Quintessence of Strength      3     1025 2.25 Attack Damage
Greater Quintessence of Desolation    3     1025 3.33 Armor Penetration
Greater Quintessence of Warding       3     1025 4.5 Magic Resist
Greater Quintessence of Focus         3     2050 -1.64% Cooldowns
Greater Quintessence of Knowledge     3     515  4.17 Mana per level (75.06
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Quintessence of Revival       3     1025 -5% Time Dead
Greater Quintessence of Might         3     515  0.25 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (4.5 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Quintessence of Fortitude     3     2050 32.4 Health
Greater Quintessence of Shielding     3     1025 0.37 Magic Resist per 
                                                 level (6.66 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Quintessence of Celerity      3     1025 -0.13% Cooldowns per level
                                                 (-2.34% at champion level 
                                                 18)
Greater Quintessence of Replenishment 3     1025 1.25 Mana Regen / 5 sec
Greater Quintessence of Avarice       3     515  1 Gold / 10 sec
Greater Quintessence of Alacrity      3     1025 3.4% Attack Speed
Greater Quintessence of Vitality      3     2050 2.7 Health per level (48.6
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Quintessence of Vigor         3     2050 2.7 Health Regen / 5 sec
Greater Quintessence of Potency       3     1025 4.95 Ability Power
Greater Quintessence of Clarity       3     1025 0.24 Mana Regen / 5 sec 
                                                 per level (4.32 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Greater Quintessence of Wisdom        3     2050 2% Experience Gained
Greater Quintessence of Furor         3     1025 4.46% Critical Damage
Greater Quintessence of Resilience    3     1025 4.26 Armor
Greater Quintessence of Regeneration  3     2050 0.28 Health Regen / 5 sec
                                                 per level (5.04 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Greater Quintessence of Force         3     1025 0.43 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (7.74 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Quintessence of Insight       3     1025 1.89 Magic Penetration
Greater Quintessence of Meditation    3     2050 1.575 Energy Regen / 5 sec
Greater Quintessence of Malice        3     1025 1.86% Critical Chance
Greater Quintessence of Defense       3     1025 0.38 Armor per level (6.84
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Quintessence of Evasion       3     2050 1.5% Dodge
Greater Quintessence of Intellect     3     1025 37.5 Mana
Greater Quintessence of Swiftness     3     2050 1.5% Movement Speed
Greater Quintessence of Acumen        3     1025 5.4 Energy

[6.3.2] Marks

Marks are your red runes that give the biggest benefits in physical attack
damage areas, such as attack speed, critical strike, critical damage, and 
basic attack damage.

Name                                 Tier  Cost  Stats    
Lesser Mark of Strength                1    15   0.53 Attack Damage
Lesser Mark of Furor                   1    65   1.24% Critical Damage
Lesser Mark of Fortitude               1    30   1.93 Health
Lesser Mark of Warding                 1    15   0.54 Magic Resist
Lesser Mark of Potency                 1    30   0.33 Ability Power
Lesser Mark of Knowledge               1    30   0.65 Mana per level (11.7
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Mark of Might                   1    30   0.08 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (1.53 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Mark of Malice                  1    30   0.52% Critical Chance
Lesser Mark of Vitality                1    65   0.3 Health per level (5.4
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Mark of Shielding               1    15   0.04 Magic Resist per 
                                                 level (0.72 at champion
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Mark of Force                   1    30   0.06 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.08 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Mark of Replenishment           1    15   0.15 Mana regen / 5 sec
Lesser Mark of Alacrity                1    30   0.94% Attack Speed
Lesser Mark of Desolation              1    30   0.93 Armor Penetration
Lesser Mark of Resilience              1    15   0.51 Armor
Lesser Mark of Focus                   1    30   -0.09% Cooldowns
Lesser Mark of Intellect               1    30   3.28 Mana
Lesser Mark of Insight                 1    30   0.53 Magic Penetration
Mark of Strength                       2    80   0.74 Attack Damage
Mark of Furor                          2    330  1.74% Critical Damage
Mark of Fortitude                      2    165  2.7  Health
Mark of Warding                        2    80   0.75 Magic Resist
Mark of Potency                        2    165  0.46 Ability Power
Mark of Knowledge                      2    165  0.91 Mana per level (16.38
                                                 at champion level 18)
Mark of Might                          2    165  0.1 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (1.89 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Mark of Malice                         2    165  0.72% Critical Chance
Mark of Vitality                       2    330  0.42 Health per level (7.56
                                                 at champion level 18)
Mark of Shielding                      2    80   0.06 Magic Resist per 
                                                 level (1.44 at champion
                                                 level 18)
Mark of Force                          2    165  0.2 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.44 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Mark of Replenishment                  2    80   0.2 Mana regen / 5 sec
Mark of Alacrity                       2    165  1.32% Attack Speed
Mark of Desolation                     2    165  1.29 Armor Penetration
Mark of Resilience                     2    80   0.71 Armor
Mark of Focus                          2    165  -0.13% Cooldowns
Mark of Intellect                      2    165  4.59 Mana
Mark of Insight                        2    165  0.74 Magic Penetration
Greater Mark of Strength               3    205  0.95 Attack Damage
Greater Mark of Furor                  3    820  2.23% Critical Damage
Greater Mark of Fortitude              3    410  3.47 Health
Greater Mark of Warding                3    205  0.97 Magic Resist
Greater Mark of Potency                3    410  0.59 Ability Power
Greater Mark of Knowledge              3    410  1.17 Mana per level (21.06
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Mark of Might                  3    410  0.14 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (2.43 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Mark of Malice                 3    410  0.93% Critical Chance
Greater Mark of Vitality               3    820  0.54 Health per level (9.72
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Mark of Shielding              3    205  0.07 Magic Resist per 
                                                 level (1.26 at champion
                                                 level 18)
Greater Mark of Force                  3    410  0.1 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.8 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Mark of Replenishment          3    205  0.26 Mana regen / 5 sec
Greater Mark of Alacrity               3    410  1.7% Attack Speed
Greater Mark of Desolation             3    410  1.66 Armor Penetration
Greater Mark of Resilience             3    205  0.91 Armor
Greater Mark of Focus                  3    410  -0.16% Cooldowns
Greater Mark of Intellect              3    410  5.91 Mana
Greater Mark of Insight                3    410  0.95 Magic Penetration


[6.3.3] Glyphs

These are your blue runes that give the biggest bonuses in magical areas,
and are therefore most useful for spellcasters. It isn't unusual to see 
carries take a few magic regen per level runes from this area, while tanks
usually take magic resist.


Name                                 Tier  Cost  Stats    
Lesser Glyph of Strength               1    15   0.16 Attack Damage
Lesser Glyph of Malice                 1    30   0.15% Critical Chance
Lesser Glyph of Warding                1    15   0.83 Magic Resist
Lesser Glyph of Celerity               1    30   -0.03% Cooldowns per level
                                                 (-0.54% at champion level
                                                 18)
Lesser Glyph of Knowledge              1    30   0.79 Mana per level (14.22
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Glyph of Might                  1    15   0.02 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (0.36 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Glyph of Fortitude              1    30   1.49 Health
Lesser Glyph of Shielding              1    15   0.08 Magic Resist per 
                                                 level (1.44 at champion
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Glyph of Potency                1    30   0.55 Ability Power
Lesser Glyph of Replenishment          1    30   0.17 Mana Regen / 5 sec
Lesser Glyph of Alacrity               1    30   0.35% Attack Speed
Lesser Glyph of Vitality               1    65   0.3 Health per level (5.4
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Glyph of Vigor                  1    65   0.15 Health Regen / 5 sec
Lesser Glyph of Force                  1    30   0.1 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.8 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Glyph of Clarity                1    15   0.04 Mana Regen / 5 sec
                                                 per level (0.72 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Lesser Glyph of Furor                  1    65   0.31% Critical Damage
Lesser Glyph of Resilience             1    15   0.39 Armor
Lesser Glyph of Focus                  1    65   -0.36% Cooldowns
Lesser Glyph of Intellect              1    30   6.25 Mana
Lesser Glyph of Insight                1    30   0.32 Magic Penetration
Glyph of Strength                      2    80   0.22 Attack Damage
Glyph of Malice                        2    165  0.22% Critical Chance
Glyph of Warding                       2    80   1.16 Magic Resist
Glyph of Celerity                      2    165  -0.04% Cooldowns per level
                                                 (-0.72% at champion level
                                                 18)
Glyph of Knowledge                     2    165  1.1 Mana per level (19.8
                                                 at champion level 18)
Glyph of Might                         2    80   0.03 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (0.57 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Glyph of Fortitude                     2    165  2.08 Health
Glyph of Shielding                     2    80   0.12 Magic Resist per 
                                                 level (2.16 at champion
                                                 level 18)
Glyph of Potency                       2    165  0.77 Ability Power
Glyph of Replenishment                 2    165  0.24 Mana Regen / 5 sec
Glyph of Alacrity                      2    165  0.5% Attack Speed
Glyph of Vitality                      2    330  0.42 Health per level (7.56
                                                 at champion level 18)
Glyph of Vigor                         2    330  0.21 Health Regen / 5 sec
Glyph of Force                         2    165  0.13 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (2.34 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Glyph of Clarity                       2    80   0.06 Mana Regen / 5 sec
                                                 per level (1.08 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Glyph of Furor                         2    330  0.43% Critical Damage
Glyph of Resilience                    2    80   0.55 Armor
Glyph of Focus                         2    330  -0.51% Cooldowns
Glyph of Intellect                     2    165  8.75 Mana
Glyph of Insight                       2    165  0.44 Magic Penetration
Greater Glyph of Strength              3    205  0.28 Attack Damage
Greater Glyph of Malice                3    410  0.28% Critical Chance
Greater Glyph of Warding               3    205  1.49 Magic Resist
Greater Glyph of Celerity              3    410  -0.05% Cooldowns per level
                                                 (-0.9% at champion level
                                                 18)
Greater Glyph of Knowledge             3    410  1.42 Mana per level (25.56
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Glyph of Acumen                3    820  2.2 Energy
Greater Glyph of Might                 3    205  0.04 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (0.73 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Glyph of Fortitude             3    410  2.67 Health
Greater Glyph of Shielding             3    205  0.15 Magic Resist per 
                                                 level (2.7 at champion
                                                 level 18)
Greater Glyph of Potency               3    410  0.99 Ability Power
Greater Glyph of Replenishment         3    410  0.31 Mana Regen / 5 sec
Greater Glyph of Sapience              3    820  0.161 Energy / Level (2.9
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Glyph of Alacrity              3    410  0.64% Attack Speed
Greater Glyph of Vitality              3    820  0.54 Health per level (9.72
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Glyph of Vigor                 3    820  0.27 Health Regen / 5 sec
Greater Glyph of Force                 3    410  0.17 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (3.06 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Glyph of Clarity               3    205  0.08 Mana Regen / 5 sec
                                                 per level (1.44 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Greater Glyph of Furor                 3    820  0.56% Critical Damage
Greater Glyph of Resilience            3    205  0.7 Armor
Greater Glyph of Focus                 3    820  -0.65% Cooldowns
Greater Glyph of Intellect             3    410  11.25 Mana
Greater Glyph of Insight               3    410  0.57 Magic Penetration

[6.3.4] Seals

Your yellow runes pack the most benefits in physical defense, and are 
therefore useful for tanks.

Name                                 Tier  Cost  Stats    
Lesser Seal of Strength                1    15   0.24 Attack Damage
Lesser Seal of Malice                  1    30   0.23% Critical Chance
Lesser Seal of Defense                 1    30   0.08 Armor per level (1.44
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Seal of Regeneration            1    30   0.06 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.08 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Seal of Force                   1    30   0.06 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.08 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Seal of Clarity                 1    15   0.05 Mana Regen / 5 sec 
                                                 per level (0.9 at champion
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Seal of Might                   1    15   0.03 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (0.61 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Lesser Seal of Fortitude               1    65   2.97 Health 
Lesser Seal of Warding                 1    15   0.41 Magic Resist
Lesser Seal of Evasion                 1    65   0.42% Dodge
Lesser Seal of Intellect               1    30   3.83 Mana
Lesser Seal of Alacrity                1    30   0.42% Attack Speed
Lesser Seal of Vitality                1    30   0.6 Health per Level (10.8
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Seal of Shielding               1    30   0.05 Magic Resit per level
                                                 (0.9 at champion level 18)
Lesser Seal of Focus                   1    30   -0.16% Cooldowns
Lesser Seal of Knowledge               1    30   0.65 Mana per Level (11.7
                                                 at champion level 18)
Lesser Seal of Furor                   1    65   0.43% Critical Damage
Lesser Seal of Resilience              1    15   0.78 Armor
Lesser Seal of Vigor                   1    65   0.24 Health Regen / 5 sec
Lesser Seal of Potency                 1    30   0.33 Ability Power
Lesser Seal of Replenishment           1    15   0.23 Mana Regen / 5 sec
Seal of Strength                       2    80   0.33 Attack Damage
Seal of Malice                         2    165  0.32% Critical Chance
Seal of Defense                        2    165  0.12 Armor per level (2.16
                                                 at champion level 18)
Seal of Regeneration                   2    165  0.09 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.62 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Seal of Force                          2    165  0.08 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.44 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Seal of Clarity                        2    80   0.08 Mana Regen / 5 sec 
                                                 per level (1.44 at champion
                                                 level 18)
Seal of Might                          2    80   0.05 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (0.85 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Seal of Fortitude                      2    330  4.16 Health 
Seal of Warding                        2    80   0.58 Magic Resist
Seal of Evasion                        2    330  0.58% Dodge
Seal of Intellect                      2    165  5.36 Mana
Seal of Alacrity                       2    165  0.59% Attack Speed
Seal of Vitality                       2    165  0.84 Health per Level (15.12
                                                 at champion level 18)
Seal of Shielding                      2    165  0.08 Magic Resit per level
                                                 (1.44 at champion level 18)
Seal of Focus                          2    165  -0.23% Cooldowns
Seal of Knowledge                      2    165  0.91 Mana per Level (16.38
                                                 at champion level 18)
Seal of Furor                          2    330  0.61% Critical Damage
Seal of Resilience                     2    80   1.09 Armor
Seal of Vigor                          2    330  0.34 Health Regen / 5 sec
Seal of Potency                        2    165  0.46 Ability Power
Seal of Replenishment                  2    80   0.32 Mana Regen / 5 sec
Greater Seal of Strength               3    205  0.43 Attack Damage
Greater Seal of Malice                 3    410  0.78% Critical Chance
Greater Seal of Defense                3    410  1.08 Armor per level (19.44
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Seal of Regeneration           3    410  0.1 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.8 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Seal of Force                  3    410  0.1 Ability Power per 
                                                 level (1.8 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Seal of Lucidity               3    820  0.064 Energy Regen / 5 sec
                                                 per level (1.15 at 
                                                 champion level 18)
Greater Seal of Clarity                3    205  0.1 Mana Regen / 5 sec 
                                                 per level (1.8 at champion
                                                 level 18)
Greater Seal of Might                  3    205  1.09 Attack Damage per 
                                                 level (0.61 at champion 
                                                 level 18)
Greater Seal of Fortitude              3    820  5.35 Health 
Greater Seal of Warding                3    205  0.74 Magic Resist
Greater Seal of Evasion                3    820  0.75% Dodge
Greater Seal of Intellect              3    410  6.89 Mana
Greater Seal of Meditation             3    820  0.63 Energy Regen / 5 sec
Greater Seal of Alacrity               3    410  0.76% Attack Speed
Greater Seal of Vitality               3    410  1.8 Health per Level (19.44
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Seal of Shielding              3    410  0.1 Magic Resit per level
                                                 (1.8 at champion level 18)
Greater Seal of Focus                  3    410  -0.29% Cooldowns
Greater Seal of Knowledge              3    410  1.17 Mana per Level (21.06
                                                 at champion level 18)
Greater Seal of Furor                  3    820  0.78% Critical Damage
Greater Seal of Resilience             3    205  1.41 Armor
Greater Seal of Vigor                  3    820  0.43 Health Regen / 5 sec
Greater Seal of Potency                3    410  0.59 Ability Power
Greater Seal of Replenishment          3    205  0.41 Mana Regen / 5 sec
_________________________
[6.4] Masteries

You can have a total of thirty masteries in any game at level 30, and they
can be changed between games/champions. They provide very small bonuses, 
but that might make all the difference.

[6.4.1] Offense

Name              Requirements          Bonuses
Deadliness        None                  Increases your champions critical 
                                        strike chance by 0.66/1.33/2%
Cripple           None                  Improves your Exhaust spell to 
                                        also reduce the targets armor and
                                        magic resistance by 10 for the 
                                        duration, and increases the 
                                        duration by 0.5 seconds
Plentiful Bounty  None                  Improves your Smite Smite spell to 
                                        reward a bonus 5 gold when used, 
                                        and reduces its cooldown by 5 
                                        seconds
Archmage's Savvy  None                  Increases your ability power by 
                                        0.20/0.40/0.60 per champion level
Sorcery           4 points in offense   Reduces the cooldown of your 
                                        champion's abilities by 0.75/1.50/
                                        2.25/3.00%
Alacrity          4 points in offense   Increases your champion's attack 
                                        speed by 1/2/3/4%
Burning Embers    8 points in offense   When your Ignite spell is on 
                                        cooldown, your champion gains 10 AP
Archaic Knowledge 8 points in offense   Your magical spells penetrate 15% 
                  4 points in sorcery   of the target's magic resistance
Sunder            8 points in offense   Your physical attacks pierce 2/4/6%
                                        of the target's armor
Offensive Mastery 8 points in offense   Increases the damage you do to 
                                        minions by 2/4
Brute Force       12 points in offense  Increases your champion's attack 
                                        damage by 1/2/3
Lethality         16 points in offense  Increases your champion's critical
                                        strike damage by 3.33/6.66/10.00%
Improved Rally    16 points in offense  Improves your Rally spell to also 
                                        increase ability power by 20-70,
                                        and increases its duration by 5 
                                        seconds
Havoc             20 points in offense  Increases your physical and magical
                                        damage by 5%
[6.4.2] Defense

Name              Requirements          Bonuses
Mender's Faith    None                  Reduces the cooldown of your Heal
                                        spell by 30 seconds
Resistance        None                  Increases your champion's magic 
                                        resist by 2/4/6
Preservation      None                  Increases your health by 400 for
                                        120 seconds after casting you 
                                        Revive spell, and reduces its 
                                        cooldown by 20 seconds
Hardiness         None                  Increases your champion's armor by
                                        2/4/6
Strength of Spirit 4 points in defense  Increases your championo's health 
                  3 points in resistance and regeneration by 0.1/0.2/0.3%
                                        of your maximum mana
Evasion           4 points in defense   Increases dodge chance by 0.5/1.0/
                                        1.5/2.0%
Defensive Mastery 8 points in defense   Your champion takes 1/2 less damage
                                        from minions and monsters
Nimbleness        8 points in defense   Increases your champion's movement
                  4 points in evasion   speed by 10% after dodging an 
                                        attack
Hardened Skin     8 points in defense   Blocks 1/1.5/2 physical damage
                  3 points in hardiness
Veteran's Scars   12 points in defense  Increases your champion's health by
                                        15/30/45/60
Willpower         12 points in defense  Reduces the recharge time of 
                                        Cleanse by 20 seconds
Ardor             16 points in defense  Increases your champion's ability 
                                        power and attack speed by 0.66/1.33/
                                        2.00%, and an increasing amount 
                                        summing to an additional 0.66/1.33/
                                        2.00% at level 18
Reinforce         16 points in defense  Your Fortify spell causes your 
                                        turrets to deal 50% splash damage
Tenacity          20 points in defense  Decreases all damage dealt to your
                                        champion by 4%

[6.4.3] Utility

Name              Requirements          Bonuses
Spatial Accuracy  None                  Reduces the delay on your Teleport
                                        spell by 0.5 seconds, and decreases
                                        its cooldwon by 5 seconds
Good Hands        None                  Reduces time spent dead by 3.33/
                                        6.66/10.00%
Perseverance      None                  Increases total health and mana 
                                        regeneration by 2/3/4%
Haste             None                  Increases the movement speed of 
                                        your Ghost spell by 6% and its 
                                        duration by 1.5 seconds
Awareness         4 points in utility   Increases the amount of experience
                                        your champion gains by 1.25/2.50/
                                        3.75/5.00%
Expanded Mind     4 points in utility   Increases your champion's mana by
                                        1.25/2.50/3.75/5.00% of your 
                                        maximum mana
Greed             8 points in utility   Generates 1 gold every 10 seconds
Meditation        8 points in utility   Increases mana regeneration by 
                                        0.33/0.66/1.00 every second
Utility Mastery   8 points in utility   Increases the duration of neutral 
                                        monster buffs by 15/30%
Insight           8 points in utility   Your clarity spell will now grant
                                        the same amount of mana to your 
                                        allies as your champion receives
Quickness         12 points in utility  Increases your base movement speed
                                        by 1/2/3%
Blink of an Eye   12 points in utility  Reduces the cooldown of your Flash
                                        spell by 15 seconds
Intelligence      16 points in utility  Reduces your champion's cooldowns 
                                        by 2/4/6%
Mystical Vision   16 points in utility  Increases the duration of your 
                                        Clairvoyance spell by 4 seconds, 
                                        and reduces its cooldown by 5 
                                        seconds
Presence of the  20 points in Utility   Reduces the recharge time of 
Master                                  your summoner spells by 15%

====================================================================
======
[7] Character Info
====================================================================
======

Here is a list of all the characters in League of Legends, as well as an
overview of all the lore, stats, abilities, and viable builds that go with
each one. 

I have purposefully left out masteries and runes that go along with each 
build, because there are several varations from person to person. Also, the 
builds just get you to the mid-game, and late game items should be based on 
your enemies team composition.
_________________________
Alistar The Minotaur

Cost: 1350 IP; 585 RP

Attributes: Melee, Pusher, Tank 

Health:     ********** (10)
Spells:     ******     (6)
Attack:     ****       (4)
Difficulty: ****       (4)

Lore: The mightiest warrior ever to emerge from the minotaur tribes of the 
Great Barrier, Alistar defended his tribe from all of Valoran's many 
dangers; that is, until the coming of the Noxian army. Alistar was lured 
from his village by the machinations of Keiran Darkwill, Baron Darkwill's 
youngest son, and commander of the Noxian expeditionary force. When 
Alistar returned home, he found his village burning and his family slain. 
Bellowing with rage, he charged an entire regiment of Noxus's elite, 
slaughtering them by the hundreds. Only the intervention of some of Noxus's 
most skilled summoners checked Alistar's rage. Brought in chains to Noxus, 
Alistar spent the intervening years as a gladiator pitted in endless 
battle for the entertainment of Noxus's wealthy leaders. Alistar's once 
noble soul slowly twisted, and he would have been lost to insanity if not 
for Ayelia, a young servant girl who befriended him and eventually 
arranged for his escape. Suddenly free, Alistar joined the newly-formed 
Institute of War as a champion, hoping to one day visit his final 
vengeance against Noxus and to find the girl who once again gave him hope.

If you intend to grab the bull by the horns as a summoner, Alistar might 
have something to say about that. 

Statistics:
Health:       468 (+114) 	
Mana:         192 (+33)
Damage:       59.53 (+3.375) 
Attack Speed: 0.571 (+0.010) 	
Range:        125 
Armor:        14.5 (+3.5)
Magic Resist: 30 	
Health Regen: 7.25 (+0.85)
Mana Regen:   3.95 (+0.25) 
Move Speed:   300 


Abilities:

Colossal Strength: (Passive) Alistar deals 20/40/60% additional damage to 
          turrets.

Pulverize: (Active) Alistar smashes the ground, dealing 80 / 125 / 170 / 
          220 / 270 (+1 per Ability Power)  magic damage and tossing all 
          nearby enemies into the air, stunning them for 2 seconds.
          * Cost: 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 Mana 
          * Cooldown: 15 seconds 

Headbutt: (Active) Alistar charges at an enemy and rams them, dealing 90 / 
          140 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+1 per Ability Power) damage and knocking 
          them back (does not stun). 
          * Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 mana 
          * Cooldown: 12 seconds 
          * Range: 650 

Triumphant Roar: (Active) Alistar lets out a commanding war cry, instantly 
          restoring 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+0.4 per Ability Power) 
          health to himself and nearby friendly units for half the amount. 
          The cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds each time a nearby enemy 
          unit dies. 
          * Cost: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 Mana 
          * Cooldown: 12 seconds 

Unbreakable Will: (Active): Alistar lets out a wild roar, gaining 60 / 75 / 
          90 bonus physical damage. He also removes all crowd control 
          effects from himself and takes 75% reduced physical and magic 
          damage for 6 / 7 / 8 seconds. 
          * Cost: 150 Mana
          * Cooldown: 120 / 100 / 80 seconds 



Build One: Tank
Pros: 
   -great at initiating
   -makes use of his enormous health
   -his ult plus decent armor and magic resist will make him almost 
    invincible
Cons:
   -early game is complete trash
   -long cooldown spells makes it so you can only use them once or twice in
    a team fight
   -very little damage
Summoner Spells: Flash, Other
Beginning Items: Doran's Shield
Mid Game items: Boots of Swiftness, Soul Shroud, then:
     If enemy team is mostly AP: Banshee's Veil, Force of Nature
     If enemy team is mostly Physical: Frozen Heart, Thornmail
     If enemy team is a mixture: Banshee's Veil, Frozen Heart

Strategy: 
As tank Alistar, your main goal is to cause as much havoc as you can, 
hopefully towards the back of the enemy formation. You want to stun and 
bash the enemy carry out, either forcing them to flee or be cut down by 
your teammates. 

You want to start out with a Doran's Shield to give yourself sustainability
in the lane. Alternatively, you could grab a Meki Pendant and 2 Health 
Potions, then max out Triumphant Roar. Your early game is terrible, and 
Alistar is probably the worst farmer in the entire game, but last hit where
you can. Don't use your Pulverize or Headbutt on minions because it doesn't
do enough damage to justify the mana cost. 

The cow really starts to shine in the mid-late game. The Pulverize + 
Headbutt combo is truely spectacular, and allows you to easily drag the 
enemy carry away from their supports. If you can initiate a team fight with
it, it will almost always go decidedly in your favor. If you see an enemy 
using a channeled ult (ie Nunu's ult, Katarina's ult, Fiddlestick's Ult),
be sure to knock them away from your team as fast as possible.



Build Two: Roaming Gank-Tank
Pros:
   -avoids his trash early game
   -if you can pull of a few kills, it will greatly help your late game
   -rather speedy build will help you position for your combo
   -keeps your enemies off-guard
   -another solo lane can help your allies get experience and gold
Cons:
   -very risky: if you dont get at least a few kills in the early game, you
    will be far behind everyone else because you didn't farm minions
   -easily countered by wards
   -susceptible to idiotic allies; you cant gank if your team pushes their
    lanes, and you don't do enough damage to kill an opponent by yourself
   -not as much health and resistances than a pure tank Alistar
Summoner Spells: Flash, Ghost
Beginning Items: Boots of Speed, 2 Health Potions, 1 Mana Potion
Mid Game Items: Boots of Mobility, Shurelya's Reverie, Force of Nature, 
 then:
     If enemy team is mostly AP: Banshee's Veil
     If enemy team is mostly Physical: Thornmail
     If enemy team is a mixture: Aegis of the Legion

Strategy: 
Since Alistar's laning phase is so terrible, some people devised a new 
strategy that would bypass the farming phase of the game altogether. 
Instead of being locked in a lane farming creeps for the first 15 minutes, 
this build specializes in ganking almost all the time.

You want to start out with boots to help you with speed. The potions will 
help you with sustainability issues so you don't have to recall to your 
fountain constantly. Your first priority should be to get to level two as 
fast as you can. Kill a few minions, and make sure to level up Pulverize 
and Headbutt as your first two skills. 

Once you are at level two, go looking for a chance to ambush someone. You 
want to get the lane where the enemies are as far away from their towers as
possible. Also take their escapability into acount. Once you are in 
position, ping so your ally knows what is going on, use Ghost, Flash, and 
Pulverize your opponent who is at the lowest health (if there is two of 
them). Headbutt them into your allies for good measure, and you should net
a kill. 

When the late game comes, you want to shift into a more tankey approach, 
but you should still try to gank whenever possible. 



Build Three: Mage
Pros:
   -two of Alistar's skills have 1:1 AP ratios
   -at 300 AP, the Headbutt + Pulverize combo can do almost 1000 damage to 
    an someone with low magic resist
   -at 300 AP, he can heal himself for 300 HP every 12 seconds (less if 
    enemies around him are dying)
Cons:
   -probably not the best build for this cow
   -other mages burst for more damage, and more frequently
   -long cooldowns force you to max out cooldown reduction
   -much, much less health than tank Alistar
Summoner Spells: Flash, Other
Beginning Items: Meki Pendant, 2 Health Potions
Mid Game Items: Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Shurelya's Reverie OR Morello's 
 Evil Tome OR Deathfire Grasp, Rabadon's Deathcap

Strategy:
Taking the Meki Pendant first allows you to use Triumphant Roar much more 
often. Combine this with the Health Potions and you should have no trouble
in the laning phase. Again, focus on last hitting creeps, but don't use 
Headbutt or Pulverize on them, because it does too little damage to justify
the mana cost. 

When the mid game rolls around you'll want to grab the Ionian Boots of 
Lucidity to aid you in cooldown reduction. If your team is doing well, buy 
a Morello's Evil Tome or a Deathfire Grasp to get more AP and mana regen. 
If your team is doing poorly, get a Shurelya's Reverie for the Health and
Speed bonuses it provides (all three items give mana regen and cooldown 
reduction). 

Aim to be towards the middle of your allies in a team fight formation. When
the fight breaks out, use flash into the enemy carry, and do your Pulverize
+ Headbutt combo and smash them into your team. Your superior damage should
knock them down to half health (if they have low magic resit). Then run 
back to your team, using your ult and Triumphant Roar if you need to.



General Summary:
Allistar is a very archetypal tank. He has high health, low damage, and 
wide range of abilities to help his allies.

His Pulverize + Headbutt combo is essential. Mastering it should be the 
first priority for any potential Alistar player. Also, Unbreakable Will 
should be used when you are at about 1/5th health. Enemies will see his low
HP bar and will instinctively focus him, which is what AListar wants. 

Overall, Alistar is a good tank, focusing on picking off enemy carries. He
doesn't do enough damage to be focused inately, so he really has to force 
his foes to attack him


Tips for Playing Against Him:
He will almost always take flash, so be very careful when you are near him.
He can be quite far away from you one second, then right in your face the 
next, and after you are stunned from Pulverized, you better hope the enemy 
team isn't there to finish you off.

In teamfights, just wait for him to blow his CC before you get close to him.
Once he has done this, he can be ignored almost entirely, as his cooldowns
are quite long and his auto attacks do laughably small damage. 

DO NOT focus Alistar when he has his ultimate on, unless he is the only 
enemy around. He may only have 300 HP left, but with his armor, magic 
resist, and Unbreakable Will, he may take another 4-5 seconds to kill, time
the rest of his team can use to destroy you.

====================================================================
======
[8] Other Stuff
====================================================================
======

====================================================================
======
[9] Version History
====================================================================
======

7/22/10  0.01 Guide started, template done

7/25/10  0.10 Intro chapter and copyright done

7/26/10  0.11 Chapter 2 started

7/27/10  0.20 Bouncing around, finished chapter 2, started 3 

8/16/10  0.30 Starcraft II, vacation, and school starting have combined to
              keep me away from this guide for a while. I'm coming back to 
              it now, though!

9/5/10   0.40 The massive items section is done, along with a spell check
              and Alistar's guide

9/30/10  0.50 Guide is about half done, with the champion guides, late 
              game strategies, and outside preparation being the main 
              items left for completion

10/18/10 0.51 Progress has once again been slow due to Halo Reach. I split 
              the Neutrals section off from Minions and Buildings due to 
              its size, added some content in random areas

11/24/10 0.55 Chapter 5 complete... work has been slow since Black Ops 
              came out

12/22/10 0.60 Chapter 4 complete; I have all winter break to work on this!

12/31/10 0.61 Runes complete

1/1/11   0.65 Chapter 6 complete

1/10/11  0.66 Another small update

3/20/11  0.67 After playing about 200 more games, I now have a good 
              understanding of each champ. Therfore, I have modified the 
              champion chapter to go much more in depth, and propose 
              different builds.

====================================================================
======
[10] Copyright
====================================================================
======

You can post this guide anywhere as long as you:
1) Contact me via-Email. I will say yes (almost always)
2) Don't change the author line at the top. I'm so selfish that I want 
all the credit for myself! But seriously, don't touch it.
3) Don't alter original data. You can add or remove sections, but don't 
change the facts I've written.

Sites that can post this guide:
Gamefaqs
Neoseeker
Supercheats
Gameguideworld
Cheatchannel
Cheatbook
CheatCodes.com
Cod4central
Strategyinformer
Cheatcc
GamesRadar
CheatPlanet

Contact: [email protected]