How to Play Nova in Heroes of the Storm
Choose the right skills., Forget about staying on the lane., Stalk the enemy mercenary camps., Prioritize the enemy damage dealer., Isolate your target., Strike at the right time., Run when you have to!, Observe objectives and boss camps., Attack...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Choose the right skills.
Nova’s trait allows her to enter Stealth mode after 3 seconds of not shooting or getting shot.
Combine the trait with Nova’s high-damage auto-attack and Sniper skill, and you have the best single-target assassin in the game.
Nova also has a Pinning Shot that slows targets, and can project a decoy at will, to cause confusion.
All of Nova’s usefulness comes from her huge burst damage that allows her to swing the tide of most battles in a matter of seconds.
Picking the wrong skill with Nova can seriously cripple her damage output, greatly reducing her use to the team.
To get the highest damage possible by level 9, these are the skills that should be taken:
Ambush Snipe at level 1
- 20% extra damage to the Snipe skill for one second after leaving stealth is a lot, especially during late game.
Gathering Power at level 4
- Extra ability power means extra damage to all skills.
Warning: stacks of gathering power will be lost upon death! Anti-Armor Shells at level 7
- This will greatly lower Nova’s attack rate, but it will increase the damage by a lot.
Perfect for applying as much burst damage as possible. -
Step 2: Forget about staying on the lane.
Nova has a unique play style, so unlike other heroes, Nova should never stay on a single lane.
Nova is a hero that requires constant movement between lanes, attacking low-health heroes whenever the opportunity arises.
Nova can force just about all squishy heroes to stay near their towers or face death., Especially if there’s a Gazlowe or Sylvanas on the enemy team, Nova should be stalking the enemy camps when possible.
At these low levels, all heroes will have problems clearing camps quickly, so it’s an easy opportunity for a good Nova player to not only get a kill on a hero, but maybe also a free mercenary camp! This is one of the easiest ways to get hero kills in the early game, and it’s also a viable strategy after level
10., Nova should be able to single-handedly kill the enemy damage dealer after level 10, if no healer is around.
As Nova, you should always try to focus the enemy damage dealer during team fights, if you can’t kill him before the fight! To make sure that the damage dealer goes down as quickly as possible, these are the skills that should be taken:
Triple Tap at level 10 – One of the highest damage single-target ultimates in the game.
Warning: it can be easily interrupted, and any hero or building that gets in the way of the shot will take the damage instead of the target.
Lethal Decoy at level 14 – Causes decoys to deal 25% of Nova’s damage.
This may not seem like a lot, but the decoys also use Snipe and can deal a fair amount of damage before disappearing.
Double Fake at level 16 – Two decoys for the price of one.
Combine with the previous skill and you have an extra 50% damage caused by decoys alone.
The confusion factor is also something that should not be overlooked!, Focusing the enemy damage dealer can be difficult at times, especially during heated team battles.
This is why it’s always better to try to isolate the damage dealer before a fight starts.
You can either lure him or her by shooting and then running away, or you can use decoys.
Warning: enemy damage dealers will stop chasing you after several kills this way, but you should be able to kill them if they’ve lost any health before the engagement. , Always choose your engagement wisely! Going in at the wrong time will certainly mean death, as Nova has no escape mechanisms other than her trait.
Attacking the damage dealer when he has other teammates around is not a good idea, so it’s important to know when to attack and when to retreat., One of the worst things you could do during the late game (after level 19) is to die.
This may see obvious, but the death timers are huge after that level, and knowing that Nova is dead will cause the enemy team to become more daring in their attack.
It’s always best to retreat while you can, even if this means missing out on a kill!, Once again you will be stalking objectives and enemy mercenary camps.
This time, however, make sure you stalk the boss sites as well, since most enemy teams will now try to get the boss before pushing toward your base.
Don’t let the enemy team kill the boss to try and take it later! Kill enemy heroes while they’re doing the boss to prevent them from taking it.
Time your attack right before the boss stuns, and you may be able to get several kills at once. , Nova can’t defend against enemy minions waves since all of her damage is single target and her attack speed is extremely low.
This means that it’s always best to leave the defending to another hero, and go out looking for enemy heroes to kill.
Make sure you get Fast Reload at level 20 to allow you to use your ultimate to get as many kills as possible.
It’s one of the most game changing ultimates in the game when used properly. -
Step 3: Stalk the enemy mercenary camps.
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Step 4: Prioritize the enemy damage dealer.
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Step 5: Isolate your target.
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Step 6: Strike at the right time.
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Step 7: Run when you have to!
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Step 8: Observe objectives and boss camps.
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Step 9: Attack instead of defend.
Detailed Guide
Nova’s trait allows her to enter Stealth mode after 3 seconds of not shooting or getting shot.
Combine the trait with Nova’s high-damage auto-attack and Sniper skill, and you have the best single-target assassin in the game.
Nova also has a Pinning Shot that slows targets, and can project a decoy at will, to cause confusion.
All of Nova’s usefulness comes from her huge burst damage that allows her to swing the tide of most battles in a matter of seconds.
Picking the wrong skill with Nova can seriously cripple her damage output, greatly reducing her use to the team.
To get the highest damage possible by level 9, these are the skills that should be taken:
Ambush Snipe at level 1
- 20% extra damage to the Snipe skill for one second after leaving stealth is a lot, especially during late game.
Gathering Power at level 4
- Extra ability power means extra damage to all skills.
Warning: stacks of gathering power will be lost upon death! Anti-Armor Shells at level 7
- This will greatly lower Nova’s attack rate, but it will increase the damage by a lot.
Perfect for applying as much burst damage as possible.
Nova has a unique play style, so unlike other heroes, Nova should never stay on a single lane.
Nova is a hero that requires constant movement between lanes, attacking low-health heroes whenever the opportunity arises.
Nova can force just about all squishy heroes to stay near their towers or face death., Especially if there’s a Gazlowe or Sylvanas on the enemy team, Nova should be stalking the enemy camps when possible.
At these low levels, all heroes will have problems clearing camps quickly, so it’s an easy opportunity for a good Nova player to not only get a kill on a hero, but maybe also a free mercenary camp! This is one of the easiest ways to get hero kills in the early game, and it’s also a viable strategy after level
10., Nova should be able to single-handedly kill the enemy damage dealer after level 10, if no healer is around.
As Nova, you should always try to focus the enemy damage dealer during team fights, if you can’t kill him before the fight! To make sure that the damage dealer goes down as quickly as possible, these are the skills that should be taken:
Triple Tap at level 10 – One of the highest damage single-target ultimates in the game.
Warning: it can be easily interrupted, and any hero or building that gets in the way of the shot will take the damage instead of the target.
Lethal Decoy at level 14 – Causes decoys to deal 25% of Nova’s damage.
This may not seem like a lot, but the decoys also use Snipe and can deal a fair amount of damage before disappearing.
Double Fake at level 16 – Two decoys for the price of one.
Combine with the previous skill and you have an extra 50% damage caused by decoys alone.
The confusion factor is also something that should not be overlooked!, Focusing the enemy damage dealer can be difficult at times, especially during heated team battles.
This is why it’s always better to try to isolate the damage dealer before a fight starts.
You can either lure him or her by shooting and then running away, or you can use decoys.
Warning: enemy damage dealers will stop chasing you after several kills this way, but you should be able to kill them if they’ve lost any health before the engagement. , Always choose your engagement wisely! Going in at the wrong time will certainly mean death, as Nova has no escape mechanisms other than her trait.
Attacking the damage dealer when he has other teammates around is not a good idea, so it’s important to know when to attack and when to retreat., One of the worst things you could do during the late game (after level 19) is to die.
This may see obvious, but the death timers are huge after that level, and knowing that Nova is dead will cause the enemy team to become more daring in their attack.
It’s always best to retreat while you can, even if this means missing out on a kill!, Once again you will be stalking objectives and enemy mercenary camps.
This time, however, make sure you stalk the boss sites as well, since most enemy teams will now try to get the boss before pushing toward your base.
Don’t let the enemy team kill the boss to try and take it later! Kill enemy heroes while they’re doing the boss to prevent them from taking it.
Time your attack right before the boss stuns, and you may be able to get several kills at once. , Nova can’t defend against enemy minions waves since all of her damage is single target and her attack speed is extremely low.
This means that it’s always best to leave the defending to another hero, and go out looking for enemy heroes to kill.
Make sure you get Fast Reload at level 20 to allow you to use your ultimate to get as many kills as possible.
It’s one of the most game changing ultimates in the game when used properly.
About the Author
Christine Ward
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow pet care tutorials.
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