Hello everyone, my name is Benjamin "BadBenny" Eekenulv, and I am the tank player for team expert. I have done some guides in the past, but this new to HotS guides. This will be my second HotS guide, hope it will be appreciated.

The aim of this guide is to educate the reader on how to play Stitches properly. This will include builds, scenarios of when to pick what build, general playstyle information, and trying to explain Stitches "job" in the game.

Talents:

So for this build there are a few scenarios where you would pick different talents. The changable ones are 7, 13, and 20.

Level 7: Usually you just go with tenderizer, but on for example infernal shrines the e cooldown reduction that Last Bite provides, paired with the retchling at level 13.

Level 13: All of the talents are actually good here, although I rarely pick retchling without the level 7 talent. If they have cc take the flea bag, if not go for big slam - it is still useful to dismount and do ok damage in teamfight even though you do not have other slam talents.

Level 20: Usually harden is the way to go, but if you feel you are in no danger whatsoever of dying you can take bolt or ult upgrade depending on what you need.

Playstyle:

So Stitches differ from a lot of the main tanks in the way that since you do not have any form of gap closing abilities, you cannot scout enemy movement/hide in bushes the same way a lot of other tanks can. Unless you have complete control of the map rotation and have nothing to fear, you usually have to stand much further to the back than most tanks. Doing this also ensures that your backliners can follow when you do hit a hook, which is also obviously important.

Sustain wise your biggest powerspike is level 4 with the amplified healing, this not only increases healing from e and from allies, but also all regen (hp AND mana) from globes and fountains. From this point onwards you can move a bit more aggressively when you have your E up, since the enemy has to commit an insane amount to actually take you down. Make sure to keep in mind your team is moving with you though, because if you take damage, you always want your damage dealers to be able to deal damage at the same time.

Level 7 gives you a bit more peel, but is not really game changing. Just make sure you auto attack constantly, even though you should always do it regardless of level (if able). The slow from tenderizer lets you peel better (since you have 0 cc in your kit baseline, not counting hook), but also can ensure kills against heroes without mobility spells.

Arguably your biggest powerspike with this build is 10 (16 close second). Ultimates are obviously important for all heroes, but without bile stitches has bad cc for a tank and close to zero damage, so it is an even bigger spike for him. From here on you can either bile for engage or peel. Regardless of how you do it, you want to make sure you keep moving, and zoning the important targets. An example of this is if your team is getting dove, and you bile through the diving heroes, between enemy frontline and backline, then back again and look for hook (unless the enemy has already won the fight). This is a very standard maneuver, but very effective. You basically give the enemy the ultimatum saying "If you don't kill us, or back out instantly, you will lose the fight.", and even if they disengage instantly you have your hook to potentially secure kills.

Level 13 does not change to much, basically just reduce your cooldowns if you get ccd, which usually does not impact your sustain too much, and since you do not have slam build the damage increase you get from using w more does not really matter. It just makes you better, but not anything game changing.

The 16 talent is changing a lot on the other hand. This also separates the mediocre stitches players with the exceptional stitches players. To get the utmost value from the increased hook range you have to pay attention to enemy rotations, and position and time your hook accordingly. At this point it is even more important to engage with a hook, then bile, then hook again. If you up until this point have lost all teamfights, and realize you have a teamcomp that cannot straight up fight, you get a win condition through getting picks with the long hooks. Usually, but at this point especially, you do not have to care who you hook. With the increased range you will always get a favorable trade. OF course some heroes are easier to kill, but you should not be picky - a hook is a winning move, regardless of who is hit or if it gets a kill or not.

Level 20 is basically just for adapting to the enemy team comp. A general rule of thumb is to go harden if they have more singeltarget oriented damage you can prevent easily, and if you usually just get hit by aoe spells then bile upgrade is better. Bolt of the storm is also an option that can make you able to make more plays, but I have not ever had a situation where I feel I can do more with bolt than with bile upgrade.

When to pick this build: The situation for when to use this build instead of the slam build is
1) You are the maintank and will walk with team AND your team has good enough damage.
2) The enemy will focus you but you will still win fight if you live through their damage.

Talents:

The changeable talents in this build is level 1, 10, (16), 20.

Level 1: Choice is either between dampen magic or heavy slam. I used to prefer dampen, but recently I have been using heavy slam more, and it has been working out well. The damage scales insanely well with the other slam talents, and usually when you go slam build you should not be in a position where you need to be more tanky (i.e. you have double tank, double supp/shielding, and so on).

Level 10: If you go full slam build, you have enough teamfight presence without bile so you have the oppertunity to take gorge. This is mostly preferential, whereas bile makes your teamfight even stronger, while gorge gives you better catch potential + isolation. I usually take gorge when I feel my team is underperforming pre 10 and that I need to get the picks to carry, but as said it is mostly preferential.

(Level 16): Sometimes you are in the situation where you start slam build, but still cannot seem to win fights. This is a rare situation and usually I would not recommend it since the synergy between slam build and slam 16 talent is insane, but sometimes you can pick the fishing hook if you feel it is what is needed to win the game.

Level 20: The choice if you go bile on 10 is harden or bile upgrade, for the same reason as with the tank build. When you get gorge however you bolt is also a very good option. Personally I always take bolt when I go gorge in HL, just because those are the kind of kills that can win you hl games, and bolt ensures the random pick off even more. I also think bolt + normal hook is always good enough to kill someone, if your team follows. That is one of the reasons I never (or very rarely) take both gorge and long hook in the same game.

Playstyle:

With this build, you are less of a main tank, and more of a medium ranged, tanky, damage dealer. So unless the enemy has close to 0 kill pressure on you, you should not walk too far forward since you are more squishy and have less sustain than the tank build. Don't get me wrong, you can go this build as solo tank, but you just have to play more careful and not run 1v5 at the start of the fight. Your job is to be in range to soak damage and consistently damage people with w, and of course look for hooks.

Level 1-4: Your damage from w scales extremely well with each talent tier. At level 4 you can win trades with a lot of heroes, and you have good waveclear. Depending on if you are playing the maintank, or if you are the solo laner (offtank) you play a bit differently. If your lane is unwinnable, then just clear waves and wait for later on in the game where you can make plays and put out a lot of damage (and cc on 16).

Level 7: Another damage powerspike, the 1+4+7 is basically your "burst", then 13 & 16 gives you better aoe and cooldown reduction / cc. With that I mean that the playstyle does not change, you just get some more damage.

Level 10: The bile playstyle I explained in the other build, short recap - either bile to peel, or run through enemy team and back to zone. Gorge on the other hand gives you a different playstyle, and other oppertunities. Basically you trade the ability to just run into the team fight and peel for getting better pick off potential. Normally with gorge you want to start the fight off with hook gorge and run, and even if you fail to kill the target you usually get a favorable trade of cooldowns (they blow more ults and so on to save the target). Another scenario is if you are in the mniddle of the teamfight, and they are betting a lot on getting a key ult off to win the teamfight (sanct, ancestral, and so on). Then you can just gorge the guy just before the enemy is trying to pop the ult, which in most cases is kind of predictable, and voilá - you won the teamfight. Another way to do it is if they have like malf (aka a support that can't save anyone getting bursted) + double frontline - then you can gorge one of the frontliners and put all damage on the other. Obviously only works if you have a team comp that can burst one of their frontliners, but if they do it is a viable way of playing those kind of teamfights.

As said before, level 13 & 16 gives you first increased area, and second cooldown reduction and super slow. This is when the build shines the most - you get an insane amount of teamfight control, higher dps, and better hook potential due to being able to slam -> easy hook because of slow. If you go the fishing hook then you obviously lose teamfight presence, but you can get the money winning hooks that can change the game if you were losing up until this point. Note I still do not recommend it though.

Level 20: If bile it is bile upgrade or harden shield depending on enemy composition. As I mentioned earlier, a general rule of thumb is to go harden if they have more singel target oriented damage you can prevent easily, and if you usually just get hit by aoe spells then bile upgrade is better. If you go gorge on the other hand I strongly prefer bolt of the storm. With this you still have the teamfight build where you play around slam, but you also get the oppertunity to just gorge bolt someone which is insane. I really like the mobility and pick potential that bolt gives you, but you can of course go with the other talents if you prefer them.

When to pick this build: The situation for when to use this build instead of the tank build is when either
1) you do not think the enemies have the damage to kill you.
2) you lack damage in your team comp.
3) you are the second / off tank and will solo lane.

This is all for now, if you have any questions or feel the guide is missing something feel free to message me at @twitter.com/badbennyhots , or just come and ask while I am streaming @twitch.tv/badbennyhots .