Hello all!
Going to stop playing Hots but before I thought it would be a good idea to share some guide and tips on Artanis. I was an Artanis one trick 8k master almost GM and I hope I can help some Artanis fans here.
Some Artanis background:
He started in Hots in a very weird spot where he didn’t have charge baseline and you couldn’t use E while Q’ing, so no ‘‘Godswaps’’. Artanis was a very bad hero until lvl 16 where he had charge talent (now it’s at 20). Just like with every heroes, players were trying differents builds and the meta one was Triple strike and Titan Killer at 13 and 16. Blizzard seem to not like when players keep choosing the same talents so instead of buffings others they nerfed the meta one (Triple strike 1 more sec, Titan killer from 7.5% to 6% and now 4.5%). He got a rework and they decided to acually buff the ‘‘others’’ talents, like spellshield at 13 for example.
Multiples builds and general opinion on it:
Damage burst build:
Seasoned marksman, Shield surge, Follow through, Any ulti (pref purifier beam), Triple strike, Titan killer, Zealot charge
It was once my favorite build before when we had nexus blade at 20, I felt like the burst was pretty scary even for ennemies warriors. Now it’s been nerfed with the lower damage titan killer and the removal of nexus blade. The idea of this build was to burst the ennemy and back off a bit if it was needed, now with the new titan killer who encourages the idea of staying in the battle more and attack over time (since titan killer also give 0.5% per hit), I feel like dmg is too low and it was not the same style. Zealot charge instead of Nexus blade was not the same feeling too.
’‘Standard’’ build’’:
Amateur opponent, Shield surge, Follow through, Any ulti (usually Suppression pulse), Triple strike, Titan killer, Zealot charge (or Orbital bombardment)
This is still the most popular build but I think it’s outdated and not very effective in general. It give good PvE burst, but the pvp burst is not that high and in the current meta, Artanis can actually be squishy vs all the crazy dmg we can see in teamfights. I personnaly don’t like it.
Death laser build:
Some Artanis like to use the Slow on phase prism at 7 and purifier beam at 10. The damage potential is interesting and it work quite often. The only problem, just like other strat that are kinda all-in on one target (just like old Shadow Assault of Zeratul, for example) is that cleanse exist, ultis like Ancestral, Divine shield, abilities like Leap of Faith, etc. Still, it give a good pressure on one target and it was a build I liked to use sometime.
Important note: I think the purified beam ulti is not very good anymore with the speed change. It was already not insane yet fine/ok, but now it feel almost useless unless your team have ton of slows and CC. Usually it’s safer to use Suppression pulse, even if there are no AA in the other team, it’s still better than nothing to blind the Mura, Uther and Imperius for example.
E build:
Seasoned marksman, Shield surge, Chrono surge, Any ulti, Graviton vortex, Blades of templar, any.
Sometime called as ‘‘Angry Artanis build’’, this build is actually funny. Effective at higher level? I’ve seen some Artanis use it on ex pros stream and win, so I’d say yes. He can still be vulnerable to heavy spell burst and CC, and I think the build start to be very good only at 16 though.
New standard build:
‘‘Standard’’ for me anyway.
Amateur opponent, Shield surge, follow through, Suppression pulse, Phase bulwark, blades of templar, Zealot charge.
Amateur because it’s just alway useful. Can push better, destroy towers fast, merc, kill PvE things faster like Water elemental for example. Shield surge because you’re harder to kill in solo lane and also in team fights, Follow through because you alway get value of out it compared to Warp sickness because even Artanis veteran miss swaps sometime, Phase bulwark because it make Artanis more tanky in teamfights, Blades of templar because it’s 3 in one: more dmg, more substain (shield proc faster) and sticking power. I like the mix of Phase bulwark and Blades of templars. Zealot charge because even if I wish it was better (since it went from 16 et 20 in the talent tree), it’s kinda alway useful. CCed, slowed, stunned by the squishy dps you’re chasing? No problem you will charge it right after and stick to him with blades of templar.
Fan’s build:
The popular streamer and ex pro play Artanis some time, and here is his favorite build:
Amateur opponent, Shield surge, Follow through, Suppression pulse, Phase bulwark, Force of will, Usually Orbital bombardment.
I like this build too because when you think about it, Artanis before 10 is tanky enough to stay in the front and attack almost constantly. After though, at 13, 16 and 20 when people get their ultimate and more, more and more damage, Artanis can struggle. With Phase bulwark and Force of will, he can be tanky enough to stay in the front still. The debatable downside would be that maybe you’re only a meatshield and don’t do much else, but when ennemies try to focus you, you’re actually so hard to kill that these two talents can win you some teamfights. Don’t forget that you’re still not Mura or Jo, so don’t dive 1v5 with this build.
Gorejaws build:
An ex GM who played Artanis quite often. Not alway liked by the people but still a decent Artanis I think
Seasoned marksman, Shield surge, Solarite reaper, Suppression pulse, Phase bulwark, Force of will, Orbital bombardment
I think Gorejaws the idea of being tanky so being able to do a lot of substain dmg with marksman. Also 30% speed bonus at 40 stacks is interesting. Solarite reaper prolly to still have decent waveclear. I think Glogan was using a similar build but with blades of templar instead.
Q build:
This is the build I was using at the end and it was very effective for me. I think I was like 10-1 or something. To be it’s the best build.
Amateur opponent, shield surge, Solarite reaper, Suppression pulse, Templar zeal, Force of will, Zealot charge (or Orbital bombardment)
It give Artanis a bit of everything: Impressive waveclear, Damage because you can spam Q, and tankyness because of shield spam. Ennemies can’t let you alone in a lane or you will destroy wall and towers very fast. You can also double soak very easily. You can solo boss too if you feel like it.
Opinion on last buffs: Shield battery: Pretty cool since it was +50% bonus before and now it’s + 125%. I actually tried some weird skirmish build like Reactive parry, Shield battery, chrono surge, suppression pulse, phase bulwark, blades of templar and Plasma burn. Surprisely had some decent success with it, even vs high gms like Leonblack, though you really don’t push lanes well.
Psionic synergy: Went from 15 to 20 and now 30 % armor. Impressive, but enough? Not sure. The thing I don’t like with those type of talent (like chrono surge too for example) is that you tend to charge and swap to get in melee range just to gain the bonus instead of trying to swap the ennemy backline. I think it’s decent, but enough to beat surge and battery? Up to you.
Templar zeal: A small second bonus but it’s actually pretty noticeable in teamfights.
Graviton vortex: Kind of big buff to this talent. Combined with chrono surge, I think you can swap every 2-3 seconds or something, and it’s tempting to try psionic synergy with it. I didn’t like it much but you can test it if you feel like it.
General tips:
-Except maybe at the very first fight in midlane, I think it’s generally a bad and risky idea to engage swap with Artanis. I tend to prefer to let my Tank engage and draw attention on him and then go. Let’s not forget that Artanis need to attack as most as possible to keep his shield up, so if ennemy waste some CC on the tank instead of you, it’s pretty cool.
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When the ennemies are in melee range, don’t hesitate to attack and THEN use W for 3 attacks instead of 2. Little things like that can give you a shield at the last moment and win teamfights.
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Don’t alway backswap because it’s easy to miss, but you can use it still to send ennemies in your fort, at the top left or right of towers of doom for example. You can also use it to send ennemies away from your squishy who struggle.
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In team fight before 10, I usually let my tank engage, then use one Q and use my W. I then wait a bit before using my Q and E. I don’t hesitate to attack warriors because I try to outsubstain them with shields and because my backline can also attack them safely. I use Q and E when: A damaged ennemy hero try to back and tap, I catch him and we finish him off. 2) When one of my allies is about to die because of a melee hero on him, I Q and E on the ennemy and try to body block him/kill him.
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Also try to take in consideration your shield cooldown when you want to use Q. If for example it’s at 2 sec, wait that your shield pop, then you can Q to reduce the CD again into the like 3-4 ennemies.
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If you go Follow through, a bit like Thrall, try to attack one time after each ability for maximum dmg. Example attack, W, attack, Q, attack, E, attack, W, attack, etc.
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When you’re low HP: Check if your shield is coming soon. If not, usually just back and tap. If it’s like midway, you can back and attack at same time, so you can try to go tap and hope a shield come up to secure your evasion. If it’s almost up, attack one time or two and try to make your shield surge proc. In some situation the ennemies can be confused and/or panick because the guy they were trying to kill don’t die, and maybe get healed and stuff. Then it depend, can ennemies still do lot of dmg? If yes, better use that shield as a chance to run and go tap. If it’s not too bad, you can stay and use more shield to do more dmg and help team.
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Don’t dive like crazy. Lot of Artanis do it (and often die unless your healer is a god) but I think the real strengh of Artanis is his substain power with his shields.
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If you push the lane far to the towers of the ennemy solo, you can do something else, like going mid to push lane, helping your allies bot, then come back top, etc. Same if ennemy solo freeze the lane next to his towers. You can even jungle if you feel like you’re safe and have the time
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If ennemy team got a ganker like a zera, play safe and don’t duel the other solo.
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Marksman can be decent on some map like Spider or tower of doom, but make sure the other solo is not able to outclear your lane, because he will maybe go mid and gain more exp than you. There can be some unfun scenarios like you go marksman, then the deheka push your lane into your towers and he use his global to kill your team 5v4. He come back and you didn’t even push lane much to punish him because no amateur.
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Merc: It can change depending of maps and comp. Sometime, someone else will solo and ask you to just get all the camps, like in garden of terror for example. Usually team get giants camp at 1 min on cursed hollow. On Dragon shire it’s risky because you can’t really leave your solo lane and because ennemy can get dragon while you’re mercing. I think after the dragon is usually a safe timing, or maybe earlier very fast with some buddies. Battlefield of eternity usually a bit before obj. Garden of terror, kinda when you want. Hanamura, kinda alway when it’s available, but early game it’s better to stay safe since the other solo will most likely follow you if you just go to camp. Sky temple I usually ping for assistance before first temple and do the soldiers merc.
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Some people get merc and just leave them. If there are no obj, it’s better to stay with your merc and try to do dmg to ennemy base. Even if there is an obj, if the ennemy solo stay and defend, you can stay and push, it will be 4v4 on the other side after all.
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Don’t just click on ennemy to attack, he/she will usually not stand still. If you win, attack, move, attack, move in the direction he will most likely run to ‘‘run with him’’. Get used to the attack timing. If you’re sure that you will lose the fight overtime in the current situation, attack and back, attack and back, to your towers or maybe your allies.
1v1 in lane:
Luckily for us, Artanis is one of the best duelist in the game. So if you feel like pressuring the other solo by attacking him, go for it.
If you attack all the time and use your Q on ennemy hero and minions, your Artanis should beat:
Chen, Dehaka, Imperius, Leoric, Ragnaros, Sonya, Thrall, Varian, Murky, Illidan, Alarak, Yrel, Arthas, Zeratul, Dva, Falstad, Fenix, Blaze
It’s based on my experience but if I win you should too. Even if ennemy seem to have more hp at beginning of the duel, don’t forget that your shield will proc and proc again. I like to use E at the end to finish off the target but you can use it also when the low hp solo try to run away, he will lose even more hp.
Chen, even buffed it was a bit harder but I was still winning.
Dehaka, is not very hard to beat usually in 1v1. I think he got some tongue reduce cd talent that can make him a bit more annoying but you can move and try to avoid the tongue while attacking.
Imperius is actually very easy to beat.
Leoric is annoying because you need to keep your Q for going out of his drain so you push less and only have your W. I think you still win even if he drain you but it’s a close trade and he come back faster even if he die.
Ragnaros do a lot of dmg but if you avoid his spells you should win with your substain and damage.
Sonya is tanky but I usually win overall especially with shield surge.
Thrall if he’s good he can be a pain but I won vs most thrall I’ve seen in solo.
Varian is weak until 4 if he go twinblades it’s a very close duel and I tend to just avoid fighting at this point, since even if I win I’m like at 4%hp or something.
Murky, pook murky just attack his exploding thing.
Illidan, annoying a bit but I usually save my Q for when he use his blind thing then attack him when it expire right after. I noted that before, attacking him when I was blinded didn’t reset my trait shield but not it does. Secret buff maybe! Same for Lili and all blinders, I don’t do dmg but it still reduce the CD of shield.
Alarak, typically in the 4man lane, he can still solo sometime. He’s strong and his heals are annoying. Try to avoid his combo, attack, move, Q, annoy him a bit. I think the most skilled player will win here. I’m not sure if Alarak will risk a duel because of his sadism.
Yrel, I was beating her before and I think I won the few time I’ve seen the buffed one but I think she can be a pain sometime. Didn’t fought her enough in his new version.
Arthas, it’s funny since he’s supposed to counter melee but Artanis do win vs him early. Q so the slow reset and he will lose more and more hp. It can be a different story depending of his build, like AA speed at 4 and his rune tap at 7.
Zeratul with his Q build got some decent waveclear and sometime play the solo role. Just don’t stay in your minions because Zera will Q you too with your minions, attack him, again, again, if he teleport, Q, E swap him. He have no substain. Try to be aggressive with him and remember him why you’re a solo and not him.
D’va, consider her like an annoying bug. She’s annoying but actually don’t do anything to you. Outwaveclear her with amateur opponent. Your shields are stronger than her damage.
Falstad, I usually like to Q, E and swap next to him, attack a few time, let him go away, Q him again for more dmg. He’s kinda squishy. Let him attack you, back off a bit and bam E while he’s chasing you 1-2 sec!
Fenix, I usually play the same as vs Fal, Q then E next to him, force his teleport. With follow through especially, I usually damage him enough to get through his shields a bit, then another time, and another time. Block can be a ok pick here if you want to be sure to win on important solo lane like Dragon Shire or Braxxis.
Blaze: He clear faster than you I think but if you attack him all the time you will win the duel overtime. He’s tanky but not enough to win.
Artanis should lose vs:
Malthael, in minions he should win or if you win you will most likely be very low HP. Usually it’s safer to just maybe Q once to dmg the minions, then wait at your towers. In a direct 1v1 with no minions though, I think you usually win kind of easily.
Rexxar, the king of solo, is a treat for Artanis too. In a normal solo lane like Hanamura, it’s ok you can just play safe, but on Dragon shire it can be very hard. Even if you Q, E swap him to be close, he got a slow and stun. The bear is too tanky for you. I usually swap the bear out of the shrine and hope for the best but good Rexxar usually beat me, if not on the shrine it will be on the lane push.
Samuro when he spam his illusions, he do a lot of dmg to you and should win. I never tried it but maybe Reactive parry, one of the two shield and chrono surge could maybe hold vs him on Dragon shire?
Zagara I’m not sure , she push very well even if you one shot the hunter killer. If you’re aggressive and do go swaps I think you can win since she’s squishy but if you’re passive, kill his hunter and try to clear, I think she will outpush you overtime. Feelbadman.
Gazlo I’m not sure, I don’t fight this dude often. On paper you should kill his towers fast with amateur. I think you should win.
Now I don’t pretend to know the absolute truth about everything on Artanis and you could have a different experience, but I think this thread can still help a bit.
Have a good day