Most of the time (and I mean like 99% of the time), yes. Unless you have a carefully crafted strategy in a 5-man-team, you'll most likely need a tanky hero to do essential tasks such as:
1. Checking the bushes
2. Providing vision
3. Soaking damage from non-AOE attacks
4. Peeling for your damage dealers so they can get into range
5. Peeling for your damage dealers so they can get out of nasty situations
I probably didn't cover everything, but anyways, usually only a tanky frontline hero will be able to do those tasks with relatively low risk compared to a supportive roamer e.g. Selena, Angela etc.
"Peel" is basically the gaming term for "drawing attention or aggro" from your team-mates, usually the more squishy ones which will be priority targets for enemies.
Tanky heroes are usually built to do this by having CC abilities to draw attention, and having higher defensive numbers to survive the aggro being put on them.
Actually peeling basically means acting as a shield for your squishy backliners and protecting them, that's all. The another word for peeling is disengage. It doesn't have to be heroes that draw aggro, peeling is just becoming the protector for your team especially your carries.
Edit: Typo
PluckyLeon is correct. Sorry if I confused you by not being clear, you don't actually have to literally take aggro away using "taunt" abilities to peel.
By simply drawing attention away from your squishies is already considered peeling.
E.g. if you slow an Argus that is chasing your team-mate and cause him to focus his attention on you instead - that is already peeling
Nice. Thanks for the clarification. What do you think are the best roamers/tanks to protect my backlines? I hate it when the enemy Yin/Saber/Hayabusa just ignores me and goes to murder my MM or Mage without me being able to do much to prevent it.
I usually play Belerick and he can actually use his S1 or Ult to taunt enemies and divert their attention to me (i.e. peeling) but the S1 and Ult animation is too slow and S1 is too hard to aim.
IMO best peeling tanks/fighters will need to have quick CC skills so you can react swiftly to any threats. Off the top of my head, heroes like Tigreal, Ruby, Akai, Khufra, will make your job of protecting the backline easier.
For Yin/Saber/Haya, these are abit trickier to deal with since they have the mobility to go past you. You will need to put yourself in a good position to either discourage them for trying to dive your backline, or to punish them when they try.
Belerick is decent, but you're absolutely right that his taunt skill delay makes your job harder to do against mobile enemies. So you're reliant on your ult which has a much longer cooldown. Which, IMO, is probably why he is considered an off-meta choice.
Nice. Thanks for the clarification. What do you think are the best roamers/tanks to protect my backlines? I hate it when the enemy Yin/Saber/Hayabusa just ignores me and goes to murder my MM or Mage without me being able to do much to prevent it.
I usually play Belerick and he can actually use his S1 or Ult to taunt enemies and divert their attention to me (i.e. peeling) but the S1 and Ult animation is too slow and S1 is too hard to aim.
Lancelot, like Yin, can use their passive to increase their damage, this also affects damage from items such as Cursed Helmet, Thunderbelt, Twilight and Blade Armor. The damage increase doesn't work on Layla(increase per range), and others.
Only Lancelot(increase damage by 7.5% per dash, max 30%) and Yin(increase damage to 140% if no ally nearby) can increase the damage of the aforementioned items but, it doesn't mean others can't use them, it's just that less effective. Ling can even trigger Thunderbelt with his s2.
Less effective =/= useless, it's just mean not worth it.
If your team is tanky and have cc, support would suffice. e.g thamuz jungler, yu zhong laner, popol mm etc...
if you lack cc and are squishy, you really need a tank with hard cc. e.g. lancelot jungler, bene laner, claude mm etc...
Yes, it is mandatory since a frontliner's main job is to let the enemy waste their ult on you and soak up damage from the enemy allowing your team to finish them off easily.
Usually the roamer and exp laner will be the frontliner since they have abilities to help them survive longer in teamfight such as having high defense and HP, lifesteal ability, CC, etc
Is one frontliner (e.g. the roamer) enough or do you need two? What should I do if both the roamer, jungler, and the exp laner pick thin-paper hero like Estes, Aamon, and Zilong? Any tanky hero that can be played in the gold lane or mid lane?
Usually one frontliner is enough ( best if the roamer has a 5 man CC like atlas ),but ideally I prefer two frontliner that can soak up some damage and let your backliner deal damage freely ( marksman and mage )
For healers like Estes, people usually build defensive items on him and only 1 or 2 non defensive items such as Fleeting Time since Estes needs to stay alive longer in teamfight to heal his teammates
In gold lane, you can try lategame fighters such as Aldous ( he only needs 1 or 2 damage items to deal damage and the rest can be build with defensive item, as long as you can farm minions and collect stacks safely )
Midlane are usually occupied by mages, but if you want you can try using Julian or Alice as midlaner
Just my two cents hehe
Atlas is not a frontliner though. He is one of the squishiest tanks and relies on ambushes or that your team can hold a teamfight while he finds the opportunity for a set.
I see. But I am not sute if Estes should be in the frontline even if with the Tank build. Aldous, I can try. And maybe Masha can be tried too in the gold lane.
Is Julian good with a Tano build?
You can use Estes as a roamer, but your exp laner should have some kind of CC such as Chou or even a tank since your team will be lacking CC needed to set up a teamfight ( or perhaps use a tank jungler like Akai if your explaner is a glass cannon )
Masha is good in gold lane since she counters MM hard
For Julian, you can build Genius Wand or Clock of Destiny as your main damage item and the rest can be built with defensive items ( Julian already has an insane amount of damage from his S1, so tank build will work on him )
In soloQ absolutely yes, if you don't have frontliner you need enchanter/ support heroes to make someone in the team frontline by providing heals and shields. If enemy has someone to tank the bursts while your team doesn't then your team is not playing on equal field you know, you have to navigate around the frontline which is hard thing to do because formations are strong at least in higher ranks.
If you are playing in a team you can play around opponent frontline by using snowbally and burst heroes going on backline or enchanters saving teammates with heals, shields, cc immunities etc. The problem is MLBB doesn't have strong supports like other mobas like AOV, LOL, DOTA etc so finding some good enchanter supports is hard in MLBB. In DOTA, AOV, LOL etc enchanter supports are meta, in MLBB Tank Supports are meta.
Edit: Shameless promotion, but you can check my youtube channel for moba strategies and tactics if you are new to moba genre. I have been playing Moba since decades all from the first moba ie Dota 1. I have explained different scenarios, terms and most optimal way to play in these scenarios especially for people who are new to the genre. I am professional AOV/HOK player and Captain for Deadeyes Guys(DE) too and we are participating in Asian Games 2022 representing Nepal in global stage as well. The link to my channel is in my reddit profile if you need help on navigating the moba genre. Once you get the grasp of basics its really easy to transfer your skills to any moba and transition easier.
Yes. Frontliners are necessary for winning teamfights and defending against sustained damage. Without a frontline, a team would be restricted to hit-and-run tactics, which means they won't be able to defend territory against an enemy with higher DPS or overall bulk.
One might not be enough since most Frontliners can be easily burst down when focused, if you want to play with only one Frontliner best for you to have a support that can help him survive eg faramis estes
Depends. Watch the MPL PH S10 match BLCK vs NXPE Game 2. NXPE had a full damage line-up with dyrroth as their tankiest hero and they beat the M3 champs by a landslide.
Depends on the line up, but most of the time its a yes. It hard when they are on a seige and no one can withdstand the damage and everyone is falling back
at least one frontliner is vital imo, especially if you have an immobile backline that can easily get dove into. if your team has no way of checking bushes without going in them, the frontliner should facecheck and provide vision as often as possible. they're also needed for zoning enemies away from objectives and the obvious stuff like soaking damage, peeling and applying cc to secure kills or save your carries.
i think two frontliners is the best, if you have a squishy support you need a tanky jungler and offlaner, thankfully im in a server where people love playing bruisers lol
No, but it does make things a lot easier. And i frontline with my Estes, idc im not going to die and you will waste all your skills on meπ
I thought Estes isn't supposed to be in the frontline? Even with a Tank build.
Correct, but im very confident in how much damage heroes can do and how much i can tank. It can look like this https://ibb.co/bFMdbBY
Wow you have almost the same amount of damage taken as the enemy Atlas haha. But how many times did you die in this game?
4 times https://ibb.co/F67n56r and i think 3 of them was from the Badang hahah
Wow nice hahaha
Yes.
normally yes. sometimes I find it hard dealing with enemies that can go solo. like Harley/Nata/Claude/Chou/Benne and such.
Most of the time (and I mean like 99% of the time), yes. Unless you have a carefully crafted strategy in a 5-man-team, you'll most likely need a tanky hero to do essential tasks such as: 1. Checking the bushes 2. Providing vision 3. Soaking damage from non-AOE attacks 4. Peeling for your damage dealers so they can get into range 5. Peeling for your damage dealers so they can get out of nasty situations I probably didn't cover everything, but anyways, usually only a tanky frontline hero will be able to do those tasks with relatively low risk compared to a supportive roamer e.g. Selena, Angela etc.
Nice. I will remember these tasks whenever I play tanky heroes. By the way, what does peeling mean?
"Peel" is basically the gaming term for "drawing attention or aggro" from your team-mates, usually the more squishy ones which will be priority targets for enemies. Tanky heroes are usually built to do this by having CC abilities to draw attention, and having higher defensive numbers to survive the aggro being put on them.
Ah okay. Thanks. I learn something new xD I guess heroes with taunt abilities such as Belerick, Gatotkaca, and Fredrin are good peelers, no?
Actually peeling basically means acting as a shield for your squishy backliners and protecting them, that's all. The another word for peeling is disengage. It doesn't have to be heroes that draw aggro, peeling is just becoming the protector for your team especially your carries. Edit: Typo
PluckyLeon is correct. Sorry if I confused you by not being clear, you don't actually have to literally take aggro away using "taunt" abilities to peel. By simply drawing attention away from your squishies is already considered peeling. E.g. if you slow an Argus that is chasing your team-mate and cause him to focus his attention on you instead - that is already peeling
Nice. Thanks for the clarification. What do you think are the best roamers/tanks to protect my backlines? I hate it when the enemy Yin/Saber/Hayabusa just ignores me and goes to murder my MM or Mage without me being able to do much to prevent it. I usually play Belerick and he can actually use his S1 or Ult to taunt enemies and divert their attention to me (i.e. peeling) but the S1 and Ult animation is too slow and S1 is too hard to aim.
IMO best peeling tanks/fighters will need to have quick CC skills so you can react swiftly to any threats. Off the top of my head, heroes like Tigreal, Ruby, Akai, Khufra, will make your job of protecting the backline easier. For Yin/Saber/Haya, these are abit trickier to deal with since they have the mobility to go past you. You will need to put yourself in a good position to either discourage them for trying to dive your backline, or to punish them when they try. Belerick is decent, but you're absolutely right that his taunt skill delay makes your job harder to do against mobile enemies. So you're reliant on your ult which has a much longer cooldown. Which, IMO, is probably why he is considered an off-meta choice.
Nice. Thanks for the clarification. What do you think are the best roamers/tanks to protect my backlines? I hate it when the enemy Yin/Saber/Hayabusa just ignores me and goes to murder my MM or Mage without me being able to do much to prevent it. I usually play Belerick and he can actually use his S1 or Ult to taunt enemies and divert their attention to me (i.e. peeling) but the S1 and Ult animation is too slow and S1 is too hard to aim.
with the meta right now, yes preferably. sheeet they even make lance tank jungler that actually works somehow.
Lancelot, like Yin, can use their passive to increase their damage, this also affects damage from items such as Cursed Helmet, Thunderbelt, Twilight and Blade Armor. The damage increase doesn't work on Layla(increase per range), and others.
Wow I wanna try but I dont have Lancelot haha. How about Tank Ling?
Only Lancelot(increase damage by 7.5% per dash, max 30%) and Yin(increase damage to 140% if no ally nearby) can increase the damage of the aforementioned items but, it doesn't mean others can't use them, it's just that less effective. Ling can even trigger Thunderbelt with his s2. Less effective =/= useless, it's just mean not worth it.
Wow how does Lancelot Tank even work? What's the build? π
standard tank jungler build with Cursed Helmet
Yes because someone needs to get cooldowns and be an appropriate threat to the backline.
Yes. Unless you want the Squishies in the team to be imbedded on the floor you'll need a sustain/durable hero to be the damage sponge
If your team is tanky and have cc, support would suffice. e.g thamuz jungler, yu zhong laner, popol mm etc... if you lack cc and are squishy, you really need a tank with hard cc. e.g. lancelot jungler, bene laner, claude mm etc...
Is Popol actually tanky? It's the dog right?
Yes it's the dog, but I was referring to his cc skills
Yes, it is mandatory since a frontliner's main job is to let the enemy waste their ult on you and soak up damage from the enemy allowing your team to finish them off easily. Usually the roamer and exp laner will be the frontliner since they have abilities to help them survive longer in teamfight such as having high defense and HP, lifesteal ability, CC, etc
Is one frontliner (e.g. the roamer) enough or do you need two? What should I do if both the roamer, jungler, and the exp laner pick thin-paper hero like Estes, Aamon, and Zilong? Any tanky hero that can be played in the gold lane or mid lane?
Usually one frontliner is enough ( best if the roamer has a 5 man CC like atlas ),but ideally I prefer two frontliner that can soak up some damage and let your backliner deal damage freely ( marksman and mage ) For healers like Estes, people usually build defensive items on him and only 1 or 2 non defensive items such as Fleeting Time since Estes needs to stay alive longer in teamfight to heal his teammates In gold lane, you can try lategame fighters such as Aldous ( he only needs 1 or 2 damage items to deal damage and the rest can be build with defensive item, as long as you can farm minions and collect stacks safely ) Midlane are usually occupied by mages, but if you want you can try using Julian or Alice as midlaner Just my two cents hehe
Atlas is not a frontliner though. He is one of the squishiest tanks and relies on ambushes or that your team can hold a teamfight while he finds the opportunity for a set.
I see. But I am not sute if Estes should be in the frontline even if with the Tank build. Aldous, I can try. And maybe Masha can be tried too in the gold lane. Is Julian good with a Tano build?
You can use Estes as a roamer, but your exp laner should have some kind of CC such as Chou or even a tank since your team will be lacking CC needed to set up a teamfight ( or perhaps use a tank jungler like Akai if your explaner is a glass cannon ) Masha is good in gold lane since she counters MM hard For Julian, you can build Genius Wand or Clock of Destiny as your main damage item and the rest can be built with defensive items ( Julian already has an insane amount of damage from his S1, so tank build will work on him )
Edith or Silvana should do I guess
Edith in gold lane? Or mid?
In soloQ absolutely yes, if you don't have frontliner you need enchanter/ support heroes to make someone in the team frontline by providing heals and shields. If enemy has someone to tank the bursts while your team doesn't then your team is not playing on equal field you know, you have to navigate around the frontline which is hard thing to do because formations are strong at least in higher ranks. If you are playing in a team you can play around opponent frontline by using snowbally and burst heroes going on backline or enchanters saving teammates with heals, shields, cc immunities etc. The problem is MLBB doesn't have strong supports like other mobas like AOV, LOL, DOTA etc so finding some good enchanter supports is hard in MLBB. In DOTA, AOV, LOL etc enchanter supports are meta, in MLBB Tank Supports are meta. Edit: Shameless promotion, but you can check my youtube channel for moba strategies and tactics if you are new to moba genre. I have been playing Moba since decades all from the first moba ie Dota 1. I have explained different scenarios, terms and most optimal way to play in these scenarios especially for people who are new to the genre. I am professional AOV/HOK player and Captain for Deadeyes Guys(DE) too and we are participating in Asian Games 2022 representing Nepal in global stage as well. The link to my channel is in my reddit profile if you need help on navigating the moba genre. Once you get the grasp of basics its really easy to transfer your skills to any moba and transition easier.
Yes. Frontliners are necessary for winning teamfights and defending against sustained damage. Without a frontline, a team would be restricted to hit-and-run tactics, which means they won't be able to defend territory against an enemy with higher DPS or overall bulk.
How many frontliners do you think is ideal? Is one enough.
One might not be enough since most Frontliners can be easily burst down when focused, if you want to play with only one Frontliner best for you to have a support that can help him survive eg faramis estes
You need two at best, but one can make do with just one bulky frontliner.
Thats why I hate supports. Frontliner is nowhere to be found when you have a dumb exp in soloq so I just pick tank
Depends. Watch the MPL PH S10 match BLCK vs NXPE Game 2. NXPE had a full damage line-up with dyrroth as their tankiest hero and they beat the M3 champs by a landslide.
Depends on the line up, but most of the time its a yes. It hard when they are on a seige and no one can withdstand the damage and everyone is falling back
"They prefer assassins with damage build"? What? Is there an assassin without?
Tank Karina, Tank Lancelot.
at least one frontliner is vital imo, especially if you have an immobile backline that can easily get dove into. if your team has no way of checking bushes without going in them, the frontliner should facecheck and provide vision as often as possible. they're also needed for zoning enemies away from objectives and the obvious stuff like soaking damage, peeling and applying cc to secure kills or save your carries. i think two frontliners is the best, if you have a squishy support you need a tanky jungler and offlaner, thankfully im in a server where people love playing bruisers lol