Last week, I tackled the topic of backing; knowing when to back is essential. This time, we’re going to talk about Last Hitting.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LAST HITTING
It’s time I give you an idea about the importance of Last Hitting. I mentioned before that backing to the base at the wrong time gives your enemy laner about 300~ gold. This means that it is as valuable as a kill. This means last hitting results in an entire kill worth of gold 3 minutes into the game. What’s better is that you can have about 3,100 gold in 10 minutes if you last hit every minion, which is enough to buy luxury items, such as your Lich Bane.
As I said, Last Hitting is crucial because it can be the only guaranteed way of getting gold in the game. A good thing to note is that minions don’t get better, and they don’t outplay you (in most cases). You can always count on getting strong by mastering the ability to last hit, no matter how good your enemy is.
HOW TO IMPROVE ON LAST HITTING
Now that you know how crucial last hitting is, it’s time to understand how to improve it. Last hitting is one of the most fundamental mechanics in League of Legends. The only way to improve on a particular mechanic is through practice. But, contrary to popular belief, practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. So, to improve your mechanics, you must take your time aside and practice correctly.
TRAINING
You can do this training every day before any of your games. It can improve your play for the day. It takes about 10 minutes to do the training. You’d want to choose your main champion for the best results. Your last hitting will improve on all champions as you get better at it, but every champion is still unique. So it is best to practice with a champion you main for now. Since the game will be 10 minutes long, the maximum CS you’ll get is 114. You aim to get at least 70% of the max CS (34 CS at 5mins, 80 CS at 10mins) while taking as little damage as possible.
So you start by going into the Practice Tool and adding a Beginner Bot, depending on the champion you will be picking.
- If you are a melee top laner, choose Dr. Mundo as the bot.
- If you are a mid laner / ranged top laner / mage bot laner, choose Lux as the bot.
- If you are playing a traditional ADC, choose Ashe or Miss Fortune as the bot.
Then, start the game, choose your champion, and load into Summoner’s Rift. In the game, try to last hit using auto attacks only. You would only use abilities if two minions are dying simultaneously. It is essential that you do not auto the bot, as it is only a distraction. Your primary focus is getting towards your CS goal.
Spacing is crucial for this training. Here’s a tip if you’re taking too much damage. Whenever you go for an auto, click backward to help your positioning.
There’s a twist, though. When the minion wave starts to move from the middle of the lane onto your side, kill one to two minions from the wave. The rules mentioned before still apply.
As a precaution, do NOT take Gathering Storm as your rune when doing this. Using the reset function of the Practice Tool does not reset the value the rune gives.
TIPS AND TRICKS
Here are some tips and tricks that you can do to help you last hit throughout the game.
2 Methods to Last Hit Under Tower:
- Method A — Melee minions die from 2 turret hits, then you auto them once.
- Method B — Auto them once, let the turret hit it once, and auto them again to finish them off.
It’s a bit different if your champion has a low-base AD. You add one more auto before the first turret shot for melees and before your first auto for casters.
There’s a trick if your champion lacks an Area-of-Effect (AoE) wave clear. You can clear waves faster by letting them follow you until they group into a small circle. Then, clear them all at once, or as a support, let your ADC finish them all.
On siege minion waves, you can rush their siege minion down and wait for the enemy to get your siege minion to low HP. And when they are about to last hit it, you do a heavy trade or go all-out. This makes them choose to lose the trade or get the minion. Either way, it results in your favor.
You can get a group of minions that are all together, low enough to kill with a single ability. Then, you burst/harass the enemy while they think they are safe behind their minions. This method can be an excellent way to get a kill in your lane.
Thanks for reading! Good luck on the rift!
