My name is PaulOfTerror, and I am a moderately experienced Vainglory player. I learned a lot quickly, as I really started to play around Spring Break, 2015. I was a little surprised that Vainglory wasn't as accessible to beginners as I thought it was, so I wanted to make a guide in the hopes that I could provide more help to anyone just picking up the game. Welcome to my Tips and Tricks For Vainglory/MOBA Beginners!

Vainglory is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game, if you haven't already figured that out. It may not sound fun, but trust me, it's a pretty addicting game. You control a character (a Hero) as one of a three-person team in a 3v3 match-up. You've probably already learned this in Initiation. However, there is a lot more to it, as you'll see in the guide later on.

Each hero has a specific role (Sniper, Mage, Protector, etc.) and part of the map to play. For example, Ringo is a Sniper (Ranged Hero) based in the Lane, a long stretch of road lined with towers that must be destroyed in order to access the enemy base.
Koshka is an Assassin (Melee Hero with high power but little durability) most often played in the Jungle, a stretch of land lined with bushes and ambush points underneath the Lane.
Catherine is a Protector (Melee/Ranged Hero with high health) specializing in assisting allies during fights and other scenarios. Her "Roam" status just means she is adept in playing both Lane and Jungle.

The roles have been mostly untouched in this guide so far, so I'll cover them as well.

Roles (Sniper, Mage, Protector, etc.) are much more intricate than areas to play, each with their own pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses. Here is a full list of them:

Sniper - An aforementioned role specializing in long-range damage and ranged play.
STRENGTH: Breaking down enemies, able to stack damage onto a single target.
WEAKNESS: Often frail or semi-immobile in most powerful state (for SAW)
Assassin - An aforementioned role specializing in quick kills and melee play.
STRENGTH: Like the Sniper, able to kill a single target with ease.
WEAKNESS: Most are "glass cannons" and die easily.
Warrior - A fighter characterized by berserker tendencies and adept to melee play.
STRENGTH: Lots of lifesteal potential (able to deal & heal damage simultaneously) and durability.
WEAKNESS: Does a little bit less damage than Snipers/Assassins and vulnerable if teamed.
Mage - A ranged hero characterized by ability to deal splash damage as well as stuns/silences.
STRENGTH: Splash damage can be dealt in large numbers, often a bit bulkier than Snipers/Assassins.
WEAKNESS: Individual damage is much weaker than other roles and cannot focus on a single target well.
Protector - A hero characterized by lots of base health.
STRENGTH: These heroes have a hard time dying, especially with Defense section item investment.
WEAKNESS: Offensive skills are sub-par and damage of any kind is lackluster in comparison to other roles.
Initiator - A class characterized by an ability to initiate a fight (role unique to Fortress)
STRENGTH: Can start large-scale teamfights with skill.
WEAKNESS: Has little to no offensive strength, mostly ally support-related abilities.

Whew, that was a loooong last chapter. If you didn't quite understand all that, you can come back to it later. I'll simplify it so that you'll know the Heroes to use as a beginner. I have them on a scale.

Easy Heroes/for Beginners: Ringo, Koshka, Catherine, Glaive, Rona

Medium Heroes/for Experienced-ish players (Not that hard to play): Skaarf, Celeste, Ardan, Vox, SAW, Taka, Fortress, Adagio, Petal.

Difficult Heroes/for Advanced players: Krul, Joule

Keep in mind that these are suggestions; if you find a Medium or even an Advanced Hero that you play well, in all encouragement, PLAY THEM! Show the others you are not as big a beginner!

The shop's item technology tree is a maze to beginners; believe it or not, I've had the same experience. My best advice is to follow the items under the Recommended tab for your hero. Once your knowledge grows, then you can expand into making your own builds. If you are considering this, here are some good items for particular classes of Heroes.

Weapon Items

Weapon Items supplement your basic (auto) attacks.

Tornado Trigger: increases basic attack speed.
Great on: Warriors, Assassins, Snipers.
Great against: Snipers; you will outspeeed and out-attack them, increasing your chances of winning.

Sorrowblade: increases basic attack power (attack damage)
Great on: Warriors, Snipers.
Great against: Protectors and frail enemies; this will help to quicken the fight.

Serpent Mask: increases lifesteal (health regained) through landing basic attacks.
Great on: Warriors.
Great against: Other Warriors; In a 1v1 fight, this will ensure you are able to kill them with minimal health loss.

Bonesaw: shreds enemy armor for ~6 seconds, thereby increasing basic attack power against those enemies.
Great on: Warriors, Snipers.
Great against: Protectors who will often build armor to increase their tankiness.

Tyrant's Monocle: increases critical strike (increased damage for one attack) chance.
Great on: Warriors, Assassins, Snipers.
Great against: Frail enemies; higher chance ensures they will go down faster.

Crystal Items

Crystal Items supplement your ability damage.

Frostburn: Enemies hit with crystal damage (from an ability) will be affected by a slow for ~2.5 seconds.
Great on: Snipers*, Mages.
Great against: Warriors, Assassins; if these junglers attempt to gank (jump from brush to attack), hitting them with an ability will slow them, or, in the case of Ringo's Achilles Shot, further slow them.

*Snipers can build Weapon or Crystal well, but build Weapon for now. Building Crystal requires some skill.

Shatterglass. Increases crystal power**, and thereby increases ability damage.
Great on: Snipers, Mages.
Great against: Virtually all classes; ability damage is amplified, which normally heroes, including Protectors, can't take very well without building defensively well.

**Tip: Frostburn's slow scales (increases) with more crystal power. Use this to your advantage.

Eve of Harvest: Increases energy recharge and crystal lifesteal when dealing crystal damage.
Great on: Snipers, Mages, Assassins.
Great against: Warriors: Basically the crystal Serpent Mask.

Alternating Current: Deals every other basic attack as an additional 115% crystal damage.
Great on: Snipers.
Great against: Shield-investing tanks, Joule (heroic perk increases armor); This avoids armor being applied to every basic attack.

Those are just a few items from the Weapon and Crystal trees.

Don't worry, I have them covered.

Defense Items

Defense Items increase health, armor, and shield.

Crucible: increases total health by +700.
Great against: Assassins and Snipers; this nullifies a lot of amplified damage. This item also cannot be mitigated by items such as Bonesaw and Broken Myth, because it adds HP, not Armor or Shield.

Metal Jacket: increases Armor by +170 and Shield by +35.
Great against: Snipers and Warriors that rely on basic attacks heavily.
Con: can be subverted with Bonesaw

Aegis: increases Shield by +125, Armor by +30, and adds +200 max health.
Great against: Snipers, Mages, and Assassins that rely on ability damage heavily.
Con: Can be subverted with Broken Myth.

Atlas Pauldron: increases Armor by +85, Shield by +35, and reduces attack speed of nearby enemies by 65% temporarily (Active).
Great against: Warriors, Snipers, and Assassins that rely on Tornado Trigger. This also helps when an ally is coming under heavy fire by one or more enemy Heroes.

Utility Items

Utility Items serve an all-around purpose.

Contraption: Tap near your Hero to lay a Scout Trap, tap far away to activate a Flare Gun (active).

Warhorn: Gives a Sprint Boots-esque movement speed boost to allies, boost lasts 1 second for each ally affected (active).

Clockwork - Ability Tree: Decreases ability cooldown by 50%, making them able to be used quicker and more often.

Boots ( Sprint Boots, Travel Boots, and Journey Boots) - Utility Tree: Provides a brief boost of movement speed (active). Travel Boots and up - provides a small passive movement speed bonus.
Use the boots' active effect to escape an onslaught of enemies or to rush to an ally's assistance.

You can learn many more things by watching videos in the Academy tab in the main game. Some of the topics covered here are also in the Academy.

I hope you, the beginner, use these tips well! It took a couple of hours to write this guide, and I tried to put a lot in it, so enjoy! Let me know your questions/feedback in the comment box below! I am PaulOfTerror, and I hope this guide proved useful to you.