Part I - Types of Heroes



Additional Tips:

From AAADrummer:

• Team selection is one of the largest deciding factors of gameplay in competitive matches. If two teams of equal skill go head-to-head, it all comes down to who has the better hero selection. Before I dive too deep into this topic, lets go over the different components teams should consist of.
  
  
  Carry - Heroes able to deal large amounts of damage. These heroes are almost always AGILITY heroes and are the most item dependent of the 4 main classifications. Carry heroes will almost always require babysitters during laning phases and won't show true colors until 25 minutes+ into the game. If you're playing carry it is YOUR job to LAST HIT effectively. Gold is a carry's best friend, without it, they are useless.
  
  
  EXAMPLE: Zephyr, Chronos, Scout, Sand Wraith, Predator
  
  Semi-Carry/Ganker - Semi-Carry/Ganker heroes are mini-versions of carry heroes. The main difference is they bloom much earlier in the game. 10-30 minute mark (AKA mid game) is when these heroes truly shine. Although they can be played to be full carries, there is always some sort of downfall or diminishing return which proves fatal during the late game era. After the 30 minute mark, these heroes need to lay back and begin helping the team with wards and ganking. These heroes are also known as Roamers. These heroes impact the game in that after a certain point (usually around level 5-7) they leave their respected lanes permanently going around to other lanes/jungles causing havoc setting up kills and disrupting enemy carries from farming.
  
  
  EXAMPLE: Andromeda, Valkyrie, Night Hound, Corrupted Disciple, Slither, Wretched Hag, Chipper
  
  Support - Support heroes are defensive casters. These heroes will heal, buff and speed-up your team. If you are playing these heroes, it is almost ALWAYS your job to buy wards and courier. It is also your job to babysit the carries and tanks while in team fights. If you're sitting there auto attacking the enemy hero in a fight, you aren't doing your job correctly. You will need to focus on team oriented items such as Nomes (debatable with new nerf), Astrolabe, to name a few.
  
  
  EXAMPLE:  Demented Shaman, Keeper of the Forest, Jereziah, Nymphora
  
  Support Disable - Support Disable heroes are basically the same as support heroes except they primarily debuff the opponent. It is these heroes jobs to primarily shut down enemy carries, nukers, and tanks during team fights. It is also your job to buy courier and wards. It is always best to lane with a carry or nuker, never a tank during the early game phase.
  
  
  EXAMPLE:  Pebbles, Pollywog Priest, Hellbringer
  
  Tank - Tank heroes are 99% of the time strength heroes. Tanks are the ones who jump in the fights expecting to take all the damage and spells thrown around by the enemy team. Life and armor items are the most important. Tank heroes (depending on who) can help out with wards and courier but shouldn't be necessary. Around mid-game is when tanky heroes begin to show their true colors. If you are playing a tank hero, it is YOUR job to stay in the fight. If you leave, your team will almost certainly die. You and support players should be the players with the most deaths at the end of the game. You are expendable as long as 2 or more enemy heroes were killed in the skirmish.
  
  
  EXAMPLE: Legionnaire, Electrician, Devourer, Kraken
  
  Nuker - Nukers are heroes with damaging spells. They are extremely efficient at taking down 1 hero at a time. In big team battles they can easily kill or disable an enemy carry or support hero. These heroes THRIVE early and mid-game but are very inefficient in the later era of the game. If you are a nuker, it is your job to gank lanes after your initial laning phase. If you don't have any kills by the 15 minute mark, you're doing it wrong. Keep in mind, almost all heroes have a nuke, the real nukers are those with multiple damaging spells.
  
  
  EXAMPLE: Pyromancer, Witch Slayer, Blacksmith, Voodoo Jester
  
  Initiator - Initiators play a CRUCIAL role in ANY game. Surprisingly enough, their role lasts but a few seconds in team fights. Initiators jobs are to start the fight. More often than not, the team who begins the fight ends up on top. It's the element of surprise and who can get the most disabling/damage skills off first. Initiators are distinguishable by their AOE disables/slows/nukes. These heroes have some sort of teleport/invisibility/long range skill that will enable them to "initiate". If you are playing an initiating hero, it's your job to start the fights, your team will follow your lead not the other way around. Coordination and communication are IMPORTANT.
  
  
  EXAMPLE: Devourer, Keeper of the Forest, Magmus, Legionnaire, Tempest, Hellbringer, Behemoth

• So there you have the basic categories, keep in mind most heroes will fall partially under multiple categories. For instance, an experienced player may choose to play Nymphora as Battle Nymph and not so much a support hero. It depends on your play style and what your team needs.
  Also, several heroes will fall under multiple instances by default. Pebbles is basically a ganker but is one of the best disablers in the game. Witch Slayer has a massive nuke and 2 disables. The list goes on and on, there is a lot of overlap which requires you to know each heroes role(s).

Part II - General Gameplay Tips

Nigma's Guide to Being Better Player


This guide is a great start for all players.  Understand what he's talking about and if not - ask questions!  The individual guides that are now built-in to the shop will help for each hero, but many of the gameplay tips discussed generally are used in every game.  For more gameplay tips - continue below.

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Part III - Laning/Ganking

Nigma's Laning Guide - Don't focus too much on the items description, but more of the ideas behind laning/ganking and runes/tablets.


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Remember, if your lane is getting raped or you're struggling in it - move lanes or go gank other lanes.


Part IV - Warding

Nigma's Guide to Warding:


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Part V - Jungling

Guide to Warding:


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Part VI - Tutorial/Practice Mode
Do the HoN tutorial.  It may be somewhat slow, but it is full of a ton of information.  If you understand the tutorial and the guides above, you'll just have to start playing.

Be sure to at least LOOK at the controls bindings - so you can figure out hotkeys/controls that you can customize or use vanilla.  Once you have done all of this, you should start a practice game by going to Create Game and choosing "PRACTICE."  This will allow you to see all the heroes (you can spawn at will using button labeled "TEST") and get a general feel for the game without anyone rushing you.  This is a great tool when you're getting started for seeing what the heroes look like, learning skills/names, etc. 


Part VII - Patch Changes
Keep up to date with the patch changes through the changelogs/patchlogs.  These can be found on the HoN website or in the game (upper left corner area).  These will detail changes and are very important.  Always see what the last patch did, or past patches, if you can.

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Hopefully this helps.  This guide has been compiled from information from many sources and will change if necessary!  Post questions/new tips below and they will be worked in and then removed to keep the topic clean.