[4.5] The Complete 5v5 Tierlist by Pasu

PLEASE NOTE: GUIDE WILL NO LONGER BE UPDATED UNTIL POSSIBLY THE END OF THE YEAR DUE TO EXAMS COMING UP, THE INFO WILL PROBABLY BE OUTDATED BY THEN SO TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.

Hello guys, my name is Pasu and I have played Vainglory ever since 2014 on the SEA server. I first started playing when Joule came out, so I have been through a lot and although I did stop playing for a while in the middle (between when Idris and Grace were released), I have since then concentrated back on playing the game. My highest ever ranking in 5v5 is Simply Amazing Gold in 5v5, and Simply Amazing Bronze in 3v3.

I played the game casually without giving a single thought to important game knowledge such as last hitting, stutterstepping and freezing the lane for the first two years of my Vainglory experience (I remember I used to just build full attack speed items on Krul, so I would have like three Tornado Triggers), so I didn't really have a main. However, as soon as Lyra came out I fell in love with her ability set, and ever since have mained her through all her nerfs.

As a support main (and especially a Lyra main), I have all five stars on Lyra (over 80 ranked games on her), and one star on each of Ardan, Churnwalker, Koshka, Caine, Gwen, Phinn and Varya (around 11 ranked games on each). My mains for 3v3 are as follows: Laner: Lyra; Support: Lyra; Jungler: Koshka. In 5v5: Top: Gwen (to burst down the enemy bot laner, due to her strong early game); Mid: Lyra or Varya; Support: Yates (if not banned) or Churnwalker (if Yates is banned); Jungle: Koshka or Joule (depending on the situation); Bot: Caine (to execute the often tanky enemy top laner).

Before I start, I would just like to state that all of these tierlists are all my opinion. Please don't get salty because I placed your hero in last place or something, everyone has their own opinion. Note that this is not an exhaustive guide to the heroes, you might be a god at Inara in jungle. There will only be one S-Tier in this tierlist because to be the best of the best, you have to be the best. With that out of the way, read on at your own peril!

Also note: The difficulty of a hero will not have any effect on the placing of heroes, as I am assuming that a person with the same skill level is playing on all heroes. Otherwise, Anka would be at the absolute bottom of the jungler tierlist (I've only met two good Ankas so far) and SAW would be at the top of the bot tierlist. I will however note how hard a hero is in MY opinion next to their picture, NOT the Vainglory difficulties (Seriously, Phinn easy?).

Widely considered the most versatile role in the game, top is home to melee heroes and ranged heroes with lots of sustain alike and is, as a result, one of the most variable roles in the game. Players who play top must be good at 1v1, as there is rarely any support from other lanes, whether it be from the jungler, mid, or support. Due to Vainglory's system of only playing from the left side in 5v5, you will be facing the enemy bot laner, who is most likely a ranged carry and only comes online far later in the game. Use this to your advantage and harass them constantly! Later on, you will also be the one split pushing; for example, when everyone else is supporting Blackclaw in mid, it is your responsibility to attack other lanes and reduce the enemies' territory further. Soloq players are recommended to play this lane as it is the only role that require little communication with the team.

Crucial skills: Knowing when to harass, freezing the lane, stutterstepping, split pushing.

Vainglory's top laners are: Ylva, Lyra, Gwen, Leo, Caine, Adagio, Joule, Lance, San Feng, Idris, Reza, Blackfeather, Samuel, Kensei, Grumpjaw, Grace and Baptiste.

S-Tier (The best of the best)

(Easy) To start this whole list off, we have my top main. Yes, you might scream bias. But I main Gwen top for a reason. Her harassing ability is second to none, as she is ranged, and she possesses tremendous burst damage from her perk, Boomstick. This allows her to constantly deny the enemy bot laner the farm that they need to scale into the late game, meaning that one of the main sources of damage from the enemy team is shut down. Additional to that, her Aces High allows her to easily burst down the enemy without taking any damage in return. Furthermore, she can still output enormous damage in teamfights, as well as escape with the use of Skedaddle with ease when split-pushing. This allows her to take first place in this list.

A-Tier (Very Good, but a step below S-Tier)

(Hard) Seriously, whoever balances heroes at SEMC needs to use their brain a little. Leo went from a rarely played, unremarkable hero to a permaban hero in one patch. Apparently they only buffed him a "little" too much, according to 4.5 Patch Notes. First of all, his waveclear is second to NONE, meaning that he can push out his lane very quickly and then proceed to harass the enemy bot laner. He damages all enemies in a semicircle, for god's sake! What's the point of Hunt the Weak then? Next, his damage potential throughout the game is insane at the moment, his Crushing Strike can delete half of an enemy's health bar in a second. He only loses out on S-Tier to Gwen because of Gwen's range that just allows her more poke. Still, with just his ultimate, Lion's Might, he can change the entire state of a teamfight later on, and is arguably stronger than both Gwen and Caine in teamfights.

(Hard) Now don't ask me what SEMC were thinking when they released a ranged assassin. While not as irritating as in 3v3, where her mines are a constant pain, the fact that her immense harass using her Charge Shot in a bush, combined with the increased damage from Crimson Fang, can easily kill a half-health hero, especially the squishy bot laner, is absurdly powerful and borderline broken. To compound matters, she can root enemies with Binding Mine during the later stages of laning phase, further setting them back. Her teamfighting potential at top isn't shabby either, jungle, meaning she deals tremendous burst damage onto the squishier members of the enemy team. If that wasn't enough, she's ranged as well. These factors combined make her a force to be reckoned with in the top lane.

(Medium) In my opinion, he REALLY didn't need a buff. His buff will only make him even stronger, possibly to the level of Leo at the moment. At top, he is only built WP due to CP having absolutely no sustain in lane, which forces him to recall continually. Blackfeather's 1v1 duelling potential is unmatched in the top lane due to his immense barrier that he gains from On Point allowing him to absorb more damage than other carries. Later on, his immense split-pushing potential allows him to take turrets with ease and Rose Offensive allows him to escape. While not as strong as the others above him in this list during laning phase (primarily due to being melee), he is one of the strongest top laners due to his sustain as well as his ability to do immense damage in teamfights make him a prime choice for the top lane.

(Medium) Another early game powerhouse, Reza is one of the few heroes which have neither sustain nor range who can play in the top lane. This is due to his far superior waveclear compared to Koshka, the most similar hero to him in the game, as well as being far tankier than Koshka. He has immense bursting potential through Scorcher and Troublemaker, and his harassing potential in the mid game is immense. While he drops off rather hard lategame due to being an assassin, his constant rushing at the enemy bot laner is second to none, which severely limits their ability to farm up. Even in late game, he can still assassinate a low-health target with ease, netting him top spot in B-Tier.

(Medium) Ah, my main. Strong throughout the game, Lyra can harass the enemy bot laner with two attacks for one using Principle Arcanum and finish them off with the damage from Imperial Sigil, even though it is used primarily for healing to stay in lane for longer. With just an Alternating Current at level 6, she can easily outtrade the enemy bot laner to win her lane. Her Arcane Passage gives her an engage, longer range, as well as a chasing tool, allowing her to catch up to finish off low-health targets when 1v1ing, as well as making her immensely useful to attack backline carries in teamfights. Her split-pushing potential is unmatched, as she is able to melt a turret very quickly through Principle Arcanum and then get out with a combo of Bright Bulwark + Arcane Passage. While not as powerful as the burst of Gwen, Ylva and Reza, the power of Leo, or the sustain of Blackfeather, she is still a force to be reckoned with in the top lane.

B-Tier (Acceptable)

Now that we're through the strongest portion of the heroes, who sit in A-Tier and the king (or queen in this case) in S-Tier, the heroes here aren't absurdly powerful but still good picks in general.

(Medium) Adagio's position rather high in the pack might come as a surprise for some considering how critical I was of him as a support, but he is, by no means, bad in top lane. In fact, he is quite viable as a top laner, as he outranges all other bot laners, meaning that if played correctly, he can poke (with quite high damage, too, when empowered with Agent of Wrath) without taking damage back - except Baron with a level 3 Ion Cannon, but if you're still in laning phase by that point, there's something wrong with the way you're playing. Furthermore, he has immense sustain in lane from Gift of Fire, while his teamfight potential is extremely high through Gift of Fire + Verse of Judgement alongside a Reflex Block to prevent him from being CC'ed.

(Medium) It's pretty clear that top laners are meant to be aggressive and harass the enemy bot laner just from looking at the first position where a super-strong teamfighter (apart from Leo, but they just buffed him too much) is found. San Feng is extremely strong in the lower tiers where he can punish mistakes made in laning phase easily, but higher tier players know when to attack him to prevent getting stunned by Tiger's Bridge as well as the exact range of Divine Fist, making it a lot harder to land them. Still, he is one of, if not the strongest teamfighters that are found in the top lane, so once you reach the late game, his CC and engage are nearly unparalleled as a top laner.

(Medium) The only other mid laner who can also fit into top due to his immense sustain from his perk Corrupted Genius, Samuel is quite a strong pick if you want to scale into the late game as a top laner. His poking from Malice & Verdict can be decent at forcing the enemy bot laner to recall as well. Like the other ranged heroes in this lane, he is quite squishy, but unlike the others, he possesses tremendous AOE damage in the form of his empowered Malice & Verdict, allowing for high scaling potential. When caught out of his cloud, however, he becomes far weaker, and without a particularly strong early game unlike the likes of Gwen and Reza, he finds a place in the middle of B-Tier.

(Medium) Baptiste's kit is centred around two words: Crowd Control. While most would expect him to be played in the jungle, he is actually quite viable in the top lane due to his immense sustain from his perk Reap. In the early game, he can harass the enemy bot laner through the use of Bad Mojo, while in the late game, Ordained is pretty much a death sentence once it lands on an enemy, and Fearsome Shade can send the enemy running to your teammates. However, his waveclear is average at best, and abysmal at worst, so if the enemy bot laner knows what they're doing, and shoves their lane into the turret every opportunity they get, you're gonna have a really hard time farming. This means that he finds a place in the bottom half of B-Tier, being a high-risk, high reward hero.

(Hard) One of the most overpowered heroes upon release, Kensei was originally a permaban hero but quickly got a hammer smashed onto his stats. While some of those changes have been reverted, he is nowhere NEAR as powerful as he once was. Here we have yet another late-game hero, and he actually goes against the very philosophy of a top laner's job to harass the bot laner. With a relatively strong waveclear in the form of Lotus Strike, Kensei pretty much embodies a melee bot laner: to farm, farm and farm more until he becomes strong enough to 1v1 the bot laner. Quite possibly the strongest teamfighting top laner with the exception of the overpowered Leo, Kensei requires a lot of farm to reach that potential, meaning an abysmal early game for those who play him as he simply cannot harass the enemy bot laner (he doesn't even generate Immovable Mind stacks from attacking lane minions). Unfortunately this places him towards the tail end of top laners.

Just a notice, from this point on I will become VERY critical of the heroes. If your top laner still hasn't appeared, there's a good chance they're below here, so if you don't want to see my assessment of them, scroll down to the mid section. Rememebr: this is MY opinion, you don't have to agree with me. Now that that's over with, venture below if you dare.

(Hard) Lance has THE strongest waveclear in the game, barring Leo as his perk, Partisan's Technique, allows him to hit all targets in a line. This allows him to push out his lane far faster than the enemy bot laner, meaning he has tremendous harassment potential alongside his tremendous damage from Impale earlier in the game and the top lane having plenty of walls to allow him to stun the enemy with Gythian Wall. He gains tremendous harassment potential when he unlocks Combat Roll as well. So why, you are asking, is he so low on this list? Well, late game he becomes an absolute vegetable standing in the frontline during teamfights, unable to prevent his teammates from melting. Sure, his engage is good, but if you GET engaged ON, good luck trying to save your teammates! Also note that as top lane, you are WP, meaning you're not as tanky as you are as a support. One missed Impale can cost you your life. Yes, Lance's early game is good. No, he's not useful in teamfights. Still, his capability to harass makes him an acceptable pick in the top lane, but end the game FAST.

C-Tier (not recommended)

(Easy) It feels really unusual placing Grace below Lance as I personally despise playing Lance as a support main, but in top, it is true that Grace just feels like an inferior Lance. Grace has a slightly less effective waveclear, a slightly less effective stun, but a slightly more versatile dash during the laning phase. Oh, and a significantly less effective ult, as WP Grace should never be using her Divine Intervention as it stops her from doing damage, while Lance's ult can at least be used to reposition and has a shorter cooldown. Once again, Grace's early game is quite strong and she drops off less than Lance early game due to having an AOE stun at her disposal, but they both drop off, and Lance's early advantage is just that slight bit more worth than Grace's late game advantage. Again, win fast, or don't win at all.

(Medium) As Joule was the first new hero I experienced, I have a special connection to her, and it hurts me to put her down so low on this list. Her waveclear is very good due to Thunder Strike, as is her harassment potential from Rocket Leap after they changed it to a slow instead of a knockback. However, her ult is where she comes up short when playing WP, and when playing CP she just doesn't do the damage that Lyra, Samuel, or Reza can dish out. This split divides her kit between WP and CP. When playing WP, both Rocket Leap and Big Red Button do no damage. When playing CP, her basic attacks do no damage, leaving Thunder Strike to be her main source of damage, and it has a rather long cooldown compared to the likes of Spitfire, Heliogenesis, and Mystic Missile. Furthermore, in teamfights she is just unable to disengage due to the increased damage she receives from behind (well, not increased, but increased compared to other sides), forcing a fight to the death. This, sadly, places her in C-Tier.

(Hard) Notice anything special about both Joule and Idris? Yes, both their kits are split between WP and CP. WP causes Chakram to become rather pointless as well as forsaking a possible ranged attack, while CP sacrifices the extremely powerful blink of an empowered Shroudstep as well as the decreased cooldowns for Shroudstep and Shimmer Strike. This split, all in all, makes Idris a rather undesirable choice at the moment. In top, Idris is usually played as CP... but he is melee for the majority of the laning phase, meaning that instead of harassing the enemy bot laner, he is the one BEING harassed. Which is not good, to say the least. His only form of decent waveclear lies in his Chakram as well, so you will be pushed under turret almost all the time. Yes, his late game as CP is amazing, being one of the best split pushers in the game, as well as doing significant damage, comparable to that of a bot laner. But whether he can REACH late game while having such a weak early game as a top laner is another matter.

(Easy) There's two types of Grumpjaws. One is the type that is literally unkillable, and seems tankier than a Phinn with six Crucibles. The other is the type that rushes in with Grumpy and instantly gets killed. Grumpjaw, in my opinion, is a "farm to six" top laner. He can't do enough damage to kill anyone without Stuffed, but once he does eat someone, he can easily kill them with the help of the turret. The thing about Grumpjaw that I really don't like is that he simply doesn't feel strong at any stage of the game. Early game, you will just be eating basic attacks from the enemy bot laner because of your abysmal waveclear, while lategame you will just be watching on as your team gets melted, without a chance for you to eat their main source of damage. Yes, you might be unkillable, but that doesn't matter when all of your enemies are just destroying your teammates and ignoring you.

Mid is populated solely by CP heroes, and with good reason. They have to watch out for both top and bot lanes moving to ambush them, which is why they must be extra careful during the laning phase, which is why the supports are also in this lane to protect them from being ganked. This means that they will often be behind on experience compared to the rest of the map, so pick your fights carefully. Alongside the bot laner, they will be the main damage dealers for their team, meaning that until they can fend for themselves, they are extremely weak. Duo players should look to lock in the mid and sup roles, as it helps A LOT to have coordination between them.

Crucial skills: Last-hitting, Map awareness (more than other roles).

Vainglory's mid laners are: Malene, Varya, Magnus, Lyra, Celeste, Vox, Samuel, Baron, Anka, SAW, Warhawk and Lorelai.

Just a note before I start: currently, the mid meta favours auto-attack reliant heroes. These are heroes with CP scaling on their basic attack, meaning that their main source of damage is not from their abilities, but rather their basic attack. They are: Lyra, Lorelai, Malene, [[Vox and Varya (sorry Celeste, your basic attacks do no damage). As a result, most of these heroes are present rather high on the list.

S-Tier (The best of the best)

(Medium) Again, one of my mid mains. I don't particularly like the fact that heroes with few skillshots are so prevalent in mid, but that's just how it is at the moment. Varya at the moment does everything well. Waveclear? The best in the game (at least for mid). Mobility? One of the best in mid lane. Barrier? One of only five mid laners to be able to add to their health in some way or another. Scaling into the late game? Her attack speed scales with her ult! Ability to know where the enemies are (and, as a result, map-wide presence)? Check. What more do you want? Yes, her early game isn't very strong, but all mid laners have a relatively weak early game with a few exceptions. I would say she's a priority ban/pick at the moment, because her damage in teamfights is simply unparalleled. The only thing she is missing that is often found in a mid laner's kit is CC, but you can't have everything, can you?

A-Tier (Very Good, but a step below S-Tier)

(Hard) The only one in the top 4 who isn't auto-attack orientated (actually, Magnus's auto attack does quite high damage with Arcane Mark, so that's not even entirely correct). He is one of the hardest heroes to play well in the game. Sure, it's not hard to hit your abilities, but it is hard to know the proper order to hit them in. For example, his Chrono Driver applies the mark two times, so to maximise damage, you could hit them with Mystic Missile just after the first proc of Chrono Driver hits. I'm not a Magnus main though, so I'll leave that to the pros. His kit is almost as packed as Varya, with a far easier (and stronger) skillshot to hit, as well as a decently strong CC, but at the cost of consistent team-wide damage, a barrier, mobility and map-wide presence. This slightly lopsided trade-off places him below Varya in the tierlist.

(Medium) Another hero whose main source of damage originates from her auto-attack, Lyra is arguably the most defensive mid laner with only Malene coming close to the level of protection she can give herself, but at the same time, she can output tremendous damage throughout the game. Bright Bulwark makes her almost impossible to gank in the early game unless her support is incompetent, While yes, her AOE damage in the mid lane is rather lacking with only Imperial Sigil being able to hit more than one enemy, she makes up tenfold for this with something NO other mid laner (apart from maybe Varya) has: incredible mobility from Arcane Passage and as a result, not having to run the risk of being punished for overextending. As mentioned in the top bit, she can trade two auto-attacks for one as long as she stands still, meaning she will win most early trades, as well as being able to finish off fleeing targets with Arcane Passage, then taking the portal back to safety.

(Medium) I did warn you that three of the top four would be auto-attack reliant mids, so here's the third. CP Vox is just incredibly strong throughout the game, with his poke from Julia's Song making him one of the most aggressive mid laners in the game. The issue is, he doesn't even fall off late game! He gats even more scary once he builds Alternating Current and if he has Alternating Current, Dragon's Eye, Broken Myth and Eve of Harvest, he is next to unkillable. He has solid waveclear as well! "So why isn't he S-Tier, Pasu?" Well, that lies in his inability to protect himself. When faced with a sticky hero alone such as Alpha, he will never be able to escape, or do much damage as there is just one target, unlike Lyra and Varya, who can simply Arcane Passage or Arc Recursion to safety. Still, being solid at every stage of the game means a great deal in Vainglory terms, so he finds a place in A-Tier.

(Hard) To round out A-Tier, we have Vox's less crazy and far nicer sister. She is by far the most difficult mid laner in the game, but when played well, nearly no other mid laner (apart from arguably CP Baron) can output the damage that she can. Why is she hard, you ask? First of all, remember how I said earlier that Grumpjaw was a "farm to six" laner? Well here, you have a "farm to eight" laner. Without the extended range on Heliogenesis, there are very little opportunities for Celeste to hit the enemies (unless you have a god Yates like me as support, but that's a story for another time). Next, her auto-attack animation is slower than a snail, meaning that by the time the darned thing reaches its target, the minion is probably dead. Congratulations! You're playing a hero that requires a LOT of gold to become the strongest hero in the game... but you have no farm. Finally, her waveclear is ABYSMAL (and don't even think about using Heliogenesis to farm, you'll run out of energy in no time), meaning that you will have to farm under turret almost all the time (unless the support knows to freeze the lane for you). Oh and one more thing: she has ZERO mobility, so you'd better pray that your support knows what they're doing and can peel for you (also me), or you're going to be staring at a countdown clock every time the jungler ganks you. Now you're probably wondering why she's in A-Tier after me ranting about her weaknesses. Well, once she gets even the tiniest lead, she can snowball with ease, meaning that she is the mid laner with the most potential and in the higher tiers, where all supports are decent, she could potentially be S-Tier.

STORY TIME! The other day I was playing on the left side (aka the side that bans first), so I requested the first player on our team not to ban Yates and to first pick him for me. He did just that and the enemy team, for some reason, didn't ban Yates, so we had a Yates + Celeste mid lane against an Ardan + Varya. (Note to support players: never, ever, ever pick Ardan into Yates. Once he uses Wolf's Maw to pull you out of Gauntlet, you lose the Gauntlet, meaning that your most important teamfighting ability is gone). Anyway, I managed to land an Overwhelm + Wolf's Maw combo onto the Varya and with the help of Celeste's Core Collapse, we managed to get first blood. I also managed to save the Celeste from a Grumpjaw gank by stunning him to allow her to escape. Long story short, the Celeste and I snowballed so hard the game was over by 18 minutes, without even needing to unleash Blackclaw, ending the game with scores of 15/0/3 ( Celeste) and 2/2/14 (Me).

B-Tier (Acceptable)

(Medium) I was going to put him in A-Tier, but after his nerf I feel like he doesn't belong there so pushed him down to B-Tier. He is average throughout the game, with his Corrupted Genius allowing him to stay in lane and farm for longer compared to most other mid laners. Unless you have communication, I don't think Oblivion serves as much more than a zoning ability, or, if they do get caught in it, an interrupt (e.g. Big Red Button, Dragon Breath), as you should be aiming for the support with it, to either force out a Crucible or to stop them from using abilities on their teammates. Malice & Verdict by itself isn't much as it only hits a single target, perhaps useful for finishing off a low-health hero, but an empowered Malice & Verdict is another matter, as it hits all enemies, allowing Samuel AOE damage as well as decent waveclear. He is slightly lacking in the mobility department though, meaning that there are some things that he does lack. He just isn't the self-protective powerhouse that is Lyra, the late game specialist in the form of Celeste, or even the balanced hero that Magnus embodies.

(Medium) It took me a while to decide where to place CP Baron, but I eventually settled on B-Tier instead of C-Tier because he is still playable. However, he just doesn't measure up to the other heroes in terms of usefulness. His Porcupine Mortar is a cinch to dodge with just the passive movespeed from boots and his Ion Cannon is extremely difficult to predict. While he has one of the best waveclears in the game as well as decently high mobility with overdriven Jump Jets, he just doesn't do the job better than those above him in the list. Porcupine Mortar is, in most respects, an inferior Heliogenesis, Arc Recursion grants a barrier (although it doesn't give debuff immunity) and unfortunately, Solar Storm is just better at finishing low health targets except for when you are trying to steal Blackclaw or GHostwing. If the enemies can just dodge Porcupine Mortar, they can evade Baron's main source of damage, meaning that he really isn't a good choice as a mid laner at the moment.

C-Tier (not recommended)

(Hard) Warhawk? HAH. More like Warmouse! His kit is the most gimmicky of any hero. If you can manage to catch anyone inside Vacuum Grenade, you deserve a medal. One of the few new heroes to be neither permabanned nor instapicked, that already speaks volumes about his weakness. As a mid laner, that means that he is playing CP, rendering his MK-II Annabelle useless and his Rocket Ride being his main source of damage, which does way less damage than a Porcupine Mortar and has an AOE the size of a pea. In some situations, the pushback from Rocket Ride could even be a hindrance, as you move backwards. Don't even try firing it the other way to move closer to the enemy as CP, your basic attacks do no damage. Mightiest Barrage either makes you stand still for 2 seconds deciding where to place them, or click on locations so fast you can't place them properly. Either way, the outcome won't be good for you. He has acceptable waveclear as well as decent mobility, but no damage at any point in the game and has almost no AOE for a mid laner. If you want a bad Baron, by all means play Warhawk. But if you actually want to win some games, look elsewhere, since he won't be helping much at all.

(Hard) Poor, poor Malene. How the mighty have fallen! Where's Blackfeather to catch her? After all, they are the cutest couple on the rise... or is that Baron and Skye? Or Reza and Lyra? Jokes aside, Malene also has a special place in my heart as she was the hero released alongside 5v5. Initially absurdly broken, she almost immediately got nerfed hard... but not hard enough as it seems to SEMC, they just had to drive her into the ground. While yes, her early game in mid lane is only matched by Lyra, due to Enchanted Transformation granting her immense poking potential, as well as her waveclear being solid thanks to Shadow Tendrils, her kit has been nerfed time and time again to apparently "make her less reliant on basic attacks". Even as a player who originally disliked Malene, I feel very sorry for Malene mains. Her Masked Ball gives her an empowered basic attack, for god's sake! What do you mean "less reliant on basic attack"? Why not just make her a support instead, if you're just going to remove her main source of damage? Her teamfighting potential has been reduced to nearly zero due to abysmal damage she now outputs. Sure, her early game is pretty good, but a mid laner should never be the one to drop off late game.

(Easy) Skaarf received a buff to his Spitfire, but he is... umm... still not viable, to say the least. There's almost nothing he does better than Celeste. Heliogenesis damages more than one target and doesn't get its damage reduced by 85% for every target it hits. Goop is pretty much a bad Core Collapse apart from its tiny damage output when burning. Don't even get me started on Dragon Breath compared to Solar Storm. Solar Storm covers the entire map, doesn't require you to move around to hit heroes and can't be interrupted by anything once Celeste shoots it out (apart from Tsukuyomi). Just watching a Leo jump at you with Jet Cyclone can cause you to turn around as Skaarf, AND you can't use any other abilities while using Dragon Breath, so you lose all your damage output when you try to run. Oh, and pretty much any hero with a stun can remove your main source of damage. He doesn't have a particularly strong early game either, his projectile moving faster than only Celeste's, and Celeste's at least provide vision! I don't know why you would ever want to play Skaarf when there are so many better choices out there.

This bit is over here because that contains way more details than I could ever put here and I can't be stuffed writing it again.

One of the most difficult roles in the game belongs to the bot laner. Many of these heroes are late-game carries, which means they deal a lot of damage later in the game. In other words, if you don't farm up, you won't do any damage. Early on, they are at the mercy of the enemy jungler almost at all times if they stray away from their turret. Oh, and don't forget that the enemy top laner is looking to harass you at every possible opportunity. My advice? FREEZE the lane. ALWAYS. Never, ever, ever, ever overextend. EVER. You will die if the enemy jungler knows what they're doing, as most bot laners have no form of escape. But when late game arrives and you're not too far behind, congratulations! You're now the main source of single-target damage present on your team (the AOE role belongs to mid). If you feel like you can survive the early game and want to do a lot of damage late game, this role is for you.

Crucial skills: Freezing the lane, last-hitting, stutterstepping.

Vainglory's bot laners are: SAW, Silvernail, Caine, Gwen, Ringo, Baron, Vox, Kinetic, Skye, Warhawk and Kestrel.

S-Tier (The best of the best)

(Hard) Seriously, was this a surprise to anyone? While in top Caine loses out on S-Tier to Gwen due to his slightly weaker early game, Caine's absurdly strong mid game places him in another world compared to other bot laners. Against the likes of tanky top laners like San Feng, Grumpjaw and Joule, he can easily execute them with Last Rites once he gets low enough. His mobility isn't bad either, with Once More granting him both a reload and a dash. While his waveclear can generally be considered to be the worst in bot lane due to him only having six bullets, this only serves to help him freeze the lane better. As long as you stay near your turret to prevent from getting ganked and un-freezing the lane by attacking the enemy top laner if they do so, you should scale to become a monster in the late game, with one Triple Tap taking off half of a squishy hero's health bar.

A-Tier (Very Good, but a step below S-Tier)

(Easy) The ONLY bot laner that can be considered somewhat strong early on in the game apart from everyone's favourite sitting duck, Gwen has it all: CC, burst, CC immunity, as well as vision. What more do you want? Suspect someone is in a bush? Buckshot Bonanza it and watch on as Taka slinks sadly back into his jungle. Glaive Afterburning you? Time Skedaddle to dodge it as he knocks you. Instead of the one being harassed, you will be doing the harassing in early game and make heroes that can't poke back *cough* Grumpjaw *cough* want to kill themselves. She even does increased damage after not attacking from Boomstick, giving her even more harass. While sure, late game she might not be as much of a carry as the likes of Baron or Kinetic, at least she won't be farming under turret 24/7.

(Easy) Basic, boring, but effective. Literally the only way to describe Ringo. No, he doesn't have the flashy Tracer Shots that Kinetic brings to the table. No, he doesn't have the insane outplay capacity of Baron or Skye. What he does have though is an ability that increases his attack speed which no other bot laner has (that doesn't make you a sitting duck). Twirling Silver is the bread and butter of Ringo's kit, as it allows him immense mobility as well as damage output in one ability. However, Ringo still has his pitfalls: no dash (think [[Once More, Inertial Dash) or any form of CC. In other words, please remember to stay under turret and freeze the lane (applies to all bot laners bar SAW and Gwen), as early game you are extremely squishy and can't dodge any skillshots at all if they predict right (think Wolf's Maw, Hook & Chain). Late game is another story though, as a couple of basic attacks can land in the space of one second once you activate Twirling Silver, and they HURT. Trust me.

However, the title of the hardest role in the game belongs to the jungler. While not as bad as in other games, the jungler is often the player blamed for failures in lane. This role can take many forms: an assassin such as Anka, a bruiser/warrior such as Krul, or a CC-heavy softener such as Baptiste. The jungler is the person you look to for ganks, which help you to win lane (and often, the game). I really do not recommend trying to learn this role as a new player, because of how well you need to know your kit as a jungler. You need to know ALL of your abilities like the back of your hand to complete a successful gank, but if you're looking for a challenging role that can reap great rewards, feel free to do so.

Crucial skills: Making use of wall-dashing, Map awareness, Knowledge of your teammates and your enemies' abilities.

Vainglory's junglers are: Leo, Ylva, Blackfeather, Ozo, Anka, Joule, Taka, Kensei, Baptiste, Koshka, Krul, Fortress, Alpha, Koshka, San Feng, Rona, Reim, Inara, Tony, Reza, Grumpjaw, Rona and Glaive.

Exams are coming up so I won't be updating any of my guides as much, bot lane should be finished in a week's time.

~Pasu

Note: The newest hero will NEVER be in the tierlists until they become available for glory, because I haven't tested them, so I won't know how they perform! Sorry, Miho!