Introduction Top
This is my first Heroesfire guide for HoTS, so clemency is appreciated :)
For my first guide I thought I'd focus on the character I main, Anub'arak. I've played HoTS since beta, around the time Sylvanas had just been released and have mainly focused on Quick Matches. I don't consider myself a sumpreme expert, but my records are fairly good, and my rates with Anub'arak are generally 70% or higher on most maps.
Anub'arak is an interesting hero. Aside from the fact I'm a Blizzard fan, so remember him all the way from WCIII:TFT, he plays...differently to how I expected. You would have expected a nigh-invulnerable tank based on his previous appearances. Instead Anub'arak is one of the most versatile warriors in the game, bringing potential in tanking, sieging, crowd control, jungling and damage. There's always someone who'll do any of this jobs better than Anub'arak, but he does many of them simultaneously to a good standard in a game. It's not unusual to be second on the hero damage and siege damage lists at the end of a game, and frequently topping the exp contribution category is easily achieved.
Anub'arak is listed as "Medium". I'd agree with this. His toolkit is pretty straightforward, but takes some practice to learn to use well. His role is less simplistic than other tanks in some ways as he is not as directly beefy as they are, instead relying on correct timing of his abilities and good sustain to keep in the fight. This can be a bit of a shock if you expect to be able to jump into the fray and survive long enough for your allies to splinter the enemies (like Muradin or Diablo) because Anub'arak can't do that outside of burning some BIG cooldowns.
Anub'arak is fun however, and when played correctly can bring invaluable strengths to a team.
Pros and Cons Top
Pros
- Versatile hero, although your talents empower certain aspects of your role, you can generally still be pretty versatile in how you contribute to the game.
- Sustained damage is very good for a warrior hero.
- Crowd control is good, his peel and pin game is brilliant.
- Potentially very high sustain (even more so in large groups with
Locust Swarm
- Exceptional engage OR retreat in
Burrow Charge.
- Pretty good at jungling due to
Scarab Host granting you multiple offtanks.
Cons
- Base health is lowest of all warrior heroes, making you vulnerable to burst damage outside of
Spell Shield.
- Abilities have fairly high cool downs, making missing them very punishing.
- In order to realise his damage potential, the enemy either has to be pinned, or stick around of their own choice as most of it comes over time. His burst damage is quite weak, mana intensive and asks that you use very valuable cooldowns which are better used for their secondary effects.
- Weak to crowd control as he has no way to reduce or prevent it, meaning most other warriors have an advantage.
- Scarabs can be effectively AOE'd down which can reduce your damage output and potential sustain.
if you want to check out
Anub'arak's base statistics then click on the link to the left, and look towards the top of the page. Generally, he has a weaker base health than other warriors, fairly decent auto attack speed and damage and good regeneration rate. Otherwise he's pretty standard.
Abilties: Browsing the Web Top
I'll now look at Anub'arak's trait, basic abilities and heroic abilities. For any of the full details about damage, cooldown, mana cost etc, click on the ability/trait links. I will discuss them in utility terms only, and don't need to cover these basic details which are already available!
Trait:
Scarab Host
Whenever you cast an ability, up pops a Scarab. Pretty underwhelming on the surface, the base damage for the beetles is weak and they can't take too many hits. Underestimate their value at your peril however, they can swarm quite easily if you chain abilities, even more so if you take
Legion of Beetles or
Rewind.
In high numbers their damage stacks up, making them effective when focusing a hero, jungling, clearing a lane or chewing at towers. It is this quiet stacking of little, seemingly harmless beetles which makes Anub'arak a pretty good duelist. If you take
Leeching Scarabs which this build recommends, they also provide some respectable health per second so long as they remain alive.
The downside? They don't last too long, their pathing isn't always great and they are AOE bait.
Q:
Impale
Straight from the nostalgic halls of WCIII:TFT. The signature of any Crypt Lord, so make sure you don't let the side down and mess up the use!
In short: Sends a line of spikes forward at the cursor, after a brief delay they pop up, damaging and stunning enemies caught in the way for 1 second.
This is a fantastic ability with multiple uses. Having an aoe stun with such a decent range and potentially good capture area is a rare gem indeed and one of Anub'arak's principle team-fighting strengths. Avoid the urge to use it as a nuke to "poke" in lane unless an ally can contribute to the poke, or the enemy is in reach of being killed. There's usually a situation which is more useful for this ability and you want to make sure it's available and you have the mana for it.
The best ways to stick it to 'em!
- If the opposing team has heroes with massively deadly cooldowns (usually heroic abilities). I'm looking at you
Valla,
Li Li and
Nazeebo! These abilities can change teamfights, and Impale can be used to interrupt them, shutting that nonsense down. As a warrior, your job is to protect your team, so if this kind of situation presents itself, this should be impale priority number one! Obviously position yourself so as well as interrupting these fiends, your Impale may hit as many other targets as possible.
- Upon engaging the enemy team, or when they attempt to retreat. Try to position yourself so as many are hit as possible. Sometimes all it takes is a second of stun for your team to begin pinning them down properly.
- When laning, if with an ally use it to peel any enemies off of them. You may then have opportunity to counter-engage.
- Use it to stun an attempted gank. It will stop momentum dead if you catch several enemy heroes who were trying to gib you or your ally when on weak health. Throwing Impale behind you works very well as an aid to your escape.
DO NOT:
- Throw Impale around like a casual nuke.
- Use it as a basic "I need a scarab" ability. If you have to use an ability for that purpose, use
Harden Carapace.
- Use it on buildings unless the opposing team is dead and/or unlikely to arrive or you can catch multiple buildings which it is certain will be destroyed (meaning you're in less danger if the enemy arrives).
W:
Harden Carapace
Pops up a short duration shield that absorbs a moderate amount of damage. It's pretty cheap, with a fairly low cooldown so is spammable, making it a great source of scarabs when you're laning or jungling.
Due to the more modest numbers compared to say
Plasma Shield this ability is not going to save you against a heavy assault. The low duration also sees to that. Use it shortly after engaging an enemy/team, as you want to make sure the shield's duration isn't wasted. It doesn't matter if the shield pops nearly instantly, that signifies it has done it's job of reducing some damage.
Obviously it can be used to try and cheat death when fleeing and on ridiculously low health just be aware it won't protect against big nukes which may still kill you.
In combat you want to be using this as much as possible in order to boost your effective health for that fight as much as possible.
E:
Burrow Charge
Tunnel under the floor and pop up at the end of the range (or earlier, if you so wish) to stun enemies and deal some damage. This ability is very versatile, making a crazy good engage or retreat. It can also be used to dodge enemy nukes that target areas rather than heroes. Whilst underground you cannot be hit by abilities unless they acquired you as a target prior to burrowing.
You can move under walls, which is handy for surprise assaults and escapes. Be careful you don't tunnel under the enemy wall and trap yourself. Every new Anub player will do this at least once.
Can you Dig It?
- You don't always need to use this to engage, you can move in mounted and use Impale instead. This allows you to preserve Burrow Charge for a near-impossible to prevent escape. Only use Burrow Charge to engage if the enemy line is hard to breech and you need to scatter the group.
- Move under walls when possible whenever you are escaping, making you harder to follow.
- Time it correctly and you can use this ability to dodge abilities that target an area. This is handy for dodging some potent heroic abilities.
- Don't ever use this ability as a "nuke" or to attack buildings. Only, and only if the enemy would be killed by Burrow Charge should it be used in this manner, and that's only if they'll escape otherwise. The escape potential is too good to throw away, especially given Anub is more delicate than other warriors (so needs this option).
R1:
Locust Swarm
Another Crypt Lord mainstay, it also happens to be the more versatile and generally stronger of the two heroic abilities.
Activate to swarm locusts around you which deal damage per second to all targets around you, and heal you for a small amount each time they do. In large groups this means some pretty hefty sustain. Whilst it will rarely make you heal through taking damage, it's enough to make you very resilient. Stacks marvellously with
Hardened Shield.
Wanna Bug the Enemies?
- Use when there are as many enemy targets (including minions) as possible. The more there are, the more health you'll get. The cooldown is huge, so you want every swarm to count. Do not use one on one. Locust Swarm if horrible when used against 1 or 2 targets, and barely worth the mana cost in such instances. If maintaining your living status against two opponents is crucial before your allies arrive, then it may be justified. If you're retreating whilst swarm is active, always walk through the largest group of minions to maximise the healing.
- When you're engaging late-game, you will always need this ability to be ready, as this is what allows you to withstand being focused for more than a couple of seconds if you catch the enemy team in it.
- Pair it with
Hardened Shield and activate both when you're at about 50% health, and watch as your health remains static, or indeed starts increasing for the 4 seconds. Nothing quite phases the enemy out like this.
- If the enemy has got a huge minion wave on your doorstep and is pushing (
Gazlowe and
Sylvanas are often culprits). If your towers and keep are at risk use Locust Swarm to destroy the push. The hero in question won't be able to stop you as the health generated from such a huge wave is too much, so you can bully them away.
R2:
Web Blast
Unusual for a warrior, but interesting. This is a long duration single target crowd control. it's rare this ability shines over Locust Swarm, but in some instances you may not need to tank or sustain so heavily. In such cases, being able to lock the opposing tank, healer or highest damage dealer may be worth thinking about.
It's targeted with decent range, so it can't miss. The opposing team can break it, so pick your target wisely and follow up after use appropriately. You need to put pressure on the enemies once it is cast so they feel unable to focus on saving their cocooned friend.
I rarely pick this ability, when I do however it's often a priority to CC the team-fight's biggest gamechangers. The same suspects covered under Impale are good candidates. Web Blast will interrupt any channelled ability and place it on cooldown so it can be used just like a stun. Alternatively it can be used to CC the opposing warrior (Like Muaradin, who often jumps ahead), which leaves the back line undefended. You can then engage with Burrow Charge and Impale and start attacking the squishies with your team. 8 seconds is generally enough to take a couple of them down if you focus.
The Basic Build: In short Top
My original build with Anub'arak used to be very scarab focused. Over games I have tweaked it slightly to focus on them less and instead bring more passive talents into the mix focused on making me a capable tank, giving great sustain which has the side effects of making me great at laning and jungling and generally a pain to engage with 1-1. This comes in handy when holding objectives or guarding certain points.
I don't focus on kills unless my allies are nearby or the enemy is easily caught. If I can deny them soak exp and give my team a level advantage I'm happy.
The build is as follows:
Level 1:
Regeneration Master
Level 4:
Legion of Beetles
Level 7:
Leeching Scarabs
Level 10:
Locust Swarm
Level 13:
Spell Shield
Level 16:
Imposing Presence
Level 20:
Hardened Shield
There may be slight changes based upon the team I am matched with and the enemy line-up, and how well our early game goes. Generally though I don't stray too far from the above build as it seems to serve me best in a multitude of situations.
The build is focused on early game lane dominance, and late game team tanking and initiation. This will be covered more in the next section and the later Playstyle section.
Talents: Let's Burrow Deeper Top
This section will go over the talents available at each level, looking at the utility of each, ultimately providing the thought process behind the basic build structure. This will also dip into some alternative choices based upon matchups, or if you're playing Anub'arak slightly differently.
Talents will be tiered by colour based upon their applicability to the main build and general utility.
Level 1
Extended Spikes - Variable Pick
Useful if you're quite new to ANub and can't seem to adjust to Impale's base range. Impale's range isn't terrible, but sometimes it could be useful extending it. I see the sustain of RM as too useful to give up as it ensures early lane dominance surfaces fairly quickly and I can work with the shorter Impale range.
Persistent Carapace - Do Not Pick
Extending the duration of the carapace isn't terribly useful, as it's generally being destroyed within 3 seconds when activated anyway. This is only useful if you for some reason like to proactively shield, but doesn't add anything to Anub's ability to tank realistically except against minions and mercenaries perhaps. Not worth giving up other talents here for though.
Assault Scarab - Variable Pick
If you're going to focus purely on damage (maybe your team has enough tanks) then pick this talent. 25% on all beetles isn't to be sniffed at and adds up so long as they do not die. This used to be my primary pick at level 1, before I started mixing RM and LS for massive sustain, which is more suitable to a balanced build imo.
Regeneration Master - Pick of Choice
The best pick. Base regeneration increase comes in handy down the line, think of it as decreasing the DPS you take almost. Additionally, as Anub frequently shields, stuns and burrows, he has windows where he is not taking direct damage. This means any healing we receive this during this time is welcomed.
This talent stacks very well with LS at 7 and Swarm. It makes you capable of some great self-heal. At 7 with LS your lane sustain becomes scary good and it becomes hard to bully you out of lane unless you can be effectively 100-0'd.
Due to this talent, prior to 10 you should focus on staying on lane as much as possible to gain orbs. Always secure an orb before leaving lane if one is present. If travelling by a lane and a mage minion is nearby, kill them and move on. Late game I'm usually seeing approx. 40 additional health per second from this talent if not more in slightly longer games.
Combine this with LS beetles and base regeneration amounts and you are effectively healing over 100 DPS quite comfortably a majority of the time. This is not to be laughed at against AA heroes considering
Imposing Presence, this can take their AA dps from ~500 down to around 150 or so.
Level 4
Underking - Variable Pick
Again, this is variable. If you find you can't get used to the range of Burrow Charge then maybe pick this. I find the extra utility of additional beetles and guaranteed beetles upon combat is more useful in terms of damage, jungling, laning and sustain through LS. If the opposing comp is aoe heavy then perhaps this is a better pick than LoS.
Superiority - Do Not Pick
Anub'arak doesn't need this reduction to comfortabley tank these kinds of targets. At level 7 your sustain will jump a bit, and it shouldn't be an issue if you play smart. Not worth missing LoB for.
Locust Needles - Do Not Pick
Aoe AA damage sounds pretty good for helping gather orbs for RM, but seeing as Anub'arak doesn't have amazing scaling AA damage, nor anything else that synergises with this ability it's an ill-advised pick.
Legion of Beetles - Pick of Choice
The better pick on the tier in my opinion. Whether you're focusing on damage or tanking, these extra beetles will come in handy. It gives an option of popping beetles without using mana, which is great for sustain and laning through LS. It also means it's very easy to go from 0 to 4 beetles upon engaging a target if you used all basic abilities, which means jungling goes much quicker.
Level 7
Shed Exoskeleton - Variable Pick
You may have a decent healer on your team, which negates the need to focus so much on sustain. If you're tanking and feel this is the case you need to decide between this and Bed of Barbs. If your team has fairly robust CC, this talent is worth a pick for some additionally mobility.
Urtricating Spines - Do Not Pick
Giving your shield some burst damage is not really top of our priority list. Even if you're focusing on a damage build, Bed of Barbs is probably better because it at least offers some slow utility.
Bed of Barbs - Variable Pick
The pick of choice of an aggressive build (more damage and CC is lovely) and if you're a tank and your team has enough healing to support you, it's worth taking then too. It gives Impale some great utility in providing persistent CC.
Leeching Scarabs - Pick of Choice
The only reason this wins out over Bed of Barbs is because I prefer to focus on lane dominance to extend a team exp advantage. Plus the sustain means I don't have to gamble on a healer being around, and focusing heals on me. In some comps I will definitely take BoB though as it really enhances Impale.
Mercenary Lord - Do Not Pick
Although you're a capable jungler, you would be insane if you thought this talent was worth missing either LS or BoB over. Just no.
Level 10
Locust Swarm - Pick of Choice
Seeing as we're focusing on tanking, at least certainly late game, we'll need this talent then to help us out. It makes the most sensible choice for teamfighting as a warrior due to the healing and aoe damage it provides. It usually has a phasing effect on the opponents as well as few people choose to stay within Locust Swarm if they can help it.
Web Blast - Variable Pick
If you have faith in the healing of your team, or you're not needed as a tank, consider picking this to help control dangerous targets during important fights. Picking this gives you 3 ways to interrupt enemy channelled abilities, making you quite the buzzkill at the enemy party.
Level 13
Burning Rage - Variable Pick
Worth picking up if you're not playing as a tank, as it adds to your already fairly good sustained damage. Makes your presence quite damaging during Locust Swarm. It will help jungling too.
Chitinous Plating - Variable Pick
Grants your Harden Carapace a big boost. This can be worth taking over Spell Shield if the opponents has many auto-attackers and doesn't seem to be using chained abilities too often in fights.
Symbiotic Armor - Do Not Pick
Not that it's a bad talent, protecting your beetles, but the competition is unfortunately too stiff for a tanking build, and the only reason we really want our scarabs to stay alive if to help heal us. An offensive pure-scarab build can take this and see benefit however.
Spell Shield - Pick of Choice
The competition between this and Chitinous Plating is quite stiff and depends entirely upon matchup. I usually take Spell Shield because to some degree in teamfights there is always an initial period of burst upon initiating (Burrow Charges makes it impossible to poke you during travel, so it's when you arrive it all comes at you). Due to this a massive 50% reduction within those first 2 seconds can be very, very helpful. You need to monitor the opposing team's behaviour though, if they pop your shield using a dummy ability to bait you it's no help at all.
Level 16
Epicenter - Variable Pick
Aggressive build pick of choice, as it only extends the aggressive utility of this ability.
Beetle, Juiced - Do Not Pick
Just no. This talent is so poor. Beetles rarely score killing blows outside of lane/jungle and funnily enough quite a few teamfights happens between these spaces. I's unlikely you'll have a juiced beetle by your side when a fight breaks out. Avoid at all costs.
Imposing Presence - Pick of Choice
The generic pick of choice. If the opposing team has at least 2 heroes who auto attack as part of their primary play I take this talent. Sometime i'll do it if they only have 1, if that 1 hero is their principle damage dealer and is auto attack reliant (Like
Illidan). If their team's damage mainly consists of ability casters, Blood for Blood takes precedence to give me a healing option.
Blood for Blood - Variable Pick
Seems aggressive and more suited to an assassin. This is useful for an additional heal which can come in handy, particularly if the opposing comp has damage dealers who don't use many auto attacks. Select a high-health target such as their tank and enjoy the extra health! The slow can come in handy for takedowns too.
Level 20
Hive Master - Variable Pick
Are you finding the enemy team is not massively bursting you down within teamfights, or perhaps large-scale team fights aren't too common as opposed to smaller skirmishes between 2-3 heroes? If so Hive Master is worth a look. It provides a consistent bonus which is well suited to increased your 1:1 tanking capacity and damage skills, as well as furthering jungling. Due to the nature of late game mechanics, often huge teamfights are the norm, so HS usually wins out, but Hive Master is a fun pick and can help keep momentum for your team if you hit 20 far before your opponent.
Cryptweave - Do Not Pick
Gah, no. It requires you to stand idle to increase the duration! a 12 second CC sounds awesome on paper, but it's not worth being idle for. Rewind is probably a better pick if you've taken Web Blast and aren't tanking.
Hardened Shield - Pick of Choice
Anub has poor base health and the ability to initiate uninterrupted. This means more often than not he is targeted with all manner of nasty abilities shortly after arriving. HS helps you withstand the pain, and better still, when Locust Swarm is active you can actually end up healing during this time, effectively granting a few seconds of being invulnerable. This is so useful for any Anub build that is going to be tanking as part of their role.
Rewind - Variable Pick
Aggressive builds should pick this talent. Not only does it give you additional spell casts, but that means...more scarabs! An aggressive scarab build can have lots of fun with this talent! If you're tanking though, HS is the only way to go.
Playstyle Tips and Tricks Top
If you follow the above recommended build faithfully, your playstyle will alter as the game progresses, moving from a stubborn lane bully to the initiator of a majority of your team fights. unlike many late-game tanks though, you probably won't stick around for the entire onslaught unless the enemy team retreats early, or much of them are killed within the first 4 seconds or so.
Although these tactics will vary between maps, they can be applied generally. I will add disclaimers for specifics for certain maps which may alter your behaviour.
Levels 1-10, Soak and Bully
As we have taken Regeneration Master, we have an onus to remain on lane to gather orbs from the word go. This is very important and we want to aim for an end game (Level 18+) bonus of 32 per sec or higher as a benchmark.
Within the first few levels remain on lane. You be paired or you may be alone. Generally Anub'arak shouldn't be soloing a lane against 2 heroes if at least one of them can poke effectively or storm the lane early. This will impair our ability to gather orbs. Signal for an assist if this occurs or ask for a lane swap.
You are quite comfortable soloing against 1 hero, even if they are ranged and can poke. Play cautiously, don't overextend in melee except to grab orbs and focus on dodging enemy abilities. Monitor the opponent, and if they are being quite forward with firing their abilities at you, consider Burrowing at them and following up with Impale to force them to fall back a bit. Do not perform this if they are near their towers. Your objective is not to kill, but to force them back so you can get an exp advantage and grab orbs.
If you are paired with an ally, the best matches are assassins who can make good exchange gains when you stun the opponent. I've found great success with heroes such as
Nova and
Tychus who enjoy being able to unload against targets who are being CCed and body blocked. Remember, killing is not the principle focus unless it's safe, focus on the lane and keeping it in your favour.
Black Heart's Bay
Early in the game chests will spawn, if you are taking bottom lane be prepared to guard the chest. Your scarabs can auto attack it for you if you spawn them on the chest, and focus your Impale at keeping the enemy back. Return to pick up coins when your scarabs generate them and use Burrow Charge to retreat.
If you're taking the upper chest with allies, play the same way, try and get scarabs on the chest and focus on keeping the enemies back whilst an ally takes the chest. You can always burrow away if you get low on health. Some enemies will be greedy enough to chase you, but that means they aren't focusing on coins.
Prior to 10 never be afraid to go for a chest in these manners. Just make sure burrow is ready in case you need to back off.
Garden of Terror
Assist in taking out small shamblers at first objective. Ideally with an ally in tow. From here your main job is to attempt to spook the opponents if they decide to try and take their large shambler out. If possible try and sync your Impale with when the shambler stomps the floor, to get large damage on the enemies in range. There's plenty of bushes for you to tunnel away under, so don't be afraid to do so.
Additionally, if your allies are relatively strong as a 4 and have momentum over the enemy in the jungle; return to lane to gather orbs and soak exp. Pushing a lane can focus attention away from the opposing team's seed coffers and that's never a bad thing. If you do this, just be cautious of making sure Burrow is ready unless the enemy team jumps you. You can sometimes attract the ire of teammates if you return to lane during the night period, but I think this is largely due to a misunderstanding of just how valuable an exp lead can be. If your presence is necessary, always support your team. Don't just follow them around if it's not necessary though, you could be helping the game in better ways in the early game.
Haunted Mines
It's important you apply the same checks as you would GoT here. It's generally a good idea to assist in the mines (and to be prepared to enter them asap) on the first objective. As the timer approaches try and bully the lane forward so you have dominance over the mine's entry point.
The mines usually results in many hero deaths on the first objective. Focus on the disruption of the opposing team if they are around, let allies grab the skulls. Do not leave your allies alone however. If you manage to get a good clean on the enemy team, consider returning to lane for much the same reasons you would in GoT. When leaving the mines always take a manual route, don't hearth so you can warn allies of when enemies may be coming back.
Sky Temple and Dragon Shire
These maps are grouped because they both have "defend the point" type objectives. This is something you are suited to, again as with HM, you want to bully the lane in your favour where possible so you can have first access to the objective point. Do not attempt to start a Sky Temple point alone if enemies are nearby, disrupt them and wait for backup. Early game your duelling ability is underdeveloped and as such you are simply trying to harass them rather than stand toe to toe with them. As with the other maps, in the presence of allies focus efforts on blocking enemy movement and phasing them away. In the case of Sky Temple this may mean ignoring the guardians and hiding in nearby grass so you can surprise any enemies who approach.
Spider Tomb
Suitable map for this build, as the objective is centred around laning. Simply make grabbing gems a priority as well as orbs. Ignore focus on other minions and don't worry too much about blocking enemy gem collection outside of using your body to stand over them. It's more important to prevent them turning in when they have said gems, which you can do repeatedly. In this situation signal for an ally to assist so your harass can transform into a kill.
Remain on lanes at all times early game to keep gems and orbs high. Generally turn in every 9-12 gems so you don't lose too many if you die. If you summon your webweavers do not focus on the opposing heroes but rather focus on the push if the webweavers are at structures. Taking the towers down is more important in terms of game-plan and team exp. Doing this usually means the heroes start to focus you instead which is okay, because then the webweavers can get more attacks, and early game they are far stronger on towers than you are.
Cursed Hollow
Focus on lane in the early game, whether you're needed at Tributes depends upon location and ally presence. Do not travel the entire map to get to a Tribute, the exp soak and potential siege can be more important (unless it's the third tribute for the enemy).
If you acquire the curse push hard and do not be afraid to go hard at opponents, as they have no defence to fall back on. Obviously try and make structure damage a priority but if you need to bully them away first then go for it. Consider sticking to your lane in this case, it's tempting to group up but you get less soak exp and a single hero can easily destroy the first keep solo during curse time.
Levels 10-16, Begin to Favour Collective Pushes and Provoking Fights
Our build is coming along nicely, we now have
Locust Swarm
Spell Shield and
Leeching Scarabs, along with plenty of RM stacks our lane sustain should now be pretty high. So we can start to force pushes collectively with our allies or by calling allies to join our lane.
As Locust Swarm is now in the arsenal, the ability to tank in team-fights has gone up a bit, as the same with Spell Shield. As such we should now hang around with our team more often as the soaking phase is pretty much over. It's more important we're there in case of fights breaking out so we can engage the enemy team and attempt to scatter them apart.
Still return to lanes occasionally to top up orbs and exp, but only do it during quiet periods, and try to get some siege damage in if you do so. Be on standby to move to your team if necessary though.
At this point unless you have a good siege in your favour, you should always be joining allies for objectives.
Black Heart's Bay
Make chests a priority and due to our leeching scarabs, we can comfortably solo the merc camps. Tag merc camps where possible and keep pushing for dominance with regards to the coins. Instead of focusing your original lane, now concentrate efforts on whichever lane has the highest allied presence. Winning team fights become very important at this stage as deaths result in coins, which accelerates the game pace.
Garden of Terror
As ever, small shambler groups should be priority when night falls. With beetles we can now easily kill them very quickly. Hang around with allies most of the time in order to secure seed advantage and to ensure team fights aren't thrust upon you unfavourably. At this stage you are able to solo the shambler terrors if you play correctly, but it will take a while. Do not be afraid to do this to help "top up" your seeds, eg. you need 20 seeds, go and grab 20 from the big guy! The threat of a Garden Terror should refocus the opposing team's attention on killing that, leaving you free to finish the shambler terror, or to focus on sieging different lanes.
Haunted Mines
You can now easily kill the undead camps making skull gathering easy. It's very important to make sure you control the mines favourably as big golem pushes will end the game at this stage if they're followed up by the opposing team 5-manning your lane. If such a thing happens, do not be afraid to engage and try and fend them off/kill them with your team. Golems aside, if you dominate the enemy team it is entirely possible the counterpush can decide the game in your favour (especially if you take keeps).
Likewise don't be afraid to "all in" the enemy team when they are doing big golem so long as you have backup. It's important you don't let them poke the big golem and steal the skulls. get in there and scare them away, or if they don't run, you may well steal the skulls from them directly.
Sky Temple and Dragon Shire
You are much better at defending the objective points now, so don't be afraid to throw your weight around. At this point the dragon Knight is far more important to siege damage than solo heroes, and generally the temples are also very important as more and more are spawning at once. Check mercenary camps where possible and tag them, especially the siege ones. You can try and split push at this point if only one temple spawns at any given time, which can take focus away from the temple else the enemy team risks losing structures.
Spider Tomb
The tactics for this map don't change much as the game progresses, aside from the introduction of tagging mercs close to your lane. Team fights only really occur during a big push by your team, or the enemy, and fighting near the boss. You need to be available if any of these situations break out. Otherwise stick to lane and farm gems as the webweavers get better with each summon.
Cursed Hollow
As the game progresses tribute becomes less and less important as heroes acquire the capacity to tank towers. With this in mind it's better to set traps near the tribute to gank opponents who come for them rather than actively try and take them. Tributes can then be gathered when the opposing team retreats, followed up by boss mercenaries.
You should hang around with your team a lot more from now on, as actual hero siege is what is going to finish this map if the game draws out too long, rather than "who gets the last objective".
Levels 16+, The Initiator
For each of the above maps retain the same individual tactics as above, only generally tactics change now, objectives retain similar importance to the above paragraphs.
With your build finishing you are now primed to tank in massive team brawls. As such you should now accompany your team pretty much 95% of the time. Generally you will initiate from either a hidden brush whilst mounted or by using Burrow Charge. At this point it's a case of
Hardened Shield and
Locust Swarm when around 50% to bait the enemies to try and finish you, whilst they can't. Never initiate like this if allies can't follow you up, you need them to take advantage of your engage.
If the opposing team isn't attacking you directly, focus attention on their assassins so you can be ready to Impale them in case they begin channelling a deadly ability. Outside of this Impales should be aimed at as many of the opposing team as possible, such as when they try and run. Do not use Hardened Shield until Impale's stun is over. Every second of HS counts and opponents can't target you whilst stunned.
Speaking of Impale, one of your primary jobs in all teamfights is to shut down any channelled heroic abilities!! Consider this the most important job you have aside from a correct engage. If you can stop Valla, Nova or Nazeebo you will save your team a lot of damage. Respectively if you can shut down Malfurion or Lili's heroics you will find the enemy team isn't quite so tough after all.
Always stick to the opposing team as far as possible after the engage. This may mean you don't even auto attack, rather you just follow them around. This is advised as DPS from Locust Swarm is greater than DPS from your auto attacks collectively. Once Locust Swarm ends you can return to auto-attacking/body blocking.
Try and bait the enemy team where possible. Burrow Charge allows you to flee easily. Hero deaths are long at the end of the game, and with tensions running high they are valued greatly by all players. If you Burrow away on low health, there is every chance you can lure the opponents into counter-ganks with your team, or set them up to die. This ability to bait and switch is useful, and it doesn't take Anub'arak too long to get back to respectable health thanks to his sustain.
Partners in Crime Top
Although Anub'arak can comfortably solo well, often you are paired. As a warrior, he doesn't actually pair best with supports in most cases (as he can heal himself well enough). Rather, his best friends are aggressive assassins or specialists who can capitalise on his CC to kill or bully the opponent off lane. He is an aggressive warrior who needs an aggressive partner who isn't afraid to commit when he does.
Having good range is a plus as it means your ally doesn't have to use too much time to reposition.
My favourite allies are
Nova,
Tychus,
Kael'thas,
Jaina and
Valla. Melee heroes like
Thrall and
Kerrigan work well too, but they must be sure to land their CC after yours and they must be ready to move into position.
Any character that has good burst damage is an ideal partner for Anub'arak, as he provides small windows for damage quite easily. Although I don't typically favour being paired with support, I've had good success when paired with
Tyrande who plays with an aggressive build aimed at boosting Sentinel and Lunar Flare due to our stun synergy.
Conclusion Top
I hope you've enjoyed reading this guide, as said it is my first!
Most of all I hope you give Anub'arak an honest go and give the recommended build a spin and see how it works for you! Feedback appreciated on the guide as always and see you in the Nexus perhaps!
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