Tychus is an interesting hero. I feel that although there are people that agree with his auto-attacks being strong, they don't pick talents to make it worthwhile. Popular builds seem to focus on building his Q or W ability with generic talents to improve survivability because it is the safest way to dole out damage for a very vulnerable hero. I know that there are Basic Attack builds that already exist for Tychus. Thee purpose of this build is to provide insight as to why it is viable because there seems to be a lot of hate for Basic Attack builds. Although, I understand the reasoning behind it; I feel that most haven't bothered to make a thorough analysis. So this is my explanation as to what makes the auto-attack build a viable option if not at times superior to the conventional builds that exist. *Note: The Butcher Patch saw the nerf to Frag Grenade and buff to Tychus' Basic Attack Range, which has overall increased the viability of the Basic Attack build.

This is a guide that mostly caters to those who are already familiar with Tychus; therefore, I will only be giving a quick rundown of his abilities and how they are used in regards to this build.

(Q) Overkill: You do slightly less damage to a single target and only half the damage to nearby enemies. It is a strong ability, but in reality Tychus will do more damage to a single target with his Basic Attacks than through his Q. In general, assassins primarily seek to take out at least one enemy hero to apply pressure to the enemy team. Tychus should only rely on Q to kite or when the enemy team is group together and there are no viable individual target to attack. Keep in mind that this is an ability that has a long cooldown, can be easily interrupted, can be evaded by any hero with an escape, and leaves Tychus only slightly less vulnerable than if he were using his Basic Attacks.

(W) Frag Grenade: Overall it does nice damage and can interrupt stationary channeling abilities. I see it most often used as a finisher or to quickly clear a wave (as it pretty much one-shots minion waves in the late game).

(E) Run and Gun: This is the only way for Tychus to evade anything. It is not as strong as Valla's Vault or Falstad's Barrel Roll, but it can be the life or death of him when dodging a skill shot. It is important to remember that it winds up your Minigun to max speed, and this effect should be taken advantage of in opportune situations.

(Trait) Minigun: Since it is his trait, Tychus is reliant on his Basic Attacks and it makes little sense to not build up the primary attribute of this Hero.

(R1) Commandeer Odin: Overall Odin is not a bad pick, but it loses a lot of the a benefits and synergy that you get from your other talents. The only positive to Odin is that it does give improved range and two nice AOE damage abilities. There are a lot more negatives. You lose minigun, the Odin's replacement abilities only do roughly 30% more damage than grenade combined, you become a larger target without the ability to kite anymore, and Odin receives no lifesteal from Vampiric Assault that this build relies on Vampiric Assault to maintain Tychus' sustainability.

(R2) Drakken Laser: This is the better choice because you sacrifice nothing, but simply gain some additional pressure. You can use also use it wisely to body block or soak skill shots. With the Butcher Patch buff to targeting on Summons after Hero death, this ability is even more attractive now.

Level 1: Regeneration Master

It is the only talent that I bother with because it gives you a consistent benefit throughout the game, and helps Tychus' survivability and sustainability. Armor Piercing Rounds are not all that great. They only give 20% more damage that means at lv 10, Tychus gains approximately 200 additional damage and less than 400 at lv 20. Furthermore, it does not increase the splash damage, which is one of the primary motivations to use this ability over Basic Attacks aside from kiting. The improvements to grenade and dash aren't worth it. There are no grenade talents that improve damage to Heroes or reduce its cooldown so it is not worth it to invest in Frag Grenade. You should also not bother investing into Run and Gun because Tychus is all about holding his ground and melting an enemy hero with his Minigun. If you wanted to poke with his abilities and run to safety, then there are plenty of other heroes that do this and do it far better. Scouting Drone makes little sense for an assassin hero because vision should fall onto the shoulders of your supports.

Level 4: Vampiric Assault

Working in tandem with Regeneration Master, Tychus' sustainability is significantly improved to the point where he can go head-to-head with most heroes and solo mercenary camps/objectives. At this stage, Tychus becomes very powerful in 1v1 lane situations, but keep in mind burst assassins, heroes with blind/evasion, and stunlockers will always be a problem (to be fair they are problem for most squishy assassins anyways). You do not want focused attack because the sustainability is more useful. The additional range on Q is only useful when you are using your Q ability, and the range is often negligible (most useful during a chase, which is highly risky for a squishy assassin). Melting Point is pretty strong, but since it adds no value against enemy Heroes it should not be taken (you are not a specialist, you are an assassin).

Level 7: Rapid Fire

This is a pretty controversial talent tier because while most people would be fine with the first two talents, a lot would disagree with the decision here. I chose Rapid Fire because it is increases Tychus' damage output as well as his sustainability due to Vampiric Assault. The more popular choice for this talent tier is to get First Aid. On a low hp hero like Tychus, First Aid often translates to being comparable to a heal from Malfurion. It is not much, but it does offer a better rate of healing for the time it is active than Rapid Fire will. The catch is that First Aid still works as a heal over time, therefore Tychus will likely get bursted down if it was the intention of the enemy team. Furthermore, it does not provide enough recovery for Tychus to re-enter a team fight without the help from your team's support anyways. Its biggest drawback is that in the short term, it provides better healing but in the longer engagement Rapid Fire wins out. First Aid's cooldown of 60 seconds is not worth better healing over 6 seconds for a comparative loss of dps. Regarding the other talents, do not bother with grenades and sizzling attacks is the other end of the spectrum where you get better dps for a few seconds, but with no sustainability.

Level 10: Drakken Laser

I already explain above why the Drakken Laser Drill is better than the Odin.

Level 13: Problem Solver

This should be a no-brainer for a Basic Attack Build. With Tychus' ridiculous attack speeds, Problem Solver will often deal damage equal to 2.5-3.5% of an enemy hero's health per second. Although this does not have synergy with Vampiric Assault, it makes Tychus able to facetank warriors and melt high health heroes (barring he does not get stun-locked).

Level 16: ?

There is a lot more flexibility in this tier because your core talents have all been picked. I used to choose Lock and Load frequently because you can now chase down any hero while continuously firing. Another benefit is that the movement speed boost helps in dodging enemy abilities (namely Kael'thas' Flamestrike) without using Run and Gun. Executioner is powerful in a team with a lot of cc because you are getting a huge boon in damage as well as it having synergy with Vampiric Assault. This is a must pick for a team with roots, roots are Tychus' friend, an enemy hero rooted most often means death. Another talent to look into would be Stoneskin for additional survivability. My only issue with this talent is that because of Tychus' low health pool it will probably protect you from one Assassin ability or two weaker basic abilities.

Level 20: Nexus Frenzy

You can take your pick on this talent tier as well, but Nexus Frenzy provides additional synergy to your entire you build. With additional range and attack speed, you gain more sustainability and damage. Drakken Laser upgrade is also something to consider if you find yourself no longer able to maintain enough pressure to safely attack. Bolt of the Storm always has its uses as well, but overall improving Tychus' staying power is phenomenally better than him being able to run and become removed from the fight anyways.

Tychus is all about his basic attacks, as an assassin you should be maximizing your damage output. At times the more conventional Q build does appear safer, but it does significantly less damage. You have to face the truth, Tychus was always intended to be under heavy fire (likely the reason he began with low range). If you wanted to avoid taking as much damage as possible there are much better assassins who can output a lot more damage while doing so. The trick (as in all teamfights) is to maintain pressure and having a well-coordinated team. If your team is able to protect you from being bursted or stun-locked then you will become a powerful asset. Due to the nature of how Tychus is, the current meta pretty much shows that Tychus is not as competitive as some of the other Assassins right now. Regardless, I would not underestimate him.

As I said before, Tychus can go head-to-head with most heroes. Even against heroes he is vulnerable to, if he can survive the initial burst/cc then he can usually come out on top. The biggest problem I see is that people try to run away with Tychus when it is painfully obvious that Tychus will almost never escape a flanking hero without help. Make sure to not get ganked and stay with your teammates as much as you can. Beware of Imposing Presence as that can become at a surprise to an unsuspecting Tychus who finds himself not able to hold his own against a warrior.