I was looking around and seeing if anything had changed for builds on nova. What I found was very disappointing to me. I haven't played enough since the resets on hero league and so am still fighting to get back to rank 1, but I was rank 1 prior to that reset. I tend to prefer some of the better heroes no one else looks at. I was playing and winning well over 60% of my matches with Sonya before the buffs also leading the charts in hero damage, take downs and siege damage all the while only taking 1 or 2 deaths at most. Nova is my second most played hero next to sonya and I have more takedowns and less deaths with her (as should be expected).
This is the first guide for HoTS that I have written, I always intended to, but the knowledge provided by others as well as the talent picks and why always were top notch or close enough that another guide would be redundant. So please forgive the appearance possibly not being as professional as others.
Level 1:
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Used within 1 second of becoming uncloaked or while cloaked it deals an additional 20% damage. If you don't deal enough damage, get away, and set up for another attack, you are being ineffective. |
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Dealing with every other talent at this level does not help damage. The only other possibility here would be conjurer's pursuit for extra mana, but you are not a sustained damage hero, hit and get out means by the time you run out of mana the team fight should be over good or bad. |
Level 4:
There have been quite a few changes to Gathering Power over time, now it is currently 1% per take down up to 15% and losing half on death. This only applies to ability damage and not basic attacks, however 15% especially when combined with the other 20% from level 1 means a lot of damage from snipe.
The only other viable option here would be Envenom, again the focus needs to be on damage, bursting down a hero so that your team can finish them off, or finishing off a hero that your team has weakened. Envenom brings a lot of damage to the table, for me though it is a secondary to Gathering Power only because it is over 10 seconds, which is a long time that their support can save them or they get to a well. As well as it is 10 seconds in which they could be dead.
The other options here just aren't very useful, deploying a decoy farther away still lets them know you are within range to strike and deploying a decoy too often can deplete your mana very quickly. The refund on mana from snipe looks very good, but if you need that extra mana your team has been in a fight for way too long and you haven't been doing your job very well.
Level 7:
250% damage is huge, and again your job is to burst someone down and get out of there. Time spent auto attacking 3 times is that much time for the enemy team to re-engage on you, which is never good. If you're lucky you could get 2 normal auto attacks off before you have to hightail it out of there.
One in the chamber is the other option, dealing 80% additional damage for your basic attack after using an ability. This allows you to keep the attack speed before this while still being able to output a lot of damage if used correctly.
The other 2 options here do not fit in with the play style for Nova. The burst radius from Explosive Round may hit another hero or 2 if you are lucky, and is something more likely used for wave clearing, which Nova should never be doing. The goal is to burst a single hero down, splash damage doesn't help against that one target. Covert Ops merely increases the slow of Pinning Shot, which already will slow a hero and allow you to catch up.
Level 10:
Precision strike is a very useful skill, with global range you can help a teammate on the other side of the map. There are many uses: zoning, damage, finishing a fort. You can't think of Precision Strike merely for killing an enemy, while yes the damage is very good, chances are you won't hit all 5 of the enemy unless they are stuck in a mosh pit or timed well with a Void Prison or Maw of some such. Pinning Shot will allow you to be more successful landing this on a hero since the slow makes it harder to escape. However you can also push a team back from an objective, such as fighting over a boss capture, either they all get hit hard or they back away from it. Chasing, the 2 evils, be caught by the enemy or get killed by the nuke. Precision Strike has high AOE damage and cannot be interrupted.
This used to be my go to, but once I used Precision Strike more I realized how one dimensional and easy to stop Triple Tap really is. The burst is insane against a single target, and combined with Fast Reload at level 20 you could clear an entire team in a team fight with no chance of escape. That being said, it is a channeled ability, meaning any stun will interrupt it as well as you are stuck in 1 spot exposed for the entire time. Any form of invincibility will stop this ability, rendering it useless. Ice Block and Divine Shield for example. And any other object can block the shot, a hologram from the opposing Nova in the way, another hero, a gate. In higher levels of play with an organized team, the chances of successfully getting all 3 shots of Triple Tap on the same target before you are dead or stunned out of it are very slim.
Level 13:
Advanced Cloaking is the go to here for several reasons. The first being mobility. Just because you have cloaked doesn't mean they won't still chase you and try to kill you. Quicker re-positioning for team fights. Chasing that almost dead hero before they can get to safety and hearth. The main reason is for escapes, time and time again they will know where you are at even while cloak has reengaged. But if you can dodge enough to get that stealth back up you can outdistance them and run a direction they didn't predict. Or just barely be out of range of their attack to uncloak you again. On top of this while cloaked you regenerate health, by the time you are back in position for the team fight you are at the least at a survivable level of health without wasting mana from your support. The sustain from this means you only need to hearth when you have no mana.
Lethal Decoy is the only other option here with decent capabilities. The use is 2 fold, the first is the distraction of your decoy becomes greater when they are taking damage, possibly drawing more attacks and abilities away from other teammates. The second use is for the damage itself, when positioned correctly adding to the burst damage on a target, if even slightly meaning the difference between a takedown or not.
Headshot reduces the ability cooldowns when you kill someone and Spell Shield will reduce the incoming ability damage on you. If you need Spell Shield you are playing wrong, exposing yourself at inopportune times. The reduction of ability timers is potentially good, but after you expend your abilities you need time to escape, re-position and attack again. By this time your abilities should be off cooldown or almost. As well as there will be many times when you need to be the one doing the initial burst damage and not be waiting for half health to kill.
One last note here, Spell Shield is situational, if a Zeratul is hunting you down or the moment you expose yourself you are being bursted by Jaina, then Spell Shield could save your life.
Level 16:
This is where Nova truly shines, at level 16 Crippling Shot becomes available, making all other damage on that target increased by 25%. Not just for you, but all teammates hitting that target. This gives an additional 25% damage to Snipe with an already increased 20% damage and 15% damage assuming you took Ambush Snipe and Gathering Power and haven't died too much. As well as the 250% basic attack follow up with the added 25% damage on it. This will take out anything short of a tank that isn't quite at full health in a matter of seconds.
There is no reason to choose anything else here, however for other options Double Fake can be fun and can add more confusion to the enemy team, drawing more fire away from you and your teammates, especially used with Lethal Decoy and Rewind at level 20 you can do quite a lot of damage from these Decoys.
Overdrive is one I have never used but looks promising in certain situations. The reason I have never used this is because of the increase of mana, and I personally never have any mana to spare while playing Nova. Railgun is also a fun one and can help against a team, adding more overall damage, but less to a single target. Again Nova excels at single target burst damage, to not play to this strength and spreading out your damage, it will lessen Nova's effectiveness.
Level 20:
Level 20 is a very difficult choice and very situational. If you are being targeted after being exposed, having difficulty escaping and dying often this will be what you need to get no matter what. Even at times when I am not dying often, this can still be used as a chase, quick repositioning to finish a target and it is never a bad choice.
Rewind is great, extra decoys, second set of abilities to use instantly. I once finished an enemy core with the rest of my team dead and me about to die thanks to this added burst of damage as well. If you have no problem surviving and are not being targeted too much, then this is the go to talent.
Precision Barrage has it's uses, a second nuke seconds after the first in case the first didn't do the job, they are almost dead but retreating, your team can't quite get the kills and they are ALL almost dead. However if you can't quite get the kill with your team, you aren't playing Nova correctly, Advanced Cloaking allows you to chase to at least finish 1 if not 2 as they are retreating and 1 nuke should be enough to do the job if you waited for the right time.
Fast Reload is great for chaining those kills together, allowing for no escape at all. But one surviving, a single interruption before they die and it is a wasted talent. There is no need to say more on this than what was said at level 10.
Early Game:
This is where you should be roaming, looking for those chances to help your team push a lane by eliminating a hero or forcing them to hearth. Never stick to the same lane for long, it is always tempting to say, almost got them this last time next time for sure! And in some cases they will hit the well and come straight back out, allowing you to finish the job. But they now know which lane you are in, who is being targeted, and will be doubly cautious until they know you are somewhere else. That time spent in a single lane is time that you could have eliminated someone else somewhere else at the very least helping that other lane for fear of a cloak.
Mid Game:
This is where it can be a little tricky team fights are starting to happen objectives, you need to stick with your team. Scouting the positions without exposing yourself too much, finding where the enemy is and helping give extra vision. This is where you can sneak in and check the boss without too much worry and maybe get a kill while your team comes. No one has great escapes yet and until level 13 your mobility is limited. Exposing yourself without a fully committed team can force an engagement that you didn't want to happen or leave you isolated from the rest of your team for a free kill for them.
Late Game:
Level 16 is where Nova truly shines, picking up anything that is even slightly exposed and still with the ability to escape. Still need to be fearful for heroics such as Judgement or The Hunt, but other than that your speed while cloaked gives you great harassing ability. Still keep scouting for your team, information is everything. If you know where they are the team can choose where they want to fight and where they don't. Picking off any Hero that isn't with their team, and escaping before back up arrives. Pick your targets, know who your priority is and find the best place to attack from while not exposing yourself too much.
The higher up you climb the more everyone will be able to see where you are, being on the other side of the map even while cloaked is asking for death.
Get used to Pinning Shot immediately followed by Snipe, hitting your target with Snipe is what most important thing, without that you have no burst.
Generally throwing out a Decoy right before engaging most players will either ignore you not knowing which to go after or they will attack the decoy.
Any good player knows that most Novas will deploy a Decoy before exposing themselves so mix it up and deploy the decoy AFTER you expose yourself if they are wise to the strategy.
Even if your decoy does no damage, the Pinning Shot it uses can still slow an enemy and it will dismount them as well. This can allow you time to catch up while chasing, or give you more time to escape.
Throwing out a Decoy without exposing yourself can still help your teammate escape, many players will immediately switch to Nova if they think they've found her.
Sometimes it is better for you to quickly engage at the beginning of the fight, not that you will kill anyone, but it will help the rest of the team quickly burst them down or draw the support into using abilities on the hero while your team focuses someone else. This will also allow you to have a greater presence in team fights, doing more damage and after that initial engage re-cloaking and finding your next target to help kill.
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