Chaos for beginners

[ChrisNihilus]

Hi everyone, i'm new.

Well, sort of.
I shall give a small presentation i guess.

I watched e-sport since the beta of Starcraft 2: WoL but never played.
I use to like the game a lot, but now it bore me.

So i find out Retribution and the Elite Mod thanks to Crazyman casts.
Now i follow almost all of the caster and enjoy them very much, and follow the forum for a while.

I was not interested in playing, but Steam give me today a 50% discount and... well, here i am.

I saw lots of games in the casts, so i'm not completely new to the game, quite the opposite, i know all the units and what they do.
But i don't really know the strategy and the meta to the game, expecially for beginners.

So i ask you if you could give me some tips to start with Chaos.
Basic builds versus races, what to conquest at the start and in which order and some tips on the equipment of the Sorcerer.

Thanks in advance.

[Orkfaeller]

Well, I'm not a Chaosplayer so I cant do much for now but welcome you.

Beside that, I think its never wrong to go for the Power first, especially Victory Points are not THAT important early on

[HandSome SoddiNg]

Kewl, I'am a Loyalist myself but i'am somewhat decent & knowledgeable about em.


I just list them the Chaos Heroes armour & some known builds u can start off if you want to play all 3 of em .
Chaos Lord/Plague champion the most Simplistic Tanky heroes to Start off with then the Sorcerror . Sorcerror really requires Constant practises to Master his playstyle,normally not recommended to start off with =D


His worship status is Invisibility, good for Ambushing tactics that can catch your foe off-guard Momentarily.
Sorcerer , Generally gud vs All races but Extremely fragile

T1 Sword of flame & Teleport armour gud retreat . Sword of flame gives him a Defensive ability which can combine with any Units to deal 2x damage to your foes. Teleporter armour can disrupt units/Set-up teams, Used on Retreat kills. His Doomblast ability is Powerful and must be Stationary for the full-effect of the Damage , he can replenish his Energy by absorbing a Heretic's life, don't do it on CSM/Raptors/Havocs/etc Any High model infantry.

T2 Robes of Torments/Daemonic armour/Icon of Tzeetch /Dark flames/Circle of summoning

Robes of torments a great Crowd-control ability to deter a Meele blob of death or Halt your Emenies in tracks to allow your Units to close-in and deal their damage. Ofc, it last for the whole duration of the ability. Daemonic armour is a Defensive Red Orb that decreases range damage greatly ,oftenly used on Bloodcrushers/Dreadnoughts/Predators to protect them from AV threats .

Tzeetch icon can be combined with Doombolts or Dark flames on Orkz/IG/Nidz range blob for Devastating explosive effect that can Wipe a squad . Dark flames ,this global can be used to Kill low-fleeing Models or squads to wipe em out Successfully upon retreat. Circle of Summoning allows your units to Reinforce during an intense Engagement that can change in your Favour .

T3 Rod of Warpfire /Tomb of Subjugation

Rod of warpfire is a Range-weaponry,can keep Sorcerer at a safe distance firing his Pinky bolts , its ability can disrupt your enemy follow-up with another Combo . Tomb of Subjugation ,a Manipulative wargear that allows you to posses a Target willingly for a duration of time. Greatly used on T3 Units like Nobz/Terminators. Either to control em to Hit their own Allies or Lure them into your Army for a Wiping potential .


Builds :Straightforward types

2 CSM , 1 AC tics, Havocs
(Sorc player's fav builds) 2 Heretics 1 havoc/1 NM or raptor
2 Heretics 2 Havocs
2 heretics 1 havoc, 1 raptor

T2 , Either a quick Bloodcrusher/ Plague marines for AV or save up for a Dreadnought

T3 , Predator choose your own marks, save up for GUO or enough red for Terminators

Hope it gives you sum idea, but other renowned Chaos players have better understanding

[ChrisNihilus]

I just played a game vs the computer and you are right, the Sorcerer is a little too complex for now.

Chaos Lord seems a little bit more straightforward indeed.
I fear to take the Plague Champion because i'm bad in awerness and i know i will lose melee units all the time.
Better a CSM more and a Tanky Hero in melee, instead of Cultists in melee and Hero at distance, i believe.

I will still try a few time with the Sorcerer with your explanation, maybe i will find myself better than i expected.
Thank you. ^^

[HandSome SoddiNg]

I just played a game vs the computer and you are right, the Sorcerer is a little too complex for now.

Chaos Lord seems a little bit more straightforward indeed.
I fear to take the Plague Champion because i'm bad in awerness and i know i will lose melee units all the time.
Better a CSM more and a Tanky Hero in melee, instead of Cultists in melee and Hero at distance, i believe.

I will still try a few time with the Sorcerer with your explanation, maybe i will find myself better than i expected.
Thank you. ^^

Well,Glad to Oblige =D. Maestro cretella knows more about the Socerer"s capabilities, he Mains him Specifically,Can ask him . Sorcerer has deep Complexity and his Unique playstyle somewhat separates himself from the other Two Chaos Heroes. With constant Practices, Sorcerer is a dangerous Opponent . Practically everyone knows PC/CL builds, so no Suprise there =)

[Tex]

I would recommend starting with the PC. The reason I say this is because nurgle worship (while not considered the most useful) is the most forgiving and easiest to use of the three varieties, and it can really lend a lot of staying power in tier 1. You will get a lot of practice slowly advancing on your enemy going from cover to cover with your csm and pc, while keeping a tic squad behind for constant worship and in the case of jump troops, melee support.

The Chaos Lord has a certain element of bullish play, but he is definitely held back by his lack of AV. He is definitely a hard nut to crack and I highly recommend you play an offensive style. Keep applying pressure to your enemy through every tier and do not relent. Sitting back with a CL does not suit him well.
You can also be fairly creative with his globals. Malignant blindness is fantastic for flanking and keeping early vehicles as a surprise to your enemy. Bloodlust is pretty cool because you can really buff the damage of your AV weapons with it if you keep something like plague marines around a heretic squad.

The Chaos Sorcerer has probably the second highest skill ceiling for heroes in the game. The only hero with a higher skill ceiling is the Farseer. I can't even begin to go into detail on what to do with this guy because he has soooooooooooooooo many different styles of play that you can adopt. I can tell you for sure though, that there is a reason why NoisyElmo and myself both love this hero, and that is because of the almost limitless possibility he possesses. You have basically complete freedom to be creative with your play and perform fantastic combos, but it comes at a HUGE price. The CS is incredibly vulnerable in the early game to offensive heroes, and he requires tedious levels of micro, and he is very wargear dependent.

[crazyman64335]

good, good, i've converted yet another, my plan for world domination is going exactly as planned, as for the topic at hand, start out with the PC, if you're finding you're losing him too often, switch it up and play the CL. At the end of the day the most valuable resource is playing the game and realizing mistakes, it's a grueling process but if you make it through you'll enjoy the game very much

[ChrisNihilus]

So, i tryed the Plague Champion and it felt good.
Thanks for the advises!

Often i miss that there is no upgrade for the boltgun, something to keep it at distance, and can't really figure out how to use him in the middle game.
What weapon do you suggest switching?

Still, the Nurgle Worship is amazing and i find myself using it all the time.

Unfortunately it's hard to find players at my level in the Elite, and i was forced to play in retail version or get obliterated everytime.

[Nurland]

For PC the Power Fist is generally a solid purchase if you wish to change his weapon in the mid game.