Introduction Top
My name is FlashX. I am the ROAM player for Team SoloMid who recently won the North American Winter Championships as well as current reigning World Champions after winning Season 2 of the Vainglory International Premier League. I have been playing Vainglory since September 2014. My highest achieved rank is Vainglorious Silver. I am currently Vainglorious Silver in the Winter 2016 Season and our team was the first team in the world to achieve the team rank of Pinnacle of Awesome (Now currently POA Silver). You can check out my previous guide on my Signature ROAM Ardan:
http://www.vaingloryfire.com/vainglory/guide/flashxs-signature-ardan-13902
This guide will focus on playing Fortress as a ROAM hero. With the impending conclusion of the Winter 2016 season, a stark contrast between the viability of Fortress varies depending on the region. In North America, Fortress was the second most picked ROAM hero behind only Ardan (Adagio was played almost exclusively as either a laner or jungler). However in Europe, Fortress was much less common falling behind Ardan, Catherine, and even Phinn, respectively.
I believe Fortress is effective as a ROAM hero because if used properly, his ultimate "Attack of the Pack" is perhaps currently (1.15) the single strongest ability on the Halcyon Fold. While Attack of the Pack did receive a nerf in 1.15 which allowed abilities to now damage the wolves (as compared to strictly basic attacks in 1.14), they are still incredibly effective in terms of forcing either objectives or teamfights. In combination with his heroic perk 'Packmates', Truth of the Tooth, and Law of the Claw, Fortress is able to offer a lot of utility to his team making him an incredibly strong pick for the ROAM position.
Why is this guide called 'Blitzkrieg' Fortress? A German term for “lightning war,” blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. Its successful execution results in short military campaigns, which preserves human lives and limits the expenditure of artillery. Similarly, this is how Fortress and his allies should coordinate their attacks. Utilize Attack of the Pack to disorganize the enemy, and attack swiftly with concentrated firepower thus quickly destroying the enemy and while keeping your allies alive.
PACKMATES (Heroic Perk) Top
Difficulty: MEIDUM --- Position: JUNGLE (ROAM for this guide) --- Role: WARRIOR/INITIATOR
This Halcyon Well guardian is a snarling, frightening sight in the jungle. He stalks prey, closes in with teammates, flanks targets and creates challening, multi-front confrontations. Start Fortress in the jungle (as a ROAM), stay near your allies and bite and claw your way to kills.
Packmates - When Fortress is near an allied hero, he will move faster after 1 second. He will maintain this move-speed bonus so long as he's alongisde any allied hero.
Packmate's is why Fortress is very effective in the ROAM position. Even though the ingame chat may describe him as a jungle hero, he is most frequently used in the ROAM role. This is because the added speed boost from Packmates makes Fortress incredibly effective at being the frontline for his alllies and initiating all of the team fights in unison with his A abilityk, Truth of the Tooth.
TRUTH OF THE TOOTH (A Ability) Top
Truth of the Tooth - Fortress marks the tartget enemy as prey and his next basic attack becomes a short-ranged lunge. Fortress and allied heroes gain lifesteal when attacking marked targets and gain move speed when moving toward them.
Using Truth of the Tooth: Truth of the Tooth is very effective tool for initiating a team fight. It can be used as either a gap closer to help Fortress and his allies manuever to the back line of the enemies or on the enemies frontline such that Fortress and his allies are able to lifesteal off of this target before moving into the enemy backlines.
What to Avoid: Avoid upgrading Truth of the Tooth first. While this ability may provide a slight amount of movement speed when clearing through the jungle, it will actually be more effective to use Blood for Blood on the large heal minions in order to quickly burst them down. Fortress needs to be careful with overextending when using this ability. If his allies are too far away from the marked target then no speed boost will be granted and Fortress will be exposed. Fortress needs to make sure that allies are in position to follow up this ability.
LAW OF THE CLAW (B Ability) Top
Law of the Claw - Fortress claws his target for crystal dmagage and casues it to bleed. Bleeding targets takte 25 + 15% crystal power as damage every second. Attacks from Fortress and his allies increase bleeding by one stack. Upon reaching 6 stacks, the target is dealt a burst of damage based on its max health and recieves mortal wound resulting in -33% healing.
Using Law of the Claw: Law of the Claw is an incredibly powerful ability that scales very well throughout the entire game. Fortress should most frequently use this ability on either of the enemy carries. Priority should be placed on whichever carry is a larger threat in addition if one enemy carry will likely be in front of the other. If both enemy carries are melee, use it on whichever one is a bigger threat. If one enemy carry is melee, and one enemy carry is ranged, use it on the melee carry. If both enemy carries are ranged, then use it on the ranged hero that is easier to get through by both Fortress and his Allies. After Law of the Claw is used on an enemy, it is important that Fortress and his allies focus this enemy in order to reach 6 stacks and thus causing the enemy to receive it's mortal wound and taking a massive burst of damage. Law of the Claw is also very effective at quickly killing the large jungle heal minions and should be used accordingly.
What to Avoid: Avoid using Law of the Claw on the enemy roam hero. Unless the enemy roam is overextended, it will be more effective to use Law of the Claw on one of the enemy carries. Avoid using Law of the Claw on either of the large double minions or the small double minions. These minions will likely die before 6 stacks have been reached and thus not take advantage of the burst damage.
ATTACK OF THE PACK (C Ability / Ultimate) Top
Attack of the Pack - Fortress howls, gaining increased health and attack speed and calls to him a pack of wolves. Each pack wolf seeks out a different enemy heroes. These wolves apply bleeding with their basic attacks. It tatakes three seperate basica ttcks to kill a pack wolf.
Using Attack of the Pack: While it may seem simple in nature, this ability actually has a lot of complexity to using it effectively. This ability can be used to either create a massive advantage in a team fight, or to create space for favorable positioning to push a turret.
1.
Teamfights: When using it in a teamfight, this ability will be best used when the fight is occuring in the jungle. Fortress should use Truth of the Tooth to position directly on top of one of the enemy carries and then immediately activating Attack of the Pack. 3 wolves will be released and immediately focus each hero on the enemy team (unless one is already dead) thus applying the stacks of bleeding. It is important that this ability not be used from a distance otherwise the enemy team will have an opportunity to kill all of the wolves before the fight even begins.
2.
Securing Objectives:: The most common enemy response to the activattion of this ability is immediate retreat in order to kill the wolves to prevent them from continaully applying the stacks of bleeding. This opens a narrow window for securing objectives. It can be used to push the enemy team back while Fortress and his allies secure the gold mine or the Kraken. More effective however, in combination with Warhorn, would be pushing turrets. With an ally minion wave, Fortress can activate Attack of the Pack and immediately follow that ability with a Warhorn. This will not only speed up Fortress and his allies, but also the allied minion wave, and the 3 wolves that were released. The enemy team will more than likely back away from the turret to first destroy the wolves. Now Fortress and his allies can quickly destroy the turret.
In order to drastically improve the effectiveness of this ability, a Warhorn should be purchased as your second item after fountain of renewal.
What to avoid: Avoid using this ability unnecessarily. At level one, this ability has a cooldown of 120 seconds thus making it the single longest cooldown for any ability (Assuming Koshka lands 20 basic attacks in this amount of time). Before purchasing warhorn, it is important that the wolves will not be killed before they are able to attack their enemy targets. The best way to ensure this is to always us Truth of the Tooth before engaging in a fight. Once warhorn is purchased, and attack of the pack is activated, warhorn should always be immediately activated afterwards.
Best heroes to pair with ROAM FORTRESS Top
1. Ringo - When using his twirling silver for increased attack and movement speed, Ringo pairs very well with ROAM Fortress. He is able to trigger the 6 stacks very quickly thus dealing massive burst damage to enemies throughout the entire game.
2. SAW - Fortress pairs well with SAW not only because he helps relieve some of the problems that hinders SAW. Truth of the Tooth helps provide SAW with a speedboost such that he is able to chase down his enemies more easily. Similarly to Ringo, SAW's high attack speed is also very effective at triggering the 6 stacks needed for law of the claw.
3. Adagio - A carry Adagio saw a large increase in the amount of playtime it received in 1.15. With Fortress being the frontline, Adagio is able to use Agent of Wrath on himself while giving Fortress the Gift of Fire so that he is able to stay in the front for longer periods of time than normal.
PRO TIPS Top
1.
Skill skipping - in all of my guides, the suggested path for choosing abilities ALL involves skill skipping. What is skill skipping? A unique opportunity presents itself when all heroes reach level 5. The average player will simply choose an ability which most commonly is level 2 of their less important ability (Petal's Trampoline 'jump' is a good example). This ability does NOT provide a large benefit to the hero. In this guide I utilize skill skipping to achieve a level 4 Law of the Claw and a level 1 Attack of the Pack when I reach level 6. How does skill skipping work? When you reach level 5, DO NOT SELECT AN ABILITY TO LEVEL UP. This is NEVER a disadvantage. Some players may find it unsettling that they have the option to improve one of their abilities but are choosing not to do so. However, once you reach level 6, you will be able to upgrade an ability to level 4 as well as getting your C Ability (Gauntlet) to level 1. This differs from normally having a Level 3, Level 2, and Level 1 ability when you reach level 6. However, if you do engage in an important team fight at level 5, it is okay to upgrade an ability at this point. Obviously it will help slightly. For Fortress, this is his Law of the Claw. At level 6, Fortress should have a level 1 Attack of the Pack, Level 1 Truth of the Tooth, and Level 4 Law of the Claw. The burst damage from this ability in addition to Stormguard banner will enable Fortress to deal massive amounts of damage very early on in the game.
2.
Focus Fire. When playing with a Fortress, it is important that Fortress and his allies all focus the same target in teamfights for maximum effectiveness. Both Truth of the Tooth and Law of the Claw should be used on the same target. Once this target has been marked, Fortress and his allies need to concentrate all of their damage on this one target. Not only will they benefit from the lifesteal and movement speed that comes from Truth of the Tooth, but they will also quickly kill this target from the burst damagage from Law of the Claw which the mortal wound will prevent this enemy from being saved.
3.
Voice communication. While Vainglory does have userfriendly ping options which can to a degree communicate what to do between allies, voice communication is standard for any team based eSport. Being able to decide what actions to take in the upcoming 5 seconds before a teamfight such as who to focus as previously mentioned, is incredibly important. When using Attack of the Pack to secure an objective, it is important to communicate if the priority needs to be on the particular objective, or if the enemy team decides to contest the objective (without first killing the wolves) who should be focused down instead. My team prefers to use an iOS/PC app called Discord. Teamspeak or Skype are also good alternatives.
Positioning in Team Fights Top
Fortress will most commonly position himself infront of allies (if allies are ranged) or alongside (if allies are melee) his allies. It is important that Fortress build items that increase his ability to absorb incoming enemy damage either through defensive based items such as Fountain of Renewal or through utility items such as Warhorn. Fortress should open the teammfight by initiating with Truth of the Tooth and immeidiately following that ability with Law of the Claw. His allies will need to concentrate all damage on whichever target has now been marked. Once Fortress has reached level 6, he can use his Attack of the Pack to gain a massive advantage in teamfights or to push back the enemy in order to secure an objective.
EARLY GAME Top
Playing the EARLY GAME: (t = 0:00 - 8:00)
1. Starting ITEMS: IRONGUARD CONTRACT, HALCYCON POTION, FLARE GUN - Buying 2 potions is unncessary because Fortress will receive health back from the passive ability of the IRONGUARD CONTRACT (If a minion has attacked you, you heal for 120 health and your ally also earns 30% bonus gold). It is especially important when clearing the jungle that Fortress takes the first hit damage from jungle minions for optimal clear mechanics. This will maximize the amount of gold Fortress and his allies are able to earn.
2. Clearing the jungle: Autoattack the first healer minion when it spawns at t=0:25. Immediately use Law of the Claw and go down towards the large double minions and begin to basic attack them. Before Fortress's jungle carry kills any of the jungle minions, Fortress should begin moving towards the inner healer minion. This is so that the jungle carry will reach level 2 after the first rotation through the jungle. Be careful to not leave the jungle carry too soon or else they may take too much damage. However, most damage can be mitigated through the health they receive from killing the healer minions.
3. The first engagement: In most situations, both jungles will have finished this mirrored rotation at relatively the same time. (Note: On some occassions, the enemy team may revert to a backwards rotation in which they start from the small double camp and rotate back towards their respective base). At this point, an engagement is likely to occur. Use the flare purchased at the begging of the game in a manner such that it reveals both the enemy shop bush as well as their tri bush. If you see that your rotation is faster than the enemies, both Fortress and his jungle ally should shop immediately. Then rotate into the enemy shop bush in order to position to prevent the enemies from shopping. If done successfully, you know that you will have an advantage if the enemies choose to fight. If they do not choose to fight, and rotate up to lane, you should ping spam the yellow avoid button to your laner to back up. You should also steal the lower small double camp from your enemy.
4. The first decision: To invade, or not to invade? That is the question. Different heroes are stronger at different points of the game. Some heroes also scale better throughout the duration of the game. Fortress is both incredibly strong in the start of the game as well as scales throughout the game. If Fortress and his ally feel that they have the stronger jungle composition in the early game, I would suggest invading the enemies. This means going to their back camps where the large healer minion and the large double minions spawn. Not only will you have an advantage from being stronger heroes, but if you prevented the enemies from shopping you will know that you also have an item advantage. Good synergy is required at this point. Fortress cannot go alone and needs his ally to follow him. If your jungle partner will not follow you in your invasion, you'll be forced to follow him and go back to repeating the first rotation.
What to avoid:
1. Avoid taking last hits. Fortress's allies should always be the ones who get the last hit. Fortress will get 75% of all gold that his allies earn from the passive of ironguard contract (as long as he is within range).
2. Avoid overextending. While it is important for Fortress to be the frontline for his team, he needs to make sure his allies are in a position to help Fortress should he be engaged upon.
MID GAME Top
Playing the MID GAME: (t = 8:00 - 15:00)
1. Item Development - By this point, a strong early game means that Fortress should have developed Fountain of Renewal and be very close to finishing Warhorn. Fortress has ramped up in terms of his tankiness as well as his damage output as a result of stormguard banner. The combination of his Truth of the Tooth and Law of the Claw is an incredibly deadly threat towards enemies. When used in unision with good team synergy, no enemy is able to withstand the burst from this combination and will need to play very passively which opens up space for Fortress and his allies to take control of the game.
2. Stay the Course. - Ultimately only team compositions and how well the early game was mitigated will determine how Fortress and his allies are able to play the mid game. If at a disadvantage due to one or both of these factors, Fortress will want to take a more passive approach. Rather than going for objective control and invasions, securing and protecting both his laner and his own jungle should be priorities. Putting a scout trap on the gold mine is also a good idea to be able to contest the enemy team if they are trying to take it. If Fortress has allies who are innately strong in the mid game, then being aggressive is a good idea. A lead will want to be developed in order to contest the enemy team if they scale well into the late game. If this is the case, try and secure both minion mines and then push, push, and push. Taking turrets is incredibly important in developing a gold lead as well as gaining map control. It can often be worth sacrificing a death for a turret because this makes stealing the enemy jungle much easier as well maintaining objective control. Using Attack of the Pack in order to push enemies back to secure objectives may be very effective if used correctly.
What to avoid:
1. Avoid taking last hits. Fortress's allies should always be the ones who get the last hit. Fortress will get 75% of all gold that his allies earn from the passive of ironguard contract (as long as he is within range).
2. Avoid overextending. While it is important for Fortress to be the frontline for his team, he needs to make sure his allies are in a position to help Fortress should he be engaged upon. Truth of the Tooth may frequently mean that Fortress is well in front of his teammates. If he does go too far, he may be at risk at being immediately focused. Make sure to use Truth of the Tooth such that allies are granted the speed boost from the mark so that they can always follow up.
3. Mistimed Attack of the Pack. This is something that can only be developed and practiced over time. But because of the incredibly long cooldown of Attack of the Pack, using it effectively is incredibly important. Fortress's allies need to be immediately ready to respond to the use of Attack of the Pack. However, it is also Fortress's responsibility to make sure his allies are in a good position to respond to Attack of the Pack. If voice communication is being used, Fortress should communicate when he is activating Attack of the Pack and whether he is using it to gain an advantage in a team fight or if it used a distraction while Fortress and his allies secure an objective.
LATE GAME Top
Playing the MID GAME: (t = 15:00 - END OF MATCH)
1.
Spawn of Kraken: The Gold Miner spawns into the Kraken when the game clock reaches t = 15:00. Rarely at this point in the game will it still be evenly matched. Normally one team will have developed an advantage in which they are able to secure Kraken and make a strong push towards ending the game. Hopefully, you're team is on the better end of this situation. If you are, great! If you have built tanky enough, in combination with double infusions, Fortress should be able to kill Kraken by himself (albeit it very slowly and not the optimal way to do it). It is important at this point to have scout traps placed in a manner such that if the enemy comes to contest you that you can see them coming. Flares are additionally important such that if the scout traps get activated that you will still be able to maintain vision. If the game has not gone in favor at this point, then you will want to do everything possible to stop the enemy team from taking Kraken. Fortress is able to do quite a large amount of burst damage by using Truth of the Tooth to get to Kraken quickly, then immediately using Law of the Claw for very high burst damage. With this in mind, desparate times call for desperate measures. Do not be scared to suicide in order to steal the Kraken. Because of the extremely slow movement speed from Kraken, most often you will have respawned before too many of your allied towers get destroyed. Worst case scenario, the enemy team takes Kraken which they would have likely done anyways and you still have to deal with it like you would have originally. Best case scenario, youu steal the Kraken, prevent the enemy team from regaining all of the health and energy they just spent trying to take Kraken, and your allies are able to come and assist such that you completely turn the game around.
If at this point the game is in fact evenly matched, then you will want to wait until a good opening presents itself. The most ideal situation is after you have aced the enemy team so that you can secure the Kraken without fear. However, there are situations where only 2, 1, or perhaps even a total sneak of Kraken is also possible. One of the best ways to handle ensure a successful Kraken capture is to use Attack of the Pack in the last few seconds before Kraken is secured. If the enemy team tries to contest, they will have to deal with wolves who will hopefully be level 3 at this point thus making it very hard for them to fight. If this is the case, Fortress and his allies should adjust focus accordingly. If Kraken is incredibly close to being killed, it will be better to continue focusing Kraken before turning focus onto the enemies. If Kraken is not close to be secured, Fortress and his allies should immediately adjust their focus onto the enemies.
2.
Be Fearless, Not Reckless. Fortress's best defense is his offense. Squishy enemies who may be reliant upon lifesteal or a fountain of renewal for staying alive are at a massive disadvantage due to the mortal wounds coming from Fortress. Fortress needs to be comfortable leading the charge into battle during the late game. However, he needs to be careful regarding the manner of how he does this. There is a balance between going to far, and not going far enough that can only be learned through experience. Ideally, if one of his allies is a melee carry, this carry will be immediately beside Fortress and gain the benefits of Truth of the Tooth every time he uses it. However if both of his allies are ranged, then this will not necessarily be the case. When Law of the Claw is used, Fortress and his allies need to concentrate all damage on this marked target.
3. Infusion Power Spike. While a mere consumable, infusions are the strongest items in the game in terms of their added benefit relative to their cost. While it may be a gamble to spend 500-1000 gold on something that only lasts 2.5 minutes, if coordinated correctly I would argue that it is worth it. Infusions offer massive improvements on the amount of both weapon and crystal damage that Fortress is able to output as well as make him massively tankier. Infusions should be a priority past 15 minutes especially if the enemy team is buying infusions. Most often the team who has the most infusions will win a teamfight (most of the time). Infusions should be used in a manner such that Fortress and his allies all buy them at the same time such the powerspike is the most effective.
What to avoid:
1. Avoid taking last hits. Fortress's allies should always be the ones who get the last hit. Fortress will get 75% of all gold that his allies earn from the passive of ironguard contract (as long as he is within range).
2. Avoid overextending. While it is important for Fortress to be the frontline for his team, he needs to make sure his allies are in a position to help Fortress should he be engaged upon. Truth of the Tooth may frequently mean that Fortress is well in front of his teammates. If he does go too far, he may be at risk at being immediately focused. Make sure to use Truth of the Tooth such that allies are granted the speed boost from the mark so that they can always follow up.
3. Mistimed Attack of the Pack. This is something that can only be developed and practiced over time. But because of the incredibly long cooldown of Attack of the Pack, using it effectively is incredibly important. Fortress's allies need to be immediately ready to respond to the use of Attack of the Pack. However, it is also Fortress's responsibility to make sure his allies are in a good position to respond to Attack of the Pack. If voice communication is being used, Fortress should communicate when he is activating Attack of the Pack and whether he is using it to gain an advantage in a team fight or if it used a distraction while Fortress and his allies secure an objective.
4. Uuncoordinated infusions. Because infusions only last 2.5 minutes, it is important that everyone on the team uses infusions at roughly the same time in order to receive the largest powerspike possible.
here are several different items that Fortress can build depending on the situation:
Crucible - best utilized against teams with area of effect (AOE) abilities. "Active: Trigger Reflex Block for you and nearby teammates." This item can also be activated to provide a simple health barrier if an ally is close to dying.
Examples: Blast Tremor (Catherine), Verse of Judgement (Adagio), Dragon Breath (Skaarf).
Atlas Pauldron - best utilized against teams with high attack speeds. "Active: Reduces attack speed of nearby enemy heroes by 65% for 5 seconds in a 4-meter range" The additional armor, and even minimal shield gain, will be helpful in Fortress being the frontline that his allies need him to be. This is a strong item because it's affect can affect all 3 enemy heroes if they do not position properly.
Examples: SAW, Ringo, Krul, Blackfeather, Rona
Aftershock - Best utilized against heroes that rely on long team fights and/or stacks from a breaking point. "After using an ability, your next basic attack deals 15% of target's max health as damage with +50% lifesteal." Aftershock greatly increases the amount of burst damage that can be done to enemies as well as slightly reduces cool downs. Aftershock pairs incredibly will with a tension bow enabling Fortress to provide large amounts of burst damage. Aftershock is also very effective against heroes which have built a lot of health. While Aftershock may be much less typical for Fortress, it can be viable under the correct circumstances. The additional lifesteal will also help Fortress to be tankier.
Examples: Krul, Glaive, Blackfeather
Tension Bow - Best utilized against heroes that rely on long team fights and/or stacks from a breaking point. Tension Bow greatly increases the amount of burst damage that can be done to enemies as well as pierces armor and increases basic attack damage. Tension pairs incredibly will with an aftershock enabling Fortress to provide large amounts of burst damage in addition to the burst from Law of the Claw. Tension bow is also very effective against heroes which have built a lot of armor due to the piercing percentage in the passive. Tension bow should be prioritized when enemies have focused on building armor instead of shield or health.
Examples: Krul, Glaive, Blackfeather
Shiversteel - Best utilized against enemy heroes that rely on kiting mechanics and/or enabling your teammates from being kited. Shiversteel can be effective in almost every situation. Not only does it provide positional advantages, but it also grants significant health benefits. Shiversteel will allow Fortress and his allies to stick to the marked target so that the focus damage is improved.
Examples: Vox, Skye, Ringo
Using these different items depending on the situation will surely give you an advantage in team fights. A good Fortress will focus on counterbuilding the enemy team thus allowing him to offer the most utility to his own team. Fountain of Renewal and Warhorn are ESSENTIAL parts of Fortress's kits. In all situations they are considered effective because there is not a significant amount of counter play to them. Utilize Fountain of Renewal when Fortress or his allies become low in health, and use Warhorn to either engage or disengage from a team fight.
Conclusion Top
THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to read and study my Blitzkrieg Fortress. Every situation is different and depending on what situation you are in will dictate exactly how to utlize this guide to your best benefit. This is by no means a definitive guide on how to play Fortress but purely my interpretation of him as a hero. I hope everyone is able to learn a thing or two in order to improve your own gameplay. Please feel free to comment with questions, criticism, or any feedback whatsoever so that I can continue writing guides that will best benefit the Vainglory community in the future.
If you're not already, follow me on Twitter
@TSMFlashX and be sure to catch my streams on Twitch
@FlashX92.
Best,
FlashX
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