Since Joule's Thunder Strike doesn't track anymore, you can run back and forth attacking easily avoiding it, you can easily kill her early game using your life steal. Use Kaiten to jump over her when she unleashes ultimate, or simply walk out of the way.
3
Krul
Unless you get stunned by either Krul or another heroe you shouldn't have any problems, You can use Kaiten to avoid smite if you're able to time it well, but I suck at that kind of thing, so I usually activate Kaku when they have about 5 stacks, its usually the sweet spot right before they activate it, then you can hover around invisible till the stacks wear off and continue fighting. If they have flares you'd want to run instead of lingering. Also Kaiten works well against his stun, but only if he throws it in a way to hit you on the return flight.
4
Ringo
Dont let your health get too low fighting Ringo, his Ultimate is able to follow you into Kaku resulting in your death, its really only a problem when he has teammates or a turret preventing you from bursting him to death.
5
No Threat
6
Taka
If you're fighting a weapon taka, which most players are, they rely on auto attack which you can avoid easily with Kaku, unless they have flares. If they built tension bow, be sure you're the one to initiate the fight, you're able to X-Restu, Kaiten(which may counter their X-Retsu) then Kaku, linger around if they don't have flares then your X-Retsu should be ready to finish them off.
6
SAW
Saw should only be a problem if you get stunned or they have flares, You can open with X-Retsu, use Kaiten, and then Kaku to avoid getting slaughtered by his Spin Up. Try avoid going near allies, the Mad Cannon explosive shells can still kill you.
He is unable to run away effectively so should be an easy kill.
7
Glaive
If Glaive is alone in the jungle early game you're able to score a kill if you're lucky, if not you can at least harass them so they have to recall to heal.
Avoid if they're near another enemy or turret, his Afterburn is great for revealing you after Kaku, and he is able to stun you towards their teammate to finish you off.
7
Koshka
Koshka is just like you, an assassin, that means she's able to blitz you down just as well as you're able to blitz her down. But she also has a stun, it could very well end you. She has very fast cooldowns, be sure you have 5 Ki stacks when going up against her, to even the fight.
7
Petal
She has long range, her bramblethorn pets hurt, she can explode them dealing massive damage fast, she can out level you with her pets. I'd advise not fighting her one on one, seeing as she can chase you down with frostburn.
8
Adagio
Keep an eye on him, if you're in a fight with the enemy in the jungle early on, and you see him leave the lane, its best to get out of there fast. You don't want to be caught by his Gift of Fire slowing you down incredibly, you're definitely dead.
Attack speed Adagio roaming the jungle is very dangerous early game, don't fight him one on one.
9
Catherine
A tanky Catherine is always hard to kill, she has stun which will enable teammates to run to her position and blitz you, Stormguard Barrier renders your abilities almost useless. Her ultimate will silence you forbidding you from Kaku to escape. Avoid without backup.
Taka is a stealthy assassin who weaves in and out of battle with grace & composure. With proper timing and combat awareness, Taka can snipe an enemy, escape, only to reappear again for another kill. Start Taka in the jungle, but feel free to roam into the lane to surprise your opponents.
House Kamuha Heroic Perk
Taka's critical strikes have 30% lifesteal and grant a burst of speed. Every 5 seconds, Taka is guaranteed a critical strike. Taka gains 1 Ki stack when he performs an ability or critical strike (up to 5 stacks). Each stack of Ki speeds up his guaranteed critical strikes 0.9 and grants 25% cooldown acceleration.
STATS
LEVEL 1-12
HEALTH
741-1555
ARMOR
23-73
ENERGY
180-422
SHIELD
20-64
WEAPON
62-126
RANGE
2
ATK SPEED
80%-116%
MOVE SPEED
3.4
Kaiten Gains one Ki stack on use
Taka flips over his target, cutting it with his switchblade. Taka doesn't take damage while in mid-air.
STATS
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 4
LEVEL 5
Crystal Ratio %
Weapon Ratio %
COOLDOWN
15
15
15
15
15
-
-
ENERGY COST
55
55
55
55
0
-
-
DAMAGE
75
150
225
300
410
120%
-
Kaku Gains one Ki stack on use
Taka throws a smoke bomb at his feet, vanishing from enemy sight and gaining move speed. This illusion ends early if he strikes a target or he takes direct damage. Turrets, Scout Traps, and Flare Guns will see Taka while invisible. When maxed, this ability heals Taka for 1% of his max health per second while invisible.
STATS
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 4
LEVEL 5
Crystal Ratio %
Weapon Ratio %
COOLDOWN
25
24
23
22
21
-
-
ENERGY COST
45
57
69
81
93
-
-
SPEED BOOST
1.25
1.25
1.25
1.25
1.25
-
-
DURATION
3.5
3.75
4
4.25
4.5
-
-
X-Retsu Gains three Ki stacks on use
Taka bursts through his target, carving an X with his switchblades for lethal damage. The target suffers a mortal wound, reducing its healing by 50% and taking 24-68 damage (based on Taka's level) per second over the next 4 seconds.
You're thinking, why should I build crystal instead of weapon crits for heaps of life steal?
I find crystal builds are usually more fun and enjoyable, you actually use abilities instead of sitting there watching him auto attack.
Weapon Pros:
Lots of auto attack damage.
Heaps of lifesteal to out-survive your enemies.
Fast attack speed.
Weapon Cons:
You have to auto attack, which makes you vulnerable to stuns and getting blitz by the other team.
Long cooldowns, unable to use kaku as often to escape.
X-Retsu and Kaiten have less than desirable damage, unless you build tension for surprise blitz. Crystal Pros:
Short cooldowns.
Able to use abilities often with your energy recharge.
Not as vulnerable as you will constantly be using abilities.
High ability damage for surprise blitzing.
Crystal Cons:
Low auto-attack damage.
Low Lifesteal.
Reliable on abilities, Catherine's Ultimate renders you useless.
When you level either Kaiten or Kaku to level 5, they get additional benefits.
Kaiten gains another 35 damage on top of the regular 375 damage for a total of 410.
Its energy cost is reduced to 0.
Kaku gains 1% of your maximum health healed for every second you are invisible.
What should I max, and why?
Kaiten's damage increase of 110 is quite huge, and the fact that is no longer costs energy makes it fantastic for weapon builds.
Kaku's 1% heal per second adds up quite a lot, stacked with halycon potion and other health regenerating items can get your health back up near the 30% mark fast, helping out with those prolonged fights. It does however give away your position as it shows the trail of heals.
It really all depends on the situation, if the enemy has two people built as tanks, those fights will sure last longer, benefiting more from the heals you gain with Kaku. But if they have two squishies you may want to max Kaiten to send them to their grave fast and quick.
What do assassin's have in common? A lot of damage very quickly. Together Taka & Koshka effectively burst down most enemies that decide to wander into their jungle, quickly scaring them off. They're able to gank the lane scoring a kill before the opponent even realizes whats going on. Its effectiveness is increased greatly with Ringo initiating with Achilles Shot or SAW and Suppressing Fire, greatly reducing their movement speed and chance for survival.
You're squishy, as soon as the enemy spots you you're going to get targeted. Glaive is able to Afterburn into the group of opponents and send you out a weakened tasty treat, ready for you to finish off. Paired with Bloodsong with 20 stacks, you two will be able to blitz down opponents with heavy damage.
It's a no brainer Catherine will be great with Taka, she's great with everyone. She can stun an enemy squishy for you to blitz down with your power. She can silence the whole team preventing them from using their skills to kill you quick, greatly increasing your survival and damage output before you're killed. And she's also able to soak lots of damage, meaning you don't get hurt, an alive and well assassin performs better then a frail and crippled assassin.
Ringo is great for supporting Taka hunting down foes, with his Achilles Shot they wont be going anywhere.
He can use his Hellfire Brew ultimate from a safe distance, on a target near Taka, while he hides in the bush waiting for X-Retsu, they wont notice what happened until they're looking at the respawn counter.
I recommend you start with Ironguard Contract, Taka's lifesteal has been reduced to only 30%, making it much harder to survive in the jungle then before. The 5 health regen on this will help massively, plus the passive of receiving 20 gold every 5 hits will pay itself off and more.
You will start at the regular jungling rotation, you should have enough gold by the time you reach the shop to buy Sprint Boots.
Continue farming the jungle, helping teammates if they get into a fight, to possibly get a kill or just to scare them off to prevent them to get a kill, I don't recommend ganking lane till you have X-Retsu.
Next you will want to get Frostburn to slow down those enemies trying to run away from you, paired with Kaku enables you to chase them till they die, or you die. Depending on if they're leading you to a gank, be careful if Kaku is on cooldown.
If you're having trouble with getting ganked and targeted you can buy Oakheart before your next item.
STAGE FOUR
You'll want to build Aftershock next, but if you end up getting impatient or forget you're going for aftershock first, you can buy Clockwork seeing as its 650 gold cheaper you can get it faster, and the 25% more cooldown still helps heaps.
FINAL
(oror)
Your last two items I recommend would be Crucible, for the mass health and reflex block (Don't forget to use it, I always remember after I die when I could have prevented death) and Shatterglass just for the mass crystal damage, you may want to get Broken Myth instead if there are Aegis on the enemy team that is preventing you from killing them. Or if you like drawing out your fights longer, think about Eve of Harvest.
SOLO KRAKEN
Solo Kraken Build was done in practice, where the kraken is weaker then it usually would be, you are able to kill it if you use X-Retsu and Kaiten as soon as they're available, he can still hit you with Kaku so don't bother. You must time your Kaiten to avoid his attack at least twice to survive.
I forgot to time how long it took to kill him, I'd think maybe 20 seconds?
FAST ATTACK ARMOUR SHRED
(In testing)
Spoiler: Click to view
CORE
STAGE ONE
Book of Eulogies' passive restores 70 health whenever you kill something, it should keep your health topped up to a safe level.
Continue farming the jungle, helping teammates if they get into a fight, to possibly get a kill or just to scare them off to prevent them to get a kill, I don't recommend ganking lane till you have X-Retsu.
STAGE THREE
STAGE FOUR
FINAL
TENSION SPIKE
(In testing)
Spoiler: Click to view
CORE
STAGE ONE
STAGE TWO
(oror)
STAGE THREE
STAGE FOUR
FINAL
REGAIN
This build focuses on initiating, distracting your enemy, taking the bulk of the damage and then quickly regaining a lot of health. Quite great if your team has no natural tank.
Your health regen should keep you alive for a bit to make most of the armour shred from Bonesaw, get Heavy Steel you'll need the damage, build it into Serpent Mask.
Replace Shatterglass with Broken Myth if the other team builds Aegis
This build is not fully tested, but it sounds like it could work out somehow, this is what I have in mind for the final.
Using Kaiten as soon as your regular hit lands enables you to get a second hit in much faster then if you used it half a second after your regular hit.
You can use Kaiten to escape a fight, you can run into a bush, when they come and chase you, as soon as they're about to enter the bush, use kaiten then with the boost of speed you can escape.
You can use X-Retsu to jump through walls, but you'd need need an ally providing sight to jungle monsters, can be used if backup is coming and you're low on health. You may also place Scout Trap in spots that would give line of sight to monsters for this purpose.
Make sure you always have your Ki stacks on 5, use Kaku to keep it up if its about to run out and there's nothing near you to attack, useful when you just cleared your side of the jungle and you need to run back to the start.
My team fight strategy consists of X-Retsu on the weak target, rendering them dead. Kaiten on the next target, then Kaku to prevent myself from being killed, in a few seconds with all your cooldowns your X-Retsu should be ready to go for round two.
If the enemy initiates and you get stunned, just keep an eye on Kaku and hit it as soon as you can to get away, then X-Retsu like before when your teammates show up, if they're not coming just run away.
If they have Flare Gun, just run straight away with Kaku instead of waiting for teammates, even if they're coming, by the time their reaction has activated the flare you should be out of reach. Also make sure you run slightly up or down as soon as Kaku is used, they always think you run away in a straight line, its useful for avoiding Suppressing Fire and Afterburn.
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.
Achilles Shot
Suppressing Fire
Afterburn
Bloodsong
Hellfire Brew
Spoiler: Click to view
Crystal Bit
Aegis
Swift Shooter
Lucky Strike
Lifespring
Void Battery
Light Shield
Tyrant's Monocle
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