Honor of Kings Beginner's Guide

Overview

Focused on the global server version, this guide walks you step by step through what to do first.

What is Honor of Kings

Honor of Kings is a 5v5 mobile MOBA made by Tencent. A match usually lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, played on a map built from three lanes and the jungle (forest) that sits between them.

Each player picks one hero from a roster of 116, boosts their stats with Arcana, and then grows stronger during the match by spending gold on items from a pool of 107. The team that first destroys the enemy's Crystal (their base), deep in enemy territory, wins.

The global server version this guide covers is a separate build that launched in June 2024, with its own meta and hero release schedule, distinct from the Chinese version.

Quick Start

Tutorial：Clear the tutorial all the way through so you get a feel for the basic controls and how to use the shop.

Practice in AI matches：Play 3 to 5 AI matches (against the computer) to get comfortable landing the last hit on minions and shopping for items.

Your first hero：Once you're comfortable, pick one role you enjoy, settle on your first hero, and put in the reps with it.

Items：On any hero, boots that raise movement speed are cheap and make a big difference, so buy them early, by the 2:30 mark at the latest.

Ranked：Ranked opens up once your account reaches level 7. To start, try Quick Match, where games are shorter and it's harder for one side to snowball. Before spending coins to buy a hero, check the tier list of strong heroes in the current meta so you don't waste them.

The Five Positions

Clash Lane：The top lane is a solo lane held by a sturdy Fighter. You trade blows in the minion waves to build an edge, and from level 4 onward you can push a side lane on your own or move down to contest objectives.

Jungle：The forest role with no minions. You clear monsters on a route, gank the lanes, and manage the Tyrant (around 4 minutes) and Overlord (around 4 minutes). In most cases you become your team's main damage dealer (carry).

Mid Lane：The central lane held solo by a Mage. You clear minions quickly, then roam to both side lanes and help out your jungler. It's the role with the highest burst damage on the map.

Farm Lane：The bottom lane is the Marksman's lane, where you stand alongside the Roam (Support). You farm minions to grow, and become your team's main damage source after the 20-minute mark.

Roam：The Support doesn't take minions in lane. You place wards (vision) in the river, protect the Marksman early on, and help your jungler and mid laner secure kills. It's the ideal role for learning how to move a whole match along (macro).

First Hero by Position

How to choose：First narrow it down to one role you enjoy, and master a single hero before buying more.

Jungle：Han Xin. He chains quick dashes together with easy-to-read gank angles, making him perfect for learning jungle routes and tempo.

Mid Lane：Shangguan Wan'er. She pokes from range and has an ultimate with big burst, so she's easy to handle since you don't need to dive in close.

Roam：Lian Po. His simple Tank kit makes his engages easy to read, letting you learn how to secure vision and rotate between lanes without any complex inputs.

Clash / Farm：Start with a hero that's straightforward to control and easy to survive on. For Clash, a tanky Fighter with self-healing or shields works well; for Farm, a Marksman with long range that fights through positioning is easy to handle. For specific picks, filter the app's hero list by tier or lane and choose from there.

Mechanics to Learn First

Arcana：Stat boosts you set up before a match. Start with the "recommended" preset the game suggests, and once your Arcana level passes 5 you can start swapping them out yourself.

Battle Skills：You choose a single battle skill (unlike LoL, you can't carry two). Flash (a short-range warp) is the standard for most roles. Jungle needs Smite (deals heavy damage to neutral monsters to secure them); the Marksman often takes Heal (restores HP and boosts allies' movement speed) or Purify, and Roam takes Sprint.

Recommended Items：Press and hold a shop tab to see the build the game suggests. Follow it for your first 10 to 20 matches, and once you're comfortable, start adjusting it to counter your opponents.

Jungle Buffs：There are two colors. The red buff adds damage over time and true damage; the blue buff gives cooldown reduction and mana recovery. If a color isn't useful to you, it's fine to take the other one instead.

Vision：Securing vision (wards) is the Roam's key job. Place them before you go to contest an objective, not after the fight has already started.

Five Common Beginner Mistakes

Pushing the lane without vision：In HoK, the river is the path ganks come through. If your jungler or mid laner has been off the minimap for more than 5 seconds, back away from the minion wave right away. Step into the bush to check before you commit.

Fighting under your own tower：HoK towers deal modest damage per hit, but once that first hit lands you melt fast. When your HP is low, don't dive in or get dived; recall and reset instead.

Ignoring the Tyrant and Overlord：The Tyrant and Overlord (both around 4 minutes) give your whole team powerful buffs. Watch the timer at the top of the screen and go take them together with your teammates.

Going full-damage builds on Assassins and Fighters：HoK matches are decided in 15 to 20 minutes. Make your fourth item almost always a defensive one (Spikemail to counter physical damage, Succubus Cloak to counter magic, and the like), because enemy damage is extremely high in late-game team fights.

Not buying boots：Movement and roam boots are cheap and apply a lot of pressure. On any hero, buy them early, by the 2:30 mark.

First 30 Matches Checklist

Matches 1-5：Tutorial and AI matches. Learn to navigate the shop menus and get a feel for landing the last hit on minions.

Matches 6-15：Casual 5v5. Pick one hero from the recommendations above and keep playing that hero.

Matches 16-25：Stick with the same hero. Build the habit of checking the minimap once every 3 seconds, and buy boots by 2:30 every match.

Matches 26-30：Ranked unlocks (account level 7). Start with Quick Match. Games are shorter, so leads are less likely to snowball out of control.

Beyond that：From match 30 on, dig into the matchup notes and counters on your hero's page. Also start paying attention to picking your second item based on your opponents.

How to use OTOM-LINGBAO

A quick tour of each feature for beginners.

Look up heroes in the directory

The Hero Directory lets you browse, search, and filter every hero in OTOM-LINGBAO. Use it whenever you want to look up a hero's win rate, skills, playstyle, recommended builds, or matchups and open their full details. Type a hero's name into the "Search by hero name" box at the top to narrow the list to matching heroes. Tap the "Name" button to the right of the search box to change how the heroes are sorted. Tap an icon in the row labeled "Position" to show only heroes for that position; the grid icon on the left returns to showing all heroes. Scroll through the list to find the hero you want; each card shows the hero's artwork and name. Tap a hero's card to open their full details, including win rate, skills, playstyle, recommended builds and arcana, matchups, and video guides. Even if you only half-remember a hero's name, search also matches their reading and English name, so just type whatever part you can recall.

Try the hero quiz

Hero Diagnosis suggests a hero that fits your playstyle just by answering 6 questions. It is for beginners who have not decided who to play yet and want to find their first hero. The top shows "Question 1/6" and the first question "During a match, what do you want to do?" appears. Tap the one closest to you among "Dive in first and start the fight," "Sneak onto the enemy backline to finish them," "Blast big skills from afar," "Deal steady damage from the back," and "Protect and buff your allies." Tapping an option moves you to the next question, and the top bar and "Question X/6" counter show your progress. Answer all 6 questions the same way, and a diagnosis result showing the hero that fits you appears. You can share the result, so remember the hero that caught your eye. There is no right answer. Pick the way you actually want to play rather than what looks cool, and you will get a hero that truly fits you.

Train your game knowledge

This is the hub for memorizing the game with spaced-repetition flashcards, so you can instantly read who a hero is and what counters them the moment you see the enemy pick or build. Beginners use it to warm up before a match or to lock in the basics when faces and names don't click yet. Tap Training in the bottom nav to open this screen. Check your current progress for Hero, Build, and Memo (0%) in the Training Mastery card at the top. Switch between the Hero / Build / Memo tabs to filter the module list to the genre you want to learn. Tap the card you want to start, such as Hero Training (recognize name, class, and position from the face). Repeat each module while watching the progress ring and percentage on the right of every card to see how far you've learned. Start with Hero Training to match faces to names first, then move on to the equipment and arcana cards, and suddenly you'll be able to read the enemy's whole build at a glance.

Analyze and note your games

This page lets you record each match's lineup and analyze balance and matchups from your team's and the enemy's picks. Any notes you leave are automatically quoted the next time you pick the same hero, helping you prepare before a match. Tap the navy + button in the center of the bottom bar to create a new analysis. On the screen that opens, register your team's and the enemy's picks to unlock balance analysis, recommended bans, and recommended picks. Leave your observations as a note, and they will be quoted automatically the next time you pick that same hero. Saved analyses are organized by date. Use the left/right arrows next to '2026年7月4日' at the top, or pick a day number, to switch to the date you want. On days with no analysis yet, the center card shows guidance on how to get started. Jot down even a single line right after a match; that observation will resurface automatically when you next face the same hero, so it pays to write it while it's fresh.

Save your favorites and power

"Favorite Heroes" is the page where you register the heroes you can actually play, organized by position, and record their power (strength). Keeping your roster here makes it easier to decide "who to pick from what I can use" when browsing the encyclopedia or pick analysis. Open the Database tab in the bottom nav and tap Favorite Heroes under My Data to open this page. Type a name into the "Search by hero name" box at the top to quickly narrow down the hero you want. Use the icon row to the right of "Position" to switch the display by position (the square grid icon on the left returns to showing all positions). From the hero cards listed below (Da Ji, Bai Long, Da Si Ming, and so on), choose the heroes you can play and register them as favorites. Switch the display language from the "Japanese" button in the top right. Start by registering only the heroes you're confident with, so your candidates from your own roster stay clean and easy to pick in pick analysis.