Riot Games might need to learn this from their competitors
For once, LoL players are in agreement on a feature they believe Riot Games should borrow from Dota 2. Many players think that adopting this feature from their rival game could greatly enhance the experience for newcomers.
Starting out in League of Legends can be intimidating, especially with the sheer number of champions available—almost 170 at this point. Choosing a role and a champion to play can feel overwhelming for new players.
In a Reddit thread on September 12, League players discussed the idea of Riot Games following Dota 2’s approach. In Dota 2, all heroes are available to new players from the start, allowing them to freely experiment with roles and heroes right away.
In contrast, League of Legends limits new players to a small pool of champions. Beyond that, additional champions are only available through the free-to-play rotation.
“I’ve been playing a lot of Dota lately, and one of the biggest benefits is that all heroes are free right from the start.”
“If new players are stuck using champions they don’t enjoy, they might find the game too boring to keep trying.”
The main frustration expressed in the thread is that new League players don’t have the freedom to choose which champions they want to play. Instead, they are forced to invest hundreds of hours to unlock all champions. In comparison, Dota 2 players have immediate access to all 124 heroes upon starting the game.
Instead of relying on a paid option, players proposed that Riot should make all champions available for free in co-op vs. AI mode. This would allow newcomers to test out different champions while they’re still learning the game. In Riot’s other game, VALORANT, all agents are unlocked in the shooting range for players to try out before committing to using them.
As of now, new players in League will still need to either buy the Xbox Game Pass or make do with the free champion rotation. However, this suggestion has sparked a conversation about how Riot Games could improve the onboarding experience for newcomers, making the game more welcoming and less of a grind for those just starting out.