Blackheart's Bay Map Guide

Blackheart's Bay is a 3-lane Map belonging to the Nexus universe. The signature Objective of this Map are Doubloons to collect from Treasure Chests and Mercenary Camps. Whenever a team pays the required amount of Doubloons, Captain Blackheart will use the cannons of his ghost ship to shoot at enemy Structures.

Here you can find one or more formations that are viable on this Map. Keep in mind that positions in lane are not strict and will often change based on the situation.

The go-to formation for Blackheart's Bay is 1-3-1:

• 1 Hero, the Offlaner, double-soaks the middle and top lane;
• 3 Heroes collect Doubloons from Mercenary Camps and Doubloon Camps;
• 1 Hero covers the bottom lane.

An alternative formation for Blackheart's Bay is 4-1:

• 4 Heroes rotate between the middle and the top lane;
• 1 Hero, the Offlaner, covers the bottom lane.

• At 0:30 minutes or 30-40 seconds before the next Objective phase, start clearing the allied Siege Camp and capture it slightly before the next Treasure Chest spawns. To make this Mercenary Camp join the lane behind allied Minions, capture it at 0:45 minutes or 15 seconds after a wave of Minions spawned.
• Right after capturing the allied Siege Camp or whenever available, capture the allied Doubloon Camp nearby.
• At 2:00 minute or whenever available, start clearing the allied Bruiser Camp and capture it as soon as possible. To make this Mercenary Camp join the lane in front of allied Minions, capture it at 2:35 minutes or 5 seconds after a wave of Minions spawned.
• Right after capturing the allied Bruiser Camp or whenever available, capture the allied Doubloon Camp.
• After that, whenever your team has an advantage, turn in Doubloons or start clearing the neutral Bruiser Camp and capture it as soon as possible.
• Use the time during a bombardment for capturing Mercenary Camps. Putting pressure on side lanes will help you turn in Doubloons when the bombardment ends.
• After about 10:00 minutes, whenever your team has an advantage while there is no Objective to contest, you can capture the Boss Camp and either push with it or use it as a distraction for paying Doubloons. Avoid doing it earlier if you do not have a dedicated team composition.

As shown in the image below, Blackheart's Bay has a total of 10 Mercenary Camps:

• 1 Boss Camp (red icon) in the top lane;
• 2 Bruiser Camps (violet icon) in the top lane;
• 2 Doubloon Camps (orange icon) between the top and the middle lanes;
• 2 Doubloon Camps (orange icon) between the middle and the bottom lanes;
• 2 Siege Camps (green icon) in the bottom lane;
• 1 Bruiser Camp (violet icon) in the bottom lane.

Mercenary Camps on Blackheart's Bay are always active, even when Treasure Chests are up or during a bombardment.

Mercenary Camps indicated with a red icon are immune to Bribe effects.

This type of Mercenary Camp features 2 Skeletal Pirates. They are part of the Map Objective and do not go in lane. Once captured, you will get 2 Doubloons from it.

You should clear these Camps on cooldown in order to get as many Doubloons as possible. They are extremely easy to kill, so any Hero can solo them in a reasonable time.

This type of Mercenary Camp features 2 Giants. Once captured, it spawns the same units fighting for your team in the corresponding lane. When possible, push with them to get more value. On this Map, you will also get 2 Doubloons from it.

Instead of attacking enemies with Basic Attacks, Giants throw stones at them. These stones can be dodged, so it is possible to capture them without taking any damage. Once captured, they are capable of damaging enemy Structures without getting in their range. Giants deal 100% bonus damage to Structures.

This type of Mercenary Camp features 3 Knights and 1 Wizard. Once captured, it spawns the same units fighting for your team in the corresponding lane. When possible, push with them to get more value. On this Map, you will also get 2 Doubloons from it.

Right after being captured and while in lane, the Wizard creates a Spell Armor field around him which reduces some of the damage taken by Minions, Mercenaries, and Heroes within range. Avoid fighting the enemy team if they still have a Wizard helping them!

This type of Mercenary Camp features 1 Grave Golem. Once captured, it spawns the same unit fighting for your team in the corresponding lane. When possible, push with it to get more value. On this Map, you will also get 2 Doubloons from it.

While in combat, the Grave Golem will use Mega Smash (10-second cooldown) to damage and Stun all enemies in melee range and Binding Roots (15-second cooldown) to damage and Root enemies who get hit by them.

Due to being Elite, this Mercenary Camp is immune to Bribe effects (such as Covert Mission by Nova).

Blackheart's Bay features 2 Watch Towers: they are located between the middle and the bottom lane, providing vision in the area that leads to Captain Blackheart, where Heroes go to turn in Doubloons.

Securing a Watch Tower provides your team with greater vision, allowing you to keep an eye on enemy movements in that part of the battlefield. Watch Towers can be captured similarly to defeated Mercenary Camps, by standing in the area until your team gains control.

Watch Towers controlled by the enemy team are extremely dangerous, especially when there are bushes nearby, therefore you should think twice before contesting them. If you do not have mobility tools at your disposal and your teammates are not nearby to help you, you should definitely not try to capture a Watch Tower as you will only risk dying for no reason. Staying alive is more important than getting vision.

The signature Objective of Blackheart's Bay consists of Doubloons. Heroes can pay Captain Blackheart in the middle of the battlefield to get his assistance. Each payment requires 8 Doubloons, plus 2 Doubloons for each time that team paid during the game. In order to pay, Heroes have to channel for 5 seconds. As soon as a bombardment ends, it is possible to pay again.

Collect Doubloons Attack treasure chests, mercenaries, and skeletons to collect doubloons.

Turn in Doubloons Hand your doubloons over to Blackheart or you will drop them all when you die!

Bombard Your Enemies After receiving enough doubloons from your team, Blackheart will bombard your enemy's forts!

The amount of Treasure Chests per Objective phase goes up during the game: the first time there is only 1 Treasure Chest (always near the top lane), then there are 2 Treasure Chests for 3 times in a row, and then there are 3 Treasure Chests for the rest of the game.

The best Heroes for opening Treasure Chests are the ones who can hit them multiple times in a couple of seconds:

• Alexstrasza, using Flame Buffet;
• Ana, using Basic Attacks;
• Arthas, using Frozen Tempest;
• Azmodan, using All Shall Burn;
• Blaze, using Oil Spill followed by Flame Stream to Ignite it;
• Deathwing, using Lava Burst and/or Molten Flame;
• Dehaka, using Dark Swarm;
• Diablo, using Fire Stomp;
• D.Va, using Mech's Basic Attacks;
• Falstad, using Lightning Rod;
• Genji, using Basic Attacks and/or Shuriken;
• Gul'dan, using Drain Life and/or Corruption;
• Kharazim, using Deadly Reach;
• Kel'Thuzad, using Death and Decay;
• Lucio, using Basic Attacks;
• Lunara, using Basic Attacks;
• Mei, using Blizzard;
• Nazeebo, using Corpse Spiders;
• Qhira, using Carnage;
• Stitches, using Basic Attacks;
• Stukov, using Lurking Arm;
• Sylvanas, using Withering Fire and/or Shadow Dagger;
• Tassadar, using Basic Attacks and/or Psionic Storm;
• Tracer, using Basic Attacks;
• Tychus, using Basic Attacks;
• Zarya, using Basic Attacks.

Doubloons should preferably be collected by Heroes with mobility because those Heroes can easily escape from unwanted team fights to protect Doubloons from being lost upon death (only half of them, rounded down) and then being collected by enemy Heroes.

Here is a breakdown of all ways to collect Doubloons:

• Treasure Chests contain 5 Doubloons;
• Doubloon Camps have 2 Doubloons;
• Mercenary Camps have 2 Doubloons.

A successful payment results in 12 Cannonballs being fired over 40 seconds. Cannonballs deal 2815 damage (not scaling) directly to Structures and 750 splash damage (not scaling) to everything in a small radius around the impact. Keeps and Core take 20% less damage from Cannonballs.

When being fired, Cannonballs will target lanes in this order:

1. middle lane;
2. top lane;
3. bottom lane.

Forts and Keeps will only be targeted if the respective Towers and Gates have been destroyed. Cores will only be targeted if all Towers, Gates, Forts, and Keeps have been destroyed.

In the late game, if the only Structure left is the Core with 100% Health and 100% Shield, a bombardment will bring it down to around 25% Health remaining.

Every 4 seconds, the Core will shoot a Cannonball at 2 nearby enemy Heroes, dealing 5% maximum Health as damage, Slowing them by 70% for 1.5 seconds, and Knocking them back.

To win the game on Blackheart's Bay, you should count on any of the following win conditions:

• Map Objective,
• Boss Camp,
• Split-push.

• On this Map, due to the Objective being always active, you can use the Healing Fountain on cooldown instead of saving it for when the Objective spawns.
• Use effects that can deal damage multiple times in a couple of seconds to quickly open Treasure Chests and have an allied Hero near them to pick up the Doubloons as they fall on the ground.
• Every time you have 5 Doubloons or more, pay to avoid losing them upon death (only half of them, rounded down). Doubloons that fall on the ground do not disappear and can be picked up by enemy Heroes too, causing your team to take more damage on Structures throughout the game.
• You can press Tab to see who has the highest amount of Doubloons among enemy Heroes. Use that information to not let that Hero pay while your team does or to kill them when no other enemy Heroes are nearby to pick up their lost Doubloons.
• The first Objective will always do enough damage to take down 2 Towers and 1 Fort, so you do not need to damage or destroy enemy Structures before paying 10 Doubloons for the first volley of Cannonballs.
• Do not fight unless the enemy team has way more Doubloons than you and your team has an advantage, or they are doing a game-winning play (turning in Doubloons, capturing a Boss Camp when you no longer have a top Keep, or going Core).