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Hearthstone | Posted by | 4 years, 5 months ago
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Lich King or Diablo??? (Mercenaries)

Which one do you think is better? I need to make a decision pronto. I have an idea of how the mode works from Trump's videos. (Gameplay looks amazing BTW though I'm bummed that there doesn't seem to be any RPG aspect to it.)

Lich King - https://outof.cards/hearthstone/mercenaries/heroes/52-lich-king/

The Lich King looks better to me...maybe? His Frost Shield seems amazing. Taunt and freeze. Whoever hits him has to skip a round (of attacking). That could be their whole team! But you have to wait till turn 3 to use it. Death Coil has great flexibility: damage or heal. Frostbite makes an ability permanently slower (though its speed is 9).

Diablo - https://outof.cards/hearthstone/mercenaries/heroes/54-diablo/

Diablo's abilities are faster on average (all 6 speed which is cute) but maybe weaker? Apocalypse could be really, really good but hard to tell right now. Taking critical damage from all types could add up to a lot. Doom Charge also slows enemy abilities but only for one round, but it's 3 faster than Frostbite. Fire Stomp is AOE so kinda strong, especially against slow enemies since it will repeat for each enemy that hasn't acted. Only 2 damage though.

As for treasures Frostmourne looks very, very good. Looks better than anything Diablo has.

Art-wise....the diamond ones are both great but Diablo's is a bit better. And his two other skins are much better than Lich King's.

I don't know. It's hard to decide not having played the game before. What do you guys think?

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  • Which one do you think is better? I need to make a decision pronto. I have an idea of how the mode works from Trump's videos. (Gameplay looks amazing BTW though I'm bummed that there doesn't seem to be any RPG aspect to it.)

    Lich King - https://outof.cards/hearthstone/mercenaries/heroes/52-lich-king/

    The Lich King looks better to me...maybe? His Frost Shield seems amazing. Taunt and freeze. Whoever hits him has to skip a round (of attacking). That could be their whole team! But you have to wait till turn 3 to use it. Death Coil has great flexibility: damage or heal. Frostbite makes an ability permanently slower (though its speed is 9).

    Diablo - https://outof.cards/hearthstone/mercenaries/heroes/54-diablo/

    Diablo's abilities are faster on average (all 6 speed which is cute) but maybe weaker? Apocalypse could be really, really good but hard to tell right now. Taking critical damage from all types could add up to a lot. Doom Charge also slows enemy abilities but only for one round, but it's 3 faster than Frostbite. Fire Stomp is AOE so kinda strong, especially against slow enemies since it will repeat for each enemy that hasn't acted. Only 2 damage though.

    As for treasures Frostmourne looks very, very good. Looks better than anything Diablo has.

    Art-wise....the diamond ones are both great but Diablo's is a bit better. And his two other skins are much better than Lich King's.

    I don't know. It's hard to decide not having played the game before. What do you guys think?

  • I caved into peer pressure and decided to pre-order. I have not seen any gameplay, and have only read how the game works. I decided to pick up the Diablo bundle over the Lich King bundle because I like aggressive playstyles and aggro strategies tend to be good in new metas.

  • Im pretty sure the viability of either is determined by their partners, and then determined by the matchups because lich king is a protector and diablo's a fighter.

    If you already have a line up in mind, it might help in choosing because we don't actually know what to expect given that its a new game, and it might not do to have two of the same typing in the same lineup, at least not until we have hands on experience to back it up.

    But if you ask for my opinion it might be prudent to go with diablo because initiative or speed is usually the most important aspect in a turn base game. Lich king's attack will often come out last it would seem.

     

    Friendly

  • There's also the question of synergies. Maybe there are more demons that buff demons than humans that buff humans. 

    Also Diablo's AOE might scale well due to the added damage being applied to all three enemies.

    Apocalypse... The more I think about it the more it seems really key. The double damage from crits is probably more than most abilites can provide. So this might be one of the best damage options for focusing one guy down.

    So he's got an AOE that can take down a guy that's one shot while still damaging others and he's got a premium focus fire ability. 

  • Even tough im not that familiar with the new Mercenaries mode (at least now - will defenitely try it out at release) i just looked up Lich King and Diablo and my personal preference would be Diablo. 

  • Trump actually belives that Sylvanas is the strongest out of the 3 pre-order mercs. The general thoughts on the bundles accoarding to the Discord channel are:

    Sylvanas - strong for pvp

    The Lich King - generally good unit that can fit into many comps

    Diablo - niche usage for a fire/deamon comp

    • Quote From Suchti0352

      Sylvanas - strong for pvp

      The Lich King - generally good unit that can fit into many comps

      Diablo - niche usage for a fire/deamon comp

      I'm coming around to this line of thinking.

      Shadow comps with Vol'jin seem very strong for PvP, and Sylvanas can inflict Shadow damage with Banshee Bolt. Her one Deathrattle Equipment could wipe out an entire enemy team if planned correctly. She can also go hard on the Reclaimed Souls buff with someone like Samuro feeding her "dead" characters. In PvE she won't be nearly as good, though, so take that into consideration.

      The Lich King is just good all around. Frostbite starts at a 9 but eventually becomes a 5-Speed, while the permanent slow effect increases. Death Coil has a lot of targetable damage for a Protector, it can heal, and it's Shadow. And of course Frostshield is just nuts against attackers. You can slot him into many teams.

      I like Diablo a lot, especially if you pair him with TLK or Cairne for a "perma-slow" team. Slow everyone down with Frostbite, then slam them hard with Fire Stomp. The Demons are iffy - he doesn't bring much to the table for the group - but he could see use on a Fire comp. Diablo is just...not as good as the other two.

      I bought both Diablo and TLK, but if I was only going to choose one based on their expected viability, it would definitely be The Lich King. He is the most well-rounded in regards to his usefulness, both in PvE and PvP.

      Friendly

  • Good thoughts yall. Thanks

  • Hey OoC community! I have been lurking around this site for a while, but never made an account here until now. My username could be familiar from Hearthpwn, but on that site I cant have a detailed conversation about mercenaries without dropping a ton of links to OoC. Im very interested in the new game mode and I want to discuss strategies, and honestly the community here seems much better than on that other site.

    On topic:

    As others have said, Sylvanas is best for PVP, but she is not very good in PVE.

    About TLK vs. Diablo I disagree with Trump. Both are very good starting heroes but when it comes to endgame, Diablo seems a lot better. I just dont see TLK as an essential part of any endgame build. IMO Diablo is the 6th best in slot merc for a demon comp with Jaraxxus, Tamsin, Rathorian, Mannoroth and Gul'dan, and it seems a very strong synergistic endgame strategy to me. But wait, there is more!

    Imagine Diablo in a fire comp, especially with Baron Geddon. First turn Geddon can use Heating up to deal some damage and make fire abilities faster next turn while Diablo can use Doom charge to make someone slower. Turn 2 Geddon uses Living bomb (with Burning Bracers to double the effect) at speed 2, then Diablo can use Fire stomp at speed 3 to deal 8+12+12=32 damage to all enemies, repeating for every opponent who hasnt acted yet. At speed 3!!! And thats just a 2 merc combo, you can add Ragnaros with his +fire damage equipment, Antonidas with Fireball storm for bosses, or just a good disruptor like Cairne.

    I dont see any crazy combos like this with TLK, so I think Diablo is the winner.

    • Quote From Poghy

      Hey OoC community! I have been lurking around this site for a while, but never made an account here until now. My username could be familiar from Hearthpwn, but on that site I cant have a detailed conversation about mercenaries without dropping a ton of links to OoC. Im very interested in the new game mode and I want to discuss strategies, and honestly the community here seems much better than on that other site.

      Welcome :D Seeing new accounts is always a good thing...unless you count the occasional bot...or spammer...or jerk. But let's not think about those lol

      Friendly

    • There are some frost and shadow synergies that Lich King can be worked into. With Varden, Voljin, Tamsen. Maybe more. But no tribal synergies. 

  • Go with Diablo because his skillset is based on his Heroes of the Storm abilities and I want someone at Blizzard who isn't a designer to remember HotS exists.