Paragon: How To Counter Caster Heroes

As the roster of Paragon continues to grow it’s important to understand how to counter specific Heroes. Drafting against any Hero is often key but being aware of each Heroes strengths and limitations and how to work against them. In the list below and the final part of our series, we provide a list of tips and tricks we think you’ll find helpful for dealing with Paragon's Caster Heroes. You can find how to counter other Hero types below.

Gadget

1. Gadget has huge range and rarely builds armor early game. Use this time to gank her before she gets her Speed Gate up to full speed.

2. Hard crowd control such as stuns is incredibly valuable against Gadget as they prevent her using her Speed Gate and often keep her in place long enough to bring her down.

3. Heroes which can shield themselves are huge counters against Gadget as they can completely nullify her Sticky Mine. Feng Mao, Grim.exe and Muriel are particularly good counters.

4. Gadget’s Ultimate ability, Tesla Dome, is as much about AOE damage as it is zoning. If she drops it, leap through it quickly to reduce the damage you take.

5. Building energy armor against Gadget is a must. You can literally halve the damage she deals with very little outlay.

6. Gadget’s slow (Seek and Destroy) has a tiny AOE but can interrupt you from afar. If you see it coming, just move to the left or right of it before it stops.

7. Sticky Mine fires out at lightning speed and has a huge AOE. It’s incredibly difficult to avoid. It’s best to simply stay back, or rush Gadget as quickly as possible.

8. If low health, always retreat if against Gadget in a team fight. Her poke potential is huge and a single Sticky Mine, unless you’ve built armor, will finish you off.

9. Be very, very careful if the enemy team has Gadget and Dekker. If they’re working together, you have to spread out and if you’re caught in Dekker’s Ultimate, it’s highly like you and your team will wipe. Don’t get caught by Dekker to allow Gadget to use Tesla Dome.

10. Gadget can rush a lane incredibly easily thanks to Speed Gate and with minions focusing Towers, instead of opposing minions, never leave her to lane by herself.

11. If you’ve high health and a Sticky Mine on you during a team fight, it’s often best to run at the enemy rather than away. You’ll take damage in the process, but you won’t zone out the rest of your team as they’ll be able to follow in behind you. Were you to turn and retreat, you’d still take damage and then be unable to get back into the fight after the Sticky Mine detonates.

Gideon

1. Gideon has surprisingly slow wave clear in comparison to Iggy & Scorch or Gadget. He only has one skill to clear a wave quickly (Cosmic Rift) so he can often be bullied in lane if you lane against as one of the aforementioned Heroes.

2. Gideon is massively susceptible to crowd control. His Ultimate can be interrupted and so can his teleport. Bring Dekker, Narbash, Grux or Rampage to stun him.

3. Gideon is arguably strongest early game when his Ultimate deals high damage and enemies haven’t yet got their armor on-line. Be sure to watch for his lane rotation so he doesn’t catch you out during a team fight.

4. If Gideon is missing from a team fight, it’s highly likely he’ll be on his way. Save your stun for when he arrives otherwise he can often clear up those who’re low health.

5. When about to cast Cosmic Rift, Gideon will raise his hand slightly. Use this signal as a warning to move if laning against him.

6. When attempting to gank Gideon, he’ll always use his teleport at the last minute to escape. Ganking him in pairs, with one of your team remaining in travel mode for when he teleports is often key to killing him. When he does land, you’ll be right next to him to finish him off.

7. Grux is exceptional versus Gideon. He can interrupt almost all his skills and pull him back if he does land a teleport.

8. Rampage, similarly to Grux, is also exceptional at countering Gideon. He can prevent him using his Ultimate and if he does teleport away, can leap after him. His regeneration is also high enough to survive just about anything Gideon throws at him.

Howitzer

1. Howitzer, similarly to Gideon, doesn’t have quick lane push. Gadget, Iggy and even Lt. Belica can easily bully him in lane.

2. Howitzer is tricky to pin down because of his knockback and Ultimate which allows him to travel while in the air. Stunning him as much as possible is key to preventing his actions.

3. Howitzer’s missile deals massive damage and offers amazing poke potential. It’s also fairly easy to avoid as it has a clear animation (Howitzer raises the arm on his mech). Simply move left or right to dodge it.

4. Riktor is amazing at countering Howitzer because he can lock him down for such a long period of time and he can also pull him out of the sky when he uses his Ultimate ability.

5. Chasing Howitzer is often pretty useless if he’s in travel mode and unless there are two of you. He’ll knock you back with his mine and resort to his Ultimate if necessary. If you do insist on chasing him, just ensure one of you remains in Travel Mode for when he lands after using his Ultimate.

6. Gadget works surprisingly well against Howitzer because of her Sticky Mine and the fact that even if he does bounce himself back or fly into the air to escape, if one is stuck to him he’ll still take high damage.

7. Heroes that can pursue Howitzer after he has used his skills are particularly effective. If he doesn’t quite land his knock-back perfectly, you can often follow up incredibly easily as Grux or Feng Mao to be back next to him near instantly.

Iggy & Scorch

1. Iggy & Scorch often build incredibly tanky. You have to take armor shred or penetration if you want to bring him down quickly.

2. Interrupting his Ultimate or Oil Spill is key to locking Iggy & Scorch down. Both skills are the primary reason why he’s such a nuisance as he can knockback and sprint away. Bring lots of stuns and slows.

3. Any card that grants AOE damage around the player is amazing for killing Iggy’s turrets. Madspore Sash eats them up in mere seconds, preventing Iggy & Scorch from denying an area.

4. Riktor is one of the hardest counters against Iggy & Scorch because the hit-box size of Iggy makes it particularly easy to pull him, before locking him down with a silence and further Ultimate.

5. Iggy & Scorch only gain three turrets as he levels up. Use the early game to bully him with your Jungler to slow down his level progress.

6. If you see Iggy & Scorch use their Ultimate ability - just face the opposite way and run. When the knockback occurs, it’ll propel you far enough away from him to then enter Travel mode and escape.

7. Always kill Iggy’s turrets if you’re a ranged Hero. It depletes his mana quickly and if you’re grouped as a team, you can gun them down in seconds.