Introduction to me, and my build Top
Hey, I'm steamy, from the EU server, and I think
Adagio is coming back to his true former title; king of the lane. He has unparalleled mid game capability and has an extremely strong kit. For those new to Vainglory or
Adagio; he's supposed to be played as a tank/support, but I feel he has greater capabilities.
A few months back, I found it hard adjusting to a new patch and dropped from SA Silver to Hotness bronze, but now, I'm climbing again, with Adagio. (Currently climbed back to SA bronze with him.)
He is an early-mid game mage with a very impressive kit, that synergises with itself. CP Adagio can play in the centre of the fight, or on the edge, and kite away.
In this guide I aim to attend to the needs of those new to Adagio, New to Vainglory, or Adagio mains looking to spice things up.
I'm Already Familiar With Adagio Top
If your already familiar with him? Then here's me cutting to the chase. Whether you build CP, WP, or tank Adagio you'll know he has massive cc, and tide-turning potential. With this build, it compensates for his late game meekness and how hard carries eventually overtake him.
With
Shatterglass and
Alternating Current, there's solid damage potential along with healing capability. Chained with
Crucible and
Fountain of Renewal, your allies will be full health in no time. The additional tankiness also allows you to rush into the centre of a fight, but theres still enough damage for you to be considered a carry, at the edge of the battle.
Adagio's Kit Top
In my opinion, Adagio is very very strong. He is almost unpushable from lane, a master at counter-counter-ganks (will be explained further down) and has massive cc. He has extremely powerful heals (we're talking 400-500 late game, so effectively during team fight, if he heals himself enough, he could gain an additional 15k ho on top oh his already impressive 16k). Adagio is tanky, deals damage, has an aoe slow, nuke and stun, and has insane range. Well, let's get into it;
Adagios Heroic Perk (or 'passive', in most MOBA's) is called
Arcane Renewal;
If enemies set ablaze by his A ability are damaged, then Adagio regenerates 35% of that damage as energy (mana).
This rings true for as long as the burn is in effect, for example: say an enemy Koshka is set on fire by
Gift of Fire and takes three successful basic attacks from Adagio, all three dealing 100 damage, ofcourse totalling 300 damage. Adagio will then gain 35 + 35 + 35 energy from this skirmish.
Keep in mind that this damage could be from ANY source; turrets, kraken, gold mine, minions, etc. this is what keep him in lane; he can heal himself near enemy minions, regaining health, then attack them and get his energy back, yay, free heal!
Adagio's A is his bread and butter, welcome to
Gift of Fire; in short, this is a heal that can be used on adagio or any friendly ally (a hero, minion, minion mine, or kraken if you want to be a $#%@!!). This sets enemies near the healed unit on fire, dealing damage for a lengthy period in time. Take note that this applies a powerful but brief slow to nearby enemies when Adagio targets HIMSELF.
Adagio's B,
Agent of Wrath is his damage source; this is a long range attack buff that increases the basic attack damage of the affected hero. If the unit with the buff attacks an enemy burning with 'arcane fire' they take far more damage than if they attacked an enemy unit without the fire debuff (50%). Also, this damage is INCREASED BY A FURTHER 20% when he targets himself. This is why Adagio's build attack speed, to make use of the buff while it lasts.
Adagio's ultimate, is terrifying...
Verse of Judgement; Adagio channels for a rather lengthy period of time, before dealing massive, aoe damage to all enemies within a ring marked circle around him. But that's not all; enemies burning with arcane fire are also stunned. Yep. But, remember how his A slows, also? The traditional Adagio combo is; Gift of Fire on self for the slow, and burn, then > channel ultimate. This way, you prevent the enemy from escaping the ultimate and consequently stun them also. If done right, you can stun the whole enemy team for 2.2 seconds, ouch.
Since
Adagio is so tanky with his heals, he can be comfortably in the centre of a fight, without everything being ruined if he is stunned out of his ultimate.
Are you familiar with Chang'e from 'Smite'? Adagio has the same sort of lane sustain potential > heals, and energy regeneration.
Additionally, I don't max his ultimate usually, as I feel late game, an overdriven heal and damage buff is more precious. However, if you are facing a squishier team more vulnerable to burst (e.g two squishy carries and a tank) then max it out. Overall it doesn't matter too much.
The items, and why so tanky? Top
The reason this Adagio build contains so much tank is due too s late game falling off, it keeps him safe and secure, while still maintaining damage and fight influencing potential.
Shatterglass; this is for the sheer damage, and it makes your heals truly amazing.
Alternating Current; synergises beautifully with Adagio's B, procs, procs, procs.
Frostburn; with almost unparalleled range and harass capability, why not emphasise that with extra slows and kiting? Frostburn is triggered with Agent of Wrath damage, and Adagio's burn (for a short duration).
Crucible; here's what I mean by additional tankiness. Also, it provides team support and blocks annoying stuns interrupting your ultimate.
Fountain of Renewal; this is a really nice item, one of my favourites. If your allies are being chased and are low on health, ping for them to jump straight back into the fight. As you do this, use fountain of renewal and heal the frailest ally. The fountain heal will heal for roughly 300-400 health depending on how low they are, perhaps even more. And with your CP Adagio heal? An additional 500. Soon, they will be at full health and the tides will be turned, because that's what Adagio is about.
Journey Boots; a staple of all builds in Vainglory. Provides movement speed, and defensive stats. What's to lose?
Breaking Point; this provides a VARIETY of damage, but don't bother building it if you're not in the lead. Also, it provides additional attack speed, and your heals allow you to keep the enemy slowed/keep yourself alive long enough to get those stacks up.
Atlas Pauldron; if you're going to decide to be in the centre of a fight and use the self heal > ultimate combo, then you may as well reduce the enemy team's attack speed in the process.
Broken Myth; if you're not falling off due to severe snowballing, you may as well go for more damage.
The Build Path Top
Early on, grab a
Swift Shooter for some easier stutter stepping. Make sure to use the flar gune to check the enemy brush before initiating a self heal > attack buff process, which will be explained later, or you can skip that section if you know him well.
From then on, a
Heavy Prism wouldn't go amiss just for sheer damage in the early game. Also, don't forget to pick up a blazing salvo for extra attack speed.
The reason I pick up an early shielding item is so Adagio can just scrape away from skirmishes with remaining health. It makes up for lane harass and since there's so much Crystal Power in the current meta (ability power in other MOBAs) it certainly isn't a bad idea.
After that, you can diverge into an AC first or a
Shatterglass. Go for an
Alternating Current if you feel you are just slightly ahead, but if you're rich in gold then I would buy a
Shatterglass first, it boosts your damage much more and makes your heals far nicer.
Late game, is where we swap.
Adagio's damage falls off late game, so tanky damage is the way I go with this build. Adagio is a 'soft carry' (A hero that requires very little gold and XP to deal damage, for example all you need is an AC and you can wreck), so consequently he is overtaken in the late game by 'hard carries' (carries that require lots of gold and XP to be efficient at dealing damage), hard carries such as Ringo, Vox and Skaarf exist in Vainglory. Unless you're severly ahead and know adagio well, then I would stick with supporting your team more later on. Don't worry about falling off in the damage department, or not being a carry anymore, because you are; your attack buff is still VERY nice and having a carry that never dies is hilarious. (Vainglory is 3v3, so traditionally there is one laner, a jungler and a tank. But since Adagio's damage falls off later, semi-tank is a safe bet).
Early Game Tactics (0-7 minutes) Top
During this time frame, you are strong, but not overpowering until you have your B ability unlocked. What you want to do here, is harass the enemy laner until they are at roughly half health. You can do this by healing minions near to the enemy laner, or healing yourself (be careful when doing this, as ganks may occur and your heal will be down). Then, hide in the top brush and when they get too close use
Gift of Fire for the slow then use
Agent of Wrath and get the kill.
Your
Swift Shooter will allow for plentiful stutter stepping, and since Adagio is so underestimated you may even pick up a few kills before the 5 minute mark.
MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE GUIDE: Always make sure to rotate down, into the jungle during EVERY jungle skirmish. This way, you will almost guarantee a kill, feeding you XP and gold, all the while forcing their laner to rotate also, creating another 3v2 situation. What this does, is it allows you to crucially hit 6 before everyone else on the enemy team; no one will have reflex block at this point, making your ultimate terrifying, so if you get the gold mine now (you need to), the snowball will already be huge. Additionally, it's crucial to pick up an infusion before you fore the gold mine fight. It should be around half full when you do this.
Mid Game Tactics (7-15 minutes) Top
In Vainglory, most matches don't last longer than, say, 15-20 minutes. So, typically, this is where you need to take turrets, minion mines, and objectives in general.
You're a monster, unstoppable, well you should be. By now your AC or shatterglass should be completed (a bit later on during this phase if you're rushing
Shatterglass) and damage should be everywhere. If you went AC you'll be dealing; normal basic attack damage, Gift of Fire burn damage, Agent of Wrath proc damage, and AC proc damage (a proc is just a more powerful attack).
You can do this by; either healing a minion close to the enemy, then using agent of wrath (make sure the enemy laner is burning for maximum damage) and just stutter step away. If you're not familiar with stutter steeping, it's movning and attacking at the same time. I'm sure there are plenty videos on how to do it. OR, you could rush in on the enemy laner with boots, self heal, for the slow, then basic attack. Keep in mind this puts you at massive risk of a gank, since your slow, heal and boots are gone, so use a flare before doing this. If the enemy laner is at half health, they WILL die.
Late Game Tactics (15-20 or more? minutes) 'The Big Swap' Top
This is where your play style needs to shift. No longer will you be able to 2v1 or take on that
Celeste you melted earlier on, because she's a hard carry, now she has items, she's scarier than you.
BUT, you'll still be hurting. Instead of being the laner that deals 60% of the parties damage, you're now more roughly like 40%, and that's fine.
Now you need to focus more on keeping the jungler alive, and timing your
Gift of Fire so the burn, and heal will be at maximum effect. Unless the burn is on an enemy and you have Agent of Wrath on yourself, then don't bother trying to 1v1, unless you're fed ofcourse, which will be quite likely due to his early game!
Who should I Play Him With? Top
I personally think that Adagio is very strong with;
Ringo. Ringo has a lot of mobility and Adagio only enhances that. However, with this build you'll be the laner, not him. Jungle Ringo? Why not. Slows will be everywhere, and Ringo's natural attack speed buff works wonders for late game, you'll be better buffing him with your B.
Koshka. Koshka has huge mobility, and in this meta she is very much picked on. But, you fill these holes with heals, slows and stuns.
Krul. Everyone's been there; 'BUT HE WAS SOOO DEAD', well now? He's no where near dead. Learn how to time your heals strategically, and he'll never die.
Catherine. There's nothing more golden than a perfect Catherine silence, followed by a CP Adagio nuke and stun. Did I mention that she is also very mobile? Good luck getting away from a Cathdagio comp.
Just some trivia;
Adagio,
Catherine and
Ringo were the three original heroes, hence the synergy, mainly around mobility.
How Do I Counter CP Adagio? Top
Early mid game:
Do NOT, and I repeat do NOT try to burst him down. If you are an initiator, like
Catherine or
Fortress then don't try to jump on Adagio. Before you know it he'll have healed for the burst you dealt to him and now he'll be dealing damage. If you're a carry, stay at the back of a fight, it's that simple. Adagio has to get close to kite, if that makes sense.
Late game; still don't jump on him. You shouldn't be focusing him as much at this point but if he's lilling your team as much as he was in the mid game then you're doing something wrong. Just grab a reflex block, and save your stun for AFTER the initiation.
Overall; don't waste your stuns. Don't jump on him. Don't let to your carries get too close.
Conclusion Top
In conclusion, CP
Adagio is very, very strong. He has impressive heals, tankiness, damage, slows, stuns, do I have to go on anymore? Bar his meek late game he's very viable and a force to contend with. With this build I have gone roughly 7-0-3 on my best matches by the 7 minute mark, gaining more kills and scraping a few deaths here and there until the end of the match, where I sit around 23-3-4 on some matches.
If you try my build please tell me how it goes, or if you see any issues with my guide, don't hesitate to leave some constructive criticism!
Good luck on the Fold.
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