Honor of Kings, the popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) from the developers at TiMi Studio Group and publisher Level Infinite, brings more than 100 heroes to the Epic Games Store for Mobile, on Android.

In this Honor of Kings beginner’s guide, we’ll teach you the basics of MOBAs (like lanes), help you understand the classes and skills available to heroes, and prepare you for your first few days of fighting.

Understanding the battle

Success in Honor of Kings requires a balance of knowledge, strategy, teamwork, and smart use of your hero’s skills—but before you can juggle those responsibilities, you need to understand how battles actually work, so let’s start with the basics for those new to Honor of Kings or MOBAs in general. 

 

Honor of Kings is typically a 5v5 battle, pitting two teams of five players against each other in Hero’s Gorge. Battles last around 15 – 20 minutes and end when one team destroys the other’s base Crystal.

Each team starts at their base. Between you and victory are lanes, enemies (both player-controlled and NPCs), towers, and monsters.

From that simple setup, an incredible number of possibilities emerge. And it all starts with choosing your hero.
 

Honor of Kings’ hero classes

Honor of Kings characters are called heroes.

There are more than 100 heroes, and each falls into one or more of the classes below. Each class’s unique combination of abilities and skills makes its heroes good at certain tasks and not-so-great at others.

• Assassins are the battlefield’s cleanup crew. They swoop in and dispatch low-health enemies, thanks to their mobility and burst damage. 
• Fighters are designed for battle, taking the fight directly to enemies. This is an aggressive, offensive class by design.
• Mages specialize in ranged area of effect (AoE) and burst damage, which makes them great for crowd control when battles concentrate in a specific area. They excel at disrupting enemies while allies deal primary damage.
• Marksmen have high damage but low defense, making them effective ranged fighters. They shine as powerful players in the late-game phase.
• Supports are Honor of Kings’ friendly helpers—healers designed to swoop in and protect their teammates by buffing them, debuff enemies, or straight-up absorb damage that would otherwise impact their teammates.
• Tanks take damage in stride and typically have more health than other heroes. They absorb damage and distract enemies from attacking teammates. 

Honor of Kings has more than 100 heroes, and the more you play as a specific hero, the higher your Proficiency becomes. If you read about any of the classes above and find a role appealing, pick a corresponding hero and take them for a test drive.
 

Know your lanes

In MOBAs, your position on the battlefield is supremely important. Honor of Kings has three primary lanes, which are effectively streets that lead to the enemy base, with two more (special) areas in between. 
 

The default strengths of each hero make it a good fit for certain lanes. 

The Mid Lane runs along the middle of the battlefield. It’s a straight line and the shortest distance between each team’s base. It’s the natural home of mages because they can clear their lanes quickly and then roam around to help in other lanes. In MOBAs, they call this process ganking, which is effectively sneaking up and attacking your enemy. 

The Clash Lane runs along the top of the map. Its minions grant more EXP than those in other areas, but it’s generally more dangerous than other lanes. It’s the natural home of fighters and tanks, and heroes from other lanes can pop in and help out. 

The Farm Lane is at the bottom of the map. It’s called the Farm Lane because killing its minions will get you more gold than in other areas. It’s the natural home for marksmen to level up in the early game and then roam to help teammates in other areas. 

The last two regions are the domain of roaming heroes—typically supports and tanks—who move fluidly around the map rather than stick to the main three lanes. 

The River runs diagonally through the map from the top left to the bottom right, marking the halfway point between bases. The Overlord and the Tyrant live here. Defeat them and other monsters, and you’ll receive powerful buffs. 

The Jungle is effectively the area that’s not a lane or the River. It’s overgrown and filled with monsters in eight spawn locations. Defeat them, and you’ll earn buffs. Assassins and fighters are at home in the Jungle, gaining EXP and gold, and popping out to help enemies in other lanes. 

If you’re not sure where to start, try a hero that’s suited for Mid Lane or Farm Lane. Those lanes and roles tend to be more straightforward, making them a solid introduction.

Know your enemies

There are two kinds of enemies in Honor of Kings. 

The first (and generally most dangerous) are the other team’s players. Your opponents are big, powerful, and unmistakable heroes with skills and attacks equal to yours. 

The second kind of enemy is CPU-controlled NPCs. 

Of these, the little guys that charge into the battlefield are called minions, and both teams have them. They’re relatively weak, they run out onto the battlefield automatically, and they can be great distractions for your enemies and their towers to attack. 

In the Jungle, you’ll also find NPC monsters. You can earn buffs from defeating them, as we explained above. 
 

Learn your attacks and skills

Each hero has unique skills, with one passive ability, two normal skills, and one ultimate. Their attacks are mapped to the buttons at the bottom right of your screen. The sword is your basic attack, and the three circles around that attack represent skills, which you unlock and upgrade as you play each match. They’re more powerful than regular attacks, and usually have a cooldown, preventing you from using each in rapid succession. 
If you don’t know what your skills do, you won’t be an effective fighter. The great news is that Honor of Kings does an astounding job of teaching you about each hero’s attacks. 

Tap the Heroes menu icon at the bottom of the home screen, and then select the hero you want to learn about. The middle right of the screen includes a set of icons that map to your hero’s skills. Tapping on them will tell you exactly what they do—and often, how to use them effectively. The Skill Combos button will even tell you how to chain together attacks for maximum impact. 

Honor of Kings is a deep and strategic game. The onus is on you to take advantage of its tutorials. It only requires you spend a few minutes reading and watching. Investing a few minutes of your time will pay off immensely, and you’ll gain an advantage over other newcomers. 

Take on towers

Each lane has three towers—one near each team’s base, one a little further away, and one in the middle between bases. 
 

The Base Towers are near each team’s base Crystal. 

The Inner Towers are in the middle of the lane. 

The Outer Towers are near the River. Behind the Outer Towers is Healing Dew, which restores some (but not all) of your health and mana when you walk over it. 

Towers attack a single enemy at a time, and they deal a ton of damage to enemies in range. You’re in range when you’re inside the circle that appears around the tower. You’re safe when that circle is green. You’re targeted when that circle is red. Towers target the first enemy to enter into that zone, so be careful. It’s ideal for a minion to absorb the damage while you attack the tower. 

Defeating enemy towers not only eliminates a powerful weapon, but allows you to push the fight closer to their base. Destroy all towers in a lane, and you can then focus on attacking your opponent’s base Crystal and winning the match. 
 

Heal

Honor of Kings battles get intense quickly, and it’s easy to lose sight of your health as you focus on being a hero. Watch for the screen dimming, which is a great visual indication of your failing HP. When that happens, you have a few options, all of which are preferable to dying and waiting out the timer before you respawn. 

You can use your Recall skill to return to your base, where you’ll heal completely and recover mana over a few seconds. Back off to avoid attacks and let the meter fill up after you press the conveniently labeled Recall button at the bottom of your screen. 

The Healing Dew item appears behind your Outer Towers. Retreat there and walk over it to restore some health. It’ll take a while to respawn after you use it. 

Finally, you can use your recovery skill to restore some of your health. It’s a lot like using Healing Dew without having to walk anywhere. Also, just like Healing Dew, it regenerates on a timer. 
 

Buy better equipment and level up

Every match in Honor of Kings has an upgrade arc. You begin as your base-level hero, but as you defeat enemies, you earn gold. You then use that gold to purchase upgrades for your character during the fight. 
 

Your current amount of gold appears underneath an icon at the center-left of the screen. When you have equipment available to purchase, it appears next to that icon. 

Make an early habit of darting your eyes over to that part of your screen and tapping for upgrades. They’ll come at you fast, and the sooner you upgrade your equipment, the more powerful you’ll be. 

The same basic concept applies to leveling up in each match. Every time you do, you get a point to spend and upgrade your skills. 
 

Help your teammates

The most successful teams in Honor of Kings work together, using each hero’s innate strengths to support and help teammates. 

The best way to communicate when you’re learning the game is to use the icons that appear as a vertical list at the upper-right of the screen. Tap them to communicate with your team, telling them where you’re going or what you need help with. Communication is a two-way street, so keep an eye out for those crucial moments when your teammates are asking for your help, too. 

Imagine coordinating with your teammates to gang up on enemies who are alone—that’s classic MOBA ganking (i.e. roaming the battlefield and taking unsuspecting enemies by surprise). 
 

Check your map

The minimap in the upper-right corner of the screen tells you where everyone is. It is free, always-available battlefield awareness. Make a habit of checking on it every few seconds because knowing everyone's positions often tells you what to do next. You’ll soon discover opportunities to go on the offensive—or reasons to retreat if it looks like you’ll soon be overtaken. 
 

Focus on the basics

There’s a lot to learn, and that can feel overwhelming. The best way to combat that is to focus on the fundamentals. Play your role without getting too creative. Back off to heal, knowing that it’s better to pause for a few seconds than to hand your enemies gold and EXP. Purchase the default upgrades without worrying whether they’re the perfect fit.

That’ll build your muscle memory. The more you play, the more natural doing these things will feel, and the more mental space you’ll have to think about layering other strategies onto your game. Learn the basics in Honor of Kings, and experiment as you get more comfortable. Playing is the best way to learn more, and there’s so much more to learn that's beyond the scope of this beginner’s guide. 

Download Honor of Kings in the Epic Games Store for Mobile today, and take what you learned here onto the battlefield.