Before I start up with guides for each character, I thought it would be important for everyone to learn the basics first. (I also need to ask Orcun's permission to post his infamous UB build)
I didn't want to write the same thing in every DG guide so I thought it would be easier if I just posted a general overview so I don't have to repeat myself 10 times.
I'm certainly not the best DG player. That title belongs to Orcun. What I do have is experience. I've been playing this game for quite a long time (maybe too long) and probably tried every build you could think of (yes I've had a yeti Sedna phase). Now that it's a year into the game and probably everything has been tried, it's become pretty clear what is the best build for each Demigod - I've seen them all; the good and the terrible.
But before I start writing up specific guides, I would like to point to a few common problems I see many players make - yes even those who are "experienced." You might not agree with my take on them, but I'm just expressing my viewpoints based on my experience with the game.
The wrong person buying currency
This happens way too often. Before the game starts, it should be obvious based on the character who should be buying currency. Here's pretty much a simple break down on who should be buying currency, from the highest priority to the lowest in a 3v3 or more:
1) Regulus
2) Erebus
3) Torch Bearer
4) Sedna
5) Oak
6) Demon Assassin
7) Queen of Thorns
8) Occulus
9) Rook
10) Unclean Beast
Obviously if someone gets 2 kills before reaching war rank 3, then you can have them buy currency (even though if those 2 kills went to UB I'd still buy them). One of my biggest frustration is when a Regulus or an Erebus refuses to buy currency when you have a Rook and a UB on the team. Rook, QoT, DA, Occ are heavily mana dependent early on. Especially with a Rook, if you can allow him to shop around for his items in the beginning, he will greatly reward you in the end. Because his item build is not expensive (will expand in Rook guide) he will end up buying most of the end-game citadel upgrades. Also a Rook with mana means a Rook who can build lots of towers to hold flags and set up kills, which is to your advantage.
A regulus does need mana for snipes (which is not an issue on Leviathan) but stick with a mana pot if you only have money to buy currency. One of the best things about having a regulus on your team is to not worry about early citadel upgrades - if you're forcing your teammates to buy them then you've pretty much defeated the purpose of a regulus (more on that in the Regulus guide). While it might sound very sad but you are pretty much useless compared to your teammates, your job is to keep them strong.
While Erebus does need a lot of mana to use mass charm, bat swarm and bite - an Erebus can hold its own early game with coven and mist. Those vampires do quite a bit of damage in the beginning and mist will help you stay alive in virtually any situation. Your bite also heals yourself, so you're not in dire need of hp like the rest of the DGs. If you are getting currency, just be mindful of your mana pool (which will be discussed in the EB guide).
A UB should NEVER buy currency ESPECIALLY if there's a UB on the other team. Why? Because the stronger the UB is on your team, the better chance of you winning fights. If the UB on your team is weaker than the UB on the other team, then you're in trouble. UB buying currency really hurts the UB and it's going to be very hard to catch up after that. So, if you have a UB on your team don't expect him to buy currency, it should be you.
Buying a sigil too early
I've heard of way too many people tell me 10 minutes into the game, "If I had a sigil then I would've lived!" While that may be true, you should've never been in the situation where you would need to sigil in the first place. When you have less than 3k (I'd even argue 4k) of health, it's really not worth spending money on a sigil. A sigil gives you 50% of your maximum health for 30 seconds - so it only gives you a 30 second time frame to do stuff (even less time if a Regulus is watching for your sigil to wear off) and then you'd have to go back to your citadel and heal up. Buy a potion instead because +750hp actually lasts and it saves you money. Sigils are quite expensive and while you may think you're amazing because you're running way from battles without dying - you're going to start feeling the pain soon enough when the other team has more gold than you to buy beautiful items and is higher leveled because they didn't need to continuously walk back to their citadel. By that point, even a sigil wouldn't help you.
Activating a sigil too early/too late
If you've activated a sigil too late, it probably means you're dead. Now I understand you want to trick your opponents by popping a sigil in when you're down to 200hp so you can surprise them and kill them. That works if you're confident the other team doesn't have a stun or any instant burst damage. I'm still surprised when I play a Sedna that people would still willingly wait until they're down to 1k to pop a sigil, when Sedna has a 5 second silence. Think about the characters on the other team - Erebus has a 3 second mass charm, Occulus, Fire TB and DA can pop up to 2k instant damage at level 10, Sedna can silence for up to 5 seconds, UB can grasp you for 2, Rook can boulder roll for up to 2.5 seconds and hammer slam does a massive amount of damage, ice TB can also stun for up to 3 seconds. Instead of saying "Darn it, stupid silence" what you really should be saying to yourself is "Why didn't I sigil earlier."
Don't sigil before you go into a battle, that's just silly because it will wear off during battle so what you essentially end up doing is giving them a free kill. Also don't sigil too early because then your opponent will run away and you've essentially just wasted 500 gold. It just takes a bit of experience to know when is the right time to sigil, but I can say that especially with a UB, timing of the sigil is what separates the good players from the best players.
Also, don't sigil if you know you're not going to survive anyway unless you're giving your teammates a chance at killing them. Why waste the 500 gold?
Dying to lock a portal
Don't be so hasty to relock the portal when the portal towers are still standing. I've come across many situations where people get cocky when they're winning, so they constantly just rush into the portals to lock and then die for it.
First, it's not that crucial to keep the portal locked unless you have giants. Second, it's not worth dying to lock a portal if you're the only person with a stun and if you're the carry. Why? Because that means that the other team can rush into your portal to steal yours and your teammates won't be able to do anything about it. I know Oaks like to do this in particular, where they tp in, shield then lock and then die for it - without realizing we probably need you. What you should be doing is walking into their portals, shield lock and tp out. If you have journeyman's then you've probably got a better shot at surviving, but the only person who can really tp into a portal with 3 people standing there and relock safely is an erebus. If it's become the crucial time to lock portals, then plan to go in as a group. If you consistently feed them kills trying to lock their portals, they will eventually have enough money to make a comeback.
Excessive Fake Porting
I've been noticing that once people have started to realize the usefulness of fake ports, too many people have started fake porting excessively. It's not a big deal if you're talking on vent and you're telling each other exactly what you're doing, but I don't like talking most of the time and a lot of people don't have mics.
The purpose of a fake port is to scare your opponents away, if your opponents don't get scared, then most likely you actually should tp in. Playing with teammates who fake port excessively is quite frustrating - you decide to engage because you see your teammate tping in and the other team decides to stay and fight it out, but what your teammate was actually doing was faking a port, which ends up with you dying because you thought your teammate was tping in to gank. The worst is when they make a comment like "why did you engage" - classic face palm moment right there. Use your fake ports wisely, don't over do it. If you fake port but see your teammate engage, quickly communicate with him via ingame chat, or actually go tp in and gank. They're doing YOU a favour by trying to set up a kill.
Running away too early
If you are an Erebus or an Occulus, maybe even a speedy fire TB, there is no reason for you to get all scared when you see your opponents teleporting in. STAY, because I can tell you that most of the time it's just a fake port. If a bunch of people do port in, then just blink away. What you've essentially done is made them waste a port and probably also freed up another lane in the process.
Another common mistake is that players often run away too far when they see their opponent tp in. There is a good chance that it's a fake port, so don't run too far. One trick is to "dance" around the flag, to make it seem like you're leaving the flag but you're still in range to cap it. Just move forward (but don't ever pass a capped flag) and backward a couple of times.
If your teammates are tping in to gank, then engage first (assuming you can tank for a bit) to attract your opponents so that your teammates can gank. I know it seems quite obvious, but there have been numerous times where I've tped in just to watch the UB on my team run away with full health. By running away, you've wasted my time and a port.
Flag, Kill & Tower Envy
It's important to understand that in order for you to win a game, you need to have the war score and gold - there needs to be a balance.
One common strategy is to get flag locks early and start locking flags all around the map. When you do that, the opposing team starts to become anxious so they start to move around the map in hopes of capturing a flag. However, because everyone is all over the place, it's easy to kill off people to gank. So for example, let's say on cataract that the hp flag and the mid flag are captured by the opposing team, and you and your partner are laning on the hp side - typical scenario. The opposing team locks the hp flag and leaves - most likely they're leaving to go to the mid flag so you can't capture it. Use that prediction to your advantage - DON'T LEAVE your hp flag because if you leave for mid, then what will probably happen is that the mid flag will be capped, 3 of them will port into the hp side and gank the poor guy standing there all by himself waiting for the flag to be unlocked. Don't be anxious, you will eventually get the hp flag back. Also, with each lock they're using they're losing 250 gold - which is quite a lot of gold in the beginning of the game. As long as you don't give them kills, then they will be disadvantaged by the middle of the game. However, if you leave your partner to try and capture mid, and then all 3 go in to gank that 1 poor guy, you're essentially rewarding them for locking. Don't do that. Of course the converse is also true, don't excessively lock flags. What is the point of reaching war score 10 when no one has any money to buy creeps?
If you were winning in kills but still ended up losing the game, what most likely happened was that the other team got giants first. I know that the reg seems really delicious as a UB, but if you see your opponents taking down your portal towers, that should take precedence over 1 kill on a regulus. The most common way people miss their own portal being captured is when they're too focused on getting a kill - pay attention to the entire map. This game only requires you to only press a few buttons in battle, it's not that hard to keep an eye out for your own portals and valor flag.
Some people also have an obsession with taking down towers but the purpose of taking down the towers is so you can push your creep wave forward and also make it easier to steal their portals. The keyword here is "easier" - does not make it a definite yes. For example, a minion build often takes down towers quite quickly, but even if they have all the portal towers down they often still have a difficult time stealing portals because they've invested a lot of money into buffing their minions. If you're an Occulus, fine go attack the towers because they do a good job at it and they also have an escape mechanism. If you're any other character, don't be so hasty. Dying to take down a tower is often not the greatest trade off because each death rewards your opponents with a lot of gold. I understand that a regulus can hit towers without getting hurt, but if an erebus tps in, bat swarms and bites you're pretty much screwed.
And here's just a small sneak peek I suppose. I didn't want to write a massive 10 page essay right from the get go. I'll add more soon but I just posted what I think are the important ones to address first.
