Nova Build Guide : Wrecking with Nova :: Heroes of the Storm (HotS) Strategy Builds

Nova

Build: Jungle

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

Threats to Nova with this build

Threat

Low

High

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Threat		Notes
1		No Threat
2		No Threat
3		No Threat
4	Muradin	if he takes a stun health regen build he can be troublesome to take down
5	Arthas	Can take a Triple Tap on the chin but has very low mobility, which balances the fact that he can combo you down very quickly if he catches you in his ice root
5	E.T.C.	Tough but will go down, watch for his aoe stun that activates when you take him down
6	Diablo	Eats Triple Taps for breakfast
7	Stitches	His Hook can pull you into his team for an instant takedown
8	Zeratul	If Zeratul out waits you to un cloak then he can drop you fast
9		No Threat
10	Tassadar	A well-played Tassadar that sticks with the important members of his team can seriously reduce the effectiveness of this build and strat due to his Trait which allows him to uncloak Heroes in a large area around him on a very short cooldown

Overview Top

Notes On The Build:

- This is a specialty build for a specialty hero. If you don't have the team it's just not going to happen. This build is best for Hero League and pre-mades. You will frustrate everyone if you try to play it in Quick Match with a team that doesn't want to work together. *Edit* The larger player base and cooperation in QM nowadays makes this a viable build pretty much any time you have half-way decent players that understand the role of Nova.

- You are pretty much useless at everything but ganking once you pick up so don't be pushing towers by yourself knee deep in enemy territory and expect not to get exploded. Blue light swirls over red on the end of Nova's gun barrel to show you how long you have until your next Basic Attack is available (It's a long time). Use this to stutter step and only be in range to keep your basic attacks on cooldown.
*edit* Kael'Thas patch brought a buff to , further strengthening the (vocal) player base of opinion for taking it over . It's your call. I think they are both good.

- This build only works if you can (and your team will agree to let you) do nothing but float. You want to be up and down the lanes and everywhere all the time to take advantage of the other team's mistakes.

- The Combo: Nova has been balanced so without a level advantage its going to be rare to 100 to 0 somebody. You want to wait until they've made a positioning error or something of the like before you strike. Once you get you will want to use that first and follow up with the from cloak within one (1) second. That's how long your stealth damage buff lasts. If you get your W and Q fingers set this is not nearly as hard as it sounds. You should get to where you can do it ridiculous fast if you practice. Once you've blown both of these (Q&W) you should have a decoy out and already be moving away from the fight. NOTE: Don't step away from your combo until you get off one (1) , it should fire on its own as long as you are still on your target. Survey the damage, see if your team is going to capitalize and either a.) wait for your cloak and CD's to come back up for another combo or b.) if you have re-engage your target and you should come away with a kill. If you have team support and (Fast Reload) you can score big multi/team kills with this strategy.

More Bits:

- Make liberal use of grass, be able to mount with your pinky finger, know your cloak CD without even thinking about it in terms of seconds (it should just be a feeling like "aaaannnndddd cloak is back up"). Never get caught out, if you get the feeling you are about to be jumped you probably are.

- Playing Nova means you have to make some judgement calls... whether hearthing before mines to re-up on health to make a potential late gank, or ignoring pings about capping mercs from over-zealous teammates. You need to have confidence in your ability to call the ganks. You need a team that can respond if you make an opening and also that can set up ganks for you without over-thinking it.

- In a pinch put your decoy right on top of yourself as you run directly backwards, preferably into grass or behind a gate. You may be surprised how many mistargeted attacks it draws from most players.

- Get a feeling for how observant your enemy is. Cloak up and get close early game while they are laning and in team fights to see what kind of attention span they have. You probably know this but a good player can see through cloak so identify the skilled players on the opposing team early and fight accordingly.

- If you miss your just leave. Run, cloak, and reset. It's over.

- Some people use Lethal Decoy and Double Fake to good effect, both for damage and escape purposes.

- If you are having trouble staying alive as you learn the ropes try swapping for . doesn't hit quite as hard as it did in the early days and it's a DoT (damage over time) attack. But, it does all its damage in one go without you having to stay alive the whole time to build up the damage through kills.

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