From the shadows comes Heketch, a sneaky assassin who can gank opponents when they least expect it.

Backstory

“Your excellency, I am—as always—by your side.”

A monster from another world—summoned centuries ago by the overlord of the southern empire. Rasps are creatures born of darkness, originally from a world shrouded in misery and shadow. Heketch has served as an assassin in ancient wars and gained a fearsome reputation as the overlord's hidden blade.

Now, with the resurrection of the overlord Rexan, and the coming of new wars against the north, Heketch's blade will once more seek blood.

Pros

• Incredible flank potential
• Impressive mobility and elusiveness
• Powerful utility attacks that give you surprise benefits

Cons

• Easily taken down when targeted
• Combat “wins” come in the form of tangential tactical advantages

Gameplay

Heketch uses his Rasp magic to blend into the shadows and generate knives from the dark. This lets him sneak up on targets and flank them with ease. His ability allows him to Shift up to S before attacks are resolved, giving him unrivaled mobility and off-angle potential. With this, he can extend the range of his attacks, peek out from behind cover, or even reposition onto a point for free during the opponent’s turn. However, this power only works on defense and if he’s not the one being attacked, making it quite specific and niche.

Heketch’s attacks don’t have a lot of stats but their unique effects, coupled with his ability, let him create situations that provide immense tactical advantages that opponents never see coming—fitting for an assassin lurking in the shadows.

Team Role

Heketch may be classified as an assassin but he takes more of a passive role on the team, lying in wait for unwitting opponents to leave themselves open before he strikes. In a way, he’s a “defensive” assassin who uses his allies as distractions to get one over on opponents who are too preoccupied to respond to his assassination attempts. His ability to Shift up to S as a defender extends his zone of control way beyond a regular Warden, leaving opponents cowering in fear whenever they initiate. Will Heketch respond or not? This fear permeates through every match that involves Heketch, serving as a great deterrent against hapless attacks. Opponents cannot afford to throw random attacks at Heketch’s team lest he punish them for their hubris.

That being said, unlike many assassins, Heketch doesn’t have a lot of ways to win a fight that is remotely “fair”. If Heketch isn’t severely in the advantage, it is most likely the case that he will lose those fights. As such, team mates who can defend him are key to enabling his gameplan. Bruisers and Tanks are always welcome to Heketch's team. They serve as great distractions, after all.

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Shadow Blade

This attack is emblematic of most of Heketch’s kit. Shadow Blade is a measly 2 power attack. Even if it is fast, it will hardly win any exchanges. That is, unless Heketch is catching someone off-guard. If Heketch isn’t a target, Shadow Blade’s power jumps up to a massive 7, making it an almost instant-win for Heketch’s team. This is how Heketch “defends” his team. He simply kills the other side before they can hurt his allies. No need to defend if there’s no attackers left, right?

Paralyzing Toxin reduces the target’s speed by 1, ensuring that an attack goes off as long as the target is the one attacking. Interestingly, this is “guaranteed” to work on defense because you know for a fact who your target will be.

Terror Strings

If power isn’t enough to win a strike, then Terror Strings brings something new to the table—one of the most powerful repositioning effects in the game. It allows Heketch to Throw up to S every single enemy Warden that’s in melee. Using Terror Strings lets Heketch clear any part of the map instantly, while possibly getting bonus power from collisions. Of course, much of its strength comes from its applications on defense. Combined with Hekech’s ability, Terror Strings can create some really crazy angles to Throw opponents from, making it terrifying to strike into Heketch’s team if he’s even remotely near. Appropriate!

Weakness Toxin is an easy way to help a Warden in need of some extra striking power, bringing powerful attacks down to more manageable levels. However, many fast pokes are simply not affected, as they already have low power. In fact, sometimes Weakness Toxin can end up giving them more power, so be careful!

Million Knives

While sowing fear with his first two attacks, Million Knives is a way for Heketch to exert pressure during his team’s turn, giving Heketch an actual offensive play in his arsenal. With its great ranges and decent power, Million Knives can eke out some combat wins when supported with enough artifacts and Assists. And when it wins combat, Heketch reaps the rewards as it gives his team Advantage, letting them take another turn before the opponent can even do anything else. This lets Heketch easily set-up combos that can legitimately kill opposing Wardens in the blink of an eye; something most other assassins can only dream of doing.

Withering Toxin can confirm combat wins especially well against isolated targets. It’s either they defend themselves and get fragile or they decline to defend themselves. Either way, they’ll likely lose the combat.

Sweep (Normal)

With all these tricks, Heketch’s personal defenses are quite weak. His Normal, Sweep, remedies this, being a straight-up stat stick that can win exchanges so long as it hits. Keeping with his “defensive” theme, Sweep itself is most effective on the defensive as it lets Heketch’s team knock down the target and pummel them the following turn—all without leaving the opponent much room to defend themselves. If you need a pretty consistent defensive Normal that doesn’t sacrifice range or power, Sweep is what you’re looking for.

Vampiric Dagger is one of the most powerful artifacts in the game, letting a Warden recover during an attack. However, unlike the much more common Medkit, Vampiric Dagger DOES NOT give fragile, meaning that, so long as the Warden hits, they’re safe from being removed that turn. This increases a team’s longevity in a way that most other artifacts cannot.

Conclusion

Heketch’s underhanded tactics make him one of the most terrifying Wardens on the battlefield. With an ability that lets him be “everywhere all at once”, this shadow assassin lurks in the darkness and only reveals himself when his opponents are distracted by his allies. Using guile and the element of surprise, Heketch lets his team gain advantages that the opponent will never see coming.

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