What is Mobile Legends?
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is one of the most popular multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBA) available for mobile devices. Developed and published by Moonton 2016, the first World Championship tournament took place just a month ago. In this Mobile Legends beginner guide, we’ll take a look at the basics of the game, its main features and how to get started easily.
During a standard match, 2 teams featuring 5 players compete against each other on a map with 3 lanes and jungle areas in between. In order to claim victory, you have to destroy the enemy’s base before they can do the same. Each player can control a selectable character, called Hero, with individual abilities and traits.
Heroes
Since Heroes are the main element of Mobile Legends, of course we will start our beginner guide talking about them. While in theory, yes, you just need to pick a Hero and learn their mechanics, in order to understand the game, you might want to take a closer look at them. Each Hero has unique abilities, strengths and stats. Therefore some Heroes synergize really well while others severely struggle when paired together.
Classes
Each game you get to choose one of currently 94 available Heroes to play. With one exception only you can purchase all of them with in-game currency, but many of them can also be obtained for free. There are 6 Classes that define the main purpose of Heroes:
| Classes | Pro’s | Con’s |
| Marksman | high DPS strong push good scaling | weak early game lack CC squishy |
| Tank | soak lots of damage high CC | lack damage lack pushing power |
| Mage | high burst strong early-mid game | weak objective control fall off late-game trouble killing tanks squishy |
| Assassin | very mobile huge burst | lack CC and struggle against it trouble killing tanks squishy |
| Fighter | most versatile class beefy good damage | struggle against slippery targets and kiting |
| Support | superior utility buffs debuffs | squishy low damage output |
Item Builds
While you can only purchase Items in-game, you are able to adjust your builds from the main screen. Either copy the suggested builds from the best players or craft a new build on your own. Definitely make sure to take a look at your Hero’s build though instead of just buying the recommended Items; you won’t regret it.
Emblems
When it comes to Emblems, they work similarly to the Rune System we know from League of Legends/ Enchantment System from Arena of Valor. You get to unlock up to 9 different Emblems that require specific fragments in order to level them up. With each level, the Emblem will provide additional bonus stats (up to 60). Also, you gain Talent points every 5 levels from level 15 onwards. Those allow you to further customize your Emblem depending on your Hero.
Team Comp
While every player can freely choose a Hero to play, ideally you want to pay attention to your Team Composition: Having a balanced setup with various of the aforementioned classes helps a lot to win games. Why? Because Mobile Legends is a team game. And in order to function as a team, you usually need a couple of components.
First of all, Burst Damage lets you kill priority targets (usually Marksman or Mage) quickly. Crowd Control (CC) allows you disrupt the enemy and hinder them from killing your allies. However, it can also set up for easy kills. The Damage per second (DPS) of Marksmen helps to push turrets and kill tanky targets that withstand the burst of assassins and mages. Mobility helps to roam more quickly, make escapes or catch enemies offguard.
As a rule of thumb, you usually don’t want multiple Heroes of the same class on your lineup. Make sure that you have at least one Tank who can soak up damage and protect vulnerable allies. Similarly, you want a Marksman for taking objectives and sufficient consistent damage output.
The 4 other classes are somewhat interchangeable; most importantly, pay attention to the components we mentioned above to have a well-rounded Team Composition for a good starting position when you load into the game.
Meta
When talking about the Meta (Most Effective Tactic Available), we’re referring to the Heroes that work best under the current conditions and state of the game.
In a standard setup, you will usually have a fighter or assassin solo laning. Mages take the middle lane, guarded by either Tank or Support. The other 2 Heroes sidelane, most commonly Marksman and 2nd Tank/Support. Especially in higher elos, you will find the 1-3-1 strategy, where both utility Heroes play around the mage and the trio roams across the map.
Unlike other MOBAs, in Mobile Legends you won’t find a designated Jungler role. Instead, most Heroes take some Jungle camps that spawn close to their respective lanes.
If you’re looking for in-depth information on the best Heroes, check out our monthly Tier List.
The Map
Probably the most important (and underrated) tool in the game, we definitely have to take a closer look at it in our Mobile Legends beginner guide:
The Map will appear as a small icon on the upper left corner of your in-game screen. Paired with the communications tool on the upper right corner it helps to coordinate with your teammates. Always keep an eye on the map not only to keep an eye on your opponents but also to inform your teammates!
Lanes
Each of the 3 lanes leads from one base to the other, with 3 turrets of each team in between. Teams have to destroy the 3 enemy turrets in one lane in order to break open the base. While it’s not necessary to take down all 9 opposing turrets, doing so causes additional siege minions to spawn that will keep pressuring the enemy throughout the rest of the game.
Minions will spawn in regular intervals. Killing them (or just being around) will grant Heroes gold and experience to grow stronger.
Jungle
Another way of gaining gold/exp is to farm the jungle. While other MOBAs have a designated Jungler role, in ML almost all Heroes will farm the parts of the jungle that are close to their respective lane. On each side of the map you will find a crab monster that grants the killer an additional buff which provides additional gold over a period of time.
Also, there are 4 buffs on the map, one in each quadrant of the map. Slaying the buff grants a buff depending on your Hero’s class. Especially Assassins and Mages rely heavily on taking it.
Read – Do Mobile Games abuse the Fear of Missing Out?
Turtle and Lord
Turtle and Lord will spawn in the river pit that divides the map crosswise. The Turtle will spawn 2 minutes into the game and grant the whole team of its killer additional exp and gold. Meanwhile, the killer also gains a buff that will deal true damage to enemy Heroes during combat. Once you take down the Turtle, it can respawn several times before Lord will take its place and spawn instead after the 7-minute mark.
Taking down Lord takes much more effort. As the ultimate boss monster, it deals lots of damage to your teammates while being very tanky at the same time. However, you’ll get the Lord to fight by your side once you manage to defeat him. This helps a lot to set up a final push in order to close out the game since the Lord remains just as difficult to take down for your enemies.
Alternative Game Modes
Even though 5v5 Classic and Ranked are the most commonly played game modes, Mobile Legends actually offers a broad variety of game modes. Many of them recure in time intervals, while others such as Brawl are permanent. Amongst those, you’ll also find a Battle Royal mode (Survival) and a mixture of auto battler and tower defense (Chess TD).
Things definitely never get boring with the hilarious alternating Arcade modes, even if you aren’t a competitive player.
That’s it for our Mobile Legends beginner guide already! If we left any questions unanswered, make sure to tell us in the comment section below. Also, make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more gaming news.
