Sakuya's HoN Chronicles - In the beginning...

Don't make me backhand you now!

I've played LoL quite a bit, at least 600 games. I know how to play every role with at least one champion. I know the ward spots, I know the timings on creeps, and I know how every champ works. Suddenly, I start playing HoN, and the differences are so drastic. Much faster pacing, snowballing is more prominent, level gaps are much higher, last hitting takes more skill, and positioning is EVERYTHING. If you play LoL, you know what if you screw up your positioning, you almost always have that "get out of jail free" card with Summoner Flash.

So really, I know how to play MOBAs. I can jump into LoL on solo queue confident I'll do great. In HoN, I'm second-guessing if I should solo MM, play no-stats public, or wait for a premade. Also, I really think I need to learn lane matchups, hero roles, itemization, etc. I haven't had the time to go into practice mode with all the heroes to at least see what they're capable of.

And so due to these troubles, I joined Epoch Project, a HoN mentoring group. However, it's not exactly for the one-on-one mentorships, though they prove useful. I'm really there for the learnhouses. I feel that I learn better with experience, whilst having someone giving me good feedback on what I am doing wrong. Most of the time, I'll catch myself making a mistake and correct it, but sometimes there's just a time where I so stumped on what the heck happened in a game. I've just been in one, and though the feedback was decent, at best, I hope to join other LH sessions.

On that same note, here's my experience with heroes I frequently play:
Maliken - Really, the main reason I play him is because of my awesome Norio Wakamoto voice pack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loSesaCMLqc). Still, he's a great hard carry. He's like HoN's older Crit-based Tryndamere without that stupid Fury bar. The lower his health gets, the faster he auto-attacks, and he can actually stay in that health level using a single lifesteal item (Whispering Helm) and his Life Essence stance ("green sword").

Fayde - I think she's a really good ganker, and my Enma Ai voice pack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MqjzLmRJDc) makes her worthwhile. Still, she's highly reliant on Codex when ganking, or at least another hero with a stun, as she will rarely wombo-combo (instagib thru one combo, think LeBlanc Double Sigil > Distortion > Chains). She also needs to snowball early.

Witch Slayer - First off, I WANT HIS PIMP SLAYER ALT. Seriously, it makes him 100x more badass. Anyway, he's my favorite babysitter/hard support. Having 2 disables and a targeted nuke makes him a very good asset to a team without being so item dependent.

Hellbringer - Though he needs to get his core items fast, he's a great support character. If you think Tibbers hurts, Malphas hurts even more. However, Malphas hurts more than Tibbers in their autoattacks. He also has a bigger AOE stun, which doesn't need that Pyromania stun proc.

Plague Rider - AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!! PLAAAAYGUUUUUUU!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpuv7VPb2rA) PR is one of the most no-brainer heroes, and also one of the cheapest at 65 silver coins. A must have, his ultimate is reminiscent of Lich from DOTA, or Brand from LoL. A perfectly placed ultimate will decimate an entire team. Pair him with Flux, Kraken, or Tempest of the best results.

Wretched Hag - I like Hag (or Hottie, in my case, since I bought the alt). Her Wretched Hottie alt totally reminds me of Le Blanc. Anyways, she has decent burst damage, but she's got a 6-second CD blink, and it's got very good range. Her skills are also AOE, so it's really not hard to play her. All you need to learn is timing and positioning.

The Chipper - The Chipper is like... Singed with nukes. Anyway, all of his skills, save one shielding skill, are skillshots. However, his Rocket Barrage skill has some awesome range and a ministun. Singed has Mega Adhesive, Chipper has Tar Toss. However, when someone is tarred, you can shoot a Rocket Barrage at them to ignite and deal a DoT. His ultimate is like Rumble's, but it's shorter and does not slow until you get Staff of the Master. He'll definitely be a purchase soon, as well as his alt, which turns his walker into a tank.