by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

The Lost Vikings are very interesting characters that debuted back in the 16 bit days of gaming. Now The Vikings are revived into the nexus with probably the most complex and interesting mechanics of any hero in the game. Each Viking can be controlled individually or you can move them in a group made up of 2 or 3 of The Vikings. This mechanics leads to some great experience soaking opportunities but also makes them difficult to control. If you want to be good with the Vikings you have to play them a lot and this build should help you getting started. There is an alternate Auto Attack build that focuses on Baleog being buffed that is also very strong but I find that this build is a bit easier to get the most out of. If you want to see the basics and individual stats of The Lost Vikings you can check out the BlizzPro hero page here.

Abilities

Know that you may not have access to some of these abilities if you choose not to pick them.

Go Go Go! – (Z) The Lost Vikings do not have mounts but can instead use this to run quickly. This will increase their speed by 30% for 4 seconds with a 30 second cooldown. This is a great escape mechanic that can make chasing down one of the vikings very difficult. Keep in mind this will activate for all vikings even if you have them split up.

Viking Hoard – (Passive) This used to be a level 1 talent but got moved to their passive instead. Basically gathering a regeneration globe with any viking increases all of their passive regen by 0.5 per globe. This can really add up quick if you’re diligent in grabbing globes and will allow the vikings to back off and quickly restore health. Take advantage of this because it’s important to The Lost Vikings survivability.

Spin to Win – (Q) This ability puts out some massive damage late especially if all The Lost Vikings connect with one target. It is also great for clearing camps and minion waves so be sure to use it often as it is a great source of AOE damage.

Norse Force! – (Q) The other option for Q is a pretty strong shield that is applied to all of The Lost Vikings when used. I often find I would rather have the damage that Spin to Win offers but if you’re play style revolves around more survivability Norse Force! is not a bad choice.

Jump! – (W) One of the greatest escape and positioning tools in the entire game. You can use Jump! to get out of any form of CC as long as you select a viking that is not affected by a hard CC effect. The Vikings are also completely invulnerable while jumping so use that to position yourself for a good escape or on top of an enemy for a good Spin to Win.

Nordic Attack Squad – (W) This is for an auto attack focus build for obvious reasons. It is an amazing ability for damage but I find that I miss Jump! way to much when taking this. Nordic Attack Squad is a great ability and a must have for the Baleog build.

Viking Bribery – (E) This is just like bribery but for The Lost Vikings. This will cap at 100 stacks and cost 40 per bribed minion. The obvious way to get the most out of this is with a viking in each lane. This would allow The Lost Vikings to collect 21 stacks per minion wave across all three lanes. This isnt to hard to accomplish early on during the lane phase but late game gathering bribe stacks can be a bit of a task. This is still a great skill though and should be considered for big maps with three lanes.

Heroic Abilities

Longboat Raid – (R) A very strong ultimate despite the recent changes. Now instead of using it as an initiation tool it should be used in the middle of a fight to clean up some kills and give your team the edge. Be careful because if the boat takes lethal damage then it will cause the vikings to appear stunned for 1.5 seconds.

Play Again! – (R) This is seeing more play since the recent longboat changes and does great with the auto attack Baleog build because you can get your strongest viking right back into the fight.  I don’t take this one very often because the damage output from boat can outright win a team fight but this definitely has its merit.

The Build

Level 1

Viking Bribery – For a full breakdown check out the abilities section.

Level 4

Pain Don’t Hurt – This is a nice survival tool for Baleog on a level that doesn’t have a lot of options. Eric the swift is also not a bad choice here.

Level 7

Spin to Win – Check out the ability section.

Level 10

Longboat Raid – see heroic ability section.

Level 13

Jump! -Check out the ability section

Level 16

Impatience is a Virtue – Since this is an ability based viking build this is your best friend. Having access to your basics and heroics quick is always a good thing and Impatience does a great job of that. There are a lot of good picks at this level but since we went full ability build I wouldn’t take any of the others.

Level 20

Ragnarok ‘n’ Roll – This really up the damage of the Longboat Raid and that’s why I take it most of the time with this build. The Vikings really rely on the burst damage they get from Longboat so why not up it?

The Strategy

The best thing to do early game is to split the vikings off into 2 lanes and allow your teammates to roam for ganks while not missing out on any experience. The goal is to never miss a drop of exp and get to level 10 before the opponent. Since early level lead often dictates who will win the game the job of Lost Vikings is very important. Just keep an eye on the lanes that your vikings are in and don’t overextend into death and the experience lead will more than likely be yours.

Mid to late game its all about showing up for team fights and providing some serious fire power with the longboat. You can also use Jump! to get into the fray and hit a strong Spin to Win before hopping into the boat. The vikings job is to provide the level lead early and help your team close out fights that will win the game. At this point in the game I will often leave all three of the vikings together so that I may be able to surprise someone with some burst damage or clear a camp easily.

The Vikings are a tough hero to manage but provide a huge benefit like no other hero can. Master the vikings and your team will thank you for the nice level lead that gave them a victory. I hope you learned something and look for another guide next week right here at BlizzPro!