DrmDestryr,
I’ve been getting Blackheart’s Bay a lot and always feel lost. What do I do?
-YarHarr
Dear YarHarr,
You and me both, friend. You and me both. This past week of gaming set me up with more Blackheart than I’ve ever had before, and it can be frustrating - especially when you have a great start and lose it halfway through. So what gives? Why is this one more frustrating than the rest?
To start off, the map is huge. It is more open than the others and far more different (it is the only map to not take place in a forest, after all). Dragon Shire is just as big, but its objectives are not as spread out, and the overall pattern follows those of Cursed Hollow and the Mines. So, right off the bat, your plan is at a disadvantage because there really is no predictable plan of attack. Mercs drop coins as well as those four areas marked by green dots. There is one golem up top and a merc camp down below. To top it all off, the captain sits just below center, and the chests spawn in two different locations. This map, for all intents and purposes, is a clusterf*ck.
Alright, let’s accept that. This map is large and crazy. Good job. Gold star. So how do you combat making sense of an illogical map? You work as a team, of course. And not a split into two teams team. This is not a forest where you can send two top, two bottom, and one center. For this map, you have to always operate as a full unit. This is your sole advantage. Because there is so much ground to cover, chances are super high that if you run around by yourself, you will get ganked by at least two enemies. However, if you are riding around as a solid 4 or 5 person group, you increase the chances of catching an opponent unawares and laying some serious smackdown. If someone is calling shots (pinging mercs, pinging chests, etc), everyone should follow their lead. This is the worst map to play “who has the biggest ego” on because nowhere else is it more true that you need your team and your team needs you.
- DrmDestryr
DrmDestryr,
What do you think about Witch Doctor?
-Nazeebo1235
Dear Nazeebo1235,
I think the Witch Doctor is super cool and has unfair amounts of damage… if you spec him correctly, of course! Ever the specialist, you need to have plan of attack if you want to play him effectively.
His spiders, though cool, are not actually super powerful even when buffed with all the talents they could possibly get. It’s sad since this is his Q attack, mais c’est la vie, n’est-ce pas? I found his frogs to be the heaviest and most useful hitters. They poison, they are range, and you can choose a talent where they even have spiders explode out of them, technically rendering your spider jar redundant. Zombie Wall is the most powerful and, understandably, takes the most practice. Like Kerrigan’s Impaling Blades, Zombie Wall has a delay before it pops out of the ground. Buffed, it deals a lot of damage, but it doesn’t need talents to be super useful. It can be used as both offense and defense (either trapping someone or blocking a push) and is a great tower pusher. Also, Witch Doctor is one of the best merc grabbers in the game with a talent that bestows upon him the power to do more damage to mercs and creeps.
Play around with him and see if you can’t find other awesome ways to utilize his powers, but in general, he has the potential to be one of the heaviest damage dealers in the game and is a prime candidate for solo golem grabs.
-DrmDestryr
Ask DrmDestryr is your weekly Q&A/advice column for Heroes of the Storm. Have a question for DrmDestryr? E-mail her your mental musings at drmdestryr@gmail.com or send happy twoughts her way @DrmDestryr.