Wrath of Heroes: Albodi the Scarred

I wasn't in Closed BETA when it was around, so I didn't see Albodi in action very much then. But from what I heard he had some great damage, a little armour and some CC. In saying that, my sources didn't really give that much information on him back then as "it wouldn't help the discussion". Albodi was announced on August 17th, and his abilities were revealed a day later (usually takes 2 days to find out). Some were miffed by this because the week before Malus Darkblade - the game's first Legendary Hero - was released, and a week before that Korelei was. With Albodi's release, players were proven that Bioware would not let down on their promise - "a new Hero every 2 weeks, and Legendary Heroes will not disrupt the development of 'normal' heroes".

Albodi is the third Chaos Hero in game at the time of writing this article, and isn't a Daemon of Chaos but rather part of the Warriors of Chaos army. Not that it matters because all things associated with Chaos (except Chaos Dwarves and Skaven) are just summarized as "Chaos". He is a Chosen of Chaos, making him a Hero unit in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle Game, though because he has no place in the lore he will remain ordinary and cost 23-30,000 gold pieces (depending on when the sales are), rather than 200,000. While Albodi's backstory makes him out to be a Tank of sorts, facing enemies single-handedly and surviving many fights against Chaos and Man alike in the Wastes, he is actually a DPSer. But anyway, I'm sure you want to get to the important stuff. It's time to scrape your skin and read off those runes, we're going awesome armour first into Albodi the Scarred!

Passive Abilities

Albodi has the power of Twisting Chaos, meaning enemy players cannot dodge under any circumstances while near him, and have a 20% chance of doing AoE damage to their own team if they strike him. This makes life tough for players of Korelei and Aessa, who can deal huge damage at a melee range very quickly. Korith players are also going to be a pain in the bum as they can spam "1" repeatedly to boost the chance of doing AoE damage to his own players. And let's not forget anyone who uses DoTs a lot like Ilyana or Felicia. The Scarred also has Bolstered, which increases his health by 50 points per Chaos character in the team. This can include Daemons and Warriors of Chaos, as said before, due to them being the same army according to the game. This buff is very similar to Aessa the White Lion's, where she gains 50 points of health for every High Elf in the group. Though it's armour that saves, not health. Still, a great boon nontheless.

Enraged Strike

Cooldown: None

Enraged Strike is the basic damage-dealing ability, doling out circa 33 damage which needs little explanation. Because Albodi does high single target damage on cooldowns and uses a lot of snares, it's best to use this ability until you have some smartass trying to run away. That's when you can smack them with a snare or root!

Ravage

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

Ravage, as one might expect, does even more damage (111!) and is great in a combo with Enraged Strike due to the mass damage one can cause. Albodi is a fearsome opponent and when a player sees these two abilities used almost at the same time, they will have reason only to fear him more.

Warping Blast

Cooldown: 10 Seconds

This is the first spell in Albodi the Scarred's arsenal, and is a ranged attack to snare from afar, and deal 72 damage in the process. According to the official site, this helps Albodi "close the distance" between himself and his target, meaning that he can then use further CC (Crowd Control - roots, snares, staggers, anything that slows people down or makes them lose control of their character like "fear" spells) the enemy. Warping Blast will be helpful against players of Korelei or Ikkrik, the assassin and scout roles of the game, as they can be stopped easily thanks to the snare and cut down. However be wary of that Ikkrik and make sure he's vanished first, because any good player knows that a vanish can break a snare. A really helpful tool for those looking to get vengeance, or prevent a player from reaching a valuable part of the map like a relic or flag.

Warp Reality

Cooldown: 25 Seconds

This ability deals 14 damage every second for five seconds, meaning it should be doing 70 damage. It's useful against large crowds of enemies because it does area damage and is an area snare! You have to cast it on yourself though, meaning that depending on who's nearby you'll have to make good use of it.

Crippling Strike

Cooldown: 30 Seconds

This damage serves not only as a final damaging ability, giving out 150 damage, but it also snares targets for 7 seconds! This can even be swapped out to do a 4 second knockdown too! A great ability that - if you can get in melee range of the target - can stop relic runners dead in their tracks long enough for teammates to arrive and do loads of damage too!

Albodi plays well as a melee character, dishing out tonnes of damage in a short period of time, but isn't as protected as many characters like Tanks. Albodi is more of the "big guns" character, when there's too many Aessas, Ikkriks and Koreleis darting at you and snatching lives. The moment one of those characters faces him, they're immediately rendered useless and can only hope that their damage will make up for their dodge rating. Aessa is a tough opponent though, and can heal whatever damage is done to her allies, and Korelei has some tricks up her sleeve which reduce damage done to her and she might be healed at some points. However it's amazing how Albodi can survive many encounters with melee characters alone, but what matters afterward is making it back to the team.

Albodi's alternative Ravage can heal him for 100% of the damage dealt, but this is mostly going to be used for a drive-by lifetap and for 1v1 encounters. Albodi also has more emphesis on damage with his talent tree with increased critical chance and also more forms of crowd control.

One must remember that his armour and Bolstered perk won't keep him alive for long on his own, so it's important that you keep him on the team only as a half-DPS/half-CC character. He's not a Tank, so don't play him like one.

While many have said that he's a terrible Tank and poor DPSer, one must remember that A) He's not a Tank and B) He's a debuff Hero, not a DPSer. He's mostly support, hence the two attack abilities. Albodi is a great extension to any melee player's arsenal and a great addition to any team in dire need of a defender. Albodi is great in 1v1s, and can prevent relic runners from getting away from your incredibly slow teammates.

However if you're looking to get kills over captures, Albodi is not the one for you. He deals some damage, but his kill count won't be very high. It's also important to note that if he's not getting assists, he's feeding the other team kills. Y'know, damaging them and letting the opposing team finish his target off and such. Unfortunately, Albodi does that well. He's mostly control meaning that you won't be doing much offense work unless accompanied by a team, and it's a quiet life as a Chosen who sits around all day rooting and snaring for most of his life.

In all, he's a great melee character and might be a catch with the fans of Volrik. He doesn't see the most action, but he gets enough to keep him happy. Give him a try when he's free, or rent him if you like. Until the next time, thanks for reading and have a pleasant day!