Having connection problems at home, I usually just resort to doing custom games with AI since I don’t want to get dc’d and reported. Believe it or not, playing with the AI improved my macro significantly.
Of course doing a full regular game against the AI wouldn’t help with anything except boost your ego, so I set some rules:
- I start the game with 10 points.
- Every tower that I lose, I get some points deducted; 1 point for tier 1, 2 points for tier 2.
- Passing score is 7 points.
This means if you lose all tier 1 turrets, you can’t lose another turret. If you lose a tier 1 and a tier 2 turret, you’ll lose if another of your turrets fall.
Sounds fairly easy eh?
Well not quite actually. Especially if you focus on hunting enemy heroes. From this exercise I learned 2 things:
- Focus on the minimap.
- Clear the minion waves.
It’s not unusual to ignore a small wave of minions creeping to your base then get a bit busy around the map only to find out that the same wave has eaten up half your turret’s HP. Turrets in AoV are relatively weak so you have to quickly respond. AI gaming opened my eyes about that.
After doing a lot of AI customs, when I got to play regular PVP games, my instinct was to always clear waves and focus on the minimap to observe minion movement (somehow I feel like a surfer waiting for waves LOL). Not only did it save our turrets, but also kept me well farmed and ahead in gold. Minion wave mastery will help predict the flow of creeps thus helping in getting advantages which will then translate to securing the game.
You can also practice using hero trial. This will allow you to learn the most efficient farming method for your hero, test skill ranges, and other things about your main hero.
The Omniscientist 