Guide Info Top
April 1, 2016: Guide Release
June 9, 2016: Updated guide for 1.18 (Sorry for taking so long)
June 9\24, 2016: Updated guide for 1.19, changed guide to Jungle Alpha instead of lane and jungle alpha (Alpha is no longer a viable lane pick)
Alpha Update Info Top
1.16 - Alpha Release
1.17 - Negative effects of abilities greatly reduced - Buff to WP Alpha - CP Alpha nerfed, almost unplayable
1.18 - Slight buff to CP Alpha - Basic attack speed increased - Cooldown reduction per hit increased at max Core Charge level
Intoduction to Me Top
Hello everyone! My name is skillem and I am very excited to be releasing my first Vainglory guide! I've played Vainglory for about a year and have never stopped playing since! I have at least some experience with every hero but
Alpha has been one of my mains since she was released. Please feel free to give me feedback, suggestions, etc. in the comments. I really appreciate everyone who checks out my guide and hope it improve your play with
Alpha!
Update: I'm very surprised my guide got so much attention and got featured on the News section in Vainglory, thank you guys so much! I really appreciate and will continue to update this guide and make guides for other heros. I'm also planning on adding images and an Alpha montage to this guide in the future, thanks again!
Introduction to Alpha Top
Alpha is a very fun hero to play and I have enjoyed playing her nonstop since she was released. She preforms well in the Lane or Jungle (preferably jungle) and can build CP
(CP is very weak since 1.17) and WP effectively. She feels a lot like
Koshka or
Blackfeather as these three characters can "stick" to the enemy extremely well. Alpha is best at engaging the carry in team fights and taking them down with powerful combos. Also a very good distraction when she dies in teamfights; prevent Alphas reboot or engage her teammates. In this guide I will be focusing on her WP.
Pros
+Has a "second life" with passive
+Extremely good chaser
+Strong ganks
+Can "stick" to the squishy carries in team fights
+High base health and movespeed
Cons
-Not the strongest early game
-Very weak ultimate with WP build
-Poor lane pressure if played in lane
-No reliable escape
Alpha's Abilities Top
Infinite Reboot
Instead of dying, Alpha initiates a reboot sequence upon receiving lethal damage, gaining 325-1800 reserve health (based on level). For the next several seconds, enemies can continue to attack her and deal damage. If her reserve is not destroyed during this time, she will reboot to ample health at the same location.
The cooldown for this ability is displayed in place of Alpha's energy bar. Once this bar is full, Infinite Reboot is available. This bar will slide back to zero during the reboot process, indicating the remaining time left before she is restored to health.
When Alpha dies, she goes into her reboot sequence. She receives health based on her level and as long as she doesn't loose that health in 5 seconds, she will "reboot" and receive health based on how much she lost while rebooting. Straight forward why this is a very useful passive.
Prime Directive
Alpha scans for enemies along a path. If she scans an enemy, that enemy is slowed and Alpha instantly dashes behind them, dealing damage to the target and all enemies within 4.5 meters (65% damage to minions). This also removes the negative effects of Core Overload (without removing the positive effects), dealing increased damage based on the number of stacks removed.
This ability is much like Koshka's A ability. The difference is this is a skill shot. If an enemy is hit with this ability, Alpha will teleport to them and deal damage along with slowing them. This also removes the your Core Overload stacks and does additional damage based on how many stacks you had. Very useful ability for chasing and "sticking" to the enemy. Use this to catch fleeing enemies and connect with the annoying ringo sitting behind his team in team fights! You can also go through walls with this ability. We will max this ability second to gain the extra range after we max our Core Charge.
Core Charge
Alpha lunges forward, landing a basic attack on her target and fracturing the ground for additional crystal damage in a small area. Each time she uses this ability, she spends 2.5% of her current health and gains Core Overload for 5.5 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
Basic attacks reduces the cooldown of Core Charge by 1 second.
Core Overload: The health cost of Core Charge goes up by 2.5%, but also increases the damage of subsequent Core Charges and causes her basic attacks to heal her. Basic attacks refresh the duration.
Alpha lunges forward and lands a basic attack making this another great ability for chasing and sticking to the enemy. You also gain a stack of Core Overload which powers up your next Core Charge and makes your basic attacks heal you. Don't worry about the 2.5% increase in health cost, it's not noticeable and causes your basic attacks to heal you. Max this ability first!
Termination Protocol
On activation, Alpha begins a self destruct sequence. At the start of this she gains a burst of move speed as well as 400-1000 barrier (based on her level). Immediately afterward, she rapidly loses move speed as her Halcyon core approaches critical mass.
After 3 seconds, or immediately upon her barrier being breached, Alpha explodes. This explosion deals heavy crystal damage to all enemies within 4.5 meters and is lethal to herself.
This ability can only be activated while Infinite Reboot is available. Upgrading this ability reduces the cooldown of Infinite Reboot.
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Alpha self destructs and deals crystal damage to enemies close to her. Not very useful on WP Alpha because it scales with CP. Use this ability when you are about to die (because it's better then dying and doing no damage) and
do not use to try to engage or use this when you have full health. All though this can be useful for escaping and getting into the safety of a turret thanks to the small burst of movement speed this ability gives you. Do not max this ability.
Alpha's Build Top
Here I will provide an explanation on each tier 3 item in Alpha's build path along with a guide to building her.
Start
Take a
Swift Shooter to clear the jungle faster and get the most damage for early encounters. Upgrading your B first gives you maximum Jungle clear time.
Building into Sorrow Blade and first defensive item
Start building into a Sorrow Blade. Counter the enemy jungle with a build a
Light Armor or
Light Shield. Don't forget
Sprint Boots!
Mid Game
If you build a
Light Armor, upgrade that into
Coat of Plates. Otherwise build a
Kinetic Shield. Build your
Sorrowblade.
Building into Tyrant's Monocle
You should have your
Sorrowblade,
Tornado Trigger,
Sprint Boots, and tier2 defense item. I don't like to upgrade my
Sprint Boots until later because I don't feel the need with Alpha's high base movement speed. Once you complete your
Tyrant's Monocle, you will be dealing a lot of damage.
Finish
Build your
Kinetic Shield into an
Aegis or your
Coat of Plates into a
Metal Jacket. If the team is balanced WP and CP, go with the
Aegis and
Metal Jacket. CP team go with
Aegis and
Fountain of Renewal. WP team go with
Metal Jacket and
Crucible. Don't forget to upgrade your
Sprint Boots. Also,
VERY IMPORTANT:Don't forget to buy a
Weapon Infusion too if you are already max and can afford it) before crucial moments in the game! Kraken push, important team fight, etc...
You can turn the game around with this!
Gives Alpha a lot of damage early on and is the best item to build first to maximize her damage.
Boosts Alpha's attack speed and goes very well with her
Core Charge.
Core Charge gets a one second cooldown reduction every basic attack. More basic attacks = more cooldown. 20% crit damage/chance also helps with the Tyrant's Moncocle.
Boost Alpha's crit chance and damage along with
Tornado Trigger giving her a very high damage output.
Gives you a reflex block which is useful no matter what character you're using and shielding making you alot bulkier to heros dealing crystal damage.
Same concept as
Aegis except you don't get a reflex block and is good against weapon power teams.
Alternative to
Metal Jacket, effective against teams who rely heavily on CP. Not to mention the healing is nice. Consider using this instead of
Aegis if you feel like you don't need the block and extra shielding.
Alternative to
Aegis, give you a nice boost to your health and a reflex block.
Alternative to
Tyrant's Monocle. You won't be doing as much damage but you will be using your
Core Charge more often. Great if the enemy team counters you with armor. If you do this you should also consider replacing your
Tornado Trigger for a
Breaking Point. This will deal more damage over time.
Teamfights with Alpha Top
Let your roamer engage the team fight. Ignore the enemy tanks and look for the carry...
Ringo,
Vox, Skarf, etc... Use your
Core Charge to engage them. Auto attack and keep using
Core Charge. Use
Prime Directive to re-attach or catch fleeing heroes (if you have your stacks you will do more damage), When you are about to die, use
Termination Protocol and try to place yourself in the middle of the fight. If you get targeted while rebooting, you have successfully distracted the enemy team and hopefully your teammates are doing enough damage to win. If you don't get focused while rebooting, reboot and continue fighting!
Conclusion Top
I hope my guide can help pros and noobs alike master Alpha. Like I said earlier, feel free to leave any suggestions in the comments or give me a thumbs up, I would really appreciate it! Also check out the Vainstars community on Band. Band is a free app on iTunes and android app stores and can also be accessed through the browser.
http://band.us/@vainstars
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