Every time Taka tries to Kaku to run away, Phinn can activate Polite Company to cancel the Kaku so that Phinn and his allies can immediately re-engage him.
2
Glaive
Phinn is both tanky for Glaive to burst down. In addition, if Glaive tries to use Afterburn to flee from a fight, Phinn can use Forced Accord to bring him right back
3
Blackfeather
Blackfeather can't spend time focusing Phinn but if he tries to focus Phinn's allies then Phinn will just use his abilities to keep Blackfeather away from them.
4
Vox
Pray that Vox doesn't build a significant amount of cooldown reduction here. Being patient and waiting for Vox to use Sonic Zoom before Phinn uses either Quibble or Forced Accord will be very important for Phinn to successfully land these abilities.
5
Adagio
Crystal Adagio packs quite the punch in 1.16. With the single longest basic attack range, he can poke Phinn from a distance and still deal massive amounts of damage.
6
Fortress
Even if Fortress is played as a roam hero, his heroic perk, law of the claw, and truth of the tooth will make it very easy for Fortress and his allies to maneuver quickly either diving straight onto Phinn or straight past him onto Phinn's allies.
7
Celeste
Even though Core Collapse is essentially ineffective against Phinn, Celeste will also have no problem generating broken myth stacks against Phinn before she decides to engage Phinn's allies.
8
Skaarf
Even though Skaarf synergizes very well with Phinn, he's also a menace as an enemy. Skaarf will easily generate broken myth stacks against Phinn and then have no problem melting him to the ground as long as Skaarf can reflex block the Forced Accord.
9
Reim
Reim will have no problem generating fortified health as well as stacking his broken myth against a Phinn. If going against a Reim, Phinn should simply just try and avoid Reim to prevent him from generating fortified health while his allies do distance from afar.
10
Skye
Phinn is a sitting duck against Skye. With the speed boost she gets from her heroic perk, as well as the relatively short cooldown for Suri Strike, this makes things very challenging for the slow moving Phinn. Be very careful when engaging Skye as to not be destroyed by her Forward Barrage.
My name is FlashX. I am the ROAM player for Team SoloMid who are the current reigning World and North American champions. I have been playing Vainglory since September 2014. I am currently Vainglorious Silver in the Spring 2016 Season. You can check out my previous guide on my Blitzkrieg Fortress here: http://www.vaingloryfire.com/vainglory/guide/flashxs-blitzkrieg-fortress-13946
This guide will focus on playing Phinn as ROAM hero. With the 1.16 update, the Spring 2016 has only recently just begun, and with it came massive buff's to Phinn and his utility as a ROAM hero. While the numbers on the buffs may seem very small, their impact is HUGE in making Phinn viable in the ROAM position. Particularly in professional play, Phinn has not been utilized very often due to the immense mechanical skill of some of the best players and their ability to reflex block or even simply dodge many of Phinn's abilities. While it is very early into the season, I believe Phinn will slowly become a standout ROAM hero.
I believe Phinn is effective as a ROAM hero because he is very effective at both initiating fights by using his Forced Accord as well as protecting his allies by using Polite Company. While these two abilities remained the same, it was Phinn's Quibble that received a buff for 1.16 which is the main reason as to why I believe Phinn will become extremely viable in the ROAM position. The buff's to Quibble are as follows: Radius up from 2.7 to 3.0 meters, Slow/S duration up from 0.8s to 0.9s. While at first glance may seem minimal, their impact in teamfights can have vastly different outcomes. Quibble will now be much harder for enemies to dodge and will now disable them for a slightly longer duration.
Phinn cannot be stopped or stunned. All movement-impairing effects are instead reduced to moderate slows, and stuns are converted to silences.
He even shrugs off attempts on his life, passively gaining 18% additional armor, shield and max health from items and effects.
Phinn is an unstoppable tank who brings the fight to him. He pairs incredibly well with other heroes who don't back down from battle. Phinn is strongest with defense and utility items, and he's able to absorb immense amounts of punishment, protecting teammates while they dish out damage.[/color]
Phinn has the single highest base health at level 1 (960) and is outscaled only Glaive at level 12. From his heroic perk, Phinn naturally enhances the defensive effects of ALL defense and utility items which are essential parts of his kit when being played as a ROAM hero. Enemies would be wise to not waste their stuns or slows on Phinn because he will easily shrug them off only be briefly silenced instead. However, Phinn suffers at the expense of having slower base move speed than any other hero (2.8) which makes it important to build Travel Boots much earlier than other ROAM heroes.
Phinn slams his anchor down on the targeted location, heavily slowing enemies for 1.1s.
Overdrive: At max rank, the slow becomes a stun!
Deals reduced damage to minions.
Using Quibble: Use Quibble as a means to deal massive damage in addition to either stunning or slowing the enemy heroes. Overdriving Quibble (getting it to level 5) is very important so that Quibble changes from being a slow into a stun. Having the ability to stun multiple enemies is hugely advantageous in team fights. With the increased radius of Quibble in 1.16 (up from 2.7 to 3.0), and the increased slow/stun duration (up from 0.8s to 0.9s), Quibble is now extremely more potent. While those numbers may seem small, they will have massive effects during combat. Phinn will be much more likely to now land both double and triple slows/stuns.
What to AVOID: Be patient when using Quibble. Enemies will expect it to be coming which will make it more likely that they are prepared to dodge it. Use Quibble when enemies are in the center of the radius so that it is much harder for enemies to evade both the damage and the slow/stun. Avoid using Quibble against very agile heroes such as Taka or Skye because they have abilities that make it very easy to dodge Quibble.
Phinn stomps the earth, damaging all enemies in a wide area and nudging them toward him. The effect reverberates around allies, temporarily granting them fortified health.
Fortified health increases by 5% of Phinn's bonus health and 18% of Phinn's bonus armor/shield.
Using Polite Company: Polite company can be used both offensively and defensively. For offense, use Polite Company in order to bring enemies towards Phinn. This disrupts their positioning which is favorable for Phinn and his allies. In most situations, this will also enable Phinn to immediately follow up with a Quibble which will surely be a good start to a teamfight if it lands successfully. On defense, Polite Company offers a barrier of fortified health that scales incredibly well as the game progreses because Phinn naturally builds a lot of items that are very beneficial for his kit. If allies come under fire, Phinn can immediately use Polite Company so that his allies have this barrier in order to help protect his allies. Enemies travel significantly farther when this ability is overdriven, making Polite Company the second ability (after Quibble) that Phinn should overdrive.
What to AVOID: Avoid using Polite Company when unnecessary. Phinn will likely struggle to maintain energy in order to use abilities making it very important to use this ability effectively.
Phinn throws his anchor in a direction. After the anchor reaches its destination, Phinn yanks it back, damaging all enemies in its path and pulling them back to him.
Using Forced Accord: Similarly to Polite Company, Forced Accord can be used both offensively and defensively. However, using it offensively is more common and likely how many Phinn players will use it. Because of the relatively slow animation, Phinn has not seen much use in competitive play due to the skill of professional players and their ability to simply reflex block Forced Accord. In order to use this ability most effectively, players should focus on trying to catch enemies when they are at the farthest edge of this ability. If done correctly, players will have to activate reflex block while the hook is still coming towards them because once it reaches them it will immediately start pulling them towards Phinn and his allies. To use this ability defensively, Phinn will want to hook enemies away from his allies. In order to do this, Phinn should position himself in a manner such that the enemies are in between Phinn and the rest of his allies. He can then use Forced Accord to pull enemies away from his allies. Forced accord should only be used in the manner when allies have unfavorable positioning and Phinn should know that he will likely die after using this ability in this specific manner. The rest of Phinn's allies will now be very far away from Phinn while the enemies are on top of him.
What to AVOID: Avoid using Forced Accord at close distances. If enemies are too close, the hook will go through them and continue to its maximum range before returning back to Phinn. If used in this manner, enemies will have significantly more time to prepare to block the ability. Avoid maxing Forced Accord. While it does offer an additional 15 seconds of cooldown and an additional 15% refund, the utility that both Phinn and his allies receive from having overdriven Quibble and Polite Company are much stronger. Phinn will only have 1 chance to use Forced Accord during a team fight even if it is has the level 3 effects so I do not believe it is worth it.
With the first qualifier for the 2016 Spring Championships now complete, there are a few standout heroes that pair incredibly well with Phinn:
TANKY|STICKY|FRONTLINE
Krul pairs extremely well with Phinn. They have an incredible amount of synergy together in terms of their abilities and methods of outputting damage. Usually, Krul has to build Shiversteel in order to stick to a target. With Phinn assisting Krul, both Quibble and Polite Company will help keep enemies close to Krul. The fortified health from Polite Company will also help Krul survive through any burst damage as he continues to build his stacks of weakness. If enemies attempt to run, or have a mobile escape, Phinn can bring them back to Krul using his Forced Accord!
PEEL AND FRONTLINE
Skaarf pairs extremely well with Phinn. They have an incredible amount of synergy together in terms of how each should respectively position during a teamfight. Usually, Skaarf tends to keep his distance from the enemies and poke them down while he builds stacks on Broken Myth. Phinn acts as a tanky frontline that absorbs as much damage as possible. Phinn can activate Quibble to either hold burning enemies in Skaarf's goop or to help Skaarf land the Spitfire skillshot. Once full stacks of Broken Myth have been achieved, Phinn can use Forced Accord bring the enemies close to Skaarf while he uses Dragon Breath!
Journey Boots
Phinn is the single slowest hero on the Halcyon Fold. Boots should the first item purchased by Phinn so that his allies do not have to constantly wait for him. Eventually these will be upgraded into Travel Boots for additional movement speed while outside of combat and then ultimately into Journey Boots for the additional bonus health, armor, and shield which pair well with both Unstoppable and Polite Company. Having the faster cooldown on the boots activation is also very helpful for Phinn who can use it to ensure landing a Quibble or getting into range for a Forced Accord.
Fountain of Renewal
Best utilized when allies are low on health during a team fight. Active: heals you and nearby allies for 2 health for each % missing health per second for 3 seconds. For awhile, Fountain of Renewal has been an essential part of every ROAM players build, and in addition some jungle carries. However, in 1.16 it's effectiveness has significantly been reduced. Now having to go through a delayed animation, the timing of fountain has significantly decreased. The additional bonus health, shield, and armor granted by Fountain of Renewal are very beneficial to Phinn's kit.
Warhorn
I believe Warhorn is incredibly important, especially for Phinn. Active: Grant +2.75 move speed to all nearby teammates. Lasts 1.0s for each hero affected. This enables Phinn to quickly navigate the map with his allies and engage upon unsuspecting enemies. The additional 400 health and 16 health regeneration also help Phinn to be tanky very early in the game.
Crucible Crucible is 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. Crucible also offers an additional 600 health, which will vastly improve Phinn's ability to absorb damage as well as increase the barrier both Phinn and his allies receive from using Polite Company. Examples: Blast Tremor (Catherine), Verse of Judgement (Adagio), Dragon Breath (Skaarf).
Atlas Pauldron Atlas Pauldron is 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 Phinn 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. Which the additional 85 armor and 35 shield, Phinn will utilize these additional defensive stats when using Polite Company. However, Metal Jacket is a strong alternative with how it synergizes with Unstoppable and Polite Company .
Clockwork Clockwork is a strong item choice for Phinn later on in the game because the cooldown reduction will allow Phinn to use his abilities multiple times during a single fight. However, it is still more important for Phinn to prioritize the core defensive and utility items in his kit as well as infusions.
Crystal Infusion / Weapon Infusion
Both Crystal Infusion and Weapon Infusion are very important for Phinn in the late game. When Phinn reaches level 12, Phinn will receive an additional 30 armor and 30 shield for EACH infusion. This will make Phinn massively tankier and thus directly increase the effects of his Polite Company which can help save the lives of his allies.
Using these different items depending on the situation will surely give you an advantage in team fights. A good Phinn will focus on counter-building the enemy team thus allowing him to offer the most utility and defense to his own team. Fountain of Renewal and Warhorn are ESSENTIAL parts of Phinn's kit. In all situations they are considered effective because there is not a significant amount of counter play to them. Utilize Fountain of Renewal when Phinn or his allies become low in health, and use Warhorn to either engage or disengage from a team fight.
1. Starting ITEMS: Ironguard Contract, HALCYCON POTION, Flare Gun - Buying 2 potions is unncessary because Phinn 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 Phinn takes the first hit damage from jungle minions for optimal clear mechanics. This will maximize the amount of gold Phinn and his allies are able to earn.
2. Clearing the jungle: Begin to channel Quibble on the large double minions right before they spawn at t=0:25. Immediately start to basic attack them while Phinn's ally kills the large heal minion. Before Phinn's jungle carry kills any of the jungle minions, Phinn 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 occasions, 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 Phinn and his jungle ally should shop immediately. Phinn should buy Sprint Boots. 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. After the first rotation, Phinn should purchase boots.
4. To Invade, or not to Invade? Phinn is the slowest hero in the Halcyon Fold. Invading the enemy jungle is tricky because he has very slow movement speed. Phinn and his ally should only invade if they successfully win the first engagement. If you do not, simply return to your jungle and continue the rotation.
Playing the MID GAME: (t = 8:00 - 15:00)
Phinn begins to ramp up in the mid game. He hits his first major power spike once he completes his Fountain of Renewal and his Warhorn, a second major power spike when he reaches level 6 to unlock his Forced Accord, and a final power spike when he reaches level 8 in order to overdrive Quibble so that it now stuns. All of this will happen during the mid game. Phinn's decisions here should be reflective of his allies versus the enemies. If his allies are strong in the mid game, Phinn will want to be aggressive, pulling in enemy carries using Forced Accord whenever the opportunity rises. If Phinn and his allies are at a disadvantage in the mid game, passive play using Quibble and Polite Company to protect his allies should be your focus. Continue to farm and develop items until the enemy overextends or your team gains an advantage.
Playing the LATE GAME: (t = 15:00 - End of Game)
While Phinn should have built an immense amount of both defensive and utility items at this point, the enemy team has also scaled significantly in their damage. Choosing fights selectively is very important at this stage in the game. Ideal Forced Accord's will separate enemy teams such that a high priority carry gets hooked away from his own allies such that they cannot help. Because of Phinn's slow movement speed, it is important that his allies stay patient and always stay behind him. Building Travel Boots and eventually Journey Boots at this stage in the game is very important. Both Weapon Infusion and Crystal Infusion provide significant advantages to both Phinn and his allies.
What to avoid:
1. Avoid taking last hits. Phinn's allies should always be the ones who get the last hit. Phinn 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 Phinn to be the frontline for his team, he needs to make sure his allies are in a position to help Phinn should he be engaged upon. Because of his slow movement speed, Phinn MUST fight if they enemey team tries to engage. Phinn's ally will have to make a decision as to whether he should stay and help fight or use the time to retreat. 3. Quibble deals massive damage early on in the game. Avoid being impatient and using it ineffectively. It is extremely important to hit the enemies with this ability or else the engagement may go very poorly. 4. Be patient with Forced Accord. While you will have cooldown refund if this ability misses, good enemy teams will take advantage of Phinn missing this ability and surely force a fight if the hook misses or is blocked.
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 Quibble and a level 1 Polite Company 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 (Forced Accord) 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 Phinn, this is his Quibble. At level 6, Phinn should have a level 1 Polite Company, Level 1 Forced Accord, and Level 4 Quibble. The burst damage from this ability offers a very large advantage in a team fight.
2. 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 Forced Accord to initiate the fight, Phinn should communicate who the priority focus is and how his allies should follow up after the enemies have been hooked.. My team prefers to use an iOS/PC app called Discord. Teamspeak or Skype are also good alternatives.
3. Be Patient. - Most Phinn players may panic in a teamfight and try and use all of their abilities immediately. However, this may not be ideal. If the abilities are not used correctly, and in unison, this could be detrimental to both Phinn and his allies. Wait for the perfect scenario to use Forced Accord. If enemies are too far, Phinn may need to position closer. If enemies are too close, Phinn may need to distance himself so that it is much harder for enemies to reflex block this ability. Landing a successful Quibble can often have massive positive effects on a teamfight. Phinn should be patient enough and wait for an opening that will almost ensure he will land it successfully. Most often Phinn will have initiated with either a Forced Accord or a Polite Company before using Quibble in order to have the highest success in landing the Quibble.
4. Positioning. Positioning in team fights is very important. Similarly to how all ROAM heroes should be played (with the exception of CP Adagio), Phinn will want to be the frontline meat shield for his allies. His goal is to absorb as much enemy damage as possible while Phinn's allies are attacking the enemies. From the Unstoppable perk, Phinn receives significantly greater benefits from building both defensive and utility items. Key items to his kit are Fountain of Renewal, Warhorn, and Crucible. All of these items will greatly increase the effectiveness of Polite Company which in turn will increase Phinn's ability to absorb as much damage as possible. When using Forced Accord, Phinn should ensure that his allies are positioned in order to immediately start to deal damage onto the enemies who are successfully pulled into range.
THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to read and study my 1.16 ROAM Phinn guide. 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 Phinn 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.
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Phinn
Shiversteel
Broken Myth
Dragon Breath
Metal Jacket
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