Tychus Super-Guide: Hell, it's about damn time...
By Eric 'Halfnhalf'
Halfnhalf is a highly ranked HOTS player with competitive success and a veteran guide creator. Halfnhalf has enjoyed competitive success on Varsity Blues (Top 32 Heroes of the Dorms - top Canadian team), Asians-with-attitude (winner of ViperTechGaming tournament and finals in HeroesHype), and Pajamas R Us (Division 1 Chairleague tournament). He has been featured on ESPN2 and is currently the writer for Nihilism Gaming
Hero Introduction:
Tychus is a mid-range assassin in Heroes of the Storm. Tychus deals serious damage over the course of a teamfight and is different from many assassins in the fact that he deals percentage based damage. For this reason, Tychus is a great choice against a double-warrior composition and heroic map objectives such as ‘Garden Terror’ and ‘Dragon Knight’ whose health quantities are large.
Talent Choice:
Tier One - Level One
Recommended
Recommended
Press the Advantage is a strong talent that allows you to attack at a more comfortable range after using ‘Run and Gun’ to chase, escape, or reposition. Throughout the game, the 35% increased range to your basic attack is much more useful for keeping a safe distance in prolonged team fights and can help you get more basic attacks upon a fleeing hero.
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Situational
Dash is a quest-type talent that requires some time gathering Regeneration Globes to maximize its full potential. Therefore, this talent is prioritized more on maps with readily available globes such as ‘Braxis Holdout’ and less on maps without frequent globes such as ‘Towers of Doom’. On its own, ‘Run and Gun’ is not a very strong ability but with the additional speed and range from Dash, it can be your escape/chase tool, your kiting mechanism, and your means of repositioning. This talent has synergy with your Final Tier talent Bob and Weave.
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Tier Two - Level Four
Recommended
Recommended
In the Rhythm is another quest-type ability, except it doesn’t have a cap. This talent will essentially allow your ‘Minigun’ trait to last as long as possible in team fights, sometimes even twice or more its normal duration. To maximize the potential for this talent late game, use ‘Minigun’ on heroes lacking mobility early game to increase the timer. This talent has synergy with your Tier 5 - Level 13 talent That’s the Stuff!
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Situational
…The harder they fall or so the saying goes. This talent is an essential pick against heroes with large health pools such as Cho’Gall and enemy team compositions with two high hp tanks. While your finishing power against these heroes will be diminished somewhat, the sheer amount of damage that Minigun will deal at the start of fights is hard to pass up. Getting these heroes low and potentially healing much more with the That’s the Stuff! talent later on, will allow you to stay in the fight longer and allow your team to capitalize on more kills.
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Tier Three - Level Seven
Recommended
Recommended
Situational
Alternatively, if the enemy team has a lot of crowd control effects and you are worried that they can consistently disable you, then you can take Relentless Soldier. While Tychus never wants to be affected by crowd control affects – sometimes you just can’t avoid it. A 25% reduction to damage can and will save your life often. I take this talent if an enemy hero such as Anub’arak consistently targets me and my team is unable to stop him.
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Heroic Teir - Level Ten
Recommended
Recommended
Drakken Laser Drill is prioritized over Commandeer Odin for two reasons: its power to contest a point and its independence. This Heroic ability is amazing at zoning enemies and is great for holding map objectives like tributes on ‘Cursed Hollow’ or shrines on ‘Tower of Doom’. Providing that the Laser Drill is setup before an objective near the backline, it is good at zoning/contesting objectives because of its range and size. It has a range roughly equivalent to the ‘Frag Grenade’ ability and its size allows it to block hero pathing. However, Drakken Laser Drill can also block you if you are not careful about where you place it.
The Laser Drill’s independence is what separates this Heroic ability from Commandeer Odin. While you certainly should control the Laser by pressing R to manually target, the Laser Drill will fire on its own without a need to channel. Not only is Commandeer Odin problematic because of its long cast-time, but it also removes access to the ‘Minigun’ trait, which is often your most impactful source of damage as Tychus. Placement of the drill is important and it’s usually best to place it farther away from enemies, but not so far that they can easily outrun it. Proactively placing it just before an objective can help you zone, and placing it behind an enemy team (if you happen to be there) can cut off their means of escape. |
Tier Five - Level Thirteen
Recommended
Recommended
This talent provides Tychus with the healing he needs to sustain team fights and contest objectives. In conjunction with In the Rhythm, it’s possible to have ‘Minigun’ last a good portion of the team fight and keep you healed up as much as possible. Given that ‘Minigun’ is the main source of Tychus’ damage, healing 100% of that is something that you cannot pass up.
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Tier Six - Level Sixteen
Recommended
Recommended
Titan Grenade spells doom for warriors and heroes with large HP pools such as Azmodan and Stiches. 5% may not seem like much but when heroes have 5000+ health, it can add an unexpected amount of damage, especially if you ‘Frag Grenade’ more than one hero. Even against assassins and supports, the additional damage will net you more damage than the other talents at this level.
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Storm Tier - Level Twenty
Recommended
Recommended
This upgrade to Drakken Laser Drill is substantial because it drastically increases the zoning potential of your heroic. The increase to range and damage are immense and can deal devastating damage to unsuspecting heroes in team fights. This upgrade will allow you to place the Laser Drill at farther distances and the damage that increases as it is sustained will force opponents to retreat or take significant amounts of damage.
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Situational
This talent is a good alternative for level 20 but requires a great deal of experience with Tychus to pull off effectively. While this talent reduces the mana cost of ‘Run and Gun’, the more significant benefit is that it adds two additional charges to the ability. This means that you can escape/chase, kite or reposition all that much easier. Therefore, this talent’s utility can outclass the damage offered by Focusing Diodes in some situations. In combination with the Press the Advantage talent, you can maintain that larger attack range more often. In combination with the Dash talent, Bob and Weave makes you a very mobile character that can kite opponents.
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Ability Analysis:
‘Overkill’ is going to be primarily used for laning; however, this is also your tool for kiting the enemy (dealing damage to them as you move to/from them). Remember, you may use ‘Run and Gun’ while using this ability, which can be useful to aid kiting. This ability does less damage to a single opponent hero than your basic attacks with the ‘Minigun’ trait.
‘Frag Grenade’ is your long-range burst damage and disruptive ability. This ability will often be used to finish off opponents; however, a grenade that lands in front of the opponent can knock them backwards and allow you and your teammates to catch up to those who might have otherwise escaped. ‘Frag Grenade’ can travel over terrain and obstacles. Note, throwing a grenade does not cancel your ‘Overkill’ ability.
‘Run and Gun’ is the ability you will use to escape and chase enemy heroes. While you travel fast with the ability, you can’t go very far, making this ability useful for dodging enemy AOE (Area-of-Effect) abilities. This ability allows Tychys to pass through enemy heroes (useful if they are trying to body-block you) but does not allow you to pass through terrain. Note, you made use this ability while channeling ‘Overkill.’
‘Minigun’ will be your primary source of damage against single opponents. This ability is most effective on heroes with large health pools like warriors. Collecting stacks of the In the Rhythm talent is essential for increasing ‘Minigun’s’ duration and allowing you to maximize your damage output. With the That’s the Stuff talent, Tychus will be able to win duels against most heroes in the game. At all stages of the game, ‘Minigun’ will deal more damage to a single target than ‘Overkill’ so prioritize this ability whenever possible.
Early Game:
Tychus is the weakest in the early game because opponent’s health pools are low and you don’t have access to the talents that make Tychus the resilient duelist that he can be. You probably want to lane with someone else. In lane, keep your distance and harass the enemy with ‘Frag Grenade’. You shouldn’t run into any mana problems unless you’re overusing ‘Run and Gun’. Keep ‘Run and Gun’ available to escape enemy ganks. Use the knockback from ‘Frag Grenade’ and the threat of your ‘Minigun’ trait to keep melee heroes farther away. There is no need to push, play safe and soak experience.
On most maps the map objective starts between 2 and 3 minutes, around this time you'll be getting level 4 and picking up your talent 'In The Rhythm'. Utilize your ‘Minigun’ trait as much as possible to start building stacks on the In the Rhythm talent. Don’t let the stacks distract you from killing low health pool opponents but try to use it in teamfights as much as possible. Kite the enemy as much as possible and utilize abilities to deal AOE damage and effectively contest the objective.
Level 7 can mean different things depending on the map and your team’s progress. Focus on increasing your minigun duration further, this often means being a part of as many teamfights as possible (just don’t initiate them). Quarterback will really shine in this circumstance because you will be able to harass heroes more often and can secure kills in those teamfights. Just a note on mercenaries and Tychus, generally there are better heroes for doing mercenaries because Tychus cannot use ‘Minigun’ on them and his abilities are better for soaking.
Loose ability priority = Frag Grenade (to Harrass) > Minigun (for Stacks) > Overkill (to Lane) > Run and Gun (to Escape)
On most maps the map objective starts between 2 and 3 minutes, around this time you'll be getting level 4 and picking up your talent 'In The Rhythm'. Utilize your ‘Minigun’ trait as much as possible to start building stacks on the In the Rhythm talent. Don’t let the stacks distract you from killing low health pool opponents but try to use it in teamfights as much as possible. Kite the enemy as much as possible and utilize abilities to deal AOE damage and effectively contest the objective.
Level 7 can mean different things depending on the map and your team’s progress. Focus on increasing your minigun duration further, this often means being a part of as many teamfights as possible (just don’t initiate them). Quarterback will really shine in this circumstance because you will be able to harass heroes more often and can secure kills in those teamfights. Just a note on mercenaries and Tychus, generally there are better heroes for doing mercenaries because Tychus cannot use ‘Minigun’ on them and his abilities are better for soaking.
Loose ability priority = Frag Grenade (to Harrass) > Minigun (for Stacks) > Overkill (to Lane) > Run and Gun (to Escape)
Mid Game:
At level 10, Drakken Laser Drill as your heroic talent is going to open a wide range of versatility. Tychus is very strong at holding objectives at this stage and will be even better at the next talent tier. With your heroic, you can often hold objectives very effectively and feel free to use the ability to do so even though it has a 100 second cooldown. I would recommend use of the drill during teamfights but not during skirmishes or ganks just because teamfights often mean that heroes stay in one particular area whereas skirmishes and ganks allow the enemy to just run away from the drill. Try to get to objectives earlier so that you can set up a good defensive position.
At level 13, That’s the Stuff will essentially mean that you can contest an objective or solo heroes in duels as long as your ‘Minigun’ is active.
Loose ability priority = Minigun (for Sustain) > Frag Grenade (to Harrass & Secure Kills) > Drakken Laser Drill (to Contest Objectives) > Run and Gun (to Escape) > Overkill (to Lane)
At level 13, That’s the Stuff will essentially mean that you can contest an objective or solo heroes in duels as long as your ‘Minigun’ is active.
Loose ability priority = Minigun (for Sustain) > Frag Grenade (to Harrass & Secure Kills) > Drakken Laser Drill (to Contest Objectives) > Run and Gun (to Escape) > Overkill (to Lane)
Late Game:
At level 16, Titan Grenade will make Tychus an even bigger threat so you want to stay in the backline softening the enemy heroes up with frequent tosses. The percentage damage is devastating to tanks and things such as ‘Dragon Knight’ or ‘Garden Terror’.
Level 20 is when Tychus becomes very effective at zoning or becomes one of the most mobile heroes in the game, depending on the talent choice. With Focusing Diodes, Tychus can zone objectives very well; however, with Bob and Weave that gives access to three stacks of ‘Run and Gun’ and mana reduction to complement frequent use, you can effectively use ‘Run and Gun’ to chase, reposition in a teamfight, or escape.
Loose ability priority = Minigun (for Sustained Damage) > Frag Grenade (to Poke) > Run and Gun (to Chase & Escape) > Drakken Laser Drill (to Contest) > Overkill (to Lane only)
Level 20 is when Tychus becomes very effective at zoning or becomes one of the most mobile heroes in the game, depending on the talent choice. With Focusing Diodes, Tychus can zone objectives very well; however, with Bob and Weave that gives access to three stacks of ‘Run and Gun’ and mana reduction to complement frequent use, you can effectively use ‘Run and Gun’ to chase, reposition in a teamfight, or escape.
Loose ability priority = Minigun (for Sustained Damage) > Frag Grenade (to Poke) > Run and Gun (to Chase & Escape) > Drakken Laser Drill (to Contest) > Overkill (to Lane only)
Tips & Tricks:
⦁ Positioning is very important for Tychus because his abilities differ on range and he is liable to die if he gets too close to an enemy team. Use your judgement to position yourself accordingly but generally being mid-range (in front of support but behind tank) is a good default position.
⦁ Land ‘Frag Grenade’ behind an enemy to use the knockback to push them into you, rather than push them away. This can mean the difference between securing a kill and accidentally letting them escape.
⦁ Use ‘Overkill’ before securing the kill with ‘Frag Grenade’ to maximize the damage you can do.
⦁ Sometimes it’s more efficient (i.e. more damage) to use ‘Minigun’ and your auto-attack rather than using the ‘Overkill’ ability on a single target especially on tanks!
⦁ ‘Overkill’ is great for clearing waves by targeting the middle minion, just remember to retarget after each of your targets are killed.
⦁ ‘Minigun’ is most effective on warriors but also keep an open eye for heroes with large health pools (usually specialists and bruisers). Unlike most assassins, it’s okay for you to target these heroes.
⦁ It’s important to kite enemies’ heroes when you can. While it’s much harder to stutter-step (movement between attack animations), with ‘Overkill’ Tychus may move and may also use ‘Run and Gun’ to kite melee heroes during its duration.
⦁ Land ‘Frag Grenade’ behind an enemy to use the knockback to push them into you, rather than push them away. This can mean the difference between securing a kill and accidentally letting them escape.
⦁ Use ‘Overkill’ before securing the kill with ‘Frag Grenade’ to maximize the damage you can do.
⦁ Sometimes it’s more efficient (i.e. more damage) to use ‘Minigun’ and your auto-attack rather than using the ‘Overkill’ ability on a single target especially on tanks!
⦁ ‘Overkill’ is great for clearing waves by targeting the middle minion, just remember to retarget after each of your targets are killed.
⦁ ‘Minigun’ is most effective on warriors but also keep an open eye for heroes with large health pools (usually specialists and bruisers). Unlike most assassins, it’s okay for you to target these heroes.
⦁ It’s important to kite enemies’ heroes when you can. While it’s much harder to stutter-step (movement between attack animations), with ‘Overkill’ Tychus may move and may also use ‘Run and Gun’ to kite melee heroes during its duration.
Conclusion:
If you consider the two quest-type talents chosen at the earliest tiers and the percentage based talents at later tiers, you’ll come to the conclusion that Tychus is a late game hero. Tychus is one of those heroes that gets stronger the longer the game goes on. It’s important to maximize your early talents such as Dash and In the Rhythm without sacrificing experience or map objectives. Late game, rely upon ‘Minigun’ but be conscious of your ‘Run and Gun’ charges, you can quickly dominate the battlefield as one of Heaven’s Devils.
By Halfnhalf - Writer for Nihilism Gaming
By Halfnhalf - Writer for Nihilism Gaming