I’ll try to answer your question with answers specifically for the 5v5 and 3v3 modes.
So, here goes nothing!
Answer No. 1:
A tank is usually the support (we call them Captains in Vainglory) in most cases. However, some heroes are also tanks and carries in one, which most will call them as bruiser heroes and they are usually used as junglers.
Here’s a list of the current tanks & bruisers:
- Captains: Ardan, Catherine, Churnwalker, Flicker, Fortress, Grace, Lance, Phinn, Yates.
- Bruisers: Glaive, Grumpjaw, Krul, Tony.
For 3 vs 3, the ‘tank’ follows the jungler around in the jungle, and also goes to the lane to help the laner from time to time.
For 5 vs 5, the ‘Captain’ stays around the middle lane, because of the amount of Gold they can get from the mid laner farming. The ‘Bruiser’ goes around the jungle in between the two side lanes and the middle lane, taking jungle camps and ganking any of the lanes when they can.
Answer No.2:
A laner is one of the carries in a team. They usually go to and stay in a specific lane (this is mainly 5 vs 5 because there are three lanes to fill).
For 3 vs 3, the laner stays in lane most of the time and goes into the jungle to help his/her team when a team fight happens. This is quite simple and any ‘laner’ hero, usually a ranged hero can work well in the 3 vs 3 map’s lane.
For 5 vs 5, there are three lanes: Top Lane, Mid Lane and Bot Lane (just like any MOBA before this).
Top lane is usually a laner who:
- Has some sort of mobility if they are squishy and has burst damage (e.g. Inara, Reza).
- Has good tankiness and can dive for lots of damage (e.g. Ardan, Grace).
- Is able to farm ok/has decent wave clear/can kill minions at an ok speed.
Mid lane is usually a laner who:
- Is a ‘crystal power’ carry. By that, I mean whichever hero that buys Blue items.
- Can use the Blue Orb to become stronger/helps them in lane and team fights.
- Some examples: Celestes, Skaarf, Varya.
Bot lane is usually a laner who:
- Is a ‘weapon’ carry. By that I mean they usually buy Red items.
- Can use the Red Orb.
- Some examples: Gwen, Ringo, Baron.
Try out which heroes you think you would like as a laner, then choose which lane you want to go to.
Answer No.3:
Defense in Vainglory is split into 2 main types: Armor and Shield.
Armor (brown in color, Metal Jacket and Atlas Pauldron) are the items you buy when you see lots of weapon/Red item carries on the enemy team.
Shield (lime green in color, Slumbering Husk) is the item you buy when you see lots of crystal/Blue item carries on the enemy team.
Simply put:
Armor = Physical Damage Resistance = Weapon Damage Reduction.
Shield = Magic Damage Resistance = Crystal Damage Reduction.
Pick and choose according to the situation and which one is dealing you the most damage.
A word of advice: Carries should only buy either Metal Jacket, Slumbering Husk and occasionally Aegis if they are squishy. If the carry is a tanky/bruiser type, they usually buy both Metal Jacket and Slumbering Husk or buy one and take a different item such as Pulseweave or Aegis.
Other defense items are situational and are usually just picked by Captains.
Answer No.4:
Whoever is dealing the most damage and is being targeted by the enemy is usually your main carry. The enemy wants to delete that hero before he/she deletes them, so protection of their lives is the Captain’s responsibility as well as other team mates.
Just keep playing and overtime, you’ll be able to tell who is the one you should protect.
Hope this helped!