The first part of this guide will discuss duo lanes, and I will cover a mid lane tutorial later.
Quick Glossary of Terms I Use
AD/PP = Attack damage, or Physical Power. All basic attacks are physical damage, even the basic attacks of a mage. Physical power increases your basic attack damage as well as the abilities of physical gods.
AP/MP = Ability power. Also known as Magical Power. Magical Power increases the effectiveness of magical god's abilities only. Only when a passive or an item like polynomicon comes into play does your magical power affect
AP Carry / Mage = Magical characters that push a lane. These characters tend to rely on their abilities and blast spells instead of attacking.
Bruiser = A tank built to do damage and only have a little defense. Typically using reinforced boots and perhaps one or two other defensive items. The rest is built AP or AD, depending on the God.
Tank = A tank character build specifically to defend against damage. Most if not all of their items will increase their defense.
Farm = Acquiring Gold/XP by staying in lane.
Fed = When a god has more kills / farm than the other gods and is now much stronger than most if not everyone else in the current game. A snowballed god.
Feed / Feeding = Getting easy kills and getting the extra gold and xp that comes with it beyond basic farming.
Team Composition
This is important, but in PUG (pick-up groups, random queue with strangers) it is very hard to control. I don't know how many games I have been in where three people immediately lock melee attack-damage carries (loki, arachne, sun wu) and then expect to win. Most teams need to follow the following rules:
Mid: Needs a strong mage, bruiser or AD carry. Usually you want this to be a ranged character like Ao, Anubis, Ra, Agni, or Anhur. Some other choices are very viable, but are more advanced choices for mid. I have had a lot of luck with a strong bruiser Odin mid, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you really know what you are doing.
Side lanes: Generally, each lane wants a tank and a carry. Tanks don't need to build 100% tank, in fact it is not recommended for both tanks to do so. However you do want someone who can tank towers if needed. Tanks with stuns are extremely useful to combine with high damage carries. Healing tanks like Vamana and Guan Yu have a lot of lane sustain, which I will cover in my next section.
Side lanes typically also want one of their gods to be ranged, but both being ranged is also fine. You also want gods who work well together. Gods who can combine their ultimates with deadly effect or gods with other skills that work well together.
Stay in lane - Lane Sustain
You would think this one would be easy to follow, but it is not. Usually because the person in lane forgot or did not know the power of potions.Why to stay in lane
Being in lane and being close to the enemy minions is important. When an enemy creep (minion) dies, and you are close by, you get gold and xp. This is how you level and buy new items. If you're in a lane with someone else, you share the gold and xp (though it's not a 50% split, I think you both get like 75% of the xp and gold). You get even more if you kill the creeps without your creeps being nearby, but that risks taking damage from the creeps and being easily ganked by the opposing team.You can also score a small bonus of XP and Gold by getting the final hit on a creep. This takes some practice, but early on can result in a significant bonus over your opponent. It is very difficult for melee gods to score last hits with a ranged enemy god in lane against them, as the ranged god will take advantage of their vulnerability and peg them with shots.
- Stay close to creeps to get the full XP and Gold.
- Try and last hit the enemy creeps for a bonus.
Early Sustain
BUY POTIONS. If you're choosing between buying potions or a second level of an item, always, always, always buy potions. The reason is simple.
Potions cost next to nothing (50gold) and allow you to stay in the lane much longer. While you're in lane, you are farming and gaining gold. Gold that can buy that rank 2 and 3 item you are working on. If you return to base because you are out of health and mana, you are no longer farming. You aren't gaining any gold or xp. If you are forced to go back before level 5, you will be returning to enemy gods who have their ultimate already and will probably end up feeding them.
So please, buy potions! Buy mana and health potions.
Some gods, like Guan Yu, can heal. For Guan I usually buy 5 mana potions and 2 health potions. The first health potion to allow me to easily tank the buff camp pre-lane. The second for early heals until I get my healing skill.
The 500 or so gold for a full set of potions may seem like a lot, but it will allow you to stay in lane a long time. By the time you go back you will have the gold to buy more than just one item. You also force your opponents to stay in lane, and if they are like most people I see, they also choose not to buy potions. If you force them back before you, you get easy farm. If they stick around with no health or mana you are going to feed when you get those easy kills on them.
- Buy potions over a full item.
- Always buy potions
- Outlast your opponents.
- Try not to leave before level 5.
When to go back
When in a side lane with two people, you will both often need to go back around the same time. This is a mistake. If you both leave lane at the same time then no one is getting the XP and Gold from the minions that are dying.
Usually when you share a lane you are splitting that xp and gold between the two of you. Not a full 50/50 split, it seems more like each of you gets 3/4ths of the xp and gold for a kill. However if you both go back no one is getting that farm. Worse, if your opponents come back early you will probably lose a tower.
The proper strategy is a simple one. One goes, one stays. This is why potions are important. They allow you to stay while your partner goes back to buy and heal after a 2 v 2 fight. If you have different levels, then the lower level person should stay to get the most out of a cleared lane.
While your partner is gone, you get 100% of the xp and gold from killed creeps, effectively farming as if you were mid for a short time. Once your partner is back, THEN you return to base to heal and buy items. This allows them to get the full farm on as well.
Another basic strategy, any time you leave lane, is to leave the lane after the enemy creep wave is dead but before the next one arrives. This allows you to milk the full XP from the creep wave before leaving. It also allows you to push your creeps a little further giving you some safe time to go out of lane to get a buff or to return to base.
Finally, always grab a couple potions if you're going back. Especially mana potions for AD characters. Your mana pool tends to be small, and a few pots give you continued sustain.
- Never leave your lane empty.
- If lane partner goes back, the other stays to get full farm.
- Go back in turns.
- Never leave lane until the enemy creep wave is dead and your creeps are pushing forward.
- Remember to restock on some potions.
When to be Aggressive
Early game aggression can be a key to a quick game that snowballs in your favor. Mistakes in early game aggression can cost you the early game and feed the other team. So when do you know when to push and when to play it safe? What are some of the key things to avoid when pushing for a kill?
I will cover this in my next post.
