The Storm is Anthem’s answer to the glass-cannon archetype that we see in most party-based RPG games. This is the Javelin for those who want to stay high above the battlefield, raining down death on their foes below them.
It can be quite a tricky Javelin to play, however, and there are a good number of skills to choose from that don’t always synergise in the best ways.
Today, I’m going to walk you through how to combo and what skills to utilise to get the most out of the Storm on your journey to end-game.
Don’t Let Them Burst Your Bubble
The Storm has quite a unique playstyle compared to the other Javelins, and that is based mostly around its combination of a strange shield and the ability to hover for significantly longer. It also has a long, floaty jump that can be handy for extending flight by a little bit or controlling your descent.
So, not only can the Storm hover for a huge duration (during which time you’ll generate only minor heat), but it will also boost the strength of its shield during this time. This make equipping components that boost your shield’s power a great idea, and you’ll get more value out of a bigger shield than other Javelin types.
It does mean, however, that the Storm is particularly fragile, and especially when your shield is down. You’ll want to stay high above enemies and try to abuse line-of-sight in order to ensure that you’re taking fire from a minimal number of enemy units at a time.
By focusing on one group of enemies at oncer, you’ll be able to surgically destroy your foes piece-by-piece, and keep them crowd-controlled too (more on that shortly).
Ideal Weaponry for the Storm
The Storm’s above-ground nature means that longer-ranged weaponry is ideal. By that nature, you’ll also often be quite far away from enemies, so the more accurate the weapon is at range, the better. The best choices will be Assault Rifles, Marksmen Rifles and Sniper Rifles, but you can equip all weapon types except for Heavy (which are Colossus exclusive).
Make sure to try them all out to see which you prefer, and while levelling you’ll normally want to be using your highest-power weaponry to ensure you’re bringing as much damage as possible. Remember that walking over green Ammo Packs will automatically add that ammunition to your magazine, too – so for larger-magazine weapons, it’s often quicker to drop down onto the Packs than to reload.
Longer range weapons will combo nicely with the build I’ve got for you to try too, especially as you scale into later in the game and start to earn Masterwork weapons.
Fire and Ice – and Everything Nice
Ok, onto the build. It’s a really strong usage of the Storm’s two primary strengths; elemental damage and combos. I’ll explain how both those things are beneficial as we come to them, so don’t worry if you don’t know how they work yet (that’s why you’re here, after all).
This build works really well against both bosses and trash-mobs, so you shouldn’t need to change it up much, and it’s also being used by Storm-mains and streamers a bunch at late-game too, as the Masterwork versions of the skills are absolutely insane.
It’s therefore a good idea to get used to these skills now, and while I still advocate trying all the Storm’s abilities out at least once, I can guarantee a lot of success with this build in particular.
The Build
Firstly, then, you’ll want to equip the Burning Orb Focus Seal. This ability sees you rapidly throw fireballs at the enemy, but the real potential comes when holding down the cast button. This will charge up the fireball, and when the meter reaches full, you’ll launch a huge fireball that will deal massive damage in an AOE.
Due to the charges of this spell, you’ll basically always have it up, too – which means you don’t really need any cooldown-reduction on your spells to get going with the Burning Orb, which is extra good for a new Storm player. It also does extra damage to armour, which is the normal enemy health (ie not with Shields up). That means bonus damage against all regular enemies, Elites once their shields are down, and even bosses – of whom none have any shields to speak of.
Secondly, equip the Ice Storm Blast Seal. This is a channelled, AOE spell that deals Ice damage and can freeze enemies solid. This is the spell you’ll begin your combo’s with, as it’s a ‘Primer’ type ability. This effectively means that enemies you freeze can be hit with your detonator (the aforementioned, fully-charged fireball) to deal massive damage with a very satisfying Combo.
Combo’s are a little tricky to deal with at first, but just know that you can only ‘prime’ an enemy target with an element if they don’t have a shield up. This means that for most Elite enemies, you’ll need to knock their Shields down before you can freeze them solid. Fortunately, Ice damage does bonus damage to shields, so wear their Shields down with Ice Storm and your primary weapons, freeze them when it’s down, and then unleash your charged Burning Orb to detonate the combo (with bonus damage to their armour too).
Note that bosses generally do not have shields at all, so you’ll always be able to prime them instantly by hitting them with Ice Storm, and then detonate with Burning Orb. Rinse and repeat to deal massive damage.
This combo also works extremely well against bunched-up groups of regular enemies, as both are AOE-type spells. This means you can potentially combo huge groups of enemies at the same time, and is part of the reason why the Storm is so valuable in any team composition.
Embrace the Storm
The Storm’s Support Skill is up for debate at the moment, but I generally prefer the Wind Wall skill. This allows you to block enemy projectiles, which can be insanely powerful – particularly against those pesky snipers. It’s also great for reviving allies, as it will protect you against damage while you pick them up, which can be really clutch in dire situations.
As for your components, simply make sure you equip as many as you can while you level up, and try to equip your most powerful ones. In particular, look out for ones that boost your elemental damage (especially Fire and Ice), and the aforementioned component that boosts your Storm’s shield.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that you don’t get to pick your ultimate, you simply get the Storm’s given one. Fortunately, it’s insanely powerful, works extremely well with this build, and is both an elemental-primer and detonator. A few things to note; casting your Ultimate makes you completely invulnerable to damage, which can easily save your life. It also completely resets your heat-meter, meaning you can potentially double your time in the air if you cast your Ult in the middle.
The Elements are Yours to Command
That’s it for the build. It’s really simple, and scales extremely well into end-game, with both Burning Orb and Ice Storm having incredibly powerful Masterwork items to look forward to (and another build guide with those coming soon!).
The Storm is a really strong Javelin right now, and arguably the one that deals the most damage out there. Make sure you know how combo’s work, because they’ll be a huge part of doing that damage. Remember, you can only prime enemies without shield, do that with your Ice Storm, and then detonate the primed enemies with your fully-charged Burning Orb. Boom.
That’s it for the Storm Guide. Hopefully you can go out beyond the walls of Fort Tarsis and show some enemies you mean business now. Enjoy using this throughout the levelling process, and even when you hit 30 it’s a great build with some real independence, as you can combo all by yourself, without consideration for what abilities your allies have brought.
Thanks for stopping by, I’ve been FaultyOptics, and I’ll see you all next time for more gaming guides and news.
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