Not Your Momma's Nova by Starr57

Not Your Momma's Nova

By: Starr57
Last Updated: Jun 5, 2015
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Build 1 of 1

Nova

Build: Explosive Tazers

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

Disclaimer... Top

Let's just get this out of the way, right off the bat. No, this is not the traditional or usually advocated Nova build. I know that. Now you know that. And you know that I know. Great.

However, this is a build I have used with success so I wanted to share it, get people's thoughts (likely be yelled at), and encourage others to try it for themselves.

Explaining the Talent Choices Top

Level 1 - Tazer Rounds


Increasing the slow of pinning shots to 4 seconds is valuable for preventing heroes from escaping and keeping them in range of you and other DPS, but the real purpose in taking this talent is to synergize with crippling shot at level 16.

Level 4 - Gathering Power


The damage bonus from Gathering Power boosts Nova's already strong burst damage. Plus the requirement of having to stay alive while racking up kills is good training for playing Nova, anyway. If you don't think you can maintain the kill rate, Envenom is good for extra DPS, but it requires you get in closer than you may want.

Level 7 - Explosive Round


I know the conventional wisdom is to take anti-armor shells, but with the 250% slow to your attack speed, you won't get two shots off during the slow/vulnerability. With explosive round, you get some splash and AoE damage. This is especially useful if the other team is bunched, and it can be useful if you are playing PUGs where you may get stuck soaking a lane or trying to defend against mercs. If you can land the snipe on the mage in the creep wave, it will splash to the others.

Level 10 - Precision Strike


Triple tap is great, but Precision Strike is more versatile. It can be used against an entire team, cover retreats, or block enemy teams from escaping engagements.

Level 13 - Lethal Decoy


Lethal Decoy is a great talent. Giving your decoy attack power will make it confuse more enemies, and it can also be a great chase mechanism. There is nothing better than throwing a decoy ahead of you to take down a hero that thinks they are getting away from you with a scrap of health left. Suckers... =)

Level 16 - Crippling Shot


This is where the talents really synergize and you can do a ton of damage. Between Tazer Rounds and Lethal Decoy, you will be able to apply 25% vulnerability for 4 seconds twice. This can be incredibly useful when taking down terrors, bosses, and structures like forts, keeps, and the core.

Level 16 - Rewind


Precision Barrage and Bolt of the Storm are both great talents, but Rewind can provide a lot of DPS with this build and can keep you in team longer. Between explosive round, the tazer/crippling shot combo, lethal decoy, and rewind, you can stand and fight in team fights and dish out a ton of damage.

Final Thoughts... Top

With this build you have a lot more ability to stay in a team fight and continue to dish out damage. The traditional build around ambush snipe and anti-armor shells requires Nova to disengage for three seconds before the combo can be used again.

Between applying 25% vulnerability for 4 seconds up to 4 times and tossing out snipes that splash onto nearby enemies, Nova will be able to sustain her damage in team fights longer as well as be a force when taking down structures or taking down enemies with high health like terrors, golems, and bosses.

So there you go, it is not your traditional Nova build, but I hope you give it a try and see how it works for you. I think you may be surprised at your ability to dish out damage and sustain that damage.

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