Marvels Super War Advanced Hero Guide – Groot

The extraterrestrial tree-like specimen which was seen speaking only 3 words, “I am Groot” in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1. (Voiced by none other than Vin Diesel) can now be played as a support/tank based hero (mostly as a support) in Marvels Super War!

BLaSToiS3 here again to present you all with another advanced hero guide, this time for all the tree-lovers out there. We will be covering the following key points:

• Abilities
• Power Cores
• Tactic
• Item Build (Support / Top)
• Synergy with other heroes (Good Against / Bad Against)
• Support Gameplay (Early / Late Game)
• Possible Combos with Groot’s Skills
• Pro’s & Con’s,

You know the drill so let’s get started!

 Abilities

Passive: Sapling

• Groot can survive a K.O in the form of Baby Groot which can move around (visible to both allies & enemies) without dealing damage & will grow back to his normal size when the death timer ends.
• Groot gains 25% movement speed for 1.5 seconds whenever he enters a brush & also regenerates 0.2 / 0.5 / 0.9 / 1.4 / 2 % HP per second out of combat. The amount of HP regenerated increases at LvL 4 / 8 / 12 & 18.

Skill 1: Bark Stab | Control | (Base DMG-100/155/210/265/320/375/430) | (CoolDown-15/14.5/14/13.5/13/12.5/12)

Groot extends his arms in the intended direction to drag back the first enemy he hits to deal 100(+80% Energy Attack) energy damage & knock them up for 0.6 seconds. The ability’s cooldown is reduced by 1 second for every basic attack that he hits the enemies.

Skill 2: Branch Slap | Damage | (Base DMG- 80/130/180/230/280/330/380)

Groot waves his arms for a frontal slap, dealing 80(+40% Energy Attack) (+5% Target’s Max HP) energy damage to enemies caught within the range of this skill & knocking them up for 0.6 second. Groot is granted a shield that absorbs up to 50(+4% Max HP) (+10*Level) damage for 2 seconds.

Skill 3: Growing Pains | Control | (Casting Time: 1 Second)

Groot’s ultimate sends out climbing vines toward all enemy heroes within 1200 yards, which after 1 second immobilize the target for 1.6 seconds & deals 200(+45% Energy Attack) energy damage. Groot triggers his passive “Windwalker” while using this ability.

Ability Maxing Order – Bark Stab followed by Branch Slap (while playing Groot as Support in the Bottom Lane) & Branch Slap first and then Bark Stab (while playing Groot as a Tank in the Top Lane)

Always get a point in your ultimate “Growing Pains” whenever you can (It’s at LVL 4, 8, 12 & 18).

Power Cores

Keeping in mind the crowd control (CC) of Groot & the tank-iness he can provide to his team, these are the best possible power cores that should be used on him:

• Isotope – Unstable Radiation | 2 different basic attacks/abilities creates high-intensity radiation that deals damage on explosion
• Action Program Particle – Burst Particle | After controlling enemy heroes, deals explosive damage around you
• Strength Module Program – Restoration Module | Hero KO’s & assists restore HP
• Combat Boost Program – Spellcast Boost | Grants Cooldown Reduction (which is a must to be made with Groot)

Tactic

Blink and First Aid are the go-to tactics to use with Groot (if you are playing him as a Support in the Bottom Lane).

Blink and Teleport are to be taken with Groot (if you are playing him as a Tank in the Top Lane), however, you can also replace Teleport with Wound (deals true damage) to win 1 v 1 fights against enemy top laner.

Item Build (Itemization)

Core Items:

First for the Support Role in Bottom Lane

Gemstone Prism

• Since Groot doesn’t have any ability to shield his allies, it is a must-make support item on Groot, +100 Armor & +120 Energy Resist for the tank-iness
• Since his ability cooldowns are slightly longer in early stages of the game, the +10% CDR helps him use his S1 & S2 often
• Provides a 2-second shield to nearby allies that absorbs up to 57 (+33*Level) damage, if we do our maths then it can absorb like 57 + 33*18 = 651 damage for 2 seconds, just too good!
• Also, as support you are not allowed to take/steal farm from your ally marksmen, with this item attacking the enemy hero grants you gold as well.

Clairvoyant Boots

• +50 movement speed, the +10% CDR is really important
• Combining the CDR from the Power Cores, Gemstone Prism & these boots helps lower the cooldown duration of his abilities by a significant amount (try yourself, you’ll see :D)
• +10% Tactical CDR lowers the cooldown duration of your Blink, First Aid or Teleport

Now for the Top-Tank Role

In the top lane, while playing Groot, you are more likely to fight against a physical damage dealing hero so it’s always good to rush some armor & health.

Glorious Armor

• +1000 HP & +180 Armor
• Go to item for Groot top
• Nearby enemies take 50 (+2* Level) energy damage per second (2x DMG to non-hero units)

Hydra Boots

• +50 Movement Speed & +90 Armor
• Reduces physical damage taken by 6%
• Usually made against Physical Damage dealing heroes

Upgraded Hydra Boots

• +50 Movement Speed & +75 Energy Resist
• +30% Reduce Control against enemy crowd control (CC) abilities
• Usually made when enemy team has a lot of CC

Vibranium Suit

• +320 Armor
• Another go to item in the build for Groot-Tank-Top
• Reduces the attack speed of enemies within 450 yards by 15%
• When you take a basic attack, it deals (+7% Bonus Armor) +8% energy damage of the damage taken before damage reduction back to the attacker.

Final Items: (You can modify them depending on the type/class of heroes you’re against. If you are against heavy physical damage dealers, you make Armor & if you are against energy damage heroes, you make magic defence i.e. Energy Resists)

Deathly Phantom

• +1000 HP and +220 Energy Resist
• Grants a shield that absorbs up to 200(+75%*level) energy damage if you have not taken any damage for 5 seconds. This item helps you sustain burst damage from a mage in the beginning of a team fight.

Goblin Mask | (Active Item- Press Item Avatar for enhanced effect/ability)

• +165 Armor & +140 Energy Resist
• +10% CDR (not that necessary anymore since you will already reach the cap of 45% by this time of the game)
• Passive – Creates a ring of ice that reduces the movement speed of the enemies it hits by 50% for 2 seconds (8-sec Cooldown) once you receive damage equivalent to 40% of your max HP
• Active – Increases your own armor & energy resist by 100% (let’s get to maths – if you have 200 armor & energy resist, it will get boosted to 400 armor & energy resist that will help you take on a lot of damage from the enemy team and survive.. broken right?) However, it decreases damage dealt by 40% for 4 seconds!

Cloak of Levitation | Ability Blocking Shield | (Supporting Item to help your mage deal damage)

• +950 HP, +180 Energy Resist & +5% CDR
• Every 40 seconds, grants immunity to 1 ability (be it damage-dealing ability or a crowd control effect)
• Reduces the energy resist of nearby heroes by 60. Since this item helps reduces the energy resist, your mage will do more damage to the enemies when alongside you.

Full Build looks like this:

Support Build:

Gemstone Prism > Clairvoyant Boots > Vibranium Suit > Megingjord > Deadly Phantom > Goblin Mask

Tank-Top Build:

Glorious Amor > Hydra Boots > Starlight Armor > Megingjord > Deathly Phantom > Vibranium Suit – You can make Vibranium Suit early & even replace Starlight Armor with any other item, it’s totally up to you.

(However, you can always build other items in the last 3 slots, depending on what you require to excel in the game, always keep experimenting & exploring!)

Synergy with other heroes (In Bottom Lane):

Good Against: Groot has a lot of tank-iness & crowd control abilities thanks to his entire kit. One good grab is all it will take most of the time. This makes Groot good against heroes like The Thing, Hulk, Ebony Maw, and Cloak & Dagger.

Bad Against: Groot struggles against support heroes that have strong sustain/healing in their abilities such as Mantis. Groot is also weaker against other tanky supports which have a lot of crowd control as well such as Cull Obsidian, Namor & Ronan.

Gameplay (Support):

Early Game –

• Don’t engage unnecessarily, let your marksmen farm up
• Always keep a look-out for possible ganks from enemy jungler
• Look for opportunities to hook enemy marksmen close to your turret
• Rotate towards Mid Lane to help whenever you can, keep an eye for Leviathan (Panther that grants damage buff to the entire team)
• Rotate towards enemy jungle with your jungler to pick the enemy jungler off guard

Late Game –

• Remember you’re the engager for the team in team fights
• Avoid hooking enemy tank hero into your team, because uhmm that can cause an issue XD
• Your ultimate has a casting time so use it with precision in team fights
• If an assassin jumps on your marksmen, you can straight-away cast your S2 followed by your ultimate on that enemy hero for the knockup and if that enemy hero tries to escape, you still have your S1

Possible Combos with Groot’s Skills

• After connecting your S1 (that gives a 0.6 second knockup) with an enemy hero, quickly cast the S2 (which also gives a 0.6 second knockup) leading to a 1.2 seconds knockup! GG easy!
• When your S1 is about to connect with the enemy hero, you can Blink in the back direction which will take the enemy by surprise (usually known as Godlike-Hook/Grab)
• If you are able to knockup more than 1 enemy hero in teamfight, quickly cast your Ultimate to guarantee the 1.6 seconds immobilize on multiple enemies

Pros & Con’s of Groot:

Pros:

• Very tanky
• Got multiple knock-ups & immobilize ability
• You can utilize his passive to spawn at a brush & can take the enemies by surprise by using your ultimate while in the brush

Cons:

The 1 second casting duration on his ultimate – as this 1 second gives sufficient time to the enemies to change their position and escape.

This guide will not only help you play Groot as a Support hero but will even help you get a good understanding of how to play Groot in the top lane as a Tank for the team. Even if you pick up a few things from this guide , then you will get better with the hero.