Basic Hero Guide 1: Witch Slayer

No city is more pious in its worship of Sol than Arasunia, and no man is more fervent among its zealous citizens than the Witch Slayer. Although he is viewed with uncertainty by the beast shamans and human sorcerers in the Legion, his combat prowess and holy powers make him a mighty ally. Wielding a musket and a bladed icon of Sol, he can not only hold his own in battle, but can also sap his enemy's strength and turn any ground into sacred territory.







Hero Role: Support/Ganker
I will be giving a guide that is more oriented towards support because that's the role that I believe he fits the best.


Skill List

Graveyard
Creates a Graveyard for 700 units in the target direction. Any enemies hit will fly into the air for 0.52 seconds and are stunned for 0.5 / 1 / 1.5 / 2 seconds when they land, taking 60 / 130 / 200 / 260 Magic Damage.
Type: Magic Range: 500 Radius: 150 Cast Time: .5 Seconds.
Cooldown: 12 Seconds Mana: 100 / 125 / 140 / 170
Action: Target Dual Position

Miniaturization
Applies Miniaturization to the target enemy for 1.25 / 2 / 2.75 / 3.5 seconds, settings its base Movement Speed to 100.
Type: Magic Range: 500 Cast Time: .9 Seconds.
Cooldown: 13 Seconds Mana: 110 / 140 / 170 / 200
Action: Target Entity
Miniaturization Effects: Perplexed, Silenced, Disarmed, Smaller!, Base Movement Speed set to 100.

Power Drain
Applies Power Drain to target for duration of the channel. The Witch Slayer gains mana equal to the mana drained. Instantly kills illusions.
Type: Magic Range: 600 / 650 / 700 / 750 Channeling Time: .9 Seconds.
Cooldown: 25 / 20 / 15 / 10 Seconds Mana: 10
Action: Target Entity
Power Drain Effects: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 Mana drained per second.

Silver Bullet
Deals 500 / 650 / 850 Magic Damage to target.
Type: Magic Range: 700 Cast Time: .9 Seconds.
Cooldown: 12 Seconds Mana: 200 / 420 / 650
Action: Target Entity
Staff Effect: Increases damage from {500,650,850} to {600,800,1025}.




Item Build

Early Game



Start off with either the courier or a pair of wards for your team. Your goal in the early game is to survive, set up kills, and allow your carry to farm.

Mid Game



Continue to buy wards/counterwards to provide vision for your team if you are the ward bitch. If not, build up your farm and buy a Portal Key and roam. This will keep your enemies in fear of a 6 second disable and massive burst damage all the while allowing your carry to farm.

Late Game



Your late game should be all about trying to get all of your spells off before dying. Obviously if possible avoid dying, but know that you are expendable. Be aware of which heroes you should CC and which heroes to burst down.

Beginner Guide 1: Hero Roles

Before you read too much on, there is a concept that every player needs to hammer into his brain over and over (especially all you beginners out there) as it is the single most important thing that you can learn about the game: HoN is a team game.

Now, a lot of people are of course going to say "Ego, of course HoN is a team game. There are five players on each side and they have to work together as a team to defeat the enemy right?"

And I would respond "Correct!". But there is more to it than simply that. It is so easy to be drawn into individual well-being in a game that you can lose sight of what the ultimate goal of playing is: winning! So here you will learn what specific role you're best suited for, and how to play a certain type of role.

The Carry

My worst nightmare when it comes to public/AP games because each team ends up with 4-5 carries and the game becomes a clusterfuck of carries, rather than a balanced game. The carry is the hero that in the early game is heavily supported by his teammates, but in the late game is able to ‘carry’ them to victory.

Characteristics

-Stronger late game than early game (generally)
-Item-dependent
-Must farm well in order to succeed (whether heroes or creeps)
-Able to destroy opposing heroes late game extremely fast

Sub-Categories

Hard Carry

These are carries that are usually only able to really shine once the late game kicks in. They are generally weaker than all other types of heroes early to mid game and must have a very strong farm to be successful.



Semi-Carry

These are carries that are effective all throughout the game (early, mid, and late) but have less carry potential the longer the game goes on compared to a hard carry.



Tank-telligence Carry

My own made-up category because I feel as though they take a special spot distinguished from the other types of carries. The distinct difference is that semi-carries are still reliant on their auto attacks, and TT carries are more or less completely reliant on their spells. TT carries have spells that scale into the late game, and as expected are built like tanks.




Ganker/Nuker

These heroes are the ones that will do bulk of the damage early to mid game. They are able to do well without farm because they are spell-dependent. Needs early levels to have run-away potential.

Characteristics

-Has offensive spells that can either control the enemy hero(es).
-Dishes out large amount of damage in quick succession.
-Expected to roam early/mid game to set up kills.
-Level dependent (to get higher skill levels).



Support

The bane of low rating and pub games: there are no support heroes! When played well, the support heroes can be the most important part of your line-up. They place wards to give vision to your allies so they can gank/avoid being ganked. It's common for them to not even directly be in the lane but rather off in the jungle nearby so that the carry in their lane can get the farm.

Characteristics
*AKA "Ward Bitch"
*Typically lower level and farm than other heroes
*Responsible for setting up wards
*Must protect the carry







Final Words
Please note that the above guide and heroes listed in each section is a general guideline and is not intended for top-tier play. Use it as a good base to build your game sense of hero roles and adjust accordingly.