Paragon, Epic Game’s new MOBA, features 18 heroes and counting. While the game is only in early access on both PC and PS4, the development team is committing to new hero releases every three weeks. Now’s a great time to familiarize yourself with the roles and heroes of Paragon. This edition of our Paragon Hero Guide takes a look at Casters.
Casters are traditionally long-range heroes with powerful abilities that can deal huge amounts of burst damage to enemy heroes, control the battlefield, or clear out waves of minions to quickly push a lane. They often have long ability cooldowns, but immense damage output or great strategic opportunities. If you like to play from the backline and put out big numbers, consider playing one of these Casters.
The Fey
Judging by the character reveal, The Fey looks to play similarly to League of Legends‘ Zyra. Not only are both heroes plant-based characters, but they each seem like great options for the damage-dealing support role. However, with a passive ability that returns mana on successful hits, Fey can harass enemies more consistently than her League counterpart. Somewhat akin to the original version of Zyra, Fey’s Untamed Growth launches a seed at a target location, which sprouts into an explosive flower, damaging all enemy units in range. She can also grow a row of thorny vines with Bramble Patch, sending them out in a massive line and slowing enemies in front of her. With these two abilities, Fey seems like a great option for players who want to lock-off enemy movement, split the opposing team, or otherwise isolate squishy targets from their friends.
Fey’s Ultimate, Fly Trap, is another seed toss, this time growing a massive plant that sends out tendrils lashing out to drag in enemy heroes and deal hefty damage. The crowd-control capability alone is impressive, letting Fey peel for her allies or pull in single-targets. In the trailer, Fey uses this ability to set up Steel‘s devastating Shield Slam. This is exactly the kind of wombo-combo tricks you’ll want to pull when Fey comes to Paragon‘s Early Access on Aug. 2.
Pros: Excellent zone control.
Cons: Is a very squishy target if she whiffs her crowd control ability.
Gideon
A purple-attired magic user who can influence the void, Gideon controls the power of portals. His Burden ability tethers Gideon to an enemy hero, slowing them and dealing damage over time. It’s a decent escape tool when jumped upon, but is best used to keep specific targets in range of his other abilities. Cosmic Rift is Gideon’s lane-pushing bread-and-butter, opening up a portal in the area and dropping meteors from above over a massive area. His Ultimate, Black Hole, opens a black hole on the ground, sucking in all nearby opponents and dealing damage over time. It’s a beastly maneuver when catching the entire enemy team.
That being said, his coolest ability is Torn Space, which creates a portal where he stands and another at a target location, letting Gideon teleport instantly to the new location. The kicker: friendly heroes can hop through the portal as well. Torn Space provides excellent utility to the team, letting Gideon set up surefire ganks or make clutch escapes from losing battles.
Pros: Excellent AoE damage and high late-game burst damage.
Cons: Weak early game and single escape that has the potential to hurt as much as help.
Gadget
Gadget is a long-range caster that excels at poking down enemy heroes before a full engage takes them out for good. Her Seek & Destroy ability sends out a gadget in a straight line that slowly moves forward, granting vision around itself. This little hovering robot is great for catching out potential flanks and can be detonated at any time to damage these flankers and slow them down. It also has insane range and is a fantastic tool for harassing opposing laners.
She can also toss a Sticky Mine that attaches to enemies, exploding after a short while to damage the target and anyone lingering too close. To help her harass and escape, Gadget’s Speed Gate deploys a line of electricity that damages enemies and speeds up any allies who walk through the gate, similar to Jayce from League of Legends. Her Ultimate, Tesla Dome, creates a massive zone in an area that damages enemies over time. It’s great for team fights and can disrupt opponents as they panic to get out of the zone.
Pros: Great laning phase with some of the best harass potential in Paragon.
Cons: Like all casters, Gadget is very squishy and mana dependent. Can also overextend when pushing if not careful.
Howitzer
Howitzer is really just a furry guy in an armored mech, a mech which also happens to have a jetpack and shoot explosives. Another Paragon hero skilled at putting out AoE damage and clearing waves, Howitzer’s basic attack deals 10% splash damage to all nearby enemies. His R2000 missile fires a rocket that also deals area damage, and his Slow Grenade follows suit, also applying a movement speed debuff to enemies hit by the volley of three proximity bombs. Coupled with Slow Grenade, his Land Mine ability, which knocks back enemies, can help create and maintain distance from opponents.
Howitzer’s Ultimate, Make it Rain, can also be used defensively. When triggered, Make it Rain launches Howitzer high into the air, where he rains down missiles from above for over four seconds. Quick Howitzer players can use this rocket boost to flee melee assassins and reposition slightly before coming back down to earth.
Pros: Great AoE damage and can zone enemies away.
Cons: Very little killing power, especially early game, and has a hard time getting onto targets on his own.
Iggy and Scorch
Iggy and Scorch are really two heroes in one. Iggy, the weird imp-like creature, sits atop a dragon-like mount named Scorch. By tossing Molotov cocktails into Scorch’s mouth, the caster combo can spit fire and cause a ruckus all over the battlefield. Iggy and Scorch’s primary ability Molotov, which throws one of these flaming concoctions on the ground, deals ongoing burn damage to enemies that touch it. The duo’s second ability, Oil Slick, increases their movement speed and leaves a trail of slick oil in their wake. Their ability Oil Spill can also launch the stuff at a distance, letting Iggy and Scorch place down the goop without risking their own lives.
As you can imagine, Iggy and Scorch’s Molotov can ignite these patches of oil to deal fire damage for a short time to anyone caught in the oil. Their Ultimate, Flame Belch, also sets oil on fire as Scorch spews flames out of his mouth for 2.5 seconds, belching when complete to deliver sizable knockback to opponents in front of him. Along with a Flame Turret ability that sets up a temporary fire-spitting turret, Iggy and Scorch have all the tools they need to dominate space in Paragon.
Pros: Excellent wave clear and team damage when positioned well for the fight.
Cons: No escape and a tendency to push lanes make Iggy and Scorch an easy gank target.
For more information on Paragon‘s many heroes, check out our other Paragon Hero Guides for Rangers, Fighters, Supports, and Tanks.