VG Hero: Kestrel

Kestrel has got to be my favourite, I`ve always used kestrel in jungle, and shes a killing machine with a crystal build that consists of one clockwork and then just satterglass and i can easly ace the enmey team with ease. Heres a link of a bit of a gameplay from the other day and you can see what i mean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYNRvfFRAlI

Kestrel is an ultimate killer and game changer. In late game,you can use Active Camo repeatedly and run from end-to-end of the map without being seen (only if the tower is no more, only the Ancient left). When opponents are attacking to your side, you can just sneak from your base to enemy base and attack their Ancient quickly. I've just played with Kestrel and did that. Epic win.

2 clockworks and aftershock = across map invisibility. I ran circles around a Koshka just leaving vapor trails around her. My must haves for kestrel.

Its beeen 6months since kestrel came out... When will she have her costume....

best ult ever

why dont people use a tension bow for Kestrel? i ask because her A already has armor piercing and a little more should stack right?(im kinda fairly new to the game)

Personally, I have bought Kestrel and, as a laner, I think she's amazing when using a WP build. I haven't had the chamce to test her as a crystal jungler as of yet but I do agree that she could be a deadly assassin. The only fault I've had with her (which does even out her damage in fights) is that she is extremely squishy. And staying on the edge of battle is very difficult since most enemies know that you're the easier target and a damage dealer. I've found that an early metal jacket helps. Let me know of any specific builds for Kestrel for me to try out, it'd be appreciated.

I haven't actually played the hero yet, but from practicing and theorycrafting I'm starting to think that Kestrel's defining skill is her B, not her A and C.

CP Kestrel's A and C are both very similar skills to Celeste's A and C, and in my opinion worse versions. Kestrel's C is much easier to miss, and her A doesn't have a 200% crystal ratio if you cast it on the same spot, and it has limited ammo.

WP Kestrel is just an inferior Ringo (ignoring her B). Her passive and A are nice steroids, but her A doesn't scale well with attack speed, and her passive gives her only up to 50% attack speed while Ringo's B gives him a staggering 100%, and Ringo's is far easier to activate.

Granted, her A has a slightly longer range than a normal attack and can be shot into fog of war, and for CP it has a larger effect radius than Celeste's A, but that doesn't matter much.

So what does this mean? This means that there are only 2 strong ways to play Kestrel:

1) Use your B to escape. With 250 bonus weapon power, I think your B is not disabled when you take damage, but I haven't been able to test it . If that’s the case, it’s a pretty good escape on weapon Kestrel. But if your B is disabled when you take damage (either because you don’t have enough weapon power or because it doesn’t work reduce like that), you have to be very careful when saving it to escape.

2) Use your B to damage as crystal Kestrel. If you press B>A>A, you can stun enemies and then unleash more burst damage than Taka before the enemy gets a chance to react. What’s more, this damage can hit multiple targets and still leaves you with two shots of A and your ultimate to fight with. So Kestrel actually has pretty good potential as a melee assassin.



I think it's just like all the other ranged characters. Yes, you can take Ringo/Vox/Celeste jungle, and it's viable in the right situation, but when you don't know exactly where your enemies are as it usually is in the jungle, a melee character with good defense/escape is usually going to be better. And vainglory has no draft phase yet, so the great characters are going to be picked far more than the good ones.

Haven't played her, but played against her and I think Fortress destroys her. Only played against her once so I need some more evidence.

I realize they labeled Kestrel as a Laner, but i feel like with a crystal build including a clockwork for energy recharge, she would be a deadly jungler. Thoughts?

ps. I have yet to play her in game, I've only tried her in solo practice (waiting to buy with glory)