HandStery@handstery
The site's own writing. Fundamentals that stay true between patches, and starting points you can build on.
- Rank
- Editorial team
- Member since
- 6 days ago
24 published guides
League of Legends
Runes
The five rune trees and when each one is the right call
Precision, Domination, Sorcery, Resolve and Inspiration are not power levels. Each answers a different question about how you intend to win.
HOTS · Johanna
Tank
Johanna tank guide — impossible to ignore, hard to kill
Johanna is a crusader who blinds auto-attackers, pulls whole teams toward her and shrugs off crowd control with Iron Skin. How to lead the frontline, and when to take Blessed Shield or Falling Sword.
HOTS · Valla
Ranged Assassin
Valla guide — damage that only counts if you keep attacking
Valla stacks Hatred with every attack and turns it into damage and speed. How to keep the stacks up, when to Vault, and the two ways to build her: basic attacks or Hungering Arrow.
Heroes of the Storm
Drafting
What a team actually needs
Five assassins is not a composition. Neither is four tanks. Three jobs have to be covered before anything else.
Mists of Pandaria Classic
Fundamentals
Talent rows and glyphs: choose for the fight, not for the season
Mists of Pandaria replaced the old talent trees with six rows of three. None of them is a hidden stat bonus: each one is a tool, and the right tool changes from one boss to the next.
LOL · Leona
Support
Leona support guide — start the fight and survive it
Leona decides when the bot lane fights: a dash, two stuns and a lot of armour. When to engage, when to wait, and how to build against physical and magic damage.
Dota 2
Fundamentals
The five positions, and what each one owes the team
Dota does not assign you a role. The draft does, and so does who takes the farm. Here is what each of the five positions is actually responsible for.
HOTS · Raynor
Ranged Assassin
Raynor guide — the easiest damage in the game
Raynor deals steady basic-attack damage from long range, heals himself and knocks divers away. How to farm, where to stand in fights and the talents for safe games against divers.
LOL · Jinx
ADC
Jinx ADC guide — survive twenty minutes, then win
Jinx is weak early and one of the strongest late-game carries in the game. This guide is about reaching that point: how to farm the lane, where to stand in fights and when Get Excited! turns one kill into five.
Heroes of the Storm
Tempo
Levels ten and twenty: the two jumps that decide games
Every talent tier makes the whole team stronger at once. Two of them do it enough to be worth stalling for.
HOTS · Sonya
Bruiser
Sonya bruiser guide — absorb everything, die to nothing
Sonya holds a solo lane, clears camps alone and heals from the damage she deals. How to manage Fury, when to Leap, and the talents for a sturdier Whirlwind build.
Overwatch 2
Fundamentals
One tank, two damage, two supports: what each seat is for
Role Queue fixes the shape of every team. Knowing what each seat is expected to do — and what the subroles tell you about a hero — is the fastest way to stop losing fights you should win.
HOTS · Uther
Healer
Uther healer guide — the healer who keeps working after he dies
Uther heals in big chunks, stuns divers with Hammer of Justice and makes an ally invulnerable with Divine Shield. How to play melee range as a healer, and when to take Divine Storm instead.
Valorant
Fundamentals
Taking a site, playing the post-plant and retaking
A round of Valorant is three small plans in a row. What each of the four roles does when the team takes a site, after the Spike is down and when the defence has to take it back.
League of Legends
Laning
Wave control: freezing, shoving and resetting
Where the minions are standing decides who is safe, who can leave and who is about to get ganked. It is the cheapest advantage in the game.
LOL · Caitlyn
ADC
Caitlyn ADC guide — own the lane, then keep the range
Caitlyn has the longest basic attack range of any marksman. This guide shows how to turn it into a lane lead, how to use traps and headshots, and how to keep the lead once everyone has items.
League of Legends
Closing
How to lose a won game
A ten thousand gold lead is not a win. It is a loan, and it comes due.
WoW Classic Era
Fundamentals
Forty-player raids: preparation is half the fight
In Classic, the raid is decided before the first pull. Attunements, resistances and consumables separate a group that clears in one night from one that wipes on the same boss for a month.
HOTS · Muradin
Tank
Muradin tank guide — the first tank worth learning
Muradin forgives almost every mistake a new tank makes: a short-cooldown stun, a leap, self-healing and a heroic that makes him nearly unkillable. How to play the lanes, the objectives and the fights, with two talent builds.
Deadlock
Fundamentals
Souls, lanes and objectives: how a Deadlock game is won
Souls are your gold and your experience at the same time. Where they come from in a real game, how the three lanes work and in which order the objectives fall on the way to the enemy Patron.
LOL · Garen
Top
Garen top guide — the body nobody wants to fight
Garen is the simplest honest champion in the game: no mana, strong regeneration and an execute. Here is how to win the lane, when to split and which build to pick against each team.
Heroes of the Storm
Map control
Map objectives: when to fight and when to walk away
Every battleground has a timer that pulls ten people to the same place. Knowing when not to go is worth more than knowing how to win there.
World of Warcraft
Fundamentals
Mythic+ basics: the timer, the route and what each role owes the group
A keystone is not won by the biggest numbers on the meter. It is won by the group that wastes the least time. Here is where that time goes, and who is responsible for it.
LOL · Lux
Support
Lux support guide — poke from further than they can answer
Lux support wins lanes from a distance: a double root, a shield and a laser that crosses half the screen. How to poke without being caught, and which build to use against hooks and divers.