The unexpected reason why you're under performing

ofc its one of many reasons, but I just want to highlight this one
and its “the pro build”

and here Im talking about lower silver to mid gold, when some players just copy a build from youtube, and using it out of context.

easiest example is full split push build abathur in a two lanes map
or using hard builds or ults that needs lot of practice for your lvl 5_10 heroes, like picking frost ring for jaina and never land it, or cleanse and never use it just to not be called noob, or worst, just to please team mates and not be yelled at

my advice is to adjust the build to your needs, and take what you can have the most value from … so take pyroblast, go orb build, put elemental by your side, shuriken build for genji is not as cool as diving 1v5, but will help not to die a lot and give time to get used to the hero etc …

one may agree or disagree with the examples, but I hope the general idea is clear
cheers

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I have another problem
I see a build, i start to use it for me, it becomes walking nightmare and i feed.

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When learning a hero I always start with whatever the IcyVeins standard build is then experiment from there. :man_shrugging:

There are a great deal of heroes that really have only one viable build anyway.

I agree that most “pro” builds aren’t made with low MMR brackets in mind, but there are a lot of noob trap talents in the game as well or talents that are good in QM but bad in ranked and vice versa.

I still think the IcyVeins builds are a good starting point, though.

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For me, it was not constantly trying to get experience.

I walked past minions hoping someone else would kill them.

Plot twist: They never did.
A lot of things in this game, especially in low to middle ranks, you do yourself or nobody does them.

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Except for the first games, where I copypaste a talentbuild from icyveins. :smiley: In my first games I won’t focus to learn the mechanic of a hero itself and not be distracted by talent trees. But in most of my games later I will use my own builds.

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The best advice I give for climbing ranks, especially lower ones (since I’ve boosted accounts in other games) is picking for versatility. The more focused your hero is, the more you’re relying on your team to fill in for your weaknesses.

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The only way you will know you’re underperforming is when someone else tells you you are. Chances are those players are using meta builds or they really do understand talent choices.

It takes a long time for one player to read their skills and understand how they work in a few archetypes. Looking up a guide for a “basic” blanket build will help those players get a grip on how their hero works in a couple of situations. They then will make tweaks to their choices.

I can safely say, I never play meta. I take the time to read my skills to understand their function. If I happen to be playing meta, then it is purely coincidental.

Just copy a build from youtube… but cant copy the gameplay = tragedy

I use my owl builds based on comps and maps, and climbed to diamond a lot of times with all around heroes like Cassia, Zul jin or Fenix using not popular builds. Theres more then one kind of build in most of heroes. The point is your micro and gameplay.

I’m tired of seeing novice Tassadar players picking Q build every game or people complaining about me picking AA build with Tassadar because is not Q build. As you said, context is very important, too bad most players think that by picking the “best build” they will magically become good players.

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I see lots of low league players pass on stuff like % based damage in favor of comfort picks or “pro” builds a lot too. I get that people want to be as good as their favorite streamer or youtuber, but copying their build wont make that true. There are reasons why they take certain talents in certain games. They can weigh the cost of playing with a weaker build or talent because of their individual skill. People in gold or below should be taking the most optimal talents to maximize their potential instead of forcing more complex builds.

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I completely agree with the OP. I see entirely too many people play a certain build or certain playstyle because they read a guide or watched a video that said to do that and they will not deviate even if it obviously isn’t working. And if you tell them ‘hey, maybe try something else?’ they rage and insult you and commit even harder to doing the wrong thing.

Stop relying on guides, people. Play a hero yourself. Learn your own style. Don’t be predictable.

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Honestly HotS would feel better overall with less talent micromanagement in general. So Kael took EZ Bake at 1, help him fill it instead of griefing his choices in chat. Yanno?

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As long as you’re not going something as stupid as Full E build Qhira we won’t have a problem

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I don’t like telling people how to play the game but when I see people take talents that hurt the team it makes me groan. I get that you like increased mobility and CDR on Falstad. The problem is they have a tanky team and having % based damage would go a long way towards actually killing them.

Heck even Kael’s EZ bake level one can work but when I see them feed multiple times within the first 5 minutes it was clearly a bad pick. Players need to learn their limits and play within them for the rest of the team. Shooting for the moon is great and all but if you get your team stomped doing that every game you might be the problem.

Stupid builds can work. The player has to make the most of it and the team needs to offer some support. It makes me groan seeing builds like that though. Feast or famine type builds make for exhausting your team’s patience quickly and that can lead to toxicity.

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Considering that icy veins finally started updating again after like 3 years explains a lot. weren’t they like several patches and reworks behind ?

E build isn’t just feast or famine it’s, just bad
Ensnaring Sweep is mildly okay but it competes against Your Pain My Gain and Upstage, both amazing survival tools (survival tools on a hero with no safe poke outside of an ultimate, a very all in hero mind you)
Siphoning Link is just… worse then Healmonger in every way
Pulsing Pain is maybe okay aside from how much control it and every other talent not Booming Kick that effects E, gives to the enemy and even then it’s damage is meh compared to say doubling the amount you can get the damage of Q or doubling her AA damage

There’s a lot to be said for all of your opinions here, and I do generally support them. On the other hand, I generally just assume I’m not good enough to be making singular calls; I might comment something about %HP damage being at a premium, a target particularly valuable for stuns in the teamfight, or if we need to watch for someone dipping between lanes.

But I’m not going to call out individual players over plays or talents mostly because I know the reaction is seldom worth the investment.

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Me either. I get frustrated from time to time and have called out players but it makes me feel bad after the fact. I’m a competitive person and I hate losing, especially when I get dragged down by someone else. When I lose, I like to look back and see where I made mistakes or what the enemy did better to improve. There’s not much I can do watching back a game where a teammate fed or had a build that brought nothing to our team. Those games are like watching a 4v5. You just lost and there’s nothing that could be done different or learned from it.

Still doesn’t justify calling people out.

I look at Qhira E talents as tech talents and not a build. I wont defend a full sweep build because it’s dumb. Qhira has lots of options but a full sweep build should not be one.

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With the exception of Booming Kick they re all just bleh for the simple fact they encourage her to stay attached longer then she should. Ensnaring sweep maybe being okay if it wasn’t competing against such great defensive tools and SIphoning link even without that just being bad period like a worse healmonger

All of her level 16 sweep talents are pretty good options, Booming kick is just the best. Ensnaring is okay but risky. Siphoning link can be okay but Healmonger is just the best option hands down. Pulsing pain is a bad pick. I never take sweep talents because like you say, they come with being latched longer than you should be for value.