Preview overwhelming: Quick look at Heroes of the Storm’s Artanis | Technobubble

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Heroes of the Storm gets one more warrior and a whole lotta ponytail with the arrival of Protoss hero Artanis in the Nexus.

The first pure warrior from the StarCraft universe, I was admittedly interested in seeing how Artanis would fare. Would he have an immediate strong impact on the meta like Johanna and Leoric did upon release? Or would he be a more toned down warrior like Rexxar?

After getting the chance to try him out early thanks to a pre-order copy of the StarCraft II “Legacy of the Void” expansion, here are my initial thoughts on the Hierarch of the Daelaam.

There is no escape: If there is one thing that’s really, really important for any prospective Artanis players to know, it’s that the guy doesn’t have a solid means for turning (pony) tail and escaping fights. This is especially important to keep in mind because he is a melee warrior, which means it’s a lot easier to find yourself out of position when you have a brain fart in battle (points at myself and raises my hands) because your role requires you to be up close and personal. As such, playing him requires good discipline, which is kind of funny because it actually fits his lore.

Comeback mechanics: Loaded word, I know. To make up for his lack of escape, Artanis gets the Shield Overload trait, which allows him to gain a shield for five seconds when he takes damage at less than half health. Add the fact that basic attacks reduce the cooldown by four seconds and you get an extra dose of survivability, especially if you spec for it. At the same time, this also means you’re going to be living on the edge a lot of times as you’re encouraged to press the attack to benefit from his trait, especially given your lack of escape. Just keep in mind that it isn’t a complete get out of jail card that lets you dive constantly without abandon and blame your support for not keeping up the heals.

There and back again: Artanis’ Q ability is, well, going to feel strange to a lot of folks who are conditioned to treat dashes as both tools for engagement and escape. Blade Dash allows you to initially dash forward and inflict damage within a certain area. So far so good, right? However, it also automatically triggers a second dash, which does more damage but also sends you back to your original position like a piece of mail that was returned to its sender. This means it really isn’t a true gap closer or escape move. Granted, it can work well as a finisher for fleeing, low-health enemies, especially when upgraded for range and speed. In fact, I’ve used it to take out low-health foes who hide behind their gate by dashing in then dashing out. Cue classic James Bond villain laugh. In that sense, it works more like a skill shot than a pure dash. You can even use it to dodge enemy skill shots or certain area effects from bosses when timed right, then get right back on the offensive. However, it is susceptible to crowd control, which can land you in deep doodoo if you aren’t careful. I’ve found myself dashing into enemy groups during a team fight only to be stunned halfway — which cancels my return dash to a safer position — then focused by foes and sent to Protoss heaven. My life for bad positioning.

Double or triple your fun: Artanis W ability is Twin Blades, which lets you attack twice, even thrice if you decide to upgrade it. Add a low cooldown and this is something you’ll want to use in fights whenever available. I’ve seen this hit hard when you spec Artanis with stuff like Seasoned Marksman and other abilities to up his damage at later levels (though he ends up kind of like a glass cannon at that point). Otherwise, the multiple hits are also a good way to reduce the cooldown for his trait so don’t forget to use it.

The old switcheroo: As someone who loves evil plots and likes to rub my hands like The Simpsons’ Mr. Burns when I pull them off, I was especially looking forward to Artanis’ E ability. Phase Prism lets you fire a nice shiny cube at your foe, letting you switch positions with them. For folks who love to dream up villain-level strategery, the possibilities almost seem endless. You can send a fleeing enemy back closer to your teammates, switch an enemy Nazeebo into his own zombie wall, teleport a foe on the bad side of a Tassadar force wall, the list goes on and on. There’s just a couple of big catches, though. For starters, it’s slow. Then you’ve got its range, which is pretty short. If you’re fighting a foe with an attention span above a gnat’s, chances are they’ll dodge it easily. Personally, I’ve had more success with it when enemies have either been CC’ed or during crazy fights when it’s harder to keep track of the action. Well, that or when someone simply isn’t paying attention. It’s a lot of fun when it hits, though, as it opens up some pretty evil followups.

Ultimate warrior: While reactions to Artanis’ abilities have been mixed, his two main heroic abilities or ultimates have gotten pretty positive responses for the most part, especially since they can be cast globally. First is the Purifier Beam, which calls a laser from the sky that deals damage while chasing foes for eight seconds. Granted, it’s kind of slow and avoidable but it can be effective in the right situation, including damaging or chasing enemies away at objective points. If you can coordinate with a team member capable of long stuns, you can concoct some evil combos as well. Personally, I really like the Suppression Pulse, which damages enemies within a large radius and, more importantly, blinds them for four seconds. I’ve had this ability turn around group fights for my team, especially when facing auto attack-heavy comps. Combine it with extra CC from your allies and it really helps secure those team fights, provided the enemy team doesn’t have a solid counter, of course.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Power whelming: Admittedly, it’s still early to render final judgment on Artanis but so far, he doesn’t seem to be too overwhelming or underwhelming, which I guess makes him, uh, whelming? Artanis users with bad positioning will definitely be punished but his moveset also can be fun when you get used to it because it’s unique. I pretty much got the sense that Blizzard was intent on balancing him out and his kit feels like a testament to restraint. You’ve got some abilities and traits that potentially could’ve been overpowered with a little tweak here or there but they got dialed back enough so they don’t go overboard. If Artanis had a solid disengage, for example, I could see it potentially tipping him into the overpowered column as you can now totally commit to fights with your trait but still have a chance to escape if it doesn’t hold up. The fact that his Phase Prism isn’t an automatic hit also reigns him in a bit. Ultimately, I’m not sure if he can hack it as a dedicated solo tank but he’d make a good second option in double warrior combos or a counter to auto-attack comps. As he is right now, Artanis feels more balanced, especially when compared to the original incarnations of Johanna and Leoric. Then again, that could certainly change if some crafty folks find an exploitable advantage that raises his profile. Given Heroes of the Storm’s fluid meta, you never really know.