Catherine: The support of your dreams.


Disclaimer: DON'T RUSH WARHORN PLS, READ THE COUNTERBUILDING SECTION AND BUILD ONE OF THOSE AS YOUR FIRST ITEM AFTER IRONGUARD <3

I started playing Vainglory around 2 months ago, and this is the first MOBA I've played. Boy, am I glad that I did. Over the course of these two months I've played all of the heroes, but none of them resonated with me in the way that Catherine did. When I started playing Catherine, the guide I used was Thorin's crazily in-depth guide (http://www.vaingloryfire.com/vainglory/guide/unbreakable-catherine-a-comprehensive-guide-to-a-versatile-catherine-202), that essentially paved the way for me as a player. It's a truly phenomenal guide, and I thank Thorin for the work he put into it. But as I advanced, I found that there are ways in which this guide could be improved. The more I played, the more I realised that Catherine's role in a team is to control the outcome of teamfights. With this in mind, I decided to write this guide, and I hope that this mentality, and this build, help you and your teammates as much as it has helped me and my teammates. If anybody has any questions, drop them at the bottom of this guide, and I'll do my best to answer them. If you would like to play with me, just drop me a pm in game, or in the Vainglory EU line group.
IGN: Tombraider/Noobraider/Fridgeraider/Doomraider/Gloryraider
Region: EU
Skill tier: Pinnacle of Awesome
Karma level: 20

Each of Catherine's skills enables her to take on her role as a support within any team. With the ability to soak up huge amounts of damage with Stormguard, disable people on a regular basis with Merciless Pursuit and initiate in a manner that stops any comeback with Blast Tremor, she truly is made for support.
Here's a quick overview of each skill, and why I upgrade in the way that I do.

Panzer Faust is Catherine's heroic perk, and grants her a stack of armor every time she stuns, or silences an enemy hero. As if she isn't tanky enough, this is your main source of defence when playing against heavy weapon enemies, often SAW or Ringo. Often just taking pot shots at the enemies with your stun is worth it, as it just makes you more tanky, just be sure not to overextend with your pot shot, as it can quickly turn into a gank if they have a teammate lurking around. In an average match, you should be able to get this extra armor to a value around or above 30, this may not sound like much, but added to Catherine's natural tankiness, this is a godsend. Weapon carries will run at the mere site of you, for they have no power when confronting you, and while they try and mow you down (to no avail) you can watch them slowly melt as the rest of your team kills them for you.

Merciless Pursuit is the ability that lets you lock down your target for your teammates to destroy. Not only is this your main source of stacks for your heroic perk panzer faust, it also gives your next basic attack extra damage (when you use the ability, when you stun an enemy, that attack has extra damage), and is the most reliable stun in the game. The length of time of the stun increases exponentially from level 1 to 5, with an entire second's worth of increase between level 1 (stun of 0.75 seconds) and level 5 (1.75 seconds). At late game, the amount of damage that can be done to an enemy within this time is phenomenal, and this stun can quickly change a teamfight from a 3v3 into a 3v2. When going for ganks I will often initiate with this, but in the cases where I feel I can creep up on the enemy, I just walk in, and then use Merciless Pursuit to stop them from running in fear. I will explain this further in detail, but this ability synergies very well with Aftershock, allowing you to initiate in a way that scares the enemy into submission before they know whats hit them. All 5 points in this, the stun improvement is awesome!

Stormguard is the reason that you are allowed to call yourself a tank, without it you're just easy pickings, ready to be bursted down by the enemy. When starting fights, pop up Stormguard ASAP, as any huge bursts of damage aimed at you will just be reflected straight back at the enemy, looking at SAW with his Mad Cannon, and Joule with her Big Red Button. Unfortunately, after the recent changes to Catherine, every deflection of damage reduces the length of time that Stormguard stays up. Fortunately, this build contains two items, warhorn, and Aftershock, which reduce cooldowns. This allows you to keep your bubble up for longer amounts of time, reflecting more damage to enemy heroes, and making it easier for your carry to take them down. I generally only put 4 points into this, as the only difference from leveling it is the damage, and the skill point is better spent elsewhere.

Catherine's first two abilities allow her to protect teammates, and to lock down enemy carrys in order to kill them with the help of Aftershock. Her third skill gives her the thing that she lacks: teamfight presence. Using Blast Tremor in quick succession with other ultimates like can finish a teamfight before the enemy knows what hit them. Blast tremor is an initiator that damages and silences all enemies in a cone in front of Catherine. Use it when initiating vs 2 or 3 enemies, rather than just a single enemy, as this skill can allow you to deal huge bursts of damage to the enemy with the help of a team. Each enemy you silence also adds a stack of panzer faust, making you even more tanky, so getting as many enemies within the blast as possible is a must. 3 points in this, the extra silence duration, and the cool down reduction, are super useful.

Early game is arguably one of the most important time periods, as the way you play during this time can make or break the rest of the game. Due to this, my mindset in the early game is to get ahead, and stay ahead. At the beginning of the game, pick up an Ironguard Contract, a couple of halcyon potions, and a flare, and make your way to the jungle item shop. Try to green ping your allies in order to get them to follow you, as back up is helpful at this early stage. The reason I normally get merciless pursuit first is that a reliable stun during early game invades can make a huge difference, and can land your team a kill right off the bat. When 0:45 ticks on the clock, pop your flare gun to find out where the opposition is: if they are playing passively, taking the mobs nearest to their side, steal their mobs. Every mob you steal, is a mob that they don't get, and it puts your ally jungler further ahead. When farming with a teammate, allow them all the last hits: Catherine is a meat shield, protecting her teammates, and letting your jungler get ahead pays off exponentially, as Catherine can be a level or two behind her teammates and still hold her own. The same can't be said for her jungling allies ( Koshka, Taka, etc.) Only take the last hit if necessary, for example if you are on low health and need the healing minion buff.

When you need to go back, do so, and pick up your tier 1 boots to help you engage and disengage faster. If you can spare the gold, also pick up an Hourglass for the energy regen. Pick up any halcyon potions that you may need, a flare or 2, and a few Scout Traps in order to maintain vision over important objectives (the gold mine, for example). Also, when initiating in fights, drop a trap, and then lure the enemy junglers onto it, as early game the damage from these traps puts you ahead in fights. As Catherine, you are the eyes of your team, and often a flare can save you from dying, and would enable your team to live and fight another day. This is made all the more important if there is an enemy Taka, as his cardboard box has amazing camouflage abilities that are easily countered with a 50 gold flare. If the enemy junglers are playing passively continue farming until you get a Stormguard Banner. This dps increase, and hp regen will allow you to farm for longer periods. When you get Stormguard Banner don't use any abilities when killing regular mobs, as you still have no energy regen, and energy is better preserved for ganks. However, if the enemy is more aggressive, get a Lifespring or Dragonheart instead to get a headstart on your first defensive item.

This period is when you need to start taking advantage of your disruption ability. A wise man once said, "nothing makes you feel more stupid than walking into a gank, then realising you don't have enough energy for Stormguard" and trust me, he was telling the truth. This guide doesn't focus on getting any heavy energy regen items at any point ( Eve of Harvest and Frostburn) so it's essential that you maintain awareness of how much energy you have all the time. During mid game, map awareness is key, which is why Flare Guns become very important. If an enemy jungler is taking liberties, and is pressing too far into your jungle without any back up, punish him by drawing your teammates' awareness towards him with a green ping. When going for ganks, I prefer to pop up Stormguard when I walk in, to stop any large bursts of damage, then save my stun for when they run in fear. Just be sure to time your stun right. In my opinion, the perfect time to stun during a gank in the jungle is when they activate their boots, as it makes them waste their boots, and usually secures the kill for your team. You should also start building some defense at this point if you haven't done so already, so pick up your Lifespring when you can. If you built Dragonheart or Lifespring first, but now feel that you need Stormguard Banner to farm, pick it up now. When you can safely take the gold mine without it being stolen, go ahead, but just make sure you have a teammate helping, as Catherine's base damage isn't very much at all, just ensure you defend it when they later go for it by being aware about how full it is.

When ganking in the lane, wait in the bush near your side, and let their laner overextend, then punish them. Sometimes, when ganking in the lane, it can be exceedingly easy to stay waiting for an opportuniny that isn't going to come, and every moment you wait, is a moment you aren't farming. Even if it isn't the best opportunity, but you feel that you can reach the laner with your stun, go in for the gank, as disrupting their laner, forcing him to go back to base, even if you don't get the kill, puts your laner ahead. Finish building your Fountain of Renewal, and during teamfights make sure you are aware of the health of your team. If someone starts getting low, pop your Fountain of Renewal, which can really change the tides of a battle. In some cases, when fighting against teams with huge area-of-effect damage (looking at Adagio with his ultimate) it's worth getting a crucible before your fountain. With a crucible, you can protect your entire team from these one-off, high damage attacks that leave your team defenseless. After completing your first defensive item, finish building your warhorn. When chasing enemies that are running away at the end of a teamfight, use its powerful activated ability to get the all important ace, which can win you a turret, and more pushing ability. By the end of the midgame, you should have started building your second defensive item Crucible , and should buy another Hourglass for the additional energy recharge. Buying Flare Gun is essential throughout this period, as map awareness, and realising gank opportunities can change the game. Make sure you are aware of what's happening, whether your laner is being ganked, or your jungler is extending in enemy territory, and make your presence felt wherever it's needed. Although as Catherine, you will be underleveled throughout most of the game, this shouldn't be much of a problem as you don't need the extra damage from the levels, you are just a meat shield, ready to fight and die for your comrades (long live the stormguard).

So, through the use of flares, and by being aware of what's happening around you, you've managed to get your team ahead, and you need to maintain this control. Stay with your team in the jungle, and ensure that you never extend far into enemy jungle without knowing where they are. Every single death at this point is crucial, whether it's one on your team, or on the opposing team. When you feel that your gold can't be better spent, that is when you should upgrade to Travel Boots as the 700 gold to upgrade from Sprint Boots could be used to upgrade a defensive item early on. Finish building your Aftershock as this will allow you to do absolutely melt the enemy carry in teamfights with your stun. Keep a Flare Gun with you in order to maintain vision over the kraken, and to see if an enemy hero is being overconfident by traveling alone. If you no longer have a Scout Trap near that area, put another one there now, to maintain constant vision over this game changing tank. When you hit level 12, start buying Weapon Infusion and Crystal Infusion, as the bonuses granted by these consumables are super powerful, and can make a huge difference in the games that feel like they aren't going to end. If you feel that Flare Gun is no longer useful, then start building your counter items, which are explained below. In teamfights, your role is to keep your carry alive for as long as possible, using fountain and crucible whenever needed. Stun their carry, and leave their Catherine to last in teamfights. When you feel that a fight is lost, and that they are going to ace you, use your warhorn to run away to prevent them acing you, and getting the kraken. Initiate with Blast Tremor, lock down with Merciless Pursuit, and save your teammates with Stormguard by absorbing tons of damage. Keep your team alive, and you will win.

Here is an insight to why I use each core item in this build:
warhorn - I LOVE this item with a passion. It lets you stun more with cooldown acceleration, lets you keep energy up with the energy regen, lets you actually help when taking objectives like the kraken, turrets, and mines. The active lets you dictate what your team does in teamfights, whether that be run, or chase fleeing enemies. The possibilities are endless, save your team, kill fleeing foes, or just for the cool speed boost at the end of the game when you've shattered the vain, you can't not like it. One thing to consider when using the active is that the duration of the speed boost increases by 1 second for each teammate affected, so try to use it when as many can be affected as possible.
Fountain of Renewal - It gives you health regen letting you farm for longer, and also shield and armor, reducing the damage done to you. Its active is one of the hardest to time properly, but this comes with experience. I generally enjoy pairing this with the active of Crucible to ensure your carry lives to fight for longer. The active heals for more when your teammates are on low health, so try and use it when they are under 50%, but don't leave it too late otherwise they die, and dead teammates are no use to anyone.
Crucible - It gives you 700 health! This lets you withstand enemy onslaught for longer, but what really makes this item shine is the active, which can save teammates from hugely damaging ultimates. When against a hero like Adagio and his Verse of Judgement, I build this before fountain, as the barrier stops the stun and negates most of the damage. Combine this with your fountain, and you can block damage to your team, whilst ensuring that they get healed for the maximum amount.
Aftershock - This cleaves off 20% of your targets maximum health, with your next basic attack after an ability and restores half of that damage to you through lifesteal. It also provides a similar benefit to warhorn as it gives cooldown acceleration and energy regen. This item synergies very well with merciless pursuit, as the stun counts as a basic attack.
Flare Gun - Maintain vision throughout the game, and you already have an advantage over your enemy, but don't use them for no reason, as the gold cost adds up.
Scout Trap - Awesome during early game, lets you know when the enemy goes for important objectives, and in early teamfights the damage can rek your opponents.
Journey Boots - Provide some defence and health regen, but I feel that the other items in the build are more important, so I leave these as the last item in my build.

The situational items are used when you feel that Flare Gun is no longer useful, and should be replaced for more support:
Atlas Pauldron - One of the things I've been asked is why this over Metal Jacket and the answer is simple: it's much more team oriented. When facing heavy weapon damage/attack speed oriented heroes SAW, Krul etc. I like to build this as my second defensive item, over either Crucible or fountain. Try to activate the ability when you can get as many enemies as possible in its radius, and watch as their weapon carry watches his damage get cut in half. This can often completely change the outcome of a teamfight, and its really short cooldown means you can use it in pretty much every team fight you will be in. I generally build this in most games, as the active is awesome, and makes you tanky!
Crucible - I generally build a second crucible in games when I need to protect my carry from large burst of damage more than once in a teamfight, for example if I'm playing vs a Petal and Adagio in the opposite teams, as their ultimates do huge aoe damage that can be cancelled out. Also, 700 moar health makes you moar tank!
Fountain of Renewal - When facing heavy crystal heroes, build this, for the extra shield and the OP heal. Like I explained above, just try to time it right to get the maximum benefits.

Still looking for ways to improve? Find them here!

Protip #1: When facechecking bushes that enemies might be in, pop up Stormguard to absorb any surprise damage.
Protip #2: Always facecheck bushes, you are the tank, behave like one.
Protip #3: Focus on the health of your carry, protect him rather than focusing on outputting damage to the enemy.
Protip #4: In the late game, when waiting for the enemy to initiate near the kraken, pop a Flare Gun to make sure that the enemy is in the opposing bush, then walk towards it, use Stormguard to absorb any burst damage, then use Blast Tremor to initiate the teamfight in a memorable (and hopefully winning) way.
Protip #5: At the start of the game, drop your Scout Trap in the bush near the middle item shop, then buy a Flare Gun to find out where the enemy is before running into a gank.
Protip #6: Try to keep 2 x Flare Gun and Scout Trap with you throughout the early game for map awareness, and the large amounts of damage in teamfights.
Protip #7: When against a Taka, for whatever reason if your teammates get into a fight without you, keep an eye on the minimap incase he disappears into his box. Pop a flare as soon as he does, and guarantee your team the kill.
MORE COMING SOON!

Thank you for taking time to read my guide, and I hope you liked it!
In conclusion, when played right, Catherine can be an enemy's worst nightmare, and this build and strategy aims to take advantage of all of Catherine's roles in the game. I absolutely love Catherine, and I want to spread this love throughout VainGlory. Don't forget to upvote!
Thanks to:
Neil, for being bae :3
LeOrks, because you're a hoe ;)
Freyah, for being awesome af