So imma nood and here are my noob tips ! by Oackley

Hey,

So i'm a noob at mobas (never played one before VG) and at Vainglory (been playing for about a month). Still, i'm a try harder and i wanted to understand the game design because it seemed to me that in low elo everybody played their hero better than i did but still, they did some pretty stupid stuff and then proceeded to lose, badly. So here are the things i think are absolutely true while feeling like i might be way off. But maybe that could help the noobs who are even noober than me ! So prepare yourself for some very basic stuff !

The goal of this topic is mainly so my guild can discuss those general strategies, so we have the same kind of gameplay without having to use a voice app ig. This is not to be taken as absolute truths(as i said, immanoob), but more as a base point for discussion and common understanding of the game, so read, get angry, and argue (with a smile) with me ! 'cause i think i'm right but might be really wrong !

This is important so please pay attention !

The game design is based on two core concepts
a) optimizing repetitive actions ( i read that somewhere, felt fancy and smart saying it)
b) managing resources / controlling objectives.
Please note that killing enemies is NOT a core concept ! It's something you do in order to have an easier time doing a) and b) stuff. Killing enemies is just the punctuation between a) and b) !!


So a) optimizing repetitive actions is just a fancy way of saying, grind the sh*t out of the map. You need to farm those creeps faster and more efficiently than your opponents, gank the enemy laner more often than your opponents, put more scout traps than your opponents, go faster than your opponents and you need to rinse and repeat that process almost all game long. This is important because most of the fights (if everybody is somewhat same skill level) are determined by equipment obtained with gold (and countering and positioning but remember, immanoob so that's for later!).

and b) managing resources and controlling objectives, is a fancy way of saying, you need to have complete control of your main resources and map (at least that's the goal). Time is the essential resource because you can transform your time into any other resource depending on what you need at a specific moment. You can transform your time into damage via your abilities and their cooldowns, into gold by killing stuff, into control of map by putting traps, into some comfort by killing opponents, etc.
This is important because the better you manage your time and resources, the easier the game is going to be !

So this is still general strategy type of things, better players will know how and when to do something different, but when in doubt, try those things.

You'll want a laner, a jungler and a roam/support. If possible, try to have a weapon powered carry and a cristal powered one, so it will be more difficult for your enemies to build defensively. If both of your carries are WP, the ennemies only have to buy armor, if one of you is red, the other one blue, the enemy team'll have to either choose to defend against one of you (then the other one needs to focus this enemy) or defend against both, wasting gold and a slot in their inventory that won't be damage (and that's good for you!)

I know roaming (should be officialy change for "support" in my opinion) can be frustrating 'cause your plays aren't as flashy as your carries, but you should definitly learn to apreciate it and understand why that role is really important for your team's composition !

Laner:
Your role is to farm the lane, protect your turret and put pressure on the enemy turret. Period. That's it. Obviously, if you can rotate down to help out your jungler when they are fighting, do so. Obviously, late game, when you're fed and built, team fights are more important but still, try and remember that for the most part your only job is to control your lane, grind the creeps and protect your objectives. This should be obvious but i'll say it anyway, remember that farming means last hitting ! don't clear lane the fastest possible, clear it fast if you can but with the most last hit possible (creep's heath bar turns bright orange when your next attack will kill them) !

Jungler;
First mission: You need to farm as much as possible and protect your side of the jungle.
Then, if possible, help your laner do his job by ganking enemy laner (when you do, don't steal your laner's farm ! The whole point of ganking is to help your laner feed more than his counterpart!)
Then, if possible, invade enemy's jungle to deny them gold and xp.
Don't do the next stuff before the first one!
That's a lot of different missions, that's why you are usually two to do those things especially in the beginning.

Roam;
Your job is to be the second health bar for your carries. You need to tank for them, help them get in and out of fights, help them grind and if necessary, sacrifice yourself for them(don't suicide though, all lives matter !). You are worth nothing if your carries die. You are worth a lot if you can keep them alive !
Second part of your job is map awareness (vision via traps and flares )
At first you should probably help your jungler get fed so at some point he'll be able to grind on his own, then choose the carry who needs you the most and stick with him. Buy collective items over personal ones. Buy defense over offense.

The most common mistake I see involves our dear Kraken.
When killed, the whole team gets 500 gold. If the enemy team unleashes the kraken but only gets one of your turrets off of it(300gold each for a turret, 100 for the last two), you make a profit and profit is good ! If you can ace them, who gives a **** about Kraken?!
So, general strategy, don't go for Kraken ! When it's free, and the enemy have no way of comming back in time to save the game is the only really good time for it. When you're not sure that you're going to be able to take AT LEAST 2 turrets, it's too risky and usually not worth it !
Just protect the area (scout traps) and don't let kraken go to the enemy team for free, but really, usually that's good enough until very late game.

[EDIT] So this next chapter about the minion mine if wrong. I've been told in the comments that SEMC updated and i didn't !
So, concerning the minion mine, it doesn't grant extra xp and gold to enemy laner anymore. It's still preferable to avoid taking it in the early stages of the game in order to force enemy minions to come to you, so you can stay under the safety of your turret. When it's late game enought that the lane play is at a minimum, and you spend almost all of your time with your junglers, you need to take it because you cannot rely on the safety of your turrets anymore. But, yeah it's not that much of a mistake anymore! I'll let the "old" version in the guide so it still makes some kind of sense. [End EDIT]
Second most common mistake I see is the minion mine.
If you take your minion mine, your creeps get stronger and are worth more gold and xp for the enemy laner. So the idea is not to take it if you don't need the push ! If your laner feels comfortable with the pressure, let him feed off of those expensive creeps ! If he's having a bad time grinding and protecting his turret then, yeah, take it but don't rush for it ! The idea is more to try and take the enemy one when it's easy and see if they take it back.
Gold mine is tough. You have to know where your enemies are to take it easily, and that's more a matter of vision and timing than anything else.

Don't just stand there ! Learn how to stutter-step ! Move then aim, then move then aim ! Free attack speed plus re-positioning while attacking O.P. !

As a laner, don't necessarily try to take down enemy turrets. Especially if your are squishy and more relying on your late game. Instead weaken it and let it stand! You'll be able to destroy it later really fast anyway. Try to clear enemy's creeps so yours go die under the enemy turret denying them gold and xp. Way harder to do if you have to go all the way into enemy territory. Harder to grind too and grinding is the name of the game. Also, when you attack an enemy, their creeps stop fighting yours to fight you. Use this to make the creeps come to you instead of you going far into their side of the lane where you are so much more vulnerable (this is called freezing the lane)!

As a Jungler, try to know the timing your creeps spawn back after you cleared them. And focus on your two back creeps, they are worth more gold and xp than the rest. For the first rotation, I usually take those first because i want to be lvl2 before I fight and if i die, i don't want them to be stolen. I'm not sure this is the best way though. Some prefer to take their front first to avoid them getting stolen, but i want to avoid the mess of an early fight if our team is not an aggro one. Plus, if you clear your jungle fast enough loosing those two creeps isn't that bad, just go gank their laner while they are going back deep into their jungle, essentially wasting time doing some unnecessary back and forth..

In the very beginning, farming is WAY more important than kills. This is less and less true as the game goes on, but is still mainly true for the first 10/15 minutes.
And, please, for the love of my dog, do not to take your laner's farm, especially if he's vox, since he needs to feed too and can use those creeps to damage enemies with his B ability / resonance. As a jungler you should only clear lane when you want to push an ennemy turret or when your laner is far away and minions are dying for free under your turrets. Those are the ONLY times it makes sense (well, i guess dying turret and afk laner counts as good reasons too..)! Also, for the first few minutes, it's ok to die because you'll spawn back quickly, and it's not really worth it to waste time chasing a kill because they'll spawn back quickly and with full health and energy, take their farm and get the hell outta there !

As a roamer, try to build a fountain of renewal early, and try to use it in the middle of a fight, not after ! If you can keep your carries alive longer while fighting, they'll have more time to deal damage. Remember, they are the damage, you're are the health bar !

As a team, the later it is in the game, the more you have to stick together and not go around by yourself. Your stupid solodeath will mean that for a LOOONG time your teammates will live in fear of a fight in inferiority.

As a team, try to understand how your heroes want to position themselves to be the best they can be. As a squishy mage, you want to be behind your tank, sniping. As a Tank or warrior, you want to be in front of the action to let your range carry deal damage safely for the longest time possible.

As any role, DON'T FACE CHECK those bushes when in doubt ! Either take the long detour or, even if it's not your job, buy a couple of flares! It will save so many lives!
Oh, and potion gives energy too, so have some, even if you don't need the health !

As any role, when building items, know the price of the next upgrade before you leave the shop. so you know when to go buy it. Spend your gold ! Unspent gold is kinda wasted and every power spike is important!

When choosing a hero in soloqueue, letting your team know where you want to go is more important than showing your hero ! Some heroes are versatile and can go anywhere so if you don't tell them what role you intend to take on, they can get trapped in a role they can't handle with their hero, screwing up all your composition and your chance at winning !

Oh, and please don't insta lock.



Ok, that's it for me, let me know if you don't agree, i would love to argue about those things and understand the game even better ! I'm french and i know imma noob at english, so be kind. And If you want to correct me, i'll edit for your grammar nazi comfort, no problem! Just do it nicely !


Peace !