If you've played Stitches, you've probably already been looking at it's talent tree in frustration. The Hook seems like the ability you'd want to upgrade the most, but there's two offensive abilities for it at level 16 and that's it. Devour has a cooldown that is so ridiculous that it's only use is as a self-heal. Taking level 7's Last Bite ability means that *if successful*, you reduce the cooldown to 15 seconds instead of 30.

YEESH.

So at this point, you're left with Slam, Vile Gas, and passives. And that's your build options. You're either playing Stitches as a character to clear lanes, or as a character to get punched. But in either build you're looking to pull opposing players into harm's way.

An important thing to keep in mind is that Hook will interrupt channeled abilities, so keep an eye on your opposing enemies level 10 abilites and consider saving Hook to interrupt instead.

This build assumes you've got a healer backing you up or that you're your group's only tank. It focuses primarily on passives to make life miserable for anyone trying to stop you in team fights. Gorge is used to change the odds in team fights. I often see it used to pull someone and spit them back out at the group, but instead consider using it immediately to move the tank out of the way and Hook their healer or ranged assassin into range. When your health drops below 50%, use your Devour and be prepared to cycle out.

If you're playing in a group without a healer, consider Vile Cleaver at level 4 instead.

This works best when you have another tank in your group. You can let them take the abuse while you work to grab opponents for your team to take down. Putrid Bile is used to clear creep waves full of mercs, or to catch fleeing heroes so you can hook them back to your team. In standard waves, the talents of Vile Cleaver and Toxic Gas will make quick work of most minions. Move into the middle of the creep wave and attack a different target each time. The large puddles of Vile Gas will dissuade most melee characters from entering in to combat against you. Be prepared to run out at any time.

In areas with thin walls, the Hook can be used to great success, pulling an enemy hero to a location from where they cannot escape. The walls around the boss golems in Haunted Mines and Garden of Terror, the walls around the egg altars in Tomb of the Spider Queen, and the walls near some tributes on Cursed Hollow can help give you great odds in fights. You can also use the small maze of walls beneath the turn-in location on Blackheart's Bay to pull an enemy out of the fight until they make their way out but this can backfire if they can DPS you down.