SoysauceBanana here, and welcome to my Complete Vainglory guide!

I have been playing League of Legends for years and got into VG when I first got my iphone 6+. I have a competitive gaming background and have been exploring this game religiously since early December of 2014.

I realize this puts me a bit behind some more experienced players, however the game is so new that I am currently experiencing the joy of formulating my own strategy without feeling the need to adapt to any meta or a pro scene. My hope is to share some of my discoveries and also an easy method for approaching the game for new players.

I created a basic ability / item path for each champion above, which you can scroll through using the left and right clickable arrow buttons. However, the meat of the guide is to follow! I welcome feedback and suggestions and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Note that I originally intended to clump character specific guides for all the heroes into this single guide, but as the guide has grown I have decided against it. I now have the following guides completed:

SoysauceBanana's Complete Glory Guide
SoysauceBanana's Skaarf Guide

So without further ado, here is my complete guide to Vainglory!

CHANGELOG
1-16-15: Added Minion Mine Capture Considerations to "Section 6. The Jungle", Changed Opinion on Threat Meters, Updated Skaarf build.
1-20-15: Added link to Skaarf Guide, and added more detail to end game strategy regarding laning vs Kraken.

1. Prelude: Connection Considerations, Terms, Why No Threat Categories?, Build Disclaimer
2. Character Select
3. Interface / UI / Shop / Tips
4. The Base
5. The Lane
6. The Jungle
7. Turret Mechanics
8. Vision Mechanics and the Power of Mines (Scout Traps)
9. Kraken Mechanics and Strategy
10. Endgame Strategy
11. Teamwork and Player Behavior (Ping Discussion)
12. Closing Remarks

CONNECTION CONSIDERATIONS

If you are playing on an iphone I highly suggest using the "Do Not Disturb" (DnD) feature. You can turn this on in your phone settings or simply swipe up from the mid/bottom of the screen and select the moon icon. In addition, you should go into settings and make it so that your "Favorite" contacts cannot call through DnD.

A phone call will pull you out of the game and then you will have to reconnect. This can mean death at critical moments, so use that DnD!

Also, I've found that there isn't much difference between wifi and my ATT LTE network. A typical game played is under 30 megs. If you have a 6-7 gig plan you can play several games without wifi. If you have a 15 gig plan and you don't watch movies or anything you can pretty much play nonstop without wifi. I don't do anything with my phone other than Clash of Clans and Vainglory, while others are social network junkies and movie watchers. Obviously, you'll have to get a feel for how you want to use your data usage.

Also, try not to switch between wifi and a mobile network while in the middle of a game. I once had a game glitch out from doing that. My Koshka was unable to use her stored swipes from her B ability for more than half the game, despite restarting the app.

TERMS

Just a note, when I talk about abilities I will simply refer to them as A/B/C to make it easy. Sometimes I might refer to C as the "ultimate".

WHY NO THREAT CATEGORIES?

For one I didn't realize you could click on the portraits and/or expand and collapse them at first. Two, I think they are better used in specific character guides to highlight bad matchups, and I may use it for such guides in the future.

BUILD DISCLAIMER

I designed my builds around a simple concept: the game was designed to be simple enough to get new people to enjoy MOBAS. Therefore, my builds are simplified to give one a basic idea of what to build in the safest and most logical manner possible. The build logic can be applied very simply from champion to champion (hero to hero). Essentially each build starts with one jungle or lane item and potions/mines, a moderate mid game with two main damage items and level 2 boots, and a final build that focuses on versatility rather than filling a niche.

So each build tells you what to buy at the very beginning, what you can aim for mid game, and what you should have late game, as a balanced build not favoring one thing or another. Of course, one has to adapt to the enemy, however I believe my builds are a solid place to start and then branch out from as one becomes more comfortable with the game.

Teams are 3v3. Assuming you are in a solo que (meaning you didn't join a party) this is your first chance to "communicate" with your team. At the time of this writing there is no chat feature, so communication comes down to what character you highlight.

Rather than insta-lock, it is generally best to highlight the champion you are thinking of using and seeing what other people do. Of course if you are new and are only good with one or two champs, you may want to lock-in early so others know you aren't going to be flexible.

What is a good team comp? Some say two junglers and one person in the lane, which means one ranged champ and two that would do well in the jungle. Honestly you have to be adaptable no matter what you plan to do. You may think the enemy is going to do the 1-lane / 2-jungler, but then they go all three to the jungle or all three in lane. So obviously one needs to adapt.

There aren't enough champs to make or break the game with any certain team comp. But I would say you generally want at least one ranged champion who can handle themselves in lane. Other than that, I don't have strong opinions about good or bad team comps. I would say that a bad team lacks burst potential that has to rely on chaining ultimate (C abilities) to win team fights, may be not as good.

If you play other MOBA games, you will find the camera lock on your hero a different experience. However, it is done well in this game and doesn't feel like it hamstrings you like it does if you accidentally turn it on when playing a game like League of Legends.

Here are a list of Interface / UI tips that I wish I knew before I started playing the game:

1. The minimap is interactive.

You can use one finger to touch the minimap at the top right of the screen to look at an area of the map you are not in. While holding your finger there you can use the other to click on the ground to order your hero to move long distances. However, you cannot issue attack commands.

2. Some heroes' abilities require you to already have a target before using the ability.

Other's require you to click the ability then click the enemy champion. At first it is disorienting because Koshka's ultimate is one way and Taka's is the opposite. I'm not really sure why they designed it that way as I think it is unnecessary, but just keep it in mind and practice using abilities outside of live games if possible till you get them down.

3. You can access the item shop three (3) different ways!

Clicking on the shop directly seems to me to be the worst way. Your hero may walk off in the wrong direction. The second way is the icon at the bottom right. This is better but you might accidentally get the score screen when you wanted the item screen. The best way is to click top left where your gold is displayed. This opens the item shop as well, however I figured this out after I got used to using the bottom right and still have to remind myself to use it. =P

4. You can buy items by double tapping them.

This saves time! At the time of this writing, there is no UNDO feature. So be careful what you buy because you can only sell things back at a loss.

5. You have to be close enough to the shop to buy things, and the range isn't clear.

6. When a minion's life bar turns bright red instead of just red, it means you can last hit it.

Whoever gets the last hit on an enemy, minion, jungle camp, etc, gets the gold and reward, unless the reward is global (such as a turret destruction). However, if you have low attack speed, you may miss the last-hit chance as allied minions may kill the target first.

7. The fog of war is not clear (oxymoron intended)

In most games vision and non-visible areas are clearly known by a darkness or fog. On the minimap and on the game screen there is no indication of how far you can see. I do hope they fix this. But know that there may be an enemy that may appear suddenly even though you thought you had vision of an area.

8. Mines (scout traps) grant vision. Yes it's in the description. Its just not obvious. See "7. Vision Mechanics and the Power of Mines (Scout Traps)" for more information. Because the fog of war is not clear (LoL!) this is important to know.

9. There are "jungle items".

Go to the "utilities" section of the shop and you will see the Ironguard Contract. Buy that. At this time I don't see much reason for upgrading it though, but through mid game I'd guess it grants 1k gold by the time you decide to sell it (plus it helps you clear jungle camps faster).

10. You can see what the enemy heroes are buying

The "score" button at the bottom right of the screen will tell you everything. If updates whether you can see the enemy heroes or not(!).

BONUS IPHONE TIP:

I hold the iphone 6 like a game controller and use thumbs to play the game. Works perfect for me. o_0

Your Base contains a healing area, an item shop, two turrets that protect the Vain Crystal (the enemy's final objective), and a wall protecting the base, which creates a choke point protected by a single turret as the entrance to the base. This wall can be circumvented by certain abilities in certain situations.

As mentioned, the base will heal you within a specified area, and that area will damage enemy heroes over time.

The base is not that safe and the longer you are here, the worse you are doing (generally).

Unlike League of Legends, your spawn point or home base does not destroy enemy champions in an instant. Your hero heals slowly at the base and if you are low on health you can still be killed even when at the very back of the healing area, and the enemy will likely get away without dying if they had high health. This is because the healing area only damages enemy champions in little spurts over the course of a few seconds. Also, the turrets are not situated very close to the healing area, making the healing area less safe.

While holed-up in one's base, one cannot control jungle objectives, allowing the enemy to keep their lane minions stronger, get global gold bonuses, release Kraken, place scout traps / mines, etc.

For many reasons, I suggest returning to the Base as little as possible, particularly when jungling.

The lane is the path where your minions that spawn from your Vain Crystal go. They will follow this path and fight until they die or kill the enemy Vain Crystal. Your turrets end toward the center (as do the enemy turrets). This creates a space where minions and laning heroes collide.

LANING GOALS

In order of importance:

1. Do not die

Your job is to get gold and experience to buy better items and level-up your abilities. When you are dead you cannot do that. You also give the enemy team gold when you die. Tips for staying alive:

-Do not over-extend in lane: This means you don't move close to the enemy side without knowing the positions of the other enemy heroes, or having an escape plan should they show up unexpectedly. One mistake I see a lot is people pushing the lane too quickly by attacking the enemy minions when they have a lot of health. By accelerating enemy minion death your lane will become extended needlessly. It is better to have the enemy minions near your turret (without your turret stealing gold from you).

-Do not turret-dive: This means don't die trying to kill the enemy hero. If you both die it is better than only you dying, but it is still far better to be alive. Always. By trading one for one you will both get a gold bonus and accelerate their ranged "carry" as much as you. Remember that each Hero and player is different (e.g. some heroes power spike (combo potential) at certain levels) and accelerating their experience and gold may present unnecessary challenges to your team.

2. Prioritize farming over Hero kills

Trying to kill the enemy Hero will generally make it harder to "last-hit" enemy minions. Think of every minion that you fail to last hit as costing you money. Also trying to kill the enemy hero will cause one to take damage from that hero that one would otherwise not have had to sustain. This makes enemy ganks from the jungle more dangerous.

Another point is that when you attack the enemy hero with their minions in range of you, they will turn their attention toward you, causing extra damage.

Practice last hitting minions. Remember their health bar glows bright red indicating you can last hit them. However, you still need to time your attacks since your minions or turret may kill them before you can react to the health indicator. Prioritize last hitting large vs small minions as the gold payout is much higher.

3. Keep an eye on the minimap

You need to pay attention to what is happening in the jungle. In other games we call not paying attention "AFK-farming". Do not do this. If your jungle gets dominated then enemy minions in your lane are going to be harder to kill and each enemy hero will get periodic 300 gold bonuses for the first 15 minutes. Also, the enemy junglers will be "fed" from killing your allied heroes, and your allies will be under-leveled and have weaker items in the mid game.

The point: you need to leave your lane to help secure objectives and assist the junglers, just as you need them to help you.

Keep an eye on how your jungler is doing. If your ally can't keep at least one minion mine under your control and keep up a reasonable level with the rest of the heroes, someone may want to break away and assist.

So if you: do not die, farm, pay attention to the minimap, you will do well.

LANING WITH AN ALLY

With the current roster and 3v3 team size, it is not clear what heroes are meant to be in a support role. However if you lane with an ally, I would suggest that one farm and the other harass the enemy hero. The jungle Ironguard Contract item will allow the one not farming to get 8 gold per nearby enemy minion death to help mitigate the gold discrepancy.

Since communication is difficult in this game and you don't want to red-ping your ally (see point 11. Teamwork and Player Behavior (Ping Discussion)), you may want to let them do what they want while you do what is needed.

JUNGLE CONTENTS:

Minion Mines:

There are two, one close to each base. These come online at 4 minutes. They start off neutral and can be captured. Your minions in lane get a bonus for each Minion mine controlled. When aggravated they will attack enemies (or you if you don't own them). Owning these also grants a small amount of vision.

CAPTURE CONSIDERATIONS:

Owning these mines can drastically affect the outcome of the game in ways that may not seem obvious at first. Here are the possible consequences of owning more mines than the other team (particularly if owned too early in the game):

-Your lanes will often be pushed, causing your laner to be overextended in order to farm, making them more gankable
-The enemy laner will be able to farm safer since they will be pushed closer to their own turret
-Unverified: It is reported that stronger minions provide larger gold payouts (untested)

I've come to the conclusion it is only better to own both mines at very specific times, namely when trying to distract the enemy in the late game or to set up an ambush / distraction.

Beyond that, owning them may be a hindrance that gives the enemy more gold and results in one's own lane being overextended. Another problem is that without a chat function most players just take the mines out of habit and either do not respond to or understand pings telling them not to take them. I'm curious what the developers think about this.

For now I believe it is better to simply not own any mines until mid to late game. As people become more experienced I am seeing more and more players not take the minion mines.

Gold Miner:

Appears at 4 minutes in the center of the jungle and will be replaced with the Kraken at 15 minutes. Owning him for the first time grants up to 300 gold to each team member, depending on how long he has been mining. There is a pie chart on the minimap that shows how much he has mined. He hits hard and can often kill heroes 1v1 or heroes that get in the way during teamfights. Once owned he grants vision and pays out 300 gold whenever he reaches max mining. It is common to contest this objective over and over.

Item Shop: Functions the same as the in-base item shop. It allows one to buy items without returning home, thus allowing one to continue farming / fighting etc. It is almost always better to use this shop than to return home unless your health is too low to keep farming safely.

Jungle Camps: The single goblin camps give a regenerating health bonus upon last-hit. The others that spawn pairs of goblins do not.

JUNGLE BASICS:

Leashing:

You can auto attack a monster, move before your animation fully completes, and attack again, dragging the monster a fair distance away from it's original spot. This helps you to increase your jungle clear time. Also, if you have an allied jungler, your Ironguard Contract will proc giving you bonus gold if you are near to where your ally clears their camps. You can actually both leash and benefit from the bonus gold if you both have Contracts.

Starting Positions:

Most players try to buy their items as fast as possible and then make it to the double goblins by the item shop in the jungle. From there you can either choose to harass, kill, or steal from the enemy hero at their double goblins, or farm your own. If you are solo jungle it is safer to take your own camps, starting from the ones by the item shop, then the center single one, then the double by the allied minion mine, finishing with the single closest to your base entrance. With double jungle you can take two camps and then buy level one boots.

Potions vs Landmines (scout traps):

With an Ironguard Contract already purchased you will have room for 1 of 3 options: two potions and one mine; 4 potions; or two mines. All potions would be the least aggressive choice. I prefer a mix because having one mine can mean the difference between winning or losing an early fight. For one, some players don't pay attention and don't notice you placing the mine during a skirmish. Better players will move away, which should allow one to get an extra auto attack in. Its also handy when defending a pincer against two weakened enemies. Mines also grant vision, which is a whole other topic (see 7. Vision Mechanics and the Power of Mines (Scout Traps)).

Farming vs. Harassing vs. Ganking

It can be easy to forget to farm when there are so many different things to do. Try to have a balance. If the enemy hero in lane isn't exposed and the enemy jungler location isn't convenient to harass, keep farming up. When harassing the enemy jungler, try to last-hit their goblin camps from a nearby bush. This not only takes the gold but may also grant you a health advantage from both not taking damage and the possible heal buff.

When ganking, have a clear idea of where the enemy jungler is so you don't die needlessly from a counter gank. The enemy laner position is the 2nd consideration.

Less obvious is the enemy laner cooldowns on abilities. For example, if Saw is ramped up at full auto attack speed it may not be wise to gank him unless someone has a stun ready (because he might kill you otherwise). If Ringo used up his 'B' ability and is still in mid lane that means he has one less movement option and that might be a good time to gank. The moral of the story is: pick your moments.

Backing:

If you think you can heal from a jungle camp buff without getting killed, that is generally better than going back to base. However, going back to base is far better than getting killed. Also, keep in mind that it only takes a few seconds to teleport back to base. This means backing can be done in tricky situations. For example, let's say you stole the Minion Miner on the enemy side and suspect they are going to pounce on you soon. You can head to the back corner and teleport back to base as an option rather than try to evade the enemy.

It took me a number of games to figure out why turrets would sometimes attack me at seemingly random moments. From what I can tell, they follow these rules:

An Enemy Turret will prioritize attacking your lane minions until:

-There are no minions and an target hero is in range, or
-An allied hero causes damage to an enemy hero in range of the turret (including damage-over-time abilities)

Then:

-The turret will continue to prioritize a single hero until it leaves the turret range

So far, this is just like League of Legends. However:

After an enemy turret has locked onto a Hero and that Hero leaves the range of the turret:

-The turret will check if any other heroes can be targeted and then lock onto them
-The turret will not switch back to prioritizing lane minions until all heroes that the turret could lock onto have left its range.

TLDR: If you want an enemy turret to stop shooting at champions and go back to shooting lane minions, all heroes need to leave the turret's range.

TURRET EXPLOSIONS

When turrets explode they cause splash damage to the nearby area. This will bring most minions down to last-hit status. The explosion will also do moderate damage to enemy heroes.

THINGS THAT GRANT VISION

-Allied Turrets
-Allied Vain Crystal
-Allied Heroes
-Allied Minions
-Captured Minion Mines
-Captured Gold Miner
-Captured Kraken
-Flares

SOFT VISION

-Abilities: can be used to see if enemies are in a bush by seeing if damage (in the form of red numbers) appear in the bush).

FOG OF WAR

As previously mentioned, the fog of war is currently not obvious like it is in other games such as Starcraft and League of Legends. Therefore, having a vision granting objective does not make a clear indication on the minimap of how much ground you can actually see. For now, one will have to take note of when enemy champions appear on the minimap or on the main game screen and get a general feel for how much vision this or that will give. I do hope they fix this.

FLARES

This game can feel brutal because whenever you lose sight of the enemy heroes you cannot know for sure if they are all hiding in a nearby bush. Shooting abilities into the bush isn't a very good solution because abilities may miss and will not indicate exactly how many enemies are in the bush. Also, using abilities means you have one less option for damage should they all jump out of the bush and pounce on you.

Apparently the solution to this is the Flare from the item shop. For a small price of 50 gold you can light up the ENTIRE FREAKIN MAP to reveal all enemy heroes regardless of their location (unless they are dead) and their condition (e.g. in stealth). You know you are being flared when a fuzzy red blur appears above your head.

I'd like to briefly state that I'm not sure I like this mechanic. It strikes me as a band-aid solution to a larger vision problem, and to me concept itself doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I think flares should be tossed into an area and should maybe light up an area of the map, and should last longer. I also think they should cost more. Alternatively, they could scrap the item altogether because the the flare coupled with a lack of other vision options creates silly gameplay with 3-man teams hiding out in bushes near Kraken waiting for someone to make a mistake or run out of flares. And did you know that there are champions in League of Legends that have to shoot off their ultimate to see everyone on the map? End Rant.

The Power of Mines (Scout Traps)

So I have spent a LOT of time playing with mines and I feel this may be the most unique contribution I have to offer in terms of discovery. What I am about to explain could be seen as just useful information, or employed to swing games. As a disclaimer, it is not recommended to take this information and apply it 100% to every game. If you do, you will be too weak in the item department and will lose games to better players that know this information. So...

In case it isn't obvious by now, mines do grant a small amount of vision. They also last until they are tripped. I've therefore come to the conclusion that it may be more beneficial for enemy heroes to never step on your mines, but still be in view of them so you can know the enemy champion locations and make better game decisions.

In the specific case of Koshka, she has the unique ability to jump to any enemy unit ('A' Ability). What the description doesn't tell you is that she will pass through walls if she has a valid target in range.

I therefore got the idea to place mines near jungle camps on BOTH sides of the map, which would in turn allow me to both escape unfavorable fights as well as appear in favorable fights unexpectedly. This also lets me know which camps have been cleared, or are in the process of being cleared, and the health of those doing the clearing. I've been able to do some very tricky maneuvers (League of Legends Lee Sin style) with this tactic. It is definitely a lot of fun!

The trouble has been finding proper locations for mines that not only give vision of jungle camps but also don't get tripped wastefully. After all, at 50 gold a pop, one can get very far behind when placing mines, whether one has to replace them now and then, or not at all.



Here are a few notes regarding certain mine locations:

Minion Mines:

If you place a mine as deep as possible into the back corner of the minion mines, the enemy will rarely trip it. The entire game may go by with vision granted in this case.

Gold Miner / Kraken Pit:

One can venture further into the pit than one might think. Placing mines as deep inside as possible will grant vision of these objectives. This can end up leading to a game-winning chance of stealing or denying Kraken.

Single Goblin Jungle Camps

These are much harder to place. The ones closer to the center can be mined as close to the wall as possible. If the enemy only auto-attacks the camp, the mines placed will generally not trip. However many players end up tripping it at some point during the game. Then again, I've had games go by where I mined every single camp and had the mines exist till the very end of the game.

The right side single Goblin mine can be hidden by tucking it in the nook between the rock to the right of the Goblin and the back wall.

Double-Minion Camps

The ones to the rear side of each Minion mine have what appear to be a pair of crystal stones as artwork on the ground. Placing a mine between them is a good way to keep an eye on these.

The ones near the item shop are very difficult to keep from exploding, especially on the left side. On the left side try placing it closer to the brush at the very bottom of the map near the item shop, the right side is a little easier.

General Mine Usage

Here is a quick list of other mine placement tips:

-During teamfights as surprise damage or to get enemies to flee and take more damage from auto attacks
-In lane bushes to react to ganks
-In center lane to damage gankers who tend to end up in the middle of the lane near your turret
-In chokepoints that will likely be areas of contention in the near future
-In main base when defending*

DO NOT OVERMINE YOUR MAIN BASE

I've seen some players go mine crazy, placing 10-20 of them in the main when behind. That is a LOT of gold that might better go toward making your hero stronger with better items. At best, one can at times buy 3-4 mines when defending against a Kraken attack or late-game push by the enemy, but one should only do so in spurts and only when absolutely necessary.

A large minefield might repel an enemy team. However, more experienced players will recognize what is happening after the first mine or two and will cause all the mines to explode with little damage just by dancing in and out of their range as they move forward. Also, tanky heroes late game can sustain too many mine explosions to make mass mining worth it.

The Kraken:

-Appears at 15 minutes and replaces the Gold Miner in the center of the Jungle
-Assists the team that get's the last-hit during a capture attempt
-Only attacks enemy turrets, nothing else
-Can be targeted by abilities, including heals
-Grants 500 Gold to each enemy hero upon death
-Has high HP / Life
-Does high damage to heroes during capture and turrets afterward
-Is sometimes affected differently by certain abilities of certain heroes on a case by case basis
-Grants the capturing team full HP and energy (similar to an ACE).


WHEN NOT TO CAPTURE

When I was new to the game it seemed that you should release the Kraken whenever possible. Now I have come to view it as also being able to hurt one's team as much as help it.


DO NOT RELEASE KRAKEN UNLESS:

-You can get two enemy turrets destroyed afterward.

Kraken will grant 500 gold x 3 (1.5K!!!) to the enemy team when it dies. If it only destroys one turret (or worse, 0 turrets) that is a loss. The only expection to this is if it is a long game and the result will be the enemy only has one or no turrets left, meaning they now have the real threat of backdoor attacks.

-There are no enemy Heroes anywhere near the capture point

Even Heroes with seemingly weak burst can last-hit Kraken. Kill or drive off the enemy or wait for an "ACE" before trying to release him.

EXCEPTIONS: if you have most of your turrets up and the enemy only has one Hero up, give them the last hit making them think they did something good. Then kill Kraken and get the bonus gold because likely you will only lose one turret, if any.

On the other hand, let's say your allies are waiting to respawn and are pinging you to risk your life to go last hit the Kraken. I would say that if you have most of your turrets up then is better to let the enemy team have it (I've done this and it made my team angry, but we won, in part due to the decision).

The reason is that your team will likely be back to battle in time to contest the 2nd or even 1st turret, and the gold comes close to balancing out or even going in your favor. Another plus to this is that you won't have to risk dying 3v1 and giving the enemy and even greater advantage just trying to last-hit that Kraken.

-Your base is not susceptible to a backdoor attempt

Many games are won or lost because a team went for Kraken thinking that the one live enemy hero couldn't do anything about it. If you only have one turret left with half health, make sure you have factored-in where that last enemy hero might be and how fast they might be able to clear out your turret and Vain Crystal.


KRAKEN HAS BEEN RELEASED, NOW WHAT?

If you own the Kraken:

Hopefully you have all three team members alive after Kraken. All available members should very quickly buy any items they need from the jungle shop, recapture the minion mines (if they are not owned and it is safe), and then support the Kraken. Your job is to divert enemy fire away from it so that it takes the most amount of time to die possible. This usually means focusing the enemy heroes while dancing out of the shifting turret agro / range.

If the enemy releases Kraken:

Since the enemy has the healing and energy bonus from releasing Kraken, it is generally best not to engage them right away. Buy 2-4 mines and prepare to defend the first turret. Lay the mines out ASAP. If the enemy is far away from Kraken still, you can meet it long before it reaches your first turret to start damaging it.

Your job is to knock out the Kraken while keeping the enemy off of you and your turret. Some enemies will dive and get focused and die, but better players will play cat and mouse. Decide in the moment how many abilities to blow on Kraken vs. saving against enemy heroes.

Another option is to backdoor if the enemy has one or no turrets left and you have the right hero and build for the job. However, it is better to backdoor while the enemy is releasing Kraken or is otherwise distracted by your allies.

A few things to note about ending the game and the very late game:

-Check the score button on the bottom right of the screen to see what the enemy heroes are building. This will help you decide what your final items should be, and who to focus attacking in teamfights. To be more specific, you can cater your defensive items should the enemy team be more focused on damage vs. crystal, or vice versa. Also if someone is building tanky, you will know not to focus them during fights.

-The "tanky" or most "supporty" hero on your team may want to reserve the last item slot for flares in order for your team not to get slaughtered by enemies in bushes. Depending on the flow of the game, two members with flares may be necessary.

-There are two special items called Crystal Infusion and Weapon Infusion. If your build is 100% complete and you have enough gold, you can sell your boots (or another item that is worth 1900 gold if you went without boots), buy the item of choice, activate it (which removes it from your inventory) and buy the boots again. This will give a boost to a number of stats depending on your choice, and is akin to having a 7th item. Alternatively, you can also place mines with the extra money and then buy the boots / item back (in League of Legends you can simply buy such items without having to make room and the game automatically activates it).

-Certain heroes can backdoor in unique ways. For example, Joule can hop the fence by the base, Taka can stealth, etc. If your last turrets are low on life or nonexistent, you must pay attention to the enemy whereabouts at all times. Also, teams of 2-3 can backdoor together as a surprise.

-Initiating from a bush can win the game. Many games are won due to this. You can unleash a flurry of combos and almost instantly kill enemy heroes if they get too close without vision.

-Kraken's importance becomes more relevant based on the number of turrets each team has left. That may seem obvious but it bears some reflection.

-On the other hand, it may be better to simply stay in the lane and take turrets down with your team. If there are no enemy heroes contending, two or more allied Heroes can take turrets down much faster than Kraken can, and this never results in a 500 gold boost to all the enemies due to Kraken being killed by the enemy.

-Use items wisely. This also seems obvious, but when and what order you decide to activate boot speedups and defensive items can decide the game.

-Stay Alive! You may find that you have to heal over and over again at the main base when defending. Don't let your health get so low that you can be dived in your healing area!

-Or, Sacrifice yourself! Yes you may need to be the one to initiate the fight, particularly if you have a stun or are the tank. As long as more enemy heroes die than allied ones in the aftermath, you can feel good about dying.

At the time of this writing there is no chat capability. Until then you have three pings that you can use during the game:

OMW (On My Way!)
GO
AVOID

How you use these pings can also make or break a game. Coming from League of Legends (known for toxic behavior), I have been able to come up with a way to communicate in the most positive way possible. Since it is common knowledge that toxic players or those that get harassed tend to lose more games, you want to be able to communicate in such a way as to not anger or upset your teammates.

I've played many games where someone makes a mistake and a teammate will red ping (avoid ping them) over and over. Even though the game caps you at 3 pings before a refresh, often the negative pinging keeps going. Sometimes the red pinged player starts red pinging back. Then the game degenerates into who can red ping the other guy the most, who can steal the last hit from the jungle camp, how wants to dance at the home healing area because they are the most upset, who can disconnect first, etc.

Also, realize that there is currently a glitch where when you leave the shop your first movement action will be a ping. This means most people double ping when they really want attention. Anyways...

So what should you do when you don't want your allies to go for Kraken? Or make a blunder, or multiple blunders? Follow these rules, and you will have better results:

1.) Never red ping directly on a teammate or their dead body. It is rude and only serves to express annoyance and is therefore not constructive.

2.) If an ally makes a blunder, like focusing the tank in a teamfight or not helping focus what the rest of the team is focusing on, and they die, green (GO) ping the ally's dead body and then green ping the enemy they should have attacked. Do this cycle ONCE only. This way you are expressing something constructive. Also, people just don't like being red pinged.

3.) If you want your team to avoid an objective, try green pinging (GO) 2-3 times where you want them to go instead of red pinging the objective. If you are playing with a mature team and you don't have time to do that, a double red ping on Kraken or the objective in question should do it. But don't keep spamming it. An alternative is to blue ping (OMW) 2-3 times where you intend to go (in this case away from the objective) so they know that if they going to take the objective it is their decision and they shouldn't expect your help.

4.) The best use of the avoid ping is to mark a bush that may be dangerous or an enemy hero trying to bait.

So to summarize, generally try not to use the avoid ping. You may come up with your own uses for the other available pings.

One day I hope they add the following pings:

-MIA? (missing in action) to let the team know the enemy laner is out of sight
-Assist Me (Because GO isn't obvious enough)

I hope you enjoyed my guide. I would very much appreciate feedback and any advice regarding it. If the response is overall positive, I may branch out into character specific guides. Thanks again for reading!