Guan Yu: My attempt at making a guide

Hi. My name is fadellity, and I'm going to try and make a guide for my favorite god Guan Yu. This is my first guide and I'm still a new player, so any feedback or tips you can give me are much appreciated. I am not a pro, and it is more than likely that there are more wrong things than right in this guide. The reason I'm doing this is so I can get feedback that will help me get better. Thanks!

Right from the start, one of my favorite gods to play has been Guan Yu. I am the type of person who likes to play defense while still having the ability to do damage. If that's what you're looking for, then you should definitely give Guan Yu a shot!

UPDATE 8/8/13
Here is my build for the new Guan Yu! Notice: THIS IS STILL A BUILD IN THE MAKING, THERE ARE PROBABLY A LOT OF FLAWS. IF SOMETHING DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT TO YOU, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANKS!

Pros:
Good balance between defense and attack
Good heal
Good ultimate that can provide a stun for chaining attacks
Can be built many ways
Passive allows you to give great heals to your teammates
Can reduce your cooldowns

Cons:
Can be somewhat squishy if not built correctly
Can easily fall behind
Struggles with dealing with multiple gods at once

Passive: Painless - Guan Yu gains force of will as he takes damage. Each instance of damage he receives charges up his Conviction ability, increasing its healing by up to 2x after 20 hits. Guan Yus basic attacks also utilize a four-swing chain with escalating damage and swing time, hitting all enemies in a line in front of him on the final blow. Max Heal Multiplier: 2x. Num Hits to Full Charge: 20x. Melee ProgressionL: 1/1/1.3/1.75x damage and swing time.

This really helps you get great heals out to your teammates during team fights and can save your life in a pinch!

---

Ability 1: Conviction - Guan Yu's courageous leadership is infectious and, when focused, heals himself and his allies and increases physical protections for 3s. Healing friendly gods reduces all cooldowns by 2s. Healing: 50/80/110/140/170. Physical Protection: 10/15/20/25/30. Cost: 60/70/80/90/100. Cooldown: 14s.

I personally think that this is a pretty great heal, mostly because it lowers your cooldowns if you heal your buds and can save lives in team fights.

---

Ability 2: Warrior's Will - Guan Yu charges forward, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade extended in front of him. All enemies in his path take damage and are slowed. Hitting enemy gods lowers all of Guan Yus cooldowns by 2s. Damage: 80/135/190/245/300 (+50% of your physical power). Slow: 20%. Slow Duration: 2s. Cost: 60/70/80/90/100. Cooldown: 14s.

This ability is just one of the reasons that makes Guan Yu very mobile and hard to escape from; it deals a fairly large amount of damage and can help you get away.

---

Ability 3: Taolu Assault - Guan Yu spins his blade in a controlled but furious display, slicing enemies for damage every .3s for 3s. Each hit debuffs the enemies protections while buffing Guan Yu the same amount. Guan Yu is immune to knockback for the duration. Damage per Hit: 15/25/35/45/55 (+20% of your physical power). Protection Buff/Debuff: 10. Buff/Debuff Max Stacks: 3. Buff/Debuff Duration: 3s. Cost: 60/65/70/75/80. Cooldown: 15s.

This is Guan Yu's main damage dealer. At max level, it can deal NASTY damage if your enemy is stunned and you can just sit there and pound them with it. It is also very useful in the early stages of the game because of the protections it can give you. Another great thing about this is that you are free to move at your normal run speed while using this ability, so once again, Guan Yu is quite mobile.

---

Ultimate: Cavalry Charge - Guan Yu mounts his warhorse and charges for 4s. While mounted, he can steer and click to attack and is immune to crowd control. Enemies hit take damage and are slowed. Each hit increases damage from consecutive hits against that target by 20%. Enemies hit on the dismount are stunned. Damage: 75/100/125/150/175 (+30% of your physical power). Damage escalation: 20% per hit. Slow: 25% for 2s. Stun: 1.5s. Cost: 80/90/100/110/120. Cooldown: 90s.

I really like this ultimate because of everything it can do. First of all, it does pretty good. Second of all, if you land the dismount, the enemy is stunned for 1.5 seconds, allowing you to use Warrior's Will and Taolu Assault in succession for lethal damage. I find that the combo Cavalry Charge -> Warrior's Will -> Taolu Assault will often times guarantee you a kill on squishier gods, like Ra or Anubis. One thing to keep in mind is that to fully take advantage of this ultimate, you must land the dismount for the stun. Keep in mind that this ultimate is very tricky to land, but if you do manage to hit one person with all your hits then you will deal MASSIVE amounts of damage and an awesome stun.

I'm not an expert on items, so I won't try to tell you what works and what doesn't on Guan Yu. The only thing I'm going to say is that a good way to go is to build a bit tanky and mostly stack physical power. Another great thing to do is build attack speed and lifesteal because Guan Yu's auto attacks do substantial damage, but are quite slow. As far as abilities go, almost anything will work. I tend to go with meditation and aegis, but it's really up to you.

One of the things I love about Guan Yu is that he really doesn't have a strong point or a weak point over the course of a match, he is consistent throughout (unless you fall behind, that is).

EARLY GAME:
During the early game, you'll want to gain as much XP as possible, because falling behind with Guan is something you DO NOT want to do. Focus on farming minions, but don't get TOO aggressive, because death is NOT forgiving during the early game. A good way to farm is to push a wave of minions together with Taolu Assault and then dash through them with Warrior's Will. However, if you notice an enemy alone and out of mana, by all means, go in on them, because Guan Yu's damage early game is pretty great. Just make sure that it's safe to go ham because Guan Yu is also a bit squishy early game.

MID GAME:
Here's where you can start becoming more aggressive: you can use Cavalry Charge to gank unsuspecting foes, and when they hear your horse's cry, they'll shudder in fear! Seriously, the Cavalry Charge -> Taolu Assault -> Warrior's Will combo will DOMINATE. It will be tough for the enemy team to kill you and you will do great damage, but once again this ALL DEPENDS ON HOW FED OR STARVED YOU ARE COMPARED TO THE ENEMY TEAM. Also, during the mid game, your wave clear will improve TREMENDOUSLY, so you can gain XP and buffs much quicker.

LATE GAME:
Guan Yu can be a key fighter in a team fight because of his passive and his heal: you can tank a bunch of damage, and then drop a massive heal on all of your teammates and reduce cooldowns for yourself as well. The stun you can pull off with your ultimate is great as well. Your Taolu Assault will do great damage and you can become exceedingly agile with Warrior's Will Overall, Guan Yu's late game, if he's not underleveled, is AWESOME.

To summarize, if played correctly, Guan Yu can be lethal and tanky at the same time. He can be built many ways and his Cavalry Charge -> Warrior's Will -> Taolu Assault combo is almost unstoppable. Painlesscombined with Conviction will make you cooldown efficient and a key player in team fights because it will be able to save the lives of those you're playing with.

Well, that's it from me. If you think I should go more in depth, let me know, and if you have any tips for me, I'd love to hear them!