Heroes of the Storm Spotlights: Stukov, Malthael, D.Va
So, Heroes of the Storm (HoTS) revealed three champions during the last three patches. One is Overwatch’s resident MEKA pilot – D.Va, the Reaper of Souls Malthael, and the Infested Admiral Stukov. Each of them filled the different roles in Heroes of the Storm with D.Va serving as a Warrior and Tank due to her double life bar. Stukov fills the role as the latest Support with Malthael as the Assassin.
Stukov
After going through hell and back in Starcraft, the Infested Admiral returns to the Nexus as a Support Champion. Funny part about him as a support, he helps his allies and defeats his enemies by giving them AIDS. Yes, you read right. He attaches what he calls Pustules to his enemies and allies which can either heal or deal damage depending what he attaches. His Heroic Skill also allows him to knock back his enemy to a wall, making him a CC (Crowd Control) Support character.
Unfortunately, his lack of damage makes him somewhat similar to Lili save for him being able to deal more damage. His CC is increasingly terrifying, allowing him to silence enemies especially if they are skill-dependent. His heal amount literally blast heals his allies almost instantly. However, his lack of damage and channeling makes him an easy target for quick hitters such as Illidan and Zeratul.
Malthael
Malthael is a little tricky to play especially when his ult demands you to really take note of your enemies’ life if they have a skull or not. For starter players and those kinds of players who sometimes lack awareness, using Tormented Souls may work better considering it’s for survivability. His Reaper’s Mark deals lingering damage on enemies and also allows his other skills to deal more damage. As is, his Soul Rip replenishes his life after marking the enemy with Reaper’s Mark, Wraith Strike allows him to chase the enemy quickly, and his Death Shroud is his opening attack to begin a rain of pain on enemies. His main role is to really melt tanks into Swiss Cheese to force healers to dole out all their skills to keep their tank alive.
However, Malthael has barely – almost no – escapes whatsoever. This makes his vulnerable against characters who can CC him or who can sustain themselves almost as well as he can. Most of his hard counters are Tracer with her constant movement, Lunara because of her own lingering damage and Crippling Spores, and Chromie whose Sand Blast has a devastating range.
D.Va
D.Va can be considered one of the annoying tanks in the game. She has two life bars which makes her difficult to kill, forcing players to focus her down completely in order to eliminate her. She also has defense matrix that can reduce the damage of incoming attacks. Her Self-Destruct is quite hard to time if in Team Clashes but can deal heavy damage against siege towers, allowing her to lead a push if necessary. Also, she has skills after Self-Destructing her MEKA to which she also has an ult if one is going Mech build. But some players prefer the Big Shot to balance her out in Team Fights.
Taking down D.Va needs either a fast hitter or someone who is capable of extreme CC or lingering damage. Her hard counter is the Reaper of Souls himself, Malthael with his Reaper Mark. Xul wins via attrition due to his Bone Armor. Fury Build Varian may also counter due to his ability to chase and deal heavy damage.
So, there you have it!
If you have any other comments about these new heroes, leave them in the comment section below.
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