How to play Teamfight Tactics - League of Legends
Learn the basics in Teamfight Tactics, the new auto chess mode in League of Legends.
Riot Games launched a brand-new mode for League of Legends players to dive into today, releasing the beta version of Teamfight Tactics. While the game includes many of the items and Legends from the main game, it operates a bit differently. In this guide we’ll discuss the basics that you need to know to play Teamfight Tactics, and touch on some beginner tips that players should be aware of.
How to Play Teamfight Tactics
This guide will not focus heavily on giving you detailed tips or information about the various champions, tiers, and other intricacies of Teamfight Tactics. Instead, it will go over the very basic mechanics that you’ll need to know and understand as you dive into Teamfight Tactics early on. We’ve broken each section down a little bit more below, so take a look and take some notes before heading into Teamfight Tactics today.
Phases and game structure
One of the first things you’ll need to understand to get started in Teamfight Tactics is the way that the game itself operates. Each match is broken down into various stages, each of which will consist of several rounds. Each and every round that you partake in will have a planning phase and a combat phase.
During the planning phase, players can situate their champions on the field, allowing them to set their army up in a specific manner before the combat phase kicks off. When the combat phase starts, your champions will automatically battle against any enemies that are on the field, so try to set them up in a strategic manner that benefits you.
Player level and earning experience
One of the most important things you will need to know early on is that the number of champions you can have on the board at any given time is directly related to how high your player level is. This means you’re going to want to constantly be working towards leveling up your player level, as this will allow you to make your army larger. While you’ll earn a few levels early on just from playing, most experience will come in the form of winning/losing rounds, or by purchasing experience from the in-game store.
Earning gold
Another key component of the process in Teamfight Tactics is earning gold. Gold is the primary currency you’ll use to purchase new champions from the store. You’ll passively earn gold each turn that passes, with some interest being added based on how many gold generators you’ve managed to acquire during your time in the game. You can also earn additional bonuses through selling champions back to the store (though you won’t earn your full cost back) as well as directly after you win any PvP round in Teamfight Tactics.
Leveling up champions
Your player level isn’t the only thing that you’ll want to level in Teamfight Tactics, though. As you play you can also increase the level of your champions from 1 Start to 2 Star and up to 3 Star. Each level will increase the amount of power that the champion has, as well as sometimes activate their special ability.
To level up champions you’re going to need to combine them with duplicates of that champion. For instance, if you want to level up a Mordkaiser from 1 Star to 2 Star, you’re going to need to purchase duplicates of the Champion from the in-game store. They will automatically combine and upgrade when you have enough duplicates, allowing you to easily match them up and increase the power of your champions throughout the game.
Items are important
Since Teamfight Tactics is based on the infrastructure, items, and champions of League of Legends, having a knowledge of the base game will prove very useful for players. Items play a key part in the MOBA genre, and that’s no different here. Items like the BF Sword or Recurve Bow will allow players to increase their champions’ basic stats, giving them more power and bite. Of course, you can also upgrade these items by combining them with other items, which will unlock additional buffs, abilities, and unique effects.
These are, of course, just a few of the things that you’ll need to learn and master in Teamfight Tactics. This should give you a bit better understanding of the new game mode, as well as how some of its basic mechanics work. For more help, make sure you check out our Teamfight Tactics game hub.
