EPIC have just released a new blog post detailing the labelling of their Heroes in Paragon and I have to say, it's perhaps a little unconventional. Typically in the MOBA genre Heroes are referred to as Assassin, Warrior, Mage; the list goes on. What EPIC are attempting to do is provide greater clarity on Hero roles based on what they're capable of. Personally, I think it's convoluted and people will always refer to Heroes as their simplest description. No one is ever going to say Steel is a "Initiator / Guardian / Durable / Attacker / Zoner". He's a tank. Take a look at the full post below. 


TL;DR With the Monolith Update, we will be changing the way we talk about Heroes. This change will allow us to more easily communicate the things Heroes are good at and show multiple use cases for each of them.

Hey Paragon People, 

Last week, in the Monolith Update Blog, we talked briefly about Hero Traits. This new classification will replace the current way we describe our Heroes. To summarize what we said in the last blog: our three-tier classification hasn’t been totally accurate or representative in its ability to evaluate Heroes capabilities. To that end, we have improved our Hero Traits verbiage so that we can better describe the types of gameplay that our Heroes possess in varying degrees.

Traits are not meant to be a hard and fast set of rules, but rather a guideline. Each Hero is unique and brings a special blend of skills to the battlefield of Agora. In this way, some will show aptitude at different play styles which we will attempt to highlight to let you find the kinds of Heroes that play the way you want. No balancing rules are made based on the below - they are intended to describe the gameplay that already exists to help make choosing the right Hero for you easier, as well as to help players evaluate new Hero skillsets before playing them.

Without further adieu, here is the full list of Hero Traits and breakdown of each Hero currently shipping with Monolith! Enjoy! 

ASSASSIN

Assassins have abilities that allow them to create and exploit favorable conflicts with out-of-position and solo Heroes. They will improve team map control and vision as a result.

ATTACKER

Attackers deal a large amount of damage using basic attacks.

BURST

Burst Heroes can deal a large amount of damage quickly - usually ability damage, but not always!

CONTROLLER

Controllers can disable or otherwise affect other Heroes’ mobility and positioning.

DURABLE

Durable Heroes are naturally tough through armor, health, regeneration, or any other mechanism.

ELUSIVE

Elusive Heroes have abilities which allow them to escape from bad situations or otherwise make them hard to hit.

GANKER

Gankers excel at setting up quick, safe kills. 

GUARDIAN

Guardians have abilities which help them keep their allies safe or assist in setting up allies for plays. They are especially good early game.

INITIATOR

Initiators excel at being able to start a fight from range.

MARAUDER

Marauders have the potential for the greatest end game power via itemization, though they are weaker earlier in the game. 

SIEGER

Siegers have abilities which allow them to deal with waves of minions easily, whether on offense or defense.

WILD

Wild Heroes have tools which enable them to be effective clearing Jungle camps early in the game.

ZONER

Zoners have tools which enable them to zone out or otherwise corral enemies by controlling space.
 

Now that you have absorbed all that info, let’s take a look at how we attribute these Traits to each of our Heroes. Traits appear in the order of most applicable to least. For example, Countess’ “Assassin” trait represents her ability to take down a solo Hero. Her “Durable” trait represents her regen. And while she’s good at both, she’s not as Durable a hero as say, Rampage.

COUNTESS

Melee - Assassin / Burst / Sieger / Ganker / Durable

CRUNCH 

Melee - Initiator /  Burst  / Wild / Controller / Attacker

DEKKER 

Ranged - Guardian / Controller / Zoner / Elusive 

FENG MAO 

Melee - Attacker / Durable / Assassin / Elusive / Wild / Ganker

IGGY & SCORCH

Ranged -  Zoner / Sieger / Elusive

GADGET 

Ranged - Sieger / Zoner / Burst / Guardian / Elusive

GIDEON 

Ranged - Burst / Assassin / Elusive / Sieger

GREYSTONE 

Melee - Durable / Initiator / Attacker / Elusive / Wild

GRIM.EXE 

Ranged - Marauder /  Attacker / Burst

GRUX 

Melee - Attacker / Ganker / Initiator / Wild / Sieger / Controller

HOWITZER 

Ranged - Sieger / Elusive / Burst / Zoner

KALLARI 

Melee - Assassin / Elusive / Ganker / Attacker / Initiator 

KHAIMERA 

Melee - Assassin / Ganker / Attacker / Wild 

KWANG

Melee - Initiator / Wild / Durable / Attacker / Ganker

LT. BELICA

Ranged - Controller / Zoner / Burst / Sieger /Guardian 

MURDOCK

Ranged - Marauder / Attacker / Burst / Zoner

NARBASH 

Melee - Guardian / Controller / Durable 

RAMPAGE

Melee - Durable / Wild / Attacker / Initiator / Elusive / Ganker

RIKTOR 

Melee - Controller / Guardian / Ganker / Assassin

SEVAROG 

Melee - Attacker / Initiator / Durable / Controller / Sieger

SPARROW 

Ranged - Marauder / Attacker / Sieger 

STEEL 

Melee - Initiator / Guardian / Durable / Attacker / Zoner

MURIEL

Ranged - Guardian / Durable / Zoner 

THE FEY

Ranged - Controller / Guardian / Sieger / Burst 

TWINBLAST

Ranged - Marauder / Attacker / Elusive / Burst
 

We hope you find the new terms more descriptive and find them helpful when developing your playstyles. Traits will start to roll out in-game on December 6 with the Monolith Update and will follow on our website shortly thereafter. 

GLHF, 

The Paragon Team


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Paragon Game Page.

Last Updated: Nov 30, 2016

About The Author

Lewis is a long standing journalist, who freelances to a variety of outlets.

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