IMHO best starting gods are:
Ra, Poseiden, Agni, AO and Anubis
Pos, AO, Agni and Anubis because of their area effect abilities that help the team in a big way both in terms of lane clearing and harrassing the enemy and don't take a huge amount of skill to lay down correctly
Ra because everyone loves a healer and his 1 ability is a great lane clearer.
Guardians are also good starting gods (albeit abit boring) IF you know how to build them correctly. The hardest gods to learn are assassins as they rely greatly on their item builds.
Other starter tips:
If you currently have your gods set to auto build, I recommend trying as fast as possible to learn how to manual build. I think I went up to lvl 10 on auto before I switched to learning manually. Auto build usually does an adequate job at lower levels but don't rely on it. Learn the items and what they do ... the faster you do this the faster you will start crushing your opponents, especially at lower levels.
Arena is a great place to "learn" gods. Matches run fairly quickly, money (and therefore items) come way faster than other modes, and you are constantly casting abilities. Assault is also a great mode to learn gods ... you even have an excuse if you suck ("I'm new with this god") and nobody can say anything since it's random pick.
I actually play these two modes almost exclusively. Conquest made me rage too much with people leaving mid game, since games take a long time to begin with. Conquest also requires specific roles and people will rage at you if you don't pick the "right" type of god (once you start getting to higher levels).
When playing Assault buying tier 3 Meditation (the green one "Salvation") as a starting item is a safe play. Salvation is almost a "must buy" item in this mode since you can't go back to base to replenish mana. Salvation also has the added benefit of being a team heal. It is BY FAR better than Greater Meditation which IMHO should never be bought unless you are playing Hel (and even then I still think about it). You can buy tier 3 shoes (the ones that give you +15 percent ability regen and Salvation with the starting money in Assault.
In all modes except Assault, it's important to know when to return to base. Typically unless playing a Guardian I return to base at half health (especially in Arena). This keeps your feeding to a minimum.
If you are the sole person left at a tower versus multiple enemies, don't be a hero. It's better to let the tower fall than to die.
If you are playing a hunter (Neith, Artemis, buy Quin's Sais)
