Hello, my name is Ashmaker and I have played quite a few MOBA's most notably League of Legends and DOTA 2. In DOTA I have not achieved any great accomplishments as I am still fairly new compared to most that play competitive and DOTA is probably the most complicated of MOBA's currently out.
In League of Legends I played since beta and have done quite well. During season 3 I achieved Platinum rating and during season 4 I finally peaked at Diamond 5 before quitting out of boredom for DOTA. Unfortunately ELO decay is a thing but I have not desire to return to League as the meta is just far to static and new ideas barely make an impact to the overall strategy of the game currently. My LOLKing history backs up being Diamond 5 btw for those that want to be all (LOL YEA I BET YOUR ELO DECAYED ***GG000T n00b).
I recently just picked up HOTS and wanted to make a guide for the very first character I ever played when I got into the game.
Raynor! Please keep in mind that I am still new to the game so others can and will be able to provide different and even better ideas.
Have you ever watched pro's play a MOBA or been in high ELO games? The players are CONSTANTLY doing something to improve their characters chances of winning (farm gold/level/siege/objective control) while dying very little. While playing Raynor and messing around with his talents I discovered this build really promotes that style of play. It is through his sustainability that is CONSTANTLY able to farm experience in lane, rotate to secure key objectives, and team fight well.
I truely believe this build is generally good in almost all situations although there may be situational aspects of one game that may promote other builds and that is certinly OK.
Stay active with this build,
Adrenaline Rush and
Vampiric Assault are very good at helping you avoid early ganks and getting you back into lane to continue fighting/keep your health up.
TIER 1 TALENT:
Give Me More!
Why: Give Me More! is flat out awesome!
Raynor is actually quite bad early game though he slowly evolves his skills into a neat total package. During the early game he is quite susceptable to ganks and a huge 50% increase to the healing from
Adrenaline Rush is awesome. This talent scales very well into the late game as well.
Other Choices: For the Tier 1 Talent...nothing really stands out to be honest. This is a very very good pickup and the other traits for Tier 1 are mediocre or down right bad.
TIER 2 TALENT:
Vampiric Assault
Why: Vampiric Assault really really helps your sustainability. It is perfect for healing back up after a hero has spent all their damage trying to kill you and amazing for topping back off after winning a fight for a key objective (example = Kings Crest map the dragon shrines are conveniently located next to the lanes. Often times after winning a duel or 2v2 in the lane for control of the shrine it is easy to head right back into lane and leech off the minions back to respectable health which can help you prepare for enemy rotations to try to secure the objective).
Other Choices: Tier 2 Talents are nothing short of excellent.
Quick Fingers and
Focused Attack are also great choices. The reason I prefer
Vampiric Assault is because sustainability and constant pressure are the theme for this build and because it scales very well as
Raynor's damage increases and
Giant Killer talent is grabbed.
TIER 3 TALENT:
Revolution Overdrive
Why:
Revolution Overdrive is fantastic and IMO a must have ability for the simple reason that it allows you great movement speed which is HUGE for disengaging/repositioning in team fights if you get dove or initiated on hard.
Other Choices: Nothing really in this category is more useful that Revolution Overdrive. Trust me on this one folks...I'm a doctor.
Heavy Ammo's bonus to structures is OK but not really all that special and as you get more powerful late game you will find yourself chasing folks so increased pushback is not desireable.
Searing Attacks is an OK skill but doesnt help with your mobility which is very lacking on
Raynor. It is a pretty solid damage increase but costs mana and you can often find yourself low/out of mana quickly if your not careful. If you have a solid team that can peel and CC well for you this may be a good choice but especially in public games you won't know how well your team is fighting or what skills people plan to take when it comes time to pick the TIER 3 TALENT.
TIER 4 TALENT:
Raynor's Raiders
Why: This ultimate is really good because of its versitility and flexibility. It is solid in team fights, excells in duels and small skirmishes and helps
Raynor and his team siege push like a boss.
Other Skills: So its not that
Hyperion isn't good...because it is! Hyperion can decimate an enemy team in a team fight under the right conditions. But the problem is that its not a very flexible skill. It travels in a predefined path allowing the enemy to move perpandicular to its direction of travel and disengage. It also is in constant motion and can travel past the enemy team or enemy structures wasting potential damage. Thus it can be often times unreliable. Raynor's Raiders on the other hand move as you command and with good speed. As such the raiders can and will be a constant threat for their duration to enemy players and their structures.
TIER 5 TALENT:
Giant Killer
Why: Decent damage boost against supports and carries and very useful against tanky targets. Synergizes well with
Vampiric Assault. A lot of folks will argue that team fighting/getting kills that important in HotS but I would argue that the longer the game goes on the more important it is. The respawn timers at endgame really become a problem and Giant Killer gives you very good team fight punch.
Other Choices: So a lot of people really like
Activated Rush. But I find that the passive trigger is more than fine. Additionally 15 seconds off the 45 second cooldown isnt enough to make it trigger more than once per team fight so there is no point in taking it for that reason either. I feel the 15 seconds of longer cooldown by not chosing their talen at the TIER 5 spot can be made up with better decision making...i.e. fall back go fight a mercenary camp close to your side, farm a lane that is pushed to your side, grab a well if your in dire shape and stay back until
Adrenaline Rush is close to finishing its cooldown. All in all, Common Sense and smart decision making IMO make Activated Rush pointless.
TIER 6 TALENT:
Bullseye
Why: If this talent is not chosen
Raynor has no CC. Crowd Control is very powerful and the increased damage and stun is too good to pass up. Stunning a key target during a fight helps your team a lot. The stun even though paired with a knockback can also help you catch up to targets. The downside is that this is a skill shot (although not hard to use) if you do miss then its wasted damage and CC.
Other Choices:
Executioner can be good if your team has a lot of CC and snares. It can also be good if paired with
The Art of War but again...you will have no hard CC if you dont choose Bullseye. Not worth it in most cases IMO.
TIER 7 TALENT:
Hel's Angels
Why: Boots your ultimate giving the Banshees cloak and more damage. Whats not to love? Makes them way harder to kill and decent boost to damage. "Yippee-ki-yay." & "Raiders Roll" apply here.
Other Choices:
Fury of the Storm is actually quite good too but I find Hel's Angels better for focusing the target you want dead immediately.
Bolt of the Storm is also quite a decent skill if your getting TURBO focused by the other team although a well placed Inspire should be able to get you to relocate for most cases.
Raynor is listed as an assassin but to me doesnt feel like an assassin in typical MOBA terms. To me an assassin is a high mobility high burst/sustained damage semi-carry. To me Raynor does not fit this discription. To me he plays like a classical attack damage (LoL) or agility carry (DOTA). He is not great early but scales well into the late game. His damage is more consistant sustained then burst and although he can reposition through the use of inspire he certinally is not a mobile hero.
Let me beat the dead horse one more time. Raynor when built in this way becomes a solid all around hero but not a master of any particular one thing. His final scoreboard numbers will often reflect this as he will post respectible Siege/Hero Damage/Experience gains but may or may not be the best in any of the categories for your team. All in all the combined effect of all categories is often astounding and can really push your team to overwhelming victory.
GENERAL EARLY GAME SUGGESTIONS
I recommend a lane partner. Raynor is at his worst at level 1 and caution should be taken. Having a good tank or support in lane can really help out. Stay active and soak the lane experience. Help harrass the enemy and move with your partner to secure objectives. Make good use of your leech, fountains, and Adrenaline Rush passive to stay in lane and help soak experience and gain control of objectives.
GENERAL MID GAME SUGGESTIONS
Continue to stay active at all times the less time you stay dead/going back to heal the better.
Revolution Overdrive,
Raynor's Raiders,
Giant Killer are big power boosts and you will feel yourself transition into a better dueler, pusher, team fighter. Be more aggresive to build dominanace if you can.
You can really bait assassins now with your passive heal and will often win duels if you can land your skill shot and create a bit of space.
GENERAL LATE GAME SUGGESTIONS
This is it you are quite powerful at this time and can have great impact on team fights. Your damage is solid and you can reposition well in team fights. You have CC! If your team is losing make sure your cooldowns are ready. Use them early and often to get more than one of each off if possible. If you wipe the enemy team DONT waste time getting mercs or healing you have skills/passive to heal you PUSH you are a pushing beast!
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