WereElf's Nova Guide

General Discussion
40

Since you don’t like my edits, i’ll just put it here then.
I’ve said that PS is harder than smash and it certainly sometimes feel that way, but on paper it really doesn’t look like it:
PS: diamater 8, delay 1.5 sec
Smash inner circle: diameter 3, delay 0.75

I guess we need to subtract 0.3-0.4 for player reaction time, which does leave smash only ~0.4 sec to react and 1.1 sec for PS, so at 4.84 movement speed, player can walk ~2 after he reacts to smash (so technically still dodge’able, barely) and 5.3 for PS (also similar ability to dodge (undodgeable with slow from W, no matter the lvl1 talent)).

Btw, movement speed increase didn’t change player’s ability to dodge PS when slowed by W - it’s still undodgeable.
At 4.84 movespeed with 40% slow (2.904 ms), the hero covers 4.356 distance. That would technically be dodgeable by 0.356, if we ignored 2 facts: hero circles (i’m not sure how fat the thinnest heroes are, but it’s close if not more than that 0.35) and player reaction time (so add a slight prediction and put an off-center shot and you’re set to go).

41

Everyone. Late game lane pressure is a thing, especially on big maps.

True, but few of them are able to sneak deep into enemy ground to do that without getting killed. Nova can.

False. It’s not a desperate need - it’s just another way to gain some tactical advantage that people usually overlook. At 16-20 Nova is a lot less one-dimensional hero than she is early game.

And I don’t really understand all the complaints about “weak early game yadda yadda”. You don’t complain about weak early game for Nazeebo, Azmodan or KTZ. Some heroes are meant to be strong late game - and your job is to make it there in one piece while playing them.

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42

You use it wrong.

It’s useful to the extent of constantly forcing one enemy hero to hearth and clear, giving you a 4v5 advantage.

43

Yeah… you are forgetting that Ragnaro’s SS also has an outer circle, that is at 7-7,5 diameter, so even if he barely misses the inner one, the outer still hits for half the damage of PS. But still, half is more than nothing.
Also you are forgetting to add to the equation the fact that you can’t center the ability perfectly. And sometimes players act irrational.
You have no idea how many times players have ran towards my team instead of towards to “safety” when at 10% HP…

44

I never consider that a “hit”. Not hitting the center is a miss, unless you really just need a tiny bit of damage to finish some1 off (really rare case for using smash). The outer ring is 7.5 diameter (a bit smaller than PS).

It really doesn’t matter what they WILL DO after you shoot the PS, if they can’t escape it - in theory (assuming no movement abilities). You just point and click it on the center and, since it’s a predetermined action, you don’t need to react to what they do, you just click on what you see at this very moment, sure there’s still some delay, but it shouldn’t be more than 0.1 sec (e.g., you’ll click on where he was 0.1 sec ago). Of course, if you start actively thinking and trying to predict the movement, then sure, that 0.1 sec extends to your normal reaction time (plus brain delay).
P.S. since it’s cutting it close already, I guess the 0.1 sec could break it. I dunno, I pretty much never do centered PS shots anyway, I like to add a little prediction for added certainty and/or controlling other enemy heroes as well (not to mention, that most heroes DO have some form of movement ability, which needs to be accounted for).
As for irrational movement when you do shoot predictive shots, well you just need to make it into a checkmate - either get hit by PS or walk into an even worse position (e.g., into the hands of a happy muradin). That’s actually how I most often use it. A lot of ppl have irrational fear of area abilities and dodge them at any cost, even if the alternative is far worse.

45

Hots gamepedia has generally accurate information (whatever is available), so it’s a good idea to look things up and just do the math.

It helps the discussion, if everyone work with exact numbers before making any claim/hypothesis. It’s also great for yourself if you look up the exact numbers that you may not have known before. That’s why i like discussion like this - I really don’t bother to do the math when just playing the game. E.g., I’m playing rag a lot lately, I know from experience how much I need to lead smash, but I never really actually bothered to calculate how much leeway I have and how hero fatness and reaction times affect it.

E.g., Nova’s page:
https://heroesofthestorm.gamepedia.com/Nova
So, e.g., base snipe range is exactly 10.8725. Base W/aa range - 6.5. You lose almost half of snipe’s range if you have only base W and still want to open with W->Q.
Now let’s calculate the range we get from longshot W on a running target. Scenario is this: shoot W, wait until it hits, shoot Q. Both Q and W have cast delay of 0.1 sec and projective speed of 50 (which is ~0.2 sec for 10 distance). So that’s 8.5 base range of W, the target travels ~1.4 before W hits (unslowed) it and then another 0.9 before Q hits him, which makes it 10.8 distance between you and your Q target when it hits - pretty much max range Q hit. So longshot really stretches it to max Q range, generally maximizing Nova’s reach overall. PS, just from this calculation I realized that you can’t wait for max range W to land before shooting Q if the target is speedboosted or mounted or snipe will fall short (I guess that explains why I have the habit of shooting them instantly and not waiting for the slow before aiming Q).

Now that I looked at it, there’s even hero radius listed. Nova, one of the slimmest heroes, has a radius of 0.625, so that really settles the matter on PS not being dodgeable (a complete center shot on nova gives exactly that 0.1 sec margin of error). Of course, 55% slow turns it into a 0.62 sec margin of error - that does make it less stressful if you do want to hit that centered shot on a very slim hero.
Just for fun comparison: hitting a fatty azmodan (1.25 radius) gives 0.3 sec margin with 40% slow and 0.9 sec with 55% (yeah poor azmo - can’t dodge even the slowest nova in the world).

I’m still not convinced about the usefulness of centered PS shots in general, let alone using it with 55% slow W (you would have to open with PS, otherwise you won’t have that 55%) - that’s still a rare case scenario, so it’s impact on game outcome is questionable. It’s still definitely good to know how much exactly the 55% slow helps this scenario.

46

Since I’m doing calculations with character speeds and radiuses, I’ll do another one really worth knowing to myself and other nova players:
Scenario: when aiming snipe, how much you need to lead a target moving completely perpendicularly (sideways from you - max lead distance scenario) at distance of 10 away from you (close to max Q range) at normal unmounted movement speed (4.84).
Snipe has casting time of 0.1 and travel time of 0.2 sec for 10, which makes it into 4.84 x 0.3 = 1.452 lead distance (from target center). P.S. that’s roughly the width of Johanna’s circle or 2x snipe (1.5).
Snipe width is 0.75, slim hero radius is 0.625, so you need to see only a sliver (0.075) between the edge of hero circle and snipe edge to still (barely) hit this target. And to have a centered hit, roughly 1 snipe width (between edge of snipe and hero’s circle) should do the trick. Also, leading by 2+ widths (from hero circle edge) will always miss the slim hero (shot will always go in front of him).
Keep in mind, that lag is not accounted here, 300 ping would double this lead (so with 300 ping - 3 snipe widths instead of 1).
The less perpendicular or the closer the target movement, the less you need to lead, so the conclusion:
generally never lead by more than 1 width of snipe, unless the target is speed boosted/mounted (or if you need to account for excessive lag)

Also, azmodan being 1.25 radius thick (that’s 2 with snipe’s width), means that you technically never need to lead Q shots on him - center shots will always (barely) hit (unless you lag a lot, he’s speedboosted or you simply miss his center). (Centered shot gives only half of snipe’s width that he can travel, so after he travels 1.452, the overlap between snipe and azmo’s circle will be 1.25+0.75/2-1.452= only 0.173 - not a very confident hit, but still a hit). P.S. it’s just a thing to remember, it’s generally better to not get used to not leading at all.

P.P.S. I guess I would also have to add time between the aiming and actual command to shoot the snipe (that is the time it takes for you to actually press the button and for the command to be issued), but I assume that can’t be more than 0.1 sec, so it only increases the distance by max 33% - the 1 snipe width lead would still hit.

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47

an interesting calculation, but not really a useful one in the real world.

hitting snipes mostly isn’t about HOW you shoot - it’s about WHEN you shoot. it’s decision making. no matter how good you’re at leading your snipes - you WILL keep missing them if you keep shooting at stutter-stepping people, or heroes that have some movement ability up. timing is the key.

48

the biggest thing was advanced cloaking synergy. AC’s 25% speed bonus applied instantly, not after 3 seconds of being cloaked. that was pretty much instant mount with 2 seconds of full invisibility. by the time enemy figured out what was going on you were half-screen away.

2 Likes
49

Yeah, that too. Ghost Protocol could be used as an actual escape tool back then. Even if you get hit by some incidental skillshot, you could still keep moving, without having to worry.
Now Ghost Protocol is there mostly to just spawn additional decoy (which is also the cause for the nerfed Lethal Decoy we have) :frowning:

50

Well not everyone is smart enough to understand and apply it. But I’m sure that most ppl are capable enough. I guess I’m fine you not being one of them.
I assume your approach to determining leading distance for a shot is choosing between: a) don’t do it at all and just pray center shot hits; b) choose random spot to shoot and hope it works?

51

the Nexus needs more Nova mains i feel so proud seeing people loving Nova :heart: haters step aside please thx

1 Like
52

Nova is Bae, so we need to root for buffs

4 Likes
53

i assume you got so triggered that you never made it beyond the first sentence of my reply.

my approach is to minimize the risks of mechanical mistake by correct positioning and/or timing my shots with cc.

for instance, I try to shoot when the enemy is moving towards me/away from me, not across my path.

2 Likes
54

The 2nd part just showed you either completely not understand what I was calculating or simply are incapable of applying it. But you can just continue leading your shots between 0 and “not much”.
If you never (I mean that’s the only instance when knowing the max leading distance would be “useless”) take leading shots and only shoot ppl when they’re running straight from you and consider that “correct” play, then you’re even a bigger moron than I initially thought.

55

Wat is this? Mobafire guide?

56

whenever you’re talking to a moron - chances are, he’s doing the same thing. lol

2 Likes
57

By the way, I wanted to clarify something. While AAS is Nova’s highest burst damage build, it only gets good after level 16/20. OitC deals more damage within 1 second. AAS deals more instant damage, and damage on the 2,5-th second. After the 3-Rd second, OitC has higher total damage. The Lethal Decoy damage is what’s making the AAS build viable.

3 Likes
58

I second this.

AAS is especilly great in QM, where you often face squishies who you can delete easily.
For high mobility heroes AAS is much more reliable as well, because the enemy will have less time to react to the damage.

3 Likes
59

I really like your guide for Nova but I have a very different play style in EU here I love her she’s my main hero since day one good work on the guide 10/10 :grin::+1:.

1 Like