How to farm in LoL: last-hitting, CSing under tower and not missing waves
Farming is the skill that gives you the most gold in the whole game, and the most underrated. It’s not killing minions: it’s landing the right hit at the right moment without giving up your lane. Here you see how to improve your last-hitting, CS under tower and not miss waves.
The last hit: the window to land the blow
In LoL you only collect a minion’s gold if you land the last hit (the killing blow). Hitting it earlier does nothing for gold: what matters is finishing it when its health enters your auto-attack’s window —that is, when it has equal or less health than the damage your hit deals. That’s why last-hitting is a timing, not a reflex.
The chart shows the key detail: that window is the size of your damage. At level 1 with little AD (~60) the green zone is tiny, so you have to release the hit right as the health drops into it —a half-second off and the minion either dies on its own or survives your hit—. With items (~130 AD) the window is twice as big and you can wait calmly. Practice by watching how much health your auto removes and anticipate.
Don’t fall into the trap of chasing kills and missing CS: farming is guaranteed, risk-free gold. How much each CS is worth, the per-minute targets and how CS stacks into a gold lead are in CS and gold per minute; where the rest of your gold comes from, in where gold comes from.
The bar is a melee minion’s health (~480). The colored part is the window where your auto-attack finishes it: release the hit when its health drops into it. With little AD (early) the window is small and the timing is tight; with items it grows and farming becomes easy.
CSing under tower (and not missing waves)
CSing under tower is scary but has a clear rule: the tower hits each minion for a percentage of its health, so you know how much each shot removes and use those shots to bring it into your hit’s range. The chart sums up the recipe by minion type: for a melee minion, let the tower hit it twice and finish with one auto; for a caster, once and finish; the cannon tanks ~5 shots, so hit it twice or use an ability because it’s worth far more gold.
Note: since 2025 minions tank more, so the recipe is a guide, not a law —confirm by watching how much each shot removes—. And if the wave pushes into your tower and you don’t want to lose it, the best move is usually to freeze it near your tower to farm safely; how to set up a freeze or slow push is in map control and waves.
The CS you lose most, though, isn’t under tower: it’s the waves that die on their own while you’re dead, roaming or standing around. A whole wave is a lot of gold (about a third of a kill), so when you leave your lane look for replacement CS —a jungle camp or the sidelane wave on the way— and never walk past minions without finishing them. Then turn that gold into power: when to recall and item buy order.
The tower hits each minion for a percentage of its health. Rule of thumb: let a melee minion take 2 tower shots and finish with one auto; a caster, 1 shot; the cannon tanks ~5 shots, so hit it twice or use an ability. Since 2025 minions tank more: confirm with the damage you see, not from memory.
FAQ
What is last-hitting in LoL?
It’s landing the final blow on a minion to get its gold and CS. Only the last hit counts for gold, so you time your auto-attack for the minion to die exactly to your hit. Since your damage changes with level and items, the timing adjusts all game: watch how much health your auto removes and release it when the minion has that amount left.
How do you CS under the tower?
The tower hits minions for a percentage of their health, so you use its shots to bring them into your hit’s range. Rule of thumb: let a melee minion take 2 tower shots then finish with one auto; let a caster take 1 tower shot then finish; the cannon tanks a lot, so hit it several times or use an ability. Since 2025 minions tank more, so confirm by watching the damage, not from memory.
What’s a good CS per minute?
It depends on role and rank, but as a reference: 6–7 CS/min is already decent for most, 8+ is very good and the best laners hover around 9–10 CS/min. More important than the absolute number is not stopping: every wave missed is ~100+ gold. The per-role and per-minute benchmarks are in the CS and gold per minute guide.