[Vorpal.Valedict v. 1.144] Tank Caster

[ginosaji]

Talents:

Might (+15 Weapon damage)

Fitness: (+180 HP)

Integrity (+7% Spell Resist)

Discipline (+6 Armor)

Fortify

Swiftness (+6% Movespeed)

 

Core Items:

 

 

Vorpal is part tank, part INT caster, part disable, and part initiation. He can also be built AA, but that is much weaker. He used to be picked or banned almost always, but recently has fallen out of favor due in large part to the strength of stuns in the current meta. Faceplant comps don't work as well as they used to and every AA has a stun available in stun knife. This makes faceplant or Ult combo team make-ups very weak. Although those two roles have fallen into the background, he's still a decent tank/caster and one of the best solo long lane heroes in the game.

 

Talents: 1-4-1 Might, health, Armor, Spell Resist, Fortify, and Swiftness. Fortify is amazing and allows you to build slightly more greedy on the INT side, while maintaining tanking ability. Some people like wealth and goggles first on him, but energy talents are wasted on him as his abilities cost orbs and not mana.

 

Abilities: QEE(stats)ERE... Max Q next, then stats, then W last. W is mostly useless. Get one level of Q for your escape long lane. Max E first so you can last hit better.

 

Build: Like all other tanks/support/aura carriers your build will hinge on who's carrying what team item and what role you are fulfilling. I like to go korhal if I'm not going to be the primary tank, as it gives great stats in both armor and spell resist for the cost and is built from a gp10. If you are going spell buffer as well, make sure to get treasure as soon as possible as well.

 

This build will be an example of what I feel to be a middle ground in terms of balance between tank and caster. Something to keep in mind is that even if you are a tank, you must be a threat somehow to the enemy team, otherwise you will just be ignored and not add anything to the team fight except pulling with surge. It's much like an Erekul who builds all tank, no INT. You'll never die, but everyone will just ignore you until the rest of your team dies as you stand around doing nothing. The threat Vorpal poses is his Ult-surge combo, which you need INT for.

 

Early game: Goggles>Kohal>Buckler

 

Mid game: Ihan>DST>Nitrogen

 

Late Game: Gravity Edge>Organic>Situational item replacing Ihan

 

End buid: Nitrogen Retrofit, DST, ORganic Carapce, Korhal, Gravity Edge. A great choice from there would usuallu be either spell buffer or Lifetech Nanosuit. Nanosuit is much better, just depends on if someone else can carry buffer for you.

 

You can go more caster if you want, but going any more tanky than this will render your ult surge a very tame threat, greatly reducing your usefulness to the team, so I advise against it. Really your build will revolve around what order you buy in. Full Caster; maybe Ihan, Nitro, Gravity edge. Full Tank; Korhal, Lifetech, DST, Nitro. It all depends on the needs of your team.

 

Playstyle:

 

Laning: Usually laned solo hard because he has an escape, a disable/root and can last hit well. Do not use your surge aggresively, you will get ganked. Don't worry about harassing enemies. Just use your E to last hit creep and defend tower. Don't be afraid to surge creep waves toward your own tower if you are gtting too much heat in the middle of the lane.

 

Gank: He can be a helpful tool when ganking an opponent or keeping others at bay with his E while your gank can go off. His Ult Surge can be very good for assisting in ganking as well. Make sure to communicate before you surge into an enemy team when other teammates are around you so you don't surge them into an enemy and get them killed. He's a relatively effective counter push in acute situations. If they have a few pushers ganging up, don't be afraid to ult surge a lane to clear it. Vorpal can also cover retreats and lock people down you are chasing, prioritize doing so to help get kills or cover your team as they retreat, then surge your way out after they are safe.

 

Teamfight: You should be near the middle of the team formation, by the tank if you have another one, so you can ult surge when the right moment hits. Avoid taking allies with you unless they are heroes that would want to, like micro, drake, balrog, etc. Your surge can disrupt channels, pulls, and projectiles (Cain ult, brine pull, nova snare, Jackson beam, and many more). After you ult surge you should focus on disrupting key spellcasters like Rancor, Null, vergil, drake ult, etc. If your team would rather you lock down the enemy AA, try to keep your E on him, you should have enough for 2-3 after your surge ult.

[atomheartman]

Great guide, have problems with that hero - thank you.

Questions

What about heated mantle on him? And why you prefer googles before buckler? why not to go googles>buckler>korhal, or buckler>googles>korhal?

[ginosaji]

Great guide, have problems with that hero - thank you.

Questions

What about heated mantle on him? And why you prefer googles before buckler? why not to go googles>buckler>korhal, or buckler>googles>korhal?

 

Goggles first because of the GP10 aspect of it. Most of the time IH you'll be solo long lane, so you will not get the best farm, hence the importance of a GP10. You can definitely switch things around if need be, buckler can be right after goggles.

 

SHM is a pretty decent item on him actually, one of the few heroes I get it on frequently. If I go SHM it's usually Goggles, buckler, SHM.

[taznkid]

Thanks so much ginosaji. I tried out your build: it works wonders. The only tanks I have played are Tychus and Akasha, and both do like no damage (I can build Tychus to do some damage, but game is usually over by the time the right items start kicking in). You addressed the problem I have been having very well: the other team ignores you if you aren't even a threat, which is a problem I have had frequently (mostly when I play tank in a pub, when I'm in a party or IH my pulls/stuns with Akasha are enough). I tried Vorpal only once so far, but I can already see that Vorpal, although he doesn't do any debilitating damage (provided the other team isn't squishy), he does enough that he is dangerous if left alone. The lance is so fun though...does so much damage early game, 3 lances are usually enough to kill anyone around half health, if q is used in conjunction. Anyway, thanks for guide, I have found a new tank to play. A question though: why get stats instead of maxing q and e?

[Moo]

The only tanks I have played are Tychus and Akasha, and both do like no damage (I can build Tychus to do some damage, but game is usually over by the time the right items start kicking in).

Tychus is an AD hard carry when I see him played in IH (if I remember right), since his ulti provides enough free tankiness during most of a fight that he shouldn't build tank, he should build carry since he won't die as quickly if focused and he has a good attack speed steroid. I believe that is the reasoning behind that, someone with more experience correct me if I am wrong.

[ginosaji]

Thanks so much ginosaji. I tried out your build: it works wonders. The only tanks I have played are Tychus and Akasha, and both do like no damage (I can build Tychus to do some damage, but game is usually over by the time the right items start kicking in). You addressed the problem I have been having very well: the other team ignores you if you aren't even a threat, which is a problem I have had frequently (mostly when I play tank in a pub, when I'm in a party or IH my pulls/stuns with Akasha are enough). I tried Vorpal only once so far, but I can already see that Vorpal, although he doesn't do any debilitating damage (provided the other team isn't squishy), he does enough that he is dangerous if left alone. The lance is so fun though...does so much damage early game, 3 lances are usually enough to kill anyone around half health, if q is used in conjunction. Anyway, thanks for guide, I have found a new tank to play. A question though: why get stats instead of maxing q and e?

 

I get stats there solely for sustain in solo long lane in IHs. You'd be fine maxing Q (Surge) after E.

 

Tychus is an AD hard carry when I see him played in IH (if I remember right), since his ulti provides enough free tankiness during most of a fight that he shouldn't build tank, he should build carry since he won't die as quickly if focused and he has a good attack speed steroid. I believe that is the reasoning behind that, someone with more experience correct me if I am wrong.

 

He can be built either way. He's a decent carrier of Spell Buffer and COA, which are traditionally support items. The issue with tychus is that he takes a long time to kick in as a carry, so support items are a good way to be more useful mid game.