Well, considering I just returned to him after a big gap. There is something that really needs a buff - it’s his escape ability.
My suggestion is, to put his “Button 1” talent into the basic kit, but nerf a bit (for example, more CD and less speed). To replace it, we can add talent that buffs the ability.
Solved:
-Malthael gains escape after a bad insertion into the backline
-Malthael can avoid gangs
Might be op:
-He can now engage even more with his ability
-Might be too good for him to have an escape ability.
Still unsure about “Tormented Souls”, but something is really up about them.
I’ve seen a good couple of Malthael’s one trick him into high ranks.
His macro ability is really strong and On a Pale Horse lets him rotate very fast even on maps like Sky Temple. Not to mention he’s one of the very few heroes in the game that can solo a bruiser camp pre-level 4 with relative ease.
When it comes to teamfights he’s a little squishy but if your team has good set up you can still find an opportunity to get in there and do some serious damage.
Tormented Souls used to be his issue ult, it’s now much less of an issue since it no longer grants him armor and soul rip doesn’t heal for as much.
Making it reset Wraith Strike was a thoughtful buff because as he can pretty easily cleave marks onto enemies it can feel very underwhelming against enemies who are already grouped. Now you can take it with his other W talents to get some quick nukes off.
But yeah it still feels really superfluous at times and it’s hard to pass up the temptation of instagibbing low health heroes.
I’d say it still needs some extra oomph. Maybe giving it Momento Mori baseline instead of W resets.
That’s just an L2P issue though. Learning when you can or cannot go in is part of playing Malthael properly. There’s nothing problematic about people dying if they engage badly.
You already have a W to teleport to minions, or to the other side of an enemy blocking your escape route. And you can take the movespeed talent if you want more. Malthael has tools to get out of bad situations. Learn to use them and you won’t need the baseline buff.
Throw Reapers Marks on minions, you have a free teleport. Fear the Reaper is available right at lvl 1 for a move speed buff on demand. His mobility is phenomenal for a melee hero.
If there’s nothing to mark or FtR is on cooldown, he shouldn’t go too far out in the lane.
Deaths Reach is also a very nice teleport upgrade.
Collision removal at a cost of reduced movement speed sounds like a great idea but I am always vary of adding baseline bonuses because above average players could gain insane value from it.
Maybe as a globe collection quest, so you don’t have it from the very start of the match. Something you could comfortably collect before level 10 with proper lane management.
I say relative ease because you just make sure to have mark applied to everything and spam Q off cooldown and you take the camp, at a really decent pace as well. You might have to minorly micro the 3rd bruiser around so you’re not taking as much damage but you can easily manage that with W presses.
Other than Rexxar, Illidan, Sonya, and Artanis there’s almost no one capable of even doing it, and if they can it’s with some micro and still costs them 95% of their health and mana, like with Zag.
I’ve been playing around with Malthael trying to learn him lately. He’s probably the squishiest of all of the bruisers. I have to play him like an assassin that can dual soak and take camps. He struggles vs range because he’s so easily kited and his E is so easily dodged. He struggles vs CC because his Q heals are dependent on being able to apply marks and spam the button, neither of which occurs while in a CC chain.
He has a talent to move movement and pass through collision but it’s honestly terrible because if you ever need it, you’re probably CC’d and getting focused anyway. Even vs AI, I’ve found it to be useless as an escape.
He has an armor talent as well, which does help if you go with the AoE soul spam ult and can actually get the mark onto 3 targets for that 30 armor, but you really are dependent on having a good tank there because you’re still squishy enough to get wiped out if the enemy team focuses. It’s not nearly as good as Kerrigan’s psi-storm + shields, honestly.
I’ve seen Malthael played well. I just can’t seem to do it. I play the “anti-tank” hero and lose solo vs most of the tanks in the roster. I definitely lose vs anything that leeches because Malthael leeches back slower than any of them. And I lose vs ranged of course because you can’t get marks up to engage unless they’re terrible at dodging.
For the Angel of Death, he’s really one of the more underwhelming heroes in the HotS roster, IMO.
If Malth needs any buffs I would start with small changes to undeepicked talents.
For example Reaper of Souls at 20 is very lackluster. I would suggest adding armor back in (20? It is a storm talent?) And then removing the extra duration. Then instead of refreshing duration on takedowns, just make it reset cooldown if you get a kill while TS is up.
That way you get rid of the anti-synergy that it has with the wraith strike resets.
He was released as an Assassin but when that overhaul came he was labeled as a Bruiser because of his EHP and incremental damage. It still doesn’t seem right to me because what I’ve come to have as a definition for a bruiser is someone who is somewhat resistant to damage that can pressure enemies with a mix of high damage of their own or some minor cc, as opposed to a tank who is designed to eat damage and control the flow of fights with cc.
Thrall still doesn’t feel like a bruiser either.
I had an idea that “If more than 2 heroes stay in the range of Tormented souls, ultimate lasts indefinitely” like old Lucio’s ult buff.
They are just tanky and deal damage. But their tank ability is very thin - Malthael’s Q isn’t effective against squishes and Thrall can’t survive unless hits.
Even then, i think duration is still going to be somewhat underwhelming. After all, people will eventualy spread out, so you might just be able to stick to 1 target. Most of the kills happen a lot faster. Only if they stick together you can do a lot of damage. (edit: note, the 4 to 6 seconds part is fine, its just after that duration reset, its very likely that the remainder isnt going to do a lot)
Maybe taking a diffirent approach might work:
While Tormented Souls is active, Wraith Strike does not require marks to teleport to the target. (and there is still a bonus for the CD’s active, prob the duration reset, as that synergizes a bit nicer)
This way you can always move to a target (or away), and as you dont have to rely on marks, you can always go to the next target.
Exterminator Raynor can take it faster than Malth. Tracer can also take it by taking a bit longer but not taking any damage kiting the knights.
What bothers me the most is that since your trait doesn’t scale. You don’t take that camp any faster as the game goes on. And around 10-13, most assassins will clear faster than you.
I really wish he wasn’t so limited.
Sadly it’s only physical armor.
You will usually lose vs Rexxar, Sonya and Artanis. But once you have “Die alone” Lvl 4. You should be able to bully most of the others. I have won against Artanis, but you have to get your mark o him once, then spam Q. If you auto attack him constantly, he will win.
Malthael’s auto attack is actually pretty weak, so once you have your trait on someone ,you want to step away for the next 3 seconds so they can’t hit you back. Also, don’t use your E on minion waves (unless you need to mark a minion to teleport on it) and don’t use Q unless you actually need health. Malthael burns mana really fast.
More than Malth though. He does have a root, and he hits pretty hard.
I find that part to be really helpful -outside of being quite thematic- since you can time it so you have the Armor during your potential focus by the enemy. It’s imo better than normal, ondemand spell armor regarding dives.
