Kharazim, Veradani Monk
For those of you who are familiar with Blizzard Entertainment's MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, you would probably know that the game's newest hero, Kharazim, was introduced to the nexus just earlier this week. And for those who aren't too familiar with Heroes of the Storm, it is basically Blizzard Entertainment's own take on the highly popular DotA game, featuring heroes from their own franchises, such as Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo.
In this case, Kharazim is from the Diablo franchise, and is in fact a monk from that game, which is one of the six playable classes available. In Heroes of the Storm, all heroes are classified into certain "roles", which best explain what they bring to a teamfight. Kharazim is a melee support hero, and he is the first hero in the support role from the Diablo universe.
This article is a brief introduction to this new hero, and a short analysis of how a player can choose to play him in any game.
Similar to all other heroes so far, Kharazim has access to four different skills, with a selection of two "heroic abilities" and a trait. His first skill, Radiant Dash, allows him to instantly dash to an ally or an enemy. If targeted at an enemy, Kharazim will instantly hit that enemy with a basic attack. This gives the monk incredible mobility throughout the game, escaping with ease or chasing down enemies quickly.
His second skill, Breath of Heaven, is a simple area-of-effect heal that restores the health of any allies near him. This is a pretty decent healing spell, especially since it does not require any targeting. For a quick combo, Kharazim can Radiant Dash to an ally and follow up with an instant Breath of Heaven. This can pull many allies out of threatening situations, and hence is a very powerful save in certain fights.
Kharazim's third skill is Deadly Reach. This skill gives a short buff to the monk, increasing his attack speed and attack range for a short period of time. Using this makes Kharazim somewhat of a semi-assassin instead of a full support hero, giving him increased damage and the ability to take down enemy fortifications at a rapid rate. When combined with his mobility from Radiant Dash, Deadly Reach can, as its name suggests, be a deadly tool for taking down a single opponent.
The two heroic abilities available to Kharazim are Seven-Sided Strike, a powerful area-of-effect skill that damages everyone within it, and Divine Palm, which is arguably one of the best healing skills in the game. Seven-Sided Strike is a simple heroic that, when used, creates an small area-of-effect that deals a percentage of the enemy's health per hit. This can be used in any teamfight with great effect, either taking down enemies at low health, or softening them up for the team's assassin to take them out.
If the player chooses to build Kharazim in a more supportive role, Divine Palm is perfect for the job. When used on a dying ally, Divine Palm renders them invulnerable and heals them after a short period of time, provided the ally takes fatal damage. This heroic can force the enemy to not kill one of your teammates, or deny the enemy team a crucial kill. Timing this heroic ability correctly is the key to using Divine Palm.
The unique thing about Kharazim is his ability to choose a trait at the start of a match. He can choose between three traits, each of which has a different function. Transcendence is a powerful trait that allows the monk to "passively" heal allies near him while he is attacking, while Iron Fists makes Kharazim more deadly by adding more damage to his basic attacks. Lastly, Insight provides mana while Kharazim attacks, which gives him a lot of sustainability throughout the game. Simply put, for players who are looking to go for more of a support role, choose between Insight and Transcendence, and for those who are looking to build the monk into a more damaging hero, pick Iron Fists.
Due to his various unique talents acquired as he levels up in a game, Kharazim can be built in a variety of ways. Many talents support his healing capabilities, such as Echo of Heaven, which casts his Breath of Heaven twice, or the even more powerful Soothing Breeze, which allows Breath of Heaven to remove all forms of crowd control from anyone affected, an incredibly useful thing during major teamfights.
For damage options, Kharazim also has several options going for him. Way of the Hundred Fists gives his Radiant Dash a bigger kick, which is useful for finishing off dying enemies. Another option would be Fists of Fury, which increases the duration of the monk's Deadly Reach, giving him an even longer buff that could easily snag takedowns. Lastly, Blinding Speed gives Kharazim more charges to his Radiant Dash, which basically means that the monk can use it more often. When combined with Deadly Reach and the Way of the Hundred Fists talent, this can allow Kharazim to dish out a huge amount of damage within a short period of time.
Lastly, for Kharazim's "endgame" level twenty talent, he has the typical upgrades to his heroic abilities, but he also gets a talent called Epiphany, which is unique to the monk. Epiphany provides Kharazim with a quick chunk of mana, and refills all his charges of Radiant Dash. This allows the monk to quickly heal up his allies, escape or take down a fleeing enemy instantly after usage. Considering that at level twenty, the game is usually about to end, such a talent would provide Kharazim with a lot of utility and options during teamfights, allowing him to ensure a victory.
And there you have it! Heroes of the Storm's newest addition to their roster, Kharazim, the Veradani Monk, is available now in the in-game store for 15,000 coins. He is sure to bring a new playstyle to the Nexus, and will definitely be a welcome addition to many teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment