Introduction Top
Alpha is one of the most misunderstood heroes on the Halcyon Fold. Her abilities can appear detrimental to her survivability and her heroic perk,
Infinite Reboot, turns her into a sitting duck. Though she's come back into the meta and is quite strong, people still don't understand her abilities or how to build her.
With the correct build, proper defense, and smart play,
Alpha can be transformed from a fragile stationary bruiser into an unkillable mobile assassin.
As for me, I'm nobody special. I've just seen a lot of Alpha play and hope to correct it.
WTF... What is this build??? Top
I'll admit it, this build is very unusual. Instead of attack speed, I opt for cooldown reduction. Defense over damage. Yes, that's a
Stormcrown. Allow me to explain below.
Aftershock
I've seen builds and players alike choose
Alternating Current over
Aftershock. While
Alternating Current does give Alpha more consistent damage, more attack speed to reduce the cooldown on
Core Charge, and faster jungle clear speed,
Aftershock is simply more beneficial to her kit. But really, Alpha doesn't need consistent damage, just as Koshka doesn't need
Alternating Current Aftershock offers burst damage, allowing
Alpha to get more damage out faster, killing her target faster. But more importantly,
Aftershock gives cooldown reduction, allowing
Alpha to close the gap more frequently with her abilities and make
Infinite Reboot available more often. Against a fleeing enemy,
Alpha will be more likely to land her abilities rather than her basic attacks. Also, the lifesteal% on
Aftershock helps
Alpha take down high-health opponents.
Stormcrown
I left one issue with
Aftershock unaddressed. CP
Alpha has notoriously slow objective clear speed. To remedy this, the infamous
Stormshock build seemed like a good option. Stormshock is traditionally built on CP
Taka, who also relies on burst damage and has slow jungle clear speed. Also, being able to delete turrets, solo Gold Mine, or take Kraken in under 17 seconds is a pretty good strategical advantage.
One aspect of
Stormcrown that is frequently ignored is its cooldown reduction and energy recharge. As I previously said, cooldown reduction is a big deal for
Alpha. Separately,
Aftershock and
Stormcrown are decent items for Alpha. Together, they give her more gap-closers, faster jungle clear, more burst, faster reboot, and more reboot opportunities.
Defense
Whether you play CP or WP
Alpha,
defense is essential. Defense will make you more difficult to kill, buy you more time to kill the carry, and most importantly, make it even
more difficult to kill you during
Infinite Reboot. Though her heroic perk is often dismissed as a minor inconvenience, it can be a huge problem if both enemy carries need to focus you just to make sure you die the first time. Not only that, but once you lockdown the carry, the enemy won't ignore you. If you don't survive long enough to output your damage, then you didn't do much. I cannot further emphasize the importance of defense here. Throughout the entire game, regardless of circumstances,
Alpha should be a walking tank.
Halcyon Chargers[u/]
With update 2.0,
Infinite Reboot was changed slightly. Now, energy gives
Alpha more rebooting health and energy recharge makes
Alpha reboot faster, making
Halcyon Chargers and
Stormcrown far more valuable to Alpha. With both items, Alpha can reboot almost
instantaneously.
No WP Build? Top
I believe that CP Alpha is superior to WP Alpha, and I simply can't recommend any builds because I don't play WP Alpha often.
WP Alpha just never made much sense to me. There is no WP ratio on Termination Protocol and no burst despite her three gap closers. No hate, but I just don't appreciate.
As for CP Alpha, her abilities have excellent burst, she can gap close frequently and instantly delete heroes, and her ultimate has a whopping
250% CP ratio.
Gameplay Top
Early Game
The early game is not Alpha's strong suit. With the addition of the Elder Treant in 2.1, early game heroes have found incentive to snowball. So, whatever you do, DON'T contest the Elder Treant in the first 2 minutes. Alpha is still quite squishy, can't deal much damage, and can be killed before her reboot. Lay low until the 4:00 minute mark, farming and looking for the occasional gank on the laner. For ganking, go in with
Core Charge first before following up with
Prime Directive.
Prime Directive will detonate any
Core Charge stacks and slow the laner, maximizing damage and negating any activateables.
When the shop spawns, pick up
Stormguard Banner and some defense, boots, and
Chronograph if possible.
Alpha is still quite fragile, so focus on bullying the laner near the safety of the turret, farming the jungle, and avoid getting caught in any conflict alone.
Mid Game
This is where Alpha begins to shine. Pick up plenty of defense according to the enemy and finish up
Aftershock.Look for opportunities to take Gold Mine. With
Stormguard Banner, it's possible to take it very quickly or solo it. Shamelessly harass the laner, but be aware of the enemy jungler's position during teamfights. If the jungler goes for your laner, immediately attack with
Prime Directive, slowing the jungler and allowing your teammate to reposition. If you cannot access the laner without leaving your team vulnerable, engage on the jungler or even the roam.
Late Game
Most games usually end around the start of the late game. Be sure to finish your first T3 defense item before
Broken Myth.
Alpha very rarely needs a third offense/defense item, but feel free to sell
Stormcrown if you must.
Shatterglass offers the most damage output, but with update 2.0,
Eve of Harvest is viable for sustain and reboot speed.
Tips and Tricks Top
-if fleeing from enemies, use
Prime Directive to latch onto a treant or jungle monster over the wall
-NEVER allow early game heroes like
Koshka or
Taka to snowball in the first four minutes. Don't contest the Elder Treant and play cautiously until mid game.
-
Termination Protocol should only be used with low health
-alternatively, if hunting enemies, use
Prime Directive to latch onto the enemy roam before seeking a more valuable target
-don't be afraid to chase under turrets
-use
Prime Directive to land
Termination Protocol
-you should die very few times throughout the match, win or lose. If you do die often, either increase cooldown reduction or increase defense
-
Alpha has a difficult time killing high-health targets such as
Phinn or
Lance
-
DO NOT scan bushes with
Prime Directive blindly
-if you've played the mid-game right, enemies should be running away from you instead of toward you during
Termination Protocol
-always prioritize defense
Feel free to argue your points or add suggestions in the comments below.
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