Marksman (ADC) Guide (2026) — Kiting Mechanics, Attack Move, Teamfight Positioning & Power Spikes

Marksmen are the sustained damage backbone of every League of Legends team. They are ranged auto-attack carries who scale with items to become the highest DPS source in the game — but only if they survive long enough to deal that damage. Playing marksman is a constant negotiation between aggression and survival: step forward to auto-attack, step back to avoid dying, and repeat until the enemy team is dead or you are. This guide covers everything you need to know about the marksman class in Season 2026, from fundamental kiting mechanics to advanced teamfight positioning and itemization.

What Makes a Marksman

Marksmen are ranged champions who deal the majority of their damage through basic attacks. They scale with attack damage, attack speed, and critical strike chance, which means they start weak and become progressively more dangerous as they accumulate items. Most marksmen are fragile — low base health, no innate tankiness, limited mobility — which makes them completely reliant on mechanics and positioning to function.

The trade-off is simple: a marksman who stays alive for the full duration of a teamfight deals more total damage than any other class in the game. A marksman who dies in the first two seconds is a wasted slot on the team.

Riot classifies marksmen into several subcategories based on playstyle:

Traditional Crit Carries

These marksmen build critical strike and attack speed, dealing escalating damage as they stack crit chance. They are the classic "right-click" carries who auto-attack their way through teamfights. They are weak early but become unstoppable with three or more items.

Key Champions: Jinx, Tristana, Aphelios, Xayah, Sivir, Zeri, Smolder

Lane Bullies

Lane bullies have strong early games that let them dominate the laning phase and snowball advantages. They trade ability-based burst with auto-attack damage and look to close games before hyper carries outscale them.

Key Champions: Draven, Miss Fortune, Caitlyn, Lucian, Kalista

Utility Marksmen

Utility marksmen provide crowd control, vision, or team-wide buffs in addition to damage. They sacrifice some raw DPS for tools that help the team even when behind.

Key Champions: Ashe, Jhin, Varus, Senna

Hyper Carries

Hyper carries have the highest theoretical DPS in the game at full build. They are nearly useless for the first 20 minutes but become unkillable if given enough time and gold.

Key Champions: Vayne, Kog'Maw, Twitch, Jinx (late game), Smolder (stacked)

Understanding which subcategory your champion falls into determines when you should fight, how aggressively you should lane, and what your team needs from you at each stage of the game.

Best Marksman Champions by Playstyle (Season 2026)

Best Overall ADCs

| Champion | Why They Excel | |----------|---------------| | Jinx | The quintessential hyper carry. Pow-Pow provides attack speed steroids for single-target shredding, while Fishbones rockets give AoE splash damage in teamfights. Get Excited passive grants massive movement speed and attack speed on takedowns, letting her snowball teamfights into pentakills. Weak in lane but becomes the strongest teamfight ADC in the game with three items | | Miss Fortune | The easiest ADC to pick up and one of the strongest. Double Up bounce chunks enemies in lane, Strut passive gives free movement speed for repositioning, and Bullet Time is one of the most devastating teamfight ultimates in the game. Simple kit that rewards good positioning without demanding mechanical perfection | | Caitlyn | The longest base auto-attack range of any ADC at 650 units. Headshot passive punishes enemies for stepping into traps or being netted. Piltover Peacemaker provides safe wave clear, and Ace in the Hole finishes low-health targets from across the map. Dominates lane and transitions into a strong siege carry | | Smolder | The scaling dragon ADC introduced in 2024. Passive stacks grant permanent upgrades to his abilities — at 25 stacks his Q deals bonus damage, at 125 stacks it gains AoE explosions, and at 225 stacks it applies a max-health burn and executes low-health targets. Weak early but reaches a point where he simply deletes entire teams. The ultimate scaling fantasy for patient players |

Best for Climbing Solo Queue

| Champion | Why They Excel | |----------|---------------| | Miss Fortune | Simple mechanics let you focus on fundamentals. Bullet Time wins teamfights in low elo where enemies group in choke points. High win rate across all ranks | | Ashe | Enchanted Crystal Arrow provides game-changing picks from across the map. Hawkshot grants free vision for tracking the enemy jungler. Frost Shot passive makes kiting intuitive because enemies are permanently slowed | | Jinx | Punishes disorganized teams that cannot close games. If the game reaches 30 minutes and you have three items, you win most fights. Get Excited resets chain teamfights into aces | | Sivir | Spell Shield blocks key abilities, Ricochet provides safe waveclear, and On The Hunt ultimate gives your entire team a massive movement speed boost for engaging or disengaging. Simple and effective | | Jhin | Four-shot reload mechanic teaches ammo management. Curtain Call ultimate is one of the most satisfying abilities to land. Fourth Shot execute crits chunk enemies from safe range. Deadly Flourish root sets up kills for your team even when behind |

Kiting Mechanics — The Core ADC Skill

Kiting is the single most important mechanical skill for any marksman player. It is the art of weaving movement between auto-attacks so that you deal damage while simultaneously repositioning — moving away from threats that want to kill you or forward to chase down enemies who are retreating.

A marksman who stands still and right-clicks is a dead marksman. A marksman who kites perfectly deals the same damage while being nearly impossible to pin down.

How Kiting Works

Every auto-attack has two phases:

1. Wind-up — the animation before the damage applies. You cannot move during this phase without canceling the attack
2. Wind-down — the animation after the damage applies. You CAN move during this phase without losing any damage

Kiting means canceling the wind-down animation by issuing a move command immediately after your damage connects. This lets you reposition during the time your champion would otherwise be standing still in a useless follow-through animation.

The rhythm is: attack → move → attack → move → attack → move. Every auto-attack should be followed by a movement command.

Attack Move vs Right-Click

There are two ways to issue auto-attacks:

Right-click: Click directly on the enemy champion. If you miss-click and hit the ground instead of the champion, your character walks toward the target without attacking. This is dangerous in teamfights where you might accidentally walk into the enemy team.

Attack move (A-click or Shift-click): Press A (or your bound key) and then click. Your champion moves to the clicked location and auto-attacks the nearest enemy when in range. If you miss-click the ground, you still attack the closest target instead of walking into danger.

Why attack move is essential: In fast-paced teamfights, perfectly clicking on a specific champion while also clicking to move is extremely difficult. Attack move provides a safety net — even if your cursor placement is imperfect, you still attack something instead of walking forward to your death.

Setting Up Attack Move

1. Open Settings → Hotkeys → Player Movement
2. Bind "Player Attack Move Click" to a comfortable key. Many players use A, others rebind it to left mouse button
3. Enable "Attack move on cursor" in Game settings. This makes attack move target the enemy closest to your cursor rather than the enemy closest to your champion — critical for targeting the right enemy in teamfights
4. Practice in the Practice Tool until the rhythm of attack-move-attack-move becomes muscle memory

Kiting Practice Routine

1. Enter Practice Tool and spawn a target dummy
2. Buy a basic attack speed item (Berserker's Greaves)
3. Auto-attack the dummy while moving away. Focus on canceling the wind-down animation without canceling the wind-up
4. Gradually increase attack speed items and maintain the rhythm at higher speeds
5. Practice moving in different directions — backward (kiting away), forward (chasing), and sideways (orbiting)
6. Once comfortable, practice against bots that fight back, then take it into normals

Common Kiting Mistakes

• Canceling auto-attacks: Moving too early cancels the wind-up and deals zero damage. You lose DPS instead of gaining it. Learn the exact moment damage applies for your champion
• Standing still: The opposite problem — not moving between attacks at all. You deal the same DPS but are a stationary target for every skillshot
• Moving too far between attacks: Large movements between attacks waste time walking back into range. Small, precise movements keep you in auto-attack range while repositioning
• Kiting away from your own team: Always kite toward your support or frontline, not away from them. Kiting sideways or toward your team keeps you protected. Kiting away from your team isolates you

Teamfight Positioning — Where You Stand Determines If You Live

Positioning is the difference between a 15/2 ADC and a 2/8 one. The marksman who stands in the right place deals damage for the entire fight. The marksman who stands in the wrong place dies before casting a single auto-attack.

The Golden Rule: Hit the Closest Safe Target

Forget about "focus the ADC" or "kill the carry." As a marksman, your job is to auto-attack whoever is closest to you while staying alive. If the closest safe target is the enemy tank, hit the tank. Your DPS is high enough to shred through any target. A marksman hitting the tank for 10 seconds deals more damage than a marksman who dives past the frontline, hits the enemy ADC once, and dies.

The exception is when an opportunity presents itself — an enemy carry walks into your range, or an assassin uses their cooldowns on someone else. Take the free damage on priority targets when it is safe. But never sacrifice your life to reach a high-value target.

Positioning Zones

Backline (default position): Stand behind your entire team. Let your tanks and bruisers form a wall between you and the enemy. Deal damage over the wall. This is where you start every teamfight.

Flanking position (situational): Some ADCs like Vayne, Kai'Sa, and Twitch can use stealth or dashes to find angle advantages. This is high risk, high reward. Only take flanking positions when you are confident the enemy cannot collapse on you.

Frontline (never): If you are standing in front of your tanks, you are already dead. Reset your position immediately.

Threat Tracking

Before every fight, identify the enemies who can kill you and how they do it:

| Threat Type | Examples | How to Play Around It | |-------------|----------|----------------------| | Assassins | Zed, Talon, Kha'Zix, Rengar | Stay near your support or a teammate with CC. Do not enter fog of war. Wait for the assassin to use cooldowns on someone else before stepping forward | | Divers | Camille, Vi, Nocturne, Jarvan IV | Stay out of their engage range until they commit. Vi R and Nocturne R are point-and-click — you must rely on teammates to CC them after they engage | | Engage tanks | Malphite, Leona, Nautilus, Alistar | Stay at maximum range. Their engage combos have finite range. If Malphite misses his R, the fight is essentially won for your team | | Flankers | Evelynn, Shaco, Twitch | Ward your flanks. Position so there is no bush or fog of war behind you. If you cannot see a flanker on the map, assume they are behind you |

The Two-Second Rule

In every teamfight, the first two seconds determine who wins. Wait those two seconds. Let the engage happen. Let the big crowd control abilities fly. Let the assassins commit their cooldowns. Then step forward and start auto-attacking. An ADC who enters the fight two seconds late but stays alive for ten seconds deals far more damage than one who starts fighting immediately and dies in three.

Positioning Mistakes That Kill ADCs

• Walking forward to auto-attack one more time — the single most common ADC death. That last auto-attack is never worth your life
• Flashing aggressively for a kill — Flash is your escape. Using it offensively means you have no way out for five minutes. Only flash forward when the kill is 100% guaranteed and there are no other enemy threats alive
• Standing next to your mid laner — two squishies standing together means one AoE ability hits both. Spread out in teamfights
• Panic-running in a straight line — when chased, juke with unpredictable movements. Running in a straight line lets the enemy predict your path perfectly
• Greeding for CS during a teamfight setup — farming a side wave while your team postures for dragon means you arrive to the fight late, or worse, your team fights 4v5

Power Spikes — When Your Champion Comes Online

Marksmen are item-dependent champions. Unlike assassins who spike on levels or mages who spike on one completed item, ADCs hit their biggest power spikes at specific item completion thresholds. Knowing when you are strong and when you are weak is the difference between taking winning fights and coinflipping fights you should avoid.

Universal ADC Power Spikes

Level 2 in lane: The first level-up in bot lane is a major spike. The duo that hits level 2 first (by killing the first wave plus three melee minions of the second wave) can all-in with two abilities versus one. Be aggressive when you hit level 2 first. Be careful if the enemy hits it first.

First item component (B.F. Sword / Noonquiver / Pickaxe): Your first back determines your lane for the next several minutes. Coming back with a B.F. Sword (1300 gold) gives you a massive AD advantage. Noonquiver provides on-hit damage for wave clear. Even a Long Sword start is fine as long as you spend your gold efficiently.

One completed item: Your first item completion is your first real spike. At this point, your auto-attacks start to feel impactful. Crit ADCs get 25% crit chance and a meaningful passive. On-hit ADCs get their core interaction online.

Two completed items: This is when crit ADCs truly come online. With 50% crit chance and Infinity Edge passive, your auto-attacks deal enormous damage. This is the point where you should actively look for fights and objectives.

Three completed items (the spike): Three items is the biggest power spike for most marksmen. At 75% crit chance, your damage becomes reliable. With Infinity Edge's 50% bonus crit damage (critical strikes deal 200% damage), every other auto-attack is a devastating crit. This is when ADCs start carrying teamfights.

Full build: A full-build ADC with 100% crit chance and a completed defensive item is the strongest single champion in a teamfight. Every auto-attack critically strikes for 200% damage. At this point, you determine team fights.

Champion-Specific Power Spikes

| Champion | Key Spike | Why | |----------|-----------|-----| | Jinx | Two items + Berserker's Greaves | Lethal Tempo stacking on Pow-Pow combined with crit chance creates ramping DPS. Get Excited passive on a single kill turns her into an unstoppable reset machine | | Vayne | One item (Blade of the Ruined King) | Silver Bolts true damage combined with BotRK on-hit means Vayne shreds tanks from her first item. Every third attack deals percent-max-health true damage that no amount of armor can reduce | | Draven | B.F. Sword first back | Spinning Axe AD scaling means Draven's first-item spike is earlier and harder than any other ADC. A Draven with B.F. Sword can solo kill most ADCs with Doran's Blade | | Kai'Sa | Ability evolution thresholds | Kai'Sa evolves abilities at 100 AD (Q), 100 AP (W), and 100 bonus AS (E). Each evolution is a massive spike — evolved Q increases missile count, evolved E grants invisibility | | Caitlyn | Three items + Headshot passive | Caitlyn's Headshot crits scale with her AD and crit chance. At three items, a Headshot from a bush trap deals enough damage to remove a squishy from the fight in one auto | | Smolder | 125 stacks / 225 stacks | Smolder's passive stacks transform his Q. At 125, it explodes in AoE. At 225, it applies max-health burn and executes below a health threshold. These are among the strongest power spikes in the entire game | | Miss Fortune | One item + level 6 | Bullet Time scales with AD and crit chance. Even at one item, a full-channel Bullet Time in a chokepoint deals enough damage to win a teamfight. MF spikes earlier than almost any crit ADC | | Tristana | Level 6 and level 16 | Tristana gains auto-attack range per level (up to 661 at level 18). Level 6 gives Buster Shot for self-peel. Level 16+ gives her outrange most champions, turning her into a siege machine |

When NOT to Fight

• Before your first completed item — you deal negligible damage
• When behind by more than one full item — the enemy ADC crits you while you tickle them
• When your Flash is down and the enemy has point-and-click engage — Vi R, Nautilus R, Malphite R with no Flash means death
• When your support has just died — a 1v2 bot lane fight is almost never winnable as an ADC

ADC Itemization — Season 2026

Season 2026 brought significant changes to ADC itemization. Critical strike damage has been returned to 200%, making crit builds feel impactful again. Several new items have been added that create interesting build path decisions.

Core Crit Items

| Item | Stats | When to Build | |------|-------|---------------| | Infinity Edge | 70 AD, 25% Crit | The single most important ADC item. Passive increases critical strike damage to 200%. Build as second or third item once you have at least 40-50% crit chance from other items. Never rush first — the passive needs existing crit to amplify | | Stormrazor | 50 AD, 20% AS, 25% Crit | Energized passive grants bonus magic damage and movement speed on charged basic attacks. Excellent rush item that provides a smooth mix of stats. Good first item on champions who want all three stats | | Yun Tal Wildarrows | 65 AD, 25% Crit | Serrated edge passive adds bonus damage to crits that scales with crit chance. Strong on AD-heavy crit builds. First item on champions who prioritize raw AD like Jhin and Miss Fortune | | The Collector | 50 AD, 25% Crit, 12 Lethality | Execute passive finishes targets below 5% health. Lethality provides flat armor penetration against squishy targets. Snowball item — build when ahead to close out kills that would otherwise escape |

Attack Speed Items

| Item | Stats | When to Build | |------|-------|---------------| | Phantom Dancer | 30% AS, 25% Crit, 7% MS | Spectral Waltz passive grants ghosting and bonus movement speed when attacking champions. Best Zeal item for kiting-focused ADCs. Core on Jinx, Zeri, Vayne | | Rapid Firecannon | 30% AS, 25% Crit, 7% MS | Energized passive increases auto-attack range on the charged attack. Excellent for poking and safe trades. Core on Caitlyn and Jhin | | Runaan's Hurricane | 30% AS, 25% Crit, 7% MS | Bolts passive fires two additional projectiles at nearby enemies. The only multi-target attack speed item. Core on Jinx, Zeri, Ashe, and any ADC who needs AoE damage in teamfights |

New Season 2026 ADC Items

| Item | Stats | When to Build | |------|-------|---------------| | Fiendhunter Bolts | 40% AS, 25% Crit, 4% MS | Night Vigil passive grants 30 ultimate ability haste. Opening Barrage passive makes your next 3 attacks after ulting gain 50% bonus attack speed and guaranteed critical strikes. Exceptional on ultimate-reliant ADCs like Miss Fortune, Jinx, and Jhin | | Snowbow | AD, 25% Crit | Passive increases auto-attack damage based on distance to your target — the farther away, the more damage. On takedowns, your attack range is increased significantly for cleanup. Best on long-range ADCs like Caitlyn, Jinx (rockets), and Ashe |

Defensive Items for ADCs

| Item | Stats | When to Build | |------|-------|---------------| | Guardian Angel | 45 AD, 45 Armor, revive passive | Resurrects you after death with 50% base health. Build when you are the primary carry and cannot afford to die. The revive passive forces enemies to commit extra resources to kill you | | Maw of Malmortius | 55 AD, 50 MR, 15 AH | Lifeline passive grants a magic damage shield when taken to low health. Build against AP burst assassins like LeBlanc, Syndra, or Evelynn | | Bloodthirster | 55 AD, 18% Lifesteal | Overshield passive converts excess healing into a shield. Provides sustain in fights and a safety buffer against burst. Build when you need to survive sustained poke or extended fights | | Immortal Shieldbow | 50 AD, 20% AS, 25% Crit | Lifeline passive shields you when taken to low health plus grants bonus AD. The primary defensive crit item. Build when the enemy has unavoidable burst that will kill you through positioning |

Armor Penetration Items

| Item | Stats | When to Build | |------|-------|---------------| | Lord Dominik's Regards | 35 AD, 25% Crit, 30% Armor Pen | Giant Slayer passive deals up to 15% increased damage against targets with 1,500+ bonus health. The mandatory tank-killing item. Build third or fourth when the enemy has two or more tanks or bruisers stacking armor | | Mortal Reminder | 35 AD, 25% Crit, 30% Armor Pen | Applies Grievous Wounds on physical damage, reducing enemy healing. Build instead of Lord Dominik's when the enemy has significant healing — Soraka, Vladimir, Aatrox, Dr. Mundo |

Boots

| Boots | When to Build | |-------|---------------| | Berserker's Greaves | Default for every ADC. Attack speed is your most valuable early stat. Build these in 90% of games | | Plated Steelcaps | Against heavy AD threats or auto-attack-heavy enemies (Draven, Yasuo, Yone). The damage reduction passive significantly reduces incoming auto-attack damage | | Mercury's Treads | Against heavy CC compositions. Tenacity reduces crowd control duration. Build when the enemy has three or more CC abilities that consistently lock you down |

Runes for Marksmen

Keystone Runes

Lethal Tempo (Precision) — the default keystone for attack speed ADCs. Stacks attack speed on auto-attacks, up to a significant bonus at max stacks. At max stacks, also increases auto-attack range. Essential on Jinx, Kog'Maw, Vayne, Twitch, Ashe, and any champion who wants extended auto-attack trades.

Fleet Footwork (Precision) — sustain and movement speed keystone. Energized attacks heal you and grant a burst of movement speed. Best in losing lanes where you need to survive early and scale. Use on Sivir, Smolder, and Kai'Sa in difficult matchups.

Press the Attack (Precision) — burst-trade keystone. Three auto-attacks on the same target expose them, increasing all damage they take for six seconds. Best on short-trade ADCs who want to burst in lane and make the enemy vulnerable for their support. Use on Lucian, Draven, Kalista, and Tristana.

Hail of Blades (Domination) — three rapid auto-attacks at the start of a fight. Grants massive attack speed for your first three autos, exceeding the attack speed cap. Best for all-in burst patterns. Use on Kai'Sa (for fast Q evolution trades) and Jhin (four-shot burst).

First Strike (Inspiration) — bonus gold and 7% true damage when you deal damage first. Generates significant income over a game. Best on poke-heavy ADCs who can consistently land the first hit. Use on Ezreal, Jhin, and Miss Fortune in lanes where you can poke freely.

Critical Secondary Runes

Precision tree: - Presence of Mind — restores mana on champion damage and takedowns. Essential on mana-hungry ADCs like Ezreal, Sivir, and Xayah - Legend: Alacrity — permanent bonus attack speed from takedowns. More attack speed means smoother kiting - Legend: Bloodline — permanent lifesteal from takedowns. Provides sustain without needing a lifesteal item - Coup de Grace — bonus damage against low-health targets. The default damage rune for finishing fights - Cut Down — bonus damage against targets with more maximum health. Build against tanky compositions

Domination tree: - Taste of Blood — heal on champion damage. Small but consistent sustain in lane trades - Treasure Hunter — bonus gold on unique champion takedowns. Accelerates item spikes

Sorcery tree: - Nimbus Cloak — movement speed on summoner spell cast. Flash plus Nimbus gives a burst of kiting speed - Gathering Storm — scaling AD every 10 minutes. Free stats for late-game insurance

Stat Shards

• Attack Speed — always take attack speed as your first shard. It improves last-hitting, kiting, and early trades
• Adaptive Force (AD) — take AD as your second shard for trading damage
• Armor or Health — take the defensive shard matching your lane opponents. Armor against AD supports (Pyke, Pantheon), health for mixed or magic damage

Common Marksman Mistakes

1. Not Farming Enough

The average ADC in low elo farms 5-6 CS per minute. Good ADCs farm 8-9 CS per minute. Great ADCs hit 10+ CS per minute. Every missed minion is delayed items, and delayed items means delayed power spikes. Focus on hitting every single CS in lane and catching side waves between fights in the mid game.

2. Fighting Without Items

Marksmen deal low damage without completed items. If you have a B.F. Sword and a Pickaxe and the enemy ADC has a completed Kraken Slayer, you lose the fight. Do not take fights between item completions unless you have no choice. Farm, complete your item, then fight.

3. Dying to Ganks

Bot lane is the most ganked lane in the game. Ward the river bush, ward the tri-bush, and track the enemy jungler's position on the minimap. If you have no vision and the enemy jungler has been missing for 30 seconds, play safe — they are probably in the bush next to you.

4. Ignoring Support Synergy

Your support determines your lane. Playing with a Leona? Be ready to follow up level 2 all-ins. Playing with a Soraka? Farm safely and scale. Playing with a Nautilus? Stay in auto-attack range so you can damage whoever gets hooked. Your support sets the pace — follow their lead.

5. Auto-Attacking the Wrong Target in Teamfights

Hit the closest safe target. Not the enemy ADC who is standing behind three tanks. Not the support who is 1,000 units away. The tank standing right in front of you is the correct target. You deal enough sustained DPS to kill tanks. You deal zero DPS when you are dead from diving past the frontline.

6. Not Building Defensively When Needed

A full damage build is worthless if you die before auto-attacking. Against Zed, build Guardian Angel. Against AP burst, build Maw of Malmortius. Against unavoidable dive, build Immortal Shieldbow. One defensive item that keeps you alive lets you use your other four damage items. Zero defensive items and dying instantly means none of your damage items matter.

7. Neglecting Side Waves

In the mid game, groups of minions crash into towers and die with nobody collecting them. That is free gold. As an ADC, you should rotate to catch side waves between objectives. Push the wave, then rejoin your team. Do not ARAM mid lane while three waves of gold die to your towers in top and bot lane.

8. Poor Recall Timing

Recall when you can buy a meaningful item component, when the wave is pushed into the enemy tower (so you lose minimal CS), and when there is no objective spawning in the next 30 seconds. Recalling with 900 gold when you need 1,300 for B.F. Sword wastes time. Recalling when dragon spawns in 20 seconds means your team fights 4v5.

Advanced ADC Tips

Orb Walking Direction

Kite in the direction that is strategically correct, not just backward. If a tank is running at you, kite backward. If you have killed the enemy frontline and need to chase, kite forward. If a flanker is coming from one side, kite laterally. The direction you move between auto-attacks should always put you in a safer position or closer to a kill you can secure.

Target Swapping

Advanced ADCs switch targets mid-fight based on opportunity. Start by hitting the tank. When the enemy mid laner steps into range, auto them twice, then switch back to the tank. This "target hopping" maximizes your damage on priority targets while maintaining safe positioning. Never tunnel vision on a single target for the entire fight.

Animation Canceling with Abilities

Many ADCs can weave abilities between auto-attacks to increase DPS: - Lucian: Auto → Q → Auto → E → Auto (passive procs double shots after abilities) - Vayne: Auto → Q (Tumble) → Auto → E → Auto (Tumble resets auto-attack timer) - Kai'Sa: Auto → Q → Auto → W → Auto (weaving abilities between autos maximizes Passive stack application) - Ezreal: Auto → Q → Auto → W → Auto (Q resets auto-attack timer and reduces cooldowns)

Wave Management in Bot Lane

Freeze near your tower when you are behind or when the enemy jungler is topside. The enemy ADC must overextend to farm, making them vulnerable to ganks.

Slow push when you want to build a large wave to crash into the enemy tower. Only last-hit for two waves, then hard shove the third. This creates a wave that takes a long time for the enemy to clear, giving you time to recall, roam, or take an objective.

Fast push when you need to back quickly or when an objective is spawning. Use abilities on the wave to crash it as fast as possible, then rotate to the play.

Playing from Behind

When behind as an ADC, your priorities shift:

1. Farm safe waves — collect gold from waves that come to you naturally. Do not overextend for CS in dangerous positions
2. Do not force fights — you will lose straight-up DPS checks when behind on items. Wait for the enemy to make a mistake
3. Focus on not dying — a 0/3 ADC who farms back to three items is still a threat. A 0/7 ADC who keeps fighting is a liability
4. Group for objectives — even when behind, your presence at Dragon and Baron matters. Hit whoever is closest and let your team do the engaging

Summoner Spell Usage

Flash: Your most important button. Save it for escaping lethal situations or dodging critical abilities (Ashe arrow, Malphite ult, Leona R). Almost never flash aggressively unless the kill is completely free.

Heal: Use proactively, not reactively. The movement speed burst is often more valuable than the health restoration. Heal before you drop to lethal health — healing while at 5% HP against burst damage is often too late.

Exhaust: Take against assassins (Zed, Talon, Rengar) or hyper carries (Vayne, Kog'Maw). Reduces their damage by 35% for three seconds. Can completely negate an assassin's burst window.

Cleanse: Take against unavoidable CC (Ashe arrow, Twisted Fate gold card, Leona E-Q-R chain). The CC removal lets you continue kiting instead of dying in a stun lock.

Track Your ADC Performance

Search your profile on dodge.gg to track your performance on marksman champions across all game modes. See your CS per minute, damage per minute, kill participation, and how your positioning compares to other ADC players at your rank. Use the data to identify which marksmen suit your playstyle and where your mechanics need improvement.