Power Race Guide

This guide helps newer players understand the power race, and what plays they can make to help their team win the race more consistently, and thus win more matches.

80 or 90 power - Time to Interrupt

The absolute most important part of a power race is when one or both teams reach 80 or 90 power, as the next power orb collected will start a rampage.

• Players will be looking to interrupt enemy creatures when they try to gather power, while simultaneously defending their own creatures to gather power first.
• If done successfully when a rampage is triggered, the enemy team will lose out on the 20 power from the power orb as it disappears.
• Also be ready to interrupt heroes if they are collecting from a central  restricted point, such as on Ghost Reef.

Interrupting earlier than 80 power

In general, don't interrupt creatures before 80 power.

• There are highly situational times when this can be a good play, such as when the entire enemy team is dead and you can kill the creature and collect the power orb before the enemy team can come back and interrupt you.

Always interrupt enemy heroes that try to collect power from a central  restricted point, no matter the power score.

• It takes 6s for a hero to collect, so if you wait until the last second to interrupt, you end up wasting a lot of the enemy's time.

During a Rampage

Getting kills during a rampage will give your team a small advantage, but kills are especially important for the defending team.

Before the guardian is pinned down

On Defense

• Don't just sit around your guardian and wait for it to be pinned down - power gained from kills will still raise your team's power up to it's maximum of 100.
• Any power the defenders can get will reduce the initial rampage damage and give their guardian more shield, but getting 100 power is the goal since it greatly reduces rampage damage.
• It is especially important to look for extra power when you can prevent an auto-wound, forcing the enemy team to do wound damage and exposing them to danger.

On Offense

• Stay healthy, make sure you have your cooldowns available for all your skills, and avoid giving the enemy team power.
• Don't get to the enemy guardian too early or you will take extra damage for free - try to arrive just as it gets pinned down.

After the guardian is pinned down

On Defense

• Target enemy heroes that deal the most damage, especially if you can stop them before they use a devastating focus skill.
• Heroes that have deflects or reflects can use those skills to prevent damage traveling toward the guardian, and disruptions like launch, stun, daze, and cancel are extremely important for preventing strong enemy hero skills from going off.
• Be careful not to die yourself - your death will add 2 seconds onto the rampage timer, as well as drop a life blossom for the enemy team to heal.

On Offense

• Consider how much health the guardian has remaining before the wound and determine what your goal is before going in.
• Can your team deal enough damage to get the wound right now?
  • If so, then go for it! Even one or two deaths during the rampage is usually worth it to secure the wound.
• Is there too much health to get the wound right now?
  • That's fine, try and set yourself up for the next rampage, but don't overextend and suicide.
• Is your team too beaten up to even survive while attacking the guardian?
  • Then stay back and heal up, and be ready to start the next power race strong.

After a Rampage

Look out for the opportunity to kill heroes as soon as a rampage ends - it's an easy way to get a head start on the next power race.

• In some cases, it might be better to leave an enemy hero with a sliver of health for the last 2-3s of rampage, then kill them as soon as it's over.
• If you find yourself at low health during the last few seconds of a rampage, try to die before the timer is up in order to avoid giving the enemy team power.

You may also have the opportunity to kill an enemy creature if the enemy team is not healthy enough to defend after the rampage, just be careful not to over-extend.