Dear DrmDestryr,
On the subject of Blinding Wind: what are your thoughts on Mass Vortex versus Lingering Blind?
-larvacea
Dear larvacea,
Like all Heroes choices, this one depends equally on your play style as it does the situation you’re in. But before we jump down that rabbit hole, let’s look at the numeric basics for each talent.
Both of these show up during your Level 4 talent choice, and if you’re going for Li Li the Damager, Blinding Wind is definitely going to be your choice of upgrade.
Mass Vortex: Increases the number of enemies hit from 2 to 4.
Lingering Bind: Increases the number of enemy basic attacks missed from 2 to 3.
Doing simple math, we can see Mass Vortex has clear superiority in the numbers department.
Attacks Missed
MV: If it hits all 4 targets and each target misses their next 2 basic attacks, that’s a total of 8 missed attacks.
LB: If it hits all 2 targets, only a total of 6 basic attacks will be missed.
Damage Done
MV: Taking the 580 damage given in Blinding Wind’s description, if you hit 4 other heroes, they all take 580 damage, totaling your one attack out to 2,320 hero damage.
LB: With only 2 hits, you’re only pulling 1,160 damage per attack.
While Mass Vortex tops the number charts, it’s not always going to be your best choice. This build has you hit a lot of targets but only affects each one hit for a short time. It’s basically your spray and pray. Lingering Bind, however, is far more focused and efficient at debilitating select targets for longer periods of time. Therefore, it makes sense to choose Mass Vortex if you’re up against a team full to bursting with assassins or you’re on a map where there are a lot of team fights (Cursed Hollow, Haunted Mines). Lingering Bind does its job when the number of targets you face will typically be 3 or fewer (Dragon Shire, Sky Temple).
Similarly, this choice will ultimately decide your Level 13 talent. Since Surging Winds bolsters itself on additional heroes hit with Blinding Wind, you’ll clearly want to pair it with Mass Vortex, a talent that literally increases the potential number of targets hit. As for Lingering Bind, this pairs beautifully with Hindering Winds because it allows you to further decimate a specific hero’s ability to both attack and move, rendering them easy targets for your team to pick off.
So the question posed to you is then: more damage or more disables? The choices are yours and yours alone.
-DrmDestryr
Dear DrmDestryr,
I get called out when I pick a hero that isn’t meta. Should I only play the good ones?
-Yarhee
Dear Yarhee,
No. Absolutely not. You should play exactly who you want to play regardless of what people tell you.
Though “meta” is the umbrella term for this sort of prejudiced argument, it nonetheless transcends this groupthink. Well-meaning friends can jokingly tell you that your hero isn’t ‘good’. Heroes League teammates will gg as soon as they see your pick. It’s all the same. And it’s absolute bullsh*t.
Now, I am not arguing that certain heroes aren’t inherently better than others. This goes without saying. If every hero were equal, there would be no need for Tuesday patches. However, just because you hear a certain hero stinks from someone that hasn’t played said hero enough to know how to play them at all doesn’t mean the hero is useless or will lose the game outright. Too many times I’ve heard and seen examples of ‘bad’ heroes turning out to be absolutely phenomenal, arguably winning games.
Play what you want but be ready for jabs sent your way. Let them mock you. The more you ignore it in favor of practice, the more often you’ll be able to laugh at them for being so deluded. As much as I hope everyone can support one another as we stumble through new characters that look like a lot of fun, this will never go away. Instinctually, it’s human nature. We are social animals. Anything outside of the social norm is shunned. Everyone is guilty of this, myself included.
There is a word of caution with this tale! Please learn how to judge yourself objectively. Just because you go against the norm doesn’t automatically mean you’re good. Being different does equate to being better. If you’re not realistic about your own abilities, you really are just going to anger a lot of people. A great way to do this is by checking out the stats screen during your games. If you’re an assassin, for instance, and are ranking either 1st or 2nd in hero damage consistently across the majority of your games, keep going! Clearly you know what you're doing. If you fall short of this, it may be time to either do more research on your hero or try out someone new.
-DrmDestryr
Ask DrmDestryr is your weekly Q&A/advice column for Heroes of the Storm. Have a question for DrmDestryr? E-mail her your mental musings at drmdestryr@gmail.com or send happy twoughts her way @DrmDestryr. Want to hang out? Check out the ITN PreShow with DrmDestryr! streamed weekly starting at 6 PM Eastern on Thursdays at twitch.tv/amovetv.