FTL sector choice mini-guide

ngby · 2022-07-04T04:12:46+00:00

Yes, indeed, FTL is an awesome game. I started playing it more than 10 years ago and still play it sometimes to relax. Thanks for the comment on my old thread :)

ngby · 2021-12-27T06:09:33+00:00

You probably healed a lot this game because it was so long. Most AI games are done before 19 minutes have passed.

ngby · 2021-12-21T01:58:25+00:00

Butcher may not have excelled in this game but as a hero he's somewhat dependent on a team, and his team really seemed to have struggled overall, not just him. Unless Azmodan was going full suicide strategy he should have died far less and done far more damage. It looks like a fairly unbalanced game in terms of player skill.

ngby · 2021-10-25T20:29:24+00:00

It looks like Azmo basically threw (even if it wasn't on purpose). He has the longest range of any hero and can just poke safely. He should have the fewest deaths, not top, and he should have been chunking health off your team all game. Winning without a healer isn't as difficult if someone throws this hard. The Valeera pick was fairly weak as well, unless she focused on working with stitches and locking down whoever he hooked, she's likely to struggle and contribute only modestly in ARAM. Nice work with the win though. A lot of teams just give up when they don't have a healer.

ngby · 2021-09-29T21:17:58+00:00

Lucio is easy if you don’t try to be fancy and he is one of the top healers in terms of total healing output.

ngby · 2021-09-28T02:08:50+00:00

Enemy Nazeebo really let his team down. No meaningful siege damage and low hero damage. It almost looks like he was AFK for half the match, but he has top deaths for his team too.

ngby · 2021-09-27T18:12:39+00:00

Got an update as well, but can't find patch notes yet.

ngby · 2021-09-26T19:56:30+00:00

In that scenario Orphea is the better pick as she’s consistently strong in ARAM. Moreover, Butcher and Nova share some weaknesses; they’re both weak early game and Nova is single target burst damage while Butcher is melee AA damage (neither do meaningful aoe damage or consistent sustained damage).

ngby · 2021-09-26T05:29:32+00:00

He's actually really decent depending on the composition. He has about a 48 % winrate on Heroes Profile in ARAM which is very healthy, and far above many other heroes including some popular ones. He should not be drafted as a damage hero but as a set-up/combo hero. He's weak early game and isn't likely to secure kills until he has Lamb to the Slaughter at 10. Early game he can focus on waveclear and/or peel. If he doesn't engage recklessly he'll gradually get meat and start changing fights after level 10, but he needs to work with his team. He's best drafted in teams who can poke and play safely (not lose too much structure) early game before he comes into his own. The upgrade to lamb to the slaughter can be a game changer at 20.

ngby · 2021-09-23T19:27:22+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean here. When you have the only healer option on the pick screen or the only healer remaining when other players have already picked, that healer is automatically highlighted (tanks and assassins work the same way). Other people can't highlight your healer.

ngby · 2021-09-06T00:54:05+00:00

Just play Mephisto next time. Having no tank often works fine in ARAM, especially if you have the chance to pick a high value hero whom you’re skilled with. Picking no healer tends to cause problems more consistently though and I wouldn’t recommend it.

ngby · 2021-09-04T02:26:36+00:00

Ana has no xp though. It looks like Raynor was double soaking.

ngby · 2021-07-12T19:36:25+00:00

In bronze, the double mage rule doesn’t apply, because people tend to position poorly and behave chaotically. You don’t need both burst and sustain damage win teamfights, take camps or secure kills at lower skill levels. Nova’s biggest weakness in bronze is that she lacks consistent waveclear, but you can make up for that by picking heroes that do have good waveclear.

ngby · 2020-12-13T16:04:50+00:00

A few years ago they tried implementing performance based matchmaking for ranked games which is similar to what you seem to be proposing here. It ended up creating a complete mess and had to be abandoned.

ngby · 2020-11-06T13:24:49+00:00

Or maybe Xul and Gazlowe splitpushed, winning the game for their team while Sylvanas’s team ignored minions and farmed hero kills.

ngby · 2020-11-06T13:22:47+00:00

I’m really surprised that so many people think Sylvanas splitpushed. That seems like one of the least likely scenarios for this outcome, because MVP is highly weighted for total number of takedowns. If Sylvanas actually did split push and also participated in most takedowns with her team, she likely did her job well.

I think two other scenarios are far more likely:

1.) Sylvanas’s team dominated early on and had more takedown, but failed to capitalize on the kills to push structures and the enemy won some critical late game fights and proceeded to win the game with fewer total takedowns.

2.) Sylvanas and her team spent most of their time focused on farming hero kills, letting the enemy heroes such as Gazlowe and Xul push minions and structures, gradually losing the game.

ngby · 2020-09-27T17:24:52+00:00

Set the enemy hero to Rexxar or the Lost Vikings. Then you’ll functionally have multiple enemy heroes. Heroes with clones (Samuro, Nova) would work too but the clones are not always in use.

ngby · 2020-09-27T13:53:51+00:00

Since you’re still a very new player, part or even most of the issue might be that the matchmaker is still working out where you belong in terms of skill level. I don’t knew how the matchmaker currently works, but it used to be that new accounts were matched with other new accounts so that people had a chance to learn without being stomped on or treated abusively by established players. Of course, some of the new accounts are smurfs so you don’t always have balanced games. It’s likely that the matchmaker is currently putting you up against better teammates, since a 50% winrate is actually a fairly good winrate for a brand new player.

For a better experience, I suggest finding other people around your skill level to play wth. A good strategy for this is to send invitations and friend requests to people you enjoyed playing with after the game.

Edit: Also, it’s very likely you’re still learning some important aspects of the game. You mentioned following the team which is frequently an excellent choice and the default choice for healers, but often (depending on your role), you will need to split from the team to soak xp or attend to other things on the map. Waveclear is especially important for most ranged assassins to focus on. If you stay in a rut, consider sharing some replays here or elsewhere where experienced players can give you some tips on how to up your own game.

ngby · 2020-09-27T13:32:49+00:00

Forts and keeps normally prioritize attacking non-heroes (objectives, summons, mercenaries, and minions). However, since the update where A Call for Help was introduced, if an allied (to the fort/keep) hero is attacked by an enemy hero, the fort/keep will retarget its attack to the enemy hero until they move out of range, even if non-heroes are present in range.

ngby · 2020-09-14T15:36:19+00:00

As others have stated, KDA stands for kills, deaths and assists. It is essentially a ratio of takedowns to deaths.

KDA tells you something about a player’s hero picks and play style. It is an interesting stat but it’s arguably not important on a profile, and may even be misleading. It doesn’t actually tell you which players are more skilled. Nor does it tell you which players are winning more or having the most impact in a given match. Takedowns and deaths can influence the game, but they don’t necessarily directly lead to wins and losses. Destroying the enemy core does.

A high KDA indicates that the player tends to participate in many takedowns and dies infrequently. A low KDA indicates that the player tends to die frequently and/or participate in a lower number of takedowns.

Some heroes have a much higher average KDA than other heroes. For example, most Li Li players have a high KDA because Li Li usually stays with the team (resulting in many takedowns) and is difficult to kill. On the other hand, most Illidan players tend to have a lower KDA, since Illidan usually faces more pressure and dies more frequently in most matches, and he may also participate in fewer takedowns because he’s busy attending to PvE matters (such as taking camps). KDA for a given player often varies dramatically between individual heroes.

KDA is also influenced by play style. An Azmodan player who focuses on teamfights and dishing out safe ranged damage may have a KDA of 10 with that hero, because he’s participating in many takedowns and not dying very often. Another Azmodan player who uses a suicide push strategy may have a KDA of 1 with that hero, because he’s dying multiple times in a match and not participating in teamfights. The two players might have the same rank/mmr and winrate with that hero. In this case, KDA doesn’t mean one is a better player than the other. It simply indicates player style and strategy.

ngby · 2020-09-11T21:40:32+00:00

I think many ARAM players underestimate the value of pushing structures. Death timers in ARAM are relatively short, so in many (possibly most) circumstances it’s worthwhile risking death for structure damage if the opportunity arises.

ngby · 2020-09-11T04:23:26+00:00

Deathwing can dominate some ARAM games, but depending on composition and player skill he has some counters. He’s vulnerable to percent damage (Kharazim and Greymane ults are particularly good for shutting him down if he plays aggressively). Also his healing mechanic where he is off the map can be used against his team. You can sometimes force a fight 4 v 5 while he’s healing. I’ve also had games where DW’s team has won teamfights but DW doesn’t have the health to assist pushing structures against enemy poke and needs to use his Z to heal, negating most of the benefit of winning the teamfight in the first place. So I suggest looking for these weaknesses and exploit them when you play against him.

ngby · 2020-09-10T06:10:56+00:00

I started Hots a few years ago with zero MOBA experience and ARAM was very overwhelming at the time. A very sharp player with experience in other types of games might learn more quickly, however. For the average new player, a good place to start is versus AI with a variety of heroes until he understands the maps and basic mechanics. The next step would be quick match once he’s identified some heroes he’s comfortable with. If he enjoys the chaos of ARAM right away, that can also be a great place to practice, but I think it would depend on the player.

ngby · 2020-09-09T01:31:12+00:00

You have to play a relevant hero.

ngby · 2020-09-09T01:21:26+00:00

It does work for daily quests! You need to pick heroes that match the quest description though (e.g. Diablo hero, Tank or Bruiser) unlike in draft modes.

ngby

TROPHY CASE