Why I Love Playing Abathur in Heroes of the Storm...

Ever since I started playing Heroes of the Storm, Abathur has become an interesting hero I set my eyes on. As I got to try out heroes in free rotation I realised I loved specialists more than any other roles with ranged assassins coming in a close second, and on top of that Abathur has one of the most unique play style in the game. He is totally different from any other hero, thus making him possibly the most original hero in the game.

One day I was watching my favourite Heroes streamer playing him, before that I've never seen a decent gameplay video of Abathur and what I've seen intrigued me even further than just knowing the concept of Abathur. I had no gold in the game and I decided I would try out heroes in free rotation first before I made a commitment to them with either in-game gold or real money.

Ready to queue for some casual fun with my dear friend Axarrey, the Master of Sylvanas!

Abathur was different, I read that he hasn't really been in free rotation for about 4-5 months now and after seeing his playstyle thanks to my favourite streamer, I took a chance and bought him with real money. I am so happy to say that I don't regret this decision at all.

When I played Zeratul on free rotation, I considered him as one of the most active heroes I've played in the game. But that is until I tried Abathur. Yes, physicality wise he can be considered passive as he needs to hide around or even at times stick close to the core, but it in terms of "global presence" and playstyle he is THE most active hero I've played with so far. (I haven't played Lost Vikings yet so I can't compare them).

Playing an Abathur is not easy, which is why he is considered as a very hard hero in terms of difficulty. He needs very high map awareness, good timing with symbiotes, good mine placement and good positioning to get maximum advantage from locusts while also soaking XP with his body, I currently have him on level 8 and while I don't consider myself a newbie at him, I know I need plenty of more practice and training to master him.

Isn't he adorable? I make things happen even in my deepest sleep!

But even the best Abathur needs a good team. Otherwise there is only so much he can really do. He can push his lanes through his symbiote on minions, evolve a minion into a Monstrosity to take down structures and push even further or clone an Ally Hero to help during hero fights to a certain degree, but when it comes down to hero fights, he needs good teammates who know how to take full advantage of having an Abathur on their team. If there is a symbiote on you and an enemy is fleeing with very low health left, chase him, Abathur will secure the kill, but also know that it doesn't mean you can dive into 1v2 or 1v3 just because you have the hat on you... I don't make you invisible but I give you significant advantage in 1v1 or in group team fights. Use this!

Here is a screenshot of a recent game I played against AI, the only melee we had was afk almost the entire game. I did my hero damage solely through minions as all my other teammates weren't even close to the fight for me to do anything. I did symbiote on them to give them a little confidence and motivation to get a little closer but none of them used this initiation with the exception of Raynor. I don't know who he was, but I want to thank him for actually making me feel useful in the absence of our only melee. At least he was supporting me when I begged ETC to return to game in chat, I guess he was the only one who knew how Abathur worked because I am sure some of you know how people can go "This player is afk, he is leeching" when they see an Abathur "idling" around but obviously they aren't aware that we are doing MUCH more than they are to even get half as close to their stats at the end of the game.

This is the main reason I refuse to play Abathur in solo queue, I don't play him even if a friend on my team is playing a ranged. I just need that one melee I can utilise to truly make the team shine during hero fights. Apart from hero fights, my stats on siege damage and xp contribution after each game are clear indication that I am pulling my weight.

Apart from his unique playstyle, Abathur has some quite humorous quotes as well, making him a joy to play for roleplayers like me :D One of them caught me so off guard that I couldn't even concentrate on the game for at least 4-5 minutes as I was laughing hysterically.

Here is a video Axarrey recorded during one of our replays. In the video I am putting symbiote on Zeratul who is in the middle of a 1v2, played by one of my best friends Shamziro. Just check out the 16 second video below to see what happens. Abathur is just amazing and his reactions to events taking place around the map totally crack me up.. Special thanks to Axarrey for putting this amazing video together and to Shamziro for starring in it even if it is at the expense of his death :)

 

In conclusion, Abathur is a great hero to play with. He could be underwhelming after some of the nerfs he received in earlier patches but if you want a change in playstyle and want a hero that will shine as you get progressively better at him, and you want to put your reflexes and map awareness to the test, you will really enjoy Abathur.