Is AFK Farming Bad In League of Legends?

Picture this; you’re the main enabler of your team. You’re roaming, getting kills here and there, and using those to give your team an advantage. The ADC is doing great, and the mid-lane is going rather rough, but you have faith. Suddenly, you catch your top laner AFK farming like he’s unrelated to the match.

Fair enough, you roam top with your Jungler to secure the scuttle crab. You ping the top laner to come help you; there’s a scent of victory in the air. All the stars seem to align, you engage in the teamfight, and lose gloriously. Where’s your top laner? Oh…. he’s still farming.

Moments like these often tend to bring out the worst in us, but was that top laner really the one at fault? Or worse … is AFK farming really as bad as players make it seem? Read more for a complete breakdown of this myth!

What is AFK Farming?

AFK farming in League of Legends refers to the practice of a player focusing solely on farming minions and ignoring other aspects of the game, such as team fights, objectives, and map control.

This is considered unfair and unsportsmanlike because it does not contribute to the overall objective of the game, which is to defeat the enemy team and destroy their nexus.

Additionally, it takes away from the player’s ability to assist their team in other areas of the game, such as team fights and map control.

AFK Farming Teammates – What Makes Them So Frustrating?

League of Legends is a game that’s almost entirely dependent on a team of 5 players playing as a single unit to pave a path to the enemy nexus. There are 5 positions / roles that have their own distinct duties to perform.

When working in coherence, it’s like a well-oiled machine. Now, what happens if one of the gears gets jammed or stops working? The entire structure takes the impact of that gear’s shortcomings.

Therefore, a player not doing what they should feels so infuriating, since it’s dragging the team as a whole. League of Legends is more than just playing the lane. There’s always so much going on, so limiting or shutting your brain down to limit yourself to basic actions is not the way to go – at least in your teammates’ eyes.

Also read: How to Extend Lead in League Of Legends

AFK Farming Is Bad – No Doubt About It

While there are champions that just want to farm and farm until they reach a point strong enough to 1v5 the game, it doesn’t always realistically happen, and the reason is as simple as the team losing the drawn-out tempo and succumbing to bad teamfights.

Before you go putting the blame on your teammates, this phenomenon happens in pro play as well. The game is designed in a way that makes you active on the map in order to win, and if you’re not doing that, then you’re going to be holding your team back.

Now, to put all the blame on a loss to an AFK farmer isn’t justifiable either, since games in League of Legends are always lost on the basis of multiple factors.

Ironically, even if you participate as much as possible, there’s no guarantee it’ll be beneficial for your team. Maybe you’re playing a champion that wants to split push, or you’re playing a tank that relies on your carries to prosper – there are a lot of variables that dictate the verdict of a game.

Also read: How to Counter Scaling Champions in League Of Legends

How to Be an Asset to Your Team?

Now, there are times when you just want to be AFK Farming against your laner, and there are times when you must forbid yourself from taking any farm.

The key factor that identifies these timings in communication. No single game is similar to the other. You might be taking the drake in the first 8 minutes in one match, while you might not take the drake at all in the other.

The only consistent factor is communication and player intent. Ask yourself these questions:

• Does your Jungle intend to play around a specific lane or an objective?
• Is any of your teammates bearing unrealistic pressure from their opponents?
• Are you slowly being pushed to a corner? Do you need your Jungler to help you?
• Can you help any of your teammates with their bad lane state?
• Is anyone in a bad matchup?
• What are the strong sides and weak sides of this game? Where should you be playing towards?

By analyzing and understanding your priorities and win conditions, you can be the deciding factor in whether your team wins a match or not.

Takeaway

All in all, your main priority should lie in helping your team secure the enemy nexus. However, that doesn’t always happen considering no team is perfect. Your enemy might one-up you or your team in a play and you’d have to sit at the grey screen counting chickens.

Luckily, you can make optimizations on a general level to ensure you’re not always the one at the receiving end. Having said that, we recommend you stay away from AFK farming as much as possible.

It is not a good strategy, and will only ruin the game experience for you and your teammates!