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Vanguard heroes inMarvel Rivalsare the heart of your team. Their positioning and decision-making affect the entire team more than possibly any other character type, and the heroes that fill this role have to be able to take some significant punishment, as they’re going to be a primary focus of the enemy team.
Groot is a Vanguard with can reach some great heights but can also fall to some pretty drastic lows. His tanking abilities not only protect him, but they can protect the entire team when placed well. But when placed poorly, they can drag your team down with you.
Groot Character Overview
Groot is a Vanguardthatrelies heavily on a Strategist healing him, moreso than some other Vanguards, becauseGroot cannot personally shield himself, nor can Groot move with anything resembling swiftness.
What Groot can do isact as a central unit to the team, for them to play around, like branches at the edge of a tree. Groot represents the center, and as long as he’s standing, his team has a much better shot at standing, also.
Vine Strike
Vine Strike is Groot’s default attack ability. It does a solid chunk of damage, but because of the way that Groot attacks by extending his arms, it can be difficult to consistently hit your targets at range, particularly if they’re moving horizontally from you.
This attackdoes not have much range. While that is a little bit of a detriment, in many situations, Groot is going to be fighting in close range anyway,since he should be fighting near his wallsfor reasons we’ll get into later.
Furious Flora
Furious Flora is Groot’s melee attackand is a three-strike combo where the third hit knocks an enemy slightly up and backward. For the most part,this attack is less effective than Vine Strike, because it does less damage.
Thornlash Wall
The Thornlash Wall and the Ironwood Wall areGroot’s most important abilities, and they are what’s going to make or break your performance with him.
TheThornlash Wall is a smaller wall that you place vertically in the ground. It blocks line of sight and attacks, and because of Groot’s passiveFlora Colossus, ifyou’re near the wall,it will attack an enemythat either you or a teammate attack in range.
Where And When To Use Thornlash Wall
Both of Groot’s walls are some of the mostmulti-faceted abilities in the gameand require a lot of quick thinking, along with understanding how your teammates are operating, in order to use them properly.
Thornlash Wall should be placed somewhere that you’re going to be playing near, as Groot. It cannot take a lot of punishment and isn’t primarily going to be a wall you’re using for protection in most cases.
It can be used to great effect offensively. The Thornlash Wall’s attack is going toessentially double your own damage, not to mention doing so for your allies, as well.
Provided you’re placing it somewhere where it isn’t going to be immediately destroyed but is in range of you and your enemies, it’s going to make asignificant damage difference over time, putting a lot more pressure on the enemy Strategists.
Ironwood Wall
Thornlash Wall is your offensive wall, andIronwood Wall is your defensive wall. This wall can take a bit more punishment and is considerably wider, allowing you to block out a much bigger area.
Attacking enemies(whether you’re attacking or allies are)while you’re near your Ironwood Wall is going to give you a health bonus, allowing you to take a bit more punishment than usual.
Where And When To Use Your Ironwood Wall
Typically, the Ironwood Wall is going to be used toshield Groot and his allies from the bulk of the enemy Duelist’s damage. It’s going to either force the enemy to focus fire on the wall for a few seconds to break it or get a new line of sight. Either way, it protects Groot and his allies momentarily.
The Ironwood Wall can also make the enemy unsure of your team’s positioning. They can’t see the other side of the wall, and itcan lead to them making some bad decisions.
Creative Usage Of Groot’s Walls
Both of Groot’s walls can be used a bit differently than they’re meant to be, in a couple of different ways.
No matter how they’re used,Groot should almost always be playing near his wallsfor the extra effects they provide.
One thing Groot excels at more than some other Vanguards ishis damage potential. Groot can finish an enemy off without relative ease in the right situation, and his walls accentuate that possibility well.
Using A Wall To Block An Enemy Retreat
Enemies are often going to jump into the fight and attempt to get right back out if it isn’t going their way. Groot canplace a wall directly behind them as they backpedal, and the enemy is going to backpedal right into the wall.
They’re going to be momentarily confused, all while Groot and his allies finish them off.It can lead to a lot of extra kills, especially if you use it to block a doorway escape.
Using A Thornlash Wall Horizontally
Something that many players don’t take advantage of is thatGroot’s Thornlash Walls can be placed horizontally, as well. These are the more offensively-minded walls that aren’t intended for much defense; placing them horizontally is perfect for their usage.
It keeps the wall from being as big of a priority target for the enemy; they either walk over it or ignore it completely. Butthe wall is still going to attack the enemy.
Using this wall horizontally is going to extend the wall’s lifetime in many situations andend up netting you a lot more damage.
Spore Bomb
Groot’s Spore Bomb is a throwable cluster bombthat deals medium damage to enemies that it hits. The damage this deals is not particularly significant, but it’s not meant as a single-target finisher.Tossed into a group, the Spore Bomb is going to deal exponentially more damage, as it will deal the same damage to each enemy it hits.
This is a complimentary ability for Groot; it doesn’t have a lot to do with his Vanguard role, and is there primarily tofurther establish him as one of the higher-damage Vanguards.
Strangling Prison
Strangling Prison is Groot’s ultimate ability and can vary quite a bit in value, depending on when it’s used and what your allies are doing at the time.Strangling Prison pulls enemiesthat it hits towards the center of the ability’s effect andimprisons them for a short time.
When To Use Strangling Prison
Strangling Prison has a couple of strong use cases. The most obvious isin combination with another character’s ultimate ability, primarily a Duelist’s. IfGroot imprisons multiple enemieswith Strangling Prison,they can’t escape another ultimatethat deals enough damageto finish them off.
Strangling Prisoncan also be used defensivelyto prevent certain enemies from using their ultimates effectively.Trapping an enemy that’s using their ultimatewith Strangling Prison will stop them from getting nearly as much use out of it, rendering them mostly useless.
Team-Up Abilities
Groot hasTeam-Up AbilitieswithRocketandJeff;both of these characters can ride on Groot’s shoulder. This puts extra emphasis on Groot positioning himself well, as your sightlines are going to be their sightlines, too.
But the massive benefit for Groot in this case is that bothRocket and Jeff are Strategist characters.They can heal Groot while they’re on his shoulder, and Groot is a Vanguard that needs a healer nearby more than certain others.It’s a symbiotic relationship, and if played well, it can make both characters stronger.
