Table of Contents Top
Introduction Top
Everything here is on display and spelled out for easy consumption. Flicker's not a very difficult hero to play, but he's got a few little quirks that make him fun and useful.
This is my first guide, and it's not for a hero I play very much, so please leave a comment if you have something to add, and let me know how I can improve my guides!
Abilities Top
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Willow Whisper
Slot: Heroic Perk
Flicker gains stealth and a move-speed bonus when in brush for 2s. Flicker can then leave the brush and remain stealthed for 3s.
- Flicker has true sight while stealthed.
- Taking damage, attacking or using abilities removes stealth.
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Probably what makes Flicker so useful in the jungle and great at starting ganks, which are his two primary roles. True sight allows you to see any Scout Traps or Scout Cams without having to use a Scout Cam of your own. Be careful, because if you find a Scout Cam nearby, the enemy can see you, stealthed or not.
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Binding Light
Slot: A
Flicker commands his fairies to swarm the target location for 2s, dealing damage to enemies within it. When the effect expires, fairy light roots any enemy heroes still within the area. |
This is going to be your most-used ability. If you choose to take the Frostburn or the Dragon's Eye as your optional item, it will either slow enemies, allowing your team to chase, or stack up your crystal damage quickly. With the Stormcrown, it pops every few seconds (4 I think. Will update once I check). This is complimented by the Eve of Harvest in the late game. This should be the first ability you upgrade, and the first one you max out because of the extended root, which is very useful for pinning down assassins.
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Fairy Dust
Slot: B
Flicker swirls fairy dust around him for 3s, slowing and dealing damage to anyone inside the dusted area. After 3s, the dust ignites, dealing a burst of damage. |
This ability is the reason you need four items to buff defenses and health. With this, you can stealth in a bush or use your ult and charge right into a team fight. With enough crystal damage and the ability to throw down Binding Light every few seconds, you could melt the enemy team from the inside out. Otherwise, it makes for a decent zoning tool if you want to keep melee heroes away from you.
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Mooncloak
Slot: C
After 1s, Flicker and his allies temporarily gain stealth and a move-speed bonus.
- The stealth will break when a hero uses an ability, attacks or takes damage.
- All heroes affected by this ability will have true sight while stealthed.
- After a short time, that hero will stealth again so long as Mooncloak's duration has not expired.
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This is really only used to engage a fight from a good angle or sneak in a Kraken steal. It provides team-wide stealth and all the bonuses that come with it. If someone falls out of stealth, they can do nothing for a few seconds and get it again, as long as the duration is not spent yet. I don't like to max this one out because all you get for it is 2 extra seconds and a shorter cooldown.
What Makes It Great (And Not So Great) Top
Let's start by talking about what makes him great.
First of all, Flicker's stealth is what makes his roaming so effective. With true sight, invisibility, and a move speed buff, no area of the jungle is off-limits to Flicker. Once you get your boots fully upgraded, you can dash between every other bush and never lose stealth. This is mostly because every time you enter a bush, the stealth timer pauses until you leave. Stay in long enough, and the duration is reset.
Flicker's mobility bonuses from stealth also allow for quick ins and outs, allowing a well-timed Crucible or Fountain of Renewal to save your teammates and let you escape if need be.
Invisibility and true sight make you a huge nuisance to the enemy team. Scout Cams are a bit tedious because you can only see and hit them in stealth, so you have to wait for it to reset every time you attack it.
Second, Flicker's abilities have very short cooldowns with pretty decent damage after you buy the Stormcrown and start buying some damage. Binding Light and Fairy Dust are similar, in that they are both AoE damage abilities that deal burst damage after a short duration. In the case of Binding Light, it also gives a 1 or 1.5 second root if the enemy is caught in it when it disappears. This makes surprise ganks and crystal sentry steals very effective.
Third, the items you pick up are probably what makes this build so special. Rushing Stormcrown allows your abilities to come back every few seconds, allowing you to use them pretty effectively by the middle of the game. War Treads and Crucible are not only a collective 1100+ health buff, but allow you to captain effectively and protect your team as you roam. The Pulseweave makes Flicker more mobile, since War Treads aren't as fast as Journey Boots or Halcyon Chargers, and gives that sweet, sweet passive Lifespring. Eve of Harvest just ensures that you don't run out of energy for the abilities you are going to be spamming, and allows you to sustain yourself in a teamfight.
Now, time for his weaknesses.
First, stealth is a blessing and a curse. You might wander a little too far into the jungle to find the entire enemy team waiting for you. But, you're invisible, so it doesn't really matter, right? Well, it turns out this bush is one that they put a Scout Cam in a minute ago, and they all just saw you. Even your 4000+ health won't get you out of that.
Also, try to remember the second or so that it takes to actually gain stealth. Enemies who face-check the bush at just the right moment will get the drop on you, so just be mindful of where the enemy players and Scout Cams/Traps are.
Second, your damage is actually pretty sad. Even if you rush in stealthed, manage to root the enemy, acivate Fairy Dust, get the burst damage, AND do extra basic attack damage with Stormcrown, its not enough to kill the squishiest of carries with one Tier 3 defense item. It really helps to stick to your carry or jungler to dish out the hurt. With good building and coordination, your lack of damage can be compensated by utility.
Third, even though you will have infinity health and enough CC to survive most fights, try not to get caught with all three abilities on cooldown by the one Ringo who thought to counter-build you. Burst damage is your worst nightmare and can be built around, but will always be an issue. With no mobile abilities, you're kind of stuck if you get bursted down.
Flicker is a roam at heart, but a captain based on his build. The items here make him a pretty useful captain with a really nice reserve of health to stand on. Mostly defense and utility items here, complimented by some crystal items for either damage or more utility.
Early Game Items Top
Let's start the game off with the Stormguard Banner. The little boost to health and extra damage will help a lot with the jungle, allowing you to level pretty fast. Then, get Sprint Boots to pick up that lame move speed, and a battery at some point just so you don't burn out that energy.
Mid Game Items Items Top
By the first few minutes, you'll want to be a walking health bar, so finish up that Stormcrown and rush the boots. By now, you'll need that battery to be a Void Battery or better so you don't get screwed out of precious damage. Picking up a Heavy Prism may seem challenging, but you really need the damage at this stage, to compliment the Binding Lights getting tossed around, and to make that burst at the end of Fairy Dust really sting. And a Reflex Block because ults should be appearing by now.
Late Game Items Top
By the end, your battery and prism will be an Eve of Harvest and you should grab a Lifespring, just so you don't need to hunt down a treant for health. That Lifespring needs to become a Pulseweave before Kraken arrives, because that little bonus to move speed plus your health makes it a great item to have. Finally, if the enemy team has a Catherine or anyone with wide-area attacks you don't want to be victim to, make your Reflex Block a Crucible. This really solidifies your role as captain and makes sure you're not the only one surviving the fights. This is really when Flicker shines because your defenses are at their peak and your crystal damage actually starts to mean something.
Optional Items Top
When it comes to optional items, there's a lot of variety in this build. For damage, a Dragon's Eye compliments the time you deal crystal damage and the broken myth eats up any shield the enemy might be holding on to.
In terms of utility, there are even more options. Frostburns slow enemies that end up in your little circles of doom, as well as buffing your own damage. Fountain of Renewal is nice if the enemy team likes to burst down the whole team with crystal damage, and is cool to have on any captain. Rook's Decree is kind of a substitute for Stormcrown if you don't like the basic attack damage, but want all of its other nice bonuses. Plus, it comes with a nice team-wide barrier if used properly.
Situationally, you could pick up Metal Jacket for armor and/or Halcyon Chargers if you don't like War Treads. Contraption is nice if you want vision everywhere, all the time, but make sure that you don't get too many items that do the same exact thing. Crystal infusion is really nice to boost your damage a tiny bit if you've got a bit of extra gold and you tend to lose the enemy at 150 health.
Gameplay Top
Flicker will spend most of his time in the jungle, hopping from bush to bush, killing off monsters and checking for other junglers, but he will hop into the lane from time to time to help out or save a life. He is also good at kiting if you can get on the enemy team's nerves enough.
Captain Top
Your main captain utility is in your War Treads and Crucible, but you also allow for a pretty good engage with your ult. Stormcrown and Pulseweave play on your abilities as a roam as well, making them great for Flicker in particular, and bulky roams and captains in general.
Again, stealth is a very good ability. The invisibility, true sight, and move speed are not to be discredited here. Flicker is one of the least mobile roams in the game, so not getting caught and being quick are very useful in the jungle. Just remember to avoid burst-damage heroes, extremely mobile heroes, and anyone who can keep you out of stealth, and your roaming will go un-hindered.
Matchups Top
Because Flicker's use is in the jungle, and cannot survive burst damage, most carries are to be avoided, but not all of them are bad matchups. Ringo does too much damage, and Kensei is too jumpy. However, Celeste is squishy and slow enough to be an easy target. Samuel is a good matchup if you can block his nap zone.
Most junglers are decent matchups, if you can time your Crucible well. Krul, Koshka, and Alpha can be avoided because of their damage output, while Glaive, Fortress, and Lance are all nice matchups because of how they must position themselves to be useful. Watch out for big health bars here, because you don't do much damage to counter that.
Look out for most roams. Their stuns will prevent your stealth or their huge health bars will leave you wondering if you actually deal damage anymore.
Conclusion Top
By now, you understand the basics of the hero and the build. Everything about Flicker is captain and roam, and stealth is the most useful thing you've got for both of those roles. Never overestimate how much health you really have though, because one well-timed gank or a little burst damage will remind you just how much you can really take.
Thank you for taking the time to read my guide, and I look forward to making more.
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