Long gone are the days of lane kingdom. Nowadays the game is more centered around teamwork and team play. Regardless of what role you play, you will want to assist your teammates by making successful roams. In this guide, we will go in-depth on what is roaming in LoL and how to make the most out of it.
Table of Contents
What is Roaming
When we talk about roaming, we’re talking about the process of a player moving from his original lane to another one (or enemy jungle) in an attempt to make numbers advantage. That numbers advantage will give us a chance to capitalize on certain objectives. Furthermore, we will put more pressure, or rather relieve it from the roaming lane. But, just like it can help our team, it can also put as at a disadvantage. Thus it is crucial to know how to do it correctly.
Why should I roam
As we have previously mentioned, League of Legends is ultimately a team game. No individual can win on his own versus 5 opponents, regardless of how well he does. But he can attempt to equalize the game by making his teammates stronger. If you managed to get a lead in your lane, the best way to increase your winning chances is by taking that lead and continuing it onto your teammates.
Staying in your lane and taking down the enemy tower is great in many scenarios, but imagine if other lanes are losing. While you take down 1 tower, enemies will take two. Following that they’ll be much stronger than your teammates putting you into an awkward position.
Roaming can help salvage a losing lane, or further snowball a winning one. But, at the end of the day, we’re helping our team win the game.
ALSO READ: What is Good CS Per Minute
When is it successful?
Many lower ranked players believe a successful roam or gank is only the one in which you get a kill. Actually, there are many more scenarios in which these setups are successful. If the enemy laner is freezing and your teammate can’t break it on his own, helping him to do so will make it a successful roam. Now he’s not losing valuable gold and experience anymore, plus he doesn’t have to be scared of enemy ganks. Job well done!
Another scenario in which a roam is successful is forcing enemies to use Summoner Spells, especially Flash. There are certain ways to lower Flash’s cooldown down, but most of the time it is 300 seconds (5 minutes). That gives you 5 minutes of freedom around that lane. Enemy will have to play with caution, and more often than not give up lane priority which gives you more options on the map.
When to roam
Your roam timings will depend on several reasons.
- Is a neutral objective coming up?
- Do I have a lot of gold and should recall?
- Can we take a tower if I roam?
- Will my ad carry get dove if I’m not there?
- Will I lose experience and minions?
- Is it a good roam?
Example of a level 1 Aurelion Sol Roam. When you master it you will see plays that others don’t
There is no easy way to learn how to roam just by learning the theory of it. You will have to try it out yourself and learn from your mistakes. Once you get a feeling for it you will have an advantage over your opponents and are bound to climb the ladder much easier. In SoloQ, as well as FlexQ, I recommend to first look after yourself, then others. Meaning, don’t lose your lane just to help someone else. Helping others is good, but if you are doing it because you don’t trust in your ability to carry, you will not be able to rank up. Hitting a wall is inevitable seeing how you depend on others doing well to push you forward.
On the other hand, if the enemy roamed and you believe you can match his roam you should do it. Perhaps he saw a fight in the bot lane that missed your eye and will be a deciding factor in it. You don’t want to allow that to happen if there’s a way to stop it. Of course, there are certain situations where you just simply can’t follow enemy. Such ones most often occur when the enemy is much stronger than you, or you have no vision in the area. There’s no worse feeling than playing a mage like Ziggs and face-checking fed Talon.
If you are unable to follow the enemy, try to push and damage his towers. If he killed the wave before roaming look if anything is happening on the other side of the map. If there’s still nothing, and you have no gold to justify your recall, try to approach the lane enemy is going to by taking a longer path where he can’t meet you.
ALSO READ: How to get better at League of Legends
Setting up the roam
When you are roaming, you are giving up the pressure in your lane. Not to mention valuable experience and minions that could be lost. Not every roam is going to be fruitful, so you want to minimize your potential losses.
The first step is having a good vision of the area. Meeting enemy jungler in the river and getting collapsed by the whole enemy team is a big no-no. This is why you can take few waves just to build up proper vision control and clear enemy’s one. After everything is set in place, push the wave and go to your desired lane. Extra tip is to move before a cannon wave since even if your roam takes longer than it should, it takes it much longer to die compared to the normal wave.
The reason why you want to push the lane first is because you will be missing from your lane. Alongside minions you could be missing, the enemy could also do real damage to your tower. If that indeed happens you are going from trying to help an ally, to being behind yourself.
While you are moving there, keep an eye on what cooldowns are being used or if enemy is missing any summoner spells. Also, move through bushes to spot any wards left that you didn’t clear previously.
Different approaches based on your role
Based on the role you are playing, there will be different ways you can approach it. Best roles for roaming are Mid lane and Support.
Top lane
Top laners are usually known to be left on an island where they battle it 1 versus 1. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Imagine you have an advantage, and enemy is simply sitting under his tower and catching waves. You can’t dive him because you are not strong enough, and you can’t damage his tower because an enemy jungler might be there. What should you do? That’s right! You should roam!
Being on a side of the map you have only two choices, go to the enemy jungle or visit mid lane. These choices are rather connected though. Like we have mentioned previously, you want to have a vision before you commit to a roam. Lighting up enemy jungle with wards will ensure that you don’t meet any unfriendly characters on your way. And who knows, maybe you find a low hp jungler minding his own business and trying to kill Gromp.
Once everything is in place you can make your way to mid lane. Even if you can’t kill an enemy laner, try to damage his tower, or help your mid laner put the lane in a favorable position.
Mid lane
Being in the middle of the map has both its weaknesses and strengths. Sure, you can get ganked from various paths, but you can also use them to gank others! Mid laners usually have the most impact when it comes to roaming, surpassed only by high elo (Master+) supports. Learning how to roam properly is one of the best ways of improving as a mid laner.
Many champions that are played in it have numerous ways to clear the wave fast and set on a journey to helping your team. Depending on the scenario, you can head top lane and help him survive a dive, punish an over-aggressive laner or even dive him altogether. Same can be said for bot lane. But more than that, you can also invade enemy jungler! Putting deep vision on enemy birds or wolves is one of the easiest ways to spot them and let your teammates know of their whereabouts.
ALSO READ: Best Roaming Mid Laners
Support
Over the past few years supports transitioned from being ward bots to having a huge impact on the game. Having no responsibility for CS-ing, combined with cheap items and Mobility boots makes them a real terror. Regardless if enemy support is Janna or Nautilus, you can expect them to move from their lane eventually.
There are certain scenarios supports should be roaming in:
Enemy recalled
If an enemy recalls, or dies and your ad carry is missing it is the perfect time to roam. This takes into consideration that you are not missing HP or mana, and have no meaningful items to buy.
After you base
On every recall, if your ad carry is not in a diveable position (enemy crashing wave onto your tower), you should head over to mid lane. Even if you can’t get a kill, place some wards to relieve pressure from him and allow him to help you later on.
For an objective
This roam situation was not as popular in the past, but nowadays it can be seen in almost every game. Rift Herald is such a big part of the game that both teams want to contest it. If you have pushed your lane you can head over there, on your own, or with your ad carry and make a real difference.
Should ADC roam?
Absolutely! Ad carries job is not simply farming and scaling to the late game. They can also impact the game from the get-go. You should be roaming from your lane to take a dragon, force enemy mid lane tower, or even help your team secure the Rift Herald.
Of course, the same rule applies to it as it does to other lanes. Take care of yourself first, then of others. If you are sitting on a lot of gold go for a recall while you have a chance. But don’t become mundane and think you should just sit in bot lane until the end of the game.
Conclusion
Whether you like it or not, roaming is a crucial part of the game. Most often it determines which team wins the game. You could give an argument that being a strong laner is a foundation for being a successful roamer but I don’t believe so. Simply understanding the game state and events that are most likely to occur over the next few minutes could help you win the game.
