“The Prophet teaches that energy flows through all things, we must only harness it for ourselves. The mages invoke incantations, the priests call upon gods wicked and just, but for the truly powerful, the power is harnessed from within. These are the Disciples of the Way and among them there is one known for his mastery over all—Kinesis. Let the Hellbourne beware the power of his mind.”
Kinesis was added to the game quite some time ago. When he first entered the scene, some players complained on forums about how he was the "new worst hero of HoN." As time passed, people started to discover his true power—they mastered the way to play him and learned his weaknesses and strengths.
Not long after, we started to see him picked up in competitive games. I think I first started to see the hero’s potential when Tralfamadore played him in a lane with Nymphora, if I'm not mistaken. It literally wrecked through people; the immense burst magic damage and variety of usages of his skills were significant.
As time passed, people started to try him out in scrims. I think it was during one of the "in-house league" games when I was playing for HoNPortal when I started to test Kineses out in a suicide lane role. I was amazed how well the hero could do in such situations.
Today, as we have all seen on HoNCast, Kinesis is one of the heroes to fear if played by the right person. This is not a guide, so I am not going to talk about his skills and item builds, but I will touch on his impact on the competitive scene.
Kinesis is a very unique hero, especially his first skill, Stasis Smash. It's basically a free Stormspirit, except that you do receive damage. It can be used for defensive purposes, for obvious reasons, but things get tricky when you try to use it offensively.
A Statis Smashed opponent will take 50% damage while in the air. When dropped, they will be stunned but take no damage, though they will damage any nearby opponents. Now, a lot comes into the equation. The usage of this skill requires a lot of team communication.
I recall a match in which Kinesis lifted an opponent while his ally Witch Slayer used an ultimate on the target, which only dealt 50% damage, causing the target to survive. You may think it was some noob making this mistake, but it was Jeppins, an amazing player who brought Kinesis to his full potential. Later in this article you will see a small talk I did with him to add a second—and a more experienced—opinion on the hero.
A hero with a very tricky spell who requires very good team communication is hard to play in the heat of a teamfight. But when you can actually play him and communicate well with your team, then It's Super Effective! (Props to Pokémon.)
The other skills Kinesis offers are just as tricky as Statis Smashed. His second skill and his ultimate deal an unbelievable amount of magic damage, while his third skill grants him a shield which can absorb damage depending on the damage you have dealt. What could be better?
Kinesis’s relatively low cooldown nukes, a half escape mechanism (Stasis Smash), and survivability (Inherent Defense) makes his laning presence very significant. He’s strong as a disabler as well as a nuker who can absorb relatively higher damage than other intelligence heroes—it would be silly to overlook such a powerful hero!
Today, we see respect bans on Kinesis versus Jeppins, and I believe we will see more of this hero as teams blend the him into their strategies and discover his potential. In my opinion, the hero's future seems very bright and we might soon see Kinesis on blind bans together with a classic like Tundra; he definitely has the potential!
Let's discuss more with Jeppins, “who came from a mystical land of Kinesis and other whimsical S2 heroes that no one else knows how to play." - Brized
Hey Jeppins! So at the moment, you are the man who comes to people's mind when we think of Kinesis. How did you discover this hero?
I started playing him as a mid hero a few months ago and had great success in TMMs. I always like to try out new or underrated heroes just to see if they have anything special to bring to the table.
When you first played the hero, did you see the potential and how did you do with him?
The first few times I played him I was definitely pretty awful with his abilities. It actually took quite a few games before I even realized how certain spell mechanics for him worked.
Do you think he needs any changes?
Thats a hard question. I really haven't seen him played by anyone else in a competitive setting. He isn't broken like Ophelia or Keeper, heroes like that just completely dominate every time they're picked. I'd say Kinesis is in a pretty good state right now, possibly in need of a small buff if anything.
What are his strengths? What makes you choose him over other similar role heroes?
Burst. Burst. Burst. Kinesis provides AOE burst, single target burst, and an insanely helpful CC ability. Similar heroes can do the same thing—Pyromancer/Chipper and the like—but they just can't suicide lane like Kinesis can.
What roles do you think he can fill in competitive games and why?
Like I said earlier, he is capable of that suicide lane which means you probably won't see him anywhere else.
As far as I'm concerned, the hero needs great team communication (Stasis Smash vs damage dealt), do you agree and how does this affect your gameplay?
Yes, I would definitely agree with you on the communication part. Sometimes it can be tricky to decide which target to Stasis Smash, especially considering it is castable on teammates. I usually try to use it as initiation though, which makes it clear to my teammates when to cast their spells and who to target.
Do you think he will become a more popular pick as teams get to know the hero better?
I hope so, as he really is fun to play and watch in my opinion. I know bkid, my student, has been trying to run him in some scrims following my success with the hero, so hopefully we see a lot more of Kinesis.
What are his weaknesses, and which heroes do you think are the hardest to play against as Kinesis?
Kinesis has absolutely no farm potential. He relies on hero kills/assists for gold, which are much harder to come by in top tier matches. The hardest adversary I've ever faced while playing Kinesis in middle was Aluna! Just so much harass and damage with Power Throw—it was quite annoying.
Do you have any recommendations or pro tips for those who are not as familiar with the hero?
You HAVE to be aggressive with Kinesis; its what he was made for. As far as his spells go, I think a lot of people don't realize that you can throw trees/Creeps with either the ultimate or "E" depending on the situation.
So let’s say there are three enemy heroes clumped together—I can pick up 4 trees with "W" and then 3 more trees with my level 1 ultimate and throw all 7 trees using "R" for 700 AOE magic damage.
Thanks for having this little discussion with me on Kinesis. It's been really nice to add a second experienced opinion on the hero. Do you have any shoutouts to make?
It was my pleasure, thanks for adding more awesomeness to the HoN community! SHOUTOUTS to my team, Domain of PAIN. Shoutout to jrandom and bquigs; they always believed in my Kinesis!
HoN community, thanks for supporting me so far! If you have anything you would like me to cover—hero breakdowns, player/team spotlights, match catchups/criticals—please let me know via writing on my wall! Follow me to get updates on what I will be working on next!
- RoLanD
Big shoutout to [S2]Kros for being so helpful maintaining my community channel, he helps me without getting bored of it every week on patch days, he is THE best!
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seouljaboi
What do you feel about kinetic throw not negating null stone? And that there is a limit on the distance you can throw objects.?
Posted about 6 months ago
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