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Give Her Time

by - 8 years ago

It has been just over two weeks since Chromie’s release. Since that time she has had by far the lowest win rate in the game according to HOTSLogs. This has led many people to conclude that Chromie’s is a bad Hero, but I would disagree.

Her problem isn’t poor design, it is that unlike other mages she isn’t a Hero that you can just plug into any team comp. In the right situation Chromie can shine, but in the wrong situation she is a liability. Being able to tell the difference is the key Chromie’s success.

Let’s look at a few of the reasons why Chromie is struggling and what we can do to avoid those issues.

All Skill Shots

For many players, the most obvious obstacle to playing Chromie is the fact that both of her offensive abilities are skill shots. As if that doesn’t make her difficult enough, there is also a delay on these abilities. Playing Chromie well doesn’t just require you to hit your skill shots, it also requires you to anticipate where your enemies are going to be when these abilities land. While this makes her challenging to play, it also makes her extremely rewarding. It is a great feeling when you are able to perfectly lead the enemy Valla with your Sand Blast and see her explode.

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Success with Chromie also relies heavily on a player’s ability to land her combo. A properly timed Temporal Loop (R), Dragon’s Breath (W), Sand Blast (Q) combo will delete most Heroes. A poorly timed combo means that you have blown all of your cooldowns and left the enemy Hero alive. Hopefully your opponent doesn’t kill you in the four seconds it is going to take before you can do something other than auto attack…

Role

Chromie is not your typical burst mage, despite how much we might want her to be. Personally, I think the biggest reason for Chromie’s lack of success is the fact that players don’t properly understand what her role is, and play her incorrectly as a result.

Chromie is best played as an ambusher and a roamer. She might be a dragon, but she should be waging guerrilla warfare. Chromie is most effective when she can attack unexpectedly from the fog of war. Her abilities hit extremely hard, but they are easily dodged if her opponents see them coming. The trick is to make sure they don’t see your attacks coming. She is much like Nova, except her stealth comes in the form of extremely range. You should be taking advantage of this to attack unseen as much as possible. Just like Nova, if she gets caught she is essentially dead, so a hit and run strategy is the key to survival.

No Lane Presence

Chromie is a horrible laner. Her Sand Blast (Q) is useless against anything other than enemy Heroes, and her Dragon’s Breath (W) has a long cool down. Enemy Heroes will quickly learn not to stand near the minion wave when facing Chromie, so using Dragon’s Breath to clear minions means you are not using it to hit enemy Heroes. It also means that you are not making progress towards completing the quest for one of her more popular level 1 Talents, Deep Breathing.

Chromie doesn’t fair well on maps such at Battlefield of Eternity, Infernal Shrines, and Garden Terror for the same reasons. She is best used on maps like Cursed Hollow and Towers of Doom, where the focus is on team fighting, as opposed to maps where the focus is on defeating monsters.

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Again, the Nova comparison from earlier still fits. Chromie’s inability to lane effectively means that she needs to be on a body heavy team with strong lane presence, just like Nova. Having teammates who are capable of soaking every lane will free her up to do what she does best, nuke enemy Heroes from a distance. Much like Sgt. Hammer or Lt. Morales, she also needs a team that is capable of protecting her in a fight. She won’t survive long if the enemy team is able to dive on her, so she needs teammates who can get enemies off of her when that happens.

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Chromie isn’t a bad Hero, she just has a very specific set of skills. Understanding her limitations will help you identify those situations where she is a good fit, and avoid her in the situations where she isn’t. Since she is so comp and map dependent, she is much better suited for Hero League than Quick Match. If you choose to player her in QM, just be aware of the challenges you are likely to face and temper your expectations.

Despite her low win rate, she is a very fun Hero to play. I expect her win rate to improve over time as players learn when she should be picked and how to best play her. The fact that she can also now be played in competitive should also help provide a good example of proper Chromie play.

If you would like to try her out for yourself, check out this great build from Zexerous.


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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