Every newbie in Mobile Legends faces the same thing: you seem to have figured out the buttons, completed the tutorial with Layla, but already in the second minute you’re lying under the enemy tower, your allies are arguing, and the map is incomprehensible. 

The good news is that almost all early game mistakes can be resolved once and for all if you master the basics. In this article, I’ve compiled all the useful information you need to get started: where to start, which heroes to pick, and what to do in the first minutes of a match.

What is Mobile Legends: Bang Bang?

In short, MLBB is something between a classic MOBA and a mobile arcade: five-on-five battles, three lanes, heroes with unique abilities, and a common goal—to overthrow the enemy throne. 

Mobile Legends was released on July 14, 2016, on Android and November 9, 2016, on iOS, and was developed by the Chinese studio Moonton. In the ten years since (incidentally, the game is currently celebrating its anniversary), it has grown from a modest mobile project into one of the most popular MOBAs in the world, with the number of heroes growing from just over 30 to over 130.

Mobile Legends is considered a MOBA, but it retains a simplified interface and short matches (usually 10-20 minutes). This has made the game so popular among those who don’t want to spend 40 minutes playing, like in Dota 2.

Getting Started with Mobile Legends: Account and Settings

So, you’ve completed the basic tutorial, waited for the resources to load, and reached the hub menu. What’s next? Before chasing your first victory, take care of a couple of boring but important points.

• Nickname. The first shift is free, after that, diamonds are required.
• Account security. Link your email (Moonton account) in the profile section and enable two-factor authentication on both your account and your email. Buying and selling accounts is prohibited by the game rules, so not having two-factor authentication remains one of the most common ways to lose access.
• Control settings. Enable “Target Selection” to attack the tower, creeps, and hero separately. For mages and ranged heroes, set the target priority to “Least HP” to finish off the wounded. For fighters and assassins, “Nearest Target” is more convenient. It’s best to disable “Moving Pursuit” so you can reset the target simply by moving away from it, which is critical for kiting heroes.
• Spells. You won’t have a full set of spells at first, but here’s a brief overview of the most essential ones. “Burst” is suitable for almost any role except jungler. “Cleansing” is more often taken by mages and marksmen: if a hero already has their own dash, it’s more beneficial to take “Cleansing” to escape crowd control.

The game initially pits players against bots, then against humans, typically fellow newcomers. This is a safe stage to try out different settings and two or three roles without risking your rating.

Roles and heroes for the first rinks

The easiest way to figure out what your role is is through positioning on the map.

Forest

The Jungler farms neutral monsters, controls the turtle and lord, and creates pressure across the map. This role requires a lot of understanding of the game, so it’s not recommended for beginners. For more information, there’s a separate guide .

Line of experience

This is where durable heroes reside who can take a beating for a long time. For a beginner, Chong, Balmond, or Darius are excellent choices. They’re almost always in the meta and forgive mistakes thanks to their survivability.

Gold line

A spot for marksmen who rely on farming. Leslie, Miya, and Clint are versatile starting options that don’t require high skill and are easy to master. The key to this lane is that you need to get the necessary items as quickly as possible, try to die as little as possible, and engage in teamfights rarely, but only rarely. Marksmen are strong primarily in the late game, so their main goal is farming.

Middle line

Mages play here. They clear waves quickly and provide map support. Zetian and Eudora are currently in the meta, and they’re also among the easiest mages to master. If you want to improve your skill level in this role separately, there’s a guide .

Roamer

Untied to a lane, they roam the map, assist the jungler and lanes, and initiate and force fights. They are divided into two types: pure supports (called purrs, such as Angela, Raphael, or Florin) and tank-initiators (such as Minotaur or Hilda). 

The role itself is complex and requires not only an understanding of your hero, but also of your allies, counter picks, and macro play, so it is highly discouraged for beginners.

For a detailed breakdown of the role, see the article on how to play roamer correctly in MLBB .

If you haven’t decided on a specific character yet, check out our top 10 heroes for beginners in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang—they’re broken down by lane.

Emblems are out-of-game upgrades that directly affect a hero’s strength. At the start, it’s smartest to invest in the Assassin and Support emblems. They’re universal and work across multiple hero classes, unlike other branches. Regardless, try to level them up evenly so you always have access to the emblem you need if you suddenly want to try a new character.

What to do in the first minutes of the match and throughout the game

The first five minutes matter far more than you think. The main things you need to do until you gain experience:

• Last hit creeps. A last hit gives a little more gold than simply spamming your skills across the wave.
• Keep an eye on the minimap. If an enemy hero disappears from the lane, especially a mid-lane mage, it doesn’t mean everything is fine; they’re likely already ganking you or an ally.

• Check the bushes. On Mia, for example, check the bushes with a skill or only enter if you know exactly where the enemy is.
• Rally to the objectives. If you’re close to an enemy tower, try hitting its shield—it’ll give you extra gold. The Turtle always spawns at the second minute from the experience line and grants the team a shield. After the eighth minute, the Lord can single-handedly push the lane. The last two objectives give an advantage not to one player, but to the entire team, so get there early.

If you feel like you’re being pressured in lane, ask for help. Get under the tower and last hit creeps from afar. Your death will give the enemy an advantage: both gold and the opportunity to damage the tower. It’s important not to abandon your lane early in the game without a reason.

Teamwork and typical mistakes of beginners

Matches in MLBB are won not by individual skill, but by teamwork: they enter an objective together, retreat together, and take down a tower together.

Among the typical mistakes made by beginners, there are two most common:

1. Chasing a single kill across half the map almost always ends in death. Chasing the enemy wastes time and precious farm.
2. Pick a challenging hero at the start. It’s better to learn the basic mechanics and play Hanabi than Hayabusa in the jungle, no matter how strong he is. A simple hero in the hands of a beginner will always outperform a technically challenging one.

A useful habit is to set one specific goal for a match instead of trying to fix everything at once. For example: “I don’t die in lane until the fifth minute in this game” or “I check the minimap every few seconds.” After the match, spend a minute mentally reviewing the moments of your deaths: what led to each one and what could have been done differently. This kind of analysis over several weeks significantly reduces the number of stupid deaths and is much more useful than simply playing more games without analyzing them.

Frequently asked questions about Mobile Legends

What is mlbb?

MLBB is the official abbreviation for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The name perfectly reflects the game’s content: the developers created the fantasy world of the Land of Dawn, and the “Bang Bang” in the title alludes to the dynamic brawls that draw players into the game.

Within the community, the game is often simply referred to as “Mobla”.

When was Mobile Legends released?

The official release date was July 14, 2016, for Android, with the iOS version arriving a little later, on November 9 of that same year. Since then, the game has received updates virtually continuously.

Mobile Legends Online – Do You Need Internet?

Yes, the game is fully online: matches take place on servers; there is no offline mode or local battles against bots without an internet connection. 

Who is the developer of MLBB?

The official developer is the Chinese company Moonton. All information about them is publicly available, so you can easily find streams of the game’s creators sharing their progress.

What is the game genre of Mobile Legends?

This is a MOBA— a multiplayer online battle arena . Here, two teams battle each other on a single map with three lanes. Each team’s goal is to destroy the opponent’s throne. To do this, players control a single hero, who they can purchase power-ups for and upgrade, thereby ensuring victory.

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Getting started in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in 2026 is even easier than it was a few years ago. Beginners are generously given away heroes, emblems, and Star Passes at a good price. Familiarize yourself with the settings, pick a couple of roles to suit your tastes, farm wisely, and don’t be afraid to test different heroes during the free week before spending your accumulated Battle Points. Good luck in the Land of Dawn!