Playing Against Stealth Heroes

by JR Cook - 8 years ago     show comments

One of the more common complaints from beginning to intermediate players is how overpowered stealth Heroes like Nova and Zeratul are. These objections usually emanate from players who were just killed by said Heroes. These complaints can go to a whole new level when the enemy team has both a Nova AND a Zeratul on it.

Oddly enough, you rarely hear these same protests from top players, even though win rates for Nova and Zeratul are actually much better in games between high MMR players than in games between low MMR players.

Nova has benefited from the recent scaling changes, but she still only has a 46.9% win rate in Bronze League. Her win rate consistently improves as you move up into higher Leagues, peaking at 57.1% in Master League. Win rates for Zeratul are much lower, but they follow a similar upward curve as players improve. He is down at 41.2% in Bronze League, and even in Master League he can only muster a 48.6% win rate. So why do so many players think these Heroes are overpowered when the actual results show them to be below to slightly above average at best? The answer is simple. They don’t understand how to adjust their game versus stealth Heroes, and they get frustrated when their normal play style doesn’t work.

Nova and Zeratul can be extremely strong Heroes, especially in the hands of good players, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be countered. The first step to dealing with a Nova or Zeratul is to realize you are going to have to play differently. Once you accept that fact, it is simply a matter of learning what adjustments to make. Let’s look at a few things that you can do to make playing against stealth Heroes a more satisfying experience.

Be Cautious

When you are playing against a Nova or Zeratul you are continually in danger. Failure to appreciate the magnitude of this danger is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when facing stealth Heroes. These Heroes are capable of doing a tremendous amount of damage in a very short amount of time, and they can seemingly attack without warning. If you are playing against a stealth Hero, you should constantly be trying to locate them. If you are not sure where the enemy Nova or Zeratul is, you should act as if they are right next to you.

Stealth Heroes are not actually invisible. Much like the movie Predator, there is a telltale shimmer that gives away the location of stealthed Heroes. It is quite subtle, but once you train yourself to spot this shimmer, your games much versus stealthies will be much easier.

When you see this shimmer, use AOE abilities or skill shots to try and knock the enemy out of stealth. These players are most comfortable when they can attack unseen, so knocking them out of stealth will often cause them to retreat until they can get back into stealth. If you repeatedly knock a player out of stealth in the early game, they may leave you alone entirely and go look for an easier target.

Be Vigilant

Playing against Nova and Zeratul requires a great deal of awareness. This means both situational awareness and map awareness.

Not only should you be searching the area around you for the shimmer, but you should also continually check the mini map to see if that enemy Nova or Zeratul is visible on it. If you are able to spot them elsewhere on the mini map you can be much more aggressive with your positioning. If you can’t find them on the mini map, you have to assume they are stalking you and play more cautiously. There is no shame in soaking experience safely from afar rather, than overextend and getting caught in a vulnerable position.

Pay attention to how other enemy Heroes behave. Unexpected behavior can often be a sign that there is a stealthed teammate nearby. A player who suddenly gets aggressive might be emboldened by the arrival of a Nova or Zeratul. A suspiciously vulnerable player might be trying to bait you into attacking so that his unseen teammate can ambush you. A retreating player who abruptly decides to turn and fight may be doing so because his stealth backup just arrived. These are just a few examples of clues you can pick up on that can influence how you play.

Not everyone plays a Hero the same way. You can learn a lot by identifying the tendencies of the individual Nova or Zeratul player that you are facing. Are they continually moving between lanes looking for easy targets, or do they stay in one lane and repeatedly try to pick on the same target? Do they patiently wait for kill opportunities before they attack, or do they attack early and often? When they do attack, do they stay and fight once they leave stealth or do they immediately fall back to get back into stealth for another ambush? Learning the answers to questions such as these can help you decide how best to counter the specific player you are facing.

Be Strong

Stealth Heroes prey on the weak. It’s their dream scenario to find a half health Kael’thas alone in a lane, or to catch a half heath Zagara traveling by herself to an Objective. You have to keep your health high when playing against a Nova or Zeratul. While this might mean more time spent riding to the Fountain or hearthing back to the Shrine, it is still less time than you would lose waiting to respawn after getting killed. Players all to often underestimate how vulnerable they are when their health is low, and they turn themselves into easy targets as a result. Don’t make that same mistake.

Another common mistake that some players make when facing a Nova or Zeratul, is to attempt to run away when they get attacked. Again, this is the dream scenario for a Nova or Zeratul player. While these Heroes can do a large amount of damage initially, this damage quickly drops off after the first few attacks. They also have relatively small health pools, so the last thing they want is to stand toe to toe and fight with you. If you survive their opening assault you can often become the favorite in the fight. This is why it is so important that you keep your health high, so that you can live long enough to counter attack. The reality is that if you run you are probably going to die anyway, but if you stand and fight you will have a good chance to either take them down, or force them to retreat.

As the game progresses it becomes more and more important that you travel and fight as a team. This is especially true when playing against stealth Heroes. The burst potential for these Heroes is quite high in the late game, especially for Nova with a large number of Gathering Power stacks. It is quite possible for these Heroes to quickly take down even a full health Hero, which is why you shouldn’t be going alone in the late game. Not only is it harder for the enemy Nova or Zeratul to kill you when you are with your team, but it also increases the chances that your team will kill them in return in the event that they do take you down.

Lastly, have a plan for what you will do if and when that stealth Hero comes after you. Advance planning will make it much easier for you to react when the time comes. How you respond to stealth Heroes in the early game may not be the same as how you react to them in the late game, so be willing to alter your plan as the game goes along. Remember stealth Heroes love to attack and run, so if you have stuns, roots, or slows consider saving them for after that stealth Hero attacks.

Stealth Heroes can be tough to deal with at first, but they have their weaknesses just like any other Hero. The key to success against these Heroes is to recognize the unique dangers they pose, and to try and adjust your play accordingly. Once you figure out how to deal with them, they will be the ones how have to adjust, because their usual tricks won’t work against you. Good luck and have fun!

*Win rates are based on data gather from Hotslogs.com