Heroes of Newerth: Hero Role Guides

Heroes of Newerth is a great game for any RTS fanatic. It's a game of strategy and teamwork while you initiate fights against the other five man team. First, Let’s go over the different roles that characters can play in HoN. There are Tanks (initiators), Supports, Pushers, Gankers, and most importantly, Carries. Having a well mixed team including some, or all of the mentioned roles is sure to beat a team that has five carries or gankers (which does commonly happen in noob games).

So we know the different roles characters can play in a game of HoN - But what about the importance of each? Let's start with tanks. Usually, when you think of a tank, you think of a hero that will absorb the other team's damage output keeping important heroes on your team safe. While this sounds like a good idea, tanks are not absolutely necessary in a HoN game. You will typically see HoN tanks classified as initiators as they will pop in either with a portal key or one of their abilities to begin the team fight. I'll use Legionaire for example. He buys his portal key and blinks into the middle of the other team where he begins to use his Taunt spell, forcing everyone to attack him. Then the rest of your team comes in and wipes out the enemy team while they are virtually helpless. Having one initiator on your team is a good idea so you can keep the team fights in your favor.

Next, let's move on to support heroes. We can also call these heroes "babysitters" as they can babysit a carry and help them get buff or keep them alive during the laning phase of the game. Demented Shaman can be a great HoN support hero because he is great at keeping other people on your team alive. He has a healing spell and can increase their armor as well, making him one of the most sought after support/babysitter heroes of the game. While support heroes are a great asset to the team, many experienced players will get upset if you do not perform your duties as a support hero. You are expected to set wards next to your teammate's lanes to prevent ganks and to help keep your carries alive. Also, you're even expected to get a courier to help deliver the items that you need and your teammates need from the base to the lanes. You are not expected to get both wards and a courier, however. Discuss with your team before the game starts to ensure that you fulfill your expectations of the team. Many people underestimate the power of support heroes, but without them, your team is nothing but an unorganized mess.

Pushers. Being pretty easy to understand, I'm not going to go very in-depth with this one. All you need to know is that pushers can really change the tides of a game. If your team can successfully take down a tower here and their, you've greatly increased your chances of winning. By taking down towers in Heroes of Newerth, you've essentially given everyone on your team a large some of gold. This can greatly help out you and your team as you can now use that money for better items. HoN pushers consist of Defiler, Slither, War Beast, Ophelia, WildSoul, and various other heroes that can quickly and effectively demolish a tower within a matter of seconds. Having two, well played pushers on your team can significantly help your team win the game within a conservatively short time.

Gankers, sometimes known as Nukers, consist of heroes with a high damage output in a quick burst. If you're sitting in your lane by yourself and the enemy is missing from the middle lane, you can expect to be quickly annihilated within a matter of seconds. Heroes with this type of damage output can run around the map picking off enemy heroes, leaving the enemy carries under-leveled and under-farmed. Fayde, a recent hero, was specifically created for ganking heroes that jungle during the early and mid-game phases of the game. Playing these heroes can be fun, but be sure to go back to laning if you aren't getting any kills. Time is money in HoN.

Lastly, and most importantly, HoN carries. Have you ever been in a game where there was just one or two heroes that were consistently dominating? If you answered “No,” then you’ve probably never played HoN before. HoN carries have to get buff for late-game so they can skillfully destroy the enemy team without much resistance. One of the most played HoN carries includes Chronos. He is one of the ultimate carries because he is hard to kill and hard to chase. He can pop in and kill anyone he wants and without much harm at all. After Chronos gets "fed" as we call it, he gets exponentially stronger and tougher. A fed Chronos is virtually unkillable with the right late-game items. There are many other carries out there that can just take over any game. It is your job, if you are not the carry, to help the carry in any way possible. He needs the gold, he needs the experience, and he needs the kills.

This concludes Character Roles in Heroes of Newerth. Hopefully, you’ve learned that without some of these heroes on your team, your odds are at a deficit. Next time you choose your hero, just think to yourself – “Will picking this hero really help my team?” Thanks for reading and use this guide to your advantage. GL HF.

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