Shield should be the top priority.  It saves your teammates asses.  In all Honestly, Spikes is the last set of skills i upgrade when i'm after level 15.   I don't do mulch, and I use a primarely support build.  The only question i have for myself is I usually go allthe way in compost, but I honestly have no idea how much of an effect it has on my minions.  (I don't do uproot, i feel as if its a waste).

My 2 cents.  I just don't play QoT aggressively.   I make sure my teammates are able to run down targets with a strong sheild.

If the enemy demigod comes for me, I sheild myself, let my allies dmg the attacker.  Either way, the enemy demigod is wasting his hits for a few seconds.

there is no reason to do compost over entourage if you're just worried about your minions. full compost adds a meager 100 health to shamblers. Not sure about dmg but im confident it is less than entourage. In fact, it would be better to get stats than compost for minions.

numbers for compost posted by me in the other QOT guide. and going to do testing on it tonight

I play my best as QoT. I usually get Shamblers right away and buy archer and melee idols. Summon them all and trying to farm as much xp right away. If a demigod face me, I harass them with my minions while i hide at the base towers. At level 2 I get the shield since I wanted damage over protection.

I want to stay in closed form since it gives a lot of bonuses and I can cast shield right away. I buy the first mana helmet and then the boots of speed and then the wand of speed. Later I get heart of life but other than that, I spend all my money on citadel ugrades. I keep harassing them, running away, picking flags, shield my allies. I love the fact that I can keep my minions where the action is while I run back and fourth. One guy rage quitted today and complained about my minions.

If the game lasts too long, I get troubles in the end. The minions arent that good even when I buff them with expensive gear. I am thinking about buffing myself and mulch shamblers instead.

I rarely get kills, but I dont die either.

I do think uproot needs to be way better. You can only use it for destroying buildings and its not even very good at it. I tried it myself on singel fortress map and even with max uproot and a lot of alone time with the fortress, it took forever to bring it down, and then I have sacrificed a lot of combat skill points.

Don't get me wrong. Shield is good. Shield is GREAT even. However, I think it's a common misconception of many players that max shield = longer chase, therefore greater chance of kill. Think of it this way. When you give the ally a shield, you are letting them chase for longer. Enemy demigods have a movement speed. Speed = Distance/Time. The more time your opponent spends running, the more chance they have to get back to their tower, or escape. On the other hand, spikes lowers enemy armour, which means they take more damage. With increased damage, the enemy has less time to run, which means at the same movement speed as an enemy running from a shielded enemy, the distance they run will be less, meaning your ally not only is less likely to have to run through enemy towers or creep waves, but are likely to end the kill faster, which means they are able to get to other locations on the map quicker, and therefore support the rest of the team more readily. Given that the shield only  really becomes useful when there are other enemies trying to attack your ally as he runs, you should use the "chase time" to go into closed mode (it doesnt stop you moving) and get ready to support the hunt. By having shield as second priority, yes, it's going to be a lower level, but all you REALLY want to buy your ally with shield is reaction time. so even though the damage absorbed is less, you're doing yoru job by giving them the time they need to abort the chase if situations really get bad. Honestly, the few hundred extra absorb you get between two levels will help you get kills less often than the extra drop of armour given by spikes.

I know a lot of people use closed form almost exclusively, because it's safe, you have higher armour and easier access to your defensive spells. However, what you're really doing to yourself is denying yourself the ability to really hurt the other team, and give your allies the support they sorely need. If you go purely defensive, sure you help your allies kill, but if they have 3 offensive characters, and you have 2 and a defensive queen, your allies will be hard pressed to hold ground, and therefore get the all important warscore. The offensive build for QoT I suggested before not only has more ability to drop enemy creep waves and demigods, but also doesnt really sacrifice any of her defensive capabilities in the long term. You still max your shield (for Godess of Thorns, which is an amazing ability) and spend skill points on toughening up your minions, but you also get a lot more offensive power. Remember, the extra damage that your minions get from the spikes lowering armour is higher than what you're going to get from spending the points of spike on upgrading minion damage through compost, or just straight stats.

QoT IS a support character, but you can't think of a support character as a "Defender". Yes, she has trouble killing on her own, because her burst damage isn't nearly enough to catch opponents off guard, but using spikes she increases the burst damage of your allies. Allowing them to catch even the best of players off guard. It's at this point, when you are pressing the advantage, where you use shield to buy extra time for allies chasing (assuming you arent fast enough to help chase yourself, because remember, when you cast shield, you DO stop for a split second, and if you're the same speed as the person you're chasing, you no longer are dealing damage if you're just in range, In this case using shield is hurting more than helping) If you're faster than the opponent you're chasing, just get up close for another spike wave. Shield is also an escape. You buy your allies, (or yourself) reaction time. I like to stay near middle where possible as queen, and I always buy Teleportation scrolls, so when my allies are running on low hitpoints, i can teleport to the tower nearest to them, shield them, and then turn offensive and spike thier chasers, then really making them questino whether or not it's worth it to try and keep chasing. after spikes go back into defensive and get ready to shield yourself in the case thatt hey turn on you, or your ally in the case they ignore you.

Once you know WHEN to use your abilities, then you know when to be open or close. To just simply dismiss open form as an option due to teh weakness of the other abilities like uproot, and the loss of bonuses, you're dismissing the chance to improve yoru skills with queen, and use her full potential.

Queen is one of the harder heroes to play well, but once you start getting the hang of her, she's easily one of the most powerful, especially in team games.

Great post.

She's still ridiculous with a closed-form minion only build though. She's the only one who can pull it off.

You see, when you use bramble shield there is obviously a cooldown time. During this period, you should bring QoT out and use ground spikes on the opposing demigod whom your teammates are focus firing on. After a while, when you feel that your bramble shield is almost ready, use spike wave just in case the opposing demigod tries to run and then wrap QoT up to apply bramble shield, again, to a teammate who's being focus fired on or who needs an arse saving from you.

During the cooldown time of bramble shield and ground spikes, you should help on offense and attack the opposing demigod. If they're focus firing on you, then that's a good sign because now you are able to use mulch shambler. This makes your team more durable.

In my experience, staying wrapped up is only good early game. Ground spikes isn't that effective yet but bramble shield already is. At mid game, you should be a little shy on offense but you need to use ground spikes for your team's benefit. Mana is the only issue here. At late game, you should only stay wrapped up if you're losing mana and if bramble shield is ready. Otherwise, help on offense.

i have my doubts, but i'm going to be testing it out next game i play.

I apologize in advance to my teamates as we surely will lose

Yeah I didn't pick up the sarcasm, sorry.

It's true that Erebus is, from his skill tree, more of an assassin type. His auto-attack damage sucks though :p I think the only way to kill a skilled Erebus player is to go 2vs1 on him, or 1v1 him with a Regulus snipe placed somewhere near the end which, technically, is still 2vs1.

I've never lost a LAN game with QoT.

Closed build without Mulch Shamblers.

I mean, seriously... If you're having to Mulch Shamblers for HP, then you're already in deep trouble to begin with. Your HP should never go below 80% of your maximum when your QoT. The trick is to alwayts make sure that you have bramble shield on. Bump up your mana and stock up on mana potions. Invest on the most expensive headgear first because that will seriously help ensure you have enough mana to keep your shield up. Also, don't hesitate to invest skill points on those minion power ups once your shamblers and bramble shield are fully upgraded.

After the most expensive headgear, invest on the Godplate because it boosts your minions survivability. Then get the other items that concentrate on empowering your minions. QoT is a general, not an assassin. I've won a game wherein I have the least deaths (just 1, compared to everyone else who averaged anywhere from 10-15) and the most kills.

Also, learn to use the towers... QoT's start with really sorry dps and needs towers to gain DG kills during the first half of the game. And remember, at the start of the game, QoT's gain most of her experience by hunting creeps, not enemy DG's. Her regular attacks splash within a small radius allowing her to kill multiple creeps at once. Switch from one creep choke point to another to gain levels fast while trying to avoid DG encounters. When you're about level 7 with level 3 Shamblers and level 3 bramble shield, go and start hunting DG's who are at the same level or lower than you are.

I like QoT a lot. (it rhymes!)

With the right items, you have various options. You can play offense using crital hit based equipment builds (available to any DG, but bundled with Shield, gives her the durability to make it viable). You can try for Minion builds, which are good at pushing towers early and map control. You can wipe out creep waves just as well as the mage DG, using spikes. You can support assasin DGs and upgrade your citidel.

She has a lot of strategies available to her, which is what I like about her.

Also, people calling for a buff on Uproot need to remember a few things. Uproot is buffed by Compost. Uproot is fire-and-forget. You don't even have to take damage to use it. If you push a lane with one other person, you can shield the person while they attack, cast uproot, and start attacking the tower yourself. This is a TON of damage. One cast of Uproot should not take a tower down. It's a damage boost to help you out... not a solo-lone-wolf-tower-killer.

Also, don't forget about healers. At least buy the cheap 900 gold healer guys. You're a General after all. They can save you or your teammates life.

That's good and well, but putting points in both Compost and Uproot quickly starts spreading your available skill points out rather thinly, all to ensure she does sufficient damage to structures only. Several other Demigods have abilities to effectively destroy structures with the bonus that they work on Demigods too. To name a few:

Regulus with Snipe.

Rook with Hammer Slam and Structural Transfer

Unclean Beast with Spit

Sedna with Pounce

Torch Bearer with Fire Ball and Circle of Fire.

It is because this specialised siege skill of hers require such a large sink of skill points to actually match (or only surpass a little) the effectiveness of another Demigod's sieging ability that we're calling for a buff. Moreover, it's damage over time, which means that if the enemy upgrades regeneration for structures, her effective total damage with Uproot becomes even less than what a burst damage would do.

Many have suggested buffing the damage. I would like to suggest that Uproot disables the structure and prevents it from firing (much like how Torch Bearer's Frost Nova can freezes towers) so that she can proceed to attack the tower unmolested. 

However, I feel that the best way to make Uproot more cost effective, is to have Uproot castable on Demigods; either on an enemy for detrimental effects or on an ally for a buff.

Perhaps it may go like this:

Either

castable on an enemy to reduce their attack speed by a significant amount

or

castable on an ally such that the ally receives an additional, independent normal attack cycle that's like Queen of Thorn's normal attack. It's as if the roots themselves are now hitch hiking on the ally, and independently attacking anything in range. Last hits done by this root attack would still count towards the ally, but assisted by Queen of Thorns.

i love you

QoT's shamble stink so much, more than even unclean beast itself. She got nothing to improve idols neither, unlike sedna.

QoT was better in beta when compost effect her and not her shamblers.

One should play QoT like a TB that is able to be more aggressive because of bramble shield.

Does compost actually do anything useful for shamblers? Or would it be better to just get their hp/atk buffs, or even more beneficial the + sign skills. I don't know why but I enjoy playing with minions...

They really need to buff shamblers and compost, so synergy is better. Also does anyone else think QoT's lvl 15 skills suck? (except the one in the middle of course)

And what am I suppose to buy for her, after I get a decent mana set. Armor? Atk? Minion items? it sucks beause I can barely get any money...so what am I suppose to buy? QoT is fun to play I just don't feel i'm playing her efficient enough

Compost add like 14 damage at max level and some health to each shambler. Totally not worth it. Get those spikes (all of them) and thorns so that you can do 650 to AoE instead of 14x4 that last 5 seconds in a fight.

If you want to use shambler at all, make sure you can drag a fight till lv15 and use them as grenades. In a burst, QoT can do about 2000 damage, with -armor and -speed + heal to herself.

I always buy things depending on situation. If I find myself too frail, I will stack armor and hp.

QoT absolutely devestate towers. Not because of uproot, but because of ground spike reducing tower armor; which allow your minions to cut through almost like butter (i can't believe it is not butter!).

I have to say, I am leaning toward amulet of teleportation for favor item, especially bigger maps. The way QoT destroy tower and back cap really force the enemy team to rush there, and they will only find a locked flag with QoT long gone on the other side of the map. While they waste time chasing, your main force (allies) should be advancing through the middle.

In comparison to demolation rook, a rook can hold himself better against a bunch of melee opponents (towers). QoT can down towers faster, but can't hold the location as long. Both of them, will generally require more than 1 DG to deal with them, due to portal being stolen as well. Take a good guess if both are in the same place.

Question: does Tribute boost allied demigods income as well, or just the character who takes it?

My QoT strat is a full support/"Queen of Assists" role. This strat starts her off as a heavy support character and ultimately can get her killing DG's in the mid-late game.

First, remember that Bramble Shield is the greatest thing in the universe. It's silly, really, just how good it is. Taking this first/prioritizing it totally makes up for not trying to kill people. Find yourself a Rook, Oak, or a good UB (i specify good because I find that UB are the most fragile of these three) and never let go of them. Shield these guys often, but don't be afraid to shield yourself at the slightest provocation; you can't help your team if you die.

The above is obvious for any QoT player. From here out, I adhere to something along the lines of the "Bramble Burst" guide.

Bramble 1 --> spikes 1 --> shambler 1 (this being the only rank I take)--> Bramble 2.

Then everything else is kinda up in the air. I get mulch (which I aim to max) and I keep bramble maxed and spikes maxed if I can. The aim is simply to keep your team up and knock down creep waves, either for yourself or to keep your team from having to worry about them in a fight. Around level 8 or 9, I try to make sure I've picked up spike wave, as it becomes very nice later. I pick up the synergy at 15 and once I have everything maxed that I had planned on having maxed, I get some attributes.

The thing I love most about QoT is that she doesnt need much gear (imo). If you're playing full support and being smart about it, you won't need much health. Get mana gear as quick as you can and stay out in the field, brambling/mulching yourself as you need and keeping your mates alive. I find that the monk idol as your first purchase helps to achieve this best. Lots of QoT love speed, and I typically pick up wand of speed after a few pieces of mana gear for survivability purposes.Spend the rest of your cash on cit upgrades. HoL is nice, as well, but I typically wait for a major push on their citadel (or when faced with a major push on ours) to get it.

After getting mulch, I keep my shamblers in the base/near a tower to keep them preserved, eating them when necessary. I find that no single DG can take me down with this build unless I'm already nearly dry on mana. No amount of burst can beat mulch + bramble. 2v1 is difficult, and I won't win, but typically I won't die, either. 3v1 is stressful, never a good idea. When fighting with allies, try to remain inconspicuous. Bounce in and out of their fog of war limit just long enough to get Bramble off. If you see your opponent weakened enough, jump in and get in those extra hits, and throw in a spike wave if there's not too much heat in order to slow him down.

ALWAYS communicate with your mates, as they will soon become accustomed to your shield. Make sure they know who is gonna be shielded and if you're down to little mana. The funny thing about QoT is that she brings out the kamikazee in people, which isn't a good thing if you're not covering everyone. I've had TB teammates that will rush in repeatedly when I'm struggling to keep our Rook/myself alive, only to watch them get vaporized. Even more frustrating is Brambling a fleeing ally who has only several hundred health left, only to watch them turn around and attack their pursuers and die a horrible, horrible death.

I found the last couple of games I played that using her as a mobile siege cannon complete with uproot ...tears down enemy fortifications and pushes anywhere you want to go so fast its not even funny...

You don't even seem to need the priests until level 8+

Getting to the Queen of Thorns ability by level 15 (if you make it that far ) is one of the goals... eventually you will want mulch and uproot too..in fact the first level of both will essentially give you long range tower engagement and you can close and shield and be doing double your normal damage to the tower to rip it down asap..

Many of the games I've played with early pushing as the QoT have ended by level 11 Spikes, Shield Mulch, and Uproot the only abilities I took and only the first level of mulch and uproot.

   This.  I believe this guy the most. 

Couple things:

If you are going to play QoT be ready to go for the kill early.  If you let the game go on long enemy demigods will start to destroy you.  QoT is one of the only demigods where I would say buy monsters early on.

  Idol monsters should get stronger as thier general gains in levels.  (if they do already this should be increased.) 

Uproot.   seriously...  

QoTs gold gain skills should be avaible much earliar and possibly even tied into the shambler buffs.  Uproot should have a life drain.

After playing QoT ALOT. I finally got myself a likable build that works great...I find myself winning more often, but even if I lose, I still get extra favor points. 

General tips is to cap flags constantly, grab teleport scrools and have at least 1 at all times, cap locks (if your good at capping flags) and get the wand of speed.

All I do is get shield first, shamblers, then entourage. then spikes. I get lvl 1 shield (or 2), lvl 3 shamblers, 3 entourage, then shield and spikes because shamblers + closed formed splash damage can easily kill any creep wave with all that splash dmg, spikes not needed. If you stay with shamblers and closed form, earlier creeps die easily. I don't know why but earlier on its soo easy to steal kills, generally just stick with another demigod and team up on someone . The reason why I won't get mulch is simply because I personally don't need it, shield and wand of speed allows me to escape any battle, if you know when to run, or teleport. Because QoT has a ranged attack, wand of speed makes chasing a target easy, allowing for easy kills. I shield allies whenever they are confronting another demigod, or running from one. NEVER get uproot, spend those points in spikes b/c it allows you to hit towers for 500 dmg each hit much better than uproot. 

So during battle I would cap flags in closed form w/ shamblers while killing waves of creeps. If I see an oppurtunity I would try to kill a stupid demigod. When the battles starts to get into angel units, with my equipment then I would start to use spikes to kill off demigods and towers. The only minion idols I would get is the last ranged units if I have spare money, because you shouldn't even be dying so why take priests, shiled is enough, and melee idols suck. The good thing with shamblers is they stack dmg, so spike wave helps them do more dmg as well as yourself. Pre sheild yourself before ever doing spikes. 

Stay out in battle unless your low on health and mana (or when you have tons of money). When you go back to shop I buy, usually the 1.7k helmet (important to get first), the Banded armor  for extra health and the gaulets of brutality for dmg. Basically only get cheap stuff first, expensive stuff later, never anything in between, because its just more worth it when you save up. Only thing in between worth getting is the 1.7k helmet. Then buy what the battle calls for. If your team is being pushed back, buy citadel upgrades or expensive armor. If your pushing them the Mageslayer is the best choice imo when paired up with spikes and wand of speed. 

Getting spike wave or mulch imo burns my mana really fast, so i don't get them. However if you have spare points I would get spike wave near mid-game, or compost, because it helps the shamblers. If you die alot, then mulch would be your best bet, but it would be best to learn how to survive using only your shield and speed. lvl 4 shamblers useless (lvl 3 does same thing but a bit more mana), tribute I find is useless because I should be racking up tons of gold by then, goddess of thorns is awesome get it.

By UP, I'm assuming the original poster means Uber Powered.  

I was in a game earlier where a Queen just decimated our team. All she did was run around with shields up, shielding her teammates and taking our flags, there was just nothing we could do about her.   If she camped on a flag, we couldn't kill her before one of her allies showed up, whom she would also shield.  If we were about kill off one of her allies, she'd arun over and shield them than stand on the flag, it was a nightmare.

My 2 styles

Creep killer / support build

Increment these evenly and max them.

Bramble Shield
Ground Spike
Spike Wave
Compost
Uproot
Goddess of Thorns

Job: run into creep wave while shielded, ground spike and spike wave. Retreat. Shield allies when they are in battle and stay back. Cast uproot on towers that your allies are attacking.

Life and speed keep you alive, don't overdue it on the spike usage, save it for creeps. Excess gold goes into the citadel, and you will have alot as you don't really need many high end items as you suck unless using spikes.

Rich Biatch with escotrs.

Job: Gum up the lanes with distracting fodder, stay at the rear, do drive by ground spikes make lots of money.

Increment these eveny and max them.

Shambler
Entourage
Ground Spikes
Morale
Compost

Buy + damage items for minions.
Life and Speed again.

Hang at the back, gunk up the lanes with minions, run in and ground spike creeps, always run from other DGs and sacrifice your minions on them . Damage output form minions can be pretty good and at level 15 you start to make lots of cash as your groupies pay to be near you.