Simple Questions, Simple Answers - Page 846

On May 04 2014 09:57 SpiritoftheTunA wrote:

don't first pick lycan and then SECOND PICK DP is your biggest and foremost mistake. both of those heroes are win conditions that fulfill similar roles (push, physical dps against locked down opponents). it's hugely greedy to try and get both, if you're prioritizng both because they rape at your mmr, you should just ban one and pick the other. honestly, ember isn't worth banning at sub 4.5k imo, it's very hard to lane and get appropriately farmed on the hero, especially after the recent nerfs.

if you have lycan or dp, konw that your goal with lycan to come online at 12-15 minutes with vlads aegis and take down all outer towers safely 1 by 1. you have to draft that you can survive the first 12-15 minutes essentially 4v5, so your second pick should be an extremely safe lane support, cm or sk or lion or ss or whatever seems to work at your mmr. pros run dp more often safelane than midlane (h4nni and koreans are the only ones who go mid with her afaik), because really she gets raped by unexpected ganks and her ulti is physical, she's a physical dpser, not a magical ganker/semicarry like other mids. at low mmr, she's strong because she rapes the 3-4 man skirmishes that tend to break out after people start hitting 6, but at high mmr, people will gank her more aggressively and punish her for existing.

she does not compliment lycan well at all, since lycan thrives with lots of lockdown. you could've even run something like treant protector mid and it would've been better for a lycan comp. personally i would've run lycan OR dp mid with bottle crowing and just put like cm sk wk bot for guaranteed 2 blinks 3 stuns (sk and wk should build blinks and initiate everything) in fact, i'm surprised sk wasn't mentioned at all this draft, he's by far the #1 support imo this patch, because he can stack a hard camp and farm it with level 2 w guaranteeing easy 6 and easy blink.

centaur was banned, so you should've also prioritized getting offlane clockwerk, imo, as he provides tankiness (which you should value in all lineups that can't clearly survive without it) and initiate/coutnerinitiate. batrider was o.k., but all sub 4k bats probably have issues getting their blink on time, especially without supports stacking jungle (and as i mentioned, you should've had like sand king or cm farming your jugnel anyway with a strong safelaner like wraith king who can hold his own)

i honestly don't like lich as a lane support, i only really pick him when i really need to deny a lane or as counterpick against armor reduction, and when you have lycan/dp you're the one with the stronger win condition to protect, which lich doesn't do as well as supports like jakiro/dazzle/sd/whathaveyou

rubick is also a semigreedy lane support, he doesn't have the guaranteed oomph of the click stun damage supports (again, cm, sk, jak, vs, etc) because his damage and cc are in two different skills. though dazzle/sd are also pretty greedy, you can and should always run sd with strong followup damage like dazzle healbombs, which is what empire have been 8-0 with this patch, or potm, lesh, idkwat

shoutout to ogre magi who alsow ould've been better than either of your supports, that bloodlust is pretty sick with all rightclickers and multicast is fucking hilarious, as is 6 armor at level 1

fuck was this simple questions simple answers I KNOW IM GOING TO GET BANNED FOR THIS BUT ILL POST IT ANYWAY

On May 04 2014 07:45 Belisarius wrote:
When might I want drums over vanguard as spectre?

Also, is there some kind of minor farming item on her? If I want to rice, I feel like it's radiance or go home.

On May 04 2014 14:15 Jisira wrote:


Every single time. If you need a Ring of Health in the laning phase, then wear it naked (as in don't assemble it) and get something like a Linken's after Boots, Drums and Radiance. Vanguard is an item frowned upon for a few things:

1. Unreliable assistance - you want to be able to know what you will and will not block. 70% Block for 20/40 damage, or the Poor Man's Shield that gives 100% for 10/20 for considerably less?

2. You need a Heart - you will always aim for a Heart of the Tarrasque. Instead of carrying two pure +HP items, add utility and well-rounded stats (including a heap of Int for a mana-starved carry) for your hero that won't overlap with the rest of your build.

3. Bang for buck - Vanguard gives pretty much the effective EHP of a Mek (albeit without a mana cost). This means that a Mek will help you as much alone as Vanguard does, but gives your team +250 HP and a regen aura. Just consider that every time you pick up a Vanguard, you are being extremely cost inefficient.

There is no such thing as a minor farming item (AM can't swap Battle Fury for something, Naga/PL wants Radiance etc etc) but if you need to fight and you get shut down to delay your Radiance beyond reasonable timing, the general idea people follow is to get a Diffusal Blade and fight your way to victory.