heroes Free-to-Play Hero Rotation: Jan 30

[Stan 5,249]

Free Hero rotation has been updated for the week of January 30, 2018.

Free-to-Play Hero Rotation: January 30, 2018

• Raynor
• Muradin
• Sonya
• Nazeebo
• Uther
• Jaina
• Tychus
• Anub'arak
• Gul'dan
• Arthas
• Tyrande (Slot unlocked at Player Level 5)
• Cassia (Slot unlocked at Player Level 10)
• Sgt. Hammer (Slot unlocked at Player Level 15)
• Ana (Slot unlocked at Player Level 20)

(Source)

[Plergoth 277]

I still keep seeing a lot of doubts in chat and in draft whenever Ana is brought up or hovered, definitely a hero worth reading the guide on and practising though. Don't forget to scout bushes with your Q as Ana, it helps looooooooads.

Also if anyone starts winding you up about missing heals, Tab > Mute Chat. Everyone misses skill shots, but with Ana you could miss 1 in 5 shots and still do more than most other supports if you're focusing on playing her well and utilising her incredibly versatile (a Tranq Dart build is NOT mandatory, despite what others may say) talent tree to it's full potential. Don't ask people to stand still or lose your temper at people instinctively staying mobile and concentrate on what you can do at any given moment on her. 

[Valhalen 1,485]

54 minutes ago, Plergoth said:

Don't forget to scout bushes with your Q as Ana, it helps looooooooads.

Very underrated technique.

[xevex 41]

1 hour ago, Plergoth said:

I still keep seeing a lot of doubts in chat and in draft whenever Ana is brought up or hovered, definitely a hero worth reading the guide on and practising though. Don't forget to scout bushes with your Q as Ana, it helps looooooooads.

Also if anyone starts winding you up about missing heals, Tab > Mute Chat. Everyone misses skill shots, but with Ana you could miss 1 in 5 shots and still do more than most other supports if you're focusing on playing her well and utilising her incredibly versatile (a Tranq Dart build is NOT mandatory, despite what others may say) talent tree to it's full potential. Don't ask people to stand still or lose your temper at people instinctively staying mobile and concentrate on what you can do at any given moment on her. 

If Ana is played perfectly she would outheal most supports. Ill add my 2 cents too. :D

1. Sleep dart build is indeed not mandatory. Grenade build heals about as much as Sleep dart build. Truth be told you can even pick Detachable Box Magazine and still be able to keep your team alive without problems and after completing it you basically have Ancestral Healing on half the cd. I had multiple matches when i started playing Ana where i for some reason didnt complete the quest and was healing just fine so it really is optional. 

2. Dont be afraid to pick not recommended talents. There are only 2 trash talents in her tree: Aim Down Sights and Custom Optics. All the others are pretty good. If you are going for Sleep dart/Shrike build Sharpshooter is the best one. Ana is in no way capable of keeping doses up all the time, Concentrated Doses might look like the better choice but it isnt. Especially not in a sleep dart build where you want to keep your distance and it is also easier to build up lost stacks because they fill up 2x as fast and harder to lose them because its much harder to miss when you aim for 2 people. 

3.Nano Boost  should be your prefered heroic but its okay to pick Eye of Horus if there is no hero with spell dmg on your team, its quite powerful in its own right no other healer can heal anyone globally. Actually it might even be preferable if your team relies on split-pushes. 

4. Practice shooting your Healing Dart as fast as u can thats how you gain the most accuracy, with practice. Also, aim for the hitbox not for the model. There should be green outline under every hero, thats their hitbox. Falstad is especially hard to hit when you dont know this fact. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by xevex

[Valhalen 1,485]

Just now, xevex said:

If Ana is played perfectly she would outheal most supports. Ill add my 2 cents too. :D

1. Sleep dart build is indeed not mandatory. Grenade build about as much as Sleep dart build. Truth be told you can even pick Detachable Box Magazine and still be able to keep your team alive without problems and after completing it you basically have Ancestral Healing on half the cd. I had multiple matches when i started playing Ana where i for some reason didnt complete the quest and was healing just fine so it really is optional. 

2. Dont be afraid to pick not recommended talents. There are only 2 trash talents in her tree: Aim Down Sights and Custom Optics. All the others are pretty good. If you are going for Sleep dart/Shrike build Sharpshooter is the best one. Ana is in no way capable of keeping doses up all the time, Concentrated Doses might look like the better choice but it isnt. Especially not in a sleep dart build where you want to keep your distance and it is also easier to build up lost stacks because they fill up 2x as fast and harder to lose them because its much harder to miss when you aim for 2 people. 

3.Nano Boost  should be your prefered heroic but its okay to pick Eye of Horus if there is no hero with spell dmg on your team, its quite powerful in its own right no other healer can heal anyone globally.

I'm very fond of the Biotic Grenade build, specially if my most of my team already has some form of self-sustain (i.e. The Butcher, Stitches, Alarak, Thrall, Malthal, etc.). I like mentioning this everytime someone mentions Ana, but I really, REALLY love pairing with Malthael and Nano Boost him during Tormented Souls. He can 1v5 easily with that build (as long there aren't many stuns and silences); if you add Nano Infusion it becomes pretty much overkill.

I tend to pick Nano Boost even if my team does not feature a strong "Mage". Sometimes I even use it on tanks to increase their value and allow for more crowd-controls.

Also, as slows are more common than stuns, I tend to pick Purifying Darts over Smelling Salts for extra healing value, which scales with Biotic Grenade.

[xevex 41]

16 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

I'm very fond of the Biotic Grenade build, specially if my most of my team already has some form of self-sustain (i.e. The Butcher, Stitches, Alarak, Thrall, Malthal, etc.). I like mentioning this everytime someone mentions Ana, but I really, REALLY love pairing with Malthael and Nano Boost him during Tormented Souls. He can 1v5 easily with that build (as long there aren't many stuns and silences); if you add Nano Infusion it becomes pretty much overkill.

I tend to pick Nano Boost even if my team does not feature a strong "Mage". Sometimes I even use it on tanks to increase their value and allow for more crowd-controls.

Also, as slows are more common than stuns, I tend to pick Purifying Darts over Smelling Salts for extra healing value, which scales with Biotic Grenade.

Biotic Grenade build is the easiest one out of the 2. And the AoE heals gets insane after lvl 16 with Contact Healing.
Did you see a Nano Boosted Lunara? :D The whole enemy team just melts. I cant wait to see a Nano Boosted Maiev. :D 
Indeed. Purifying Darts is much more viable, its funny, cuz its usually the slows that finishes people not the stuns. 

I still didnt try combining Biotic Grenade with Sharpshooter but math is saying it can heal 461 per Healing Dart so thats something im gonna try next most likely. :D

Im also wondering why isnt she atleast Core tier? I mean she counters E.T.C.s Mosh Pit really hard the hero who is in prime and he is there because of Mosh Pit. E.T.C. without Mosh Pit is just an average tank. 
 

Edited January 29, 2018 by xevex

[Valhalen 1,485]

5 minutes ago, xevex said:

Biotic Grenade build is the easiest one out of the 2. And the AoE heals gets insane after lvl 16 with Contact Healing.
Did you see a Nano Boosted Lunara? :D The whole enemy team just melts. I cant wait to see a Nano Boosted Maiev. :D 
Indeed. Purifying Darts is much more viable, its funny, cuz its usually the slows that finishes people not the stuns. 

Im also wondering why isnt she atleast Core tier? I mean she counters E.T.C.s Mosh Pit really hard the hero who is in prime and he is there because of Mosh Pit. E.T.C. without Mosh Pit is just an average tank. 
 

Contact Healing is so good. I also love that cracking sound of the grenade. It's absurdly satisfying.

I think the only reason she is not Core is because of her lack of escapes and poor self-sustain; with the near death of the Double Support meta, lacking another healer to keep her up really hurts her game. Unlike Alexstrasza, that has excellent self-sustain with Abundance and Life-Binder and also a fantastic escape in the form of Cleansing Flame, Ana has nothing. Poor granny. =(

I heard Blizzard pretends to work out on something to improve Ana's self-sustain. In my opinion adding a life-leech baseline to her Shrike would solve all problems. Could be something really small, like the poison healing Ana for 5% of the damage done (per stack) or something. That would add another layer of depth to the character and make Shriking the shit out of everyone more rewarding.

[xevex 41]

15 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

Contact Healing is so good. I also love that cracking sound of the grenade. It's absurdly satisfying.

I think the only reason she is not Core is because of her lack of escapes and poor self-sustain; with the near death of the Double Support meta, lacking another healer to keep her up really hurts her game. Unlike Alexstrasza, that has excellent self-sustain with Abundance and Life-Binder and also a fantastic escape in the form of Cleansing Flame, Ana has nothing. Poor granny. =(

I heard Blizzard pretends to work out on something to improve Ana's self-sustain. In my opinion adding a life-leech baseline to her Shrike would solve all problems. Could be something really small, like the poison healing Ana for 5% of the damage done (per stack) or something. That would add another layer of depth to the character and make Shriking the shit out of everyone more rewarding.

Kills with Air Strike are satisfying. :D 

I wouldnt call Alexstraszas Abundance excellent self-sustain and Life-Binder is not as good as Cleansing Flame. 
Its harder for me to stay full health with Alexstrasza then it is with Ana but i mostly play Lifeblossom build which is one of her most passive styles to play. All you have to do is have a good positioning. I never even played Ana in double supp but it never hurt. :D 


I dont think sustain on Shrike would be the best idea. Basic attacking with Ana is a rare occurence. You only do it when you want to secure a kill or when someone is trying to push you but if it worked with minions and other non-heroic stuff then yeah, why not.  

Playing support is not as fun as it used to be Blizzard is really trying to make them unable to deal any significant dmg. I remember supports being able to participate in teamfights. Now its just stay in the back and heal. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by xevex

[Plergoth 277]

1 hour ago, xevex said:

Did you see a Nano Boosted Lunara? :D The whole enemy team just melts. I cant wait to see a Nano Boosted Maiev. :D 

Lol yeah, Nanoboosted Lunara or Malthael feels filthy. I still prefer giving it to tanks, as they're often the most cd driven and mana hungry players in any given team fight, as well as ensuring the 8 second duration gets maximum value because a tank in their element isn't often going to back out even if they aren't aware they got the Nano, but I relish the opportunities were I can give it to a damage dealer. 

 

1 hour ago, xevex said:

Dont be afraid to pick not recommended talents. There are only 2 trash talents in her tree: Aim Down Sights and Custom Optics.

Yeah, not a fan of those talents, but I deliberately picked both last night because I wanted to see what I could do with it on a map I feel fits the niche and also because I had to go YIKES in draft. I don't like having to go YIKES. I think both have a highly situational place in the game and I'd love to give it another go if I had a crap ton of extra vision to further enable the poke such as Zagara's creep. Overall, Ana is a textbook hero of where you have to approach each talent pick carefully and according to the situation you are faced with as opposed to picking whatever is best on the tier for a certain build synergy, and it's fantastic. 

Sharpshooter vs. Concentrated Doses is a tough one. Sharpshooter is better in optimal conditions, but this isn't a WoW raid where everything is scripted, so if you feel like you're able to get some stacks in any skirmish or team fight, Doses is not a bad talent to take, especially if you're inexperienced with Ana and feel you can't keep Sharpshooter up... you also can't really bush check with Q if you take SS, which is something else to consider. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by Plergoth

[Valhalen 1,485]

22 minutes ago, Plergoth said:

Lol yeah, Nanoboosted Lunara or Malthael feels filthy. I still prefer giving it to tanks, as they're often the most cd driven and mana hungry players in any given team fight, as well as ensuring the 8 second duration gets maximum value because a tank in their element isn't often going to back out even if they aren't aware they got the Nano, but I relish the opportunities were I can give it to a damage dealer. 

If you wanna have some laughs, Nano Boost a Murky.

[SteveFrost 97]

1 hour ago, Valhalen said:

If you wanna have some laughs, Nano Boost a Murky.

Or the Vikings. Spin2Win to infinity lul.

A real terror with Nano Boost also would be Alarak imho

[Plergoth 277]

1 hour ago, Valhalen said:

If you wanna have some laughs, Nano Boost a Murky.

Haha, oh I know. I might have to start drawing up a list of Nanoboost priority targets!

[Valks 2,389]

On 29/01/2018 at 5:39 PM, Plergoth said:

Lol yeah, Nanoboosted Lunara or Malthael feels filthy. I still prefer giving it to tanks, as they're often the most cd driven and mana hungry players in any given team fight, as well as ensuring the 8 second duration gets maximum value because a tank in their element isn't often going to back out even if they aren't aware they got the Nano, but I relish the opportunities were I can give it to a damage dealer. 

Give it to us Kel'Thuzads!

[Plergoth 277]

6 hours ago, Blainie said:

Only give it to Kel'Thuzad, ARCHLICH OF NAXXRAMAS, ESTEEMED LICH LORD OF THE PLAGUELANDS, COMMANDER OF THE DREAD NECROPOLIS, MASTER AND FOUNDER OF THE CULT OF THE DAMNED, FORMERLY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE SIX, CREATOR OF THE ABOMINATION, CORRUPTER OF THE SUNWELL, SUMMONER OF ARCHIMONDE THE DEFILER, BETRAYER OF HUMANITY, HEARTHSTONE ENTHUSIAST, AND MAJORDOMO TO THE LICH KING HIMSELF!

FIFY 

lol I wish I knew how to stop copying blocks of background colour

Edited February 1, 2018 by Plergoth

[Valks 2,389]

1 hour ago, Plergoth said:

FIFY 

lol I wish I knew how to stop copying blocks of background colour

There's a button in the editor, looks like an underlined T with a small x next to it. Click that, it removes text formatting :p