"Don't Die Now!" - 10 Tips How To Avoid Pointless Dying

Hey lads! Today our Heroes of the Storm Boosting squad is going to talk about unecessary deaths.

Some of many key elements of the game players use to win is that they know how to not die. They don’t lose fights during laning, they don't get ganked while traveling, and seem to stay alive through objectives. Of course everyone will die in team fights occasionally, but staying alive during the “boring” moments of a game can stop the enemy team from gaining an upper hand, and give your team a better chance at victory.


Players who find themselves dying randomly will struggle to climb divisions, and need to think about the following tips to prevent deaths.

1.Be wary of Enemy Vision

Most players know to watch the minimap to spot approaching enemies before it’s too late, but that’s not the only way to think when it comes to the minimap! Your enemy is also using the minimap to find you,and you should always be sure that you don’t reveal yourself without a good reason.

Remember, it’s not just about staying out of their vision, but also preventing your appearance on their map. That means you should avoid minions when making risky jukes, stay away from fortifications that might show your position, avoid watchtowers, and use bushes or environmental barriers for cover when you suspect an enemy is nearby.

2. Save Crowd Control for Defense

A lot of players take an aggressive attitude when it comes to skirmishing during early-game. That often means they’ll apply lots of pressure by using their crowd control while attempting to secure a kill. Not all heroes have crowd control abilities, if you don't know which ones do, and how to utilize them properly you should find a Heroes of the Storm Tier List which will help you win games. Sadly, when that doesn’t work, you’re leaving yourself in danger of a gank

If you’re not sure that you’ll win the duel and get the kill, it’s better to play safely and wait for a gank to help you. Saving your crowd control abilities as a defensive measure can help you escape ganks and ruin the enemy team’s plans.

3. Stay Close to Escape Routes

A lot of inexperienced players love to stand in the middle of lanes and open areas, far from an escape or fortification. People rarely think about their positioning and decisions while laning or while traveling to an objective, exposing themselves to easy ganks.

Line up near bushes to break vision for targeted abilities. Stand close to a gate to protect you at a moment’s notice. Stand near a corner that allows you to break vision and run away. Give yourself two paths to move towards when opponents can approach from either direction.

4. Know the Duels You Can Win (with a buffer)

This tip takes a relatively large amount of experience and knowledge of your own skills to master, but it’s arguably the most important one to mention. You need to learn which one-on-one duels you can win, while still taking in account a little buffer to make up for differences in personal skill and potential bailouts from ganks. This is a big basis for people that are professional Heroes of the Storm boosters. Before deciding to pick a fight, you should be 90% sure you can win it with some extra health left.

If you’re not sure you can successfully duel your opponent, then don’t attempt it unless a secured kill would provide a huge advantage and your death would have close to no impact. That usually only happens if your team is behind and profiting from the underdog experience bonus, and you have an ally to cover the experience soaking in your lane.

5. Top Off Your Health

It's weird to me how many people walk around with huge chunks of health missing, even if they are a healer or have access to a Healing Fountain. When characters survive a gank, they usually have a tiny part of health remaining, so any missing health means certain death. As everyone knows, not all heroes are equally tanky, you should look at a Heroes of the Storm Tier List to find the right pick for you and for the easiest wins. When your health is missing, you’re limited in your positioning, decision-making, and wave-clearing.

In other words, heal yourself. Tap the Healing Fountain when you can. Call for someone to cover your lane and Hearthstone. If none of those options are available, play carefully by standing behind a gate and taking safer travel routes.

6. Keep Escapes Ready

Much like you should keep cc available to stall ganks, you should also save your escapes in order to use as escape in desperate situations. Different heroes have different escape abilities, so buying Heroes of the Storm accounts is a good way to notice the difference between heroes. Using mobility abilities to play aggressively and look for kills is an easy way to get yourself killed without doing anything. This applies to both early-game and late-game. If getting the kill isn’t guaranteed, then save your mobility for escapes instead of chases.

7. Don’t Chase Kills

This tip takes the previous one further. Not only should you avoid using escapes to chase, but you probably shouldn’t chase at all, even if you’re just running normally! When you get caught up and try to track down kills, you typically forget about positioning and the potential for death.

Only chase kills that are guaranteed, and only then if they’ll make an impact on the future of the game. Different heroes have different chase potential, if you want to learn more about this look for a HotS Tier List. In other words, if there are other valuable objectives you could be taking during the same time, you may be able to generate just as much lead without risking as much.

8.Keep Objects Between You and the Enemy

This might sound relatively simple, but if there is anything between you and the enemy, it’s going to be a lot more difficult for them to kill you. That typically means gates, but can also be environment, bushes, allied tanks, minions and mercs, or the FoW. This is a bit about positioning, and a bit about line-of-sight, and a bit collision. Put yourself in positions where you can both physically and visually block the enemies from reaching you.

9.Use the Buddy System

We’ve all been taught the “buddy system” as kids, where you identify a friend and keep them nearby to make sure nobody gets lost. The same system works in Heroes of the Storm! Staying close to a single teammate can help you respond to gank attempts, but often discourages them in the first place because the enemy team won’t see you as an isolated target. There’s no harm in waiting for an ally and then traveling a dangerous path together, instead of arriving one at a time in a far more dangerous way.

10.Watch Your Healer’s Range

It’s easy to lose track of your healer during a team fight and accidentally step out of range. That’s an excusable mistake sometimes. Outranging your healer during downtime is far less acceptable, but it still happens way too often. Look at your healer!

Different healers also have different ranges, so a good way to figure out their range is to check a HotS Tier List. Are they heading to the Healing Fountain at the same time you decide to dive on an enemy? Did they start moving to another lane to help somebody? Do they not approve of your gank attempt and just decided to stay behind? If you’re counting on them to bail you out with a heal, be sure they can reach you!

Keeping these tips in mind will make you a more aware and careful player that never dies randomly. If all else fails, you can rely on a HotS Boost. Being alive more consistently means you’ll never give opponents free chances to snowball to victory, which means you’ll start winning more games!