Getting to know multiple heroes

[FlixxFail]

Hi there!

 

I assume that sooner or later I will encounter a situation in which I won't be able to play the hero I am familiar with the most.

 

In my case that hero would be Zeratul.

 

In order to avoid such a problem my approach would be to learn other heroes as well. What I would like to know is the following: Which two heroes are mechanics-wise most similar to Zeratul as a starting point for building a useful pool of heroes I am able to perform OK with? Why do you suggest those two heroes over the rest?

 

Thanks and best regards,

FlixxFail

Edited January 6, 2015 by FlixxFail

[ZERATUL]

Hmm zeratul is preaty unique hero tbh, im rly not sure what hero would be similar to him. Basicly what zera is early game is gank gank gank, cuz hes best ganker in game, later in game he initiates deals as much dmg as he can and then goes out with ult. With early game gameplay these heroes can be called similar: boros, shadow grunty to some point.

And about later game most similar would be darpa.

But trust me man zera is preaty unique hero i cant think any hero so similar to him, atleast not in this game: )

Edited January 6, 2015 by ZERATUL

[taznkid]

I guess I would suggest Penthos. Penthos' mobility about rivals Zeratul's, and both their ultimates allow for alot of diving (Penthos using shields).

 

Whereas Zeratul may rely on his delayed damage passive to finish off weak opponents, Penthos relies on heavy slow provided by his Q.

 

Their item build is relatively similar as well:

 

many Penthos users get Atom Smasher, while Zeratul players get Black Hole Magnum, and both have similar unique

many Penthos users get Sliptide, and so do many Zeratul users

 

Me personally, I get like 5/6 of my items almost exactly the same between the two of them. Both of them are also very good junglers.

 

Just make sure you don't get Youth (the energy talent) on Penthos.

 

In In-House, I've seen Penthos do quite well, and quite badly, although usually the cases where they did badly were because of incorrect builds in my opinion (although Superheated Mantle is not bad, per say, rushing it first on Penthos is a terrible idea imo)

 

Now for a hero pool? Those two are nowhere near enough. Jackson hard counters both of them, and although I don't see the two of them (Zeratul and Penthos) banned ALL the time, I see them banned relatively frequently during draft.

[Darkr]

Try Penthos, for the reasons tanzkid pointed out.

 

He is a ez hero, lots of mobility, tanky so you shouldn't die, and op mobility.

He has 6(+1) skills, because his ulti turns the rest into other abilities.

He is a hard hero to master, but just go to test mode (create a game with only yourself, and type '-tm' into the chat) and test out builds and get fimiliar with the hero.

 

Penthos is in agility, page 2 btw.

He doesn't need any energy, and he can move over 15 units in 5 sec on lvl 1 using simply his w and his orbs

He uses orbs to cast spells, so his spell cooldown is very fast, but his orb cooldown takes 10 seconds.

His attacks also reduce that orb cooldown by 1 sec.

 

He is a hard hero, but extremely op hero.

[FlixxFail]

Hi!

 

First of all:

Thanks for all the input!

 

I think I'll start with Penthos as my second hero to learn. Nevertheless I still have some questions regarding Zeratul. As far as I have understood the Zeratul he is very strong at the start of a game (high mobility, planar makes ganking very easy) and in mid game the same holds true. But it feels like other characters have a lot more potential in late game situations. That might be the case due to my probably bad choice of items in the games progression or probably it is just the way it goes with Zeratul because he is just not as strong late game as other heroes. So, which one is it?

 

Normally I start Zeratul with Hatchet, Fusion Blade into Duran's Machete. After that Eye of Narud and Ocelot Revolver. After that Time Splitter and BHM.

Lately I thought about getting Pyre instead of Time Splitter. Some input regarding the llate game item choice would be highly appreciated overall.

 

Now for a hero pool? Those two are nowhere near enough. Jackson hard counters both of them, and although I don't see the two of them (Zeratul and Penthos) banned ALL the time, I see them banned relatively frequently during draft.

 

Yeah, I figured that this might come up as a problem. I definitely will think about other heroes too. But for the start it seemed to be the best not to learn something entirely different. Maybe my third choice will be a tanky strength based hero. Any suggestions here?

 

Regards,

FlixxFail

[Darkr]

Hi!

 

First of all:

Thanks for all the input!

 

I think I'll start with Penthos as my second hero to learn. Nevertheless I still have some questions regarding Zeratul. As far as I have understood the Zeratul he is very strong at the start of a game (high mobility, planar makes ganking very easy) and in mid game the same holds true. But it feels like other characters have a lot more potential in late game situations. That might be the case due to my probably bad choice of items in the games progression or probably it is just the way it goes with Zeratul because he is just not as strong late game as other heroes. So, which one is it?

 

Normally I start Zeratul with Hatchet, Fusion Blade into Duran's Machete. After that Eye of Narud and Ocelot Revolver. After that Time Splitter and BHM.

Lately I thought about getting Pyre instead of Time Splitter. Some input regarding the llate game item choice would be highly appreciated overall.

 

 

 

Yeah, I figured that this might come up as a problem. I definitely will think about other heroes too. But for the start it seemed to be the best not to learn something entirely different. Maybe my third choice will be a tanky strength based hero. Any suggestions here?

 

Regards,

FlixxFail

My build isn't the usual, but it is proved to be extremely good(by me;))

Here it is:

Hunters

Fusion Blade into machette

BHM

Pulse Hammer

That item that builds into explosive

FoE

Explosive

Pyre

Well after that you already won, so there's no point in telling you the last few items :p

[taznkid]

Hi!

 

First of all:

Thanks for all the input!

 

I think I'll start with Penthos as my second hero to learn. Nevertheless I still have some questions regarding Zeratul. As far as I have understood the Zeratul he is very strong at the start of a game (high mobility, planar makes ganking very easy) and in mid game the same holds true. But it feels like other characters have a lot more potential in late game situations. That might be the case due to my probably bad choice of items in the games progression or probably it is just the way it goes with Zeratul because he is just not as strong late game as other heroes. So, which one is it?

 

Normally I start Zeratul with Hatchet, Fusion Blade into Duran's Machete. After that Eye of Narud and Ocelot Revolver. After that Time Splitter and BHM.

Lately I thought about getting Pyre instead of Time Splitter. Some input regarding the llate game item choice would be highly appreciated overall.

 

 

 

Yeah, I figured that this might come up as a problem. I definitely will think about other heroes too. But for the start it seemed to be the best not to learn something entirely different. Maybe my third choice will be a tanky strength based hero. Any suggestions here?

 

Regards,

FlixxFail

My personal build with Zeratul starts something like this:

 

Machete+Hatchet

Ocelot's Revolver

Stun Knife

Force of Entropy

 

This usually lets me get off around 3-6 auto-attacks on target enemy (assuming they don't stay and fight, in which case I get more)

 

Then I usually get Sliptide Scythe, for the Movement Speed unique (I think with only 2 stacks, you get something like +14% movement speed)

 

After that it's usually situational. If I see a Chilling, I'll grab either a C4 Gauss Cannon or Isomorphic Pyre, but my final build generally looks like this:

 

Black Hole Magnum

Timesplitter

Sliptide Scythe

Xenomorphic Cleaver

Force of Entropy

Explosive Retrofit

 

The way I see it, Zeratul doesn't need to do RIDICULOUS damage, just enough to be noticeable. Why? Extremely high mobility and his Ultimate lets him stay in team fights for a prolonged period of time, even while taking lots of damage (assuming you built some health properly), again, much like Penthos.

 

Of course, in pubs, you might have to vary up your build to hard carry with Zeratul, but IDEALLY you would have a ranged hard carry (ex. Nova, Darpa, Tosh) carry something like Pyre instead to finish off tanks. Zeratul's job is to take care of those squishies.

 

Penthos' job is to just pwn everything, then run away if he doesn't like the situation, which has frustrated many a player.

 

Now: Why do I generally not get Pyre with Zeratul? The reason is Weapon Speed redundancy. With the above build, you have max weapon speed. Yes, Isomorphic Pyre has a powerful unique, but it's stats would not help out at all. Switching out Sliptide for Pyre is possible, but I personally like the Movement Speed unique on Sliptide because it helps me stick to my targets when they are running away.

 

Now, if the opposing team gets alot of Darksteel Titan/Chilling Artifact, then suddenly, Pyre is a very good option.