Get fed and you’ll be a formidable force, albeit a squishy one. In many respects, you’ll be one of the most powerful Champions on the Rift, but you’ll need to watch your positioning and stay with your team to make sure you’re not putting yourself in unnecessary danger - and you’re outputting the most damage possible! Of course, it’s all about targeting the right enemies too. You don’t want to focus all of your efforts on the enemy’s tank, only for your team to get whittled away by the opposing ADC whose been doing the complete opposite. Pick and choose your targets carefully and you can be the difference maker in a team fight. So, which ADCs are currently the best at their role? We’ve outlined a few which you’ll want to prioritise at the moment, with a quick explainer as to why they are currently great picks. Also, we’ve chosen them with all skill levels in mind, so there should be a Champion for everyone.
Miss Fortune
Miss Fortune claims a spot on this list as one of the easier, more beginner-friendly ADC champions in League of Legends. She’s certainly not one of the most exciting champions to play overall, but if you’re just starting out in the role you may find her straightforward kit more comfortable to get to grips with at first. A lot of Miss Fortune’s early laning power resides in her Q ability, Double Up. This skill does a fair chunk of damage on its own, but the ricochet effect that sends the second shot bouncing towards another target is where its true power lies. At the start of a match when you’re farming gold in the bottom lane you can use this to harass the enemy ADC or Support if you position the attack well enough. It’s even better if you can use the first shot to kill a minion, as the second will then be a guaranteed critical hit on the next target! One weakness you have to be aware of when playing Miss Fortune is her lack of escapes. She has Strut, which gives her a big passive boost to her move speed if she hasn’t been damaged for a short period, and it can also be activated when needed in a pinch. However, there’s no way for her to quickly flee from an attacker outside of the Flash spell, so make sure you don’t push too far forward. This is especially important when using her Bullet Time ultimate too: it can dish out some huge area of effect damage, but as it forces you to remain still it can leave you wide open to attack.
Ashe
Ashe is another great pick, not only if you’re new to the ADC role, but if you’re a hardened veteran too. She doesn’t require much mechanical prowess, but her abilities can cause some serious issues for the opposing side, nonetheless. Thanks to her passive, she’s able to slow enemies with her auto attacks which makes it easier for her to follow up with even more arrows, or let her teammates step in with a finisher. She’s also capable of some serious burst damage with her E, which unleashes a flurry of arrows to devastating effect. For engaging and disengaging, her Ultimate fires off a huge arrow which stuns any enemy it hits for what seems like an eternity. The fact it can also travel the length of the rift makes it a powerful ability even if you’re not able to be present at the fight. Let’s also not forget Ashe’s E which enables to her scout anywhere on the map to see what her opponent’s are up to.
Kai’Sa
One of the newest champions to be added to League of Legends, Kai’Sa has already established herself as a formidable ADC. The way her abilities can be evolved by hitting certain stat requirements makes her a unique champion, allowing you to specialise in certain areas depending on how you choose to play her in any given match. A lot of her damage resides in her Q, Icathian Rain, which fires out a swarm of missiles that seek out nearby targets. This works well as a wave clear, but where it really excels is when you can ensure all missiles will focus an enemy champion in a 1v1 fight. Be careful trying to use this when trading in lane against opponents early on, as you’ll likely lose out when a handful of the missiles zip off to hit minions instead. Kai’Sa excels at taking down isolated champions thanks to the combination of the impressive range on her W, Void Seeker, and her ultimate, Killer Instinct. The former allows you to mark up a target from afar with Plasma stacks, which you can then use to activate the latter and warp yourself to the chosen target. While Kai’Sa has very little crowd control options once she reaches the target, she does have her E, Supercharge, which grants her a nice speed and attack boost. Also, if you power it up through Living Weapon, you gain some temporary invisibility which can truly outfox opponents, or give you the freedom to position more optimally for teamfights.
Caitlyn
Yet another beginner friendly, but tough to master Champion. Caitlyn is a long range machine, who thrives off dominating the laning phase by poking her enemies down and finishing them off with a powerful blow from afar. Caitlyn’s main weakness is her lack of mobility, so it’s important you position yourself well when in the midst of a teamfight or during the laning phase. You’ll want to dish out damage from the backline and use her E to escape over walls, or place some distance between yourself and the enemy. Lead them into one of her Yordle Snap Traps and it’ll temporarily root them to the spot so you can land some free hits. All of her abilities are amplified by her Headshot passive, which deals bonus damage to anyone under their effects. It also doubles your attack range against these targets - outrageous.
Jinx
This manic, excitable ADC is one of the most versatile on the League roster as she’s capable of switching between a fast-firing minigun and a long range, splash damage-dealing rocket launcher. Jinx is a little like Caitlyn, in that her power comes at the price of lackluster maneuverability, but she has ways of getting out of trouble. Her E drops a line of chattering chompers on the ground which roots enemies in place if they’re unfortunate enough to step on them. She’s also got a long range Zap ability which slows and reveals targets. Both of these are great ways of disengaging from enemies, or getting the drop on enemies if you think it’s time to get on the offensive. Her Ultimate fires off a huge rocket which gains damage as it travels and deals more damage depending on the enemy’s missing health. This makes it a decent finishing blow, or a way to contribute to a fight which you’re not able to make. It’s Jinx’s passive which sets her apart from other ADCs, though. The ability to switch between a minigun for incredible DPS on a single target, before turning to her rocket launcher to deal splash damage in a teamfight makes her useful in so many situations. What’s more, she gains a huge speed boost when she’s participated in a kill, so you’re able to reposition or close the gap in seconds when a fight swings in your favour. More great League of Legends guides:
- Best ADC - LoL: Best ADC Champions 2018 2. Best Carry - LoL: Best Carry Champions 2018 3. Best Duos - LoL: Best Duo Combo Champions 2018 4. Best Support - LoL: Best Support Champions 2018 5. Beginner Champions - LoL: Best Champions for Beginners 2018
Draven
The spinning, axe-wielding menace can be a serious threat right from level one due to his ability to gain bonus damage by catching blades as they ricochet back off foes. This is a somewhat advanced technique, though, as it requires you to be fairly good at movement, positioning and anticipation to enjoy its full effectiveness. Once mastered, however, you’ll be able to out-harass almost any other lane opponents. Getting good at axe juggling is also a vital part of increasing you gold gain as Draven via the Adoration stacks that you earn. Each time you catch an axe, or kill a minion, monster or turret, you build up a bank of gold which is cashed in when you defeat an enemy champion. By increasing this banked cash and collecting it with a kill you’ll be able to scream ahead with your item purchases and truly dominate the match. Throw in a global ultimate and some handy utility skills and you can see why Draven is such a force to be reckoned with in League of Legends right now. One of the most important things to keep in mind with Spinning Axe is that it’ll ricochet in the direction Draven is moving after you’ve thrown it. So, to play safely, you can turn back after launching an axe and it’ll fly back over your head to catch on the return. This helps you kill minions safely in lane. Obviously, the reverse is true if you want to chase down and put pressure on enemies. Don’t always go for catches though if it’s going to leave you in a vulnerable position!
Lucian
Consistency and reliability make Lucian one of the go-to ADC champions in League of Legends currently. While some champs have a better early-game and other might have a better late-game, Lucian is capable of holding his own during any point in a match thanks to some high damage and excellent mobility to outmanoeuvre his opponents. It all starts with his Lightslinger passive, which makes his next auto-attack fire two shots after using an ability. It may not seem like a big deal at first, but you can use this to take better trades in lane with opponents, and pump out some extra damage during team fights if you sequence your ability uses correctly. For example, a fairly common poke technique with Lucian is to use Piercing Light on minions so that the additional range allows you to clip enemy champions, then follow that up with the double hit from Lightslinger. It might take a bit of practice to get the accuracy right with the ability, but even if you don’t escape unscathed, you should deal more damage to your opponent with this rotation. His E ability, Relentless Pursuit, is also another key part of his kit. At a base level, it’s a useful dash move that will allow you to quickly reposition yourself in fights to press the advantage on a fleeing opponent, or escape from a sticky situation. Top Lucian players, though, will be able to exploit the cooldown reduction on this ability with each Lightslinger hit to really bounce around the battlefield and leave opponents feeling dizzy.
Jhin
Jhin is a very interesting ADC: a high-damage and slow-firing marksman, who also brings a lot of range and utility to a team. There aren’t many champions in this category who can put out quite so much damage in the early game as Jhin – and that’s something you’ll want to take advantage of when playing him. To do so, though, you’ll have to get to grips with the Virtuoso’s hand cannon, Whisper. It can only hold four slugs at once, it must be reloaded once they’ve been fired, and its attack speed cannot be increased by items. Pairing those heavy hitting shells with his Q, Dancing Grenade, as well as lockdown from his W, Deadly Flourish, allow for some intimidating burst damage. As with Miss Fortune, your biggest weakness with Jhin is his complete lack of mobility options beyond the passive effect from Whisper. You’ll have to be either excellent at positioning, or hope that opponents walk into your traps with Captive Audience. It’s not something you want to rely on, though. Lastly, there’s a lot of fun to be had with Jhin’s ultimate, Curtain Call. He converts Whisper into a giant cannon, and can fire bullets across a large area of the map. This works perfectly for initiating a fight, as hits can slow targets to set up kills for your team, or you can pick off any stragglers that try to flee.
