by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

Stitches want to play.

Stitches make new friends with hook!

It’s Stitches Week at Heroes of the Storm and what better way to kick of my debut here at BlizzPro than to write a How-to-Play article about everybody’s favorite Abomination? The Abominations first appeared in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and have since been a lumbering, powerful thorn in everyone’s side. These grotesque amalgamations of disproportionate flesh may be simple minded but are no less deadly. Woe to the traveler that meets an Abomination with an appetite. With an arsenal of cleavers, hooks, putrid odors and bile, Stitches is a force to be reckoned with.

What is Stitches’ role within the Nexus?

Stitches is classified as a Warrior. Big, burly, beefy Brawlers that dive into the forefront of battle and work to control enemy Heroes by taking the brunt of damage and CCing key targets to win fights. Stitches has a unique skill that allows him to pick off fleeing Heroes and is the cause of much frustration when on the receiving end of his infamous Hook. Stitches doesn’t do a lot of damage, but he can keep up the pressure with his Combat Trait and AoE abilities.

Abilities

Let’s take a look at Stitches’ abilities.

Hook [Q]: Pull the first enemy hit towards you, dealing damage. This ability is classified as a Skill Shot, which means aiming is everything. Hook pulls through terrain, making it possible to trap unfortunate Heroes in little nooks and crannies all over the map. Well aimed hooks can bring back fleeing Heroes long enough to get a kill. Hook is one of the biggest reasons Stitches is a pain to go up against.

Slam [W]: Deals damage to enemies within the target area. This ability is a ground-targeted cone effect. It can be talented to deal more damage and even stun for a very short time. Though Slam never does a whole lot of damage, it is good for clearing creep waves as well as adding pressure during team fights.

Devour [E]: Deals heavy damage to Minions or lesser damage to Heroes. Restores 20% of your maximum Health. Devour is a powerful self-heal that can mean life or death for Stitches. While it’s not very powerful against Heroes, it can be talented to give permanent health regen if used on a Hero making it prudent to use on Heroes as much as possible.

Combat Trait

Vile Gas: When damaged, Stitches emits a gas cloud that persists for 4 seconds. Enemies who enter it are poisoned over 3 seconds. This combat trait is very appropriate for Stitches. It makes him dangerous to attack. Vile Gas can be talented to last longer or apply with basic attacks or Slam. Just one more way for Stitches to keep up the pressure.

Heroic Abilities

Putrid Bile [R]: Emits bile that deals damage per second to enemies within, slowing them by 35%. Lasts 8 seconds. Putride Bile is great way to create an escape route from a team fight. It substantially slows anyone caught within and forces the enemy team to side step in order to get out, thus delaying their pursuit more. It can also be used in the middle of a team fight for added damage and slowing the escape of the enemy team.

Gorge [R]: Consume an enemy Hero, trapping them in Stitches’ stomach for 3.5 seconds and dealing damage. The trapped Hero cannot move or act and doesn’t take damage from other sources. When Gorge is used on an appropriate target, it can completely change the tide of a team fight. This ability, like Hook, is also very good at displacing Heroes and leaving them to die away from their team.

Stitches think Arthas look lonely!

Building and playing Stitches

There are a couple different ways to build Stitches. My favorite way to do so is to enhance his self healing and give him plenty of escapes, while focusing on picking off enemy heroes with Hooks and Gorge. You can also build Stitches to do more damage by buffing Slam, though I very much prefer having an annoying amount of survivability over more damage in an organized team.

Made with HeroesFire‘s talent calculator

Tier 1 Talents:

I like to go with Regeneration Master. Although this requires you to pick up as many health globes as possible, if you stick with it throughout the game it can create a nice advantage for those late-game team fights. If I’m ever passing a lane on my way to an objective and I see the caster Minion up, I stop long enough to Slam and melee it down to get the orb then continue on to my destination. If my team has a dedicated healer or two supports, I will favor Block instead. If you want a more damage-focused build, then your choice would be Heavy Slam, though I believe Stitches’ power comes from his longevity not his damage. Chew Your Food is unfortunately underwhelming because of Devour’s long CD. Late game you end up with more passive HPS (health per second) using Regeneration Master.

Tier 4 Talents:

Amplified Healing is a very good choice and has good synergy with Devour, Regen Master, and Savor the Flavor (Tier 7). The more healing you can receive, the longer you can harass the enemy team. While Amp Healing very strong for survivability, I tend to pick Vile Cleaver instead because it causes Stitches’ trait to activate on basic attacks. This means you can basic attack multiple enemies and minions to create multiple pools of gas. The poison of multiple pools doesn’t stack, but it lends more opportunity for enemies to walk through them. It creates additional pressure and can also give that extra bit damage needed to finish off a fleeing Hero. Superiority is underwhelming. Stitches should never be soloing Merc Camps and I can’t see much use for it otherwise. Putrid Ground is in the same strain as Vile Cleaver and has a wider immediate range, but basic attacks are far more frequent.

Tier 7 Talents:

My go-to pick here is Savor the Flavor, though it typically means saving Devour for Hero use only, which is fine. I use it in order to have a silly amount of health regen later in the game. Combined with external healing from supports and Amp Healing, it means Stitches is in the fight for a long time. The other option I like to choose is Tenderizer. Stitches is slow with no escapes or short gap closers. Tenderizer makes it so that Hooked Heroes can’t escape as fast and gives you more time to beat on said fleeing Hero until help arrives. Last Bite is rarely useful. It’s not often your Devour is going to be the killing blow on a target unless it’s a minion. Last is Toxic Gas. I’ll be honest, I haven’t ever picked this talent because I like my first two picks that much more. Toxic Gas is underwhelming. If you take Vile Cleaver, then that means Vile Gas is going to be on your target no matter what, making the extra range from Toxic Gas somewhat superfluous.

Tier 10 Talents:

Gorge. Gorge, Gorge, Gorge. Gorge ruins peoples’ days. Gorge can let you take an over-extended Hero behind your gates and lock them in range of towers and keeps for a free kill. Gorge can let you travel with a Hero and place him in an area that’s easily body blocked so they can’t escape. Gorge removes important Heroes from the fight and can turn the tide of battle. It interrupts channeled ultimates from Valla, Nazeebo, LiLi and Malfurion. It negates the damage of Kerrigan’s Maelstrom and Illidan’s Metamorphosis for a short time. Don’t get me wrong, Putrid Bile has its niche, especially if your team is prone to running away with low health from team fights, but Gorge has so many more uses. Plus it makes you feel utterly evil.

Tier 13 Talents:

My number one pick by far is Sprint. As I mentioned briefly before, Stitches has no real escape mechanism or gap closer. Sprint lets you close gaps to get in Hooks and lets you displace a Gorged Hero even further. Absolutely nobody likes the Hook > Gorge > Sprint behind lane walls combo… unless you’re the one doing it. The other talents here do have their place, but I can’t bring myself to pick anything else. Additionally, Helping Hand may seem like it’s a great talent, and it can be under the right circumstances, but it also creates an issue if you’re trying to hook an enemy back to kill and a teammate gets in the way instead.

Tier 16 Talents:

A few choices here that I rotate between depending on my team comp. Imposing Presence is good against a team with fast attackers like Valla. Fishing Hook makes Hook an even bigger danger to fleeing Heroes and one I pick often. I have yet to use Shish Kabob myself, but I know plenty of others love being able to pull two Heroes at once. Especially if there’s an Assassin or Warrior blocking your path to a Support or squishy Assassin that you want out of the fight. Lastly there’s Pulverize. I will take this if my team is lacking stuns and the enemy team has a Hero or two with a dangerous channeled ultimate (Valla/Nazeebo). It’s also useful for chasing down a near-dead hero when combined with Tenderizer.

Tier 20 Talents:

I almost never pick the upgraded Heroic talents. Hungry Hungry Stitches is great if you use it properly. Nothing like taking out double Supports or the team’s deadliest assassins at the same time. However, Bolt of the Storm gives Stitches an additional mobility option and gap closer along side Sprint (and has the same fun uses) and Resurgence of the Storm is really good that late in the game if your team lacks the ability to keep you alive for long.

Tips and Tricks

• Combine Hook, Gorge and Sprint to remove an enemy Hero from a fight for a long time, or to bring them to your team to kill.
• Predict where a fleeing Hero may be and use Hook to bring them back in.
• Use Hooks, Gorge or Pulverize Slam to stop channeled ultimates that can ruin your team.
• Position yourself between nearly dead teammates and pursuing enemies or Hook them away to allow your team member to escape.
• Use Devour to gain back health. It can mean the difference between living or dying.
• Use Gap-Closers like Bolt of the Storm or Sprint to catch and Gorge troublesome Heroes if you’re unable to Hook.
• Position yourself in a closed-off area and Hook unsuspecting Heroes to catch them in a place they can’t get out of.