So I really like Oak, but I find it hard to survive the early game, and even if I do I have an impossible time killing off other DGs. By the endgame I am usually unkillable, provided there's a source of creeps around for me to leech health off of... but I hardly ever pull in any kills, which leaves me with little gold.

Level 1, I'll pick up the Universal Gadget and Banded Armor and go run right for a creep lane. I don't pick my power until I see what's going on up there; if there's another DG I will usually engage and see how it goes. If I'm starting to lose, I'll pick my shield as a 'holy shit, eject!' button, and if I'm managing to push them back (unlikely, but sometimes it happens) I may grab penitence to try and wrestle an early kill. 95% of the time, I've got Shield, though, as I have the universal gadget to try for that if I want it. I try and focus on the creeps instead of the other DG, as I need to level quickly to 2 for Divine Justice. I usually get pushed back by any other DG at this point, at which point I shield and heal with the Universal Gadget and get back in there.

Level 2 is ALWAYS Divine Justice. The health restoration is all that keeps me in, but between it and shield I can usually stick it out a bit longer. I'm basically ignoring other DGs while doing this until there's no creeps left, at which point I may make a few swings before having to run.

Level 3 and 4 are usually Raise Dead Wards to get a swarm of minions started. They help with my staying power a little bit just by harassing the other DGs while I creep. I'm usually forced back at least once by this point, though.

Level 5 is ALWAYS Surge of Faith, as the AoE helps me kill off creeps for health and stay in the lane. Creeping gets much easier at this point, but I'm still getting my ass handed to me by just about any other DG.

Level 6 is usually the next rank of Divine Justice to try and get some more staying power. If I run into other DGs at this point, I'll be working on killing creeps off before I do anything to them. I can usually mooch enough health off the creeps to survive whatever abilities the DGs blow on me, but Generals make my life so much easier if they have minions; I just focus on offing their priests or what have you, and it weakens them and keeps me in the game.

7-9 usually involve upping my raise dead ward and Divine Justice. I will pick up Soul Power if the opportunity presents itself, but I often wait on that till lategame... if I can afford the Heart of Life by this point, I will buy the fuck out of it and start boosting my shield so I can shield+HOL recover in fights. I still won't win most fights against DGs, but I can either force them back or hold out for quite a while as I creep.

By 10, I get the next Surge of Faith. I can stay in fights a bit easier now, but I have fuck all for damage, and enemy DGs can just poke me and run away constantly.

The rest of the game, I usually just max out Surge of Faith, Raise Dead Ward, and Divine Justice. I don't get the last rank of Soul Power, as it's predicated on killing enemy DGs and I can never seem to pull that off by myself. I often get about 4 ranks of Shield before I give up on it, because by that time I can just HOL my way back to full. I don't get Last Stand, as I don't want to have to die.

A lot of games, I won't have a single rank of Penitence because I won't know when to pick the thing up.

Equipment-wise, I will usually grab a Vlemish Helm so I can keep blasting Surge of Faith as needed. I don't normally pick up speed upgrades, although I'm starting to think I should just because shield+run doesn't work if they can catch you! I really like the Hauberk of life for both my survivability and that of the minions I'm pulling out. If I get exorbitantly wealthy, I'll pick up the Platemail of the Crusader, but I think I've been in a position to do this maybe twice. I also really like the Unbreakable Boots.

I never really get to use Favor Items, as the total's always borked. I've bought the anklet like 8 times and it keeps dissapearing, and most games I seem to get reset back to 0.

I'm hoping to get some ideas here as to how to improve my Oak a bit. If my team gets an edge and I can keep levelling, I'm a monster by the end of the game and I can just wander around the map with impunity, but my main role is capping points, pushing towers, and offing creeps. Enemy DGs give me huge problems because I can never seem to get enough damage on them to kill 'em. I've seen penitence-centered builds that focus on hunting enemy DGs, but I've had very poor luck with that as so many goddamned abilities are instant or near-instant (Sedna's pounce, Erebus' bite...) I only really get that working with hammerslam rooks or the AI when it tries to teleport away, and that's just because they're blatantly obvious. Most of the time I can get a shield up before the hammerslam anyway, so I don't have to worry about interrupting it.

Anyway, dudes, I'm posting all this because I'm basically just looking for advice. If I could be a bit more threatening to enemy DGs I would have an easier time with Oak because I wouldn't have to flee lanes constantly until the endgame.