Heroes of the Storm – Hero Selection and Team Composition

Heroes of the Storm had an official release around the middle of last year after going through lengthy Alpha and Beta phases. However, the game continues to evolve, adding new characters, maps, features and modes every few months. What doesn’t seem to evolve is the community that plays the game. While the top player understand almost everything there is to know about the popular MOBA, novice to average-level players still have a huge lack of knowledge.

While it may sound like a simple concept, this article is aimed at the lower level players to teach them how to work as a team and win games. Unlike some other MOBA titles, it’s very difficult for a single player to carry an entire team. If you don’t work together, there’s a good chance your team is going to lose. We’ve compiled some helpful tips to keep teams working together and winning more often with a focus on Hero League.

The first thought many players have is to pick a hero they like. Chances are you don’t even own heroes you dislike unless you got them in some sort of bundle. But it’s not just about selecting a hero you like, you need to select a hero you’re good with. That doesn’t mean you’ve played with that hero a few times in Quick Match. That means you know exactly what role you would be playing in the current team composition, and you’re skilled at playing your hero in that role.

If your team needs a healer, don’t pick Kharazim with expectations to go with a DPS build. If you’re lacking damage, don’t pick Johanna. Yes, many heroes in the game can take on different roles when need be, but if you have an Assassin hero in your arsenal, don’t pick a non-Assassin and work in a DPS build. There are some exceptions to this (Sonya, Tyrande, etc.), but for the most part the heroes are classified in specific roles for a reason.

While a wide assortment of team compositions can win matches, if you’re struggling to win it may be best to work with more traditional team comps. The most basic team comp is one tank, one healer, two DPS and an open spot. The open spot is traditionally for a Specialist, a second tank or a third DPS. If you’re opting for a more traditional team comp, heroes such as Nova should go in the open spot. Yes, Nova is an Assassin, but she doesn’t inflict sustained damage. Her role on the team is to snipe low-health heroes. She is played differently than your average Assassin such as Tychus or Raynor.

It’s also important to understand that the roles defined by Blizzard are very broad. Not every Warrior is a true tank. Sonya and Johanna are both Warriors, but they server very different purposes on the team. Johanna is a true tank while Sonya is much more in-line with an Assassin. Most would classify Sonya as a Bruiser and Johanna as a Tank, but Blizzard doesn’t have these designations so they both end up falling into the Warrior classification.

These same classification issues occur when you compare Tyrande and Lt. Morales. Both are classified as Support heroes, but Tyrande can output as much damage as most Assassins while Lt. Morales is rarely outmatched when it comes to raw healing (but inflicts very little damage). Tyrande can effectively solo-heal, but if you’re up against a lot of burst damage heroes (Kael ‘thas, Thrall, etc.) Lt. Morales has a far better chance of keeping your team alive.

Once you’ve figured out your team comp and selected a hero, it’s time to get into the game. It’s important to soak every lane until you’re at least level 10, then stay together as much as possible. Many players think the best strategy is to continue soaking if you’re down a few levels, but you only get so much experience from killing minions. You get far more experience from killing enemy heroes or taking down enemy forts.

Instead of soaking a lane to help with what might be a two-level difference between teams, stay together and take down a fort or attack a lone hero on the opposing team. It’s not advisable to engage in a 5v5 when you’re down in levels, but you should be able to easily win a 5v3 and that can only happen if you’re together as much as possible.

There are plenty of other strategies to help win in Heroes of the Storm so stay tuned to Prima Games as we continue to cover the evolving MOBA from Blizzard. For now check out our guides on playing Lt. Morales, Kharazim and more!