Okay, I'm writing this guide because people have a lot of trouble working as an effective unit. Most games in demigod consist of a bunch of neandertals wandering around a map hoping to cut something up, with little orginization. And when someone tries to organize something... he comes off as an ass.
So, in hopes of making my life a little bit easier, and your lives a little less annoying when you're playing on my side, I decided to write a guide on the basics of teamplay.
First, we'll cover the roles that people must assume to make a working unit:
Coordinator:
The most important part of a team. Someone must take this role within the first 5 minutes, preferably at the start of the match. A Coordinator needs two things to succeed:
1) the ability to plan and execute plans while simultainiously playing, and
2) the ability to be a complete asshole. For two reasons. First, you need to be able to type your orders through fairly quick. For that reason, your messages will tend to be fairly robotic. And second, you'll be issuing them until they get done. You don't have the time to be nice about things, you need to manage 3 or more demigods at once.
Your role as the coordinator is, strangely enough, to coordinate your team. You need to manage how citadels will be upgraded(mostly when to buy reinforcements), what flags need to be capped, what flags need to be locked, and what demigods need to be put on ice. You also need to command your team when and where to push, what to defend, what to lose(ie, territory), and how to organize your movements.
Basic commands for a coordinator would include:
push <insert direction> - for pushing in a certain lane/direction/blah blah blah
move to <insert location>
cap <insert flag> - capping a certain flag. Usually, most flags that require an order will need to be locked.
lock <insert flag name> - LOCK IT. JUST LOCK THE FREAKING FLAG. AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BUY FLAG LOCKS.
kill <insert enemy demigod> - can be a reference to a player or just the demigod they play as. Make it good and dead.
break <insert building/lane> - break down a specific structure, or push through the buildings in a specific lane. As opposed to pushing, a command like this requires more discression towards opposing demigods. Don't be afraid to flee. A break move is not an offensive.
Move as a unit - move together, fight together
Buy <insert citadel upgrade> - duh.
Don't buy <insert item/upgrade/artifact> - duh. Mostly used for priests and angels.
Creep - Level up
Help - INCREDIBLY important command, and everyone on the team should use it when they need it. More details are nice when possible, but the general idea of it is: I'm in shit, someone get the hell over here. Usually, if someone says help, and they don't get it, they will die.
Teleport here/backdoor here/blah blah here - Once again, anyone should use this command where appropriate. Essentially, once you've set something up, get the rest of your team to follow through by TELLING THEM. If someone sets up a backdoor, and says they need support to keep it or make an offensive, then you should evaluate the situation. If there's nothing needing immediate defense, make your move.
A few more orders, courtesy of Milskidasith:
Shield/heal/snipe - If somebody says shield, or heal, and you are somebody with a shield/heal/snipe (or any other ability you care to name) ability, either use it (use your judgement though... snipe the enemy with 300 health, not the full health enemy. This actually happened to me. ), or quickly type CD (for CoolDown.) When a teammate asks you to use a specific ability, USE IT NOW. This is probably the most important thing you will ever hear besides Lock the Flag, and even that's questionable.
Stun: Know your stun moves. If your ally needs a stun to escape, use your stun and run. Even if you aren't using it optimally (IE interrupting a snipe, hammer slam, Fireball, Erebus stun, etc.), it's still better than waiting and letting your ally die.
Fall back - While it's self explanatory, people just don't understand when they are overextended... no, being a kickass vampire two levels above the rook does NOT mean you can charge him in the middle of his tower farm, unless you are a registered badass.
Drop me a teleport/potion. Did you know you can right click to drop items? No? Well, it's a great thing. There are a variety of uses; in combat restoration of health, buying equipment for allies (while it may not be useful most of the time, buying a TB a HoL when your build doesn't need much cash, or a similar situation, is useful.)
Pool our cash: See, sometimes you have situations where you are at catas and want giants, but don't want to sacrafice equipment or wait for 1k more gold. Get a teammate to buy something worth 1.5k, drop it, you sell it, and buy the giants. You lose a bit of cash, but a bit of extra cash in your pocket is not worth nearly as much as a lot more cash in your citadel.
Feel free to use more in depth commands, but just remember that you need to manage your own skin too. You need to moniter the events that are going on on the field, as well as micromanaging your own character and minions. Remember, if you can't manage you and your allies, you can't do this job. Also, you need to be able to type. If we can't understand you, we won't listen to you.
You need to know when and how to set your movement paths ahead of time so you can buy yourself time to issue commands. Also, as much as you should avoid it, death penalty time is a WONDERFUL time to outline your plans to your ally. Just please, for all of us, don't depend on it.
Everyone else:
Yes, you. That guy there who does nothing but run around and... well... *sigh*
We'll make a soldier out of you yet!
First, you need to use your own judgement. Yes, a coordinator is nice and all, but he can't get you through everything. Especially if he sucks. If he's giving some really questionable orders, or just can't do his job right, you need to be able to take over for him, or disregard. I'm not saying do as you please and forget what he says, but you need to be involved in the thinking process too. Just remember, the coordinator of the team is telling you these things for a reason.
Get used to being called by your character name. If someone actually wrote out 'TheGuildfordStrangler' everytime they were trying to talk to me, I would probably have to strangle them for being so stupid.
If you don't know about the meaning or quality of a command, ask. If you question the validity of a command, ask. Always make sure you have an idea what's going on. It may take a while to get a good response, as the coordinator should be busy if your opponents are any good, but he should be able to give an answer at some point (retreats back to the crystal are my favourite time to chat about the good ol' days).
Basic team stuff:
Moreso like basic gameplay guide, but essentially:
-Flag locks. Use them. Abuse them. They're cheap, and they're incredibly effective. By and far, the best item in the game. If you don't have room saved for flag locks, you're doing something horribly wrong. I like to keep at least one on me when I can afford to, and 2 is a comfortable number for me to have on me. Always say something when you lock a flag, to inform your teammates.
-Teleport scrolls. They have a time and a place. It's nice when you tell where you're warping to, and what you plan to do. Always have an idea of what you want to do before you use one.
-If your opponents start to outlevel you, all is not lost. Two demigods will still beat one somewhat stronger demigod. Moving as a single unit (or just a unit of two demigods) may give up some lane control, but if you need to get rid of a threat ASAP, sometimes you have no choice. You can reduce the negative effect of joining together by using flag locks and then moving to the target.
-In most cases, a flag is better then a kill or a creep. Only pursue a target if you know that you can keep the flag. Capping is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
-Flag locks are freaking awesome. They allow you to direct your attention to more pressing matters, and can really lighten the load on you and your teammates. Use them.
-A team that works together will almost always have a huge advantage over a team that doesn't. Good team coordination can make up for a huge gap in skill as well.
Now, go out and show your opponents THE TRUE POWER OF TEAMWORK!