Introduction Top
Tychus
Tychus Findly is a big man with a big ego and even bigger gun. Fortunately enough, his loyalty is easily won. Buy him a whiskey or three and promise him enough credits, and there's no job in the whole universe too dangerous for this outlaw.
Tychus's Pros and Cons
Pros:
-Very Strong AOE damage.
-Fast auto attack speed.
-Strong Trade potential.
-Very strong kite potential.
-Fast wave clear.
-Good siege potential.
Cons:
-Wind-up on AA.
-Ultimates have small setup time.
-Medium attack range.
-Squishy without second life pool from Odin.
-Poor mobility.
CrsGazwaz
CrsGazwaz plays heroes of the storm professionally on (TeamCurseGaming) as the specialist/assassin role. He has dedicated himself to understanding the aspects of multiple heroes such as Tychus and applying their traits at a high level of play.
Abilities Top
Combat Trait
Minigun
After a brief wind-up, Tychus gains increased attack speed making him capable of high single target damage. The major drawback to mini-gun is that it increases the effectiveness of stuns against Tychus due to it's wind-up mechanic.
(Q)
Overkill
Overkill allows Tychus to move freely while shooting his mini-gun for several seconds, dealing full ability damage to the selected target and half of the abilities damage to nearby enemies. The best thing to do with overkill is to use it while kiting the enemy or chasing down a target as it will help you come out ahead trades.
(W)
Frag Grenade
This ability is the bread and butter of "Nade Tychus", frag grenade can be used to siege, wave clear, disrupt channels, initiate, and disengage all very effectively. The overall purpose of this ability is to focus on disrupting specific targets at the right time, like a Nazeebo channeling ravenous spirit or a hammer that you want to knock away from the fight.
(E)
Run and Gun
Run and gun is a very short ranged dash, and is Tychus's only form of gap close pre level 20. This ability acts more like a dodge over an actual escape, but what it lacks in distance gaining it makes up for in utility. Run and gun can be used to skip the wind-up process on
Minigun, and allow Tychus to instantly resume auto attacking. I recommend using this ability after being stunned to recover your AA, and also to dodge major enemy abilities such as Falstad's shock and awe.
Talent Breakdown Top
YES
Armor Piercing Rounds: Overall this talent is most beneficial for tier 1, it empowers Tychus's Q increasing his damage which in turn gives Tychus a stronger early game and trade potential in lane.
NO Shredder Grenade: This talent acts like training wheels for
Frag Grenade. As you progress in learning how to properly aim Tychus’s frag grenade you also cancel out the need for shredder grenade.
NO Dash: The increase is only 25% which is nothing due to the base distance you have to work with on run and gun. Dash just would do little to nothing for amplifying Tychus's kit.
NO Regeneration Master: Tychus's life pool is not big enough to reap the benefits of this talent.
NO Scouting Drone: This talent is just not very good to begin with, but i suggest not taking it because, it does not fulfill the assassination role. Scouting drone simply is out weighed by the other talents in this tier.
YES
Melting Point: This talent on its own provides Tychus with incredible siege and pushing capabilities. You will mainly want to focus on harassing enemy fortifications and pushing minion waves as much as possible while in lane.
NO Vampiric Assault: This talent may seem useful due to Tychus's attack speed but the health return per hit is hardly relative due to his low AA damage as well as him being medium ranged which makes it more difficult to have the necessary uptime to benefit from the vamp.
NO Focused Attack: This talent does not go well with Tychus even though it benefits from attack speed. Focused attack is not as beneficial for Tychus because the increased damage from the talent is small and even smaller with Tychus's low base damage.
NO Spray 'n' Pray: The benefit of this talent simply does not add very much to Tychus’s kit. The increased range is nice but not needed since you are able to move while channeling Overkill.
YES
Quarterback: This talent is desperately needed for "Nade Tychus" as it increases consistency with grenade and allows Tychus to hit targets in the back line of the enemy team like Nazeebo or hammer.
NO Rapid Fire requires you to stick on a target for 3 consecutive seconds in order to obtain the increased attack speed. This makes it a difficult talent to use in team fights, However rapid fire is good for increasing clear time on merc camps and pushing down structures.
NO First aid: This talent is based upon your current team composition and should only be picked in a situation where you have no healer and your chances of playing to the talent build you originally were going for no longer seems optional. However you lose a very important talent for “Nade Tychus†so I do not recommend taking first aid.
NO Searing attacks: A really good talent due to Tychus's attack speed but in order to make “Nade Tychus" work you really need that increased range from quarterback.
YES
Commandeer Odin: A very versatile heroic ability. With Odin Tychus gains a secondary life pool allowing him to absorb damage in the front line if needed. In addition Tychus gains 2 AOE abilities and a devastating AA. The con of this talent is that you have to suit up before battle (you gain the secondary life pool before you finish channeling the suit up animation). The best way to use this ability is to anticipate a fight and suit up right before it happens or if you get caught off you will want to use Odin to extend your life to possibly escape.
SITUATIONAL
Drakken Laser Drill: A good heroic ability choice for when you need to focus more on using your frag grenade to disrupt. The drill excels at pushing and zoning enemies but the cons are that it has low life and pre 20 it has low range. I highly suggest taking this ult when you are up against high priority grenade targets, for they will attempt to wait for you to cast Odin so you cannot disrupt them with grenade. With the Drill you no longer have this problem : ) (Priority targets listed in tips section)
YES
Lead Rain: This talent adds a stacking slow effect to Tychus's overkill ability. What makes lead rain so good is that you are able to slow down multiple enemies while moving. This directly buffs your ability to kite targets and chase them down.
NO Stim pack: This talent does not really go hand and hand with "Nade Tychus" while it is a great talent, it suits more of an auto attack based build.
NO Relentless: can potentially be good depending on the enemy team composition. If the enemy team has a lot of CC and you are not confident in you're positioning skills than I would suggest taking this talent, otherwise stick with lead rain.
SITUATIONAL
Giant Killer: is only good if the enemy team is beefy. This talent synergizes well with your Odin's AAs and will help you get through the big guys. (I heavily recommend if the enemy team is beefy to take this over Lead Rain).
Yes
Concussion Grenade: makes “Nade Tychus" ridiculous in terms of disengage and engage. With Concussion grenade you increase the knock-back of the grenade by 100% which is great for launching sieged up hammers into your team and charging Uthers away.
NO Lock and Load: The extra movement speed gained from lock and load is nice, but in order to obtain it you must have the mini gun wound up, this results in an inconsistent speed boost which you won't have up when you need it.
NO Executioner: Again another great talent but for a different build. As for “Nade Tychus†build you spec more into the utility over the offensive talents.
SITUATIONAL
Stoneskin: Is good when you are getting blown up and are the focus of the enemy team. At T16 you should be able to judge if you are winning or losing the game and from that point is where you determine if you need this talent or not.
SITUATIONAL
Bolt of the Storm: This talent is great for repositioning yourself for better frag grenades or to escape/catch up to the target.
SITUATIONAL
Focusing Diodes: Is an excellent upgrade to the drill as it significantly increases the range and damage of the drill. This upgrade will allow you to place your drill in a safe place so it does not get killed while still being able to target the enemy back line.
SITUATIONAL
Big Red Button: A good talent as it increases your zone potential with Odin by giving you a long ranged AOE ability which deals high damage to all targets in the vicinity. The only con is that the ability is easy to dodge making it a much better talent to take with a wombo style team.
NO Fury of the storm: A decent talent with Tychus's fast attack speed and hard hitting Odin AA but overall this one cannot compare to the other upgrades in the tier.
Early-late game Top
Lane Phase
Tychus excels at being a lane bully. Once you've reached T4 and have acquired
Melting Point you will want to focus on harassing enemy fortifications and pushing waves with it, a couple of grenades will dwindle down enemy minions and towers. Once you get past the towers you will always want to target the well and get it down ASAP. Given Tychus's pushing capabilities he is a viable solo-laner if needed. Just watch out when pushing lanes for enemy ganks as Tychus's mobility is more limited than most heroes.
Mercenary Camps
Tychus is to squishy early on to clear camps by himself, he should have someone with him to help, however he has excellent cleave damage when it comes to doing the camps. The best thing to do is position Tychus to hit as many mercs as possible with
Overkill and kite them to reduce damage to you with
Frag Grenade and during the channel of
Overkill.
Objective play
During middle- late game you will be playing for your merc camps, enemy merc camps, and neutral objectives. Which means you will almost always be with your team. In order to play to your aspects your role will be to disrupt channels and force out enemies with
Frag Grenade. For instance If a hammer is dug in on an objective force her to reposition by knocking her away giving your team more ground to advance upon.
Team Fights
At this stage of the game you will encounter more team fights... and Tychus excels at disrupting them. This phase normally takes place during level 10 and up, so at this point you would have had to determine what ultimate you will need against the enemy team. Depending on the ult, if you selected
Drakken Laser Drill your typical game plan will be to put the laser down during the fight in a position to affect the most important relevant targets, simultaneously you will want to be watching for those specific targets to disrupt with your grenade. If you selected
Commandeer Odin you will want to try to anticipate the fight and suit up before it happens. Once suited up you have a secondary life pool so you are able to prolong your assault and get to the enemies in the back line.
Map specific strategies Top
Cursed Hollow
In this map it is wise to get camps before a tribute spawns in order to have something pressuring the enemies while the battle for tribute goes on. As Tychus you will either help your team clear camps or keep a lane balanced out so the enemy team is forced back to soak Exp and defend lane instead of hunting your team while they do camps. The major thing to remember is to use your grenade to push enemies off a tribute or away from one in order for your team to gain ground.
BlackHeart's Bay
Tychus is very strong on this map due to the map mechanic. The chests are easily cleared in seconds with Tychus's AA. For an even quicker clear use you’re OverKill ability on chests. Also worth noting when you pay your coins to BlackHeart and he downs a fort or keep to low life you can lob a couple of frag grenades with
Melting Point for an easy secure on it. If you are stationed middle lane with Tychus after taking out the chest focus on taking down just 1 tower middle and BlackHeart will completely take the fort once paid. If it is too dangerous to directly assault a tower once you have pushed a wave up than clear a green camp on your side or capture the watchtower while the enemy clears the push.
Dragon Shire
On Dragon Shire the map objective comes up early and stays up until a team claims it. As Tychus you will want to always be pushing the wave and assaulting the enemy heroes to increase your chances of getting the Shrines. Tychus's pushing abilities come in handy on this map as the sooner you can get the well the faster the enemy cannot contest the shrine. Once you obtain the dragon knight you or your teammate will want stay back and split push to maximize Exp gain while the other one helps the dragon knight push a lane. If you want to secure a giant camp bot lane make sure the shrine top or bot lane are secure while you capture the camp. A tip worth noting is that you can tag the merc camp before your team gets the dragon knight and the camp will not disappear while they are the dragon knight.
Garden Of Terror
Tychus is quite good on this map as GOT seems to revolve around pushing and clearing. What you will want to do as Tychus is push with merc camps and pressure the enemy in a lane while some of your teammates rotate from merc camp to map objective. The enemy team will likely do the same or try and gank the lane that you are pushing, So watch the mini map and try to anticipate the enemies position. The most important thing to remember is to try and get a camp safely before the enemy gets theirs, that way they have to clear camps while your team secures them resulting in you obtaining more of the neutral objectives.
Haunted Mines
Early game capture your watch tower, communicate with your team and try to get giants before the mines open to distract them while you and your team collects skulls. You will want to focus on the map objective over everything else on this map. The Skulls are the number one priority so go in as 5 with your team and collect as many as you can and prepare to meet the enemy. If you cannot contest the mines the alternative strategy would be to get what mercs you can and push down what you can. Once they get all the skulls you will want to either ambush them as they will follow their golem but never fight them right under the golem as it will CC you. If your team gets a significant skull advantage make sure to group up and push but watch out for ganks by the enemy team as you push.
Priority targets to grenade
High - Take
Drakken Laser Drill for these targets.
Medium - The choice really depends on if your team comp needs the beefiness from
Commandeer Odin if they do then take it. If they do not need it, go with
Drakken Laser Drill
Low - Completely up to what you feel is going to work best, But i suggest
Commandeer Odin because it is op : )
High -
Nazeebo - As he cast
Ravenous Spirit.
High -
E.T.C - Save Grenade for when he cast
Mosh Pit.
High -
Tyrael - Save Grenade for when he cast
Sanctification.
Medium -
Sgt.Hammer - While in
Siege Mode, displace her to your benefit.
Medium -
Falstad - When he attempts to cast
Aerial Blitzkrieg.
Low -
Uther - Before he gets in range to use
Divine Storm.
Low -
Kerrigan - When she pops
Maelstrom, try and knock her away from your team.
Low -
Stitches - Using the frag grenade on stitches will cancel out his
Hook ability.
Low -
Zagara - Save Grenade when she attempts to escape with
Nydus Network.
Low -
Valla - Save Grenade for Valla when she channels
Strafe.
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