Heroes of the Storm

According to Zoia the team doesn't really get along and there is zero desire to practice. Since they can't just outright boot someone from the team if they refuse to practice they are cornered into just making it work. Basically with the way Blizzcon forced the roster locks so early it gave all the power to the individual players instead of the organization.

Zoia basically said on the last town hall that there was drama/tension on the team and being unable to make roster changes due to Blizzcon was bullshit and would absolutely affect their play. So, presumably at least one roster change after Blizzcon if not more. I honestly don't know what cut(s) are going to be made, I feel like Dread is the only "keep at all costs" guy, he's one of the best Supports around (except on Monk, holy shit, he has to get better at Monk). I like Kaeyoh and Arthelon both and think they are great players but compared to k1pro and iDream? I think Zuna gets more shit than he deserves but his aggressive style doesn't really fit with how the team usually plays. So1der is a good Warrior but again, compared to other top teams Warriors? No idea, maybe they swap Zuna out for someone? Maybe blow the whole team up? Interesting to see what will happen.

Such is life. Need to protect the players as well. Not going to be an easy fix when the majority of pro gamers are 18-25 year olds still figuring out who they are. I mean look at Reynad's attitude and he runs TS. If you don't protect the players you'll have another boatload of problems.

Definitely sucks to hear. They looked pretty good against DK though, so hopefully they can keep it together once Blizzcon kicks off.

[Czech] Two new maps, four new heroes to be announced at BlizzCon : heroesofthestorm

I've been disenchanted heavily with the game recently so I haven't been playing but I'll be interested to see where they take it.

Kirun_sl said:

That sounds pretty great, but I doubt I'll play much until they find some sort of solution to the matchmaker, or a way to make individual play more impactful/meaningful.

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Pretty much where I stand as well. The game feels pretty monotonous like each game is just like the last.

I just started playing again and really enjoying it. That said my playtime is only like 20 hours, so I'm still learning heroes and stuff.

Help me convince my friend that Abathur is shit tier in pub matches. My point is he just doesn't have a huge tactical impact on the map. On top of that, he can't contest/harass objectives or really scout. He doesn't add a huge hp pool to a team fight and no cc/burst. Just won't stop playing him though and he tells me it's someone else's fault if we lose every 4v5 engage.

Disagree. A good Abathur will soak / push lanes while the rest of the team is getting the objective. At 10 Ultimate Evolution is great for evening out teamfights. He can scout enemy rotations or mercing with his mines. And mule is a great talent. He doesn't need a particular comp to do well.

He doesn't need a particular comp to do well but he does need people that know how to play with an Abathur to do well which is the problem. Abathur is a great hero, and super powerfulbutthe Abathur needs to be goodandeveryone on the team needs to know how to play with an Abathur, so for pub tier that's usually not going to happen and even if it does there is a really good chance you were going to win that game anyway.

Palum_sl said:

Help me convince my friend that Abathur is shit tier in pub matches. My point is he just doesn't have a huge tactical impact on the map. On top of that, he can't contest/harass objectives or really scout. He doesn't add a huge hp pool to a team fight and no cc/burst. Just won't stop playing him though and he tells me it's someone else's fault if we lose every 4v5 engage.

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Abathur is probably a top3 hero overall. Some maps he works better than others but he is fine in pugs. Especially with his "Fuck you" slow mines build combined with locust split push.

Well he typically goes the shield/heal build so that could be a problem as well. Abathur can be good in a comp without holes I'm sure but when your only support is monk who goes dps build...

Abathur - Hero Talent Calculator

That is my general purpose Abathur build for pubs. You don't spend much time in hat instead you are more concerned with keeping mines on cooldown. The slow on the mines is absolutely annoying and you can give your team complete vision over objectives. When a team fight busts out you just UE since your hat sucks anyways. Then at 16 you add annoying split push into the equation which then puts the opposing team on a timer since the locusts can and will push down structures.

But also remember Abathur is somewhat difficult to play in terms of knowing when and where to body soak, when to back off and just symbiote soak and you need to be aware when 1v1's or 2v1's occur. Basically if someone on your team dies and Abathur didn't know it was going to happen the Abathur player needs to work on their map awareness. He's very easy to play terribly.

Tenks_sl said:

Abathur - Hero Talent Calculator

That is my general purpose Abathur build for pubs. You don't spend much time in hat instead you are more concerned with keeping mines on cooldown. The slow on the mines is absolutely annoying and you can give your team complete vision over objectives. When a team fight busts out you just UE since your hat sucks anyways. Then at 16 you add annoying split push into the equation which then puts the opposing team on a timer since the locusts can and will push down structures.

But also remember Abathur is somewhat difficult to play in terms of knowing when and where to body soak, when to back off and just symbiote soak and you need to be aware when 1v1's or 2v1's occur. Basically if someone on your team dies and Abathur didn't know it was going to happen the Abathur player needs to work on their map awareness. He's very easy to play terribly.

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Yea, he spends 95% of the game in the hat (assume that's what you mean with the parasite augment thingy where the little bubble goes up).

A good guide on the push build that Tenks linked

Palum_sl said:

Yea, he spends 95% of the game in the hat (assume that's what you mean with the parasite augment thingy where the little bubble goes up).

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So it is actually faster in terms of resetting CDs to de-hat and then rehat someone, then it is to wait for the hat abilities to cooldown. So unless you went for a hat build (Adrenal Overloard in particular) and are on someone that actually benefits, you should be de-hatting and re-hatting constantly. It sounds like he just has no idea how to play Abathur.