I never really thought much about it before, but don’t these two heroes have some things in common?
They both can have %Max HP damage and other on-hit effects and therefore rely on Auto Attacks. They both have an engage (Imperius with his Q and Thrall with Sundering). There are some differences, like Thrall’s Sustain and Mobility and Imperius’ wave clear with Holy Ferver and W, and his armor.
As far as going in and inflicting their damage they are honestly quite similar, IMO.
I suppose the difference would be what you draft them in against. Thrall IMO could handle being low HP far better than Imperius can, but I feel like Imperius has a more impactful early game when it comes to fights - a person might want a stronger fight early or to be able to hold a lane, or the team might be lacking Hard CC.
In what circumstances would you draft one over the other?
Imperius has more CC, long range engage, is more durable and has much more burst dmg. Thrall has more reliable and overall higher dps. Imperius is more a bruiser/tank, thrall is more an assassin on the tank-assassin scale. Imperius generally beats thrall in a direct 1x1 matchup.
With imperius it’s quite simple - if you can’t hit the Q’s reliably (either due to high mobility, small hitboxes, high amount of cleanse and/or pushes, etc), don’t pick him.
Thrall, I’d only pick him if I need a durable high dps assassin. He’s extra strong vs aa heavy hitters due to the very powerful lvl4 block talent.
Very simply though just between the two: thrall if you need more dps, imperius if you need more cc/bulk. Imp if you want to delete some1 fast, thrall if you plan to brawl for longer.
I disagree about imperius being weaker lategame. lvl7 Q talent is a major powerspike, then comes the 16 aa speed and you top it off with brand on 20 where you can basically 1x5 wipe. Lvl20 is where imperius is kind of insane. Lvl20 aoe shield is also very strong, but I’m not really a fan of playing imperius without abduction.
With both of these you need to be really aware they’re not good at double soaking at all. Thrall can’t do it at all, Imperius with lvl1 W can, but is generally slow. So if you need extra soak on the solo lane, neither of them is a good choice.
Personally I always thought Imperius playstyle wise could commit longer to a fight than Thrall in most circumstances because of his armor talents that make up for his low mobility should he mis-step and get locked down or miss Q. I usually think Thrall can burst harder against just about anyone but is weaker defensively when locked down with Windfury doubling as a mobility tool to help him get out quick if he messes up. He has very good sustain healing if he doesn’t get stunned but I don’t think he would fare as well as Imperius in that circumstance. Here and there, you sometimes see Imperius mess up and simply walk past two enemy players and take minimal damage for a few seconds like it’s no big deal.
It’s certainly true that Neither are as good for wave clear as a pick such as Xul or Blaze. I will say though that Holy Fervor these days can make short work of a stationary minion wave.
I’ve picked Imperius lately when I’ve felt like our draft either lacks Crowd Control or initiate damage, especially when a player picks something like a Nazeebo or a Rehgar with another low CC Hero. Sometimes I’ve picked Thrall just because of his ability to hold a lane and Engage/Disengage/Disrupt with Sundering. I find he is excellent against certain threats like Garrosh who try to find opportunities to move in and get flips when he can root Garrosh after he flips one of his team, burst him and then throw Sundering through his team while dropping him into kill range.
I’m more afraid of imp than thrall tbh, because one you are “forked” and their team can follow up within the “forked” period you are likely dead meat.
Also his burst is insane.
Thrall on the other hand I have an easier time dealing with. But this largely also depends on the hero pool you select from.
In terms of drafting I find imp to be strong against not-so mobile heroes with lower hp, for thrall hes more versatile. Only time I have issue playing thrall is when I’m thrown in a game where I’m the only melee.
Yeah, that kind of plays into what I was saying about Thrall, I think. He can be extremely dangerous to get close to when he’s in the right hands, but if you can disrupt him and keep him at distance you can pressure him and keep him back. Same for Imperius, only he can take more punishment without relying on his healing and can set up for his team if he lands a Q.
However, if Thrall has one other person with supplimental damage with him, he can almost 100 to 0 just about anyone in the game in seconds if he builds right and heal for almost half his health in the process. I’ve picked him against Deathwing and ChoGall with some fun results. Any form of protection or Invulnerability can help against that, though.
I agree with this. Thrall shines with another front liner. Only time I get slammed with thrall is when I’m the only melee and the enemy team has xul/insert bruiser here with tons of long range poke,dps.
Right - He can absolutely bulldoze through people if left alone regardless of how tanky they might be, and if he has one person to help he suddenly becomes extremely deadly. That’s mostly why I say his late game is very strong - by that point, assuming he took all the proper talents, he is more than capable of outright killing a target on his own in maybe 60-70% of cases provided no one stops him - and he can do that in seconds, while gaining tools at level 20 like Wind Rush to help him close gaps or escape or support his team with Earthen Shields (which is just an insanely strong ult upgrade)
Imperius I think is slower at killing tankier targets if he doesnt go Q build, but because he can potentially catch three people in it and burst all of them with one hit (Holy Fervor), he’s like Alarak in the sense that when it’s worst case scenario, he’s absolutely terrifying.
Considering the number of times even master class players miss it, it’s a skillshot. In fact it’s one of the only skillshots in the game with a minimum range on it.
don’t try to logic me I’m just irrational ok?!?