Stitches Build Guide “ROAAAARR!”

1. Stitches' Overview

Stitches is a low-mobility Tank, capable of pulling distant Heroes to him with Hook. Stitches has a lot of Health, and a powerful self-sustain with Devour. He works best with Heroes who can follow up Hook with strong crowd control, which will help to secure picks throughout the game.

2. Stitches' Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Hook can pull enemy Heroes completely out of position, allowing your team to kill them easily.
• Hook can pull allied Heroes out of danger, or into otherwise advantageous positions.
• Good sustained AoE damage
• Strong self-sustain with Devour
• Good disengage with Putrid Bile
• Gorge can isolate enemy Heroes or temporarily remove threats from team fights

Weaknesses

• Poor waveclear without several Talents into Slam
• Lacks hard crowd control besides Gorge
• Lacks gap closers
• Using Hook efficiently requires practice

3. Stitches' Talent Build Cheatsheet

Sustain Build

Talent calculator »

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13 ?

Level 16

Level 20

The Hook Build sacrifices some of the strong Hero damage and PvE from the Slam build, and replaces it with much more pick potential. Since this Build aims to collect enemy Heroes using Hook, Gorge can be a rewarding follow up. However, against team compositions that rely on killing Stitches' backline, we still recommend Putrid Bile. Make sure to use Hook whenever possible and trust your game sense to predict enemy movement. Sometimes, a "blind" Hook into brushes or over terrain without vision can make for spectacular and game deciding plays, especially after acquiring Fishing Hook at Level 16.

Slam Build

Talent calculator »

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

The Slam Build focuses on Talents that transform Slam into a powerful and versatile Ability. Blight and Lacerate allow you to infect multiple enemies. At Level 10, both Heroic Abilities can be viable, it all depends on the enemy team composition. Against several aggressive melee Heroes, for instance, Putrid Bile can be a potent tool to slow their advance. Against several hard-to-reach ranged Heroes, on the other hand, a follow up with Gorge after landing Hook can secure easy kills.

See our Talents page for further information »

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4. Stitches' Synergies and Counters

Stitches synergizes with

Stitches works well with Heroes who can quickly respond to successful Hooks by locking the targets down with unavoidable Stuns, Roots, and Slows. He is also good with Heroes who are simply good at punishing enemies who are out of position.

Stitches is countered by

Because so much of Stitches' ability to impact a match is baked into Hook, he can be challenged by frontline Heroes who are bad Hook targets. This typically means that these Heroes can easily escape once pulled by Hook, that killing them is of little consequence, or both. These Heroes can stand in front of their team, making it much harder to land Hook on more meaningful backline enemies. Due to his high health pool, he is also susceptible to percentage-based damage.

5. Stitches' Maps

Stitches's stronger maps

Stitches's average maps

Stitches's weaker maps

Stitches is good on maps where Hook can be used advantageously with terrain features, and that have confined objectives that ensure value from Vile Cleaver. These objectives will typically be those where teams fight in close proximity for control of an area for prolonged periods of time. Stitches may struggle on maps that contain map objectives that encourage teams to split across the map. This is primarily because Hook is more effective when there are more allies to respond to it.

6. Stitches' Tips and Tricks

• Vile Cleaver damages enemies after receiving Basic Attacks; consistently attacking the same target re-applies its damage.
• Hook can be used to pull enemy Heroes away from safety, or to pull your allies out of danger.
• Slam is a great tool for dismounting enemy Heroes at range, and is also suitable for use on Minion waves.
• Devour should be used to recover health as needed, or to deal bonus damage to non-Heroic units.
• Putrid Bile can be used to slow escaping enemies, or to disengage.
• Gorge can be used to bring enemy Heroes behind your gate and walls, resulting in easy kills.

7. Role in the Current Meta

Team compositions that Stitches excels in usually play off of Hook, where Heroes with Stuns, Roots, and burst damage can instantly kill or crowd control a pulled enemy Hero. Malfurion, Jaina, and Tyrande are fantastic Heroes to pair with Stitches for this reason.

Stitches is most effective when you use Hook to pull a vulnerable enemy backline Hero into the midst of your team, winning a team fight before a counter engagement occurs. Once a team fight breaks out, Putrid Bile can be used to Slow the enemy Heroes' advance or retreat. Vile Cleaver inflicts damage over time in an AoE around Stitches, which can add up to a significant amount over the course of a team fight. However, Stitches' lack of crowd control and gap closers can make him more vulnerable to focused attacks than other Tanks, as he cannot quickly reposition himself. One of the reasons Slam build has been prevalent in the meta for so long is that it allows the user to apply Vile Gas from much safer positioning.

8. Changelog