The Jist/General Tips Top
The jist of this build is simple; the play-style is similar to
Ardan with a more offensive take. Use your
Prime Directive and
Shiversteel to slow fleeing enemies to secure the team's kill.
Core Charge is also a great tool for chasing, but don't be afraid to use it as much as possible during team fights to maximize your damage. DO NOT use
Termination Protocol when engaging enemies, I cannot stress this enough. Your only use of it is when you are about to die anyways to deal some final extra damage before your
Infinite Reboot kicks in. This ability severely improves
Alpha's ability to stay alive. Normally,
Alpha is a prioritized target when in reboot, but with a tank set, she can essentially get 'two lives' or divert the enemy's attention long enough for your team to score a kill or two in team-fights.
Alpha can chase an enemy while on low health to allow the team to get a kill without Alpha being killed. If not obvious already,
Alpha's high point is chasing and slowing enemies for the team.
Abilities Top
Infinite Reboot
Slot: Heroic Perk
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. - Keep in mind that
Alpha does not use energy, so thats one less thing to worry about. As long as you reboot in a safe area, you'll be fine. Don't think this ability gives you a free pass to goof up and charge straight in; you will be immobilized and killed quickly.
Prime Directive
Slot: A
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. - Great in conjunction with
Core Charge and
Shiversteel, this is your main chasing tool. Don't feel bad if you miss, as it is quite difficult to land.
Core Charge
Slot: B
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. - Core Overload isn't really a problem, and is rather beneficial due to the damage increase. Useful for closing smaller gaps between enemies, farming, and between basic attacks.
Termination Protocol
Slot: C
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. - While giving this all three points seems like a good idea because of the cool down reduction of
Infinite Reboot, it is more than made up for with
Contraption and
Aftershock, thus making the overdrives on her A and B much more useful. As stated above,
only use this ability if your going to die anyways. Usually, profitable opportunities to use it in chasing and team fights are not present in a match.
Situations; Early Game Top
Alpha is an extremely weak hero in the early game.
Halcyon Potions are a must in order to use
Ironguard Contract for your teammates effectively. This is obvious, but try to farm as much as possible. Decision making is key here; Do you help your laner fend off enemies from the jungle and waste precious farm time? Place scout traps early game in the lane bushes to help your laner, and perhaps ultimately save some farm time. Sometimes, just your presence or a light poke is enough to ward off an aggressive enemy laner. Respect your opponents, if a brief early jungle shop squabble breaks out, the health of your friendly jungler is a priority. When they go on the attack, you go on the attack. If they are ambushed, do your best to get the enemy off of him/her (Try using
Prime Directive's slow when behind the attacker). That being said, don't pass up an opportunity to steal camps from the enemy jungle.
Team Fights and Chasing Top
As always, first destroy the immediate threat to your team. If an enemy
Taka decides to engage, target him first. If the enemy laner, such as
Ringo or
Celeste goes in too much, take em' down. As always, leave the support for last. If your winning the teamfight, save your
Prime Directive for the retreat. Squishes first. Afterwords, use your
Shiversteel slow them, and just basic attack/
Core Charge until your teammates catch up or you finish them off. For prolonged chases, use
Prime Directive whenever possible or when boots or speed boosts are used. If you end up losing the teamfight, use your
Shiversteel to protect your allies. If your behind an enemy who is chasing an ally, use
Prime Directive to slow them and continue running. As always, use
Fountain of Renewal/
Crucible when the time is right.
End Game Top
Always stick with your teammates. In the end game, vision is key. If you have pushed past the 3rd enemy turret and in to the enemy base, retain control of the map. Place scout traps in the lane and in the jungle (even outside of bushes) with your
Contraption to gain vision and execute ambushes on the enemy. If you end up capturing Kraken, make sure both minion mines are captured and push with your teammates. If you are pushed in to your base, don't give up! As stated before, retain control of the map with your
Contraption by using flares and scout traps. Try to keep on an enemy Kraken as much as possible, thats where your useful for the damage buff from
Contraption. Don't be afraid to join your allies in chasing if you know the turrets will take care of the rest of Kraken.
The End Top
I hope you have enjoyed this explanation. Any comments, tips and criticism is welcome. I'm still currently working on this, so please don't be afraid to add any missing information in the comments.
Thanks!
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