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Low Cost Hero Buying Guide

by - 8 years ago

As a new player, it can often be difficult to decide which Heroes to buy initially. This can be even more difficult if you are trying to go primarily Free to Play. Fortunately, some of the most affordable Heroes are also some of the most popular in ranked and competitive play.

The least expensive Warrior, Assassin, and Support Heroes are each 2000 gold. The least expensive Specialist is 4000 gold. This means for 10,000 gold you can get you one Hero for each role if you so chose. While this may seem like a lot of gold, you should easily be able to acquire that amount or more by the time you reach account level 10.

Each role has two Hero options at the lowest price tier. Here are my thoughts on which of these inexpensive Heroes you should start with, and why.

Warrior: E.T.C. vs. Muradin

Both of these are solid tanks, but the current meta serves as a good tie breaker. The Giant Killer talent is quite popular at the moment, and it is rare to get matched against a team that doesn’t have at least one or two Heroes who have access to it. While Giant Killer can be a good choice versus any Warrior, it is especially effective against Muradin because his Heroic, Avatar, significantly increases his health pool. This is part of the reason that E.T.C. has seen a resurgence in popularity recently. His Mosh Pit Heroic is especially devastating against newer players, so he is a great first tank to buy. Muradin isn’t a bad Hero, but I would go with E.T.C based on the current state of the game.

Assassin: Raynor vs. Valla

Raynor is a durable Hero, who primarily uses auto attacks to provide strong sustained damage. Valla is not as sturdy, but she has more variety in the builds that she is able to take, and better area of effect damage. You really can’t go wrong with either Hero. While I like the versatility that Valla brings, Raynor is just too good not to recommend. Not only has he become a staple of Hero League, but he is also one of the best ranged assassin for new players to learn. Playing Raynor well requires good positioning, the ability to select the right target, and the expertise to stutter step effectively. All of these are skills that will serve you well as you branch out to other Heroes.

Support: Li Li vs. Malfurion

Li Li has two healing builds, one focusing on using Healing Brew to provide frequent small heals to the lowest health ally in range, while the other uses Cloud Serpent to allow allies to heal themselves by using basic attacks. Malfurion is more of a heal over time Support, with bigger heals and longer cool downs. Given the burst heavy nature of the game right now, Malfurion seems to struggle to keep up against high damage teams. While Li Li also isn’t the best healer versus burst damage, she does have her Blinding Wind ability to help mitigate incoming damage. A good Li Li is also quite difficult to kill, especially after she gets Kung Fu Hustle at level 20. People often label her a noob healer because her Healing Brew build is so simple, but there is more to skilled Li Li play than simply holding down the Q button. I like Li Li because she is an easy Hero for new Heroes to grasp, while still allowing for more skilled play with her Cloud Serpent build and timely Blinding Winds.

Specialist: Gazlowe vs. Zagara

As I mentioned in beginning, the cheapest Specialist is 4000 gold, as opposed to 2000 for all of the other roles. This small barrier to entry is intentional, since Specialists generally require more experience to play well. Proper Specialist play isn’t always intuitive, and you need to be able to balance when to help your team and when to push a lane or capture mercenaries. Gazlowe provides strong zone control thru his Turrets, and his Grav-O-Bomb 3000 Heroic can lead to some amazing wombo combo plays. Zagara has a swarm of Zerg units at her command, and her Devouring Maw Heroic is great for turning even team fights into uneven team fights. Both of these Heroes are able to strongly push a lane, but they lack escape mechanics. Gazlowe is more of a niche pick, and he does best on maps like Sky Temple and Cursed Hallow, where he can dominate an area with his Turrets. Zagara is viable in pretty much any situation, and while she excels at pushing a lane she is also does quite well in team fights. The vision that her Creep provides is also a tremendous advantage. She is extremely popular in competitive play, despite being one of the cheapest Specialists in the game. While you don’t need to have a Specialist in your roster to be ready for Hero League, Zagara’s ability to fit into so many team comps can easily justify the 4K price tag.

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There is something to be said for how good all of these ‘cheap’ Heroes are. While I may prefer one Hero over another, any of these Heroes would make a worth while addition to your roster.

Deciding which Heroes to buy is very subjective, and a lot depends on what you are looking to get out of the game. If are are looking to get into Hero League, but are playing on a budget, then it is important to buy Heroes who are inexpensive, but still viable competitively. Maybe you bought a bundle, and now just need a few specific Heroes to fill in the gaps, in which case your thought process will be totally different.  If you aren’t worried about Hero League, then you can use your gold to buy fewer, but more expensive Heroes, if that is what you prefer.

In the end, this is a game so you should be purchasing and playing what is the most fun for you. If you have 10K and you would rather spend it all on Nova because she is your favorite Hero, then by all means go for it. If you just want to unlock Hero League by picking up a bunch of cheap Heroes just to meet the minimum requirement, then more power to you. Have fun and play what you like. If you are stuck deciding between inexpensive Heroes, then I hope this article gave you some food for thought. Good luck and have fun!


JR Cook

JR has been writing for fan sites since 2000 and has been involved with Blizzard Exclusive fansites since 2003. JR was also a co-host for 6 years on the Hearthstone podcast Well Met! He helped co-found BlizzPro in 2013.


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