With the ever-growing Champions list and the weekly rotation, we all eventually have/want to try to play with new characters. Here are some tips to your first few plays.


For everyone
Don't fall into what I like to call "The Fanboy pitfall" : choosing a Champion just because you like him/her in the comic books. That's what most people do at first because we all know and love these DC characters! The very first game I played, I picked Green Lantern because I like him, but had a horrible time with him... After a few games with him, I found out that Blasters really aren't the type of Champions I'm confortable with. I then tried Batman, and boy did I liked the game more afterwards! Also, it depends if this is your first MOBA and if you're familiar with the different types of Champions. It helps a lot in the end.


For new players
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Check the Difficulty rating of the champion, here on Dawnbase.
At the moment, there are 11 champions rated 40% or lower, and these are the easiest champions to play with.
Don't pick high-rated champions if you just got into the game or have no experience in MOBAs, even if he's one of your favorite characters : you're almost sure to have a hard time and don't like it.

Check out the champion types to find which one(s) pleases you more. They are well described in the right pane here, where there's the full list of champions, but let me repeat them here for reading purpose :

Melee champions (usually) :
An Assassin works best when jumping into a situation, doing their max damage upfront, and getting out before the enemy knows what happened!
 A Bruiser gets into the thick of fights, trying to destroy their target with close ranged attacks and powers.
An Enforcer is the first into a battle and tries to soak up as much damage for their team as possible.

Ranged champions (usually) :
A Blaster has strong Powers, often unleashing bursts of punishment on enemies.
 A Marksman makes frequent use of a strong basic attack to devastate the enemy team with unrelenting damage.
 A Controller aids their teammates by helping them function better and survive longer, as well as debuffing and afflicting foes.

Watch the Champion Profile on YouTube or the Spotlight tab here on Dawnbase.
It gives a great first look at the champion and can be enough to find out if he fits your playstyle.

Read the Champion's Abilities here on Dawnbase. You have to know how the skills work.

Play in Gotham Heights. Fast games, lots of teamfights, so lots of feedback.

Stick with the recommended items for the first games. Concentrate more on the skills and the combos you can develop.

Play more than just 2 or 3 games with a new Champion before deciding to leave for another. I think it takes 5 or more games getting used to the way a champion works, depending on the teammates you got paired with. Some champions take some time to get used to because of the way their skills work, but are absolutely deadly when played by people who took the time to tame them. Joker prime is the best example that comes to mind; I hated him at first because of the "throwing presents and dolls" mechanic for some of his skills, but when I've mastered them a bit, I've had lots of fun (and kills) playing him.
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For experienced players
The most of the tips above apply, but here are a few more :
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Read the champion's skills here on Dawnbase and choose 2 that work great together. These will be the 2 that you'll level up to max first.
For example : the last champion I tried was Cyborg, and after reading his skills, I found that Tracer Shot (Q) and Cascade (E) were easy to use together. The Q lets you mark a target while the E boosts your attack speed and refreshes the duration while attacking the marked target.

Usually, it's better to alternate the leveling between the 2 skills you chose from my previous point, instead of rushing your favorite to level 4. I tend to find that if your skills are equally balanced in levels, you deal more constant damage over time. If one of them is level 3 and the other is level 1, you deal a burst of damage with the first but are stuck with lower damage from the second during the cooldown, which is not as efficient.

Learn how the ultimate (R) works and use it properly. Again, with Cyborg, I had to adjust a bit the way I used Plasma Cannon (R) because of the little activation time. Also, I learned to position myself better before using it to maximize the targets I hit and to take advantage of the piercing effect provided after.

For the items, focus on the damage type of the champion and on what makes the skills scale.
Most of the champion's skills scale with one damage type, but some do with Health or Will. Pay attention to this and build your artifacts accordingly.
Also, some champions like Harley Quinn and Gaslight Batman are hybrid, meaning that some of their skills scale with Attack Damage, some with Power Damage and some with both types. Some artifacts emphasize on this, like [[Shade's Cane (3)]] or Psi-Scimitar (3).
An easy choice would be to focus on the damage type your 2 preferred skills scales with.

At the end of a game, check the artifacts of your fellow teammates or opponents. It can give you an insight for playing a type of champion.
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Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed; if so, give me a "thumbs up"! I will add more with further tests and tryouts, but these are quick tips that can get you to play a new champion quickly for the first time.
Leave a comment to give me your own tips!