Ragnaros Preview and First Impressions
by JR Cook - 7 years ago show comments
Prepare to be purged by fire; Ragnaros will soon be entering the Nexus. Whether you want to live out your dreams of being a raid boss, or to get pay back for all those times he didn’t drop your Tier 2 helm, you can expect to see Ragnaros added to the game sometime in December.
Abilities
Q – Empowered Sulfuras: Your next basic attack is instant, does area damage, and heals you for 20% of the damage dealt
W – Living Meteor: Call down a meteor nearby that deals minor damage upon impact, and then rolls in the direction you’ve targeted, dealing moderate damage to foes in its path
E – Blast Wave: Ignite yourself or an ally, boosting movement speed by 25% for 1.5 seconds and then explode into flames dealing moderate damage to nearby enemies
D – Molten Core: Claim an allied or destroyed fort as your new Molten Core
Talents
Level 1
Sulfuras Hungers: Kill Minions with Empower Sulfuras to increase its damage
Shifting Meteor (Quest): Hit Heroes to empower Living Meteor
Engulfing Flame: Increase Blast Wave radius and reduce its cooldown
Level 4
Fire Ward: Living Meteor grants Spell Block
Slow Burn: Blast Wave slows enemies
Catching Fire (Quest): Regen Globes increase Health Regen
Level 7
Hand of Ragnaros: Reduce Empower Sulfuras cooldown
Molten Power: After hitting Heroes, next Living Meteor deals increased damage
Superheated: Blast Wave damage increased when cast on self
Level 10
Sulfuras Smash: Damage and Stun enemies in an area
Lava Wave: Send a wave of lava down a lane
Level 13
Cauterize Wounds: Empower Sulfuras healing increased
Tempered Flame: Blast Wave damage shields you
Submerge: Activate to become Invulnerable
Level 16
Giant Scorcher: Empower Sulfuras deals extra damage to Heroes
Meteor Bomb: Living Meteor explodes at the end of its path
Blast Echo: Cast Blast Wave on yourself when it explodes
Level 20
Flames of Sulfuras (Heroic): Sulfuras Smash slows enemies and stuns longer
Lava Surge (Heroic): Lava Wave has two charges
Heroic Difficulty: Molten Core cooldown reduced, Heath and damage increased
Thoughts
Ragnaros seemed pretty OP on the Blizzcon show floor. Granted, this was against either AI opponents or players of widely varying skill levels, but he was consistently at the top of the damage numbers.
He has a very fun and interesting kit, starting with his trait, Molten Core. This allows Ragnaros to transform into a larger, more powerful, version of himself. The catch is that he can only do this at the location of an allied Fort or Keep or at the location of a destroyed Fort or Keep of either team. While in raid form he gets upgraded versions of his base abilities and he can still use his Heroic. The range to activate this is fairly short so you must be close by your intended location. Once the timer on Molten Core runs out, raid boss Ragnaros will submerge and normal Ragnaros will reemerge where ever the player was when he activated his Trait. Empower Sulfuras (Q) is an AOE melee attack that gives Rags a decent self heal and can be upgraded with talents to provide even more sustain. Living Bomb (W) is a ranged ability that uses the same vector targeting mechanic as Alarak’s Telekinesis, which allows you to decide where you want the Meteor to land and in which direction you want it to move after. Blast Wave (E) allows you to place a bomb on yourself or an ally, which after a short delay will cause an AOE explosion similar to Tyrael’s upon death explosion. While Blast Wave is active the target will also receive a movement speed bonus. This ability can be targeted on Minions, and while I didn’t get an opportunity to test it, I would assume it also works on captured mercenaries.
His first Heroic is Sulfuras Smash, and it causes Rags to hurl his massive flame hammer into the air towards a target location. When the Hammer lands it does impact damage, applies a damage over time effect, and briefly stuns the enemies. His second Heroic, Lava Wave, may be my new favorite ability. It causes a massive tidal wave of flame to roll down the targeted lane. This wave starts at the allied team’s Core and travels all the way to the enemy Core. Not only does this ability look amazing, but it also does a tremendous amount of damage to anything caught in its path. This ability has great lane clear potential and I heard stories of it wiping out an entire wave of Zerg on Braxxis Holdout. It is visible on the mini-map however, so players will good map awareness will be able to see it coming.
While Ragnaros is classified as a melee assassin, Living Bomb gives him some nice poke, which is something all good melee Heroes seem to possess. His damage potential is quite high, and he should be especially effective against melee heavy comps. He has great lane clear, but he isn’t particularly well suited to taking merc camps. Like many heavy damage Heroes, his primary weakness is a lack of escape. He does have a molten version of Ice Block at Level 13, and the movement speed bonus from Blast Wave can be used as an emergency escape tool, but that is about it. His Trait can also seem a bit underwhelming at times. While it is great for defense and as a catch up mechanic, it can seem a bit lackluster when your team is ahead. There are often prolonged periods of time as the game goes along where there simply aren’t fights going on around Forts or Keeps, which renders his Trait useless. We’ll see if those negatives are enough to keep his initial win rate in check, but don’t be surprised to see Ragnaros come out with a very strong release.
Warn all of the insects, Ragnaros is coming.
