Casual Nova Guide (Li-Ming patch) by Nite

Casual Nova Guide (Li-Ming patch)

By: Nite
Last Updated: Feb 9, 2016
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Build 1 of 1

Nova

Build: Pinning Shot + Auto

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20

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09/02/2016 - Nova isn't as nerfed as I first thought, and I've had success with a build, listed here. The main plus for me is you don't need stealth for damage any more.

Hey guys and girls, my name is Nite and I'm here to share with you my Nova build, however before we get into the meat of the guide I thought I'd share a little about myself and the sort of player this guide is aimed at.

I am a casual player, I play for fun and nothing more however I always want to win, and to do my job well. I'm never going to be entering any eSports competitions, but I am going to be having a good time with a few cold beers. So basically this guide isn't perfect, it might be what all the cool kids are doing too, but that's by accident, not by design. This guide is for the solo player, or a player who plays with a couple of mates in Quick Play mode.

This is also my first guide, so be gentle :)

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Q Snipe

Snipe is no longer the powerhouse and game changer it once was, but it's still a fairly decent ability for finishing low health enemies off.

W Pinning Shot

Pinning Shot is now the bread and butter of Nova play and you should weave it into a rotation for serious damage. We talent into this ability so it gets better and better as the game progresses.

E Holo Decoy

I love Holo Decoy if only to draw out enemies attacks before launching a counter. Like Pinning Shot however it's use in the early game is minimal due it's high mana cost.

R Triple Tap

Triple Tap fire three high powered shots at a hero. It hits harder than Precision Strike but is only single target.

R Precision Strike

Precision Strike is an AOE which decimates teams.

Trait Permanent Cloak, Sniper

Not really much to say about this other than this is what causes you to go into stealth mode when doing anything other than walking, riding or placing a hologram.

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Level 1


Longshot

There really isn't a great choice here which is lucky as we want to buff Pinning Shot as much as we can. This increases the range on Pinning Shot and also increases our next auto-attack range by 30%, great for keeping us out of harms way.

It should be fairly obvious but you want to launch a Pinning Shot from afar, then follow it up with an auto-attack before running off to re-stealth.

Other choices


Level 4



Rapid Projection

This tier is all about your Holo Decoy. All talents have uses, but this is the default thanks to the reduced cooldown.

Other choices


Level 7



One in the Chamber

This adds 80% damage to your next auto-attack after you use an ability. As mentioned in tier 1 you should be Pinning Shot into an auto-attack as standard. You can now follow it up with a Snipe and then another auto-attack. If you're opponent isn't dead then chuck out a Holo Decoy before launching a 3rd empowered auto-attack. Now this is serious damage, not quite as easy to pull off as the previous Snipe based builds, but equally as devastating.

Other choices


Level 10



Triple Tap
Precision Strike

I touched on this above but basically Precision Strike is AOE and Triple Tap is single target. Both hit hard, Triple Tap slightly harder, but both are solid choices. I've chosen to recommend Triple Tap simply because in casual play team fights are never guaranteed and at level 10 you won't have a feel for the battle to know which to take.

Triple Tap fire three powerful shots at an enemy, and is nigh on impossible to dodge (beware people who can stun/interrupt). Triple Tap is usually a guaranteed kill as you can Snipe the victim to half health then unleash hell. At level 20 the cooldown resets on a hero kill so you can literally wipe out a whole team. Use this on healers first, then on high hitting assassins.

The Precision Strike AOE will take off a good quarter to a third of most heroes health. Whilst it's easily dodged, it also has the scope to wipe out entire teams in team fights. When you get to level 20 you can make it so it has two charges for even more devastation.

Level 13



Double Tap

Your Pinning Shot now has two charges. This means you can add yet another ability to your One in the Chamber weave.

Other choices


Level 16



Crippling Shot

Your [Pinning Shot]] now increases damage done by 25% for just over 2 seconds. So Pinning Shot, auto-attack, Snipe, auto-attack should just about take 2 seconds and therefore do 25% extra damage than they usually did. Oh wait, we just gave Pinning Shot an extra charge didn't we? So Pinning Shot, auto-attack, Holo Decoy, auto-attack for a little extra.

Other choices


Level 20



Fast Reload
Precision Barrage

Basically just update your level 10.

With Fast Reload you can use your Triple Tap on all enemies one after the other and wipe them out. The trouble is if the damage isn't lethal then your cooldown is back. It currently does so much damage though, that it's lethal a lot of the time.

Precision Barrage gives you two charges of Precision Strike. You can wipe out whole teams, or always have it to hand.

Other choices

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