Everyone hates Nova until they start playing as hero. It's very fun to kill enemy heroes in seconds and nothing feels better than knowing, without a doubt, you carried your team to victory. There are the bad games where Nova dies a lot and feels very useless, but no one quite remembers those games.
Fun to play sure, but hell to play against. Nova has been the most consistently loathed hero of new players and veterans alike due to her pub stomping prowess and how difficult she is to counter when your team isn't organized. Only Murky competes with Nova on the "frustrating to play against tier list": she is clearly tier 1 in that regard.
The new patch
But that old Nova is gone. Her burst damage has been nerfed substantially and there is no arguing with that. The days of 1 shotting people with Nova are over, but that doesn't mean she is necessarily any less deadly. The new Nova feels different, plays different, and if you plan on surviving the onslaught of Li-Ming and Nova players come February, this briefing is of use to you.
Nova has had a lot of her talents removed, but these are the ones you should be concerned about:
- Gathering Power (Talent) removed
- Bolt of the Storm (Talent) removed
- Double Fake (Talent) removed
- Ambush Snipe (Talent) removed
These were, quite frankly, the best talents Nova had access to. Double Fake along with Lethal Decoy offered a significant boost in DPS and Ambush snipe was a huge percentage of Snipe's reliable damage. Gathering Power empowered Pinning Shot and Precision Strike and, now that it's gone, results in a huge loss of Nova's potential damage.
On top of these nerfs, take a look at Snipes new damage scaling:
- Damage reduced from 335 (+4% per level) to 268(+4% per level)
Did you hear that noise? That was the collective screams of all the Nova players crying out as one. Two seconds reduced cooldown on Snipe isn't enough to make up for this direct damage nerf.
The new (and totally different) talents
So Nova's damage isn't as good as it used to be. If her damage was reduced, what was she given in return? Thankfully, some interesting talents that bring a new type of Nova to the game. A Nova perhaps less reliant on killing heroes 0-100 and more concerned with dealing safe damage and finishing off heroes safely.
Nova has gotten a lot of new talents, but these are the important ones:
- Advanced Cloaking (Talent) (Level 1)
- Now increases Nova's Movement Speed by 30% while Cloaked
- Now increases Nova's Movement Speed by 30% while Cloaked
Ambush Snipe was a very good talent, but Advanced Cloaking at level 1 may be good enough to take instead. 30% move speed while cloaked is very significant and allows Nova to play extremely safe throughout the game. On top of these defensive capabilities, Nova becomes very adept at chasing down enemy heroes during a skirmish.
- New Talent (Level 1): Longshot
- Pinning Shot range increased by 30%
- Pinning Shot also increases the range of the next Basic Attack by 30%
This talent is the only other level 1 talent you might take over Advanced Cloaking. Pinning Shot is a fantastic ability that, given extra range, makes later talents like Crippeling shot (and the new Double Tap) even better.
- New Talent (Level 4): Holo Stability
- Increases the duration of Holo Decoys from 5 to 12 seconds
- Increases the duration of Holo Decoys from 5 to 12 seconds
Nova has been given the Lunara treatment and now has an entire talent tree devoted to an ability that doesn't do damage. Out of all of the Holo Decoy talents, Holo Stability seems to be the most impactful. Longer scouting, Longer confusion for your enemies, and at 16 if you skill Lethal Decoy, you enjoy 7 extra seconds of holo Nova damage.
?
- New Talent (Level 7): Snipe Master
- Hitting an enemy Hero with Snipe increases subsequent Snipe damage by 5%. Stacks up to 10 times. All stacks are lost if Snipe misses an enemy Hero
- Hitting an enemy Hero with Snipe increases subsequent Snipe damage by 5%. Stacks up to 10 times. All stacks are lost if Snipe misses an enemy Hero
This talent seems really good, but I think it is actually pretty bad. For one, it isn't reliable at all: you will miss Snipes eventually and, when you do, the talent does nothing. On top of this, using Snipe on Bosses, Immortals, Structures, or any other Non-Hero unit causes you to lose your stacks.
Adding insult to Injury, this talent competes with One in the Chamber and Anti-Armor Shells. Snipe Master sounds cool, but I don't think any serious Nova player will choose it.
Moments after Nova had her "Blondes with Burst" membership status revoked by Jaina.
- New Talent (Level 13): Double Tap
- Pinning Shot now stores up to two charges
- Pinning Shot now stores up to two charges
This talent has a lot potential. It synergies with Long Shot and Crippling Shot to give Nova something valuable that not many heroes can provide: multiple instances of the "vulnerable" debuffed applied to a target from a distance. Two charges of Pinning Shot also adds to Nova's defensive capabilities and PvE usefulness on single targets.
- Lethal Decoy (Talent) (Level 16)
- Holo Decoy damage increased from 25% to 40%
Considering that Nova used to have access to Double Fake (which was so good I wrote a guide about it) and Lethal decoy, this increase isn't actually a DPS buff. Instead, our best chance is combining it tactically with one of the level 4 Holo Decoy talents and I suggest Holo Stability. However, it's honestly up to personal preference because I really don't think this talent is very good anymore.
- Perfect Shot (Talent) (Level 16)
- Hitting an enemy Hero with Snipe reduces its cooldown by 4 seconds
- Hitting an enemy Hero with Snipe reduces its cooldown by 4 seconds
This talent is fun but hardly as valuable as Crippling shot. You can try to live the dream with Perfect Shot and Snipe Master, but all it takes is one missed Snipe to bring your damage to a grinding halt. These type of talents are cool and reward skilled play. However not reliable. I'll concede that it is at least conceivable for Nova to get a lot of free damage off of consecutively Sniping a target from a safe distance.
- New Talent (Level 20): Ghost Protocol
- Activate to gain Stealth for 2 seconds. Taking damage, attacking, or using Abilities will not break Stealth during this
time
- Activate to gain Stealth for 2 seconds. Taking damage, attacking, or using Abilities will not break Stealth during this
A stylish talent that can be used both defensively and offensively. Synergies well with the level 1 Advanced Cloaking to also give an increased movement speed on command. Unfortunately, this talent doesn't increase Nova's burst damage and it's hard to justify taking it over Rewind. It is, however, very useful when you are facing an enemy Zeratul, as you can get the jump on him without any way for him to fight back.
The take away:
After playing in the PTR extensively, I can safely conclude that old methods of playing Nova simply aren't effective. You aren't able to solo kill players and that seems to be Blizzards intent with these changes. Sure, you can still pick off low HP heroes (and do so safely), but your real strength comes from sticking close to your Warrior and scouting ahead for your team with improved stealth and Holy Decoy talents.
Two charges of Pinning Shot and Crippling Shot is the most viable competitive build that allows Nova to truly maximize her teams burst damage. The New Nova synergies well with Heroes like Diablo who can stun a single target for long enough time to get max value out of two Pinning Shots. Nova also does very well with heroes like the Butcher who can benefit from attacking a target slowed for twice the normal length of pinning shot. Essentially, stick with the team and you can guarantee a lot of kills with your slows and keep track of enemy movements with your increased Holo Decoy talents and stealthed move speed. Hit-and-run Nova is much less risky.
As for the Snipe talents? I suggest you steer clear of those. Even when played perfectly, you won't come close to the burst potential of old Nova. Embrace the change and find success with the new team oriented Nova playstyle.
Or you can just do what the majority of Nova players will do:
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