Apr 7th 2014, 16:58:49
That's pretty much it...you earn IP points through playing matches, but you can also buy Riot points (RP), both are used to buy enhancements or different champions, you need more IP than you do RP for each thing you buy.
There are currently 118 champions to choose from, with a rotation of 10 you can play for free each week, gives you a chance to try out champs instead of committing to buy. There're so many different skills each one has, you just find one that's in your niche and go with them.
For free players (I'm one of them), there are champs you can buy for 450 IP all the way up to 6300 IP, so it's not too hard to get a couple to start with, and you can work up to others that you like.
In game, the champs level up to 18, gaining another level of one of their abilities. They also passively generate gold, with more of course from kills, with which you buy items to enhance your champ in the game. TOONS of items to choose from based on what you need/like.
Outside of the game, you level up to 30, and each level you unlock another mastery point and a rune slot. Masteries are free enhancements, you can make an infinite amount of mastery pages based on a specific champ, or you can have a few separated into melees, mages, tanks, etc. Runes on the other hand are purchased with IP or RP gated by levels, i.e. tier 1 runes from level 1-10, tier 2 11-20, tier 3 21-30.
There's lots of versatility with pretty much everything, I'd encourage you to at least explore the options, even if you don't plan on playing. It's a unique game, and always fun being pvp..