Rolling Rook: Advice?

By Ke5trel on February 4, 2010 5:13:37 PM from

So I've been playing some Rook lately and liking it, but where I'm getting some basic builds and exposure boundaries I can't help thinking I'm missing the bigger picture. I'm losing games as Rook that I know I would win as one of my mains.

So what I'd really appreciate from all you Rook players out there is some helpful outlines of what I should be doing as Rook at every stage of a typical 2v2-3v3 Cata, and replays that illustrate your points would be really cool, too

If you have thoughts on Ronin vs Premade (i.e. you can't always expect instant supporting ports when exposed vs you can) that would also be good

My newb build has been fluctuating based on whim, mostly. I generally either go Amulet of TP, BoTF, or Vial, and then either mix slam/boulder/towers with shoulders to have Trebuchets early or just straight slam/boulder/towers. I like the Nuke capacity of Slam but Treb is so good against portal-side towers. Not really interested in a non-tower Rook right now, but if your build is just stellar then feel free to change my mind ^^

Any thoughts you guys have would be appreciated!

Cheers,
Kestrel

+118 Karma | 22 Replies

Not that you need advice, but standard Rook rules apply to all builds.

Rule 1
You must have towers

Rule 2
If you are fighting someone outside of your towers, you are going to die... maybe not to the guy you are fighting, but if you are playing people who know what they are doing, they are going to tele in and kill you before you can withdraw.

Rule 3
If you get caught in a 2on1 before you have boulder, you are going to die
Rule 2 applies

Rule 4
If you get caught in a 2on1 and succeed with a boulder, you must run, not fight.
Rule 2 applies

Rule 5- Patience in all things, if you are taking damage from anything but another DG, you are doing it wrong.

Rule 6- God Strength is a bad skill until end levels (15+), when your attack rate is much higher.

Rule 7- Life life life, stack life.

rule 8: If you don't get a strike then you are screwed.

If you are a tower build and you are outside of your towrers you are going to die. If you are a hybrid or slam build you will not die thanks to the highest health in the game and insane burst damage with hammerolls.

Also, Rook is the best demigod for luring opponents. Everyone assumes that the rook is weak and slow, making him everyone's primary. If you walk back and forth around your towers constantly, some weaker players (especially those that use UB) will try to attack (spit) you, in which case you can boulder roll them for an extra 3-4 hits from your towers as the flee in terror. (without ever getting hit)

Rule 2

If you are fighting someone outside of your towers, you are going to die... maybe not to the guy you are fighting, but if you are playing people who know what they are doing, they are going to tele in and kill you before you can withdraw.

Rule 9:

If you are fighting an erebus stay in the baaaack of your tower farm just outside of batswarm range, and slam his minions if he tries to suicide them into your towers and attack.

(There's nothing I like more than a mana stack rook that sits in batswarm range)

Rule 10: Do not use rook against Erebus unless there is an Erebus on your team

most powerful all round build is tower+ late slam, items are staff of renewal, 2xmana helm, 3xhp/armor and orb of defiance, skills are towers + shoulders + roll early, slam lvl 11-14. very good at pushing base, very hard to be killed without being outnumbered.

build i used to use is full out slam build with 0 towers early game, items = narmoth ring, nimroth armor, vlemish helm, unbreakable boots, duelist cuirass, SIGILS, skills = slam, shoulders, roll, god str (!). I find this build a lot of fun as you can often get multi-smites with well timed hammer slams. The main strength in hammer slam is its insane damage at lvl 10, and you need to get it as early as possible before the enemy team stacks too much hp.

tower + slam hybrid where you take an early point or 2 in towers is VERY mana intensive, so you will probably need 2xmana helms, and will be weaker later on than the tower/slam renewal rook build.

towers vs god strength - if all towers are hitting the enemy demigod, they do more overall dps than god strength by far, however a ) it is rare you will have all 8 towers up b ) it is rare all 8 towers will be hitting enemy you want to target - hence why god strength is not as bad as it seems, and I take cuirass to buff it some more. if you are doing it right you can 1v1 any enemy demigod as long as you have a monk by your side, and unleash unbelievable AoE damage in team fights with slam.

you WILL be needing a general on your team to provide you with 1 monk the entire game.

slam rook is very effective in a solo lane because he is very powerful if he reaches level 10 before other players, and can rival UB / Erebus is built correctly.

ok so builds are good, I like to see builds, but what I'm really looking for is an idea of what Rook is doing early, mid, and late game i.e. mana or forti? At what point should I have an enemy tower down? When should I work on portal towers?

Dying isn't a problem, I'm not feeding much at all, but I get their tower down, get my farm set up, and then I stall out. Just don't know what I'm supposed to do after that..

Any thoughts would be helpful, and if you have an awesome Rook replay then please throw it on, thanks

my strat is to go to the mana flag solo, with monk backup. you then clear creep waves with lvl 1 slam, and run to cap middle flag, while enemy caps mana flag. keep doing this every single time and you level up super fast thanks to the flag experience + solo lane. you will be against another solo doing the same thing. you can take them 1on1 if you open with a slam (fake cast if needed to make them waste interrupt) and make sure it takes out their creep wave + monks. you then have shoulder arrow dmg and creep dmg and they won't be able to hold the mana flag vs that.

try to carry a tp and slam gank the hp flag if the opportunity arises. as soon as you hit lvl 10, push for team fights where you will obliterate the lvl~7 enemies. downside is that they will also have a higher lvl demigod on their team, which is dangerous if it is say UB. however a level 10 rook can easily carry a whole team to victory with 1 well timed slam doing 6k burst dmg in a team fight, and they will all focus you, so you just blow a sigil when you get low whilst your allies smack the **** out of them untouched.

as for tower rook, i never managed to make it work myself, but i have seen other people make it work and the goal is to push as hard as possible and take out as many buildings as quickly as possible from the start of the game. make sure your allies are always carrying a tp so they can assist if you get ganked. once u hit lvl 10 you can either push for a portal lock, or completely block up their creeps by towering up the middle with your team nearby. they are forced to defend or you push to citadel. but like i said, i never manage to make tower rook work particularly well so : \
(good teams will just send in minons first, drawing tower dps and leaving you as a sitting duck)

you then clear creep waves with lvl 1 slam

Slamming a creep wave costs way too much mana to be useful. A couple hundred mana to kill the creep wave 0.3 seconds faster

<disclaimer>I'm not saying slam builds are bad</disclaimer>

You really should never take hammer slam I until level 3, ever. You get almost nothing out of it, whereas power of the tower lets you kill creeps and enemies without getting in the middle of it all and taking damage.

Regardless of your build, the only acceptable start for rook is

Power of the Tower I
Archer Tower
Hammer Slam

Then, you have a choice. Do you want to go for more hammer or more towers?

If you choose Hammer Slam II, you will be weak for a few levels, but then your strength will skyrocket

If you choose Power of the Tower II, you will be quite strong and capable of holding 2v1 for about 45 seconds or until a teammate arrives to help you out.

Level 5 should *always* be boulder roll. Tower of light is acceptable as well but boulder roll will be more helpful in team fights and let you lure enemies into your towers for a stun + heavy damage

Level 6 should always be tower of light, it's too much dps to pass up.

Level 7 is hammer slam III or Tower III

Level 8 should be trebuchet

Level 9 should be saved

level 10 should be hammer IV or tower IV, AND boulder roll II

Whichever build you choose after lvl 11, keep on going for the core skills, never get structural transfer or stats

I get their tower down, get my farm set up, and then I stall out. Just don't know what I'm supposed to do after that..

Rook does go through a rather awkward adolescence where he has taken down towers but is too weak to push forward. By level 7, however, he should be able to set up 7 towers in a line to push toward the gold flag. If you're not in the lane with the gold flag, do the same but put up a tower so that the enemy towers target it instead of you, then work the towers down until they fake a tele or try to come in behind you. If they come from behind, boulder roll them inside your tower farm then slam them. It can be a weak slam, but it will make them back off or waste an interrupt that will let you tele out if things get rough.

Get Janooks build.

Yeah, I think Janook has the strongest Rook hybrid build. It pains me to say this, as I invented the hybrid Rook.

Early game, consider what Demigods are on your team. Sedna makes an excellent partner for Rook as she is a support Demigod that is good for holding, not pushing. Never partner with another assassin. A general will give you the staying power you need.

If you are soloing a lane, you need to continually throw up towers next to their towers and bring them down fast.

The amulet of teleportation is great on Rook. You always need to look for ganking opportunities. When using this favor item, I try to keep two towers on both sides of the map early game. This allows me to teleport back-and-forth regardless of whether our team holds a flag or not

When using the teleport ammy, I will frequently run myself low on health and mana. This usually forces my opponent to walk back to base to heal. I, however, get to teleport back. In effect, I use my teleport amulet for health and mana regen early game. I only do this if I can force my opponents to walk back home or bring down a tower.

Endgame, you need to turtle up on an enemy portal. The Staff of Renewal is excellent at helping Rook do this.

I never really capture the XP flag with Rook. He is too slow. This requires, of course, that your faster teammates will fight for it.

Spamming Boulder Rool on creeps looks fun, but it is a waste of mana. Don't spam the Hammer too unless there are giants or another Demigod under your slam. Your AA gains AOE after level 8. Rook has serious mana issues if you don't reserve his nukes for enemy DGs.

I find it hilarious that you are just starting to play Rook. My last Demigod to learn was Oak. We sort of learned the exact opposite Demigods of each other. Out of all the DGs, Rook is by far the easiest to play, IMO. "Throw shit up, knock shit down."

As TB, I work GREAT with a Rook. The ranged tower TB has is GREAT when supported by the castle that Rook is and makes.

Out of all the DGs, Rook is by far the easiest to play, IMO. "Throw shit up, knock shit down."

Absolute lies. As the slowest DG, you have to know when to advance and when to retreat. You have to know how to position your towers! Too many times have I been laned against another rook where they put up one tower in range of three of my towers... You need to make a bowl or line shape with your towers so that your enemies get hit by all the towers at the same time and creep waves get targetted correctly. You also need to understand boulder roll's role in team play and solo play. You can spam it if you have 2 mana helms AND there isn't going to be a critical team fight before it cools down. The best use for boulder roll is the second an enemy approaches your towers.

HELLO Everyone, for someone that is interested in a tower rook for the majority of the game...
The build that I like to use and have found to be a dream:

Level 1: ToP I

Level 2: Archer Tower

Level 3: Save ---- Hammer Slam one is just not worth it right now without Bolder Roll

Level 4: ToP II

Level 5: Tower of Light AND Bolder Roll --- Now you can draw them into the towers only to quickly roll 'em

Level 6: Hammer Slam 1 ---- I know this is sort of late, but you won't be using it too often right now anyway

Level 7: ToP III

Level 8: Trebuchet

Level 9: Save

Level 10: ToP III AND Bolder Roll 2

Level 11-14: Hammer Slam 2,3,4 AND Dazing Force

Level 15+ : What ever you see fit...Perhaps God Strength

Do not go for Bolder Roll 3, though! Only +.5 seconds with a much higher mana cost

Hopefully this helps someone.

Interesting, lvl 3 hammer slam can be good in certain situations, but if there are no crazy minion builds going on, saving to get tower of light and boulder roll at level 5 could be helpful.

We all miss one thing!

The queen beats all the pieces including the rook!

Not the king, the king has infinite value as he is the center around which the gameplay revolves.

Quoting Splitshadow,

reply 17

Not the king, the king has infinite value as he is the center around which the gameplay revolves.

The queen controls everything, the king is just there for public show.

Lol how did you go from chess to real life monarchies?

what is the difference?

amulet of TP on rook is more of an expert level item imo. Perhaps Botf or anklet might be more appropriate training wheels to a good rook build.

1. Tower

2. Archer

3. Save

4. Tower

5. Boulder and Shoulder Tower

6. Slam

7. Slam

8. Slam or Treb

9. Treb or Slam

10. Slam or Boulder

11. Boulder or Slam

12+ From here it really depends on the game. If I am entrenched on an enemy portal on Cata I will get the final two levels of towers to fortify the position. If I am on a bigger map moving around more I will God Strength. Also make sure to get Dizzying Force/ Poisoned Arrows at 15

Items - Staff of Renewal - 2 Helms , 3 HP items (narmoths is preferable if extra money is available) , Sigil + TP + Lock (possibly orb of defiance)

Early Game - Hold a lane with towers. Get Corner tower down if left alone. Keep the flag.

Mid Game - Once corner towers are down make your tower farm there. Don't overextend into their towers. Always be ready for a tele gank with boulder roll + slam on other side of map. If someone is stupid enough to come into your farm just boulder roll to keep them their and slam when appropriate. Also look for long range roll assists/kills. Many times enemy dg's will retreat through the middle on cata. Learn the range of roll and how to lead them. Gotten lots of kill shots from a side alley by rolling down the connector lane. Also start working on the two towers on the cooldown/gold mine flag with your shoulders/treb when you get it. Learn how to position yourself so that your shoulder towers fire at a tower however you don't get it. As soon as you get treb those 2 towers should go down

Late Game - You should be entrenched on a portal. With 4 or possibly more towers you can hold a 2v1 or even a 3v1. Make sure you have a sigil and spike with slam to kill them. With sigils and priests spawning from portal and narmoth's you should stay alive a long time. Have orb of defiance if it gets especially rough. You should be able to hold a portal well enough 2v1 to give the advantage to your teammates to take the other portal. With all 4 portals it is only a short time till gg. Start pushing their base towers with treb as well.

This all pertains to Cataract as that is really the only map I play

Also learn to surprise them with slam... once you only have towers for awhile they wont be expecting it. Possibly get a few levels in it before you unleash to get a large amount of kills. Anyways it becomes easy to get kills at 7+ especially when working with an oak or ereb.

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Rolling Rook: Advice?