#shuckshack

Okay so this hero is a captain and a carry. If you know how to play both the roles, and you know them right, this hero is gonna be unbeatable. You see, she has great CC (and high team utility) which is needed in a captain while also having great damage which is needed in a carry. I don’t see anyone going WP with her because her basic damage scales up according to the CP power. But you can potentially go WP as we have the item SORROWBLADE. Going on this path, is gonna provide you with some CP damage (because every hero builds up some crystal power as they level up) as well as some WP damage. Now, let’s talk some abilities and numbers.

Heroic perk (That’s Swell)

The basic damage scales up according to the CP power you have. The abilities leave water pools which empower other abilities IF they are activated while on the pool (This consumes the water pool). If you continue to attack while on the pool, it grants you bonus crystal power which only increases the damage (SWEET!). And one more thing, the pool only persists for 8s (imagine if this was forever).

Ability A (Fish Food)

It is a skillshot which has a delayed stun. It leaves a pool full of piranhas (YIKES!) which damages the enemy over time (if that enemy is standing on the pool of course). If empowered (i.e. activated while on a pool) there is a reduced impact delay. It only stuns for 0.45 seconds (reduced from 1 second) and this stun scales with her 0.03% bonus health (meaning that stun duration increases by 0.03s if you have 100 bonus health). 50% reduced damage to minions, structures, summons and Kraken.

Ability B (Splashdown)

This ability creates a pool of water after a delay of 0.8 seconds. It speeds up your allies while slowing down your foes. The slow strength also scales up with 0.017% of bonus health (which gives us another reason to choose her as a captain).

Ability C (Waterwall)

This ability is like a very very OVER POWERED reflex block. She forms a protective veil around herself or the targeted ally. This veil is a large barrier which after 4s drops down and converts into a splash pool (if learned). The barrier strength scales (as anticipated) with 15% of her bonus health.

My initial thoughts

I think after the update 2.11 (when she got nurfed), her role as a carry weakened. Not saying that you couldn’t play her as a carry, you could, but now you will have reduced CC (Crowd Control). And you can only reach her maximum potential when you have that CC on your side. So this basically shifter her from a carry to a captain (her default role was captain from the start but people preferred playing her as a carry). I enjoy her a lot quite frankly and she was my go-to hero before Varya got released. But nonetheless, she is a great hero excelling at the protection of a hyper carry as her abilities provide the carry a chance to either elope or strike down the enemy. Buying the item ECHO can also prove beneficial as then you can activate your third ability twice. The third ability can save your a*s so many times because of the large 4s barrier that it provides and then when it converts to the splashdown it creates a distance between you and your foes as it speeds you up while slowing down your enemy.

(Another thing that I forgot to mention: the thing that makes Lorelai more of a captain is that her abilities scale according to the bonus health she has. So buying utility or defense items could help you as they would provide with more CC. It’s as if the nurf was a blessing in disguise because it heightened the ceiling of Lorelai’s maximum potential and also increased her CC)

So this is one of the captains that I really wanna see in the meta (talking about skill tier of 4 and 5) but then I sort of understand that people need to move up to higher ranks quickly and the captain role isn’t very convincing for it. But ironically if you spend some time (maybe half a season) with a captain (notably Grace), you have potentially more chance to gain ranks and being able to sustain those ranks. Because playing a captain requires skill and there is only one way to acquire that skill: by playing a CAPTAIN. Let us now talk some abilities and numbers.

Heroic perk (Retribution)

This perk grants grace a little bit of crowd control that is so essential in every captain. She slams her staff on the ground dealing bonus weapon damage (+20%) and slowing enemies in a wide area. This could potentially prove beneficial if the target has a low health but high mobility, meaning Grace and her carry can keep up with that target because of Grace’s heroic perk (and also the first ability). The slow strength is massive at 75% with a duration of 0.6s which can be increased by 0.3 bonus crystal power.

Ability A (Benediction)

Requires diction to pronounce (a terrible joke). This ability gives her a bit of an assassin edge as this ability deletes any distance between grace and her foe. Additionally, it also slows the enemy meaning that if grace lands her retribution attack, she and her carry could potentially score a kill as that enemy target would receive massive amount of slows which would be enough for grace and her allies to kill him/her. This ability also grants her holy shield to her and her allies. The shield protects grace from all sides while the shield that allies gain is directional meaning that it will continue to face the enemy on whom this ability is used. The shield reduces 40% incoming damage (+5% crystal power). Upon learning this ability grace also permanently reduces all incoming damage by 8% (+5% crystal power) and if overdriven this ability is refreshed upon using Divine Intervention (Ability C).

Ability B (Holy Nova)

This ability again provides crowd control to Grace. Upon using this ability enemies in a wide circular area are knocked into air disabling them for 1 second. It could be used in combination with the first ability. The first ability could be used to get near the enemy and slow them, then by quickly getting in front of them, you can cast this ability. This will do two things, 1. This combination will stun and slow enemy heroes letting your allies to catch up to them, 2. It will deal massive amounts of damage to the enemy. If the ability is overdriven Grace gains immunity from all negative effects while she is casting this ability. Also, grace immediately recovers from the ability if she at least stuns one enemy. It deals 50% less damage to the minions. (Keep in mind, that if she missed her stun, she will be left immobile for a quite a bit of time)

Ability C (Divine Intervention)

Upon activating this ability grace surrounds herself and her target with holy shield. She then channels for 1.8 seconds after which the target receives a massive heal. Depending on your crystal power and the level of the ability, it could range between 400-1100. By buying Echo you can use this ability twice to save a carry or a jungler who has over committed into the fight.

My initial thoughts

Grace is one of the best captains so far, as she provides crowd control, a team wide protection and also, her abilities make her a very tanky hero. I would recommend going with a CP build as she has very high crystal ratios on all of her abilities (mainly on the damage categories). For example: the crystal ratio for the damage of her first ability is 170% meaning that you can spam this ability and deal massive amounts of damage to your foes, while also gaining shield which would protect you from incoming damage. And all this could bring the match into your team’s favor if you build a high crystal power build. I think she deserves more recognition and she needs to come in the Meta. If you are in the market for a great captain hero, buy grace. By playing her you can learn the basic play style of a captain. She does requires some practice before you can gain those wins, but the time spent in practicing her is totally worth it. And above all this, she is a captain which can synergize with almost any hero.