Hi I'm Glaurung; I have been in the Heroes of the Storm alpha for a while now and I leveled to 40 playing Stitches almost exclusively. Lately I have had some free time so I've decided to make a guide. After accruing over 500 games on Stitches I would love to share with you guys my thought process on builds, talents, strategic maneuvers on maps, and how to play Stitches my way.

Stitches is the TERROR OF DARKSHIRE from the World of Warcraft franchise. He is generally classified as a tank, but I consider him to be an extremely high utility support/tank hybrid. Stitches is a hero that relies heavily on his team to capitalize on his plays. Stitches is also a hero who scales incredibly well into the lategame.

Trait: Vile Gas - When struck, Emit a cloud that damages enemies. (Personally I think Vile gas is a good passive that is potent in an extremely subtle manner; Vile gas can be used to assist you in pushing out a wave, Vile gas can give you that bit of damage needed to finish off an opponent, and Vile gas can in certain situations can be used zone enemies from an area.)

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Q: Hook - Pull the first target hit towards you. (This ability is by far my favorite ability in the entire game; the fact alone that this ability changes the playstyle of all 5 opponents makes it unique in the sense that your enemies have to be more intelligent with their movements. This ability takes a lot of practice to use effectively because not only do you have to hit the proper targets with your hook, you have to hook them at the correct times. I know from personal experience that it's not hitting hooks that make Stitches amazing It's hitting the right ones. I have killed myself or single-handedly lost teamfights because I hooked an Uther, Etc, or Malfurion with silence. Being able to use this ability effectively can make Stitches one of the strongest heroes in the game.)

W: Slam - Damage enemies in an area. (This ability is highly underrated as it can be used to provide vision for potential hooks, deal that extra bit of damage, and simply intimidate the enemy with it's amazing animation! Slam is also quite good in early game skirmishes.)

E: Devour - Damage an enemy and restore health. (This ability is amazing in the sense that it improves your survivability in general, but it can also be used tactically as a bait to get enemies to overcommit into your allies to secure kills. The increased damage to minions allows you to do some cute things as well. For example, if Nazeebo cast's zombie wall and hits you, you can devour a zombie to get out of the wall sooner. Another thing you can do is if Tychus casts his ultimate ability Drakken Laser Drill you can simply use devour on it to take out close to 60% it's hp. This ability in general is amazing and fits the lore behind Stitches perfectly.)

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R1: Putrid Bile - Emit bile that slows and damages enemies in your path. (Bile is a great ability if you're looking to zone enemies from your backline, disengage from an unwanted fight, or to simply deal that extra bit of AOE damage. Personally though, Bile does not mesh well with my playstyle at all and I would not recommend using it if you prefer the high risk high reward style of play Stitches has. By no means am I saying this ability is terrible and that no one should use it, but from my personal experience I highly prefer Gorge. Another con in my opinion is if the enemy team all focuses you it's hard to effectively spread the bile properly without suicideing into the enemy.)

R2: Gorge - (Gorge is easily one of my favorite abilities in the game, and I think if Gorge is used properly it is one of the most amazing heroic abilities in the game. There are many ways to use Gorge and using it properly is difficult at times and takes experience to learn when you should use it. In general though it's uses are to secure picks after you hit a hook allowing either you to reposition or your team to reposition to secure the kill. In an actual teamfight though it can have another purpose, taking a high priority target completely out of the fight even for just a few seconds can provide enough of an advantage to win the fight. Using Gorge to interrupt certain heroes abilities makes this an amazing ultimate, for example if Nazeebo casts Ravenous Spirit you can just walk up to him and eat him mitigating the damage from Ravenous Spirit. Gorge synergizes extremely well with Sprint and Bolt of the Storm also.)

Level 1

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Regeneration Master - My go to level one talent, this talent adds a lot of versatility to many builds and in general I feel in extended teamfights this talent is very valuable.

Level 4

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Amplified Healing - To me this is the obvious talent choice at this tier because it is simply too good to give up the 30% bonus healing synergizes not only with the supports healing abilities on your team, but it also works extremely well with Devour and Regeneration Master.

Level 7

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Tenderizer - This talent makes Stitches a lot stickier in the sense that any target you're consistently attacking can't run away. This talent favors my playstyle which is very pick oriented.

Level 10

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I stated my feelings about his heroic abilities in the ability overview.

Level 13

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Sprint - AMAZING IN EVERY WAY!!!!!! But in all seriousness, this talent is too good to pass up. It's good for securing picks by running back to your allies after you have gorged an enemy, It's good for chasing/running away, and sprint allows for countless plays by getting behind an enemy to bodyblock; this talent just synergizes with his kit amazingly.

Level 16

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Fishing Hook - This talent alone made me fall in love with this game. Fishing Hook opens up so many opportunities to not only show off your skill, but to change games entirely. A max range hook on the proper target allows your team to instantly get ahead and make the game 4v5 until the hero you killed comes back to life. After you hit your pick you can pressure countless objectives or just simply look for a fight because you're now up a hero. This is the best talent Stitches has in my opinion.

Level 20 Heroic Abilities

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Bolt of the Storm - This talent opens up so many possibilities to make plays and completely fits my playstyle. You can hook an enemy from max range, and then Gorge them and blink and sprint into a location where you can bodyblock them to secure the kill 100%. You could also blink onto an enemy, gorge them and use sprint to run back to your team. My personal favorite though is using blink to clear extra distance to hit a hook from an absurd range, although it is quite difficult, when you successfully hit the combo you not only look amazing but you instantly pick off an enemy.

I know all of that information is a lot to take in, so now let's jump right in to gameplay. In the current state of the game, I prefer to solo lane with stitches until there are major objectives on the map that your team is ready to pressure. Stitches is one of the strongest 1v1 duelists in the early to mid game so you should take advantage of that. Be mindful of where the enemies are early because you don't want to die to a gank. You have to be mindful of Stitches lack of mobility until you get sprint because he is extremely immobile.

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At this point in time your team should be looking to pressure objectives and should be grouped up. Now it is time to show your enemies Stitches is a force to be reckoned with. Hitting the correct picks at this point in the game is detrimental to the outcome of the game. Your team should wait for a good pick, then pressure one of your enemies mercenary camps/forts. Playing both as Stitches or with a Stitches on your team you need to be very reactive and aware of where your enemies are while looking for picks.

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Late game is where Stitches shines, death timers are long enough that hitting that one amazing hook could win you the game. It is extremely important to constantly be aware of where your enemies are and plan your hooks intellegently

This is probably the most important part of the guide because hooking the wrong targets could be the death of you or your teammates.

[1] hooking Brightwing into horseshoe spot.

[2] bodyblocking Raynor

[3] threading the needle!

[4] denying Zeratul

[5] denying Tyrael

[6] hooking Arthas

[7] hooking Falstad

[8] max range Raynor hook

I would like to thank all of my friends who I play with on a regular basis for being so awesome and keeping this game exciting, and I would also like to thank the Heroes community for being so awesome!!