So, Blizzard has released the latest hero for HotS, the two-headed ogre mage Cho’Gall. But instead of offering him/them for sale, they’re distributing him/them virally. Almost literally: They’re using an epidemic model for distribution, where a few start off with the hero, and you can pass it along to friends by playing with them (plus get a reward for passing it off to two people).
I probably wouldn’t be interested in playing him/them, but hey, it’s free. Anyone willing to share? Or to get in line to get him shared to you, too?
I picked him up the other night. Played two games with a buddy and got stomped. Played two more with my best friend and we kicked ass. If you don’t have a Pacific Rim-style neural link with your chogall partner, expect a rough go of it. Communication and a keen mutual understanding of individual play style is mandatory.
I’ve only played him/them against bots so far, that being the easiest and quickest way to pass on the “infection”, but I didn’t get the impression that the coordination was all that hard. The biggest thing was just learning how to play that hero specifically, just like with any other hero. Notably, since neither side uses mana, just cooldowns, you should be spamming all of your abilities a lot more than with other heroes. And if Cho always uses Rune Bomb as soon as it comes off cooldown and there’s a target, then it becomes a lot easier for Gall to anticipate and detonate it at the right time.
There’s a lot more going on with him than might be evident at first glance. Their talent trees have the potential to synergize, so you need communication there. Rune Bomb is basically impossible to anticipate in the middle of crazy fights, too.
If Cho picks up the talent that makes the bomb boomerang back, that does make things a lot easier since Gall has twice as much time to line up a good explosion.
Another weird thing is that healers can’t really keep Cho’gall topped off because of his high HP pool. A Morales or Li Li in early game will completely drain her mana pool trying to heal him. This means that Cho’gall will usually be running around well below full health, and a Cho’gall death means that the matchup is suddenly 3v5.
It is possible to build into a more sustain-oriented setup but, again, that requires coordination between both heads.
Last night I was able to play with my friend and we grabbed the talent that amps up the bowling ball explosion with takedowns. The damage that thing does in late game is fucking ridiculous.
I’m not sure that’s actually relevant. If he’s taking the same amount of damage as a single hero, then it’s as easy to heal him as any single hero. If, as is more likely, he’s drawing twice as much fire as any other single hero, then it’s as easy to heal him as to heal any two heroes. Healing fountains and health globes, meanwhile, still scale with hero health like they do for everyone else, and Cho has a self-heal talent that’s better than most warriors’. The only way I can see it making a difference is if the enemy heroes have Giant Killer or an equivalent talent that damages based on the enemy’s total life, which will be more efficient vs. Cho’Gall.
I agree with you about coordination on talents, but that’ll probably sort itself out as people learn which talents work well, and two or three standard builds emerge, so the two can just pick one and not have to talk about it much.
That all makes sense, but it my experience so far it doesn’t really work out that way.
Part of it is because Cho’gall only has one stun (and it’s a heroic) and both of his escapes are unreliable. So while he does have a high HP pool, he can still get focused down pretty quickly.
I guess play him against humans and see how you feel about him.
I’ve come to not mind when he’s on the other team, but dislike it when he’s on mine. I usually play Tyrande, so I can quickly stun him and make him vulnerable. Brightwing is decent against him, as is the Monk.
The problem with him is if you’re able to take him out/stun him it’s now a 5v3. That really hurts, especially in the lane phase.