Need some help, noob questions

#1geno21Posted 7/1/2010 10:50:19 AM
Alright I've done about 10 games in this so far on this game and I have a fair amount of questions so if anyone can answer any of the following that they can or provide some feedback that would be great.

1) This is about the "free hero" rotation. I have just started playing this week but is it typical to see the free heroes picked every match? For example one of the heroes on the rotation this week, twitch, has literally been picked by BOTH teams every single game I've played. I asked if he was just the resident "op hero" of LoL but everyone says he's not, and its just because he's free. Still though, of all of the 10 or so free heroes this week, he's the only one I've seen picked by both teams every game. Even some others like anivia, who is also a very expensive hero free this week, I've only seen picked maybe 4 or 5 times tops, as opposed to twitch's 20 times. So is there a reason someone like twitch is picked all the time and someone like anivia is rarely picked? Warwick is also right up there, do people just like physical carries?

2) This question is about the physical carries. I have a ton of dota experience and have played a fair bit of HoN in beta as well so I'm already a pretty decent player in terms of actual playing ability. Anyways, my first few games I went with Anivia and in 4 games played, the WORST score I had was somewhere around 5-1-12, the best being well into the double digits on kills with no deaths. So after that I tried changing things up a bit, went amumu for a few games and had a similar experience. Not quite as dominant as my anivia play, but I was a reasonably deciding factor in the games. So I tried a caster, a tankish hero, I decided to go with a physical carry. Because twitch and warwick were always chosen not a second into the game, I had to go with ashe, and used her for two games. The BEST score I finished with was 2-4-x, and the worst being 0-7-x. Obviously physical carry heroes are very item dependent, but I didn't think they'd literally be rendered useless without any solid items (another question on this later). I don't know if I just went up against some insanely good teams/matchups (the players I went up against as ashe weren't amazing, but they were definitely not noobs) but I just felt powerless to do anything at all besides use my auto attack and volley to chip away at a sliver of their health at a time and only with my ult could I ever hope to do any real damage. So are physical carries a lot harder to use or was I just unlucky? It doesn't make sense to completely dominate games with two types and then get stomped with another. Is ashe a bad hero? Did I get bad matchups? Or did I just not get strong enough to do anything?

3) This one's about items. I really have no idea what is a good item build for anyone. For the most part I just start out getting my respective doran's item and a health potion to start the game, and then boots asap, and then just go for whatever is in the recommended for my hero (which could be utter garbage choices for all I know). So is recommended usually a solid way to go, or are there some other things I should really invest in early (like some of the bonus gold items, or cheaper small purchases that add up). Is there a general rule of thumb for item builds that would at least tide me over until I can see what to expect from heroes and what items do what?

Unintentionally following in the footsteps of The_Great_Geno
#2geno21(Topic Creator)Posted 7/1/2010 10:50:26 AM
4) This is one of my biggest gripes with the game, and I want to know if it was preventable. On one of my games I played as amumu, I was just tearing things up left and right. I was on something like a 15 kill streak without dying and no one on their team could stand a chance against me, I could even go into a group of 2-3 of them with my ult and end up destroying them all. I was literally shutting them down by ganking so often. Well, the game dragged on a while and they somehow managed to farm up despite being killed relentlessly all game and ended up all getting a decent farm on and being able to eventually overpower me to the point where I couldn't do anything outside of a one on one, and even then I would sometimes lose. They finally got a push and won it. My question is, for one, how do you really "shut down" someone. I notice in this game you don't lose any gold for dying (or if you do, its literally unnoticeable) so you can't take away their farm by ganking, they will still build up gold little by little. And secondly, what did I do wrong that caused us to lose? I tried pushing while they were dead but my team wasn't really helping at all and I couldn't push it alone before they would respawn and drive me off. I guess something in my head just doesn't click when I go from dominating by an immeasurable margin to being completely helpless. Did I just need to end it right then? Is it suicide to let games stall out because anyone can eventually get fully buffed up just by letting passive gold accumulate? Thoughts?

I will probably have more questions, but I'll leave it at this for now, thanks for any answers that can be provided.
Unintentionally following in the footsteps of The_Great_Geno
#3i3eavisPosted 7/1/2010 10:53:13 AM
There a shorter version?
Psn - Krais3rd
Can I do it till i need glasses?
#4kirbymuncherPosted 7/1/2010 11:04:07 AM
1) Twitch is played a lot because he stealths, attacks really fast, and is free, all things that new players like. Twitch is generally extremely good against people who aren't totally sure what they're doing. Anivia is rarely picked because she's hard to play.

2) Ashe isn't bad, it's more likely you're just doing something wrong (items, playstyle, etc.) It's entirely reasonable to be good with some champions and bad with others.

3) Really it depends on the champion, especially with recommended items. Sometimes they aren't bad, but sometimes they're pretty stupid (ashe's isn't so good iirc). I'm not going to answer what you should get for fear of messing it up, but I know you shouldn't get malady, warmog's armor, tiamat, and probably others that I've seen called horrible many times on this board

4) Firstly, no, you don't lose gold by dieing, and secondly, that's the problem sometimes with having a disorganized & bad team; they never push when they should and even when your team has 5x as many kills, you still lose. That said, amumu is generally played as a tank and so you probably want the support of your team for fights as opposed to going for 1v1s.

#5geno21(Topic Creator)Posted 7/1/2010 11:05:37 AM
I can summarize them, but some detail will be missed:

1) Why are heroes like twitch/warwick picked literally all the time, whereas heroes like anivia are almost never picked. All are in the rotation so why the trend with only some?

2) Why do I blow using physical carry heroes but I can dominate with anything else? Is it just ashe being a horribly gimped hero? (since she's the only carry hero I've used thus far) or is there some other reason I did horribly, like a bad team or bad matchup or going against pros etc.

3) Is there a general rule of thumb I can use to get a decent item build going while I learn what items are good on who and get a better understanding of what I should buy? Is recommended the way to go for a noob or is it generally a bad option?

4) Is it possible to really shut down the other team or will they eventually get buffed up anyways if the game goes on long enough?
Unintentionally following in the footsteps of The_Great_Geno
#6arfarf624Posted 7/1/2010 11:08:13 AM
1) twitch is easy to do decent with as a ranged dps. Anvia is a mage and is more situational and is harder to play. Warick, no idea
2)items are important but ashe is dps, not an assassin or tank. Ashe is kind of squishy and if you are up against an assassin you must play very defensively or get ganked alot, so bad matchups and you need +damage items as ashe
3)doran's items are useless and a waste of money, you are better with a item that builds into another as well as potions early on.. A rule of thumb, if mage, get AP/mana regen. It tankish, get armor/health. If physical dps, get damage.
4)It really hard to push alone, so team is very important. You can flare the map to get the team to follow you. Also, there is an tactic called back dooring. IT involves chipping away at towers at high levels while enemy team is away. It can be accomplished by yourself
People might disagree with my advice and I know and accept it
#7arfarf624Posted 7/1/2010 11:09:34 AM
adding to #3
look online for champions builds/items
#8alvinxiePosted 7/1/2010 11:16:32 AM
Ashe is one of the best heros

3.DORAN SHIELD/Meki pendant woks on anyone, but riot sucks and picks the worst recommended.

4. Yeah but that takes like 60minutes.

Applesauce is good.
#9infected1989Posted 7/1/2010 11:24:09 AM
Doran's items are useless? Are you high? They give pretty good stats for an early game item and they're relatively cheap. You can sell them later when you need the extra slot, you'll only lose like 200 gold?
#10FerretDruidPosted 7/1/2010 12:16:54 PM
I see as many or more Anivias as Twitches at my level. I'm level 30 with a little over 200 wins, usually with / against level 30s with 400-600+ wins, whatever that means. Twitch might be popular at low levels because of his stealth. Anivia is harder to play because of all her skill shots.

Doran's items are great but as you get better you should consider picking something that builds into another item. As for why you suck with a carry, I don't know. Try playing more defensively until you get better items and just farm if you aren't strong enough to fight well.

You should generally be pushing, not killing. Killing isn't bad but it doesn't win the game as you have found out. Lead your team to towers, ping them when 3 of the enemies are dead, etc. I was at 120+ wins before I started to see players pushing regularly though.

Fox is HOT!