“Dude! Don’t take my farm!”
“I just need to farm more!”
“I’m going bot to farm, you all team fight without me!”
What is the big deal with “farm” in League of Legends?
Starting out in Bronze, I worked my way to Gold in Season 5. I saw a lot of players, doing a lot of things. Common in every game though, was the one or two guys who just cared about farming. People in the league community will tell you that farm matters. They say that it’s a core component of the game, but I do not agree. I think that farming is over rated. WHAT?!?!
Before I get too far into this, I want to make a disclaimer. I believe that there is a difference between Pro play and Solo Que play. There are two different metas, each with their own styles and forms of game play. This article is aimed at low elo (Bronze/Silver) level players. Farming is a critical skill for Pro Players, but I think that low elo players have more important things to focus on.
I think that people focus so much on farming, that they miss out on other key skills. I have played thousands of games, and watched quite a bit of pro play. I listen to podcasts, read guides, and even get innovative on my own. I do think that farming is a great skill to have in your arsenal, but far from one of the most important ones.
Let’s play out a scenario or two.
Scenario 1:
I’m mid lane. I am trading pretty evenly, and I am up about 15 farm. I think I’m doing great. I push the wave, and back to buy. Meanwhile my opponent heads bot to gank. Lets say he picks up a kill, even with me pinging missing. Now he has more gold than me. Not only that, but now his teammates have more gold than mine. It’s OK though, because I am going to keep out farming him. I continue to farm hard, and by the end of lane phase have 50 more farm than him. Team fights start, I get focused, and now my team is screwed. Then one of them complains that my mid roamed, and I wasn’t following.
So in scenario 1, I was ahead in farm. I was clearly better at farming than my opponent, but I forgot to gank bot & top. I didn’t help my team. The skill of ganking is more important than the skill of farming. Â When team fights started, I was ahead of mid laner, but my team was down in kills, and consequently down in farm. My focus on farming hurt my team, and now it will be much harder to win the game.
Scenario 2:
I’m bot lane as ADC. I am farming away, totally focused. My support has been warding, and pinging for me, so I feel pretty safe. I start to hone in, and really focus. I can’t get behind in farm, or I know I’ll be screwed. Suddenly though, I’ve been ganked! The enemy team picks up a double kill on me and my support. Oh #$%&!
So in scenario 2, I again was great at farming, but this time didn’t have map awareness. When I died, my opponent was able to free farm, and get kill gold. So all of my hard work doesn’t pay off.
Now I could go on and on with hypothetical, but the real point I am trying to make, is the higher importance of other skills. Farming is stressed about so much, that it causes toxicity. Yes, farming is great for getting gold, but it is not the only way to get gold. Killing and taking objectives also earn gold. Revisiting those scenarios, what if you swapped skills with the ones I mentioned?
For Scenario 1Â you and your teammates would have kills & assists. You may be down a little gold, but at least your team is pumped up, and ready to rock. Not only is the morale high, but your fighting skills are warmed up, and you even snuck in some test runs for team fights. How so? Every time you ganked a lane, you got to learn how your teammates, and the enemy reacted. Now you are ready to work together, and show of your mad teamwork.
During Scenario 2 you had more map awareness. You may not have farmed as much, but you also didn’t give the enemy free kills when they ganked. Your team is happier with you, and you are happier that you don’t have deaths. On top of that, the enemy is frustrated that their ganks didn’t go well. Now I don’t know about you, but I like map awareness better than creep score.
Focusing on Important Skill’s
I think that a better way to gain LP, and increase rank is to focus on team building skills.  Ganking lanes, warding, and encouraging teammates are great places to start. Instead of farming, get good at skill shots, rotating, map awareness, and movement prediction. All the gold in the world won’t help you land a skill shot. That extra item you managed to buy, isn’t going to help you dodge a blitz hook. And your “sweet creep score” isn’t going to matter when a giant DEFEAT rolls across your screen.
In closing, I will add that I believe all skills are important for a pro player. When both players can land and dodge, when they both see the map, and when they both have the instincts to make right calls, the farm really does matter. But for the average joe League player, there are far more important skills to work on than farming.
Don’t agree? Do agree? Tell me why! I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic, so drop me a line in the comments!
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