Tychus Abilities and Strategy

• Tychus cannot stutter-step, so use Overkill when you want to deal sustain area of effect damage while moving.
• Use Frag Grenade to knockback enemies that you are fleeing from or chasing, or to interrupt stationary-channeled Abilities. Can be used during Overkill.
• Use Run and Gun to escape death, dodge harmful Abilities, or secure kills.
• Activate Minigun when attacking a Hero with a large Health pool, or who has been Stunned or Rooted.
• Start casting Overkill if you are blinded during Minigun, since its damage is not affected by blinds.
• Place the Drakken Laser Drill off to the side of a fight so that it will not be destroyed immediately.
• Use Commandeer Odin just as a fight begins, when the enemy team cannot just run away from it.
• Commandeer Odin gives you Unstoppable on cast for some seconds, while also giving 25 extra Armor for the entire duration. Use it if you think you will be controlled for a long duration, or while Cocoon is going towards you.

Minigun (D) Tychus

• Passive

Activate to have Basic Attacks against Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 2.5% of their maximum Health. Lasts 3 seconds.

Minigun passively grants Tychus an Attack Speed of 4.0 (4 attacks per second). It is extremely efficient at destroying things that require a flat amount of attacks, like Spider Mines, Chests on Blackheart's Bay, and Cocoon.

When activated, Minigun greatly increases Basic Attack damage. It is best to opportunistically use Minigun's active component on enemy Heroes who will remain in your Basic Attack range for some time. These opportunities can be created by crowd control or positioning, but the end result will be a large amount of the victim's maximum Health in bonus damage.

Minigun's most notable downside is that a fast Attack Speed makes Tychus notoriously poor at stutter-stepping, as it is impossible to move any distance inbetween such fast Basic Attacks. Fortunately, Tychus's Overkill is fantastic for kiting, helping to mitigate this weakness. Tychus's immobility when using Basic Attacks is why Overkill should be used in place of Basic Attacks when you would normally stutter-step on a traditional Ranged Assassin.

Overkill (Q) Tychus

• Mana: 60
• Cooldown: 12 seconds

Deal 552 (+4% per level) damage to the target and 276 (+4% per level) damage to nearby targets over 4 seconds. Reactivate to select a new target. Can move and use Abilities while Channeling.

Overkill allows you to move while dealing sustain area of effect damage. When possible to do so safely, position yourself to maximize the use of the conical splash damage. Since Overkill is an Ability, it is not affected by Abilities or Talents that mitigate Basic Attacks. Move with your target when using Overkill. If they move towards you, back away. If they move away, move towards them. In this way, you can maximize your ability to kite, taking full advantage of Tychus's mobility.

You should use Overkill whenever you would stutter-step with a different Hero, as long as it will not be immediately interrupted. Although Overkill has a cooldown, it is more efficient (while active) at dealing damage while moving than stutter-stepping is on other Heroes. Be sure to retarget the Ability appropriately, especially if a target moves out of Overkill's range. Overkill can be interrupted by Stuns and Silences. Coupled with its long cooldown of 13 seconds, this can be devastating to your damage output. To counter this, always be aware of what crowd control Abilities the enemy Heroes have on cooldown.

Frag Grenade (W) Tychus

• Mana: 50
• Cooldown: 10 seconds

Lob a grenade that deals 256 (+4% per level) damage, knocking enemies away.

Frag Grenade has three main uses: to deal damage, to reposition enemy Heroes, and to interrupt channeled Abilities. Generally, you will want to use it to deal damage, but you may benefit from waiting to use it to interrupt channeled Heroic Abilities. If you are being chased by an enemy Hero, Frag Grenade can be used to knock them away, allowing you to escape. Frag Grenade can also be used to knock a fleeing enemy Hero closer to you and your team, allowing you to secure the kill. It is important to note that Frag Grenade will briefly impede your movement while the casting animation completes.

Run and Gun (E) Tychus

• Mana: 50
• Cooldown: 10 seconds

Dash a short distance.

Run and Gun greatly increases Tychus's accessibility, as this dash can help you recover from minor positioning mistakes. It can be used to dodge enemy Abilities, as an offensive gap-closer, escape death, or to assist you while kiting. It is important to avoid using Run and Gun carelessly, as it is Tychus's only dash. Run and Gun cannot be used to dash through impassable terrain.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Commandeer Odin (R) Tychus

• Heroic
• Mana: 100
• Cooldown: 100 seconds

Call down an Odin to pilot. The Odin deals increased Damage, has 100% increased Basic Attack range, and uses different Abilities. The Odin has 25 Armor and lasts 23 seconds.

Commandeer Odin drastically increases Tychus's damage, as well as his Basic Attack range, allowing him to outrange most Heroes in the game. Tychus is temporarily immune to all forms of crowd control and unable to take any actions while the Odin is being constructed. Since Tychus is immobile during Odin construction, it is important to use Commandeer Odin only when you are in a safe position to do so. Commandeer Odin should be used when the enemy team is engaging onto your team, or when the enemy team is unable to escape because of crowd control or terrain features. Otherwise, construction of the Odin will give the enemy team ample opportunity to flee or kill you.

Commandeer Odin replaces your Basic Abilities with the following Abilities:

• Annihilate fires the Odin's cannons in a straight line, dealing damage to all targets hit. Use it to hit enemy Heroes from a great distance, but try to hit as many Heroes as possible with each cast.
• Ragnarok Missiles is a great area of effect damage dealer, with a bit of added utility from its Slow.
• Thrusters causes the Odin to dash in the targeted direction. Thrusters cannot be used to dash through impassable terrain.

Annihilate and Ragnarok Missiles should be used whenever they are available, as they have no Mana cost and low cooldowns. Use Thrusters to reposition as needed. Thrusters' cooldown is independent of Run and Gun, so be sure to use it right before the Odin expires. Master Assassin's Attack Speed buff also applies while Odin is active.

The main drawback of Commandeer Odin is that Tychus cannot use Minigun while inside of the Odin. Minigun is often the reason Tychus is picked, as the percent-based damage is an important counter to team composition featuring multiple Heroes with high maximum Health. The Odin does increased damage, but can actually result in less meaningful damage to the enemy's frontline because you cannot use Minigun during it. Consider taking Commandeer Odin in situations where you need area of effect damage and increased range.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Drakken Laser Drill (R) Tychus

• Heroic
• Mana: 100
• Cooldown: 100 seconds

Call down a Laser Drill to attack nearby enemies, dealing 142 (+4% per level) damage every second. Reactivate to assign a new target. Lasts 22 seconds.

Drakken Laser Drill is an exceptional zoning tool, able to deal very high sustain damage in the area around where it is placed. The Laser Drill has its own Health pool, and Units cannot pass through it. It lasts for its full duration or until it is destroyed. Tychus will still have access to all of his Basic Abilities while the laser is active. This is an important difference between Drakken Laser Drill and Commandeer Odin, because many of your Talents will be invested into your Basic Abilities.

The Laser Drill should be placed in a hard-to-reach location, such as behind a wall or in a corner created by impassable terrain. Doing so will help ensure that the enemy team does not immediately kill the Laser Drill, especially with area of effect damage. In some niche situations, the Laser Drill can be used to block enemy pathing, which is especially useful to create a choke-point or to prevent enemies from escaping. However, be aware that it cannot be used in very small corridors, in those scenarios you should aim it at the end of the corridor.

Do not use Drakken Laser Drill when chasing enemy Heroes, as they will outrange the Drill before it is able to do any damage. When teamfighting, the Laser Drill can be used to kill your primary target or to zone out enemy backline Heroes. If you think the team fight will extend over a long period of time, zone out an enemy backline Hero with the Laser Drill, thereby giving your team a numbers advantage. The Laser Drill can be very effective against an enemy team made up of many melee Heroes, since melee Heroes must engage onto you to deal damage. In such situations, you can simply drop the Laser Drill and kite your pursuers while the Laser Drill damages them. Drakken Laser Drill can also be used when sieging a Keep or the Core, or it can help you to quickly kill a Boss.