Specialist guide?

[ArtVandelay 24]

I play a lot of specialist, and a few of them very well (at least by silver/gold league standards...not claiming to be a master).   You have guides on each individual hero, but I would like to see more guidance on roles, in general, but specifically to specialists.  Sometimes I struggle mid game with where I should be.  Questions like:

1) Help with obj or take down a wall and/or fort?

2) Clear/soak XP in lane(s) or team fight?

3) push with boss vs defend against their boss (same time)?

4) clear camps or someone else should?

 

There are a lot of variables in all these (map, team comp, who has forts/keeps down in certain lanes, etc.).  I would love to see a guide to map awareness, which I guess does not specifically pertain to specs.

[positiv2 953]

Oxygen is working on general gameplay guides, which should cover the topics you mention. Most of those can however be learned through experience, which is what I would recommend, because there are things that no guide can teach you well.

[Valhalen 1,484]

On 15/09/2017 at 12:08 PM, ArtVandelay said:

I play a lot of specialist, and a few of them very well (at least by silver/gold league standards...not claiming to be a master).   You have guides on each individual hero, but I would like to see more guidance on roles, in general, but specifically to specialists.  Sometimes I struggle mid game with where I should be.  Questions like:

1) Help with obj or take down a wall and/or fort?

2) Clear/soak XP in lane(s) or team fight?

3) push with boss vs defend against their boss (same time)?

4) clear camps or someone else should?

 

There are a lot of variables in all these (map, team comp, who has forts/keeps down in certain lanes, etc.).  I would love to see a guide to map awareness, which I guess does not specifically pertain to specs.

Your question is very relative because the Specialist is the most versatile class in the game. No Specialist functions remotely similar to one another. They're long gone from the "Sieging Class" to something that brings unique mechanics to the table. Although many Specialists do focus on direct Sieging (such as Sylvanas and Sgt. Hammer), others have a focus on XP farming (such as The Lost Vikings and Abathur), and even high utility overall (Medivh).

So in the end it is a bit hard to give a general answer to each question you made. For example, Abathur and Medivh can't solo Mercenary Camps. Which Specialists you play the most? I think that based on your answer, we can help you better.

[Valks 2,375]

18 hours ago, Valhalen said:

Although many Specialists do focus on direct Sieging (such as Sylvanas and Sgt. Hammer)

Even then, you still have them deciding between direct damage and taking a fort or clearing a set of camps while an objective is contested, then which camp you are considering (enemy side or friendly), what type of camp, how likely is it you'll have it stolen or be ganked. It's just such an open ended topic that relies also on who you are facing, as well as what is happening at that exact moment. 

[ArtVandelay 24]

Mostly I am playing Xul and Naz now.  I used to main Sylvanis a lot.

Really, I think maybe the solution I am looking for is more to have map guides, like the hero guides.  It would recommend when to skip objectives (like the first golem on Haunted Mines) and maybe siege, or get camps.  Like the part on Xul page about clearing two waves on maps like Blackheart.  That is a fantastic strategy that I have carried with many times, but I never saw it, honestly even on his page until now.  

So I guess I am not sure the best location for these tips, but I would love to hear more of those type of ideas.

I also wouldn't mind a guide to drafting as well.  I have counters printed out, but when to pick double support or not, etc.  Any tips would be great.  I will try to come up with specific scenarios to ask about though.

I just find specialists to be so highly scrutinized by teammates (much like healers).  While I don't care what they say, I just want to make sure I am doing the best thing for our team at the time.

Thanks!

 

Edited September 26, 2017 by ArtVandelay

[Fransoa 25]

I know what you're talking about, after a certain level having great hero mechanics are not good enough to win the game, you have to have a good draft for the map in play and some strategy in mind.

For example knowing the heroes that are good on that map and why. On BHB, Xul and Gul'Dan can double soak top and mid lane. On Sky Temple, Falstad can soak a lane then fly to the objective, same with Dehaka. On Tomb of the Spider Queen, Greymane can waveclear quickly, he can also take the merc camps alone. On Braxis and Towers of Doom Chromie can poke like crazy due to the map's objective.

Afterwards, drafting is important, knowing why and how x hero counters y hero. For example: Kel'Thuzad, Garrosh and Malthael. KT counters Malthael because he can cc him and burst him down, not allowing Malt to deal his aoe damage on the whole team. Malthael Counters Garrosh because Garrosh wants to throw a squishy enemy into his team, not a teamfight initiator like Malth. Garrosh counters KT cuz Kt is squishy and short-ranged.

And so on. This is close to what the pro teams are doing. I've come to learn many of these things through experience but it would've been a lot faster if I had read them somewhere before. I haven't found a guide like this on the internet.

Edited September 30, 2017 by Fransoa

[Valhalen 1,484]

On 30/09/2017 at 2:41 PM, Fransoa said:

I know what you're talking about, after a certain level having great hero mechanics are not good enough to win the game, you have to have a good draft for the map in play and some strategy in mind.

For example knowing the heroes that are good on that map and why. On BHB, Xul and Gul'Dan can double soak top and mid lane. On Sky Temple, Falstad can soak a lane then fly to the objective, same with Dehaka. On Tomb of the Spider Queen, Greymane can waveclear quickly, he can also take the merc camps alone. On Braxis and Towers of Doom Chromie can poke like crazy due to the map's objective.

Afterwards, drafting is important, knowing why and how x hero counters y hero. For example: Kel'Thuzad, Garrosh and Malthael. KT counters Malthael because he can cc him and burst him down, not allowing Malt to deal his aoe damage on the whole team. Malthael Counters Garrosh because Garrosh wants to throw a squishy enemy into his team, not a teamfight initiator like Malth. Garrosh counters KT cuz Kt is squishy and short-ranged.

And so on. This is close to what the pro teams are doing. I've come to learn many of these things through experience but it would've been a lot faster if I had read them somewhere before. I haven't found a guide like this on the internet.

I think there are way too many variables to have a written guide on it, specially considering the huge number of Heroes in the game. However, the guides here cover, more or less, some map strategies.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Valhalen