League of Legends roles explained & who does them best

With over 160 champions and five distinct roles, League of Legends is a team game where knowing your lane is half the battle. Whether you’re first in Draft Pick or got autofilled to something random, your LoL role shapes everything, from how you farm gold to your impact in teamfights. 

But with so many options, where do you even start? Let’s break down all five roles of League of Legends – Top, Jungle, Mid, ADC, and Support – going over their strengths, challenges, and possible picks.

In any League of Legends match, five players will take on one of the five unique roles that define their playstyle, responsibilities, and impact on the game’s outcome.

While you can choose any champion to fit into any position, this is usually frowned upon, especially in Ranked. Playing according to how a champion is designed will bring out its fullest potential, increasing your likelihood of winning. So don’t play Yuumi in Jungle, it just won’t work.

Each League of Legends position (Top, Jungle, Mid, ADC, and Support) brings something different to the Rift. Some focus more on 1v1 dominance while others specialize in map control, teamfighting, or keeping everyone alive. 

Here’s a breakdown of the five core LoL roles: 

Each role often uses specific League of Legends classes, like tanks and fighters in Top or mages and assassins in Mid. 

Many champions fit within more than one of these roles, or can be specialized based on their runes, item build, and summoner spell set-up. Experiment and see what works best for you.

Each role works together to form a complete team composition, and winning depends on how well everyone plays their part. 

Isolated from the rest of the team at the top of Summoner’s Rift, Top Lane is one of two solo lanes in League of Legends. It’s a role that demands independence, strong laning fundamentals, and a solid understanding of 1v1 matchups.

Most Top Lane champions fall into one of two League of Legends classes: frontline tanks (like Sion and Malphite) or aggressive fighters (like Irelia and Camille) who apply pressure through split-pushing and dueling. Tanks tend to be the safer, team-oriented option, especially for beginners, while fighters offer greater carry potential. 

Top Laners often choose the Teleport summoner spell, allowing them to make cross-map plays within seconds. Well-timed teleports can swing fights around objectives like Drakes, secure kills, or save a Turret. When played well, a Top Laner can be the backbone of the team and get them the win. 

Arguably the hardest role to master is the Jungler, since players will need to have basic knowledge of the neutral camp spawning times and best farming routes for maximum efficiency. 

As the unofficial shot-caller of the team, the Jungler sets the pace from champion select. Your teammates will look to you for early gank pressure, objective control, and good rotations. Securing buffs from elemental Drakes, Baron Nashor, Voidgrubs, the Rift Herald, and Atakhan are all part of your win condition.

Failing ganks or missing objectives can quickly snowball into a loss, making the Jungle role one of the most impactful and punishing League of Legends positions. While many champions can technically be played as a Jungler, only a few excel at it, like assassins Evelynn or Shaco, or bruisers like Lee Sin and Vi. 

As a Jungler, you’ll need to lock in the Smite summoner spell to aid your camp farming, pick one of the three Jungle starter items, and ideally have a champion with good mobility, crowd control, and solid clear speed. 

Positioned in the center of the map, Mid Laners can impact every lane and objective. With the shortest lane and easy access to both the river and jungle, Mid is often a high-pressure, high-reward position that can swing the pace of the entire match, as they need to hold onto their towers for as long as possible to avoid opening up the map for the enemy. 

A good Mid Laner does more than farm gold and trade damage with their enemy laner. They’re expected to control river vision, roam to help side laners, and rotate quickly to contest objectives like Rift Heralds or Drakes. 

Timing your wave clears correctly is key: shove the wave, disappear from the map, and create pressure just by going missing. 

Most Mid champions fall into one of two playstyle categories, based on their champion: mages and assassins. Mages (e.g., Orianna, Syndra) offer strong minion wave clear, zoning, and burst damage from afar. 

Assassins (e.g., Zed, Akali) often roam and all-in on squishier targets with fast combos. There are also hybrids, like Ahri or Sylas, who blend poke and mobility, and can adapt their style depending on the matchup.

The ADC, or Attack Damage Carry, plays in the bottom lane alongside a Support. ADCs are typically ranged champions that deal consistent physical damage and scale extremely well into the late game. While they can be a fragile glass cannon early on, they become the team’s primary source of DPS during extended teamfights, especially after completing core item builds. 

Your job as the ADC is to farm gold efficiently in the early game with a good CS (Creep Score), position safely, and deal as much damage as possible without getting caught out. It’s all about the risk vs. reward – one wrong step and you’re deleted, but play it right, and you can melt the enemy team within seconds from the backline.

Supports are the backbone of any good team composition, often the unsung heroes behind every winning play. Their responsibilities include protecting carries, setting up plays with crowd control, controlling map vision with wards, and keeping teammates alive through heals or shields. 

Support champions come in a variety of forms: enchanters (e.g., Nami, Lulu, Sona) who focus on healing, shielding, and utility, engage tanks (e.g., Nautilus, Leona) that initiate fights, or even mages who can deal burst damage and poke (e.g., Lux, Brand). 

While they don’t usually top the damage charts, Supports are often the brains of the operation. Their early-game focus is to protect their ADC, enable them to farm safely, and establish control over the Bot Lane, all while levelling up their support item. 

These gold-generating items provide wards and income by passively triggering on poke damage or minion executions, and are crucial to scaling and vision control in the mid-to-late game.

While each LoL role has a unique purpose, the magic happens when these roles work together, especially if you play as a duo. Here are some of the most effective and fun role pairings to try out in your next game: 

With five LoL roles and so many different playstyles, choosing one that fits you can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re new to the game. Here are four steps to help you narrow down and lock in your lane: 

Ask yourself a few questions: 

If you’re mechanically confident, ADC or Mid might be your role. If you’re more about planning, game flow, vision, and rotation, Jungle or Support could be the answer. If you prefer being a lone ranger, Top is your playground. 

The best way to figure out what role you like the most is to try them all. Queue up for normal games or against AI and cycle through all five roles, focusing on how each one feels to play. 

Don’t worry too much about winning – just explore what suits your instincts and decision-making style. 

Once you’ve tried all five, pick one or two to settle on; one main role and a backup role to queue up as. This helps you develop muscle memory, understand matchups, and improve more efficiently over time. 

Even if you main one role, be prepared to fill in when needed. Autofill protection isn’t perfect, and having an understanding of each role will make you a stronger, well-rounded player. 

Learning how the other roles work will also give you an edge when playing against them.   

At the heart of League of Legends is teamwork, and understanding your role is where it all begins. Every lane has a purpose, and every champion plays a part in how a match plays out. No matter if you prefer setting up sneaky ganks, keeping your teammates alive with clutch heals, or being the DPS glass cannon, there’s definitely a role that suits your playstyle. 

By understanding the five roles of League of Legends, learning their strengths and challenges, and mastering some go-to champions, you’ll see huge improvements in your gameplay and overall win rates. 

And remember that League isn’t just about mechanics. It’s all about quick decision-making, adaptation, and playing your role as a team to secure the win.