Help a Noob pick a hero =)

[Kazh]

Hey title says it all :b im a noob just started playing it after about 5 games on the Beta i decided to give the game a second chance as i didn't really enjoy it that much in the beta.. but i think my problem is that im clueless in picking a hero so i just wanted if some pro's have some good tips for choosing a hero?

[Kaeldan]

if you like being a good team player etc etc etc, play support. if you like being a killer play a nuker (because you cant carry until your atleast 1 step up from noob) just remember no matter what you go, carry gets the killing blow.

Suggestions for you if your support is jereziah as he is a very tankish support hero (dont ks with your heal)

and a nuker i would suggest pyro as he is pretty basic. (dont ks with your ulti)

[LethalTurnip]

Andromeder is a nice starter hero. Lovely powerful stun and if you do badly, you are still useful to the team with your aura, aurora, stun and swap. If you do well you scale very nicely and you will be able to do serious damage and even carry your team.
Very very powerful underused hero.

[MrBlack]

:hell::pupp::zeph::fors::succ::witc::plag::arac::e lec::accu::deme::slit::pyro::bloo::poll:

Keep in mind you're going to suck for a while no matter who you use :P

I chose these ones because they can contribute easily to the team with the click of a button (or more). A lot of them are squishy too, which teaches you how easy it is to die and how to avoid such a fate (you'll be feeding a lot while you start, best to amplify it so you learn the hard way quicker.)

Here are some to definitely avoid...

:nigh::scou::ramp:
:temp::vind::pand::vood::krak::devo::souls::behe:
:swif::mage::madm::chro::dark::sand:
:warb::wild:

Long list I know, but trust me you'd rather avoid these if at all possible. Especially Scout/Night Hound, please don't use them.

[Droggeltasse]

I disagree with the list of my previous poster with some hereos.
:bloo: is not easy, to play good. This hero is all about lasthits. Outlasthit the enemy in the mid lane and win, or dont and loose.

:slit: is not easy ! You are very easy to kill and profit most from good use of wards and timing.

:poll:can still be a benefit to the team if played bad, but a bad polly will die 20 times a game and if you dont want that dont choose him.

:swif: on the other hand is the easiest melee carry in the game. Even when you fail farming you have spin+ulti and are a soso ganker
...

I would stick with sth like that:

Team needs a carry : :swif::arac::fors: (you need to know how to lasthit)
Team needs support::deme::accu::soulr::witc::keep::plag::elec ::pyro:
Team needs a initiator (someone who starts the figths, most with powerfull ultis or other skills)::keep::magm:

You can choose alot of other hereos but there are some who are very hard to play:
:ophe: micro alot of units
:souls: aim your demon hands and farm farm farm farm ..
:wild: micro booboo
:nigh::scou: you can still get kills with them but you are most of the time no help for your team. Also you never learn the basic game strategys with them because you can always go invis
:scou::mage::chro::sand: This hereos are very hard carrys you need alot of farm to be effective and as a new player you cant reach that point. Also you need to know when to pick them cause not every team can stand it to play 4vs 5 for 30 mins.
:ramp: This is the ultimate hard carry, without the benefit to dominate lategame.

[dune]

:ramp: This is the ultimate hard carry, without the benefit to dominate lategame.

Quite an oxymoron there ^.^

[Jayrod]

Hey title says it all :b im a noob just started playing it after about 5 games on the Beta i decided to give the game a second chance as i didn't really enjoy it that much in the beta.. but i think my problem is that im clueless in picking a hero so i just wanted if some pro's have some good tips for choosing a hero?
my cousins in the same situation as you. I suggested he try out witch slayer first as WS is pretty noobie friendly.

He's played about 40 games or so and now seems to really dig chipper. He told me he builds resto stone on chipper and I cringed a little bit, but then I realized that the simple fact that he was able to build a semi-expensive item is a huge sign of improvement.

[RobotRock]

:witc::andr:

[Droggeltasse]

Quite an oxymoron there ^.^

S2 should rename the hero Oxymoron sounds way better.

[Nimrod`]

Pebbles is a great hero to learn with. As a rule, I would avoid heroes who require heavy micro and stick to heroes who have a very solid early/mid game. That being said, I would steer clear of right click heroes and hard carries. Pick heroes who have moves that require actual skill to land/time effectively. When noobs try to play warbeast/magebane/the dark lady etc., they get lost in the jungle never to be seen again.

I also suggest you make your choices based on the laning phase. Without a solid laning phase, you can never get off the ground. Forget about teamfight synergies and complex strats until you start playing with people who can actually coordinate 5 man teamwork. Generally, if you have 3 strong lanes, you have a team that at least to some extent makes sense.

[Headbus]

Pick heroes that don't need farm and don't have skills that are hard to land.

[Nimrod`]

:witc::andr:

I definitely disagree with andro. Considering she functions best as a roamer, a noob can never pull this off. There are very few heroes who she lanes well with and her ult requires split second decisions and perfect coordination from your teammates to really capitalize on. If you do end up trying to lane with her, it really needs to be with a second ranged hero because she does not have the lane presence necessary too keep up with 90% of other ranged heroes. Her attack range is just far too poor. The only lane that I have found that really works for her is :andr::fors:

[weirdballs]

watch replays...

use honleague tutorials..

[McBeardy]

I'm not a great player, but the heroes I found myself doing well with were Pollywog Priest and Witch Slayer.

My first game as Witch Slayer was amazing, he is extremely noob friendly as he has a huge forgiving stun (so easy to aim), unlimited mana, a decent disable and a killer ult (though you must resist actually landing a killing blow with it if someone else needs it.) He's not very item dependent, and he's not just a "noob hero" he's actually a very good one, he's just easy to play.

Pollywog is a little trickier, but still shines brightly even in the hands of an idiot. A good tongue bind will most likely kill an enemy if you have support, his nuke always helps and can get your some later game cash farming a creep wave if no one is around. His ult should be used for pushing or defending, but nothing else at first! Later, you can learn how to morph/ward trap, but for now, stick to being the near-overpowered pusher you are. Pollywog is squishy and targeted often, so stay very safe. Again, an easier-to-learn hero with very little item dependency that is often picked/banned in casual and competitive play, (far more than Wtich Slayer.)

Additionally, I enjoy using Pyromancer, Magmus and Voodoo Jester on occasion. Generally, heroes with a nice stun work well with me, personally. Like I said, I'm a far cry from being a good player, but the game remains fun when I'm playing these heroes.

[Earthyy]

plague rider.

hit r and then jack yourself off as you get a quad kill

[pk_thunder]

:accu: accursed

he's the most brain-dead hero to play that will teach u the game and won't bring u down too much if u suck

all other heroes are somewhat fragile

accursed can tank and his ult can auto activate and heal u :D

it has a short cool down (cd) so it'll save ur ass countless times

most ppl understand how to play him, just use ur first skill (cauterize) on anyone with low hp/hurt and use his second skill (fire shield) on anyone tanking

it's easy

don't listen to everyone else, some retards told u to pick some carry heroes, which requires skill (and farm) which u probably lack...

[Droggeltasse]

:accu: accursed

he's the most brain-dead hero to play...
...most ppl understand how to play him, just use ur first skill (cauterize) on anyone with low hp/hurt and use his second skill (fire shield) on anyone tanking

it's easy

don't listen to everyone else, some retards told u to pick some carry heroes, which requires skill (and farm) which u probably lack...

Yes Accursed is a great hero for new players but there is a huge difference between a noob accursed and a good one. IF you use the shield to remove buffs and support the hero who is just about to be focused you are way more effective. You can heal all day and Accursed is one of the hereos that can enter a teamfigth with low hp when he know what he is doing.

You should not play carry hereos untill you can farm and lasthit, but that does not mean you should not play them at all costs. Alot of carry hereos are very easy to play and even when its not the best for your team that you as a new player take the carry role, why not try it ?

[pk_thunder]

Yes Accursed is a great hero for new players but there is a huge difference between a noob accursed and a good one. IF you use the shield to remove buffs and support the hero who is just about to be focused you are way more effective. You can heal all day and Accursed is one of the hereos that can enter a teamfigth with low hp when he know what he is doing.

You should not play carry hereos untill you can farm and lasthit, but that does not mean you should not play them at all costs. Alot of carry hereos are very easy to play and even when its not the best for your team that you as a new player take the carry role, why not try it ?
1) nubs are gonna suck on all heroes, why not give him a god tier hero to practice with (basically a trainer) so if he sucks he doesn't suck as much compared to playing someone like :bloo:/:sand:/:wild:/:devo:/:ramp:

2) well ppl will rage at him, why not just play with an item independent (to some degree) hero so he can practice it and not suck when he really does play a carry? name 1 easy carry hero that I can play like accursed

[Pwnograhpy]

Andromeder is a nice starter hero. Lovely powerful stun and if you do badly, you are still useful to the team with your aura, aurora, stun and swap. If you do well you scale very nicely and you will be able to do serious damage and even carry your team.
Very very powerful underused hero.
The last sentence is SO true. But the fact is she's REALLY squishy and requires a lot of skill to manuever well and play correctly. I would NOT reccomend Andromeda to anyone as a hero to learn the game by tbh.

Accursed is very good for learning the game though so pick him up. Yes I'm just copying what other people say with this one but I've played Andromeda and she deffinately requires quite a bit of skill to even get off the ground with her and a roamer isn't something a newbie can pull off regularly...

[TheWarrent]

Witch Slayer is an excellent starting hero.

[ald1]

Just train in no-stats mode with whatever you like till you feel you know the game a little better, and most of the heroes - first step is to get to know all the heroes so when you play against them they won't surpsie you with their skill-set.

[F1]

Pest is good, his stun is VERY easy to land, ult is a no-brainer, and use flight when you need the added mobility.

[AncientPC]

The easiest hero to start off with and be useful for your team is probably Witch Slayer.

[TheImmigrant]

I do have to agree with some of the post above me.

As said above :

:witc: and :andr: are mainly the 2 easiest hero in HoN.

If I can put some others, I will add some explanations too.

1: :hamm: Pretty damn easy for anyone to land stuns and pop ult to kill. Buy steamboots and a couple of bracers and you are good to go for 30 minutes. Follow the recommended list for Shrunken head and go in every fight sicne you are tanky by nature.

2::blac: : Seriosly, who needs help with 2 single target spell like that... nuff said I think. Don't even matter if you don't level up your third in low level of games.

3: :elec: : In low brackets, just hold the guy and burst him, that's simple enough? Even if you die, no problem, you are still able to help in lane and can even open in team fights when you have your core item...HotBL.

4: :hell: : Spam skills and dominate the game with malphas. You simply need to stun with malphas when needed and spam your skills every team fight, let your hero at the same place if you want and control malphas to burn the nemy down.

:thun::plag::slit::defi: are quite easy too, just need a little more team presence

[pk_thunder]

I do have to agree with some of the post above me.

As said above :

:witc: and :andr: are mainly the 2 easiest hero in HoN.

If I can put some others, I will add some explanations too.

1: :hamm: Pretty damn easy for anyone to land stuns and pop ult to kill. Buy steamboots and a couple of bracers and you are good to go for 30 minutes. Follow the recommended list for Shrunken head and go in every fight sicne you are tanky by nature.

2::blac: : Seriosly, who needs help with 2 single target spell like that... nuff said I think. Don't even matter if you don't level up your third in low level of games.

3: :elec: : In low brackets, just hold the guy and burst him, that's simple enough? Even if you die, no problem, you are still able to help in lane and can even open in team fights when you have your core item...HotBL.

4: :hell: : Spam skills and dominate the game with malphas. You simply need to stun with malphas when needed and spam your skills every team fight, let your hero at the same place if you want and control malphas to burn the nemy down.

:thun::plag::slit::defi: are quite easy too, just need a little more team presence
I wouldn't recommend :andr::thun::defi::plag::blac::hamm:

:andr:: timing the rip and making it effective and not let the guy u trade places escape + u getting raped
:thun:: might be easy to u spaming ur skills and getting pwnt, but he requires a lot of teamwork (for ult) and kiting, which is pretty hard when it comes to this hero
:defi:: "hey guaz, watch me carry" "wtf :defi: why do u have a savage mace?"
:plag:: "hey look, I see two heroes!" he ults, hits creeps, dies
:blac:: most new players won't really know to keep frenzy on who and when, like plague's shield also
:hamm:: "hey guaz, watch me carry" "wtf why do u have ep and no shrunken?"

[TheImmigrant]

I wouldn't recommend :andr::thun::defi::plag::blac::hamm:

:andr:: timing the rip and making it effective and not let the guy u trade places escape + u getting raped
:thun:: might be easy to u spaming ur skills and getting pwnt, but he requires a lot of teamwork (for ult) and kiting, which is pretty hard when it comes to this hero
:defi:: "hey guaz, watch me carry" "wtf :defi: why do u have a savage mace?"
:plag:: "hey look, I see two heroes!" he ults, hits creeps, dies
:blac:: most new players won't really know to keep frenzy on who and when, like plague's shield also
:hamm:: "hey guaz, watch me carry" "wtf why do u have ep and no shrunken?"

At least, try to read what I am writing please.

I am not talking about pro plays, I am talking about people who are starting with HoN.

:andr:Andro can simply stun and spam second spell if he wants, even if he dies, the stunned guy will most likely die in the process.

:thun: : spam skills is not hard, mostly, you will have the control if you jsut spma on the same person over and over. At lvl 6, use your ult if you think you can do ultra damage with your lane partner, or even mid to kill him.

:defi:: If you want, enter team fights with ulti up and wave everyone, you will most likely end up with 1 or 2 kills anyway. No one will ever buy savage mace, just follow the recommended to start with new heroes.

:plag:: spam nuke and sip mana off.... even no-brainers can do this with ease. In team fights, just throw out ulti, do your nukes and hope for the best. Noobs are always stacked in team fights anyway.

:blac: : Read carefully, I said that in noob games, you don't really need the frenzy since no one care. Simply stun and slow people out.

:hamm:: Read again... I mentionned what to buy and what to do.

[stenberg99]

plague rider.

hit r and then jack yourself off as you get a quad kill

LOLOLOLOL

[stenberg99]

When i started playing HoN, i only played Predator. I don't think anyone mentioned him but he IS the easiest hero to play.

[pk_thunder]

At least, try to read what I am writing please.

I am not talking about pro plays, I am talking about people who are starting with HoN.

:andr:Andro can simply stun and spam second spell if he wants, even if he dies, the stunned guy will most likely die in the process.

:thun: : spam skills is not hard, mostly, you will have the control if you jsut spma on the same person over and over. At lvl 6, use your ult if you think you can do ultra damage with your lane partner, or even mid to kill him.

:defi:: If you want, enter team fights with ulti up and wave everyone, you will most likely end up with 1 or 2 kills anyway. No one will ever buy savage mace, just follow the recommended to start with new heroes.

:plag:: spam nuke and sip mana off.... even no-brainers can do this with ease. In team fights, just throw out ulti, do your nukes and hope for the best. Noobs are always stacked in team fights anyway.

:blac: : Read carefully, I said that in noob games, you don't really need the frenzy since no one care. Simply stun and slow people out.

:hamm:: Read again... I mentionned what to buy and what to do.
:andr:: roamers in pubs are always bad (if played right) and it's even worse when played wrong
:thun:: trust me I started with this hero, it was not easy (hey guaz I nuked down - *dies*). it eventually did get easier but that's after 20 games of .1 kdr and like .5 adr...
:defi:: probably not even gonna use her silence...
:plag:: trust me, they will not keep the shield on the carry and will not ult in the right place, it will fail
:blac:: ok
:hamm:: "why should I listen to u?" *buys ep* "hammers awa - *instagibed by another hero*" and he does require farm, so lol

[TheImmigrant]

:andr:Never said to play andro as a roamer sorry
:thun:You might have a point but I don't think that OP is that dumb
:defi:Not needed in noobs only
:plag:No need to put shield since if the carry is that stupid he will die anyway
:blac:-
:hamm:No need to farm, buy bracers and you are done with boots. The gold will come if you destroy towers and have some creep kills.


Also, someone said :pred: as the easiest hero to play. He is easy to play, but you will end up 0-20 the first 50 games you oplay with him.

Definitly one hard hero to play right. Dunno what you find in him that is THAT easy but almost all of the newcomers think that he is easy since he has magic immunity for 5 seconds. I never saw any good noobish predator ever.

He is situaltonal: He counters in a good way :souls::pupp::temp::zeph::swif: these heroes.

[pk_thunder]

:andr:Never said to play andro as a roamer sorry
:thun:You might have a point but I don't think that OP is that dumb
:defi:Not needed in noobs only
:plag:No need to put shield since if the carry is that stupid he will die anyway
:blac:-
:hamm:No need to farm, buy bracers and you are done with boots. The gold will come if you destroy towers and have some creep kills.


Also, someone said :pred: as the easiest hero to play. He is easy to play, but you will end up 0-20 the first 50 games you oplay with him.

Definitly one hard hero to play right. Dunno what you find in him that is THAT easy but almost all of the newcomers think that he is easy since he has magic immunity for 5 seconds. I never saw any good noobish predator ever.

He is situaltonal: He counters in a good way :souls::pupp::temp::zeph::swif: these heroes.
:andr:: carryandro!?!?! (no zrzly, stun sure, aurora probably ok, he will fail the swaps tho)
:thun:: nor was I, I actually know how to kite, but everything was so new and bright o.o (this hero takes skill, ask elementuser)
:defi:: maybe nubs only <1300, but silence is needed in anything above that
:plag:: he's gonna ult creeps like a nub :swif:
:hamm:: what do u play, EM? anyways nubs do actually buy nullfire blade, rly!

easiest to play is :accu:, as long as u don't feed it doesn't matter

[RiT4LiN]

:arac:

[pk_thunder]

:arac:
I hope ur trolling

[Anakha]

Eh, Arachna's pretty easy. There's only really 3 scenarios for her to use her stuff.

If being nuked/held, press W.
If chasing/harassing, press Q and rightclick on target hero.
If killing, press R, rightclick, press Q, rightclick.
Teaches you situational skill use, and skill spam. And when both is appropriate.

[pk_thunder]

Eh, Arachna's pretty easy. There's only really 3 scenarios for her to use her stuff.

If being nuked/held, press W.
If chasing/harassing, press Q and rightclick on target hero.
If killing, press R, rightclick, press Q, rightclick.
Teaches you situational skill use, and skill spam. And when both is appropriate.
I heard orb walking is pretty easy on ur first 10 games
I heard last hitting and denying is super easy on ur first few games
I heard farming is easy when u're new

...

[Anakha]

I heard orb walking is pretty easy on ur first 10 games
I heard last hitting and denying is super easy on ur first few games
I heard farming is easy when u're new

...
Orb walking is a ridiculously easy CONCEPT to understand. It is also not necessary to be successful against newbs who pick boots first as Witch Slayer and go mid. It also gives a depth to work towards that will benefit when you learn other heroes.
It also encourages continuous proactive movement at all times, which is a trap I know one of my usual rl mates who plays HoN is falling into. I tend to find that if your APM isnt around 80, you're generally not paying attention enough to the game.

Last hitting and denying will always be hard, irrespective of what hero you play. Don't teach people bad habits by giving people Demented Shaman and teaching them that lasthitting is healnuking the creep wave.

Arachna does not have to farm to be successful against newbies. You become a complete beast to be feared when people have no idea how to hit the spider while you're continuously shooting sticky white stuff in their face.

[TheImmigrant]

The simple fact if you do exactly what you are saying, the newcomer will die in 3 seconds.

To begin in HoN, you need someone who can evade with more ease than arachna

[LightRain]

hey pkthunder
consider that just because it's hard to play a hero in his proper role for a 'real' game, that does not mean that it is hard to play that hero against other new players
andromeda i would actually recommend for new players, because the stun and wave are relatively simple concepts (wave gives vision! lets you find people!)
and frankly, new players aren't completely brain dead. Giving them something they can experiment with (eg Andromeda swap) can get them interested in the game.

[Anakha]

The simple fact if you do exactly what you are saying, the newcomer will die in 3 seconds.

To begin in HoN, you need someone who can evade with more ease than arachna
That's exactly the reasoning behind why newbs pick scout and nh, and fail without learning why.
andro, arachna and witch slayer have depth in their playability to a new player without being overly complicated. You'll also note that one is a support, one is a heavy nuker/disabler, and one is a carry. pick one and have a smash at it. whichever one you like the most, experiment with heroes that are like them.


hey pkthunder
consider that just because it's hard to play a hero in his proper role for a 'real' game, that does not mean that it is hard to play that hero against other new players
andromeda i would actually recommend for new players, because the stun and wave are relatively simple concepts (wave gives vision! lets you find people!)
and frankly, new players aren't completely brain dead. Giving them something they can experiment with (eg Andromeda swap) can get them interested in the game.
this this this this.

[failshot]

Please for the love of everything sacred just don't pick the new development heroes and think "oh I can run with them I'll just learn as I go"

If you want some fairly easy heroes to learn the game with I suggest :soulr::witc::pyro::plag:. Pretty easy to pick them since they all have mostly spells that can be spammed or point+click spells.

:accu: is another one to learn with. Once he hits lvl6 he gets pretty hard to kill. Plus he is one of the better heroes to learn with to play support heroes.

[failshot]

Eh, Arachna's pretty easy. There's only really 3 scenarios for her to use her stuff.

If being nuked/held, press W.
If chasing/harassing, press Q and rightclick on target hero.
If killing, press R, rightclick, press Q, rightclick.
Teaches you situational skill use, and skill spam. And when both is appropriate.

With Arachna keep in mind she can mitigate any magic damage targeted to her, as well as her ability to use orbwalking. Not necessarily an easy hero to learn with. If you want to learn a hero thats more or less a dedicated ganker Arachna is a great choice.

[AncientPC]

I'm not a fan of Arachna (or carries) being suggested.

Arachna has a weak early game and is hard to farm with low base damage, is squishy, and requires a bit of roaming / ganking to be played well. She's not really a "farm for 30 minutes then win the game" type of carry.

Also, her carapace skill needs to be timed when you're expecting a nuke (which comes from situational awareness / experience) and orb walking is highly effective on her. Sure you can use carapace for DOT ults or skills, but the real danger for Arachna are the pyro / witch / chain stuns since she's such a squishy carry.

She doesn't have good escape mechanisms either like other carries (invis, blink, stun & run). She can kite with web, but it's not as simple as other carries' escape skills.

[failshot]

I'm not a fan of Arachna (or carries) being suggested.

Arachna has a weak early game and is hard to farm with low base damage, is squishy, and requires a bit of roaming / ganking to be played well. She's not really a "farm for 30 minutes then win the game" type of carry.

Also, her carapace skill needs to be timed when you're expecting a nuke (which comes from situational awareness / experience) and orb walking is highly effective on her. Sure you can use carapace for DOT ults or skills, but the real danger for Arachna are the pyro / witch / chain stuns since she's such a squishy carry.

She doesn't have good escape mechanisms either like other carries (invis, blink, stun & run). She can kite with web, but it's not as simple as other carries' escape skills.


^^ Too right. There are way too many things to keep in mind with Arachna.

Another new player friendly hero to pick up is :pest:. He is both a tank AND a semi-carry with little variation between item setups. Your stuns are highly coveted in both public and competitive matches, and your ultimate skill can be used to reveal invisible targets and to mark the one to kill, on top of the huge armor debuff.

[Kazh]

Hey folks :) thanks alot for the comments, I found that Witch Slayer is really fun to play also with the stun is easy aiming and can provide a slight advantage in team battles :b atleast at the lvl of skill i am playing at this moment, i think i have decided to go for him and try to become better =)

[DVNO911]

When i started playing HoN, i only played Predator. I don't think anyone mentioned him but he IS the easiest hero to play.

I wouldnt say that, you need to have som experience so you can activate stone hide at the right moment, and he works as a carry.

Also, i think andro is harder than most of the people in here think. She doesnt have full range, which makes her easily harassable. And, she is a good roaming hero, which is only seen in hightier games(she doesnt scale well at all, just warding for the team is better).

[Randomguy360]

beginners should never ever play a carry, the last thing I want is some newb playing our only chance of winning if the game goes too late.

[limemil616]

witch slayer, elec, and pyro maybe. elec is one of the easiest to use.

[Granman]

if you like being a good team player etc etc etc, play support. if you like being a killer play a nuker (because you cant carry until your atleast 1 step up from noob) just remember no matter what you go, carry gets the killing blow.

Suggestions for you if your support is jereziah as he is a very tankish support hero (dont ks with your heal)

and a nuker i would suggest pyro as he is pretty basic. (dont ks with your ulti)

Jerazahia is someone who I WOULDNT recommend. You can get raged at pretty hard for not playing him right which might push you away from HoN. Try Legionaire or some really tanky heroes that are just made to take dmg.