Heroes of the Storm Nova

[Leadblast 28]

On 17/12/2017 at 12:41 PM, Oxygen said:

I like that build as well, but Lethal Decoy is absolutely bonkers when you're facing a zeratul or some other melee hero trying to jump you. It literally allows you to double your DPS for 10 seconds when used with Holo Stability and Ghost Protocol. 2 decoys lasting 10 seconds dealing 50% damage each is nothing to scoff at.

Well you may want to take that back.

Lethal Decoy got nerfed back to 40% damage for decoys, and Ghost Protocol has huge cooldown anyway.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Leadblast

[Trensicourt 5]

4 hours ago, Leadblast said:

Well you may want to take that back.

Lethal Decoy got nerfed back to 40% damage for decoys, and Ghost Protocol has huge cooldown anyway.

Lethal Decoy is still strong. Expect it to still stay in the meta.

[Leadblast 28]

Just now, Trensicourt said:

Lethal Decoy is still strong. Expect it to still stay in the meta.

It's not stronger than it was before the stealth rework. I doubt it will keep being meta for long.

[Trensicourt 5]

18 hours ago, Leadblast said:

It's not stronger than it was before the stealth rework. I doubt it will keep being meta for long.

It is stronger because of Ghost Protocol's Holo Decoy.

[Leadblast 28]

2 hours ago, Trensicourt said:

It is stronger because of Ghost Protocol's Holo Decoy.

Which no good Nova player uses, except for when things go wrong and she has to escape death.

Edited December 21, 2017 by Leadblast

[Trensicourt 5]

6 minutes ago, Leadblast said:

Which no good Nova player uses, except for when things go wrong and she has to escape death.

That's subjective. I use Ghost Protocol to add to my damage and ability to confuse my targets. Lethal Decoy certainly adds a decent amount of damage to my clones even after the 10% nerf.

Edited December 21, 2017 by Trensicourt

[Leadblast 28]

Well, it can work, with the right talents... the problems I see with a build around decoys is that A) Lethal Decoy (which is the "meat" of the decoys' damage) comes waaaay too late at level 16, and B) you really want to use Ghost Protocol when you need to escape.

It's also easy to just kill you along with your decoys with the appropriate AOE spells (Jaina, Kael'thas, Thrall and such). Because (unlike Samuro) you cannot control the behavior of your clones (they just stand there and attack whichever enemy hero they made contact with), you can't effectively confuse enemies as you claim. If you move yourself for whatever reason, you give yourself away. Thus, you have to stand there and die, or try to run away and die anyway.

Edited December 22, 2017 by Leadblast

[Bloodlord 0]

I'm not a very high MMR player (silver 1 - gold 5)...
but i try to improve and i love nova. i know it wasn't a "good/strong/whatever" hero before the rework, but since i feel she has more punch, more impact on the game she's in.

since i do not have very reliable allies, i love to take the LVL 13 Ionic Force Field and the LVL 20 Apollo suit alltogether.
i've played a lot of the snipe or one in the chamber's build, and i'm actually trying the holo build.
i find very fun and thretening to isolatd heroes to have 25 armor every second for 2 second (in theory with the LVL 7 anti armor shells). it makes you sustain a lot against a high burst and allows you to kill your target; the idea is to use the ghost protocol talent offensivly.
of course, nova's main problem remains stuntank heroes, and that build won't help (except if you lure them effectively with your holograms)

why isn't that build played?

[positiv2 955]

13 hours ago, Bloodlord said:

i love to take the LVL 13 Ionic Force Field

The extra CC from Double Tap provides defensive options just like Ionic Force Field, but also offers offensive power. This is why it is superior and should be picked instead. Besides, you usually need the armour when you are in combat, so the limitation on Ionic Force Field is just too big.

13 hours ago, Bloodlord said:

LVL 20 Apollo suit

Just like Ionic Force Field, it pretty much improves only your defensive power (which is also significantly lowered if the opposing team consists of skillshot heroes), but offers nearly no offensive advantage, unlike the other two recommended talents at that tier. Trying to kill your opponents can be more reliable and offers greater advantage.

[Trensicourt 5]

I think Fast Reload is a pretty good talent. You just have to know where to position to get the most value out of it. Later in the game, most squishies position themselves in the far back, because they know easily they can be flanked by Nova. What you do then as Nova is stand in the back and wait for any squishy to be softened up, then use Triple Tap on them. No squishy is going to tank that shot mid-fight and you'll get your resets easily.

[Leadblast 28]

2 hours ago, Trensicourt said:

I think Fast Reload is a pretty good talent. You just have to know where to position to get the most value out of it. Later in the game, most squishies position themselves in the far back, because they know easily they can be flanked by Nova. What you do then as Nova is stand in the back and wait for any squishy to be softened up, then use Triple Tap on them. No squishy is going to tank that shot mid-fight and you'll get your resets easily.

It's a good one. I always go Fast Reload after choosing Triple Tap as my heroic. However Triple Tap sometimes isn't good. Generally, it's best used as a finisher move anyways (which is what makes Fast Reload good), however you must keep track of when they use things like the Ice Block with Jaina (after completing her trait's quest), Nazeebo, Malfurion, Ragnaros (his version is thematically different and also regenerates his health, but works very much the same for this) and so on. Tracer's Recall also breaks the lock on from the heroic. You need to know what heroes can't avoid a long range TT (even with teleport abilities) like Sylvanas, or most assassins. 

Also I haven't seen what happens with the Haunted Mine entrances, but I suppose those could be used to avoid a Triple Tap as well.

But generally it's good at that point of the match where their structures should be pretty much demolished so they can't use them to block the shots.

[Salvation 0]

@Oxygen Allow me to express my opinion, but I think Nova guide looks like it has been written by someone who doesn't play Nova. 

Talent builds look too similar to eachother, for example your lethal decoy build will be ineffective without the 25% armor from Ionic force field, you picked Holo stability in vain, your decoy won't last 2 seconds after taking damage...So you waisted 8 seconds worth of decoy...

 

Let me write Nova's guide and you will see some sinergy

[Haze1311 0]

Ok....what is going on here? Neither of the builds listed here are the ones I use. Um. Or even close. I understand u people have your computers and number crunch and all that, but I have found tremendous success running my build, and it is a TON of fun also....can be lethal if used correctly. Some of u should try it out and lemme know how it works.

 

https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/talent-calculator/nova#31.0!1121221

[Guest IDGAF]

Please never use the word "eponymous" again. Decreasing readability for what gain?

[beldr 0]

Talents should be updated to reflect last patch

[Guest BadIdeas]

Someone does not understand how to play Nova if they put Volskaya Foundry as one of her "worst maps", when it is in fact one of the best maps to play Nova on. Actually there are a few inherent misconceptions in her build suggestions as well. Foundry is in fact one of the best maps to Nova on because of covert mission. You can quickly and easily take turret camps with a single stack by sniping down the repair droid and bribing the turret. The other camps are similar with kill one, bribe two. This makes Nova a camp clearing power house on this map, and given her stealth and relatively central position of he turret camps she can safely steal turrets all game, and when your team has two turrets and the other team has none, you tend to win objective fights.

When it comes to builds, I would stay away from Rewind, especially for OitC builds. It was a must pick talent before the last major rework for snipe build Nova's as it made her lethal to out of position squishies. With the rework her burst potential dropped, in exchange for more baseline dps. The problem is, even with rewind, you probably don't want to get in a 1v1 face punching match unless you are up levels, with anyone. Instead, hit and run is a better option, and rewind really doesn't help in that case. Also the double precision strikes on a 30 second cd is pretty big, and it also triggers the OitC damage boost. Used properly, your up front burst is exactly the same, your single target sustained dps falls slightly in favor of more aoe, and being setup for the next exchange in 30 seconds instead of a minute.

Lastly, covert mission is almost always more valuable than a decoy skill. If it isn't, then there is probably a better pick than Nova for the map, since, she is mediocre as a dps, and stealing camps is her most redeeming feature.

[Guest BroBrotha]

Honestly, I feel like this guide is the most outdated of them all, though likely a concern of the fact that very few people play Nova. And when they do (like FanHots), they basically play at Gold tier with her; missing shots, making general basic Nova mistakes. Only their game sense really pulls them through matches.

Orbital is never good except when your team builds for locking down a hero or two through multiple stuns; and even then, the enemy team will likely draft to counter it. Trying to desperately fix Nova's issue (wave clear) with your Ult is just sad; it'll never really fix Nova's abysmal wave clear, and will only waste it for a tiny bit of lane lead.

The mistake this guide makes is not pushing far more for Anti-Armorshells: this is the only build that is currently functioning for her, given it allows you to do burst and then walk away. Nova is not safe in any form of sustained combat, which the only other two builds (One in the Chamber/Q-Build) will trap you into.

Triple Tap is the better ult. It's hilarious to me that a clone build even is on this page, with the argument than its purpose is for combat against isolated targets... No brotha, that's what Triple Tap does. The guide speaks about psychological warfare that a Nova pick does on the enemy, yet Triple Tap is literally one of the most powerful control skills in the game: it stops nearly every character from being able to solo a lane, and strongly discourages the enemy team from splitting/escaping at different angles. It is one of the most damaging Spells, and will outright win you nearly every 1vs1 duel; it's a punishment skill.

The guide also has, for some crazy, outrageous reason tells you to pick up Double Tap... for a, quote, Pinning Shot Build. ??? The synergy of the first Pinning Shot talent with Anti Armor is what makes it the safety build in the game, yes, and why it's strongly preferred over One in the Chamber. But Double Tap is a completely pointless addition that increases the Cooldown of Pinning Shot, and only sees real use in a One in the Chamber build; it's a tiny, marginal boost for the build especially since Anti-Armor Shells' Physical Armor decrease doesn't stack with the Armor decrease of Pinning Shot... A much better choice, that will absolutely help in Nova's survivability, chase, and overall damage is, in fact, Psionic Efficiency. Stacks will be lost, Youtube videos are filled with Grandmasters missing easy Q shots with Nova; increasing the range, and the amount of stacks translates into a far better overall damage increase than something like Double Tap. It is NOT a Q specific build talent; Q is always important to Nova.

[Elitesparkle 20]

8 hours ago, Guest BroBrotha said:

Honestly, I feel like this guide is the most outdated of them all, though likely a concern of the fact that very few people play Nova. And when they do (like FanHots), they basically play at Gold tier with her; missing shots, making general basic Nova mistakes. Only their game sense really pulls them through matches.

Orbital is never good except when your team builds for locking down a hero or two through multiple stuns; and even then, the enemy team will likely draft to counter it. Trying to desperately fix Nova's issue (wave clear) with your Ult is just sad; it'll never really fix Nova's abysmal wave clear, and will only waste it for a tiny bit of lane lead.

The mistake this guide makes is not pushing far more for Anti-Armorshells: this is the only build that is currently functioning for her, given it allows you to do burst and then walk away. Nova is not safe in any form of sustained combat, which the only other two builds (One in the Chamber/Q-Build) will trap you into.

Triple Tap is the better ult. It's hilarious to me that a clone build even is on this page, with the argument than its purpose is for combat against isolated targets... No brotha, that's what Triple Tap does. The guide speaks about psychological warfare that a Nova pick does on the enemy, yet Triple Tap is literally one of the most powerful control skills in the game: it stops nearly every character from being able to solo a lane, and strongly discourages the enemy team from splitting/escaping at different angles. It is one of the most damaging Spells, and will outright win you nearly every 1vs1 duel; it's a punishment skill.

The guide also has, for some crazy, outrageous reason tells you to pick up Double Tap... for a, quote, Pinning Shot Build. ??? The synergy of the first Pinning Shot talent with Anti Armor is what makes it the safety build in the game, yes, and why it's strongly preferred over One in the Chamber. But Double Tap is a completely pointless addition that increases the Cooldown of Pinning Shot, and only sees real use in a One in the Chamber build; it's a tiny, marginal boost for the build especially since Anti-Armor Shells' Physical Armor decrease doesn't stack with the Armor decrease of Pinning Shot... A much better choice, that will absolutely help in Nova's survivability, chase, and overall damage is, in fact, Psionic Efficiency. Stacks will be lost, Youtube videos are filled with Grandmasters missing easy Q shots with Nova; increasing the range, and the amount of stacks translates into a far better overall damage increase than something like Double Tap. It is NOT a Q specific build talent; Q is always important to Nova.

There is a good amount of Talents and Builds in the game for which there isn't really a general consensus, even among top competitive players, especially when it comes to less popular Heroes. As a consequence, I think it's not appropriate to act like if a take is completely perfect and the other is completely wrong. Our guides are based on the experience of many players, not just one of them, because we discuss our content with other players. If you want to suggest a different playstyle, I think that's fine. With the way your acting, you are basically saying that your own experience as a single player is worth way more than the experience of many of them. If you want to completely dismiss all other playstyles only because you don't like them, I think that's not fine. All that said, I always find interesting to read a different perspective, even if many players would immediately call it crazy and outrageous.

[Guest ManBro]

Still see that Psionic Efficiency is locked behind Snipe build solely, despite Snipe being integral to all three  builds. It's a flat damage increasing talent, given you will always miss shots - there's no reason for it not to be a yellow choice for every build here except for One.

I see Lethal Decoy is still on the Anti-Armor shells list, like some bizarre troll choice. Crippling Shot should be a yellow choice here at least, given it, again, gives you insane extra damage. Anti Armor boosts physical damage, not your Q damage. Armor Pen boosts the kill potential far higher than a clone that shoots once with pitiful damage; especially given Armor strip will apply for your entire team.

Anti-Armor Shells build (called clone build?!) is described as sustained damage, while One In the Chamber is still listed as a 'burst damage build'. Does anyone here play Nova? Anti armor literally is the burst build. You W-Q-Auto at max range, and then you walk away. With Crippling Shot, you'll be doing insane burst damage, and there's no reason to to pick Apollo Suit?! instead of rewind here. The advantage is you do ALL of your damage at once, without weaving in auto-attacks like One In the Chamber. This IS the burst build. And yet to label it as sustained damage because you boosted your clone by 20% more damage? Wow.

Final note, is the second talent tree really just ought to be any. I prefer Rapid Projection almost for any of the builds I go, simply because Mana-Sustain on Nova is important, and it's good for blocking skill shots. But Covert Mission will always have its uses (I think its value decreases the higher Rank you go, you just don't get enough stacks of it to be super useful), and Holo Stability has some very good map reveal powers - coupled with the patch also making it reduce Ghost Protocols by 15, making it a solid choice for any build except, probably One in the Chamber.

[Guest BenjaminK]

Hello,

I just wanted to report a small mistake regarding (level 4) Covert Mission's description. Hanamura Temple's non-Elite Mercenary Camps haven't been dropping Items for quite some years now ^^... Thanks for your work anyway !

[Elitesparkle 20]

On 5/12/2025 at 3:14 AM, Guest BenjaminK said:

Hello,

I just wanted to report a small mistake regarding (level 4) Covert Mission's description. Hanamura Temple's non-Elite Mercenary Camps haven't been dropping Items for quite some years now ^^... Thanks for your work anyway !

What do you mean? Fortification Camps are non-Elite and drop a Turret Item.

[Guest BenjaminK]

On 5/13/2025 at 12:02 PM, Elitesparkle said:

What do you mean? Fortification Camps are non-Elite and drop a Turret Item.

Oh sorry ! My bad, you're right, obviously ^^'... I must have been tired while writing that comment, because I only thought about the two middle camps, which used to drop the global scouting coin stuff years ago.

By the way, thanks for checking some of the comments I made about a few typos and mistakes related to other heroes ! I'm currently playing all my weaker most unused heroes - hence Nova (lol) -, one by one, checking the builds here as I go, and noticed quite a few minor details worth reporting. Thank you for still managing those guides with care...

[Elitesparkle 20]

On 6/3/2025 at 5:16 AM, Guest BenjaminK said:

Oh sorry ! My bad, you're right, obviously ^^'... I must have been tired while writing that comment, because I only thought about the two middle camps, which used to drop the global scouting coin stuff years ago.

By the way, thanks for checking some of the comments I made about a few typos and mistakes related to other heroes ! I'm currently playing all my weaker most unused heroes - hence Nova (lol) -, one by one, checking the builds here as I go, and noticed quite a few minor details worth reporting. Thank you for still managing those guides with care...

No worries. Thank you for helping us finding mistakes!