CATHERINE by FlashX

CATHERINE

By: FlashX
Last Updated: Apr 29, 2016
6 Votes
Build 1 of 1

Catherine

Build: Build #1

Ability Path

Captain of the Guard
Heroic Perk
Merciless Pursuit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Stormguard
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Blast Tremor
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Threat Meter

Threat
Low
High
Show all
Threat Hero Notes
1
SAW Merciless pursuit is devastating for SAW. It can cancel his Suppressing Fire thus canceling his generation of an immediate 12 Spin Up stacks. If he chooses to reflex block this, then the closed gap makes it very easy for Catherine to land an Atlas Pauldron. If Catherine engages with Blast Tremor, then SAW won't be able to block either of these while he is silenced. Stormguard also enables Catherine to get close without losing too much health.
2
Kestrel Stormguard makes it very easy for Catherine to stand up to Kestrel's Glimmershots. Stormguard can also very easily absorb the damage from 'One shot One Kill'
3
Adagio Landing a successful Verse of Judgement against Catherine will be very tough. Cattherine can simply use a Merciless Pursuit to cancel this ability if Adagio does not have a reflex block. Blast Tremor will also effectively render an Adagio helpless during a teamfight.
4
Phinn Phinn is fairly effective against Catherine because he can never be stunned. However, this makes Phinn an easy target for Catherine to gain stacks for Captain of the Guard.
5
Blackfeather Catherine vs. Blackfeather will come down to the mechanics of the Blackfeather versus the timing of the Catherine. Rose Offensive can block anything Catherine tries to throw at Blackfeather, but a patient Catherine can wait until at least one of these charges have been used before shutting Blackfeather down with a combination of Merciless Pursuit, Blast Tremor, and an Atlas Pauldron.
6
Taka With Stormguard now changed to buff damage, it will no longer reveal a Taka in his Kaku. Taka can also effectively use Kaiten to dodge Merciless Pursuit.
7
Ringo The combination of Ringo's quick mobility and high attack speeds means that Stromguard is not going to last very long and even if he does get silenced, his basic attacks will still continue to pound away at Catherine and her allies.
8
Celeste Even though Blast Tremor can be absolutely devastating for Celeste, she will still be wise to position herself quite far from Catherine and slowly wittle her down using Heliogensis and it's reduced cooldown from 1.17 and longer lasting helio's from 1.16.
9
Skaarf Merciless Pursuit can turn Catherine into heroine if she's able to cancel Skaarf's Dragon breath. However, getting close to Skaarf is the tricky part. With his Fan the Flames perk, he will quickly melt down Catherine from a distance.
10
Skye Forward Barrage is a nightmare for Catherine. Stormguard can only block damage above 77 (+7 per level). Forward Barrage however applies damage over 10 rapid individual packets which is always under this threshold, thus rendering Stormguard useless.

Top

Top



My name is FlashX. I am the ROAM player for Team SoloMid who are the current reigning World and North American champions. I have been playing Vainglory since September 2014. I am currently Vainglorious Silver in the Spring 2016 Season. You can check out my previous guide on Unstoppable Phinn here: http://www.vaingloryfire.com/vainglory/guide/flashxs-unstoppable-phinn-14048

This guide will focus on playing Catherine as a ROAM hero. While she may have fallen out of fashion in recent competitive play, we still have a lot of time left in the Spring 2016 Season for Catherine to make a comeback. The only change to Catherine in 1.17 was that her Stormguard is now treated as buff damage. The only thing to really note is that it will no longer steal last hits from jungle camps and will not cancel an enemies stealth ability such as Kestrel's Active Camo or Taka's Kaku. While these changes are considered nerfs, they are so minimal that I feel they will have absolutely no effect on Catherine's effectiveness as a roam hero.

I believe Catherine is effective as a ROAM hero because of her ability to both initiate and disengage from teamfights. She's an incredibly tanky frontline from the combination of her heroic perk Captain of the Guard as well as her Stormguard. She can use Merciless Pursuit to lock enemies in place, stunning them, while Catherine's allies either focus down this target or run away when necessary. Her ultimate, Blast Tremor, is perhaps the single most devastating ability in the entire Halcyon Fold.

Top



Difficulty: LOW
Position: ROAM
Role: PROTECTOR


Captain of the Guard
Slot: Heroic Perk

Catherine gains 1 armor & shield every time she stuns or silences or silences an enemy hero with her abilities.


Catherine brings the most reliable stun and disruption skills to teamfights and ganks. Hard to kill and great at chasing, she can secure kills and turn around fights that would otherwise be lost. Catherine can soak up damage and strike fear on sight. She is best roaming between jungle and lane.

Catherine is weak in the early game relative to other ROAM heroes but if played correctly she is a menace for the late game. Prioritizing gaining stacks to increase effectiveness of Captain of the Guard is very important. Even if Catherine knows that nothing may come out of it, using Merciless Pursuit frequently on enemies so that she becomes very tanky into the late game is very important. Once she reaches level 6, landing a 3 person Blast Tremor followed up by a Merciless Pursuit allows Catherine to gain +4 armor and +4 shield in less than a second. These stats will have nearly added up to the equivalent of a tier 3 defensive item later on in the game.

Merciless Pursuit
Slot: A

Catherine gains a burst of move speed. Her next basic attack is replaced by a powerful stun attack.
  • Resets basic-attack cooldown on activation.


Using Merciless Pursuit: This ability can be used both offensively and defensively.

- Offensively: Catherine can lead the charge into battle using Merciless Pursuit to stun an enemy that her allows should then immediately focus with all of their damage. This will often result in a combination of abilities such as Glaive's Afterburn or Skye's Forward Barrage depending on which allies Catherine has on her team.
-Defensively: Catherine can simply use this as a tool to disengage from a teamfight. If an agile hero such as Blackfeather is trying to chase down Catherine's allies, she can quickly stun Blackfeather while her allies escape. If Catherine and her allies get caught out of position by Adagio's Verse of Judgement she can use Merciless Pursuit to stun him and cancel this ability while it is still channeling.


What to AVOID: Be patient when using Merciless Pursuit. Just because the option is there to use it, doesn't mean it should be used immediately. In high level play, a talented Adagio or Skaarf player will wait until they see Catherine use her Merciless Pursuit before they begin channeling Verse of Judgement and Dragon Breath respectively.

Stormguard
Slot: B

Activates a protective bubble that reflects damage back to nearby enemies - especially when it comes in large bursts.
  • Reflects any damage above 7.5% of base maximum health.
  • Reflect damage is spread out to up 3 nearby enemies.
  • Each reflection reduces the shield duration by 0.2s.
  • Also damages enemies around Catherine while Stormguard is on.


Using Stormguard:
Stormguard should be used as Catherine enters the fray. This will allow her to be an effectively frontline for her allies and is a very strong tool for having to facecheck a bush if she does not have any flares available. Any damage over the threshold will simply be absorbed and a small portion will be administered back into the enemies. This ability is very effective at absorbing high burst damage such as Kestrel's Glimmershot but very ineffective at absorbing small, rapid damage such as Skye's Forward Barrage.

What to AVOID: Because Catherine may not be building a lot of energy regeneration as a ROAM hero, effective energy management is very important. Many of her abilities cost a lot of energy so it is important that Stormguard only be activated during teamfights.

Blast Tremor
Slot: C

Catherine slams the ground, damaging & silencing enemies in a large cone in front of her.


Using Blast Tremor: Similarly to Merciless Pursuit, Blast Tremor can be used both offensively and defensively. However, using it offensively is more common and likely how many Catherine players will use it.

-Offensively: Using Blast Tremor offensively is the preferred method as it has a relatively long cooldown and when activated has only a small window for Catherine and her allies to take advantage of the silenced enemies. If Catherine is able to hold her position in a bush where enemies do not have vision, she can activate Blast Tremor right as enemies draw within range. However, if enemies do have vision, Catherine will want to position closer to the enemies by engaging first with Merciless Pursuit and then immediately following up with Blast Tremor. While the enemies are unable to use any items or abilities, it is important for Catherine and her allies to focus the enemy carry's very quickly.

-Defensively: Using Blast Tremor defensively can be very useful under certain circumstances but because of the long cooldown, using it defensively is not ideal. If Catherine and her allies are caught out of position or start to lose a teamfight, Blast Tremor can be used to silence the enemies in order to allow Catherine and her allies to escape defeat.

What to AVOID: At the professional level, Catherine has fallen out of the meta because the top roam players have become very adept at using Crucible to block Blast Tremor. Avoid using this ability too quickly and too predictably. Enemies should suspect it to be coming, and be ready to click their reflex blocks. However, with patience they may use these too soon or lose focus of Catherine during the midst of a teamfight. Being aware of both allied and enemy positioning is also very important. Blast Tremor should only be used when the enemy carries are within range and Catherine's allies are ready to immediately engage after the ability is cast.

Top



With the first qualifier for the 2016 Spring Championships now complete, there are a few standout heroes that pair incredibly well with Catherine:

MERCILESS|POINT AND SHOOT
Skaarf pairs extremely well with Catherine. They have an incredible amount of synergy together in terms of their abilities and methods of outputting damage. Catherine can initiate a teamfight using Merciless Pursuit making it incredibly easy for Skaarf to land both Spitfire and Goop. If timed correctly, Blast Tremor will enable Dragon Breath to deal the maximum amount of damage while enemies are rendered helpless by the silence!


BE SILENT
Vox pairs extremely well with Catherine. They have an incredible amount of synergy together in terms of how each should respectively position during a teamfight. Both Vox and Catherine have abilities that silence enemies. If used optimally, enemies will be devastated by Blast Tremor followed by Wait for It and vice versa. This can render them helpless for a possible 4.2 seconds which is more than enough time to melt the entire enemy team!

Top


Fountain of Renewal
Fountain of Renewal is best utilized when allies are low on health during a team fight. Active: heals you and nearby allies for 2 health for each % missing health per second for 3 seconds. For awhile, Fountain of Renewal has been an essential part of every ROAM players build, and in addition some jungle carries. While severely nerfed in 1.16, Fountain of Renewal will surely become much more popular in 1.17 as the projectile speed has been sped up to be faster. This is still a very important item for teamfights throughout the entire game.


Warhorn
warhorn pairs extremely well with Catherine. Active: Grant +2.75 move speed to all nearby teammates. Lasts 1.0s for each hero affected. This enables Catherine to quickly navigate the map with his allies and engage upon unsuspecting enemies. This can provide Catherine with a extra speed boost in order to get in range to land another mericless pursuit or Blast Tremor!



Crucible
Crucible is best utilized against teams with area of effect (AOE) abilities. Active: Trigger Reflex Block for you and nearby teammates. This item can also be activated to provide a simple health barrier if an ally is close to dying. Crucible will also give Catherine an additional 600 bonus health to make her an even tankier front line. Examples: Blast Tremor (Catherine), Verse of Judgement (Adagio), Dragon Breath (Skaarf).



Atlas Pauldron
Atlas Pauldron is best utilized against teams with high attack speeds. Active: Reduces attack speed of nearby enemy heroes by 65% for 5 seconds in a 4-meter range. Catherine can activate either her Merciless Pursuit or her warhorn in order to get close to these enemies so that she always uses Atlas Pauldron effectively. Examples: Ringo, SAW, Adagio.



Clockwork
Clockwork is a strong item choice for Catherine later on in the game because the cooldown reduction will allow Catherine to use her abilities multiple times during a single fight. However, it is still more important for Catherine to prioritize the core defensive and utility items in his kit as well as infusions. Building Clockwork will almost ensure that Catherine has her Blast Tremor available for nearly every team fight later on in the game.



Journey Boots
Journey Boots are not necessarily an essential part of Catherine's kit. However, having the additional health, armor, shield, as well as the reduced speed activation cooldown makes it a viable option for Catherine because her allies are reliant upon her withstanding massive damage as the frontline as well as making sure she can land her Merciless Pursuit whenever necessary!


Contraption
Contraption had a very brief moment of glory when Catherine was briefly played as a carry quite some time ago. However, with the recent changes to the scoreboard that prevents teams from seeing what items have been purchased until vision has been gained, I believe that Contraption may become a very useful tool. Charges should be focused on deploying Scout Traps while Catherine and her allies still continue to purchase Flare Guns. Used in this manner, Catherine and her allies will get the most out of having a contraption and the additional cooldown reduction will help Catherine to use her abilities more quickly!




Crystal Infusion / Weapon Infusion


Both Crystal Infusion and Weapon Infusion are very important for Catherine in the late game. When Catherine reaches level 12, Catherine will receive an additional 30 armor and 30 shield for EACH infusion. This will make Catherine massively tankier and thus directly increase the effects of her abilities through the additional cooldown reduction, attack speed, and damage output. If you only have enough gold for 1 infusion, Crystal Infusion should be prioritized.

Using these different items depending on the situation will surely give you an advantage in team fights. A good Catherine will focus on counter-building the enemy team thus allowing her to offer the most utility and defense to his own team. Fountain of Renewal and warhorn are ESSENTIAL parts of Catherine's kit. In all situations they are considered effective because there is not a significant amount of counter play to them. Utilize Fountain of Renewal when Catherine or her allies become low in health, and use Warhorn to either engage or disengage from a team fight.

Top



Playing the EARLY GAME: (t = 0:00 - 8:00)



1. Starting ITEMS: Ironguard Contract, HALCYCON POTION, Flare Gun - Buying 2 potions is unnecessary because Catherine will receive health back from the passive ability of the Ironguard Contract (If a minion has attacked you, you heal for 120 health and your ally also earns 30% bonus gold). It is especially important when clearing the jungle that Catherine takes the first hit damage from jungle minions for optimal clear mechanics. This will maximize the amount of gold Catherine and her allies are able to earn.
2. Clearing the jungle: When the game begins, Catherine should position herself to stand on top of where the large double minions will spawn in the jungle. Immediately activate Stormguard at t =0:25 to start to basic attack them while Catherine's ally kills the large heal minion. Before Catherine's jungle carry kills any of the jungle minions, Catherine should begin moving towards the inner healer minion. This is so that the jungle carry will reach level 2 after the first rotation through the jungle. Be careful to not leave the jungle carry too soon or else they may take too much damage. However, most damage can be mitigated through the health they receive from killing the healer minions.
3. The first engagement: In most situations, both jungles will have finished this mirrored rotation at relatively the same time. (Note: On some occasions, the enemy team may revert to a backwards rotation in which they start from the small double camp and rotate back towards their respective base). At this point, an engagement is likely to occur. Use the flare purchased at the begging of the game in a manner such that it reveals both the enemy shop bush as well as their tri bush. Catherine is unique in the sense that her early level engagements are very weak. She doesn't have a very high damage output and does not offer much utility compared to other ROAM heroes. Catherine and her allies should avoid any engagements until Catherine is at least level 2 so that she has both her Merciless Pursuit and her Stormguard.
4. To Invade, or not to Invade? Because of her weakness at the first engagement, the enemy team may understand their advantage and may pressure Catherine's jungle. If this occurs, you should still avoid conflict and attempt sneak into the enemy jungle and steal it.

Playing the MID GAME: (t = 8:00 - 15:00)



Catherine begins to ramp up in the mid game. She hits her first major power spike once she completes her Fountain of Renewal and her Warhorn, a second major power spike when she reaches level 6 to unlock her Blast Tremor, and a final power spike when she reaches level 8 in order to overdrive Stormguard so that it now has a mere 4 second cooldown and reflects 25% of all damage. All of this will happen during the mid game. Catherine's decisions here should be reflective of her allies versus the enemies. If her allies are strong in the mid game, Catherine will want to be aggressive, stunning enemy carries using Merciless Pursuit whenever the opportunity rises and then initiating a teamfight using Blast Tremor. If Catherine and her allies are at a disadvantage in the mid game, passive play using Stormguard to absorb damage and Merciless Pursuit to disengage from teamfights should be the priority. Continue to farm and develop items until the enemy overextends or your team gains an advantage.

Playing the LATE GAME: (t = 15:00 - End of Game)



While Catherine should have built an immense amount of both defensive and utility items at this point, the enemy team has also scaled significantly in their damage. Choosing fights selectively is very important at this stage in the game. Ideal Blast Tremor's will catch the enemy team off guard so that Catherine and her allies can immediately jump on top of the enemy team. Because of the long cooldown, being patient with Blast Tremor is very important so that enemies do not expect it. Focus should be put onto silencing the enemy carries rather than the roam heroes.



What to avoid:



1. Avoid taking last hits. Catherine's allies should always be the ones who get the last hit. Catherine will get 75% of all gold that his allies earn from the passive of Ironguard Contract (as long as she is within range).
2. Avoid overextending. While it is important for Catherine to be the frontline for her team, she needs to make sure her allies are in a position to help Catherine should she be engaged upon. If caught out of position, Catherine can activate her Merciless Pursuit as a means of running away from the enemy. Catherine's allies will have to make a decision as to whether they should stay and help fight or use the time to retreat.
4. Be patient with Blast Tremor. Because it has a relatively long cooldown, it is important to use this ability effectively. Sometimes waiting until the middle of the teamfight to prevent the enemy team from escaping is also viable when Catherine knows she can silence all 3 enemies.

Top



1. Skill Skipping - In all of my guides, the suggested path for choosing abilities ALL involves skill skipping. What is skill skipping? A unique opportunity presents itself when all heroes reach level 5. The average player will simply choose an ability which most commonly is level 2 of their less important ability (Petal's Trampoline 'jump' is a good example). This ability does NOT provide a large benefit to the hero. In this guide I utilize skill skipping to achieve a level 4 Stormguard and a level 1 Merciless Pursuit when I reach level 6. How does skill skipping work? When you reach level 5, DO NOT SELECT AN ABILITY TO LEVEL UP. This is NEVER a disadvantage. Some players may find it unsettling that they have the option to improve one of their abilities but are choosing not to do so. However, once you reach level 6, you will be able to upgrade an ability to level 4 as well as getting your C Ability ( Blast Tremor) to level 1. This differs from normally having a Level 3, Level 2, and Level 1 ability when you reach level 6. However, if you do engage in an important team fight at level 5, it is okay to upgrade an ability at this point. Obviously it will help slightly. For Catherine, this is her Stormguard. At level 6, Catherine should have a level 1 Merciless Pursuit, Level 1 Blast Tremor, and Level 4 Stormguard. The additional damage per second as well as the reduced cooldown are very helpful during teamfights.

2. Voice communication. While Vainglory does have userfriendly ping options which can to a degree communicate what to do between allies, voice communication is standard for any team based eSport. Being able to decide what actions to take in the upcoming 5 seconds before a teamfight such as who to focus as previously mentioned, is incredibly important. When using Blast Tremor to initiate the fight, Catherine should communicate who the priority focus is and how her allies should follow up after the enemies have been silenced. My team prefers to use an iOS/PC app called Discord. Teamspeak or Skype are also good alternatives.

3. Be Patient. - Most Catherine players may panic in a teamfight and try and use all of her abilities immediately. However, this may not be ideal. If the abilities are not used correctly, and in unison, this could be detrimental to both Catherine and her allies. Wait for the perfect scenario to use Blast Tremor. If enemies are too far, Catherine may need to position closer, keeping in mind that her allies also need to be positioned correctly to follow up the engagement. Landing a successful Blast Tremor can often have massive positive effects on a teamfight. Catherine should be patient enough and wait for an opening that will almost ensure she will land it successfully. Using Merciless Pursuit on one of the enemy carries can often ensure they will be silenced as well as enable Catherine's allies to gain a better position to follow up the engagement.

4. Positioning. Positioning in team fights is very important. Similarly to how all ROAM heroes should be played (with the exception of Roam CP Adagio), Catherine will want to be the frontline meat shield for her allies. Her goal is to absorb as much enemy damage as possible while Catherine's allies are attacking the enemies. From the Captain of the Guard perk, Catherine will have much higher base armor and shield compared to other roam heroes. Key items to her kit are Fountain of Renewal, Warhorn, and Crucible. All of these items will greatly increase the effectiveness of her ability to stay in the front and absorb damage while her allies are dishing it out.

Top



THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to read and study my 1.16 ROAM Phinn guide. Every situation is different and depending on what situation you are in will dictate exactly how to utlize this guide to your best benefit. This is by no means a definitive guide on how to play Phinn but purely my interpretation of him as a hero. I hope everyone is able to learn a thing or two in order to improve your own gameplay. Please feel free to comment with questions, criticism, or any feedback whatsoever so that I can continue writing guides that will best benefit the Vainglory community in the future.

If you're not already, follow me on Twitter @TSMFlashX and be sure to catch my streams on Twitch @FlashX92.



Best,
FlashX

Quick Comment (1) View Comments

You need to log in before commenting.

Quick Comment (1) View Comments

You need to log in before commenting.

VaingloryFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new hero, or fine tune your favorite VG hero’s build and strategy.

Copyright © 2019 VaingloryFire | All Rights Reserved