Wrath of Heroes: Korith Bitterborn

With Korith Bitterborn's release, players witnessed a physical damage ranger (no, not a Spellcaster) and news of a new Hero being released every 2 weeks, meaning a possible three Heroes a month! One of the problems recently has been that he's not free, and he has no gold price either meaning that few have had chance to play him nor see his alternate skins in play. As stated in the Glowgob da Green article (open in a new tab if you're not used to HP), I'll be going over his abilities and when/when not to use him. If you have any suggestions or arguments you'd like to bring up, please read on and save them for the end.

Korith Bitterborn's history is mostly about being a High Elf ranger, holding off barbarian hordes of Dark Elves during the civil war and general fights. He's also known to be - as his name suggests - bitter, and will do anything he can to get the job done. While he won't throw down his bow faster than he draws it, he is still.... squishy, regardless of if he surrenders or fights on. Korith is your typical ranged class without a wolf pet (SW:TOR, Rift, LoL, Age of Reckoning.... wait, why am I comparing this to MMOs?) Anyway, what he may lack in stereotypes he gains in base damage. He's renowned for his burst damage and being able to increase it at his will, also gaining bonuses to those at lower health pools. In a fight against Bax he'll probably get squished between the former's colossal green fingers, but against Ikkrik he'll probably fare well. Anyway, it's time to point those ears and annoy your peers, we're going killstealing with Korith!

Passive Ability

Like all High Elves so far (only Aessa and Korith), Korith gains a buff to damage against Dark Elves with the bias title of Murderer. And the more High Elves that are present in his party, the more damage he does to the only Dark Elf in the game at this time of writing (Ilyana). As Korith plays a Sniper role, he is expected to do light damage from afar, meaning that any other High Elves in the group would help his chances of throwing in some extra damage and downing targets alone. While this buff might seem overpowered, please note that Aessa is a somewhat Tanking role (unlike other Heroes) and isn't recommended as a replacement for other DPSers.

Rapid Fire

Cooldown: None

Rapid Fire is Korith's basic attack, dealing around 6 (possibly 8 considering buffs and passive ability) damage per shot. The attack fires several arrows until the enemy gets out of range or takes cover, or simply when the attack ends. Because it is a channelled ability, it allows you to attack while the next cast time is being readied, so you have little queue time for the next ability unlike Casters or Melee classes. Rapid Fire's damage may not seem like much but it's a great filler and also it gives you a chance to reduce cooldowns by a second. Considering how bored you might be seeing 6, 6, 6, 18, 6, 6, 6.... you might want to spam this over and over to reduce your downtime and continue downing your enemies. Don't just sit there like Felicia waiting for your AoE spells to be ready again - go crazy with that damn Rapid Fire!

Takedown

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

What makes Takedown a useful spell is not its high damage (approx. 80 damage), but its low burst. The fact that it doesn't cut off half way when your target goes round a corner is a nice change, and you do the full 50-80 damage with no complaints, unlike the Rapid Fire and Splintering Arrow. Takedown's cooldown can be reduced to three seconds thanks to a mastery point in the talent tree, meaning you can cast the spell much faster without spamming Rapid Fire and missing your chance to pull off the "real" damage. However this gives players the idea that it's OK to stop using Rapid Fire to reduce the cooldown - three seconds is a long time to wait, and you could still do with that Rapid Fire.

Fell the Weak

Cooldown: 10 Seconds

This is the essential "kill shot" for any Hunter in MOBAs, especially for someone as "team reliant" as Korith. This attack deals 90-150 points of damage, and crits when enemies are below 50% health. This is a great way to support teammates trying to take out a single healer, so that they may focus elsewhere on the enemy. Fell the Weak can also be changed into Hunt the Mighty, which deals the same damage but almost always crits on those above 50% health. There's also a great "tactic" (masteries not on the tree) which can deal 10% more damage to those with 35% health or under, so mix and match to see which one works for you.

Splintering Arrow

Cooldown: 20 Seconds

Here's a spell you really have to treasure, and her name is Splintering Arrow. This li'l beaut deals 55 damage per shot and fires three shots almost instantly, dealing a max total of 165 damage! This ability may not seem much but compared to Rapid Fire and Takedown it's your best bet as an opener and something to get your enemies worried when the 1v1 you. Splintering Arrow's cooldown can be reduced by using Rapid Fire, meaning you can do 165 damage probably less than every ten seconds! However if you're not using RF wisely you can expect this to be a rare encounter, as 20 seconds is twice as long as Korith's lifespan against a Snotling.

Vengeance of Nagarythe

Cooldown: 30 Seconds

The final ability of Korith the Shadow Warrior is Vengeance of Nagarythe, which deals damage and increases the damage you deal for 10 seconds! This can be replaced so the ability does 281 normal damage (with no damage buff), but I find that increasing your Rapid Fire damage makes killstealing a lot easier and gives you another reason to use it instead of waiting for Takedown every five seconds. This ability is a great opener with its 50+ damage and a buff to all other abilities, so pop it when the fight has just begun or it's about to end - it's a lifesaver for you and a lifetaker of others!

Korith Bitterborn is a pure DPS role - a no-nonsense kill or be killed character. He has no AoE, no snares, roots or even a single heal. His armour is as low as Ikkrik or Glowgob da Green's. And why? Because he wants only one thing, and that's his team's focus dead. Korith does burst damage very quickly, in a matter of seconds in fact rather than huge amounts of wait time like a caster such as Felicia or the Archvist. He's rarely seen on the field due to his thin (and odd stance) character model. He shouldn't get too close to his foes 'lest he be caught in some serious fighting and gets killed instantly.

As a team player, Korith does his role well. He deals damage, takes out stragglers and when he can't kill those who flee, he gives them something to think about. With a range of 100ft to damage with, he can stay well away from the melee fighters and the casters, but this leaves him vulnerable due to others not being able to see or even heal him. From characters like Bax to Ikkrik, Korith can be killed in an instant alone.

In a 1v1, it all depends on his target. Someone such as the Ancient Archivist can't really do much to him with silences, snares and roots as he can still attack. Against mobile targets who can vanish like Ikkrik, he can give the Skaven a run for its money. But against hulking giants like Olwyn, Drulg and even Volrik, Korith can only hope that his teammates arrive shortly to give him a hand.

Against Tanks he can survive but can't do much damage in return, particularly against Bax who can self heal. No matter how much damage he seems to think he can deal, Korith can probably push out a maximum of 5 damage against Bax (critical damage, that is) with Rapid Fire due to his toughness. Against Healers, Korith has many tricks up his sleeve like Fell the Weak, but if the healer times his casts right, he can make it seem as though the kill shot completely missed. Against protector characters like Aessa, he'll have trouble due to her mobility, snares and damage reductions. With no evasion abilities like backwards leaping, vanishing and such, Korith is basically warm butter to a hulking axe in melee.

For masteries, I'd recommend things like increasing crit chance and the damage of bonus damage. Health boosts won't matter to him as he'll die just as quickly, and mobility boosts won't do much as he has enough range to attack further than most. If you're defending relics like in Pyramid of Settra, I would recommend snare and knockback bonuses, as these are a great way to keep your team's score safe until they make it back to their base. If enemies get too close, I would consider knockback to increase your survivability, especially against assassins like Ikkrik or a titan like Bax.

Korith is an amazing character for damage, especially when filling the gaps where other players have cooldowns. If you feel like you're confident as a ranged player who wants to contribute to the team, I would at least give Korith a rental. 150 gold pieces can buy you happiness with his huge assist and even kill streaks! Unfortunately he has the armour of a fly to a concrete brick and the agility to match, so if you're looking for a tough character, you won't find it here. Korith's gold price hasn't yet been announced at the time of writing, but my guess would be 23k-13k gold pieces, but he can be purchased for 170 gems. Don't expect his popularity to shoot up overnight when he becomes a free character nor when he's given a gold price, as he's a one-man band trying to blend in with another band missing the players. Overall, if you like ranged DPS and want to play the traditional Elf, go for it!

Thanks for reading, and if you have anything else to add, please do! Help promote this underpopulated game, and raise awareness of Heroes like this! Have a pleasant day! WAAARGH!