>>> This build resolves about pushing, capturing mercenary camps, securing objectives and taking down structures only. <<<
Hi my name is Sander and I'm from the Netherlands. My internet alias is Squeezebox. I wanted to share my thoughts on how to play Gazlowe effectively. I've been playing the alpha for quite some time now and I spend most of my in-game time playing Gazlowe.
I consider this guide to be a rather long and in depth read. Everything is written from a perspective that revolves around this particular build.
Everything you read is subject to change because Heroes of the Storm is still in alpha.
Gazlowe, the Boss of Ratchet, is a specialist hero from the Warcraft franchise. That being said, a specialist hero differs from most of the other heroes in Heroes of the Storm. As a specialist Gazlowe places gadgets and traps to fight off his enemies.
Pros:
- Pusher.
- Obliterates buildings.
- Insane wave clear.
- Excellent jungler.
If not the best.
- Secures objectives with ease.
- Rediculous pressure.
- CC (AoE stuns and slows).
Cons:
- Difficult to master.
- Looking at timers.
- Heroic ability doesn't apply to enemy heroes untill late game.
- No real escape abilities in his kit (such as gab closers).
(D) (Trait) Salvager
Trait
Passive: Destroyed enemy Structures and your Rock-It! Turrets drop scrap. Collecting scrap restores 30 Mana and reduces the cooldown of abilities by 6 seconds over 3 seconds.
Active: Dismantle a target Rock-It! Turret into scrap.
Essentially this ability is Gazlowes passive. But instead of it being a passive it's an active ability you can use by pressing the default button (D). It's important when to use this skill (this means destroying your own turrets) and when to pick up a scrap. Picking up a scrap at the wrong moment could get you out of possition and killed. This ability allows you to stay in lane with plenty of mana (also since were doubling the mana income by a 100% for our first talent). Also picking up a scrap reduces the cooldown of ALL your abilities by 6 seconds over 3 seconds which makes for relatively short cooldowns.
Note: You can only salvage your own turrents (this excludes enemy Gazlowe turrets and/or Abathur turrets).
(Q) Rock-It! Turret
Mana: 70
Charge Cooldown: 15 seconds
Creates a turret that deals 36-210 (30 + 6 per level) damage. Lasts for 30 seconds.
Turrets are your poke, your tanks, wards and a huge chunk of your damage output in general. Untalented it holds 2 charges. With this guide it holds 4 charges. Putting down a turret lasts for 30 seconds and shoots at randoms enemies prioritizing enemy heroes. You can use this ability to safely push enemy heroes out of lane.
This ability excels at capturing mercenary camps. Whenever you place down a turret and you position yourself behind the turret, it will soak up all the damage the mercenaries would otherwise inflict on Gazlowe. Using this ability as a ward seems strange to most but can be very effective. Whenever you feel like enemy heroes are following/chasing you, place down turrets. They reveil enemy heroes passing by and attack them. Map awareness/vision is key.
(W) Deth Lazor
Mana: 75
Skillshot
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Charged attack that deals 74-480 (60 + 14 per level) to 148-960 (120 + 28 per level) damage to enemies in line. Damage and range increase the longer the ability is charged up.
Deth lazor is a nice poke, wave clear and deals a large amount of structure damage if positioned correctly (see image below). The real downside of this skill is the charge. Quite effective early game. Mainly used from shooting out of a bush to poke enemies out of lane.
Note: The graphic of Deth Lazor is a bit shorter than the actual impact of the skill! Don't be afraid to charge your lazer just a bit longer before blasting a hole through your enemy.
(E) Xplodium Charge
Mana: 60
Area of Effect
Cooldown: 12 seconds
Places a bomb that deals 85-665 (65 + 20 per level) damage to enemies within target area after 2.5 seconds, stunning them for 2 seconds.
If talented differently this skill deals a ton of damage (to minions) because its rather easy to side step. Were not picking this talent because Scrap-o-Matic Smelter gives us such a strong early game before heading into the jungle.
For this build were using Xplodium Charge for taking out minion waves, mercenary camps and structures. Make sure to place this ability in the middle of a teamfight for maxium stun potentional. Because this ability is so easy to side step you have to exploit the chaos. If this ability hits; it's usually because people just didn't see the ground effect or prioritized something else entirely. More about this skill in the 1VS1 section.
(R) Grav-O-Bomb 3000
Mana: 100
Heroic Ability
Area of Effect
Cooldown: 110 seconds
After a short delay, pulls enemies towards the center of the target area and deals 176-930 (150 + 26 per level) damage.
For the purpose of this guide were not using this heroic ability. It does a reasonable amount of damage and provides a good chunk of CC in teamfights when placed correctly.
(R) Robo-Goblin
Mana: 100
Heroic Ability
Cooldown: 80 seconds
Transforms in to a Robo-Goblin. Basic Attacks deal an additional 250% damage to Minions, Mercenaries, and Structures. The duration of Disabling effects are reduced by 50%. Lasts for 16 seconds.
A great heroic ability that complements his kit as a true demolisher. Activating this heroic ability makes you obliterate structures, minions and mercenary camps. 250% additional damage is huge. Late game this will hit for nearly one thousand damage per auto-attack. As soon as you unlock this heroic ability you'll be able to pull of crazy stuff like soloing Golems and taking down structures within seconds.
The "downside" of this ability is that the bonus damage does not apply to enemy heroes untill late game. At level 20 we'll be taking the talent: "Mecha-Lord". While Mecha-Lord is active all basic attacks made against enemey heroes deal 130% more damage and the duration of Robo-Goblin is increased by .5 seconds per hit. The extra uptime means you can literally wreck your way through a great deal of tructures if they don't attempt to stop you. It also means a 100% uptime during Golem/bosses.
Note: The activation of this heroic ability has a small delay. Takes about .5 seconds to finish the animation!
Green talents are used for this guide.
Purple talents are optional.
Yellow talents should be avoided.
Level 1
Regeneration Master
Every 3 Regeneration Globes gathered grants an extra +4 Health per second, permanently.
This talent works for some heroes but not for Gazlowe. Other talents are superior to this one.
Demolitionist
Basic Attacks against Structures destroy 1 ammo and deal an additional 10% damage.
You would say this talent goes into the build natually. Well the other talents are just better. 10% just isn't worth it. Were already shredding structures and picking up Scrap-o-Matic Smelter (Trait) makes for an excellent early game.
Scrap-o-Matic Smelter (Trait)
Increases the amount of Mana restored by scrap to 60.
This is the talent we take. It's slightly better compared to Break it Down! This talent (together with shrines) will keep you in lane almost permanently. You get 60 mana back from every scrap you pick up. For example, placing a turret costs 70 mana. 70 minus 60 = 10 mana for a turret that lasts you 30 seconds. Placing down turrets is basically for free since you'll be regening the remaining 10 mana easily over 30 seconds.
Break it Down! (Trait)
Increases the cooldown reduction granted by scrap to 9 over 3 seconds.
A very strong talent for sure. I consider this to be a strong mid to end game talent. But since we're already comfortable with our mid to late game talents; I choose for a stronger early game, picking the talent above.
Extra TNT (E)
Xplodium Charge damage increased by 10% per target hit, to a max of 100% increased damage.
This is a strong talent when picking a different build. It's failry strong when you also pick up the talent Kwik Release Charge which allows you to place two Xplodium Charges. Picking this talent means you'll be using it for wave clear and taking down mercanery camps. Dealing near maximum damage on enemy heroes with this talent isn't going to happen anytime soon. This means you have to hit 10 targets at once. Could happen, when clustered around a crowded objective + minions or a mercenary camp, but not anytime soon.
Level 4
Superiority
Reduce damage taken from non-heroic enemies by 50%.
Non-heroic enemies are mercenary camps and minions to my understanding. This excludes towers. I don't find this talent that interesting. We have our turrets that tank mercenary camps for us and you should avoid minion damage in lane as much as possible.
Minion Killer
Deal 25% increased damage to Minions, Mercenaries, and Summons.
25% is quite noticable but we are already wrecking camps/minions. Would've been a great talent if the talent included structures. Not worth it, there are better talents.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (Trait)
Enemy minions that die near you have a 15% chance to drop scrap.
This is an excellent talent for 5 minutes into the game. You don't ever need to go back from this point on. Mana wise ofcourse. It also makes for great gameplay. Once your lane is scattered with scraps you can lower your cooldowns every single time you pick up a scrap. 15% doesn't seem like a whole lot but, in practise it's about 2 scraps every minion wave. Also keep in mind, we can still turn our useless turrets into scraps + destroyed structures drop them 100%.
Clockwerk Steam Fists
Basic Attacks increase the duration of active Rock-It! Turrets by 1 second.
Gazlowe players usually choose to destroy their turrets because they served their purpose. Extending this time doesn't make a diffirence. The cooldown on placing turrets in failry short, and you can stack multiple turrets. There are better talents.
Promote
Cooldown: 60 seconds. Activate to give target allied lane Minion +200% permanent Health and +100% permanent damage. Has 2 charges.
I tested this talent and it's okay if you want to push people out of their lane badly. Only works on lane minions. There are better talents.
Level 7
Rock-It! Turret XL
Turrets attack up to 2 additional targets for 50% damage.
A great talent since turrets are a large amount of your damage in general. This makes you viable dueling people 1vs1 and deals alot of damage while pushing minions/structures. Overal great damage output on whatever needs to die or needs to get destroyed. However, read below!
Mercenary Lord
Mercenary camps your Hero captures gain the following bonuses: Siege Giants: 50% increased damage. Knights: 50% increased Health.
This talent is optional. You can change this talent around with Rock-It! Turret XL. It's a very powerful talent IF your team mates are aware of the fact you took this talent in. I've played many solo-queue matches with this talent and it's not useful if other players start capping camps.
Engine Gunk
Turret attacks slow Movement Speed by 25% for 2 seconds.
Holds value in team fights and having wards that slow whoever trespasses. I personally don't use it but it could get you out of some tricky situations.
First Aid
Cooldown: 60 seconds. Activate to heal 35% of your max Health over 6 seconds.
Typical heal. If you like it by all means take it. I think there are better talents to pick.
Calldown: MULE
Cooldown: 60 seconds. Activate to calldown a Mule that repairs Structures, one at a time, near target point for 60 seconds, healing for 100 Health every 1 second. Grants 1 ammo every 5 seconds.
If you feel like you're lacking support, take this talent. I think Gazlowe should never take this talent.
Level 10
Grav-O-Bomb 3000
Cooldown: 110 seconds. After a short delay, pulls enemies towards the center of the target area and deals 176-930 (150 + 26 per level) damage.
For the purpose of this guide were not using this heroic ability. It does a reasonable amount of damage and provides a good chunk of CC in teamfights when placed correctly.
Robo-Goblin
Cooldown: 80 seconds. Duration: 16 seconds. Transforms in to a Robo-Goblin. Basic Attacks deal an additional 250% damage to Minions, Mercenaries, and Structures. The duration of Disabling effects are reduced by 50%. Lasts for 16 seconds.
Robo-Goblin is why this build works so well. Robo-goblin makes you solo any mercenary camp once you aquire the ability. Including Golems at level 6. This ability destroys structures within seconds. Deals over roughly 900 damage per auto-attack to minions, structures AND enemy heroes end game. The whole reason you are Gazlowe.
Level 13
Burning Rage
Deals 12-70 (10 + 2 per level) damage per second to nearby enemies.
Strong talent. If you're not into the Deth Lazor ability, I would recommend using this talent instead. Deals a noticable amount of damage around your hero. Works on structures, camps, minions and enemy heroes. A very strong choice.
Kwik Release Charge
Xplodium Charge can now be cast twice in rapid succession.
This talent is for a different type of build that revolves around Xplodium Charges. This talent together with Extra TNT can be quite good. You would have two Xplodium Charges that can both deal up to 100% additional damage. This ability can also be used as a keep away ability, it does its job even better with two charges.
EZ-PZ Dimensional Ripper
Deth Lazor slows Heroes by 35% and freezes minions or structures for 3 seconds.
Excellent talent. This makes Deth Lazor viable even with a .1 second charge because of the 35% slow. You can use this talent to dive enemies underneath their tower. Slow down runners with low health or slow an entire enemy team when aimed correctly.
Sprint
Activate to increase Movement Speed by 75% for 3 seconds.
Sprint tends to sync well with specific abilities. Gazlowe players should leave it alone. There are better talents at level 13.
Level 16
Long-Ranged Turrets
Turret range increased by 25%.
Not that great for a level 16 talent. This would be useful early game. Not so much at level 16. There are better talents.
Turret Storage
Max Turret charges increased to 4.
This is one of the stronger talents you can pick at level 16. Stocking up to 4 turrets can be very useful for taking down objectives fast. Essentially you can have more turrets up at the same time.
Hyperfocus Coils
Deth Lazor charges twice as fast.
This talent will make you appreciate Deth Lazor even more. Deth Lazor charges redicilously fast with this talent. To reach the final stage of your Deth Lazor is boosted by 100%. A final charge means more damage and a bigger graphic. People tend to run away when you start charging your lazor. With this talent they won't make it. It deals a ton of damage + a 35% slow + renders structures useless for 3 seconds.
Goblin Fusion
Deth Lazor gains an additional charge level after reaching max size, which increases the damage dealt by 50%.
The original charge is long, this makes the charge even longer. Though you get more damage out of it I feel it's not worth it. The damage isn't worth the time charging the lazor.
Stoneskin
Cooldown: 60 seconds. Activate to gain 30% of your max Health in Shields for 5 seconds.
Your typical Stoneskin ability. Not need on Gazlowe for this talent unless you want to go tanky.
Level 20
Resurgence of the Storm
Upon dying, revive back at your Altar after 5 seconds. This can occur once every 120 seconds.
This talent is optional. I tend to take this talent when things are going south. If you feel like you're dying alot, take this talent. Being dead for over 60 seconds during the end game could make the difference between victory or defeat.
Swift Storm
Your Hero is no longer dismounted from taking damage.Increases mount speed to +60% Move Speed.
I never use this talent but I see some potential. I could see this work if you want to rush objectives or pull of a succesful backdoor. We won't be taking this talent.
Miniature
Black Hole
Grav-O-Bomb radius increased by 25% and damage increased by 50%.
We skip this talent. When you're talented into the other heroic ability (Grav-O-Bomb) you should take this talent or Resurgence of the Storm.
Mecha-Lord
Basic attacks deal an additional 130% damage to Heroes and increase the duration of Robo-Goblin by .5 seconds per hit.
This is the talent we will be taking to finish off the game completely. Your OP heroic ability will also effect enemy heroes (for 130%) and lasts nearly forever while continuously auto-attacking stuff. From now on it deals a rediculous amount of damage to enemy heroes. All together I feel like talents such as Mech-Lord are intended to end the game. Serious business.
Teamfights: Death from Afar.
Stay at a safe distance. In general you're behind the front lines; together with Sgt. Hammer for example. Place turrets correcly between you and the enemy (so they continously auto-attack) and hit as many targets with Deth Lazor. Destroy your turrets to lower the cooldown of Deth lazor and keep charging those lazers. Be aware of enemy heroes that tend to jump you (such as Sonya's heroic ability). For this we keep our Explodium Charge ready. When an enemy hero decides to jump you, place your Explodium Charge underneath Gazlowe so they either have to move out of the ground effect, or take the stun. When they take the stun there's plently of time to nuke them together with your other team members. If they decide to walk out, you can walk the opposite way and remain at a safe distance. Ofcourse this setup chances once you hit 20. With Mecha-Lord at level 20 you can go into melee range and start auto-attacking.
1VS1: Underestimated Brawler.
Gazlowe is considered a fairly weak brawler. I think he's just fine when his abilities are executed correctly. Staying in range of your turrets is key. Once you placed down your turrets, make the fight happen around that area. People often underestimate the damage of the turrets, use this to your advantage. When you're dealing with a melee enemy hero (for example Zeratul) place your Explodium Charge underneath Gazlowe and remain in the ground effect. This means they either have to take the damage + stun, or move out. If they move out you can continue your kite/harass with Deth Lazor and your turrets. If they take the stun you can land a few auto-attacks. Don't be afraid to start charging your Deth Lazor once an enemy hero is in for a fight. The distance they need to travel can be used to start charging your lazor. Be aware of the fact that any kind of interrupts during the charge will trigger Deth Lazor.
Area to stay in while 1vs1:
Typically the enemy hero wil flee the fight with low HP because they can no longer stand the damage from your turrets. This means they're moving out of range of your turrets. You made a safe place for yourself. Thats when you won the fight. You can either kill them or continue to slow them with Deth Lazor, or let them waste time and let them go back to base.
Hopefully this guide tought you a thing or two about Gazlowe. He is indeed a very versatile and fun hero to play. I will be updating the guide regularly.
Don't forget to comment and upvote if you liked the guide.
C&C is appreciated and most welcome.
Dates:
- September 22: Just posted the guide, will be working on it.
- September 23: Finished a few extra sections of the guide.
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