I struggle with this guy lately. More than ever. Maybe it’s because of the recent buffs on some heroes, the arrival of Hogger and all.
I play qm and ranked but suck at both with him. Can barely get 50% winrate when I try hard.
Feel like the burst is stronger than ever, I die really fast (especially for a melee who don’t have escape) and others warriors/bruisers seem to be more tough than him. If I go damage, I die fast. If I go defense/substain, I don’t do much damage, I feel like the old D.VA. I can go wave clear, but then I feel like most waveclear heroes do better anyway.
Artanis is good vs the immortal, but you know who does great dmg as a bruiser? Sonya with wrath
If artanis picks PoA he could have picked Imperius for more burst or arthas for more teamfight/gank potential. Nobody likes a Artanis peeling for them. He will just scratch their backs. Even twin blades has better uses then him because twin blades has a rediculous strong lategame with his lvl 13, the banners and glory to the alliance that increases all healing by 50%
If artanis goes block he misclicked leoric with wraith build
Sure they have a lot of time to type while facing their deathscreen. They will defend their terrible mistake
While Artanis is still perfectly viable in Plat or lower, he falls off extremely hard in Diamond+. If I am in an SL match with Diamonds on either team, I avoid him and just pick Imperius if I need PvP or Blaze if I need PvE. The problem is he is too easy to counter even without drafting blinds. If people know how to bait out his trait, he dies instantly.
He can be played in high ELO games, Fan will play him when his donors request it, and Liam is really good at him, but as mentioned, unless you love his kit and play style (which I do), almost any other bruiser is better at the moment. I recommend watching some of their streams or VoDs, especially Liam’s, for examples of decent high-level Artanis play. RussDT plays him every now and then, too.
With all that said, I only draft him on maps where his PvE can make a difference. These are usually BoE, Hanamura, or Sky Temple, as he can easily solo an altar. You just have to watch the mini-map relentlessly when playing him, as his lack of escape means you need to leave as soon as you even think they may be coming for you, and always be ready to abandon a camp or objective early, as it is much easier on him to defend against things. Dying is bad.
For SL, since I am drafting him specifically to take down bosses, objectives, and structures, I usually go with the following build:
Amateur Opponent. If you need either of the other two talents, you picked the wrong hero.
Shield Battery or Shield Surge, depending on if they are mostly sustain or burst damage.
Chrono Surge if you know you can get procs reliably, Follow Through otherwise.
Suppression Pulse 90% of the time. There are a few cases where I will go Meme Beam, such as if we have a lockdown comp, or if they have something like an Eye of Horus Ana.
Phase Bulwark. Always. Dying is bad. This helps you not die.
Blades of a Templar. Kill things quicker, give him a little bit of sticking power or self-peel, and get your trait up faster. Everything about this talent is good. If I need the percent damage from Titan Killer, I drafted the wrong hero.
Typically the heroic upgrade, or Zealot Charge. None of his level 20s will make or break the game. Ideally you will win before 20.
We are used to salty people, don’t worry about it.
I have been successful with Artanis since his release because I understand the hero and I can defeat people just by outplaying them.
Artanis might be the weakest bruiser but people tend to forget how ridiculous strong he can be in the right situation.
Now that I think about it, Who else plays the potato templar besides Hoku and me?
Heh, I was playing him in QM last night, and took Meme Beam because QM, and we had an ETC. I think I got a 4 hero reset on one of them. Fun fact, Nova clones count for Meme Beam resets!
I had a hysterical match on BhB against an Abby. There is a little dead end pocket on the map up near the boss, and a lot of Abbys like to hide in it, as it positions them aggressively, but you have to walk completely into it to get vision, so a lot of people miss it. It is very small. If I see locusts in the top lane, I always go check.
Sure enough, he was hiding there, and since it is a dead end, he was completely body-blocked. He tried to tunnel out, but a quick Phase Prism put an end to that, and an end to him.
Isn’t Solarite Reaper just kinda better than Follow Through? Good pickoff, good waveclear, slightly more useful than FT for camps which you’re already doing because Amateur Opponent.
The reason I draft him is single target PvE, and Follow Through is better for that. I do like Solarite Reaper in QM on maps like Infernal Shrines, or if I am up against a blind comp. It isn’t a bad talent at all, just not as useful in most situations, as you really need a lot of targets for the damage increase to be worth it. You don’t encounter that in the solo lane very often. The waveclear increase isn’t enough to justify taking it over the other two in most cases.
