Mike 'Hairboi' Lamming lends his knowledge to the Cadred readership with yet another hero guide. This time, Corrupted Disciple.

This column is the sole opinion of the author and does not represent the opinion of Heaven Media Ltd or the opinion of any affiliates.

Hero guide number four now for our users and this time we'll be bringing you the low-down on Corrupted Disciple. Back when HoN was making its first baby steps into the competitive world Corrupted Disciple was a first pick for almost every team, the ranged carry of choice for the top teams. Over the past few months however teams have elected to go with other heroes in his place following the many patches and updates, strangely Corrupted is still one of the very few heroes who haven't been altered much over the past 6 months or so. Recently we've began to see teams such as LOAD pick him up again, and using the pick to great effect - proving just how strong and versatile the hero can be.

There are many differing builds for the hero and a lot of people tend to do it wrong, so we decided that he should be the next hero to be dissected by our resident HoN expert Mike 'Hairboi' Lamming.

Attack Type: Ranged
Side: Hellbourne
Class: Agility

Corrupted Disciple is a great solo hero and can make excellent use of early farm and levels. He has carry potential, however will be exceeded by the like of Chronos and similar hard carries.

Positives

* Very fast movement speed with his passive third skill.

* Great anti-carry ability due to Corrupted Conduit skill.

* Very fast attack animation making him a great hero for last hitting.

Negatives

* Can be outshone by harder carries (Chronos, Madman, Archer) late game.

* No disable meaning enemies can get away in 1v1 situation.

* Quite a short attack range leaving him susceptible to harassment.

Mike 'Hairboi' Lamming lends his knowledge to the Cadred readership with yet another hero guide. This time, Corrupted Disciple.

This column is the sole opinion of the author and does not represent the opinion of Heaven Media Ltd or the opinion of any affiliates.

The Skills:

This is Corrupted Disciple’s nuke, and early in laning, it is used to score last hits, whilst simultaneously harassing the enemy. The further away the enemy is, the more damage the tide will do. This skill also gives vision in a 700 AoE for 4 seconds when used.

Electric Tide in use

Level 1:

Mana Cost: 125
Cooldown: 16 Seconds
Area Of Effect: 700
Effects: Deals 40 to 70 Magic damage to enemies around the Disciple who get hit by the moving Tide. Deals more damage the further away the enemy is. Hits on both expansion and contraction.

Level 2:

Mana Cost: 125
Cooldown: 16 Seconds
Area Of Effect: 700
Effects: Deals 60 to 105 Magic damage to enemies around the Disciple who get hit by the moving Tide. Deals more damage the further away the enemy is. Hits on both expansion and contraction.

Level 3:

Mana Cost: 125
Cooldown: 16 Seconds
Area Of Effect: 700
Effects: Deals 80 to 140 Magic damage to enemies around the Disciple who get hit by the moving Tide. Deals more damage the further away the enemy is. Hits on both expansion and contraction.

Level 4:

Mana Cost: 125
Cooldown: 16 Seconds
Area Of Effect: 700
Effects: Deals 100 to 175 Magic damage to enemies around the Disciple who get hit by the moving Tide. Deals more damage the further away the enemy is. Hits on both expansion and contraction.

This is the skill that makes the Corrupted Disciple such a great hero, as he can get his DPS without having to invest in items, meaning he just has to survive long enough to build up the damage. It gives massive free damage, providing it is channelled for long enough, and can force enemy mid solo’s to completely back off until Conduit wears off, giving you free farm, and them no farm at all. Can also be used on hard carries (providing they don't have shrunken head) later in the game to dramatically reduce their damage.

Level 1:

Mana Cost: 20
Cooldown: 45 Seconds
Duration: 13 Seconds after link is broken.
Effects: Applies Corrupted Conduit (Enemy) to targeted enemy hero and Corrupted Conduit (Self) to the Disciple, linking both together and adding one charge per second. The link is broken if the enemy moves more than 700 units away from the Disciple, if the Disciple loses sight of him, or 10 charges are gained.
Conduit (Self) Effects:Increases base damage by 5 damage per charge.
Conduit (Enemy) Effects: Reduces base damage by 5 damage per charge.

Level 2:

Mana Cost: 30
Cooldown: 40 Seconds
Duration: 13 Seconds after link is broken.
Effects: Applies Corrupted Conduit (Enemy) to targeted enemy hero and Corrupted Conduit (Self) to the Disciple, linking both together and adding one charge per second. The link is broken if the enemy moves more than 700 units away from the Disciple, if the Disciple loses sight of him, or 10 charges are gained.
Conduit (Self) Effects:Increases base damage by 10 damage per charge.
Conduit (Enemy) Effects: Reduces base damage by 10 damage per charge.

Level 3:

Mana Cost: 40
Cooldown: 35 Seconds
Duration: 13 Seconds after link is broken.
Effects: Applies Corrupted Conduit (Enemy) to targeted enemy hero and Corrupted Conduit (Self) to the Disciple, linking both together and adding one charge per second. The link is broken if the enemy moves more than 700 units away from the Disciple, if the Disciple loses sight of him, or 10 charges are gained.
Conduit (Self) Effects:Increases base damage by 15 damage per charge.
Conduit (Enemy) Effects: Reduces base damage by 15 damage per charge.

Level 4:

Mana Cost: 50
Cooldown: 30 Seconds
Duration: 13 Seconds after link is broken.
Effects: Applies Corrupted Conduit (Enemy) to targeted enemy hero and Corrupted Conduit (Self) to the Disciple, linking both together and adding one charge per second. The link is broken if the enemy moves more than 700 units away from the Disciple, if the Disciple loses sight of him, or 10 charges are gained.
Conduit (Self) Effects:Increases base damage by 20 damage per charge.
Conduit (Enemy) Effects: Reduces base damage by 20 damage per charge.

This is the skill that allows Corrupted Disciple to chase and escape easily due to the increased movement speed, so although Corrupted Disciple doesn't have any stuns or holds, he can normally out-run a hero he is trying to catch. Its priority shouldn’t be above Conduit unless it is not realistic that you will manage to keep Conduit channelled for long. It is of course a passive skill meaning there is no mana cost or cooldown.

Level 1:

Effects: +3% Movement speed; Deals 40 Magic damage to enemies who cast direct spells on the Disciple whilst slowing their movement speed by 80%, decreasing over 0.3 seconds.

Level 2:

Effects: +6% Movement speed; Deals 60 Magic damage to enemies who cast direct spells on the Disciple whilst slowing their movement speed by 80%, decreasing over 0.6 seconds.

Level 3:

Effects: +9% Movement speed; Deals 80 Magic damage to enemies who cast direct spells on the Disciple whilst slowing their movement speed by 80%, decreasing over 0.9 seconds.

Level 4:

Effects: +12% Movement speed; Deals 100 Magic damage to enemies who cast direct spells on the Disciple whilst slowing their movement speed by 80%, decreasing over 1.2 seconds.

This ultimate makes Corrupted almost unbeatable in an early game 1v1 situation as the – armor is huge so early in the game. It is constant damage to the lowest hp enemy around you and is great for chasing down low hp heroes.

Level 1:

Mana Cost: 100
Cooldown: 80 Seconds
Duration: 20 Seconds.
Effects: Shoots a jolt every 0.87 seconds that does 37.5 Physical damage to the lowest health target in the radius around the Disciple. Applies Jolted for 3 seconds to the targeted unit. Adds a charge to Jolted each time the same unit is hit.

Level 2:

Mana Cost: 100
Cooldown: 70 Seconds
Duration: 25 Seconds.
Effects: Shoots a jolt every 0.75 seconds that does 50 Physical damage to the lowest health target in the radius around the Disciple. Applies Jolted for 3 seconds to the targeted unit. Adds a charge to Jolted each time the same unit is hit.

Level 3:

Mana Cost: 100
Cooldown: 60 Seconds
Duration: 30 Seconds.
Effects: Shoots a jolt every 0.6 seconds that does 62.5 Physical damage to the lowest health target in the radius around the Disciple. Applies Jolted for 3 seconds to the targeted unit. Adds a charge to Jolted each time the same unit is hit.

Mike 'Hairboi' Lamming lends his knowledge to the Cadred readership with yet another hero guide. This time, Corrupted Disciple.

This column is the sole opinion of the author and does not represent the opinion of Heaven Media Ltd or the opinion of any affiliates.

Skill Build:

1. Electric Tide
2. Conduit/Static Discharge
3. Electric Tide
4. Conduit/Static Discharge
5. Electric Tide
6. Overload
7. Electric Tide
8. Conduit/Static Discharge
9. Conduit/Static Discharge
10. Conduit/Static Discharge
11. Overload
12. Conduit/Static Discharge
13. Conduit/Static Discharge
14. Conduit/Static Discharge
15. Stats
16. Overload
17-25. Stats

Electric tide is taken where possible, as is the ultimate. The only thing to pay attention to is when to take Corrupted Conduit or Static Discharge. If it is not possible to maintain a Conduit channel on many of the heroes that you are likely to gank, you shouldn’t take it for ganking early only, and max it in the mid game. However you can level Static Discharge, and Conduit evenly until level 16, as even level 2 Conduit is very deadly early game.

Item Builds:

We take two duck boots and two minor totems to maximise last hitting potential. Runes of blight and a health pot are to stay in the lane whilst we farm our bottle.

or

Once you have farmed your bottle with your first 600 gold, this is where builds can deviate. Steamboots are great for survivability, and provide additional attack speed, however Ghost Marchers allow you to chase with ease, and give a lot of last hitting power towards the end of the laning phase if you’re against a Soulstealer or Arachna for example. The choice between these two boots is all preference and should be taken on a game by game basis, depending on the line-up you’re against. Power supply is always useful and should be taken in nearly all situations.

or

This is where item builds will differ greatly, and they all depend on the circumstances you are in. While most builds will follow a certain pattern, you should learn to adapt the cookie cutter build. If you’re against a heavy magic damage team such as Magmus, Pyromancer, Soulstealer etc, then you should get a quick Shamans Headress, or a fast Shrunken Head to counter. The whole point of Corrupted Disciple is to tank up as much as possible, so you can get maximum use of Corrupted Conduit. If you’re against heavy auto attack damage reliant heroes, take a Helm of the Black Legion. Even though it only blocks 20 damage on ranged heroes, it’s still an excellent item on him. Generally the core build will be boots, power supply, shrunken head, and Geometers Bane. If you need the boost to your mid game with an easy build up, Frostburn can also be taken to provide nice stats, and is later split into Geometers Bane and Frostwolf’s Skull. These items are taken because they provide excellent utility, as well as providing huge stat bonuses to tank up. If you have enough survivability due to the nature of your line-up, savage mace can be taken over Frostwolf’s Skull in priority for additional DPS.

Lifesteal is rarely taken on Corrupted since the attack modifier change, however all these items have use depending on the enemy line-up. Behemoth’s Heart allows you to tank a lot more, and Wingbow gives you evasion to also tank more, however do not take Wingbow if the enemy team has a Savage Mace. Riftshards synergises extremely well with Conduit, and Frostwolf’s Skull and Savage Mace synergise very well with Geometer’s Bane. Charged Hammer isn’t seen all too often on Corrupted, however the attack speed is useful, and the Charged Hammer buff can be placed on yourself for even more AoE damage.

Mike 'Hairboi' Lamming lends his knowledge to the Cadred readership with yet another hero guide. This time, Corrupted Disciple.

This column is the sole opinion of the author and does not represent the opinion of Heaven Media Ltd or the opinion of any affiliates.

Tips?

Corrupted is usually solo mid, and can hold his own pretty decently against most other solo mid heroes. The key to playing him is to use the electric tide skill to either push your lane before a rune spawn, or to last hit whilst putting pressure on the opposing mid. To control runes with Corrupted, you should follow a similar routine of pushing the lane forwards just before the rune spawns, forcing the enemy to choose between xp and a chance to grab the rune. If you both end up chasing the rune, you should conduit and use your ultimate. This will provide you vastly superior DPS thanks to the –armor from your ultimate, and also from conduit.

Like the rest of Corrupted Disciple’s game, a lot of his build depends on the opposing line-up. If the enemy team is full of blinkers/pseudo-blinkers, then conduit isn’t going to benefit much and Static Discharge would provide more benefit. Conduit should be considered more than Static Discharge, so if you’re unsure of which to take, take conduit. It provides clear vision for amazing ganking potential, and you can essentially use it to three shot heroes early on in the game.

The first thing you need to do in a team fight, is drop Conduit on a suitable hero. There’s no point in using it on a Predator that’s just going to Stone Hide it off. Similarly, if you put it on an enemy carry that is likely to be using Shrunken Head immediately afterwards, you won’t receive the full benefit of it. Therefore if all the enemy carries are likely to dispel it instantly, use it on the enemy hero that is least likely to get focused down. Sap away up to 200 damage for yourself and proceed to wreak havoc.

So that's us for another hero guide, we hope this introduces you to the character as he gradually becomes one of the more popular picks again. We'll be bringing another in the coming weeks and you can also expect some interviews and coverage from the world of HoN.