Alpha In Depth Guide by BlazeChron

Alpha In Depth Guide

By: BlazeChron
Last Updated: Mar 14, 2017
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Alpha

Build: Atomic Bomb

Ability Path

Infinite Reboot
Heroic Perk
Prime Directive
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Core Charge
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Termination Protocol
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Item Choices

Start

Crystal Bit
Crystal Bit
Halcyon Potion

core

Aftershock
Broken Myth

Choose two

Fountain of Renewal
Aegis
Atlas Pauldron
Metal Jacket

Fancy Bewts

Journey Boots
Halcyon Chargers

Optional

Alternating Current
Clockwork
Frostburn
Shatterglass

Threat Meter

Threat
Low
High
Show all
Threat Hero Notes
1
 Baron Suuuuper slow. You can kill him easily.
1
 Skaarf Too slow. Goop does nothing to your Gap Closers
2
 Petal Petal's range is quite big, but you can gap close easily so she shouldn't be much of a problem. Be careful of her burst from Spontaneous Combustion as you may not be able to tap your Ultimate in time
3
 Celeste Easy. Stun is useless as your gap closers can help you catch up. You are too tanky to be taken down by her Solar Storm
3
 Joule If she's CP just Prime Directive behind her ultimate. If she's WP try to take her out before she gathers a ton of Breaking point stacks
3
 Kestrel Alpha makes it hard for Kestrel to vanish. But if she does blind snipe with your Prime Directive to dash past her mist trap
4
 Rona Get out of Red mist don't let her get free Breaking Point stacks. Otherwise easy matchup she's too slow
4
 Samuel Careful of Oblivion. He's too slow to outrun you or dodge Prime Directive
5
 Adagio Watch out for Verse of Judgement
5
 Alpha May the better Alpha win
5
 Blackfeather If he gathers enough Breaking Point/Broken Myth stacks he will become a huge threat. Don't let that happen.
5
 Ringo Squishy with no dash, easy to land Prime Directive and kite. But a good Ring will destroy you
5
 Taka Against lower ranked Takas it is easy to guess their position to Prime Directive and hit them out of stealth. Higher ranked Takas? Waaaay harder
6
 Fortress Wolves and mortal wound will hurt
6
 Krul Low health total and high sustain, Krul will outlast you. Get Atlas Pauldron
7
 Vox His dash is short. If he's good he will dash out of Prime Directive. Watch out for his 1 second silence
8
 Gwen Very fast, has a stun and a slow
9
 Ardan A good Ardan will Gauntlet to protect the carry from your Prime Directive and Self Destruct
9
 Flicker Will slow and bodyblock Prime Directive.
9
 Glaive ATLAS PAULDRON if he builds a ton of Attack Speed
9
 Koshka Super high base damage. Will bully you early game if good.
9
 SAW A good SAW will shank you before you use your Ultimate
10
 Ozo Unpredictable. It'll be hard to land your Ultimate
10
 Catherine Good Catherines will stun/silence you before you can activate Termination Protocol. Her bubble is too dangerous do NOT target her
10
 Idris Dodges your ultimate
10
 Lance Messes up your Termination Protocol and Prime Directive combo with Gythian Wall.
10
 Lyra Bulwark shuts down 2 of Alpha's skills. Also shuts down Termination Protocol -> Prime Directive
10
 Phinn Hooks stuns and Pulls. Makes his teammates tougher too. But tons of Aftershock damage
10
 Reim King of Melee 1v1. Don't target as he has Fortified health. Has a ton of CC as well
10
 Skye Worst. Matchup. Will dance around you and not let you land your Prime Directive

Alpha

Build: Killing Machine

Ability Path

Infinite Reboot
Heroic Perk
Prime Directive
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Core Charge
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Termination Protocol
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Item Choices

Start

Weapon Blade
Swift Shooter
Halcyon Potion

Core

Sorrowblade
Breaking Point

choose two

Fountain of Renewal
Aegis
Atlas Pauldron
Metal Jacket

fancy bewts

Journey Boots
Halcyon Chargers

Optional

Tyrant's Monocle
Sorrowblade
Bonesaw

Threat Meter

Threat
Low
High
Show all
Threat Hero Notes
1
 Adagio He's so slow. Free Breaking Point stacks
2
 Skaarf You can escape his Goop with Prime Directive and Core Charge.
3
 Baron Kite him. Remember he has Jump Jets to run like a sissy
3
 Kestrel Read Taka, except more squishy
3
 Petal Munions are pathetic.
3
 Samuel Malice and Verdict tickles.
4
 Glaive Atlas Pauldron if he's going for attack speed(and why wouldn't he). If he targets you Reflex block his Afterburn.
4
 Joule Prime Directive behind her Kamehameha if possible. Reflex block her stun if needed, If not then just tank it.
4
 Koshka An Assassin. She can't do much to you.
4
 Ringo Depends if it's a good or bad Ringo
4
 Rona You have two lives and she has one.
5
 Taka Just Beginning? Easily predictable stealth route. Just use Prime Directive. Vainglorious? Not so easy.
5
 Alpha Run from ultimate. Don't reflex block her A like a nub reflex block her ult
5
 Blackfeather Easy game against CP, harder against WP
5
 Celeste Watch out for her core collapse when kiting her
5
 Vox Get Breaking Point stacks quick before WP Vox does. Against CP You'll be diving on him for a 1v1 so you should be able to win
6
 Idris His combat roll/blink will be used for attacking instead of dodging. Be prepared for his ultimate it's annoying
6
 Skye Hard to target with Prime Directive, but once you catch her don't let go
7
 Ozo His Three Ring Circus and Aggrobounce make aiming Prime Directive hard
8
 SAW Everyone should target SAW. He can 1v1 you don't even bother trying.
9
 Ardan Gauntlet will be a huge problem. Won't let you touch his precious carry. (Trust me I've tried to. Got stunned thrice lol partially due to the Carry's good positioning)
9
 Fortress CP Fortress will melt you. Roam probably. Get rid of his wolves
9
 Krul Krul can outlast you. Get Atlas Pauldron and he's dead meat.
10
 Catherine Can stun before you can ult.
10
 Flicker Read Taka, but more tanky, and can turn his whole team invisible
10
 Gwen A good Gwen will run very very far away.
10
 Lance Has stuns and roots. A good Lance can easily shut you down
10
 Lyra Her Bulwark locks down both of your Gap Closers.
10
 Phinn Has stuns and pulls, can protect the carry from you with ease.
10
 Reim Has a ton of Fortified Health. Ping your ranged Carry to kill him before he kills you

Table o Contents Top

1. Updates
1.1 Game updates
1.2 Guide updates

2. Introduction
2.1 Echo Alpha?
2.2 Alpha Lane?
2.3 Abilities

3. Playing Alpha
3.1 CP Alpha Items
3.2 Fighting with CP Alpha
3.3 WP Alpha Items
3.4 Fighting with WP Alpha
3.5 Tips

4. Synergy
4.1 Fountain of Renewal
4.2 Captain Synergy
4.3 Carry Synergy

5. Afterword

6. More About Me

Mission: Fififififiind corn, yarn, garden. STORMGUARD Top

Thanks to hariravi2829 and lord17702 for laning and roaming(carrying and captaining now) for me respectively till Worthy Foe

Alpha does the dab

Updates Top



Game Updates


[2.0] Echo added, time to rekt some nubs
[2.1] Nothing much affected. Alpha is pretty strong right now
[2.2] Nothing changed, can't test viability as she's the No. 2 ban(behind Potato) (I can't play her ;-;)



Guide updates


15/12/16-Guide created. I CHOPE ECHO ALPHA IDEA ON VGF HAHAHA (if u understand this hey there! XD)
20/12/16-Removed Echo from guide. It was a stupid idea. Explanation down below somewhere
7/1/17-I gotta finish dis soon :P I'll finish the Synergy later I'm still lazy. Typing is some thirsty work, plus I got school forgive me ples
3/2/17-Finally finished the CP threats. May not be accurate as I play WP more than CP but it's a rough indicator of the difficulty.

Introduction Top


Greetings and welcome to my guide on my (old) main, Alpha!

Alpha has two lives. Why wouldn't you play her?
First known sighting of Alpha, 65,000,000 years ago

Pros
- Two lives
- No energy required XD
- Carry Killer


Cons
- Pathetic early game
- Kinda useless in Reboot
- Gap closers aren't very reliable

This guide is heavily based on Gold3n's guide on Reim, which is based on Neko's guide on Koshka. All credit goes to him/her (wow even this is copied I'm really unoriginal). I really liked the layout. Also, I used some of the templates from here to make the guide look nicer. As they say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.



Echo Alpha?


No, bad idea.
Despite the obvious perk of having 3 lives instead of just two, it's a terrible idea. Why?
You see, for Crystal Alpha, your Termination Protocol is going to deal massive damage. You HAVE to land the ultimate. You basically kill them if you land it. Why on earth would you want to use echo, if you only need to land one ultimate? Your Prime Directive should be used to land your ultimate for maximum damage, but once you use your Prime Directive, Echo won't reset the cooldown of Termination Protocol. For Weapon Alpha, her main damage comes from Breaking Point stacks. Instead of having 2 resurrections, you should add more damage. You lose Breaking Point stacks from reviving anyway.
Just don't use Echo for Alpha.



Alpha Lane?


Also a bad idea. Her A does not target minions. If you hit the enemy Carry you will dash behind the Carry and into turret range. She's also melee so nope



Abilities


 Infinite Reboot
Slot: Heroic Perk

Instead of dying, Alpha initiates a 3.5s reboot sequence. If her reboot health is not destroyed before time runs out, she will return to life.

When alive, Alpha's special energy bar shows the time until Infinite Reboot is available. When rebooting, the bar counts down to when she will revive.
  • Reboot health: 600-2600 (level 1-12) (+65% of Bonus Max Energy)
  • Reboot Duration: 3.5s
  • Alpha revives with her Prime Directive & Core Charge ability cooldowns refreshed.

THE MOST OVERPOWERED PERK ON THE HALCYON FOLD!!!(jk that would be Unstoppable)


 Prime Directive
Slot: A

Alpha scans for enemies in front of her. If she scans an enemy hero, structure or jungle creature, Alpha dashes behind them and slashes all enemies within 4.5 meters.
  • Deals bonus damage for each stack of Core Overload on Alpha.
  • Removes all negative effects of Core Overload.
  • Applies a brief slow to the scanned target.
  • Deals reduced damage to minions.

The range on Prime Directive is insane. Alpha is able to dash around the jungle to clear camps with this ability. Prime Directive's damaged is increased with Core Overload stacks, so I do not recommend engaging the enemy team with this ability. Prime Directive should only be used when you have full core charge stacks, as it removes the negative effects of the stacks.
Her Prime Directive is able to reach over the Kraken Pit. Taking the overdrive increases the range immensely

 Core Charge
Slot: B

Alpha lunges forward, and basic attacks her target. This ability costs 2% of her current health and applies Core Overload to herself, which will increase her damage output.

Core Overload (status effect):
Each stack increases health cost of Core Charge by 2%, but also increases the damage. Also causes basic attacks to heal her. This healing is reduced against lane minions. Lasts 8s, stacking up to 4 times. Basic attacks refresh the duration.
  • Attack has a small AOE, hitting nearby targets for crystal damage.
  • Basic attacks reduce the cooldown of this ability.

A small gap closer. It gives 1 Core Overload stack each time Alpha uses it. I believe each Core Overload stack chips away 2.5% of Alpha's health for each use(meaning with 3 Core Overload stacks it chips away like 7.5% of your health) but increases the damage of her Core Charges AND makes her basic attacks heal her. This is why I have not included items which grant massive amounts of health as Core Charge will just chip it away(That's also why I don't recommend playing Alpha as a Captain). When engaging in fights you want to quickly max out your Core Overload stacks, then use Prime Directive to remove the negative effects and deal massive amounts of damage.

 Termination Protocol
Slot: C

Alpha starts her self-destruct sequence, exploding after 3s and then ressurrecting herself with Infinite Reboot.
  • At the start of the ability, she gains a burst of move speed that decays rapidly.
  • She also gains a large health barrier. If enemies break this barrier, she explodes early.
  • This ability can only be activated while Infinite Reboot is available.
  • Upgrading this ability reduces the cooldown of Infinite Reboot.
  • Barrier: 400-1000 (level 1-12)
  • Explosion radius: 4.5 meters

BoomBoomBoom this ability turns Alpha into a time bomb and grants her bonus movement speed before taking it all away hurhur. For CP Alphas, landing this ultimate is CRUCIAL. If it hits the enemy team while you have full Broken Myth stacks GGWP. For WP just use it for the bonus health and bonus speed to finish opponents off.

New Alpha skin revealed

Playing Alpha Top


Playing Alpha


You kill the Carry.
Be like Taka, use your abilities, Prime Directive and Core Charge, to dash through the tanks in your way and head straight for the Carry.
Pummel him/her to death. Kite with Prime Directive and Core Charge. If the enemy team whittles down your health activate Termination Protocol for the extra barrier and boost in movement speed to widen the gap between you and them. Forget the safe respawn thing SEMC told you to do in the Alpha Hero Spotlight and just do whatever it takes to destroy the enemy team, even if it means sacrificing your own life. You have two after all ;)
Taking one for the team

But that doesn't mean you should make stupid decisions.
I'm a really aggressive player while piloting Alpha :P
Don't dive that deep if you can't.



CP Alpha Item Explanation

Item Function
Her Core Charge is spammable and procs Aftershock. Helps Alpha be more tanky and gather Broken Myth stacks
Combos with Aftershock to chip away massive amounts of health, especially against tanky heroes
Bigger Boom
Slow to kite easier, aim your Prime Directive for an extra slow and extra CP. Maybe item, because Prime Directive already slows.
Shorter cooldowns, shorter Reboot time, more Reboot health and a bigger explosion? yes please
Reflex Block and gives extra shield to tank through fights
More armour and a little bit of shield to tank through fights
Enemy building attack speed? Get Atlas Pauldron to shut them down
Spammable boots. Excellent for kiting slippery enemies
Getting killed too fast in Reboot? Get Halcyon Chargers to shorten the Reboot AND get extra Reboot health. Also has and extremely long sprint to chase the enemy team



Fighting with CP Alpha


Spam your Core Charge as it procs Aftershock to keep you alive. Reflex Block if needed, if you are not going down soon you can use your Prime Directive. But once you hit like say 1/10 or so of your health, smash that ult button. This is gonna take a bit of practice but use your Prime Directive to hit the enemy team. If done right, the enemy team should be dead after the explosion ( Broken Myth stacks + massive damage from ultimate). If not you're kind of a sitting duck.

Not like this (I play Weapon Alpha more ok)



There we go XD

You may want to resort to counting to time the ultimate
This timing is quite lenient you can cast Prime Directive a little earlier and still hit the enemy team(as Prime Directive has an on-hit slow)



WP Alpha Item Explanation

Item Function
150 raw Weapon power to quickly gain Breaking Point stacks.
Alpha is extremely hard to take down, this item takes advantage of that to boost her damage output over long fights.
Tyrant's Monocle assists Sorrowblade to gain more Breaking Point stacks
Enemies building armour? Get Bonesaw and shred them up
Reflex Block and gives extra shield to tank through fights
More armour and a little bit of shield to tank through fights
Enemy building attack speed? Get Atlas Pauldron to shut them down
Spammable boots. Excellent for kiting slippery enemies
Getting killed too fast in Reboot? Get Halcyon Chargers to shorten the Reboot AND get extra Reboot health. Also has and extremely long sprint to chase the enemy team



Fighting with WP Alpha


STUTTER STEP!!!

You may not think it's important for melee characters, but trust me it is. Every basic attack you can squeeze in counts. Every basic attack reduces the cooldown of Core Charge. (It isn't mentioned in the ability description but yes it does) which means more damage, more stacks and an easier time kiting faster Carries.
Your A is a gap closer
Your B is a gap closer
Your C is sort of a gap closer
Don't you think this is perfect for a melee Weapon carry?
Use them all if you need to secure an Ace. If you do you get all your missing health back.

Don't know what Stutter Stepping is? Check out ShinKaigen's video of it.

Tips


1. Reflex Block
2. Don't hesitate. It may cost you the game
3. Dive hurhur turrets are nothing. You are not squishy.
4. Don't dive when low levelled (Below Lv6)
5. If you can, make the enemy team target you or the Captain. It'll help your Carry ;)

Synergy Top


Fountain of Renewal


Ok, before I start this section, I have to mention the most important item for Captains, the Fountain of Youth Fountain of Renewal.
When does theCaptain activate fountain if their Jungler is an Alpha? A friend asked me this once, and honestly you don't. Don't use it for Alpha if you don't have communication. Use it on the Carry, or on yourself. Alpha players are prepared to use Termination Protocol when they need to if not instructed otherwise. Using Fountain of Renewal would be a huge waste. If you still have it after your Alpha teammate reboots, use it.
Of course there are exceptions. For example, when your Alpha gathers a ton of Breaking Point stacks(why isn't the enemy team dead yet XD) then of course you use your fountain. Rebooting will make the stacks decay.

TL;DR

To Fountain or not to Fountain? It comes down to communication. If you do have communication, and your Alpha asks for it, do it. If you don't have communication, he'll just go kamikaze.

This isn't really well written and I'm sorry :P it's the best I got so far



Captain Synergy



Vanguard's burst of movement speed and shield allows Alpha to dive Into the Fray(hurhur) and straight for the enemy carry. The amazing zoning capabilities of The Gauntlet allows Ardan to not only isolate the enemy Carry for Alpha to pick off while at the same time protecting the friendly Carry from the enemy Jungler and Captain






carry synergy Top

Afterword Top

Why is WP Alpha less popular than CP Alpha?
I mained WP for a period, and it works ;-; and it doesn't get rekted by cc as much

More About Me Top


I hail from the SEA Server under the IGN BlazeChron(Blazing Chronicle). I first arrived on the Halcyon Fold around 1.14(when Ozo came out). I used to play Heroes of the Storm(gr8 game btw except they reworked Illidan RIP unlimited Huntdown) so Vainglory was easy to get into. At least I didn't turret dive like a nub at the earlier ranks XD. Of course that changed now I turret dive everytim. My frans all suk no Vainglorious jk

I'm level 30 and am stuck at Credible threat with nub instalockers. The Hotness will be worse :(

Mains:
Ozo Guide here
Alpha Guide here even though you're already here(W.I.P.)
Blackfeather
Ringo
Phinn
Catherine



#turretdive4lyfe
I also have a test account(for practicing comboes and also making GIFS) Abz0luteZer0 if for whatever reason you wanna befriend idk

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