ItanoCircus' Hero Ultimate Abilities Ranking
ItanoCircus
Member
Hero Ultimate rankings and my reasoning. Keep in mind that I am NOT saying that they should be changed or that any squad or Hero is imbalanced based on this. Determining a way to value various Heroes helps me think about the game strategically and for team compositions, so this is some insight into my mindset. I will introduce the Heroes from worst to best in my opinion, with the tl;dr at the bottom.
With that happy disclaimer out of the way:
--- Eris ---
Eris fires a cone of damage, and though it has good damage it doesn't shred through T1 at the rate you would want or really need by the point that you've hit Level 8. This problem gets exacerbated when armies get to the point that Eris can be 1-shot by a passing army that ignores the damage or stands behind the Ultimate's range.
--- Alder ---
Alder's ultimate feels like a strict upgrade of Eris' own. The AoE Stun is a great engagement, it covers a full circle surrounding the planted Ultimate's location, and is an incredible setup for team fights. However, the result is similar to Eris' in that the damage isn't in the Ultimate, but moreso in the "debuff" of being forced to move and the damage your army takes from this movement, and this prevents me from scaling this more highly. When compared to Celeste, Alder's Ultimate is killable and provides an OPPORTUNITY to do damage in a lower AoE vs guaranteed landing at a higher AoE with greater direct damage. Though it's true Alder's Ultimate hits more times than Celeste's own, the first "Stunsplosion" on Alder's Ultimate accomplishes its means one way or another... stun or forced movement... and either way secondary landings don't achieve this objective to a significantly stronger degree for me.
Ryme
--- Ryme ---
Ah Ryme, your Ultimate is so close and yet slightly misses the mark. The fact that the AoE can be dodged less easily than Alder's yet provides the same effect on a non-killable target is admirable, but again the damage pales in comparison to the need for additional fighting units to take advantage of the weaknesses the Ultimate ability provides. Since it's harder to avoid and unkillable, it's more likely to hit valuable targets in a large teamfight than Alder's and less likely to be resistant to the increased skill of playerbase nuking it before it gets off its intended effect.
Granted, assumptions were made about increased player skill potentially impacting Alder's Ultimate's use, but I don't believe we can get away from subjectivity in a personal list. ^-^
--- Celesta ---
Celesta's Ultimate has many of the strengths of Alder's own with fewer concerns or weaknesses. The large AoE grants more of the "force your army to move" debuff and boosts the chances of kills while the FIVE HUNDRED DAMAGE demands respect or corpses. To put that in perspective, Scarabs (red) will have 50 HP left, the rest of Red's units save Pyrosaurs are dead, White units are dead, and even Green doesn't appreciate their Bramblethorn Goliaths going to nearly half HP in one blow.
--- Grath ---
When I was thinking about this list an hour ago, I initially discounted Grath. However, his Ultimate fulfills multiple roles in a solid way. Casting it turns Grath into a T3+ worthy tank with increased Resistances. As the Ultimate doesn't directly do damage, the ideal situation for Grath's Ultimate is that he gets focused and (especially when combined with his Basic ability) EVENTUALLY gets taken down, saving you hundreds of Bioshards, Deck Slots, and population on other tanks if you so choose. The AoE nature of his basic attacks means he can't simply be ignored either, as he gains the ability to one-shot most T1 units or deal significant damage to what survives. The debuffs on his basic attacks also turn around battles where your opponent disengages by slowing multiple enemy units.
It's true that Alder and Eris have Ultimates that can be shot down, but the difference rests in the purpose of the Ultimate abilities. Eris is attempting to deal damage or minorly control space with her Ultimate, so shooting her down is rewarding to the enemy team. Alder's Ultimate attempts to stun and dictate the course of the battle, so shooting it down slightly accomplishes that goal but leaves you frustrated it didn't do more for you. Grath turns himself into a tank that becomes very hard to kill, so every shot spent lowering his Hit Points accomplishes what Alder's Ultimate might do indirectly ON PURPOSE. The damage output of Grath isn't quite like Eris' own, but shooting him down feeds the battle into his favor ... and he's too strong of a unit to ignore. Oh, and moving out of the way of Grath so you don't fight this monster?
Accomplishes the same goal as Alder and Eris, with the added benefit that your opponent loses units in the process. While this went long, I feel Grath's Ultimate was something I underrated and so I felt strongly it had to be brought up appropriately.
--- Vela & Vex ---
--- Vela ---
Having watched Code Geass recently, I'm fond of calling this pair VV (read "Vee Two"). In seriousness, Vela first. Vela's Ultimate is pure utility, yet the promise of that utility seems underwhelming. The binary question of whether a Sentinel is on the field might appear to detract from her Ultimate, and the fact that buildings provide detection doesn't do it any favors. Still, the flanking capability for this ability is obscene. Making units invisible and then teleporting them? Can do. I need to escape just long enough? Here's the perfect disengage. You won't get direct buffs to speed, but Sentinels have to be in position and the enemy has to be around you to catch the retreating army. It's true that a Sentinel can ruin your day, but too many enemy Sentinels is a boon to your own economy. Your opponent spends Bioshards, micro, and focus just to ensure they don't suffer the immediate loss or suspected loss of map control.
It's hard to evaluate, but Vela's range focus and diverse capabilities rank it above its lower competitors because the value of other Hero Ultimates struggles to outclass all the raw CAPABILITY Vela's Ultimate provides. As for Sentinels... you'll be able to tell if the opponent has them the first time your invisible army gets focus-fired.
--- Vex ---
Vex's Ultimate seems so close to CelestA's. Wait a little while, cause some AoE damage, deal indirect damage through debuffs... and even here it's noticeably above Celesta's Ultimate. The AoE is diminished, but the start of damage happens much sooner and the Pyroblast travels in a fast-moving wave. It's less visible (slightly) than Celesta's Ultimate, but if this were what was left, I could consider ranking it with Celesta's. By now you may have noticed I consider it more highly.
Vex's Ultimate has all the AoE debuff / damage-avoidance you could expect from lower on this list, but a better reading of Vex's Ultimate would say this:
Do AoE damage, apply the DoT of your Basic ability, and then grant your basic units +70% damage.
Pyroblast does 200 damage, the basic Ability's "Ignite" does, at Level 8, 12.8 dps for TEN SECONDS, and then Spitfires get to nearly double their attack against struck enemies. Celesta might have this ability outclassed in damage, but certainly not in utility. Alder might have arguably superior utility, but he doesn't do the raw OSHIT LEAVE damage that Vex can dish out. The combination of both is what makes Vex's Ultimate one of the noticeably best in the game.
--- Hydros ---
Hydros' Ultimate, Turn The Tide, breaks down every aspect of other Ultimates and laughs for six long seconds.
Eris? Oh, I saw you wanted to provide DPS in an area, so I made a lot more than your Ultimate generates in a larger area of effect.
Alder? Sure, I can provide that utility, but unlike you I can take my Ultimate with me.
Ryme? You can keep your debuff as I'll flip it on its head.
Celeste? I can provide MORE damage than that, cause the same "run away" effect, move it, and heal my whole army with it.
Grath? It must be nice to be the premier tank for your army, but an invincible army doesn't need a tank.
Vela? Your utility lets you run away. My utility lets me re-engage or run away as I please, and building detection doesn't deter me in the slightest.
Vex? With less damage than Celesta, what use is your DPS buff against an enemy that can't be killed?
Turn the Tide forces a battle on Hydros' terms, at their chosen location and time. For six seconds, Hydros can nearly ignore the constrictions that not just Atlas, but ANY army-based game puts on the player. At the 7th second everything might evaporate, but for 6 seconds Hydros can use their own Limited Wish, their own Geass, their own Tsukuyomi. To run away, engage, survive, tank, flank, chase, or even outright win is within Hydros' purview.
For 6 seconds, Hydros can Turn the Tide.
Hydros > Vex = Vela > Grath > Celeste > Ryme > Alder > Eris
Comments
For me atm it's
Vex >> Hydros = Eris = Ryme > Celesta > Grath > Vela = Alder
Vex can move up close to an army and then cast his ult and especially in team fights it's almost impossible to dodge. Ryme can do the same thing to a lesser extent, Eris's ult just does a lot less damage but feels more consistent, Hydros ult is quite powerful. Celesta Ult is still good for positional purposes but you never really except to do damage with it, Grath Ult is fairly weak but you can use it often, Vela ult has some utilitarian uses but generally seems quite weak and can be countered by a sentinel. Alder's ult is only useful for like 5 minutes because after armies get big enough it can easily be targetted down before the first wave goes off by most squads.
Mostly my ranking came down to my 'How scared am I to be hit by this ult?' list, and I literally plan my engagements around wether or not Vex's ult is on cooldown. Hydros / Eris / Ryme can all catch me off guard with a strong Ult but it generally wont turn a winning engagement into a losing one, and Celesta's can force me to reposition for a bit but that's about it. Grath, Vela and Alder Ults seem pretty insignificant to me.
@ItanoCircus
Where'd you get THAT number? At level 8, they're doing 2 DPS for 12.8 seconds. 12.8 DPS * 10 seconds would be 128 damage, which would put basic units to half in one cast. That would be crazy broken, haha.
Also, I'm interested in other people's rankings of our heroes' ults. It started a fun discussion in the office, and I'd love to hear more opinions :D
Good catch and my mistake. I'll correct the post above.
Alright, I'll shoot.
I believe ultimates are impossible to evaluate outside the context they operate in. An ultimate that might seem weak on paper can support a hero's kit better than an arbitrarily "better" one. Others might seem amazing in principle but have little practical application in real-world situations. Any ranking I make takes this into account. So:
Vex > Eris > Hydros > Ryme > Alder > Celesta > Vela > Grath