Heroes of the Storm Stukov

[Vlad 330]

This thread is for comments about our Stukov build guide for Heroes of the Storm.

[Valhalen 392]

Stukov easily became one of my favorite Heroes, so intuitive to play. He has so much utility and powerful heals, all while being mana efficient, which combines the best of the both worlds for me (one of the reasons I don't play with Rehgar is because he burns his mana way too fast).

I find myself using the Lurking Arm Build you guys posted most of the time, although I've been tampering with a modified version of it. And his basic attack HITS HARD, which allows for some hilarious kill-steals sometimes; such a huge bitchslap that even the sound effect is satisfying. And Massive Shove is so damn fun to use.

I have a feeling that Blizzard will squash this character with the nerf hammer really hard, so I better enjoy his power while I can!

Edited July 12 by Valhalen

[VitaminC 11]

Stukov easily been one of my favorite Blizzard franchise heroes. Betrayed vice-admiral became an awesome Zerg Russian. His playstyle, like I expected, is really, really fun. Sound effects, animations, abilities and their precise timing made the hero a new favorite of mine (sorry, Kharazim, your time is up xD). I found most value out of Lurking Arm build, which just seems like a balanced mix-up of really good talents in Stukov's tree. I think almost all of his talents are viable and have their situational use.
Expecting balance changes for him soon. He's a little bit too of a powerhouse as of right now.

Edited July 12 by VitaminC

[Guest A little change but.]

I'd change Pox Populi for Universal Carrier in the Lucking arm build, and Bio-Explosion Switch as level 20. 
This build is clearly made for teamfights, so passing the healing over and over again among all teammates is essential. Of course it's not as effective without Targeted Excition, but it's still way more useful than pox populi IMHO

Other than that, thanks for the guides.

[Valhalen 392]

7 hours ago, Guest A little change but. said:

I'd change Pox Populi for Universal Carrier in the Lucking arm build, and Bio-Explosion Switch as level 20. 
This build is clearly made for teamfights, so passing the healing over and over again among all teammates is essential. Of course it's not as effective without Targeted Excition, but it's still way more useful than pox populi IMHO

Other than that, thanks for the guides.

I thought so too at first, but I really dislike Universal Carrier; the reduced healing is far too impactful to be useful, especially in this Build, since without Vigorous Reuptake Stukov's healing output won't be as effective.

Edited July 13 by Valhalen

[VitaminC 11]

I played Stukov quite a bit more and had some experiments with his talents. I don't take Lurking Arm build anymore, and there's a good reason for it. 'Spine Launcher' build is beyond amazing. Core talent for it is Targeted Excision, it just provides so much cooldown reduction for Bio-Kill Switch, I can't even describe how impactful it is. Yes, hitting is sometimes can be difficult, but the reward more than makes up for the effort.

So now, the basic combo that I use:

1) spread the Healing Pathogen (can spread indefinitely with Universal Carrier, awesome talent);

2) land the Weighted Pustule on an enemy hero;

3) use Lurking Arm on the target;

4) immediatly pop Bio-Kill Switch;

5) root the enemy for stupidly long 2-second duration thanks to Virulent Reaction with same stupidly long 2-second silence from Bio-Explosion Switch and heal my Pathogen carriers;

6) get reduced CD on the trait, re-apply Healing Pathogen (should spread in a 5-second duration while the trait comes up again);

7) pop Bio-Kill Switch on the whole team again.

It's just so satisfying to execute. Spine Launcher really helps keeping the healthy distance when doing this (also makes a lot easier to land Weighted Pustule on target that you slow with the ranged basic attack) and generally allows you to play more safe throughout the course of the match.

Edited July 13 by VitaminC

[Valhalen 392]

8 minutes ago, VitaminC said:

I played Stukov quite a bit more and had some experiments with his talents. I don't take Lurking Arm build anymore, and there's a good reason for it. 'Spine Launcher' build is beyond amazing. Core talent for it is Targeted Excision, it just provides so much cooldown reduction for Bio-Kill Switch, I can't even describe how impactful it is. Yes, hitting is sometimes can be difficult, but the reward more than makes up for the effort.

(...)

It's just so satisfying to execute. Spine Launcher really helps keeping the healthy distance when doing this (also makes a lot easier to land Weighted Pustule on target that you slow with the ranged basic attack) and generally allows you to play more safe throughout the course of the match.

The combo is awesome, indeed. But I find very hard to put it in practice, though. At least all the times I went with this build I ended up underperforming in Healing Done compared to when I went with my tweaked Lurking Arm Build. Maybe I just need to practice more.

I honestly don't see Spine Launcher being that useful. The few games I picked it I couldn't see much of a different with the 1 sec slow, specially considering how slow Stukov's basic attack speed is.

Edited July 13 by Valhalen

[Guest Phenom]

I really like Stukov in HotS and how it remind me of playing hours of Starcraft Brood War. My favvo support right now, he hits hard in close combat, Lurking Arms and Massive Shove which I really like a lots. 

Have trying Spine Lanucher build and it work very well if really a lots of heals and stand behind yours team mates to avoid get killed. Not fun as Lurking Arms build but fine build too. 

Weighted Pulse build is harder and need more skills to work. Right now U alomst fight others Stukov in QM so hard justice this build maybe. Bur fun too but harder to work well with. And in this build I switch lvl talent Reactive Ballistospores to Virulent Reaction too have a chance to root a enemy hero to help chase hero down. 

 

Another thing I dont see it have been mention here and maybe some here know it already but Stukov can use Massive Shove to take D.Va mech after D.Va use Self-Destruct which I think is nice!

[Guest Closo]

I'm confused as to why this guide keeps saying that the level 16 talent Pox Populi synergises with One good spread... The bonus HoT that is applied from Pox doesn't count towards One good spread... Wouldn't Universal carrier be an objectively better talent with One good spread... Because it can proc over and over?

[Valhalen 392]

2 hours ago, Guest Closo said:

I'm confused as to why this guide keeps saying that the level 16 talent Pox Populi synergises with One good spread... The bonus HoT that is applied from Pox doesn't count towards One good spread... Wouldn't Universal carrier be an objectively better talent with One good spread... Because it can proc over and over?

Technically since Healing Pathogen would spread over and over, it is a bit pointless to pick One Good Spread... and Universal Carrier, since the cooldown reduction won't be as necessary.

For the Spine Launcher build you see a better synergy of Universal Carrier and Vigorous Reuptake (more powerful Bio-Kill Switches combined with infinite spreading plus cooldown resets of it with Target Excision).

[TSRD 13]

I can't say I've been especially enchanted with One Good Spread.  The mana return is only mildly useful and the cooldown, while nice, isn't as consistant or impactful as I feel his other options this tier are.  I've honestly just found myself using Biotic Armor in the majority of my games.  50% physical damage reduction is frankly insane even if there is only one good physical damage dealer on the enemy team.  Combined with Pox Populi for almost double duration and I've had great success keeping my damage dealers (or myself) alive through many a fight.  In the rare instances when Biotic Armor just cannot work, I tend to take Vigorous Reuptake to better burst healing vs a full caster team.

As for the "combat" talent tiers, while the other options are fine in and of themselves, I've just not found any reason not to go Lurking Arm build every game.  The Weighted Pustial build just doesn't do enough for me to really notice it, especially since I only really find a need for that skill when we're chasing or escaping (and never want to use Kill Switch on it when I could be saving it for Healing).  Lurking Arm however has been game winning far too often to count and as such making it bigger, linger, and cooldown faster seems key to me.

Finally I've been far too in love with his insane damage to ever consider Spine Launcher.  Losing half damage for a slow ranged attack seems meh, especially since you need to spend a talent to get it.  I'd rather just take chunks out of heroes and buildings with my support character.

Just my thoughts on Stukov so far.

Edited July 16 by TSRD

[Guest Swightly]

The expanding talent for lurking arm is just ridiculously good to pass up on compared to everything else on the first talent list, even spine launcher. Stukovs low attack speed doesn't really allow him to make his target constantly slowed with spine launcher unless you follow up with a weighted pustule. The DPS being cut in half also severely affects how much he can help in taking down minions, mercs and sieging when you are safe.

I expect to see a big nerf to this talent since the huge AOE basically just turns lurking arm into a heroic ability, forcing most of the enemy spending precious time pathing around or even through the big circle to cast their spells really shakes up team fights in your favour.

[Guest BlackJoker]

So I've been playing stukov a bit, and I have become a fan of using his pustule quest with targeted excision. The quest is not super difficult to complete, and if you trigger targeted excision then pustule and his trait now have the same cooldown! I understand the range increase on long pitch is huge, but I am surprised this combination is not mentioned in the guide. Is there a reason for this? I also am curious about including the talent that roots if you detonate a pustule inside lurking arm, but I am not sure about that option for the build or not. 

[Valhalen 392]

This video here conveys perfectly how I play with Stukov:

 

[Guest phoenixx]

Hello

It seems that you unfairly dismissed the Eye Infection talent as disadvantaged to others in that tier, having overlooked all the utility it offers, that is, the 3 second AOE Blind,  the longest in the game after Artanis' ultimate, with far shorter cooldown (16 sec, can be lowered to 5 seconds with particular talent choice). The damage bonus it offers is the only minor side of this talent.

I'm sure that it's a situative pick, just like other blinds, but in some cases - when playing against AA-heavy team - it can be even more life-saving that other talents in that tier. For example, it can negate 75% of the damage Zul'jin can do during Taz'dingo, or counter self-healing divers like Varian or Illidan. Also, it has top winrate in the HotsLogs as well as frequently taken in pro-gaming.

[Straften 12]

On 10/7/2017 at 11:43 AM, Guest phoenixx said:

Hello

Greetings Traveler!

On 10/7/2017 at 11:43 AM, Guest phoenixx said:

It seems that you unfairly dismissed the Eye Infection talent as disadvantaged to others in that tier, having overlooked all the utility it offers, that is, the 3 second AOE Blind,  the longest in the game after Artanis' ultimate, with far shorter cooldown (16 sec, can be lowered to 5 seconds with particular talent choice). The damage bonus it offers is the only minor side of this talent.

I'm sure that it's a situative pick, just like other blinds, but in some cases - when playing against AA-heavy team - it can be even more life-saving that other talents in that tier. For example, it can negate 75% of the damage Zul'jin can do during Taz'dingo, or counter self-healing divers like Varian or Illidan.

You make some great points, most notably the one about Zul'jin. I think he is one of the best examples of when to consider taking this Talent.

The projectile speed of Weighted Pustule is very slow. This makes it difficult to reliably apply it to high mobility Heroes, like Illidan. It would still be very useful against a Twin Blades Varian! While there are more reliable Blinds out there, you don't always get last pick. This Talent can definitely be useful in those situations where you need a Blind, at least as long as you can land it on the intended enemy when you need to. 

On 10/7/2017 at 11:43 AM, Guest phoenixx said:

Also, it has top winrate in the HotsLogs as well as frequently taken in pro-gaming.

When looking at HotsLogs it is important to not only look at winrate. The pick rate of Eye Infection is less than 10%, and for good reason. Eye Infection requires specific circumstances to be worth it, but as you pointed out, it can perform very well if the situation is ripe for it. For this reason, I moved it to Situational and updated the Talent text :D

[Valhalen 392]

21 hours ago, Straften said:

When looking at HotsLogs it is important to not only look at winrate. The pick rate of Eye Infection is less than 10%, and for good reason. Eye Infection requires specific circumstances to be worth it, but as you pointed out, it can perform very well if the situation is ripe for it. For this reason, I moved it to Situational and updated the Talent text :D

Oh gee. They're removing Eye Infection for the next patch.

[phoenixx 0]

On 09.10.2017 at 8:48 PM, Valhalen said:

Oh gee. They're removing Eye Infection for the next patch.

Unfortunately. Blizz seems to make heroes less universal, more niche. For example, Stukov is good vs ability-driven heroes, while this talent makes him also effective vs auto-attackers.

Also, it was picked 5 times during HGC and had 80% winrate. Maybe, this fact was one which made Blizz to remove it.

Edited October 13 by phoenixx