It’s been particularly interesting playing through the new Paragon map against both AI bots and Epic staff. Most Heroes have received significant changes to their ability cooldowns and some, such as Twinblast, have received significant reworks. Have the Hero changes alone benefited Paragon? Absolutely.

It’s fair to say that the meta of Paragon over the last few months had stagnated and with Epic holding back Hero adjustments until the arrival of Monolith it’s easy to understand why. Making sweeping changes in Legacy would have served little purpose, especially considering how much has changed in Monolith and how much the new pace of the game has altered the way it plays.

Although I’ve spoken at great length about Monolith itself, I did want to talk separately about the Heroes and how I feel this map and its subsequent changes will affect the meta. I’ll stress that it’s still incredibly early and there’s still likely to be a significant quantity of changes from Epic. However, even from spending a week in the new map you begin to get a feel for who has benefited from the transition, who is none the worse for wear and who as a result of all the changes might be in need of a little tender loving care.

I suspect most people are keen to hear about Twinblast and I think it only fair to start with him, and while I don’t have time to detail every Hero and my thoughts on them, I’ll try to apply broad strokes and pick out key observations (bear with me).

Twinblast has had it pretty rough since he was rebalanced and while he was too strong, Epic were a little heavy handed. This inevitably left Sparrow, Grim.exe and Murdock all vying for player attention and with no other ranged Hero having been implemented since, it wasn’t unsurprising to see Murdock rise to the top of the pecking order. His combination of damage, zoning potential, defensive abilities and global Ultimate make him a formidable ranged Hero and one that, despite my preference for Grim.exe and Sparrow, is inarguable.

There’s a desperate need for another ranged Hero in Paragon and while Twinblast might not necessarily be new, his rework has invigorated one of the games most popular Heroes, to the point where his value is once again highly sought after. By adjusting his kit so that it revolves entirely around quick damage - spread across abilities, not just his basic attacks - makes him stand out from the crowd. He’s incredibly fast to play and I would argue, already far superior to the likes of Grim.exe and Sparrow.

His Grenade is not only capable of rapid delivery but comes packed with three charges that are excellent for zoning and dealing damage from afar. Whether hounding an enemy Hero or softening up a lane, their recharge time is short and they’re relatively low-cost when it comes to mana expenditure. When you combine this with Rapid Fire (a satisfying volley of shots that you can use amongst your basic attacks) Twinblast’s burst because very high, very quickly. His Ultimate ability, the showpiece of his kit, is no longer a drab delivery of rockets and instead a breakneck barrage of bullets. Firing at frightening pace and at times difficult to aim - simply because of the speed - the burst is such that few Heroes can survive it.

While Twinblast might have lost his ability to slow enemies, there’s now little need for it. His mobility combined with his basics and ability damage make him a formidable Hero. Though he lacks the reliable lane defence of Murdock and his Static Trap, he honestly doesn’t need it. Twinblast’s Rocket Dash provides more than enough movement to escape Heroes and their ground targeted abilities and is quick enough to gain distance when needed. He’s a frightening Hero to fight against and even more fun that he ever was. I’m very much looking forward to watching how the community not only build him now that he has access to Growth cards (Charging Brute, anyone?) but to see where they think he ranks in comparison to his peers.

So what about the other Heroes and how has Monolith affected them? Well, it’s largely positive for everyone and balance adjustments have been clever. Although I’ve yet to knuckle down on the scaling changes for abilities and specific Heroes (with much of this post anecdotal) I’d have to say that Sevarog, Feng Mao, Steel and Kallari have all prospered massively in Monolith.

Sevarog

Sevarog has always been one of my favorite Heroes and although his Ultimate no longer instantly clears minion waves, he makes up for this in the fact that his Siphon and all his other abilities allow him to secure his Soul Stacks. His damage and health bonuses from minions and players are now easily achieved, thanks in part to the fact jungle camps can now have five minions at a time (instead of two). If he builds cleverly, he can quickly clear camps and still have more than enough health to move onto a lane to secure a gank. I will add that due to the layout of Monolith and the relatively short lanes (or the lack of safety if the enemy attempts to push onto offlane) also further helps him. A well timed Subjugate, Siphon or Colossal Blow can pretty much always secure a kill even at level one and the addition of Fog Walls further adds to his threat. What I also love about Sevarog this patch and going back to his camp clear is the fact that even early game he can often use Colossal Blow to clear camps entirely adding a quick five Soul Stacks; an ability he’ll be able to use again in 30 seconds.

Steel

Steel has never been poor but dropped off somewhat as a result of Rampage and Greystone and their ability to tower dive. With Towers rebalanced (somewhat) and his abilities given a nitro injection of speed, Steel is an enormous threat. He may still have worse clear than Sevarog but his Ultimate ability, Shield Slam, is frightening right now. I still feel it’s far too fast and there’s very little opportunity to avoid it but in its current state, it’s terrifying. Not only will he land on players in a heartbeat but he then follows up with Bull Rush that’s once again unavoidable. This level of immediate damage, with only a 90 second cooldown, has brought Steel to the fore and I suspect we’ll see a lot more of him purely on this burst and disruption. Despite this, I expect Epic to slightly tweak the speed of both of these abilities as they’re simply far too quick right now. Finally, his Bulwark is now fantastic - having the ability to mitigate 90% incoming damage is amazing and although he’s still harmed by AOE, I’ve already used it multiple times to save a player's life.

Kallari

The black swan of the Paragon world, Kallari really had it tough in Legacy. Hard countered by Shadow Wards, damage that wasn’t any more superior than every other Fighter and bringing little utility, she was often a liability. A lot has changed for her here and all for the better. Having all Wards on a timer ensures the map isn’t littered with them (far from it) while her kit has been buffed just about everywhere. Her Crippling Dagger is far stronger thanks to its heavy slow and increased range, while she hits harder. What’s also particularly strong about Kallari is that she can now make full use of her Backflip with Monolith heavily favouring Heroes who can utilise its verticality. She can comfortably escape, engage from multiple angles and can bypass typical jungle paths the likes of Grux have to tread. She hits incredibly hard and while she’s still pretty poor at clearing camps, she can overcome this through an effective deck. She’s going to be a huge handful and a constant threat.

Feng Mao

The first Hero I mastered and one that in Legacy was arguably weaker than Grux (he lacked the utility of Grux’s pull and stun). Fortunately for me, he’s rather incredible here and I think much stronger than Grux. Not only is his Ultimate near instant but it has a slightly longer range. Better still, his Reaping Dash is quicker and allows him to make full use of the jungle and its verticality (similarly to Kallari). What makes Feng Mao exceptional however is the fact he can comfortably clear a five-stacked minion camp thanks to Hamstring and his farm is exceptional now that they’ve buffed Conversion Shield. Shielding Feng Mao for almost 500 damage once fully upgraded (and around 125 at level 1) he’s surprisingly tanky and can make some frighteningly risky engagements that pay-off. Several times during my playtest with Epic I tower dived Steve Superville, secured the kill only to shield up and walk away - despite the Tower hitting on me. He’s a Hero that’s absolutely going to excel in Monolith.

Notable Changes 

• Countess is a huge threat now thanks to Fog Walls. She has huge ganking potential and amazing burst (also helped by the tweaks to health).
• Dekker’s Ultimate still has a very long cooldown but remains long enough to wipe a team due to the sheer speed of everyone's abilities.
• Gadget remains fantastic at lane push and all her abilities are now frighteningly fast.
• Greystone’s AOE slow when he dies is instant and heavy. It’s tough to escape if you don’t use a mobility skill.
• Grux’s pull (Smash and Grab) is instant but has an incredibly short range, though slightly wider wedge.

• Howitzer and his Make It Rain is near instant and pretty much guarantees a kill if an enemy is caught in it.
• Iggy remains strong, but the reduction to health and the value of armor - combined with shorter lanes - doesn’t make him too strong.
• Murdock’s root on Static Trap further strengthens an already strong Hero.
• Narbash’s heal (Song of my People) is now pretty awesome and provides much needed lane sustain.
• Rampage doesn’t feel as strong in terms of personal survivability and can’t tower dive as well. He’s still good - but feels balanced - 1 on 1.
• Sparrow still hits hard late game but genuinely seems to struggle against the sheer speed of abilities unless she has Blink.
• The Fey is surprisingly strong in Monolith. Her slow remains invaluable and her poke really strong even from level 1. And yes, she can move while using all abilities, until she launches her Fly Trap. 

Overall I’m incredibly happy with all the changes Epic have made and I’m incredibly excited to see how the meta now evolves. As noted above, I suspect we’ll see a lot more of the four Heroes mentioned while Narbash and Countess have surprised me: both prove incredibly strong here.

Considering I’m still experimenting with builds, the one thing I will stress is that sustain has never been more important on Monolith. Health and mana recovery, combined with cleave will be essential for effective laning and jungling. To leave your lane can result in a near instantaneous push by the enemy while minion camp stacking ensures all junglers have to have a constant method of replenishing their health otherwise they’ll spend far too much time returning to base, instead of thinning out the jungle.

If you’ll excuse me, I’ve builds to experiment with ready for Tuesday’s launch.

Read our Monolith Hands-On Impressions here!

Want to see the Monolith login menu, cards and Hero abilities? Look here. 

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