It's a new week and that means new free-to-play rotation! Here's who you should look into based on your skill level:
Novice
Johanna – No Hero is as full of love to give as this armored goddess. Able to stun, group hug and otherwise annoy others at near Murky levels, her enormous health pool and ability to go invincible make her a great starter tank if only for sheer survivability. Plus, she teaches you to not be afraid of being the one in the center of the dog pile.
Rehgar – Rehgar was a meta pick for a long time due to his chain heal. Plus, he comes with totems and a lightning shield that can make any tank a force to be feared. He's a pretty straightforward dude that can be beastly when mastered. The only timing practice you'll need will be if you take Ancestral Healing.
Intermediate
Chen – Chen teaches you how to pre-game, mid-game and late-game. The answer? Drink. Apart from his alcoholic tendencies, however, Chen is a formidable tank that can end up doing an explosive amount of damage. His power comes from knowing when to celebrate with a brew and when to go full drunken master.
Sgt. Hammer – Though large and easily blocked, Hammer is one of those Heroes that leaves you more skilled for having played her. A great addition to any team that fights within her range, she can deny all objectives, destroy any tower. Even still, when she's cornered, she goes down fast, forcing you to become painfully aware of your map and the enemies' positions.
Expert
Falstad – Falstad, soon to be pirate Falstad, comes with a near global reach, long range damage, explosive electricity and an escape named after a beloved N64 game. While a work of beauty, his extremely low health pool makes this dude more of a glass cannon than Kael-thas, even with his escape. Knowing when to engage, how close to get, where to be, how to move and how to dodge are only a fraction of the pieces required to complete his puzzle.
Dear DrmDestryr,
How do you find good builds?
-SirTomas
Dear SirTomas,
I was recently introduced to a fantastic feature of HOTS Logs that has pretty much decided this for me. Instead of relying on some Heroes' fan favorite build, the site lists the top winning builds, how many games have been played using said build and what the win percentage is.
While one can be skeptical, it's an amazing source if you feel you're just not performing as well as you know you could. It's also a fantastic measure of how you play the Hero versus what usually works with the Hero. I, for instance, have found that, for the most part, my builds are spot on with only a few alterations here and there. Interestingly enough, Li Li was the only one where I've had to make some serious changes.
The link is here.
Next, click the name of the Hero you want to check out.
Now you'll be to the good stuff. Along the top are the specifications such as which League level, which map and which week the builds were popular.
Once you've determined these fields, scroll all the way down to the best part – Popular Talent Builds.
And now you have a list of builds backed by facts.
Of course, before this, I urge you to play the Hero enough to develop your own tactics. After all, the better players will be those that know all of the talents and when they're good to use and not good to use, not someone who simply copies and plays the one with the most wins. This is very much a guide for bettering those Heroes you're great at and want to be phenomenal with.
-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 3 PM Pacific on Thursdays. If that's still not enough, come hang out for Monday Morning Murder where she tackles all forms of video game horror starting at 11 AM Pacific each Monday.
Looking to get ripped for an upcoming convention? Check out her new exercise-made-easy blog: Ripped for Blizzcon.