Probius - Ranged Specialist - Protoss Hero

[AOD31drew31]

I agree, I like Probius due to his design and that he has an awesome skill set, but it doesn't fit what he was supposed to be. I would have prefered a hero with his Q+W combo (no idea who) and have a Probius the way you described him.

Agreed. Played him a little on the PTR and he seems to struggle in his current form.

[Keile]

Preferred builds on him?

Not done much in game testing, but so far I'm leaning toward this: https://psionic-storm.com/en/calcula...1-2-2-1-2-1-3/

At 1, I take echo pulse because it allows you to rethink the W into a "reliable" combo ability. Warp Resonance feels like it could be good on zone control maps like Braxis or Dragon Shire, but I'm not convinced the damage is either necessary or reliable enough. Cannon build is trash.

At 4, Turbo Charged feels the nicest but I think photon barrier is cool and makes the ability worth using. Comp dependant. Shield Capacitor is very weak and the delay on it before it regenerates is too long imo.

At 7, Rift Shock feels like the easiest one to get results from and gets more benefit from your level 10 and 20. Particle Accelerator is close, but I like building a bit more blow up. Cannon builds are trash.

At 10, I want to love Pylon Overcharge and I think it has a place on certain maps but Null Gate is just too good in general to pass up. Offensive and defensive uses with a fairly short 40s cooldown, it's on demand too rather than requiring setup before it's useful.

At 13, I think Shield battery is probably the best, but for greedy reasons I take Power Overflowing.

At 16, enemy comp dependent. I like Quantum in the general case.

At 20, Shoot'Em Up is bonkers. It works like old Diablo flames in that the enemy is hit by all of them on detonation. Paired with Rift Shock at 7 and Power Overflowing at 13 you do seriously scary damage.

I feel the opposite about the ultimates. I was messing with Pylon Overcharge on Cursed Hollow the other day. Set up 2 Pylons (3 if you get Additional Pylons) and canons tap R and watch the AMAZING ZONING and damage that you can do (seriously, 2 pylons + canons will output a lot of damage and the RANGE on the Overloaded pylons is pretty significant). Overcharge is an amazing Ult for trying to secure objectives, while the Null Gate is more for setting up ganks/teamfights off objectives.

Basically I went a full Canon build which seemed to work pretty damn well. But again: more for securing objectives, less for random teamfights beforehand.

[Nerraw]

I feel the opposite about the ultimates. I was messing with Pylon Overcharge on Cursed Hollow the other day. Set up 2 Pylons (3 if you get Additional Pylons) and canons tap R and watch the AMAZING ZONING and damage that you can do (seriously, 2 pylons + canons will output a lot of damage and the RANGE on the Overloaded pylons is pretty significant). Overcharge is an amazing Ult for trying to secure objectives, while the Null Gate is more for setting up ganks/teamfights off objectives.

Basically I went a full Canon build which seemed to work pretty damn well. But again: more for securing objectives, less for random teamfights beforehand.

I suppose the Null Gate would function best on maps with tight corridors with prolonged fights like Garden and Battlefield.

[Raugnaut]

WAY too much power in Q+W combo. Way too much. Not really a "builder".

[RH92]

Tried him on PTR, not feeling this Hero at all.

I will wait for him to drop down to 10k before buying, actually a first Hero since Chromie I am not going to buy on day 1.

[Keile]

I suppose the Null Gate would function best on maps with tight corridors with prolonged fights like Garden and Battlefield.

Yeah, while Overload will work best on things like Cursed Hollow. I would even say Towers of Doom would be good for them, force people off the towers. Overcharge is such a good zoning tool, the range on them is pretty damn large.

[FelPlague]

Yeah, while Overload will work best on things like Cursed Hollow. I would even say Towers of Doom would be good for them, force people off the towers. Overcharge is such a good zoning tool, the range on them is pretty damn large.

yeah ive been playing him and thats where he really shines, i am sad he doesent play more like a probe though, like i was hoping for an abathur type, doesent go into the fight himself, like i gave an example of what i would like its (his? her?) pool to be

"i was hoping the probe would have abathur level health, and act allmost like abathur but you actually move around the map, building defences, and maybe even rebuilding defences, once of his ultimates would be to rebuild a base

(using on keep will do keep, tower, and healing fountain, using on frontal towers will rebuild walls, gate, and towers, aswell as having a 25% reduced cooldown) and these buildings would be like nexsus and the monoliths, would be super cool

and his pylons and photon cannons last forever but hes limited, 4 photons, 2 pylons

and the other ultimate allows probius to switch places with a pylon, and all the buildings hes placed around it, imagine finding a probius, and running at him he does a 1 second cast (unstoppable during it, just so you have time to kill/run away), then suddenly he teleports away, and a pylon and 4 photon cannons appear where he was"


for now hes just a much better defensive gaslowe
aoe wombo combo+ small defences he can place for awhile

[melzas]

Is there any ETA on his release? This week or next?

[Nerraw]

Is there any ETA on his release? This week or next?

Today for US (in about 5 hours), and tomorrow morning for EU.

[Ryme]

Ultra early indications after ~ 250 games, 34.9% win rate. Lower than Medivh.
https://www.hotslogs.com/Default

[ophion1990]

Well, it's always nice when Blizzard shows the "every new hero is OP" crowd wrong.

His cannons feel pretty potato, I get that they want him to be different from Gazlowe but I really hate not being able to target with them, that they're on such a long CD and that he only has 1 charge on it. I see pretty much no reason to take his E talents atm, CDR on hero hit is cool, except that they don't seem to prio heroes and you can't target with them. The best thing he really has on offer is his WQ combo, maybe his supporty/survival talents with shields (haven't tested it yet). Ofcourse his combo relies on you playing with heroes that can set up for you. He kinda feels like he's the love child of Chromie and Gazlowe, except he's worse than them at just about everything.

[FelPlague]

Ultra early indications after ~ 250 games, 34.9% win rate. Lower than Medivh.
https://www.hotslogs.com/Default

rather sad
it sucks cause he literally doesent play like a probe... come on it should have been about buildings, not this random wombo combo stuff
it literally made it like gazlowe by doing this

hes really just gazlowe 2.0
i put it somewhere but i gave an example of what i would want from him
like a recall ult, that makes him swap places with a pylon after 1 second, and any photon cannons within its range also TP
other ult super long cooldown, but able to rebuild structures, 1 min cooldown for keeps, it gets cut in half if used on a tower, cut to a qauter if used on a gate, wall, or healing fountain.
he focuses on building pylons and photons, and limit be like 3/10 (pylon/photon) because really? like come on why do the photons have a limited time? its stupid...
so

Q. Shield battery, places a building that people use it like a healing fountain to get a shield that lasts until the shield is used up
a talent makes it passivly give shields to people and structures around it, up to 10% of their health, 1% every 2 seconds

W.Pylon, bassicly work like right now but you have 3

E. photons, bassicly like now but last forever and can have lets say 6 (2 per) and can be upgraded to 9 with talent, to make it 3 per.

R1. Recall, Probius become unstoppable and does a 1 second cast, swapping places with a pylon, transporting 2(3 if talent) photons with it
(level 20 talent could make it swap all photons within its range, this way people would have to focus the pylon or fucking run)

R2. Rebuild, XXX (i was thinking 180) second cooldown, rebuilds whatever he targets, cooldown 50% shorter if used on a turret, cooldown is 75% shorter if used on a gate, wall, or healing fountain.
(level 20 could make it so if used on building, it would also repair the buildings with it, (on the walls, gate, or front turrets, 50% less cooldown, and on the keep it would also do the tower and healing fountain, but take full cooldown)

R3. Defencive overcharge (yeah man 3 ults) This causes photon cannons to gain range and do splash damage permantly
(level 20 will give pylons perma pylon overcharge)

yes this could do with balancing and such but how cool would this char be? like the ultimate "I secure objective" or "You are NOT pushing this lane"

[Ryme]

334 games and he's moved up to be just ahead of Medivh! 37.5%

Agreed over that he doesn't feel like a probe @FelPlague - was hoping for a crazy builder hero in the style of abathur.

[FelPlague]

334 games and he's moved up to be just ahead of Medivh! 37.5%

Agreed over that he doesn't feel like a probe @FelPlague - was hoping for a crazy builder hero in the style of abathur.

abathur but with a protoss feel, and has to actually move around the map^^^

[Acidbaron]

Pretty fun but will take a time to prefect the play with it, tried out the aoe warp and cannon build so far

Only in QM cause people cry a few rivers in unranked probably if i go for it. Very weak against stealth characters and anything that has plenty of gap closers but there are ways around it by not setting yourself up for ganks.

I want more cannons though or at least a shorter cd, if you're used to gazlowe this is rather disappointing considering you need pylons setup for cannons to uberhaubt work and be placed. So a cd reduction on E is in order imo.

[Tenjen]

Oh my god, i love him so much.

[Nikkaszal]

I really, really like Probius. I've got a knack for him, it seems.

I wish pylons were on a slightly shorter cooldown. Probius cannot engage in an effective running war because of his mana. Makes it really difficult to chase and secure kills.

Also you can place pylons over walls. That's cool. On ToD I like going top and dumping a pylon over the wall into the boss pit. Makes it hard for the opponent to dig out, and gives me vision on anyone trying to flank me via boss

_______


Also, question re: Abathur. I don't play Abby at all - does Ultimate Evolution grant traits as well as QWE? Can he use active traits as a clone? If so, how would a cloned Probius interact - if the clone can drop pylons, would that pylon power the real Probius' cannon and mana regen, and vice versa?

[Nerraw]

Also, question re: Abathur. I don't play Abby at all - does Ultimate Evolution grant traits as well as QWE? Can he use active traits as a clone? If so, how would a cloned Probius interact - if the clone can drop pylons, would that pylon power the real Probius' cannon and mana regen, and vice versa?

Yeah, you get traits as well. That's what makes Jaina copies such a frightening threat. Jaina + copy-Jaina take advantage of each other's trait.

Don't know specifically if Probiuses can power each other though.

[De Lupe]

Yeah, you get traits as well. That's what makes Jaina copies such a frightening threat. Jaina + copy-Jaina take advantage of each other's trait.

Don't know specifically if Probiuses can power each other though.

The pylons SHOULD function on the base level of providing Probius a place to build/regen, but I'm not sure it it actually does.

They definitely won't work for his Ult though; not his pylons.

I'll have to test that next time I find myself with an Abathur.

[Ryme]

Updates from the Q&A: https://www.reddit.com/r/heroesofthe...t_in_our_live/

What do you think about current probius situation?
Many users are very disappointed and concerned about current Probius design and balance. It is said that Photon Canon(E) is useless and not powerful, and probius's viability is too weak.
Especially, many users and some pro players agreed that Pylon(D) should be charged.

There are a lot of thoughts!

1. Builder heroes have traditionally been very difficult to balance, and Probius was no exception. These kinds of heroes tend to be extremely overwhelming when they are too strong, and can ruin the experience in less coordinated play even when they are balanced correctly. Because of this, it's not too surprising that feelings are strong about this hero, especially since he's so darn cute!
   
   
2. I think the design of Probius is correct for many reasons. I'll give a quick list of some of those here:
   
   • While we all would love for him to just summon a million Photon Cannons all day, it would be way too similar to Gazlowe who does a similar thing. It would also be hard to differentiate any future Builder heroes in the future if we put too much of their power pie into their turrets.
     
     
   • Summoning so many buildings creates a lot of clutter in our game that causes other problems (minion pathing for one). We're much more cognizant now of how many Health bars and structures a Hero can create, and honestly looking back we likely would not have created as many heroes as we have that summon a bunch of stuff if we could do it all over again.
     
     
   • Playing a builder hero is fun, i'll agree with that. However, the mastery over time is very limiting. For the first ten or even fifty games it's new and interesting, but over time there is little room for real growth or mastery of the hero. We wanted Probius to be about more than his cannons, and we think that this design which relies more on zoning in areas around his Pylons is more strategic than going all-in on cannons.
   
   
3. Probius is meant to be a hero that's not great to pick all the time. Since he's new, he's obviously going to be played in nearly every situation out there, which is going to artificially lower his win rate. When chosen on the correct maps and with the correct team compositions, it's possible that his win rate will increase as people get better at learning when and how he should be used.
   
   
4. I'm a little sad that he's come out a bit low on the win-rate side, at least via initial data, but i'm confident that we can get him to a place where he's more fun to play while still having a healthy amount of counter-play. We already have a few ideas on how to buff Probius if he needs it once more data comes in.

Was it a conscious decision to have Probius' Photon Cannon not prioritise Heroes?

It was a conscious design. While I cannot completely speak for the Hero designers, I talked it over with them once we started to get this feedback and this was the main reasoning:

We did not want Probius to be a huge lane bully where he could place his Photon Cannon far up and zone out an enemy hero completely due to them not being able to effectively trade against the cannon. We actually had a few play tests awhile back where the cannon was much stronger, and there was lots of feedback that it just feels really bad to play against when it is so powerful and there are few ways for many heroes to deal with it.

Probius is meant to be a more defensive hero in nature. Having the cannon auto-target minions first forces Probius to make a decision - either place the cannon forward and have it help clear waves, or place it behind your wave and use it purely defensively for hero dives.
We aren't completely immovable on this, and will re-evaluate going forward once we get more data on how Probius is performing over time.


I want to strongly agree that even if the cannon is placed defensively, it's just not threatening enough. It feels like any hero can just dive probius and be fine.

I think this could feel better with a buff to the non-damage parts of his w (increasing slow, or decreasing setup time) or just buffing the cannon's damage.

This is completely valid feedback, and I want to make the point that "the cannon is too weak and it's not saving me when heroes dive me" and "the cannon should target heroes" are completely different things that are often lumped together.

Often, particularly when a hero comes out with a below average win rate, we get the feedback that their kit is clunky and doesn't work, and that we need to completely redesign most aspects of the kit in order for them to be viable. A large part of our jobs is finding out whether or not an issue with a hero is due to the kit itself not working or if it's due to tuning. We go through this a lot when iterating on new heroes, so obviously we believe that their kit works at a base level when they are released.

Sometimes a kit doesn't mesh together for the long term, and we make changes to make it flow better. However, before completely changing how our heroes play, we are much more inclined to test whether or not a hero is losing due to being tuned too low first.