“I’m none of those things; I just do my job and things get-”
“Demolished?”
Rook – Demolition Man Build
TOC
I. Introduction
II. Build
III. Favor Item
IV. Expenditures
V. Income
VI. Play style
VII. Remember
VIII. Closing/Thanks
1. Introduction
I’ve been using Rook since the release of Demigod and have attempted a number of different techniques that I’ve read from the forums and put together on my own. Many players tend to use Rook as a Demigod killer because he fits into the Assassin category. Whereas this is a viable option, I find the Rook to be a more efficient in the support role.
One 3 out of 4 of the game play styles, it is beneficial to push further into the enemies base. Not only can flags provide you increased income and benefits, but it also weakens your opponent. The goal for the Demolition Man build is to design a Rook who can efficiently, and early on take down an opponent’s Towers and get to their flags or into their base.
2. Build
1. Power of the Tower
2. Archer Tower
3. Structural Transfer
4. Power of the Tower
5. Tower Of Light
6. Structural Transfer
7. Power of the Tower
8. Trebuchet
9. Structural Transfer
10. Power of the Tower
11. Structural Transfer
12. God Strength
13. God Strength
14. -Save-
15. Poisoned Arrows, Energizer
16. God Strength
I’ve allotted points up to level 16. Most of the games that I have played tend to end considerably earlier if you’ve a sufficient partner and play with this build smart enough. The few games that I did get that high of a level, I pumped the points into stats, though some folks can make a fair argument for Boulder Roll.
3. Favor Item – Amulet of Teleportation
4. Expenditures
Whenever I start I purchase Scaled Helm and Scalemail. As soon as the funds become available, upgrade to Vlemish Faceguard. Once you purchase the second helm, you’ll notice how in most events you’ll rarely run out of mana.
You may want to invest in a scroll of teleportation or two (primarily because they have a faster cool down than your amulet.) You will also need a few Capture Locks.
From here, your money expenditure can be quite flexible. You can invest in Armor increasing items, upgrades for you base, or do what I do: completely forget you have money (not on purpose) until Light/Dark Giants become available. I recommend choosing based on how the game you’re in is going.
After doing some more testing on larger games (4v4), I’ve come to the conclusion that speed enhancing items are not worth the cost. Focusing on your Rook’s armor will yield you better survivability and effectiveness in the field. Depending the map, flags, and opponents, you may even get to skip the Vlemish Faceguard as well.
Armor of Vengeance is a good investment against melee heavy opponents and if you got the money to spare, the Bulwark of Ages is beautiful.
5. Income
Your income will be based off of creeping, flag capping, and building destruction.
6. Play Style
Much like Qvar's Ninja Rook build, the Demolition Man requires its share of mobility. The main reason you get the Amulet of Teleportation is that it provides you a number of benefits. On large maps, you get to capping flags right away and possibly creeping before your allies/enemies do. In the event you do get damaged enough or low mana enough that you’re forced to return to heal, it doesn’t make such a retreat as detrimental to your progress.
I generally begin by teleporting to one of towers closest to whatever flag I want. Most games you can cap the flag before anyone shows up. Plant a tower next to the flag and go to cap another. By the time the creeps start arriving, you’ll get most of the credit for the damage your towers do and you should have two flags at this point. I generally leave one tower at each flag before returning to the creep lane.
If you’re by yourself in the creep lane, you’ve got two options. You can sit around farming creeps, or you can kill the creeps in your lane and teleport to another section on the map that has creeps available and kill them as well. What this does is increases the amount of gold/XP that you generate per wave. In many matches where my ally had excelled at killing enemy Demigods, I found myself a higher level because of this method early on.
While creeping in multiple areas, this may also be a solid method to cap more flags. Remember, you get XP and gold for capping flags as well as destroying buildings.
If you are in a lane with an opponent, you plant your towers down and hide behind them. You can engage your opponent but I’d only recommend it if the battle is in your favor. Because the levels are so low, your tower provides you an advantage in early confrontations. I’ve scored a few kills early game from half healthed Assassin Demigods who were dealing with creeps, my tower and my Rook.
Once you hit level 3, this is where things can get fun. Depending the map you’re on, the rules are very different. On Conquest/Dominate, this is where you will wait at a flag, help your creeps clear the area out and before they run forward, plant a Tower next to the enemies Tower. Run out of range and then come back in range as your creeps join in. This is where you pound away at the enemy tower. If you’re 3/4ths health or less, use Structural Transfer. Whenever appropriate, drop another Tower nearby.
If done right (or you’re lucky), the enemy Towers will focus on your Towers while you and the creeps widdle down the enemy Tower. This early in the game it won’t be a fast procedure. You’ll likely deal with a few waves of creeps which your Tower, Archer shoulder, and creeps will deal with. Remember, if you run low on mana/health, or an enemy with higher health comes along, discretion is the better part of valor… Run.
I generally recommend running behind one of your bases natural towers and creating a second one next to it. I avoid going to heal as much as possible. The main reason is, the longer you are in the field, the more XP/Money you earn. Remember, your Amulet of Teleportation can get you out of some bad messes.
One Fortress mode, depending the map you can usually find one enemy fortress parallel to your own (especially on Cataract.) Even before level 3, you can play a tower in front of yours, wait and then plant another in front of the enemy Fortress. If you’re left alone, you can widdle the Fortress down using towers. If an enemy arrives, you can retreat behind your fortress and they will take damage from your fortress and a Tower. I had one unfortunate 1 versus 2 game where I was able to take down the enemies Fortress within’ the first 3-4 minutes. The key strength was the unexpectedness of it. Remember, buildings garner XP and money. Once you’ve gotten one Fortress down, you can proceed to normal creep/push methods.
The strength to this build requires that you make a lot of progress early game. You push hard and fast and you teleport to where there are openings. I will generally push along the main path of the mob waves until I’ve a few levels, and then if available, I will push along side routes to get extra flags and such.
This is your primary technique, pushing into unguarded areas little by little. On a game with poor opponents, you can push very far on one side without raising alarm. With more skilled opponents, I’d recommend teleporting away to an unguarded area. Always keep away of what’s going on in the map. If you see that your ally has killed an enemy Demigod and is making a push, you may consider teleporting in to assist. But always remember, your job is to take down those buildings at a steady pace.
On Cataract, for example, one can push towards the enemies spawn points. Now, depending on how far the game has progressed, and how well one is doing, you choose how to spend your money. If you’ve creeped smartly and destroyed a lot of buildings, you’ll find yourself with a very High Warscore and a good share of money. A favored technique is taking the enemy before the summoning portal, taking the summoning portal, and then dropping a Flag Lock. Teleport back to your base and drop all your money to upgrade from Priests to Light Giants. Some would argue to run past the towers and just get the portal. It’s a viable idea but you don’t want to risk your troops spawning from there, getting distracted with towers.
Using the above technique, I have turned the tides of many losing games and finished up winning games more smoothly. One game of Dominate, my ally and I were able to destroy the enemy Citadel using towers and mobs before we had enough points. Speaking of Dominate, on that style of gameplay, the use of a single tower near a flag is meant as a teleport beacon in case an enemy Demigod comes strolling along.
Keep in mind, depending the map, opponents, and allies, many of these written techniques will alter. Any build is simply a guideline. When I play, my focus is to take down those buildings fast and be where I’m not expected. I don’ try to be a rock star with Demigod kills or an unbeatable slaughter house. The Rook has too many short comings to make that a viable option. But with my outline, if you play effectively enough, you’ll find yourself at the end of any match with the higher number of Favor points (upgrades, troops, assists, buildings, etc.)
7. Remember
-What is this build designed for?
This build is to construct the Rook in a manner that efficiently and quickly take down enemy structures and pushes deeply into the enemy base.
-What it is not?
This build does not make Rook a Demigod killer or unstoppable force.
-Your key strength will be on mobility, destruction of buildings and creeps. Your secondary weapons (Archers, Orb, Trebuchets) will provide a considerably higher boost of damage to when you try to take down towers and provide you sufficient protection against creeps
-If you run low on health, Structural Transfer one of your own made Towers.
-If you and an enemy Demigod fight over a flag a lot, Flag Lock it, and teleport to somewhere else less noisy. In some cases a Flag Lock causes a weak Demigod to leave the area and allow you to push on.
-Teleport Scrolls have a faster cool-down than your amulet. Use them!
-Don’t be afraid to move around the map a lot.
-If you’re pushing with an ally, the Rook makes a great target. Plant a lot of towers and Transfer to get your health back up. I’ve had an ally destroy both Demigods while they were distracted with taking down the big castle.
-Setting traps for enemy Demigods… This one is fun. Study your enemies run patterns, learn how they retreat. Plant 4-5 towers in their retreat path. Teleport to an area in front of them and force them to run towards that path. More than once I’ve tricked an enemy who was attacking my bases towers to run away at low health into a path of my pre-constructed towers (really effective on Crucible.)
8. Closing/Thanks
Qcvar - for his inspirational Ninja Rook guide. It was the foundation for many of the techniques I used here.
Lambdaman - for teaching me the value of the Amulet of Teleportation.
Arrodo - for creating, editing, and hopefully maintaining the wiki page for this guide. He has also been instrumental for providing the links and many of the format and syntax edits that have been made. I will also be adding an abbreviated cliff notes version of the play style for those who cannot handle a wall of text at his behest.
Don’t know if I’ve missed anything but I’m sure I’ll update this as I go along. If anyone else has any recommendations or commentary, I’m all ears.
