Really basic strategies (many of) you need to know

By aias on April 28, 2009 3:40:32 AM from

Some of you will already know this stuff, if that is you, do not bother being offended by these simple suggestions. But if you are new, and you're getting started now, read this.

Capture and Retain control of the neutral flags: This is one the most important things and first thing (after buying some basic equipment) you should do in a game. capturing flags gives you experience, as well it increases your war rank and each flag has it's own perk, whether it's extra experience, a more steady stream of gold, or control of a portal, you need the extra xp, income, control of whatever it is to win. Have you noticed the difference in levels and how it will effect the outcome of a battle one on one with another player? This is why you want experience. You want gold to afford priests, catapultsauri, good armor and helms, gloves, rings followers etc. these things tip the balance in your favor.

Teamwork: Work in groups, if you're alone and come toe to toe with more than one enemy, you're oftentimes screwed. Your death is more than just boring time for losers, it affects the outcome of the game. You do not accumulate experience or gold while dead, your level and your money effect your teammates in a direct way. If they need to cover your ass all the time, or if you can't effectively contribute (i.e. the other team is so much higher level than you that you can't fight them at all)or buy good enough items or citadel upgrades to keep your team in the game, then you're a liability, not an asset to your team.

Communicate: This is really basic, and a subset of teamwork. I really fault the gamemakers for not having voip built into the game in a simple way, but regardless of that. You need to communicate, "Their TB is hurt badly, now would be a good time to kill him"; "If you take down that tower, I can move the troops forward to the fortress"; yadda yadda. Super basic stuff. I need to go get mana is a major deal at times, communicate it to your teammates so they're not (Or you're not) hanging out on a limb when they were expecting you to be backing them up or whatever it is.

Retreat/Don't Die: This sounds almost bizarre it's so basic. I mentioned before some of the effects of dying, here are some others to give you some perspective, the enemy who kills you gains gold and experience for having killed you. Making their position better is bad mmmkay? The more they level up, the more resources they have, be it level, money, or war rank, the worse of you and your teammates are, retreat is a better option than fighting to the death, thinking you're just gambling a little bit and will probably win the fight. You're wrong (most of the time) don't gamble, retreat, drink potions, work in teams, whatever it is.

Remember as well that you're a part of the whole strategic action that will either win or lose the game. You're one of the more powerful pieces on the chessboard, don't take yourself off it.

Budget: This will be an entirely foreign concept to some of you, but you need to budget your money in game. You need to think about where you want your team to go, and where you want yourself to go, and how to get there with the resources you have, and think about it. A lot of people say that Citadel upgrades aren't worth it. I think it remains to be seen if that is true or not...however, the time spent respawning might be better spent fighting, earning experience quickly may help you with the fights you enter, stronger buildings with more firepower will help if you're trying to com back from a deficit. Right now I agree that this is an issue of game balance that is a bit of a mess. People win with very imbalanced approaches to the scenario you're playing out...and win, but I am sure the game makers intended for these things to be a factor, and at times they can be.

Don't fall behind: This game is one in which you can start to backslide easily, don't let that process begin, or it may be over more quickly than you want or think is fair. This is a game of king of the hill, the better you do staying on top of the hill early in the game, the better you're going to do later in the game (a large percentage of the time).

A lot of you are thinking, this is super basic, I don't need this, yadda yadda. If so, this post doesn't apply to you. But it's obvious some people do need to hear this super basic stuff. I hope this has helped some of you.

+10 Karma | 33 Replies

Good tips for new players.

Although I am yet to see someone actually typing "Their TB is hurt badly, now would be a good time to kill him" instead of "end tb low jhp" or "rape tb".

First of all... <myopinion>

Flag capture is a bit of a double-edged sword really. If you spend your time running from flag to flag you'll easily fall behind in experience points, especially in the early levels when killing enemy creeps is a valid method of leveling. Then again, the bonuses -and war score- are often something you absolutely need. What I'm trying to say is that keeping all the flags captured isn't the main purpose or goal in this game. However, they're an important step in achieving your ultimate goal -winning the game-, and when you have the opportunity you should capture them. You have to think "Is that flag important enough for me to sacrifice my time?"

Citadel upgrades? They rock, when used correctly. I'd even go as far as saying that tier1 tower upgrades (regen&splash) are mandatory in almost every map, as well as tier1 currency. Priests and angels are a bit more complicated because if you time them wrong you'll just give the enemy extra experience. Catapulsaurii and Giants are, on the other hand always welcome because they absolutely devastate enemy defences. I usually prefer to buy both priests and angels at the same time, especially in team matches where this doesn't require hoarding money for ages as it can be quite an unpleasant suprise to the enemy who often don't have enough money to buy them both - and soon your creeps will be all over the place. You have to mind enemy demigods though, for example fire-specced Torch makes short work of your creeps.

...Which brings me to my own tip: Decide what you want to do in the game before the game begins! The best example is Torch. In my opinion, you should NOT, in any situation, take both ice and fire skills, but should focus on one of these lines. If you do, you'll end up being decent in everything but not really good in anything. Same applies to every other demigod.

</myopinion>

Flag capture is a bit of a double-edged sword really. If you spend your time running from flag to flag you'll easily fall behind in experience points, especially in the early levels when killing enemy creeps is a valid method of leveling. Then again, the bonuses -and war score- are often something you absolutely need. What I'm trying to say is that keeping all the flags captured isn't the main purpose or goal in this game. However, they're an important step in achieving your ultimate goal -winning the game-, and when you have the opportunity you should capture them. You have to think "Is that flag important enough for me to sacrifice my time?"

This is untrue. If you have a high movespeed (base + boots or >) and do nothing but cap flags, you will make *MUCH* more xp than sitting around creeps. This assumes you are actually able to capture them and do so alone (no xp splitting with nearby allies). If you are unable to finish the cap, you do not get the large capture xp bonus. It's not worth much fighting over flags early on if there are no nearby creeps (unless it's a mine), but it's definitely worth going out of your way to cap every uncontested flag. By doing this you can easily get a level or two ahead of others.

I agree with your comments about upgrades though.

Quoting sanhosee,

reply 3

First of all... <myopinion>

Flag capture is a bit of a double-edged sword really. If you spend your time running from flag to flag you'll easily fall behind in experience points, especially in the early levels when killing enemy creeps is a valid method of leveling. Then again, the bonuses -and war score- are often something you absolutely need. What I'm trying to say is that keeping all the flags captured isn't the main purpose or goal in this game. However, they're an important step in achieving your ultimate goal -winning the game-, and when you have the opportunity you should capture them. You have to think "Is that flag important enough for me to sacrifice my time?"

Citadel upgrades? They rock, when used correctly. I'd even go as far as saying that tier1 tower upgrades (regen&splash) are mandatory in almost every map, as well as tier1 currency. Priests and angels are a bit more complicated because if you time them wrong you'll just give the enemy extra experience. Catapulsaurii and Giants are, on the other hand always welcome because they absolutely devastate enemy defences. I usually prefer to buy both priests and angels at the same time, especially in team matches where this doesn't require hoarding money for ages as it can be quite an unpleasant suprise to the enemy who often don't have enough money to buy them both - and soon your creeps will be all over the place. You have to mind enemy demigods though, for example fire-specced Torch makes short work of your creeps.

...Which brings me to my own tip: Decide what you want to do in the game before the game begins! The best example is Torch. In my opinion, you should NOT, in any situation, take both ice and fire skills, but should focus on one of these lines. If you do, you'll end up being decent in everything but not really good in anything. Same applies to every other demigod.

</myopinion>

I think the first comment is some amount true, killing creeps does garner some experience. and for a good part I agree with your seconde point about citadel upgrades, though not everyone shares that point of view.

Quoting sanhosee,

reply 3

Just to clarify, since some wrong information was presented:

Capturing flags is the BEST way to gain experience at levels 1-4. Each capped flag is around the equivalent of 1 or 2 waves of dead creeps. The best thing you can do at the start of the game is get out there early and cap a flag BEFORE the first waves meet. By doing this you will be level 2 before the first wave dies. Cap another flag and you will be level 3 or almost there. Once you hit level 5 flag caps dont give enough xp to warrant the time they take (also at this point you are most likely capturing flags your enemy has cpatured so it takes twice as long).

Cheers Folks,

Chaos

deleted, unrelated to the comment.

Quoting Retroromanic,

reply 1

Good tips for new players.

Although I am yet to see someone actually typing "Their TB is hurt badly, now would be a good time to kill him" instead of "end tb low jhp" or "rape tb".

it usually is much more like that.

Oh of course, you should always do your best to keep control of the flags. But once you hit level 4, you should stop taking the experience gain into account when judging priorities.

For instance:

If Im coming back from the crystal and Im level 3 playing UB. Lets say Im 3/4 of the way to level 4. Coming up to mid field I see I have 2 choices. I can go after the enemy DG or I can cap the flag thats close by. At level 3, with almost level 4, I would cap the flag before pursuing the enemy DG as this will give me an extra level of spit to open with. If I was level 8 however, I would go straight for the enemy DG as capping a flag will do very little for me at this point.

There are always exceptions of course, like health crystal flags and portal flags, which have MUCH more difficult priority lists, but thats the jist of it.

deleted

Running away at the right time is definitely a great basic strategy to learn. Every time I have died (other than a surprise teleport from an enemy DG while I am already fighting one) has been due to my own greed. When I think I can get the 2 hits I need to finish someone - I usually don't make it. Either tower fire or spit or a fireball or a snipe drops me. (Usually a combination) Whether I actually killed the DG or not is almost irrelevant at that point. When I play more conservatively I fare much better. Nothing makes me more mad then when I hand the enemy free gold. (I played a 3v3 last night where the other team had 2 solid players and a third who suffered 26 deaths. What can you say to that? I was grateful for all of the (free) gold and xp.. but how frustrating for the other players.

I definitely agree with the communication issue. I was boggled when I found that the game did not have a voice feature. It just seems like a no-brainer today. I jump on Skype with a friend whenever we play but that doesn't help with random teammates. Coordinating attacks/defense is key.

Thanks for the tips. Good write-up

Quoting theubersmurf,

reply 11

I think you're missing the point of Basic strategies.

Not at all. You commented on my post but gave no explanation. So I did. Nothing worse then leaving unanswered questions for newbies. Sure it is more then basic, but if one person comes in and that post makes them realise how to prioritize flag captures, all the better. That is why I included the description. For pro tips I wold have just said not to take it into account when your prioritizing.

This is to help people correct? Cant argue what I said doesnt help.

Quoting chaosbrynn,

reply 7

Just to clarify, since some wrong information was presented:

Capturing flags is the BEST way to gain experience at levels 1-4. Each capped flag is around the equivalent of 2 or 3 waves of dead creeps.

No, it's actually not. A minotaur gives 33 exp, while capping a flag gives around 100 exp. That means a single creep wave is worth more then 2 flag captures.

deleted

Liq3: Time to cap a contested flag, 10 seconds. Time to get the same amount of xp from minions, considerably longer. Hence, grabbing a flag is better. Doubly so if you can teleport or get out there quickly as you can cap a flag AND be there for the first wave. Combining the two of them in the proper order gives you the best outcome, but for a new player, they will have more success if they make sure to grab easilly capable flags.

theubersmurf: Whoa, whoa! First of all, its pretty obvious Im not a troll. Otherwise Id have no Karma. Secondly, I wasnt bashing your post, I was responding to reply #3 which could easily be taken by a new player to mean you SHOULDNT be capping flags early on. This is not correct and so I pointed it out. I am not the only one. As to my further posts, if you didnt like them, Im very sorry. I felt that obviously I needed to clarify a bit. In the second post, I gave an example. Please excuse me for not describing every single possible example and outcome. I spend plenty of time on the forums as I love talking about the game. I do nothowever have time to spend 3 days straight writing a post. As you mentioned this was for new players, how useful is "Dont prioritise flag captures for experience gain after level 4"? If your new, not very.

I did not have any issue with your initial post. It is all very good basic information and you are correct that all new players do indeed need to know it. Information I found misleading was then posted and so I felt I should clarify it.

I can see from your posts though that you must be one of those people who love flame wars. As such, I will leave you and your thread to itself. You obviously know everything about what you are trying to say and dont need input from others. My bad.

Cheers,

Chaos

deleted

By using your defensive tower you can hang in there against two demigods and still farm the creep wave during those early levels. It's nice to hold the flag, but at the same time, you can tie up two demigods while your team caps the other flags.

If course I will accept an apology. Things go astray sometimes on forums. Happens to the best of us. I will edit my first post with a quote so there is no confusion.

Quoting Melric,

reply 18

One tactic that hasn't gotten floated here is protecting your defensive towers in the early game. Too often I see a new player leave an area because they are outgunned, e.g., 2 v 1. Those 2 demigods then proceed to slowly whittle away your defensive towers while farming creep waves. Depending on the map, losing a tower early can have bad consequences. It forces you on the defensive and ends up costing you the contested flags in the middle.

By using your defensive tower you can hang in there against two demigods and still farm the creep wave during those early levels. It's nice to hold the flag, but at the same time, you can tie up two demigods while your team caps the other flags.

I think that's a step after basic, but perfectly good an addition. (Only because it's slightly complex a tactic by comparison) but a good thought nonetheless.

Brynn:ty

Flag Capture

I'm surprised how few players use or even know what capture/flag locks are. This can not only be used in late game, locking the flags in the enemy base, but already quite early in game, to lock the middle flag for example, while you recapture another one with team effort. To catch up if you are behind in war score, this is a really good strategy.

Quoting chaosbrynn,

reply 16

...I was responding to reply #3 which could easily be taken by a new player to mean you SHOULDNT be capping flags early on.

Just to clarify, I never said you shouldn't cap them, I merely pointed out that you should't desperately run after them while ignoring mobs. Maybe I was being a bit unclear.

Teamwork: Work in groups, if

I hate when new players always do this. They stick with you and follow you flag to flag. If you just spread out and fight on different lanes then you will outlevel your opponenets. When your being 2v1'ed just camp behind towers and protect them.

Of course there are times when you have to stick together, but sticking together in one group shouldnt be a rule.

Just seeing ANY comment about a wounded Demigod would be fantastic. Actually ANY communication other than, "OMFG! *Random Demigod* is so overpowered!" would be phenominal.

I realize the game is new and everyone is just trying out strategies and getting a basic understanding of the game however, some communication goes a long way to learning and get this - winning!

I know, it's total garbage and I'm a noob that need to learn to win on his own and should try UB... carry on.

AceQ

Quoting DalzK,

reply 23

Teamwork: Work in groups, if
I hate when new players always do this. They stick with you and follow you flag to flag. If you just spread out and fight on different lanes then you will outlevel your opponenets. When your being 2v1'ed just camp behind towers and protect them.

Of course there are times when you have to stick together, but sticking together in one group shouldnt be a rule.

That's not exactly what I mean. More having someone in the area to work with, who can come cover your back if things go bad. zikurat, it's easy to have at least 2 people on either side of the map, neither need to be doing the exact same thing, but they're close enought to one another to help each other out should something go bad.

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Really basic strategies (many of) you need to know