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Dominion Strategy: Roaming and Backdoors – StrategyZero
Oct 052011
 

Roaming and backdooring is a viable strategy in Dominion. They are situational tactics that aren’t useful if you constantly apply them and forget to defend your points. However, used at the right moment they can help solidify your lead or help in a comeback.

When you plan to roam the first purchase should be Boots of Swiftness or Boots of Mobility. Both are good items: the former’s bonus is constant, the latter’s is temporary but higher. If your champion’s base movement speed (MS) plus the boots’ bonus MS is at least 400 buy Boots of Swiftness (bonus MS: 90), if it’s less buy Boots of Mobility (bonus MS: 130/70).

In case you are building a carry you may want to stick to the more stable Boots of Swiftness and rush a Zeal (8% bonus MS) of Phantom Dancer (15% bonus MS). It depends on the bonus you need to reach 400 MS; which is a reasonable speed to roam fast and be able to escape ganks and chases. Besides, all speed under 415 in unaffected by the reduction from the soft caps.

Other items that improve mobility are a good investment as well as Priscilla’s Blessing. While it’s movement active isn’t very strong it’s boost to capture rate does help. Capturing takes around ten seconds so you may be getting around a second and a half off with the item; which is the duration of a short stun.

Don’t backdoor if you have to defend. It’s easier to defend with a tower on your side than to capture. Besides, enemy points don’t last captured for long, but your own and the Windmill will last if you defend them. Furthermore, when you are defending you are draining the enemy Nexus’ health. When you are capturing you don’t drain until you get the point.

Move through the inner circle covered by fog of war: between the lanes and the centre of the map. If you want to stay around a point to help in the defence or attempt a capture, stay in brush. If the enemy doesn’t know your position they will take more time to react and can’t plan a countermeasure.

Fake a push by showing yourself moving in a direction towards an objective, getting in fog of war and then changing direction and objective. By giving the enemy false information you make them prepare unnecessarily and force an opening.

Sometimes it’s necessary to make a distraction with a backdoor or support with defence when you have low health or mana. In that case, get a healing relic. Remember that there’s one next to the middle of each lane and one behind each capture point.

The health of the enemy Nexus is drained as long as you control more points than the enemy. If you backdoor and are only able to neutralize a point, it’s still worth it. Consider only neutralizing points as a fast way of disrupting the enemy. They will still need to recapture them and will hamper their efforts to push or simply render a push ineffective because they don’t control enough points.

Even if you backdoor for captures remember that a backdoor is a distraction; just neutralizing a point gives an advantage. If you see an enemy approaching, flee. The roamer’s job is not to fight, it is to support the defence and capture the enemy’s weakest points. Time spent dead is wasted time, as well as time you spend walking.

Keep walking time to a minimum, move only if you see an opening for a capture or neutralization or to help in the defence. If in doubt, push the lane. Minions can quickly help capture an enemy point and you will force the enemy to focus their attention on that point and away from the offense. Moreover, if you play safe and stay behind the minions when pushing they will have to take care of them while you escape unharmed.

Pushing a minion wave is also a good distraction to attempt a backdoor. For instance, if you push the bottom lane you can then attempt to backdoor their mid point. You either force them to split or to ignore one of the pushes. Still, it’s better to try it while in control of bot, mid and top. Don’t sacrifice defence for a temporary advantage.

If the full enemy team tries to go for Windmill you can try a double backdoor instead of defending 3v5; or similar disadvantageous situations. In the case mentioned, someone from bottom captures their bot and the roamer captures their mid while the teammates from top retreat to their mid.

This forces the enemy to lose with just the Windmill or split, creating an opportunity to retake top. Remember to leave their mid and bot, they can’t be defended efficiently unless the enemy champions are very easily killed. Remember that it’s easier to attack their weakest points and defend your stronger ones.

When roaming or even defending, recall while in fog of war or brush. Just as you move through the inner circle to stay invisible, recall out of their vision for the same reason. When you return use the path between your base and the inner centre that is covered in fog of war to stay invisible. Try to hide as much information from the enemy as possible. If they know you recalled they know they have an opening.

Try to recall often, it’s fast and as a roamer you should have a decent movement speed. Unspent gold is wasted potential, besides the best way to heal is at the Fountain. On top of that, it’s the fastest way of defending your own bottom and mid points and you do it healed and with new items.

Credits:
League of Legends forum members
– Hannor: for moving in fog of war
– dirtpoor: using healing relics, faking pushes, and walking through the path in fog of war between the base and the inner circle

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