Hall of Storms - Archives for guides

[Iapetus]

Hello and welcome to the Hall of Storms. Plain and simple, this is a collection of guides for the various heroes within Heroes of the Storm. The game is still in alpha and many things can (and will) change before launch, but this shouldn't discourage people from creating basic guides for the greater good of the community. Very few guides exist now and some heroes (or even all heroes for MOBA newcomers) may be overwhelming. Maybe that Sgt. Hammer from your last loss would have done better if there was a quick guide to skim over before hopping into the game.

Guides can be done either by video or as a forum post. Information is the goal here.

Multiple guides for a single hero can exist if the guides and/or playstyles covered in the guides are different enough.

Guides marked with green upload dates are from the current patch and, barring hotfixes, are up to date.
Guides marked with orange upload dates are from previous patches but the information may still be correct.
Guides marked with red upload dates are outdated and may be removed in future sweeps.

Assassins
Butcher
Falstad
Illidan
Jaina
Kael'thas
Kerrigan
Nova Maximum Damage Guide by Botutu (Uploaded July 6th [Butcher release patch])
Nova Sustained Damage Guide by Botutu (Uploaded July 6th [Butcher release patch])
Raynor
Thrall
Tychus
Valla Auto-Attack Guide by Botutu (Uploaded July 6th [Butcher release patch])
Zeratul Gameplay with TheBlinks (Uploaded September 3rd [Kharazim release patch])

Warriors
Anub'arak
Artanis (NYI)
Arthas
Chen
Diablo
E.T.C.
Johanna
Leoric
Muradin
Rexxar Gameplay with TheBlinks (Uploaded September 9th [Rexxar release patch])
Sonya
Stitches
Tyrael

Support
Brightwing
Kharazim Gameplay with TheBlinks (Uploaded August 18th [Kharazim release patch])
Li Li
Malfurian
"Medic" (NYI)
Reghar Gameplay with TheBlinks (Uploaded August 20th [Kharazim release patch])
Tassadar
Tyrande
Uther Gameplay with TheBlinks (Uploaded September 2nd [Kharazim release patch])

Specialists
Abathur
Azmodan
Gazlowe Lane Push & Merc Guide by Botutu (Uploaded August 7th [Butcher release patch])
Gazlowe Team Play Guide by Botutu (Uploaded August 24th [Kharazim release patch])
Lost Vikings
Murky
Nazeebo Gameplay with TheBlinks (Uploaded August 21st [Kharazim release patch])
Sgt. Hammer
Sylvanas
Zagara




Big shout out to TheBlinks for his continued support and constant flow of guide creations! Shoot him a message and thank him if you like what he's done.

*Psst* Hey you! Yeah you, reading this. Want to play Heroes of the Storm with me?
Add Iapetus#1830! Just lemme know who you are and stuff.

[Sikplays]

Hey guys. Me and Valedus pounded out two guides last night but only one is ready for the public!!! This is a Gazlowe guide its a little longer than the LiLi video but full of tips and tricks and a few other things people were asking from our last video!!!



- - - Updated - - -

For the next few weeks me and Vale will be doing guides every wednesday thursday and friday to get all the heroes done quickly so keep checking back here next week!

[Valedus]

Do you guys have any suggestions for heroes to do a guide for? If its a hero we have experience playing we could do it this week/next week, or play said hero a bunch to write a guide.

[Iapetus]

My suggestion would be to make guides for heroes you enjoy playing (that there are currently no guides for). Keeping in mind that this is still an alpha and that heroes can change. More detailed guides will be requested when we get closer to launch/heroes become more solidified, but we're still seeing large changes to some heroes or playstyles every patch.

Any and all information about how to play heroes is welcome. I'm not at all picky right now, just want to get information out so people who are looking for guides can have them.

Edit: There's been a request for a Tyrael guide.

[Keile]

I'd like to see a Sgt.Hammer guide. I can see so much potential with that hero with played properly. Get a good team who can defend you from the front, and you could absolutely destroy their defenses (and their Heroes if they can keep them away from you). She also makes an absolutely amazing defensive unit (oh hey...just like a Siege Tank in SC...). Her long range in siege mode makes her perfect for setting up behind your towers/gates and laying down the hurt on the enemies as they try to breach your defenses.

Saddly in most randoms it's hard to get people to defend you...they just leave you to defend yourself, which means a dead tank.

[Sikplays]

It was a busy night with the stream last night so we werent able to do a guide but If i can get vale to slow down for 20mins we'll blow out a SGT hammer guide tonight

[Iapetus]

Fill 'em up with daylight!
Basic bursting with Raynor

Short and sweet guide detailing the basic burst option for Raynor. Due to the random nature of solo queue comps I will list the secondary talent when applicable.

Tier 1 (Level 1)
Give Me More (E) - Increase Adrenaline Rush healing by 50%.
Seasoned Marksman - Gain 1 Basic Attack damage for every 5 enemies killed with Basic Attacks.

Give Me More (E) will be the talent you should take. You can take Seasoned Marksman if you really want to deal more damage, but the talent is really undertuned right now and isn't all that good.

Tier 2 (Level 4)
Advanced Optics - Increases your Basic Attack range by 20% and sight range by 10%.
Vampiric Assault - Basic Attacks heal for 15% of the damage dealt.

This is another damage vs survivability choice. Vampiric Assault isn't terribly amazing but if you really feel like you need the extra heals then go for it. Advanced Optics should be your go to talent though. The increased range comes more into play later on.

Tier 3 (Level 7)
Searing Attacks - Activate to increase Basic Attack damage by 50% for 5 seconds. Each attack costs 15 Mana. Cooldown: 25 seconds.

Take is. Use it. Love it.

Tier 4 (Level 10)
Hyperion (R) - Call down the Hyperion which slowly travels across the battleground dealing 31-205 (25 + 6 per level) damage to up to 4 random enemy targets in its path. Lasts for 12 seconds. Cooldown: 100 seconds.

The Hyperion paths ahead and beyond your own range, dealing damage as it goes which helps kill fleeing heroes. The damage to structures can be pretty substantial later on too. Take it and never look back.

Tier 5 (Level 13)
The Art of War (W) - On using Inspire, nearby enemies have their Attack Speed and Movement Speed lowered by 10%.

This shares the same range as Inspire so be mindful of when and where you activate it, if the enemy isn't in range then you're passing up on a debuff that will become huge to you at level 16.

Tier 6 (Level 16)
Executioner - Basic Attacks deal 40% more damage against slowed, rooted, or stunned targets.

Remember how I said The Art of War was going to huge for you? Here it is.

Tier 7 (Level 20)
Fury of the Storm - Basic Attacks bounce twice to nearby enemies for 50% damage.
Battle Hyperion (R) - Hyperion now hits each target up to 2 times per volley. Every 4 seconds Hyperion will fire its Yamato cannon at enemy structures.

Both talents are fairly close, Fury of the Storm is probably better if there are lots of team fights going on as it allows you spread damage out pretty quickly. However, the raw siege damage the Battle Hyperion can dish out is staggering and can swing the game in your favor.



Playstyle
Your playstyle will change slightly based on what talents you have available to you. Major milestones are at levels 7 and 16.

The core of the playstyle is simple though: Line up your cooldowns and knock the enemy down as quickly as you can.

Penetrating Round (Q) can be used as an execute, to get melee heroes off of you, to interrupt channeled attacks or just to push the enemy into places that they shouldn't be. Do to the focus of this build being your basic attack you shouldn't be using this ability all the time, sometimes knocking the enemy back (and maybe out of range!) is just what they need to escape death. Use discretion with this attack.

Inspire will boost your attack speed and your attack damage, it's the core ability at the very start of your attack to ensure you get the most out of your 8 seconds. Once you reach level 7 be sure to activate Searing Attacks at the same time as inspire, the increased attack speed with help you maximize the damage potential. (Be sure to save enough mana so Searing Attacks doesn't drain you dry)

The Hyperion can be used in any number of ways, you can send it out to pick off a very damaged hero who is escaping, you can drop it in the middle of a team fight for either damage or area control, you can also just send it to attack buildings, though for the sake of this guide this is not recommended unless you can afford to not have the ability up and ready for team fights.

Once you've reached level 16 you need to make sure that the enemy is in range when you activate Inspire (and Searing Attacks). The slow and the damage granted by the slow will enable you to dish out huge damage. Couple this with a well placed Penetrating Round and/or a chaser in the form of the Hyperion and you've probably got yourself a kill.


TL;DR
1 - Give Me More
2 - Advanced Optics
3 - Searing Attacks
4 - Hyperion
5 - The Art of War
6 - Executioner
7 - Fury of the Storm OR Battle Hyperion

Note: In the event that a video guide is created for this playstyle the text version of the guide will be removed.

[TheBlinks]

Here's our new E.T.C. Guide

[Keile]

Going to slap together a quick SGT Hammer guide, as I've been experimenting with her recently. This guide is based on what I believe is the best build for my play style, and may not be completely suited to yours. That said, this is a great setup for seiging towers and doing hit and runs on enemy heroes.

Tier 1


There are some nice choices right off the bat here. Advanced Artillery is nifty if you want to focus mainly on sniping enemy heroes from behind the front lines, or if you plan on specializing in knocking down their defenses. Lethal Blast is situational if you need to do damage to other heroes quick. However, in my experience I find that Concussive Blast is best used for its knockback and not it's damage. Resistant I find to be...mostly useless. You may find more use for it, but with the playstyle I use it just doesn't work that well.

The one I personally chose here is Ambush. 100% more damage on your next attack AND stealth while in siege. Contemplate this for just a moment. A siege tank....WITH STEALTH (seriously, why isn't this in SC2!). Once you attack, however, the stealth is lost until you unsiege and resiege. This talent is amazing for getting a strong first-hit on an enemy hero, or even getting a killing blow as they try to run off. This is a great talent, as it couples with a few others later on. I would recommend this talent above the rest.

Tier 2

Focused Assault is, personally, the one I use here. It meshes nicely with the Ambush talent from Tier 1 granting an even stronger attack. Another talent here that works well is Mealstrom Shells as the increased range allows you more freedom to siege away at enemy heroes and towers from afar. If you feel like you are having issues staying alive in combat, however Excessive Force is usable to increase the knockback of Concussive Blast, however I usually don't use this one. I find that proper use of Thrusters combined with the default CB knockback are generally enough to get me out of sticky situations.

Tier 3

Really, the best option here is Hover Siege Mode. Couple this with Ambush and Focused Assault and you can get some nice kills with this. Being able to move while stealthed is amazing, as it allows you sneak into a position (such as flanking the enemy) while in siege so you can be ready to hit them with that 100% extra damage right away. Also allows you to keep pressure on retreating heroes (by using Thrusters you can offset the speed loss. Useful if they are on the verge of death and trying to escape).

Get..this...talent.


Tier 4

This one is tricky. BFG is amazing when teamed up with Orbital BFG however, that is an extremely late game ability. It also requires a bit of planning to use (the best way to line it up is usually at an angle, to shorten the amount of time it takes to travel), however it can help to add pressure to a particular zone on the map. This ability can also help you to snipe heroes on the other side of the map that may be causing troubles.

I, personally, prefer to use Napalm Strike. It is a fairly short CD and can do significant damage to towers and minions. Using this ability allows you to quickly take out gates and towers.

Both of these have their own strength and weakness...pick the one that suits your playstyle.

Tier 5

I find that Barricade is the most useful ability of this tier. When you Concussive Blast it makes a wall that the enemy must walk around. When used correctly this can completely prevent the enemy from getting to you (great for choke points like gates). I find this ability to be absolutely amazing for a quick get-away or to stop a enemy from escaping (typically a melee since the range on CB is rather short).

Tier 6
Mine Field is the one I usually use. Having two more mines out adds a lot of additional damage. When used properly, these mines can be absolutely deadly to enemy heroes. I usually lay these suckers out every CD while I am sieging, as well as if I am trying to escape since most people will try to avoid the mines they can buy you some time to get out of battle. These little suckers also have a tendency to avenge your death...though that's just an added perk....

Graduating Range can be useful if you are able to stay sieged and out of direct fire often enough. This will allow you to get a fairly large range on your siege attack and lay down the hurt from a considerable distance.

Stoneskin is, I feel, the least useful of this tier as Sgt Hammer already has quite a few ways to get out of trouble.
Executioner can be useful if you have a good team you can coordinate with. This can allow you to do a lot of hurt on an enemy hero quick, especially coupled with Ambush and Focused Assault.

Tier 7

This one is rather simple. If you chose BFG get Orbital BFG. Using this appropriately can allow you to keep a consistent amount of pressure on the enemy. I find that the best way to use this ability is to aim in such a way that grants the shell the shortest travel time, giving enemies less chance to avoid it (usually this means getting in close to their defenses and aiming it at an angle). Great if you just want to pressure a particular gate/tower (heck I've even slowly whittled down an enemy core with this thing. We were already attacking and had it at 50% hp before enemy forced our retreat. Orbital BFG prevented the core from healing as it dealt damage slightly faster than the core could heal.)

Fury of the Storm...is rather useless since you already do significant splash damage. You're a siege tank, after all.

Resurgence of the Storm if you tend to die a lot...I guess this one can be handy...

Advanced Lava Strike. If you went with Napalm go with this. You can now fire it from a longer distance and it deals more damage. Basically a flat increase to it's overall effectiveness.



Anyway this is just a guide based on my personal play style. There's likely other builds that work just as well for others out there.

[TheBlinks]

Finished Zeratul and Tassadar over the weekend

[Iapetus]

Ill update the OP when I get back to a computer. We're moving along pretty nicely.

[TheBlinks]

Nazeebo done too:

[Deleted]

Going to sticky this thread. Then it might be easier for people to find it and not create a new one for every Hero.

[TheBlinks]

Got a lot more Guides done this week, although it doesn't look like the main post is being updated





Gazlowe up next!

[Valedus]

Me and Sikend will do a guide tomorrow, if there are any requests we will work on it. The OP still says Tyrael, so we will probably do it. OP doesn't seem to be updating, though. Our guides will probably tend to be longer with added theorycrafting, but we will do a TL;DR at the start.

[Deleted]

Thought it'd be best if I updated my Illidan guide.
It's outdated, didn't involve a lot of proper testing and best I can come up with is a total copy-paste from other sources.

That's not my thing. There are Illidan guides out there, this isn't one of them.

[Iapetus]

Hey guys, I was out of the country for the past week. Normal updates of the OP will resume tomorrow.

- - - Updated - - -

All guides updated and all credits have been given. I may be reformatting the OP in the future to make things a bit easier to read.
Thanks for all the input so far, we almost have at least one guide for every hero!

[TheBlinks]

Kerrigan guide done!



Also, the credit on the Nova guide is incorrect I believe <3

Hopefully these basic guides will get done by mid-august, and then I can start making some advanced ones for more advanced players

[Iapetus]

Fixed! Kerrigan has been added as well.

[TheBlinks]

Gazlowe done!!