Anduin - brace yourself, unpopular opinion(s) is coming

General Discussion
1

Anduin got one of the weakest ults in the game (chill Auriel, I see you).

HW:S is like Butcher. Its either borderline broken or borderline useless.
Lightbomb is “ok”. Its great with ETC, Malthael or Maiev for example, but overall, for an ult its just “ok”.

Multiple times already I couldnt decide what to pick, what in this case isnt exactly a good thing.
Buffing Lightbomb is nonissue, I would be surprised if we didnt see shield or damage buff next patch (preferably shield).
HW:S on the other hand… Can we get some insta-heal at least? Maybe even make him move during casting it? (I admit thats big change) Apply decent movement speed debuff and his lvl 13 choice becomes even more important.
Simply put, its Consume Souls all over again…

HW:S is too easy to remove from the game and Lightbomb is too weak for an ultimate.

Renew is not that bad, but is still overshadowed by Bold Strategy. And there is Pursued by Shame…

Level 1 is an opportunity cost tier. The thing is, its math issue and it doesnt have to be.

  • Bold Strategy increases Q delay by ~.25s (this is .25s cooldown increase too btw). Now its a risky skillfloor increase, not a math issue that makes other talents impossible to buff (imo).
  • Buff Pursued by Shame.
  • Moral Compass now hits 3 heroes (reduce damage if you want, it doesnt matter). Holy Reach AoE heal moved here.
  • Holy Reach passively decreases cooldown of Chastise or makes it deal AoE damage on impact (damage doesnt matter tbh). This is buff to Pursued by Shame. Or turn it into quest, with both of these bonuses and scrap all existing ones. We already have AA talent here.
  • Buff Binding Heal, just a bit.

The idea here is similar to Fenix lvl 1. All viable, but more skill = more value.

4 Likes
2

I saw Lightbomb being extremely underwhelming (in QM at least).

Holy Word: Slavation can instead be a great tool for teamfight once the enemy team thinks to have an edge, mostly because average players don’t have fast enough reactions to negate it via CCs and most of the times I see ppl using CCs at random so I can wait for them to waste those and turn the fight in a stomp like not even Sylvanas experienced in Lordaeron.

3 Likes
3

Lightbomb doesn’t feel like an ult.

16 Likes
4

Rather late game talented basic ability/trait.

1 Like
5

This

Lightbomb needs someone to dive to be effective, no divers then don’t pick it.

But even then, the stun needs to be longer.

Edit: This is my proposed change, change stun to at least 1.75. Increase the explosion timeframe to 2.5 seconds or so, and have the player have the option to activate it with R again to explode it. So the player can either explode it asap, 1 second in or wait until the 2.5 seconds auto-explode.

3 Likes
6

Have Lightbomb also grant the target Unstoppable.

14 Likes
7

I would stay way from extending stun duration because of the combos where Lightbomb is already good.

While unstoppable is reasonable idea, it feels kinda wrong to give Anduin 2nd/3rd cleanse.

8

I think lightbomb should give its current shield from the get go and give a bigger one if it detonates on heroes.
It saddens me so much that he has all those beautiful holy visual effects for things that last for a second or two :stuck_out_tongue:
His president skin’s Rare Face still is his more damaging ult.

4 Likes
9

It prolly wouldn’t hurt to add some kinda Cd reduction to it per hero hit or maybe increased damage depending on proximity to the lightbomb target.

It does seem relatively simple to buff, cuz it’s a relatively simple ability. It’s essentially just Ragnaros’s Blast Wave on steroids.

1 Like
10

Lightbomb is so underwhelming, they didn’t even give it a level 20.

4 Likes
11

I have been really enjoying HWS as Sylvanas. It’s like the radius was perfectly made for Wailing Arrow.

Unrelated but does anyone else hear Kel’thuzad’s chains when getting rooted by Anduin? Every time I hear it I think that’s what’s happening.

12

And it’s the “better” choice for his ults too :grimacing:

1 Like
13

Considering how well I’ve been doing with him, I honestly think he’s going to be getting nerfed and not buffed, and that makes me sad. I really hope I’m wrong.

14

This is incredibly true.

I picked it when I was in team with a butcher because it combos extremely well with his charge+ult and I could barely notice any effect.

1 Like
15

I would like Lightbomb to give the target a Shield on cast in addition to the possible (but usally not really happening) Shield afterwards, gives the ult some reliable sustain to compete - in theory - with HW: S.

My opinion on HW: S I allready posted in several threads - just underwhelming. 1/2 of the roster can cancel it with a basic ability and through the ults we reach 2/3 of the roster … and in comparison to E.T.C.s Moshpit, Anduin can’t negate some of the counters trough catching them with the ult.
Maybe in QM it can be OP, but QM isn’t played as the game is intended to (draft with counter/surprise picks) … Butcher can be OP in QM too, but in draft modes he is practically unplayable - as in Anduins HW:S.

To be viable in draft modes HW: S needs some insta heal / cast or a short (not for the whole duration, mind me!) unstoppable on Anduin - so some counters get maybe wasted during the unstoppable time.

16

Lightbomb should have a slightly bigger radius so it doesn’t break if the target basic attacks an enemy. It’s a seriously minute radius that makes it unbelievably difficult to use. A stronger shield would also help tremendously, it seems worse than his Q/W.

HW:S could do with frontloading his healing. Make it heal more during the first second and less on the third.

1 Like
17

Not even that I’m afraid. Ragnaros gets way more value out of his Blast Wave if he has talented into it :stuck_out_tongue:

18

Well fed Butcher with Furnace Blast + Lightbomb.

19

Lightbomb isn’t super flashy, but as seen by Johanna, an ult doesn’t have to be flashy to be really really good. I personally ran it against a Entomb-Happy Leoric, and saved multiple allies with it. I wouldn’t mind a lower cooldown, but number wise, it’s pretty balanced (AND it needs a level 20.)

I do think HW:S needs some buffs to be viable though. It can pump out good healing in tank heavy comps (which is where you should be running Anduin, frontliner compositions), but aside from that, it’s basically a bait for CC. There should definitely be like, an instant heal, or some other benefit to using it.

Renew is good if you need healing above all else. You do get better numbers especially if it’s risky to stay basic attacking to get the second portion of Bold Strategy working (for example, I pick Renew if the enemy frontline is stronger than our teams.) I think that Persued by Shame needs some other benefit to contest as a viable choice, maybe like, give allies speed? I have no idea.

Personally, I really like Anduin, and he can be a really really good pick with a strong frontline (2 tanks and a bruiser, for example), but outside of the brawly teamfight niche, he’s actually not that great (prolly B tier).

1 Like
20

This is factually false, as you need to basic attack to get Pursued by grace and Renew to proc. There is no talent to pick when you “can’t” auto attack at level 1.

Also can we stop referring to Holy Word: Salvation as HW:S? That acronym has existed for the past 15 years as Holy Word: Shield.

1 Like