Controlling Your Terror In HOTS

The Garden of Terror can definitely be a frightening place especially for those playing in solo queue. The problem being that most people seem to know the basics: collect 100 seeds, grow a Terror, become Terror and then…Then that’s when people appear to get lost, using the Terror to fight off a couple of siege giants or just standing and hitting a fountain while the enemy beats them to death.

If you manage to gather enough seeds it is important that you put the Terror to good use as collecting the seeds can be a very hard fought battle itself. Once your Terror is growing communicate with your team, either ask if you can become the Terror or make sure that whoever is going to become it knows how to control it.

The Terror has three abilities. Q is the Spore Queen’s Curse which after a short delay turns enemy heroes in the target area into useless zombie plants, this ability is very useful for when those pesky enemies just won’t leave you alone to terrorise their base. E is sprint which provides a 30% movement speed boost for a few seconds allowing you to quickly outrun enemies and manouvre between objectives. W is Planet Horror Overgrowth, this spawns a plant pot which disables and damages all enemy structures in a large area for as long as it remains alive, it also deals heavy damage to minions. This ability is the key to utilising the Terror to maximum effect, but you will need the other two in order to do so. The Terror isn’t a team fighter, it is a pushing machine.

To get the most out of your Terror you ignore everything else on the map, you go to one enemy fort or keep (depending how pushed you are already) you drop a plant pot (W) amongst the enemy structures and then you move onto the next lane, drop a plant pot there and repeat. If the enemy team follow you to try and stop the Terror itself then they are giving your Overgrowth plenty of time to tear through their structures. If they stay in lane to destroy your plant pot then it gives you more time to get to the next lane and place the next one, meaning either way the enemy team are going to be running around in a panic trying to stop your Terror. All the while your team mates could be pushing another lane to distract the enemy even further.

If the enemy team is intent on focusing down the Terror then it is important that your team mates try to protect you so that you at least have enough time to do some damage to the enemy base. However, this is where the Spore Queen’s Curse comes in handy. If the enemy team are throwing all of their abilities at you, trying to body block you and prevent you from ever reaching their base you can put down those cursed Q’s and turn all of them into zombie plants who can do nothing but run in your wake. This should give you enough time to reach their base and place your plant pot of doom, forcing the enemy to make the decision of the Terror or the plant pot.

The same applies if you are defending from an enemy Terror. To begin with your team should try and slow the enemy’s progression towards your base, if you can stop their Terror from ever getting there than you have nothing to worry about. However, try to stay out of those annoying green circles, if you get caught even on the very edge of them your become a helpless little plant. If their Terror reaches your base then it is most important to defend it, if your team focuses down the plant pots you can prevent much damage from being done. But if their Terror is sensible it will have already moved onto the next lane so be ready to move quickly in order to save your structures. Don’t forget to mount up. The plant pots, if left alone can destroy your structures much quicker than the enemy heroes but losing a fort is much less painful than losing a keep, so prioritise well.

As with any game mode in Heroes of the Storm, communication with your team is vital. Make sure that you are all on the same page, ping objectives and danger, talk about how best to use your Terror and gain advantage on the battleground. So collect your seeds and happy terrorising!