Heroes of the Storm

[Dave]

I don't really want to know my stats for quickmatch. It would be depressing!

Heroes I like: Anub, Brightwing, Falstad, Jaina, Valla
Heroes I tried, but sorta like but not really: Gazlowe, Illidan, Sgt Hammer, Sonya, Zeratul
Heroes I tried, but didn't really enjoy: Az, Chen, Kael, Kerrigan, Lili, Malf, Muradin
Heroes I don't like: ETC, Nazeebo, Raynor, Lost Vikings, Thrall, Zagara
Heroes I think I'll like: Leoric, Arthas, Diablo, Johanna, Nova, Rehgar, Sylvanas, Tassadar, Butcher, Tychus, Tyrael, Uther
Heroes I have am definitely 100% going to like: Monk

Pretty much every hero I haven't tried cept Murky/Lost Vikings I think ill like

[Jonathan]

I have bad habits from fighting AI. I have Tyrande at such a high level because I was fighting AI with auto attack builds. Then I tried QM and realized I didn't have an escape and got rocked all the time with that build.

Similarly, you must soak all lanes so your team gets to 10 first, then you should use your heroics to win a team fight and take a fort or keep. After that your XP can come from hero and structure kills. Too often with the AI I either try to team fight early or keep soaking lanes until really late and it doesn't matter.

Unless you have mercenaries, the curse is not very important in the late game. On the other hand, it is easier to destroy the enemy core with a sky temple than to push.

[Alan]

Yeah that's why I don't like playing AI, I feel like it's too easy to get used to bad builds and get away with bad positioning that gets you killed against real players. I've definitely found that in QM you need to not get caught up in the horde mentality in the early game and soak all 3 lanes, bc it seems like whichever team gets to 10 first has a big advantage. Especially when the losing team, after wiping and falling further behind in the exp game, then tries to force another fight instead of falling back and soaking to catch up.

[Jonathan]

Definitely. I never do

V Retreat Ping on point click.

and I need to start.

[Alan]

Rotation for the week:
•Malfurion
•Valla
•Tassadar
•Stitches
•Sylvanas
•Zeratul (lvl 12)
•Johanna (lvl 15)

Tassadar will be fun to play this week against all the Zeratuls

[Alan]

I played some Sonya today bc I had daily quests to play warriors and Diablo heroes. I actually liked playing her once I got used to treating her more like a melee assassin rather than a warrior.

Crater is a terrible lvl 20 talent though. It makes leap worse than useless, bc if you miss with it then you're stuck in a crater by yourself. Plus even if you connect your target could blink away. Really dumb.

[Dave]

Yea, Sonya grew on me as I kept dying with her. Like most warriors just need a pocket healer. Don't see why Thrall is an assasin and Sonya isn't!

Did 1 game as Johanna this morning, think I may buy her at the end of the week!

[Alan]

Valla is more fun than I was expecting. Her E gives her better survivability than most assassins and she can do so much damage!

[Jonathan]

Anybody found any figures on how much dps a team puts out? I get surprised a lot when my team pushes keeps; I find I am not good about predicting when we'll need to retreat and when we'll take down their core.

[Jonathan]

Oh man, I got rocked by a Zeratul, Nova, Tyrael team last night. I don't even remember who else was on that team because they didn't matter.

They had a lot of trouble laning, so we never got more than one level below them in XP, but we basically went into every team fight down one or two heroes because the three above ganked them while we tried to complete objectives.

I feel there's got to be a simple counter to this composition but unless you get to draft heroes with vision I don't know what it is.

For the record, we had Diablo, Mal, Valla, Raynor, Sylvanas.

[Alan]

That looks like a comp that's extremely vulnerable to the other team comp. Almost doesn't matter who their other two heroes were. I think to survive that you would've needed Rehgar with Ancestral Healing, Uther with Divine Shield, or either Tassadar (vision and shields) or Tyrande (vision and a little burst healing, possibly shields, and vision).

If you had all managed to get to 20 and had Sylvanas and Valla both get Bolt of the Storm that might have helped. And Valla and Sylvanas probably both had to get Spell Shield at 13 (which nobody ever does in QM) to survive the burst.

[Alan]

Anybody found any figures on how much dps a team puts out? I get surprised a lot when my team pushes keeps; I find I am not good about predicting when we'll need to retreat and when we'll take down their core.

I haven't found anything laying that out, but I think in general if you can kill 3+ of their heroes when both sides are level 20+, you should push a Keep, and if you can bring it down before the other team respawns and still have minion waves, you can push onto the core. Otherwise I think it's safer to pull back and get some mercs or objectives. I think the key is where your minion waves are. If you don't have minion waves and the team is respawning pretty soon, you're going to take a lot of damage from the core during the teamfight.

Earlier than 20 I think it depends on the level gap between the two teams.

[Alan]

They had a lot of trouble laning, so we never got more than one level below them in XP, but we basically went into every team fight down one or two heroes because the three above ganked them while we tried to complete objectives.

If they were roaming a lot picking Valla and Sylvanas off during objectives, then it may have been better just to have all 5 stick together and force a teamfight instead. Your side didn't have much burst but do have a lot of sustain damage, so I think teamfights are better than skirmishes for you.

[Jonathan]

I wish QM would tell you the enemy heroes before the start of the game. Why is it secret in QM and something you get to think about for 90 seconds in hero league? Just because you're skipping draft shouldn't mean that the enemy comp is a secret.

Also, I wish the names for the heroes would pop up at some point. Sometimes it's really difficult to distinguish between female heroes because they're all the same basic body plus people buy weird ass skins.

[Jonathan]

Shit, you can get it in tab window, can't you?

[Jonathan]

Damn, it's like I don't even know how to play this game.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/22/huge ... orm-patch/

Quick Cast

A Quick Cast option has been added and can be accessed in the Gameplay Options menu.
Select one of three Quick Cast settings from the dropdown list. Each setting works as follows:
Off (default): Press an ability hotkey to enter targeting mode and then left click to cast the ability.
On: Press an ability hotkey to instantly cast that ability in the direction, or at the location, of the mouse cursor.
On Release: Press an ability hotkey to enter targeting mode. Release the hotkey to cast that ability in the direction, or at the location, of the mouse cursor.

The default is terrible for me! I'm always forgetting to left click.

[Alan]

Yep you can see it in tab. You can also see what talents each player has picked by clicking on talents on the bottom of the score overlay.

[Alan]

Damn, it's like I don't even know how to play this game.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/22/huge ... orm-patch/

Quick Cast

A Quick Cast option has been added and can be accessed in the Gameplay Options menu.
Select one of three Quick Cast settings from the dropdown list. Each setting works as follows:
Off (default): Press an ability hotkey to enter targeting mode and then left click to cast the ability.
On: Press an ability hotkey to instantly cast that ability in the direction, or at the location, of the mouse cursor.
On Release: Press an ability hotkey to enter targeting mode. Release the hotkey to cast that ability in the direction, or at the location, of the mouse cursor.

The default is terrible for me! I'm always forgetting to left click.

Yeah I changed mine to "on release" bc then I can still cancel out of it by right clicking. It takes a few games to get used to but it's way better. The one downside is if you play Sylvanas you can't just hold down Q the way you can with the default setting.

[Alan]

Some good advice:

http://www.reddit.com/r/heroesofthestor ... queue_and/

3 mistakes that players make in solo queue (And how to fix it.) self.heroesofthestorm

submitted 6 hours ago by "Balanced"GetEquipped




•Dying on point to defend an objective

This is by far the biggest error of judgement I see. There's 4 opponents at the turn in, they're going to summon spiders/cannons/get a curse. And your the only one nearby. What to do?

Well, what not to do is Blink in, Cleave, and then die.

Why is this wrong?

What you have just done is delay them by about 5 seconds, but your team is now down a person, meaning it's much harder to contest a 4v5. Not to mention giving the opposing team more exp and any objectives you may have had on you.

What to do instead?

It's better to give up an objective, then to die and have the other team take it.

Let them have it, and get other objectives instead. If you have vision of 4 of them, you know exactly where they are. You have a window to shove lanes, get merc camps, set up an ambush, even rotate to another objective. Example is Dragon Shire; a team needs to hold 3 points simultaneously for the objective. You have 2-3 people show up, rotate mid and Bottom to apply pressure elsewhere.
•Chasing Kills/Getting Greedy

We've all been there. We see that Lili with 10 health, and you know once you get your CDs or some mana she's a dead panda. So you keep spending more and more time knowing you're going to get her, and right when you get your window, ETC power slides in and scares you off.

Why is this wrong?

Well, the most severe error is you are wasting time. Again, if you just won a decisive fight (Let's say a 1 for 3) You should be pressing your advantage. You have their respawn timers. You know exactly how long they're going to be off the map, plus travel time.

Secondly, if it's not a clean Ace, more than likely, that person is running to their teammates, all while you are getting further and further from yours. Meaning if your 1v1 chase turns into a 3v1 odds won't be in your favor.

What to do instead

3 second rule. If your not going to have your CDs up in 3 seconds, or after you chase for 3 seconds, then just let it go. The player is effectively zoned out for a short time as they heal up. In the meantime, paint the map blue. You know exactly when they're respawning, and when to back off. Which brings me to number 3
•Fighting under their Turrets/Fort/Core

Ok, both teams are level 20 now, we have the Garden Terror, let's push and and have a 5v5 fight under their core to end it!

Why is this wrong

Something called "Defender's advantage." The further you are in their territory, the more they have in their favor. The Core does a lot of damage, it also cleaves for a lot as well. Forts Slow movement speed and attack speed. Also, the closer you are to their fountain, which gives them a ton of health, mana, and instamount. 1% comebacks are a thing, and this is why

What to do instead

Unless you have 7 levels up on them (or a talent tier), don't try brute force your way in. Try and pull them away from their core and fountain, cut off as many means of support as possible.

If you absolutely need to just muscle in. Remember, Core Cleaves and hit's the closest enemy. Spread out, rotate your aggro. if you have AOE, use if on the minions, not the core (So your minion waves can push up) and have someone on zoning duty to prevent easy access from the fountain to the fight. Maw, VP, Zombie wall, or just a very stubborn Johanna can accomplish this.

I hope this helps some of you out, and enlightened a few of you

[Alan]

These were pretty good too:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa3fon ... G8Q/videos