Heroes of the Storm Strategy Common Misconceptions

Heroes of the Storm Strategy Common Misconceptions by GGS_Gilgamesh

Here are some generally held misconceptions that abound in the current HOTS community. Hopefully this helps people understand the game a bit better!

1. Objectives win the Game: This is the biggest misconception. While objectives are one of the useful tools in your arsenal, they are not only unnecessary, but often incorrect targets at many stages of the game. HOTS, unlike LOL and DOTA is a single shared resource game. Your goal, especially during the early game (laning phase…which very much exists in HOTS) should be to maximize your team experience. The race to lvl 10 is real. Far too often I see people leaving their lanes to go get (a) tributes, (b) coins, (c) mines, (d) dragon shrines, (e) anything at all. In order to roam and pick up objectives you need to first push your lane out. Every wave that hits your towers with no one in range is a huge chunk of GLOBAL power your team loses. The fastest way to lose this game is to group up for an objective early (lvl 4 ish) while the other team pushes their lanes out. You will lose outer towers, and find yourselves 1.5-2 levels behind. This is devastating when they are lvl 10 and you are lvl 9 at the second or third objective fight. Not only can you not contest, but they can push and take forts, further widening their exp lead.
2. Mercenaries are Important: But Byron, merc camps are awesome early! Not really. The ogres are worth slightly more exp than a single lane minion, and knight camps are worth about a wave. What does this mean? Don’t leave your lane empty to go grab mercs. Mercs serve a specific purpose, and are a vital component to a game winning strategy. Mercs push waves and can take towers, demanding that the other team spend resources to stop them. This makes mercs a terrific mid-late game strategic resource. Merc control is a way to deal with, and to set up late game split pushing (especially on three lane maps).
3. Grouping is Important: There are many champs who are capable of single-handedly (and safely) pushing forts in on their own. Just like in other MOBAs we know and love, split pushing is alive and well in HOTS. Don’t be afraid to let witch doctor take a solo lane and send wave after wave of minions into their forts. He’ll get it done eventually.
4. Death Timers: Death timers in this game get very very long quickly. This makes dying even worse than in other MOBAs after around the 10 min mark. Just as you would in LoL or DOTA, if you kill an enemy in the mid-late game, you have an advantage to push with. I have seen many many teams fail to just win the game when they’re up 2-3 players because they want to go get a map objective. It’s early on in alpha, but don’t forget to push to win!

If you have any questions, or want to talk HOTS strategy/tier lists/champs/comps/whatever, feel free to ping me here or hit me up in alpha (Byron#1690).

Best, Byron