Heroes of the Storm II: Thread. Augmented. Logical Decision

[Keltest]

Thanks for your great work. I'll have to give Grenadier Morales a try, as well as being a little more liberal with my Safeguards. I'm looking forward to your analysis of the new Jania talents. Her current build is solid enough to play, but I'd love to have some talent diversity when playing her.

___

So recently, I took a look at my map statistics and I have a little bit above and below 50% winrate for most maps... except Braxis Holdout, where I have a 10% winrate. In the more subjective realm of memory, I can recall many many unfun, one sided games on Braxis Holdout. Now, my total number of games played is still a little on the small side.It could just be variance that a good portion of my bad games happen on Braxis Holdout. Still, I feel like I don't understand the map and could use some pointers, if anyone has any, on how to make the most of it.

Braxis needs a fairly specific comp to work well on it. Expect both teams to have a single strong lane bully, an AoE mage, and at least one heavy sustain tank. Anubarak and dehaka are strong on this map because Anubarak strongly counters the inevitable mage pick, while Dehaka's mobility lets him reinforce the solo lane bully for a quick gank. teams that have strong area control and don't have to back very often tend to be strong. One or two mobile characters like Falstad or Brightwing can give a lot of map control and put pressure on the solo lane, but don't over-invest in mobility, because you wont be able to maintain control over the points.

[ChaosOS]

I did another article thing: https://heroeshearth.com/b/chaosos/r...eoric-reworks/



Regarding Braxis: The "meta" is your team's choice of 1-4 or 1-1-3, with the extra "1" being a dedicated roamer like Genji who can threaten backcaps. The best supports for the map are high sustain heroes like Auriel, Lt. Morales, Lucio, and Malfurion, as the "laning phase" part of braxis lasts almost the entire game. For the top lane it is preferred to pick heroes who can dominate a capture point such as Rexxar, who can /sit Misha on the point while wave clearing or pressuring the enemy hero. The best way to beat Rexxar is with a hero that has strong kill potential like Thrall or Alarak, both of whom can potentially straight murder Rexxar behind his bear.

[Draken]

Braxis is one of my better maps as far as quick match is concerned, since I play a lot of Zagara and she is great there, serving both as a good top solo lane bully and as a mage with ironically excellent zerg-clearing capabilities.

[Neon Knight]

Thanks for the advice. That helps me understand the drafting for the map a little better. Would Nazeebo be a decent pick for Braxis? He's got a laning talent at level 4 that is pretty decent sustain, and between toads, zombie walls, and the Gargantuan can exert a solid amount of area control. I'm more comfortable with someone like Nazeebo or Azmodan than I am with Zagara, in terms of Specialists.

I know abstract hypothetical scenarios are of limited use, but let's say I'm in the solo lane and the objective comes up. Whether it is a mismatch in terms of skills or Heroes, I don't think I can fight my solo counterpart on the enemy team and win the objective. Should I rotate to the other lane and try and briefly make it a 4v5? Stay in my lane and keep pushing/wait for a backcap opportunity? Or is it impossible to say without more specifics?

I've been in the above scenario before, were I felt like I wasn't going to win an attempted trade in my lane, but felt uncertain about rotating.

[Gandariel]

Nazeebo is great for Braxis. Great poke, great waveclear, great sustain.

On solo laning.
The most important thing, which many people don't realise, is that you don't *have* to be fighting or trading damage with the opposing hero.

If, for any reason, you realise you can't trade efficiently with your opponent, then simply stop doing it as much as possible.

Let's say you are Kael Thas, and Thrall keeps poking you with Q, and threatening to burst you down with his skill rotation.
Just stay back, (maybe hide in a bush).
Wave comes, drop Q on the lane to kill it, and then retreat behind your walls.
You can even let the enemy minions push a bit forward, just so you're even closer to your buildings and safer to cast your skill.

Then, just wait until the next wave.

It feels stupid to stand 10 seconds behind your gate doing nothing, but it's 100% the best thing you could be doing.
The enemy can't attack your towers alone, can't leave the lane, can't trade damage with you. You're being completely even, you're doing fine. (And you're much harder to gank, too)

Of course, you may take some damage, but between hearts, fountain, and whatever sustain your hero has (most solo laner have some sustain ability), you should be fine.

The only thing you *have* to do is soak the experience of all the minions and prevent structure damage.

Lastly, other options are always available.
You can ping someone to switch with you, you can ask for someone to come and get a gank, etc. If you're taking structure damage, gank is usually the best option (he has to be out of position in order to be dealing damage to your buildings, after all)

Definitely *don't* randomly leave the lane and go to your teammates. It's the worst thing you could be doing. (Remember, one minion wave is worth more XP than a hero kill until level 10)

[Keltest]

Thanks for the advice. That helps me understand the drafting for the map a little better. Would Nazeebo be a decent pick for Braxis? He's got a laning talent at level 4 that is pretty decent sustain, and between toads, zombie walls, and the Gargantuan can exert a solid amount of area control. I'm more comfortable with someone like Nazeebo or Azmodan than I am with Zagara, in terms of Specialists.

I know abstract hypothetical scenarios are of limited use, but let's say I'm in the solo lane and the objective comes up. Whether it is a mismatch in terms of skills or Heroes, I don't think I can fight my solo counterpart on the enemy team and win the objective. Should I rotate to the other lane and try and briefly make it a 4v5? Stay in my lane and keep pushing/wait for a backcap opportunity? Or is it impossible to say without more specifics?

I've been in the above scenario before, were I felt like I wasn't going to win an attempted trade in my lane, but felt uncertain about rotating.

Stay in lane and soak the experience if you can. If their bullying is so strong that you cant even do that, switch out with somebody who pairs up better against them. Losing lane soak is pretty big on braxis in the early game, because a one or two level difference can mean that they can send an extra person up to the other lane and push it while still holding both points.

[ChaosOS]

http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/game/...lskaya-foundry

New event! New Heroes! New Map!

[Gandariel]

Hyped about everything.

Also, reddit comment of the day:

"I'm getting Rocket Hideout flashbacks"

Junkrat sounds cool, with what I would assume is ranged splash AA and global mobility...
Ana looks.. Interesting? Poison AA and skillshot heals, probably a pain when you miss them. She shares the grenade and one ult with Morales, but I'm sure the rest of her kit will make her stand out.

Anyways, I'm still struggling to gauge Kel Thuzad: some massacre me, some feel incredibly weak.

And still, hotslogs says his winrate does not increase with higher leagues.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Hyped about everything.

Also, reddit comment of the day:

"I'm getting Rocket Hideout flashbacks"

Junkrat sounds cool, with what I would assume is ranged splash AA and global mobility...
Ana looks.. Interesting? Poison AA and skillshot heals, probably a pain when you miss them. She shares the grenade and one ult with Morales, but I'm sure the rest of her kit will make her stand out.

The grenade is pretty distinct, though--instead of knockback, it's healing buffing/reduction in the area (depending on whether an ally or enemy is hit by it).

[Draken]

The grenade is pretty distinct, though--instead of knockback, it's healing buffing/reduction in the area (depending on whether an ally or enemy is hit by it).

There was a leak that Nano Boost will provide 30% Spell Power and 150% CDR to the target.

As for KT, my experience is that those who can't land chains and combos or get denied their early stacking suffer in the lategame.

[Keltest]

There was a leak that Nano Boost will provide 30% Spell Power and 150% CDR to the target.

As for KT, my experience is that those who can't land chains and combos or get denied their early stacking suffer in the lategame.

KT lives or dies based on how much dive the enemy team has. He has next to no ability to respond to, say, a tracer by himself, and he has low enough HP that she will make quick work of him if he doesn't get the heck out of dodge. If he can sit there just lobbing death at people unmolested, he's golden. Otherwise, he is in a lot of trouble.

[Draken]

KT lives or dies based on how much dive the enemy team has. He has next to no ability to respond to, say, a tracer by himself, and he has low enough HP that she will make quick work of him if he doesn't get the heck out of dodge. If he can sit there just lobbing death at people unmolested, he's golden. Otherwise, he is in a lot of trouble.

That's pretty much every mage in the game.

[Keltest]

That's pretty much every mage in the game.

KT more than most. all his abilities have windup time of some sort, and his stun requires two targets available. Jaina can slow on any ability, and cone of cold has a wide AoE. Kael has a skillshot stun. Chromie has her time traps. KT only has a very telegraphed root with a delay on it.

To borrow a phrase, a gold tracer will 1v1 a GM Kel'Thuzad 10 out of 10 times, that's how skewed that matchup is.

[Gandariel]

So, I mostly play tank when I'm tryharding.

This is good, I love playing tank (pretty much every Warrior except Johanna, Varian, Chen and maybe someone else I'm forgetting), i feel really impactful, and I really do know when I'm making a difference.

Thing is, however, looking at my winrate... while most of my tanks have a pretty healthy winrate, I have >60% with Zagara and Nazeebo, and >75% with Azmodan (all of these on pretty significant sample sizes).

Now, I know solo queue favors siegers and all, but this is ridiculous. Should I just try to play Azmo every game where it makes sense?

[Spore]

Honestly Jaina is a much muuuuch safer Mage on all fronts. All you need to do is position correctly and you should be fine.

[Keltest]

So, I mostly play tank when I'm tryharding.

This is good, I love playing tank (pretty much every Warrior except Johanna, Varian, Chen and maybe someone else I'm forgetting), i feel really impactful, and I really do know when I'm making a difference.

Thing is, however, looking at my winrate... while most of my tanks have a pretty healthy winrate, I have >60% with Zagara and Nazeebo, and >75% with Azmodan (all of these on pretty significant sample sizes).

Now, I know solo queue favors siegers and all, but this is ridiculous. Should I just try to play Azmo every game where it makes sense?

How much is significant? I have a few characters that I am skilled with, but usually only play on specific maps in specific matchups that theyre strong, which would skew the winrates in their favor simply because I only ever pick them when they have an advantage.

[Gandariel]

This is my hotslogs page, so you can see for yourself. I've just uploaded all my past replays.

As I mentioned, solid winrate with my favorite tanks (Anub, Diablo, ETC, Dehaka. I play a lot of Muradin too, surprised it's so much lower than the others).

Auriel is the only support I truly enjoy, and in fact I have a good winrate on her.

Assassins are a mixed bag. I feel I'm a decent Falstad but apparently I'm not. :/
I'm ok at a bunch of mages, plus valla and some random. I really like stutter stepping.
Also Nova. Snipe Master reignited my love of the hero, it's actually really fun to play.

And finally, Specialists. Zagara, Nazeebo, Azmodan, all very high, with a good amount of games.

[GolemsVoice]

I think the most important question is, do you actually LIKE playing the old lord of sin? If so, go for it, why not?

[Gandariel]

I mean, playing tank is all about positioning, CC, isolating, bodyblocks, etc. You basically do none of that as Azmo.

Small note: Azmodan has a huge health pool, and not using it is a waste: do get involved in teamfights.
Ideally you want to start off close to the frontline, absorb some damage, and only go back when you're low, so that you can still cast your last Q and you've put your fat body to some use.

Anyways, Azmodan has a very different playstyle than most of my other heroes. I like using him, but afterwards I always feel like switching to Diablo and suplex some fools.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Remember that in uncoordinated play, many characters lose value, even ones you enjoy playing. Azzy gets a ton of value if you can effectively "rat", to borrow a Dota term (ratting means pushing in different lanes, rotating out before the enemy team collapses on you), and that constant lane pressure will snowball, especially if you can use him in teamfights.

[Keltest]

Remember that in uncoordinated play, many characters lose value, even ones you enjoy playing. Azzy gets a ton of value if you can effectively "rat", to borrow a Dota term (ratting means pushing in different lanes, rotating out before the enemy team collapses on you), and that constant lane pressure will snowball, especially if you can use him in teamfights.

We usually just call that split pushing, because youre splitting your pressure between different lanes.

[shadow_archmagi]

I might have to play Ana. Many characters have crazy regen that she's going to be a hard, hard shutdown for. Butchers' gonna cry. Varian with his stabby build. Sonya... (Actually, Sonya seems to have it kinda rough lately. Garrosh, DVA, and Lucio all have those short little boops that cancel her E, making it harder to spin to win.)

[ChaosOS]

Displacements don't cancel Sonya's spin, as they're classified as a "daze" not a stun. They do, however, peel her off of her target and make it difficult to gain value on the damage and healing.

[Spore]

I am trying to give Heroes another chance. The toxic community really üumls me.away from it and all my friends who know computer games have evolved from Super Mario 64 and Doom in the last 20 years either dont moba at all or play LoL aka the salt pits of hell.

Soooo anyone up for groups on EU? Also whats new for random QMing? I quit shortly before Garrosh. A Brightwing rework giving her a DPS talent on 1 made me reconsider as I love Medivh's Arcane Whatchacallit.

[Keltest]

I am trying to give Heroes another chance. The toxic community really üumls me.away from it and all my friends who know computer games have evolved from Super Mario 64 and Doom in the last 20 years either dont moba at all or play LoL aka the salt pits of hell.

Soooo anyone up for groups on EU? Also whats new for random QMing? I quit shortly before Garrosh. A Brightwing rework giving her a DPS talent on 1 made me reconsider as I love Medivh's Arcane Whatchacallit.

They got rid of mirror matchups in QM (well, gave them really low chances of happening), so if you queue as, say, Uther, you wont get an uther on the other team.

[Togath]

Looks like Ana is out... and I was just 15 kills away from finish the Kel'thuzad quest. >_<
At least this new series of ones sounds quicker. Slightly disappointed we're not getting Junkrat quite yet, but Ana is still cool~

edit: Tried out AI a bit more, and I can definitely see the improvements they did. There were a few minor glitches, but still, it's starting to do a pretty good job of mimicking an enemy team. I really hope they'll keep developing and fine tuning it.

[Gandariel]

So, um, tried Kel Thuzad cause he was in free week.

He.
Is.
Awesome.

Definitely gonna buy.
Finishing his quest is challenging to do in a short time, his abilities feel very impactful and strong (I feel his W range is huge compared to the other mages)

I am still getting the hang of him, but he's super fun. And kind of ridiculously strong when you pull off full combos.

My favorite trick is to cast E on a gate or tower and catch people behind their walls.

I only played a few games, so I just went with whatever hotslogs suggested. I'll need to mess around with some of the other talents... I'm eyeing Frost spike (the level 7 active) and a few others.

He reminds me of the other KT, before his many nerfs, when he was actually a combo burst mage

[ChaosOS]

Kel'thuzad is really fun. The two best builds I've seen are the "burst combo" build that just wants to blow people up, picking talents like Glacial Spike, Shadow Fissure, and Chains of Ice at 7, 10, and 13 respectively. The other build is the "DnD build" which just picks all of the Q talents at 1, 7, and 16. The Shade of Naxxramas is the big favorite at level 20, as for the burst build it adds a TON of hungering cold procs, while obviously adding a bunch of sustained DPS for Q build KTs.

However, I will mention that Junkrat got announced and I was curious about people's thoughts

[Gandariel]

Thanks for the suggestions, Chaos, I'll be sure to try both. I haven't tried the active on level 7 yet because I wanted to take it slow and play a couple games before adding yet another button to my combo, but I'll definitely try it.

Junkrat:

Q is pretty interesting in the technical sense of how it's coded to jump over heroes etc.

Concussion mine's displacement is *insane*: other than for disengaging, it can be used as a Force Wall: just place it somewhere, and enemies just can't get past it, or they'll get displaced worse than a Garrosh or Artanis combo.

The rest of his kit looks kinda meh. Not bad, but nothing too interesting. The root trap with the talent that makes t chase heroes is fun.

Lastly, all his abilities can be cast without cancelling the move command, which is smething I really like and which surely makes the hero feel more fluid.

I don't play PTR, so I can't say anything about his numbers, but I'm sure Chaos will be ready for it ;P

Also. Muradin rework.
They didn't kill the double W + Healing static, so it can't be too bad.
His damage spike is now at 7 instead of 16, which is great. Overall I'm optimistic. I played him a lot, hope he turns out OK

[Grytorm]

I believe their should some day be a loan shark Dehaka skin. He comes to collect.