A Discussion on Hastened Fatalis and its Value

So...nice weather we're having.

Thought I'd throw out some of my personal thoughts on Hastened Fatalis. I'll go over various generalities, and then provide some specific details and examples on my opinion and perspective.

A bit of history

So...I almost don't even remember season 1 at this point. I know that in Season 2 and Season 3, it had its ups and downs...it's always had a fairly reasonable price, and its stats have always centered around the attack speed, move speed, and the passive, with the passive being the main draw by far.

In S2/S3, it had 30% attack speed and the 10% move speed (I think it was always 10%), along with the passive movespeed thing. At this point, it was, mostly, a niche item for most gods. People considered it (and many still do I guess) a crutch. Why niche? Although it provided attack speed, it didn't have any pen or power, so other items provided higher DPS.

I will say that it's ALWAYS been basically a core item for Kali and Freya, through all of its iterations.

In S4, we saw it go through a couple of changes. 4.1 decreased the attack speed from 30% to 20%, added 10 flat pen, and stabilized cost at 2,150 gold. That 10 flat pen all of a sudden had the entire community, from pros down to scrubs, in an uproar as it was now "OP." Seriously...it wasn't all that big of a deal, in my eyes. But all of a sudden, Freya magically became S tier, lol. And sure, maybe for her of all the various gods, it gave her a strong boost, but only because it was a core early item...usually picked up as 1st or 2nd item, which was not the case for most others.

It became a staple for a slew of hunters that didn't usually build it before. And I should note that S4 brought about the elimination of the Fatalis effect on several gods that previously had it in their kits ( Chronos, Jing Wei, a nerf to Erlang Shen's function, etc.).

Anyway, since it turned into OP status, Hi-Rez has shifted the stats some...first increased the price to 2,300 gold, then felt it was still underpriced, so rebalanced by increasing to 2,600 gold but adding an additional 5% attack speed (25% total). So there's its history up to this point.


Current Meta

As previously stated, it's been and will continue to be a staple item for Freya, Kali, and depending on player, others like Bakasura. No, I'm not naming all of the gods that might often use it.

As for the hunter category as a whole, it just brings a lot of utility to any hunter that focuses on basic attacks (read: not Neith). It acts offensively (obvious) but also provides utility (10% move speed for faster rotations and such) and potential defense (increased juke ability to avoid attacks).

It's 2,600 gold...this pushes it from being a fairly reasonable early-game item (2,150 to 2,300 gold) to being semi-expensive, especially since it provides no power, CDR, or any other stat that gives it hybrid functionality. It's purely a basic attacker's item, so only caters to specific gods.

So it's got a variety of stats that make it an interesting one when choosing to build it, at least in some cases...a bit expensive which can push it to be considered later in a build. 10 flat pen which really helps more in the early game...so when and where do you build it?


Hunters

I'll say that it's still a pretty common item for many hunters...both in crit builds as well as power/pen builds. And then you have specific cases:

• Medusa: her Sidewinder passive screams "GIVE ME Hastened Fatalis!!!" She is soooo slippery when she has it, and it makes her general mobility (not considering escape abilities) the best of any hunter.
  
  
• Jing Wei: she got really hurt by having the Fatalis effect taken out of her build. For old Jing players, they may still have a personal need to pick it up just to have the old feel.
  
  
• Low mobility gods: some hunters are just easier to gank, due to a lack of mobility in their kit. Hou Yi has it the easiest...that immediate leap and huge AOE ult that slows gives him a hell of a lot to escape trouble. No so for Artemis, who has no specific leap/teleport for escape in her kit. (*edit* KingScuba pointed out to me she has added movespeed in her Vengeful Assault, oops) She has to rely on hoping someone will step into her trap, maaaaybe using her Suppress The Insolent to slow enemies (won't help all that much if they have mobility abilities to catch back up), or the short stun from Tusky. So, if people feel they can really use the added mobility, this is an answer.

For most hunters, it's always been an item better built in the late game...again, with no power, it can really screw with a power curve, especially in a Conquest match where gold income is slower, and other, cheaper items will provide a much greater swing in DPS (and ability damage with regard to scaling). You don't generally want to choose somewhat expensive items that give you a disadvantage with regard to wave clear.

BUT...it is absolutely a functional item, for almost any hunter. It's preference, perhaps, and then you have some purists and elitists who complain that the passive is a load of BS and it should be completely taken out of the game because it breaks a specific in-game mechanic. To me, I feel it's in a pretty good place. It has its positives and negatives, and people can absolutely make their builds work without it.

But in any case, on to some specific examples and discussion.


Freya & Chronos

Let's make sure this is established first. Hastened Fatalis is core for Freya. Essential. Required. Chronos cries because it used to be in his kit, so he still really, really wants it...but it's arguable if he NEEDS it. Or maybe not. He doesn't NEED it, but he can appreciate it if he's focusing on basic attacks in an ADC-type role.

Here's the difference. Freya relies on a combination of 2 of her abilities, Pulse and Irradiate, for the bulk of her damage per hit. The scaling on these abilities is a minor component...the base damage (again, PER HIT) is mostly determined by the levels of these abilities.

Since she is nothing without her basic attacks, and in particular Pulse to make her basics ranged, she absolutely NEEDS the Fatalis effect...the attack speed not only gets more hits in for her, but with no other increase movement speed (via an escape ability), she can really use the 10% movespeed bonus. The attack speed is also needed to get more of her ability hits in...again, less to do with power scaling, more to do with it hitting in the first place. So...until Fatalis' cost increases to 3,500 gold, it's going to be a core EARLY item for her...maybe not 1st anymore like it previously was since the price is higher, but likely 2nd, 3rd LATEST.

As for Chronos...his kit is completely different. Yes, he has potential basic attack boosting through his Wheel of Time, not only in the basic attack speed boost (which is significant, 35% at level 5), but also in where he chooses to stop the wheel...Section 4 adds +45% magical power contribution to basic attacks. That's a really, really nice damage boost...but it's also TIED DIRECTLY TO POWER. It's a power scaling ability.

So here's what needs to be considered. The Wheel, especially early-game, is a source of sustain...Section 1 provides health...Section 2 makes all abilities cost nothing. And Accelerate's basic attack boost is lower until it's leveled up, and other abilities have priority for wave-clear. So in the earlier portions of a game, basic attack function is of minor concern. He should be concentrating on other stats first...namely, power and pen.

Honestly, he just should NOT be built for basic attacks early. He will always get better function in being built as a regular nuking mage at that point, unless you're having fun in a non-Conquest mode or are otherwise playing against lower-skill players.

If I might make a weird comparison, let's link it to Rod of Tahuti. Tahuti is expensive, making it take a long time to build, and its passive makes it more effective the more magical power you have (e.g. scaling). Fatalis isn't as expensive, but in price consideration, it is expensive for some of its stats and for Chronos and the previously discussed early-game, basic attacks don't do nearly as much for him at that time.

So, a recent argument of Hastened Fatalis's price increase pushing it from being an early item? Not so much for Freya, which I've established in my opinion as being a core item needed pretty early. But absolutely for Chronos (and not just Chronos, others as well)...but my concession is that it's NEVER been the great early-item for him (since the S4 changes).


Conclusion (AKA TL;DR)

I feel Hastened Fatalis is in a good place overall. I think the price is fair for the advantage it gives to specific gods/classes. I think it's a late-game option for almost all basic attack gods except Kali and Freya, for whom it's a key early/mid item. I think there are plenty of counters that it's not the crazy OP item people say it is...CC is always a killer. Whew.

I see that you mentioned Freya and Kali (together) three times and Bakasura only one time... Poor Baka, I will never know if I build him right ;(

Pretty much full agreement here. With the price increase, it falls to late game pickup for me. What stinks about the price upgrade it kind of nerfs Kali and Bakasura who need it to stick to people mid game. It makes them take a little longer to become the hyper carry they should be.

Other than that though, I think it is in a good spot, price and stats wise.

You basically cover everything haha.

BAKA BEST BAKA FROSTALIS BAKA.

Sorry, yeah, Bakasura loves Hastened Fatalis. With that true damage, and just normal sticking power since he's a pure basic attacker, he gets a ton out of it as well.

#JustSayNoToFrostalisIWasJustKiddingOkay

#NotEnoughBaka

YOU'RE stupid, GGF.

Thanks I try.

Baka.

end me

Yes, you're very trying.

For me it's still gonna be the S1 and early season mentality: only the current 3 basic attacking assassins have it as core to be able to stick on people. Only the passive was the most used thing for them.

For all other gods, however especially ADCs. The item is a N00B pick up. you already got range which if used right should be enough to "stick" on a god.

I really feel HR needs to do a LoL thingy with halving the gained movement speed on ranged champs. (LoL equivalent is (nowadays since it went from slow to movement speed) phage and it's upgrades (which are most ranged champs don't use a lot)