[Cross posting from another site that I initially posted that guide]

You've probably have heard that The Lost Vikings (TLV from now on) were the second most successful hero based on the findings of this website. Part of the reason why they were hit so hard with the Butcher patch.

Post Buthcer Patch Vikings, were the one hero that was affected the most by the patch notes and talent reshape. Truth is that TLV in the right hands was almost winning the game on its own (1-2 level difference in certain maps is a godsend gift for good players, and they can ride it to the end of the game). With Fast Restart removed, now splitting the Vikings on multiple lanes needs lots of baby sitting, since a dead viking will probably lose a full wave of minions. Especially Olaf, whose speed is really low.

Right now, Vikings are excellent for experience soaking. Leaving the rest of the team members, group up for doing something else. The only bad map for Vikings is Tomb of the Spider Queen because objectives happen on-lane, so you'll need good team coordination to run a good game in Tomb

You'd probably also heard that TLV are a pain in the butt to micromanage and correctly place and command, but they are very rewarding if you train with them. The actual truth for both statements is somewhere in the middle. TLV is (are) a hero that requires a good grasp of how the game mechanics work, and they unfortunately require your team-mates to know them as well. Namely:

1. Experience works with proximity. Be near a minion/tower/hero kill and ALL of your team gets the experience.

2. Threat also works with proximity. This is very important when you try to solo camps or bosses with TLV. Switching from Olaf to Baleog is paramount.

3. Body blocking. Mass is real in this game and TLV along with Azmodan have the biggest 'Hit box' in the game. This can be either good or bad, so it's up to you to make it an advantage instead of a disadvantage.

The main strength of TLV is that they can abuse the first point (Experience) like no other hero. They can spread out in multiple lanes, and get experience for the team just by being there. For this to be remotely useful, you'll need your team-mates to understand that they don't need to be in the lane to get experience, so they are better off doing something else.

Optimally, a split between two lanes is very good, and the best way in my experience is to use Erik in one and Olaf+Baleog in the other. This is due to the high movement speed difference between the two groups.

Use this knowledge in order to populate as many lanes as possible when objectives happen (Mines, Temples, etc) and generate an advantage in levels for your team. IF you manage to get to 10 before the other team, you are in an amazing spot, because you have a huge advantage in team fights (Heroics>No Heroics).

The bad thing about TLV is that they have no abilities in the skill bar when they start, so up to the midgame they are just an Auto-Attack bunch of funny looking sprites. If they are together they have good damage, but their survivability is ridiculously low, meaning that you won't see them bullying Assassins or tanks, but they just need to do their job and soak experience. From mid to late game, their strength rises proportionally due to the Raid Heroic or their Play Again use.

Before venturing in a per-map analysis of the basic Ability build for TLV, here's a couple of hints and tips for their gameplay:

1. Double tap 1,2,3 and the screen moves to Olaf, Baleog or Erik respectively;

2. You need a damaged viking to get to a fountain, but if one gets it all are healed;

3. Longship spawns either on Olaf if all Vikings are selected OR the selected viking. Keep Erik in a distance of the teamfight and select him before using Longboat. This will give the needed distance from the onslaught and you'll get two-three Mortar fires for free;

4. Jump! can break stuns, silences and slows if you select a Viking that is not stunned or silenced;

5. When you expect a team fight, select Olaf and move him forward, keeping Baelog and Erik in a distance. If you engage and press 4, then Erik and Baleog will engage from distance...which is safer;

6. Use Jump/Sprint (Go Go Go) to body block escaping healers/squishies or 'about to die' people;

7. When soloing camps, pick Olaf, charge in and then press 4 to have all of them hit the target. If it's a boss, the default range of engagement for Baleog and Erik, will mean that you only need to move Olaf out of the AoE. If you are good enough you can solo non-desert bosses by the time you get Jump. Just change Olaf with Baleog, and let Olaf regenerate before recharging. Then swap back. As long as Baleog tanks use Norse Force/Jump;

8. Expect a lot of flaming from people that have no clue what you are doing. I've seen that when I just inform people what I am about to do, they understand and help a lot. Always communicate if you are skipping an objective. After all, you aren't THAT big of an asset early, when your team is fighting for a tribute for instance;

I usually go for the 1UP build attached to this guide. Going through per tier:

Tier 1

Explosive Attacks

Makes Baelog a good AoE machine. This talent is in line with the general splitting strategy, making Baleog a good wave clearer.

Bribery is nice, but TLV have no problem getting mercenaries, and it also requires active killing of minions, whereas most times soaking means 'stealthing in a bush' while you are doing something else.

Tier 2

Pain Don't Hurt

Following the first talent, we keep boosting Baelog. Erik's talents are nice but Erik is your most mobile viking and the most probable to join an early fight or join the team for an objective. Both Erik's talent require him to be solo laner, which is feasible but you'd never want him stationary.

Tier 3

Spin To Win!

Although Norse force is OK, but Spin to win provides some teeth in your aggression. If you learn how to position your Vikings (triangularly body blocking), you can stop an enemy from moving while mitigating most damage to Olaf and your two damage dealers slowly taking chunks of life, until Spin To Win! ends it.

Late game is obviously great wave clearer, and nice for the middle of teamfights.

Notable mention, it's an at-will AoE, meaning that if you grow a keen-eye for Zeratul or Nova you can bring them out of stealth.

Tier 4

Play Again!

Note that Longboat Raid! is perfectly viable. Adds a health bar, does damage, zones people out, and it's generally a signature ability. However, Butcher patch brought the most dreadful change...the removal of Fast Restart.

You can't afford to lose Vikings here and there during the late game. Play Again is a channeled ability that revives, summons and fully heals ALL vikings at a targeted location, near a living viking. The idea is to have Erik ready to run and revive his friends in a safe place. You can do all types of tricks: Move your Vikings a la teleport, revive in a bush and go full counterattack or simply revive all your Vikings and rejoin the fight.

Tier 5

Jump!

Too important to pass. Tried the Nordic Attack Squad but it was never enough to justify picking it over Jump!.

Tier 6

Executioner

<--Edit

Many choices here. Executioner is amazing, so is Impatience. I am always torn between them. Usually I go for Impatience due to the importance of my Heroics and Jump.

Executioner is affected by Olaf's slow (per 6 seconds), and usually in a teamfight you'll always find someone that is either slowed, stunned or rooted. 40% more damage IS amazing.

Edit: I ran 10 games, 7 in HL and 3 in QM with Executioner. The Damage boost was amazing. Swapped it and never looked back.

Tier 7

Fury of the Storm

<--Edit

Two choices here. If you go aggressive with Play Again!, go with its enhance. Also, go Ship boost if you went Longboat Raid!.

If you go Executioner, go Fury of the Storm.

Blackheart Bay:

Take two lanes and suggest your team to focus middle. If they manage to control Doubloon handling while you soak, they can drive some initial teamfights while you are on two lanes getting experience. Group up at 10 if you have even a slight advantage, and stick with your team after that.

Cursed Hollow:

Split in all 3 lanes. Ask your team to go mid (faster access to Tribute) and join the first fight with Erik or completely skip first tributes while your team pokes the other people. If the first two tributes take 1-2 minutes and your teammates don't die a lot, then you'll have a huge level advantage meaning that you'll have the upper hand in teamfights. If you achieve a Curse, push all 3 lanes to soak the 1hp minions.

Dragon Shire:

One of the best maps to play TLV. As long as you can get your team to go bottom lane, dominate there, destroy the fountain. Move up do the same and stay there, if you soak the other two, and they do their work, the opposing team will have no fountains to run to in early and eventually you'll get Dragon Knights. Leave two Vikings in bushes near minion fights, press A+click the area of the minions and get the Knight with Erik. If you do this once, the level difference will get out of hand.

Garden of Terror:

Also a great map to get TLV. You'll need to split in all lanes, and during night time, leave two Vikings in the bushes near the fighting minions and use Erik to follow the team around, poking bosses and shamblers. Control the Garden terror with Erik and leave your team group up and ride the level difference.

Haunted Mines:

It's a trick map for TLV, mostly due to the fact that you'll almost always face a Sylvanas in those games. The two lane mode means that you'll get less exp, and if Sylvanas pushes while Mines are open, you'll need to annoy her. The idea is that when Mines happen, Baleog and Olaf soak two lanes, while Erik runs with the team collecting skulls and poking enemies. If Sylvanas/Azmodan is there, get both Baleog and Olaf in her/his lane, and try to stop her/his push.

Sky Temple:

Good map. Communicate with your team. Tell them to go top (where the Bruisers are, and where first temples open up). You go the other two lanes and stick there. Your team should only contest the top temple and push the top fort as hard as they can. When this ends, Erik moves top, and your team goes bottom lane (next temple). You continue to soak the other two, and join the fight for the bottom temple. The layout of the map is amazing for flanking, so use the bushes to get Baleog and Erik in, while Olaf charges. If the opponent moves towards your vikings, run away with Olaf and start attacking with the other two. Body blocking is amazing in this map.

Tomb of the Spider Queen:

Bad map for TLV. I usually go two lane split, relieving a group member from laning duty and ask him to push top or bottom. The idea is to follow each Spider wave with one Viking when this happens to push for as long as they live. In general when your team groups up, follow them and try to cover as much area for experience.

Battlefield of Eternity:
TLV are nice on the new map, due to the fact that lanes are usually ignored when the Immortals spawn. here you need to go Olaf top, Baleog/Erik bottom. When Immortals spawn, get Erik to middle joining your team and leave the other two soaking. You'll be surprised for how long people will ignore the two Vikings. Most of the times, we end up 8-6 while fighting on the first immortal. If you get the objective, split push and make the leveling snowball.

HOTSLOGS shows that post Butcher patch the Vikings have been hit both in popularity and win rate. It's an expected outcome of the large amount of nerfs, and most importantly the removal of Fast Restart, making their soaking potential much much tougher. I'll play devil's advocate and say that the Vikings could see the nerfs coming, because in the hands of a good player and most importantly a good team, the level difference granted by multi lane soaking is insane.

Right now, they are one of the most difficult heroes to coordinate and play successfully and I am unsure if they are worth the trouble. If you like them, then definitely give them a shot. They have a difficult learning curve, but they are really rewarding, especially when paired with a team that knows how to play with them.

Thanks for taking the time to read and make sure that you keep an eye for Click3r's guide which is constantly updated. It was the inspiration for me to get and learn how to play with TLV.