Nova: The Oneshot Sniper - Best Build - (Johanna Patch) by Mesmerize

Nova: The Oneshot Sniper - Best Build - (Johanna Patch)

By: Mesmerize
Last Updated: Jun 7, 2015
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Nova

Build: Classic Oneshot Nova

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Level 20

Threats to Nova with this build

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Threat Hero Notes
1
 Valla Valla is strong, yes. But she's also made of paper. A classic combo will delete her without dmg on you. But be careful, if Valla engage on you first, you can probably die before her as Anti-Armor Shells slows your auto-attack.
1
 Brightwing Her lack of direct heals makes her easy to oneshot.
1
 Murky I don't think you need explanation.
1
 Sylvanas She can run away with her E, but if she gets bursted down before well..GG.
1
 The Lost Vikings Please.
2
 Gazlowe He's squishy and his turrets are annoying. Burst him down by tricking him with your E and he will die without problems.
3
 Zagara Zagara is squishy and that's right, be she also has vision. This means a smart Zagara will make her retreat in time for avoid you to kill her.
3
 Malfurion Not so squishy as he appears. Also his HoT on himself and on other people can make you swear a lot. Trust me, you will when you'll see your target run away with 10HP.
3
 Azmodan Tanky and boring with his highly ranged skills. But absolutely not a problem.
3
 Li Li Why is LiLi so low-threated? Simple. She can get a lot of heals that's true, but if you take her on a full combo she will not heal herself in time. Triple Tap will make the rest if she's too distant from you.
3
 Rehgar Reghar can be pretty annoying if you're escaping with his totem. Also he can break Cloaking with Storm Shield. But his dmg is low and he die easily.
3
 Uther Stun and AoE, nothing of special.
4
 Sgt. Hammer It's a race against time. If you don't oneshot her, her insange autoattack range will kill you before you get out of her sight. Especially in late-game.
4
 Abathur Abathur got nerfed and that's why he's here. If you can't manage to find him, he can be annoying as he can spits spines and break your Cloaking. But if you can found him...boom.
4
 Chen Understimated enough to let you never see him in a Ranked. But it's right say something just in case someone picks him. He's tank and he can be boring with his chase power, but his dmg is low and for the biggest part of the times you will save yourself.
4
 Nazeebo He's squishy but with high dmg, be careful to what you do. If he can manage to take you in his corpse party you will not escape.
4
 Tyrande She has "low" damage and not much life, but she can mark you and stun you while the rest of the team kills you.
4
 Zeratul Stealth vs Stealth. just like Tychus always says "It's about damn time."
5
 Diablo He's tanky and has an AoE W. Also if he starts to follow you and he's just a little smart well, rarely you'll manage to escape.
5
 Anub'arak Not so annoying. He can be just by stunning you while you escape, but his dmg is low, and he's not tanky enough to survive you.
5
 Raynor Meh. I will not put him more high in threat. He's annoying because his passive is anti-oneshot. But what if his passive is down? ... Exactly.
5
 Tychus Would who have tought? His Q is a nightmare in early levels and his bomb is too. But he's squishy. Nothing more to say.
6
 Jaina Jaina is a Glass Cannon, if you can't manage to kill her before she starts to skill well, bye bye.
6
 Kael'thas Same as Jaina, but with more AoE. Also can put Magic Barrier as talent, and you will totally have more problem to kill him 'till you get Crippling Shot.
6
 Arthas Arthas nerf put him here. His dmg got lowered a lot, but he's still a good tank and can be annoying by blocking you with his W, or chasing you with his E on.
6
 Falstad Don't understimate a Falstad. He can be really annoying with his W-E combo, and if you can't manage to oneshot him you may have a problem.
6
 Kerrigan Not-So-Glass Cannon. Her shield is annoying for you if charged up. Once the shield is down she dies just like the others, but the problem is to take that down if you are alone against her.
7
 Thrall Thrall is understimated for most of the time, but he can kill you without problems with his combo and he can chase you with E. Also if he can manage to Wolf-Block you when you're still cloaked, you will die. Also don't forget he can heal himself with his passive meanwhile he kills you.
8
 Johanna Her W is annoying, her E can break your Cloaking and her Q can slow you. also she's tank and has 2 insane-ranged ultimates. In other words, she counters you. Not a higher threat because the biggest part of players play her as DMG and her Tankiness is on her active/passive. If you can surprise her from the distance, you can still take a good part of her life.
8
 Sonya Chasing power and Spin To Win. 'Till you die.
9
 Muradin A good Muradin is a nightmare for Nova. He's Tank (Even more if he use Avatar) and he has a good chase power. Also he has so many CC. Always avoid to fight him alone and never focus him as first in a fight.
9
 Tyrael Judgment and spam of skill will take you to a very quick death. Also, he's tank and have a good chase power.
9
 Stitches Hate this dude. Once you get hooked into the fight you will not leave.
10
 Tassadar "OH HI! I'M YOUR MAIN COUNTER!" Tassadar is insta-picked in a Ranked match if Nova is on the other side. with Oracle he can break your Cloaking and avoid your ganks. Also players who play him as Assassin will place a W always in front of/behind you. Archon also increase his auto-attack range at 20. Summarizing all, Once your Cloaking has been broken, you will not escape. In addition to all, he can put shields on squishy mates, so you can't oneshot them.
10
 Illidan Illidan is the King of chase. If he gets you in his focus, you will not reach your Keep in time. Most people says "Yeah but he's squishy, if you get him first..." LIES. A good Illidan against nova will spam his E, so he can Elude autoattacks and, with Sixth Sense, reduce the incoming dmg.
10
 E.T.C. Do you seriously tought about surviving to the power of Metal? a good ETC can break your stealth and stun you at the same time, and push you in the middle of the fight. ETC is also monstrously tanky and can recover life by Solo-Spamming.
10
 Nova Nova oneshots Nova. So simple.

Nova

Build: Alt-Oneshot Nova

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

Nova

Build: Pure-Holo Nova

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

Nova

Build: Alternative Holo-Nova

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

Nova

Build: Haunted Mines Nova (?)

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

Introduction Top

Hey guys, I'm Mesmerize!
I'm an Italian boy who aims to be someone in this game, one day.
But let's go for the clue of this build :)
Nova is a ranged assassin.
Her power is for the most focused on Oneshot the squishy enemy heroes.
With this guide I will show you all the way I experienced to play her!
The Threats of Nova are all the same for all builds I'm gonna show you.
Hope you enjoy :)
Oh! also I have to say that English is not my main language, I hope I haven't done too much mistakes! ^^

Talents: ONESHOT NOVA Top

As I'm a little nooby with HTML I will tell you talents in a easier way :)

Let's go with the first 2 builds: ONESHOT NOVA.
Lvl 1 - Ambush Snipe:
This is the main dmg of Oneshot Nova. It will increase the dmg on your Q when you break out of Cloaking or the first second right after.
Lvl 4 - Gathering Power:
As Nova you will avoid to die as you can, this talent is awesome if you can avoid it. The dmg of your skills will increase with time, giving you more dmg for oneshot.

Alt - Envenom:
Viable talent, but more "risky"(?). Envenom has it's own range, so for oneshot with this you'll need to get a little closer, and this can give enemies chance to kill you.
Lvl 7 - Anti-Armor Shells:
A double-edged talent. It will increase the dmg of Nova's autoattack by 250% but it will slow them too. Once this talent is on, Nova'sAutoattack will be about 3sec delayed, and if you don't kill the enemy hero you will suffer. But life is a risk, everybody knows.

Alt - Explosive Round:
This talent is used in the Haunted Mines build. Still to test for other maps.
Lvl 10 - Triple Tap (Or Triple Shot) OR Precision Strike:
I mentioned both the ultimates of Nova, because you can play it as you prefer. Triple Tap for a more target-focus, Precision Strike for Multiple Targets. Your choice.
Lvl 13 - Advanced Cloaking:
With this talent Nova movement speed and health regeneration are increased.
I really love this talent because you can take down people in different rounds and you will escape easily as your movement speed will be nearly mounted-like.

Alt - Headshot:
Some people like to play Nova with cooldown reduction on kills. This talent will take down the cooldown of all your skills by 4 sec. if you kill someone.
Lvl 16 - Crippling Shot
I like to think Lvl 16 talent is the mark of Late-Game incoming. Crippling Shot will make your target Vulnerable as you use your W. You can totally Oneshot a semi-tanky Hero! This one takes the Nova rotation on the E-W-Q-R rotation. If you are fast to use your skills, you can take advantage of the Vulnerability for shot a cloaked-buffed Q on your enemy. For a squishy hero it means certain death.

Alt - Overdrive
Just a little premise; I hate this talent. Some people like to play it on Nova as it increases your skills power by 25% for 5 seconds. Just don't forget it increase the mana cost by 40% too. Low mana and wanna try a kill with this? Nope. Still viable talent btw.
Lvl 20 - Fast Reload/ Precision Barrage / Bolt of the Storm
This three talents are all viable, both Nova ultimate upgrades are strong, and if you feel too "focused" you can always take Bolt of the Storm for a fast and tactical escape.

Talents: HOLO-NOVA Top

Little premise again. Holo Nova (IMHO) is not a competitive build. It's more for fun than for serious matches.
Lvl 1 - Conjurer's Pursuit:
"Why this talent on NOVA?!?" are you probably asking yourself.
Well, Holo-Nova is a late-game build, and as you will spam your Holo-Decoy skill, your mana will go down fast as a glass of water in a really sunny day. With this talent and some Globes you will have enough regeneration for spam Holo-Decoy without problems.

Alt - Ambush Snipe:
It still works and makes your dmg worth of having a Permanent Cloak. But if you go for this build your dmg is secondary. Your choice as always.
Lvl 4 - Remote Delivery:
Holo-Nova is a strategic build, so you need to place your own Holograms distant enough from you to make the enemy team crazy. This is the talent for doing that. The Holo-Decoy range is increased by 100% and the cooldown reduce by 3 sec.
Lvl 7 - Explosive Round
You have no idea of what this talent can do on Holo-Nova. Really. Ok, your Holograms have just 25% of your damage, but in late game, this will burst anyway more person in a team-fight. Amazing.

Alt - Anti-Armor Shells:
This works pretty well too. Your holograms shots at normal Atk.Speed and the 250% is awesome as they do only 25% of your dmg. Make some calculations and you will understand everything.
Lvl 10 - Triple Tap (Or Triple Shot) OR Precision Strike:
As before, Triple Tap for a more target-focus, Precision Strike for Multiple Targets. Your choice.
Lvl 13 - Lethal Decoy:
No exception, otherwise, why would you make this build?
Lvl 16 - Double Fake:
This is where everything begins. You're gonna see the dmg output of Holo-Nova from now on. Also, this makes people crazy and, if you're smart enough, they will waste some big CC on your Holograms.
Lvl 20 - Rewind:
Zan zan zan.
If you're asking yourself why this talent, you probably got nothing of this build. You're trolling your opponents and killing them by sending your holograms on the arena while you snipe them from the bush near the lane.
What's better than 2 Holograms? the answer is obvious. 4 Holograms. 4 Holograms and a true Nova...but where is she? They'll never guess, trust me.
Take 4 Holograms on a single target and just watch him detonate. Also it's useful to take back your Q and W, giving you another chance to finish people.

GAMEPLAY STYLE Top

Nova is an Assassin, so she uses her ability for killing people (lol.)
But she's really squishy, and she must be played strategically.
You can't just go 1vs1 against a Valla without Cloak and pretend to kill her. No. That's not how Nova must be played. NEVER.
Also, the main role of Nova with this build is to kill people, no matter what.

EARLY GAME:

Most of the people playing Nova stays in lane with her on Early Game. WRONG.
The only reason for stay in a single lane is that squishy heroes in enemy team are all in that lane. Then, you can do that, but it's not so good anyway.
Early-Game Nova must roam, help other lanes to take kills and soak experience. You will always focus the lane where the squishy people is, then, you can help other lanes.
In this phase of the game you have just to pay attention to glass-cannon like Jaina and Kael'Thas, who have strong dmg from the start. You can play with the bush for take some time in aiming for a Snipe right in the face with the Cloak buff. In this phase you can also finish enemies with autoattacks, as you don't have Anti-Armor Shells on. Pinning Shot is useful for slow people and help to get a kill.

MID GAME:

Usually the mid game of Nova begin when you get the Anti-Armor Shells and Ultimate, as you have to be more careful and you do much more damage than before.
The roaming is always good, as your team will always be happy for some scouting on the map.
You can try to steal some camps if enemy specialist is taking them alone (See Gazelow-Sylvanas and so on.) Let them finish and then kill them. Mean but functional.
Try to help the rest of the team by pushing with them the lanes and major objectives.
In this phase of the game you will add the E on your dmg rotation. Distract the enemy with a tactical Holo-Decoy then burst him/her down.
Be careful of tanks, you are still not that strong.
Rotation: E-Q-W-R.

LATE GAME:

Nova late game begin when you reach 16 and get the Crippling Shot/Overdrive. The dmg output is now really high, and if you use Crippling Shot you will burst down a normal tank without problems.
Rotation is now different: E-W-Q-R.
This because Crippling Shot makes your Pinning Shot inflict vulnerability on targets. With some quick skillshots you can take advantage of this and shot a cloak-buffed Snipe on vulnerable target. If the target is a squishy one, it's a free kill.
Nothing more to say, help your team in fights, follow them and kill people, it's your job.
Roaming is not a choice in this part of the game, the fight can start when no one expects that, and if you're too distant you team will be in a disadvantage. No, Precision Strike can't plug your absence in the fight, you oneshot assassin and maybe tanks, your ulti no. Also, in this part of the game, you can take down structures with a combo, Keeps too. just use creeps/minions as advantage for avoid Keep hits and bring it down with 2-3 combos.
Nova is not made for push lanes back, remember it.

HOLO NOVA:

You have to play it in the right way...I'm just kidding. You have just to press E and once you reach 20 E-1-E. thx. GG WP.
MAP STRATEGY

Nova gameplay strategy is similar on every map, except hunted mines. You can fin Haunted Mines explanation below.

Advice for ultimates by maps:

- BlackHeart Bay: This map is Nova-Unfriendly. Avoid her if you can, if you get this map by Quick Match well, both ultimates are fine. If the enemy team has no tanks, use Triple Tap.

- Cursed Hollow: Precision Strike is favorite on this map, you can take some precious seconds by throwing it on the tribute location.

- Dragon Shire: Triple Tap is favorite on this map. You can take some times by shooting people who is trying to get the dragon. Also Triple Tap is useful for take the drake down in a situation of emergency.

- Garden of Terror: When it's dark you are advantaged as your cloak is harder to get noticed. Precision Strike favorite. Most of the time enemy team will regroup on the terror for take seeds, or they will regroup with the living terror of their team. With a nice engage (See Johanna, E.T.C, Diablo and so on) You can land a perfect strike and kill 3-4 people just by pressing R. Nice uh?

- Haunted Mines: READ BELOW.

- Sky Temple: This is a really weird map for Nova. If you are in a ranked match, better if you avoid to pick her here. If you got this map just by Quick Match well, you can use what you prefer. Temples can be taken by a single hero if tanky, so you could waste a Precision Strike, but they can also be taken by a whole team, and if you have Triple Tap you could have a problem in helping your team. Personally I take Precision Strike, but here I leave you a free choice :\

- Tomb of the Spider Queen: This map is really Nova-friendly. Lot of place to hide for take your cloak back on, or just for try to kill someone. Triple Tap is really favorite here. you can kill people with lot of gems when they don't even expect that.


HAUNTED MINES BRACKET:

In the list of builds you can find a build for this map, still in test for other maps.
As this map main objective is to take skulls in mines, you can't simply roam to kill people while they take them. You're gonna lose the biggest part of them.
With Explosive Round you can oneshot an entire camp with just an hit of Q. Also you can get into mines without being noticed, and take biggest camps quickly. After you took many skulls you can just use yourself as a ward for the boss, so your team can take advantage of the situation from the right side and maybe dominate the enemy team.
Once you are outside of mines, defend your base by enemy golem, if necessary.
Otherwise, go near your golem, probably focused by the biggest part of enemy team, and try to kill the squishy heroes. Use precision strike for help yourself if you are alone.
If you need to defend your base using precision strike on the enemies will give your boss some extra time.
Precision strike is the best ultimate all the way for this map.

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