Introduction

In Marvel Super War Adam Warlock is an energy hero. He is often played in the top lane, unlike most other energy heroes, that are almost always played in the middle lane. The main reason for his unusual position is a low range of his skills, which would enable other energy heroes to poke him from distance without fear of retaliation. On the plus side, Adam’s Ultimate enables him to heal a lot of health while damaging his enemies, and this makes him a solid choice for a top lane. With that said, in Marvel Super War Adam Warlock is the hybrid class, and he’s the first energy tank hero, introduced into the game (Hela has a lot of sustain, but she isn’t really a tank character).

PROS

  • Excellent sustain. Adam’s Ulti will enable him to heal tons of health, and the S1 can also heal a decent amount.
  • Solid AoE damage. Again, due to his ultimate
  • Decent control. Slow from S1 and stun from his S2
  • No energy pool. This guy can use abilities whenever he wants and doesn’t have to worry about energy

CONS

  • Weak in the early game. Adam is one of the weakest top lane heroes during the first few minutes of the match
  • Predictable. All of his skills can be easily avoided by high mobility heroes. The S1 has to be charged and can be avoided because of that, while the other two skills can be avoided by moving out of the AoE
  • Vulnerable to marksmen, and other high DPS heroes (like Blade), especially in the late game – they can out damage  and out heal Adam
  • No mobility skills. Adam has huge trouble catching up to heroes or running away from them    

Adam Warlock Item Build

 ENERGY
Darkhold MSW Darkhold
Upgraded Hydra Boots MSW Upgraded Hydra Boots
Antimatter Cannon MSW Antimatter Cannon
Megingjord MSW Megingjord
Eye of Agamotto MSW Eye of Agamotto
Wand of Watoomb MSW Wand of Watoomb
POWER CORE
Cosmic Vortex Power Core Cosmic Vortex
Strike Particle Power Core Strike Particle
Enhancement Module Power Core Enhancement Module
Spellcast Boost Power Core Spellcast Boost
TACTIC
Accelerate Tactic Accelerate
Blink Tactic Blink

Adam Warlock early game (lvl 8)

Adam Warlock has two passive effects. The first one will grant him +5 hp every time he kills an enemy hero or +1 hp for minion/creep. This is a very minor bonus, and even in very long games, Adam won’t get more than a few hundred bonus hp.

The second part enables him to resurrect himself after shortly after dying (like Loki or Corvus Glaive), but his hp will depend on the current energy stack. So, if you die while your Ulti is active Adam will restore most of his health (sometimes over 50%). However, try not to be too aggressive and die deep inside the enemy territory, since your allies won’t be able to help you, and the opponents will just put you back into the ground. Anyway, this passive has a very long cooldown (~180 seconds), and it’s represented by a pink-ish icon, so you can know if it’s on CD or not.

Dynamic Punch (S1) is Adam’s main damage dealing skill and it will be used very often since it has a very short CD. Because of that, this skill should be upgraded before the S2. It is the main tool for clearing minions. This skill can be charged, and it has two stages.

The first stage will strike targets in the cone-shaped area and will inflict some damage and minor slow effect. It can be activated instantly by tapping the button.

If Adam charges the S1, it will change the AoE to the circular area around him, the ability will hit much harder, it will inflict a more powerful slow effect, and it will also heal a portion of health. Do note that the S1 can be interrupted, by stun and similar effects so I usually avoid fully charging it. With that in mind, be careful around heroes that have a lot of cc (like Hulk), since they will be able to cancel your S1, and deny you the healing on which you were counting on to stay alive.

My advice would be to use the S1 as soon as it gets to the second stage (in most cases) since that will still get you the healing and stronger slow effect while reducing the chances of being interrupted.

NOTE: Fully charging the S1 will get you 30-40% more damage, compared to releasing the ability as soon as it gets to the second stage. Fully charged S1 should only be used against immobilized opponents.

Mystic Beam (S2) is the main control skill and it works very well in combination with the other two. The S2 has to be aimed, and Adam should try to stay close to his target (if he hits), in order to draw it closer and stun it. If his target moves away, the skill will be canceled.

NOTE: Upgrading the S2 will also give you a longer stun (up to 1.5 seconds when fully upgraded), besides the shorter CD and higher damage.

Cosmic Explosion (Ultimate) will deal damage in a circular area around Adam, while also healing him. The skill can be released at any point by tapping the button again, but it’s usually a good idea to let it gather as much energy as possible before releasing its full damage potential.

Unlike the S1, Ultimate can’t be interrupted by cc effects. Also, Adam Warlock can use other skills and basic attacks while he’s Ultimate is active.

In Marvel Super War Adam Warlock is very weak at the beginning of the match, and he should avoid fighting other heroes. In my opinion, he shouldn’t even move away from the safety of his tower, until he gets to level 4 and unlocks the ultimate because most other top lane heroes can easily overpower him during the first few minutes of the match. Even with the Ultimate, I would still suggest playing defensively in the early game, since both the damage and healing effects won’t be very powerful until you buy at least one energy item.

The most basic combo with Adam is the S2 (mark, draw in, stun) plus charged S1. This is one exception when you can consider fully charging the S1 because stunned opponents won’t be able to interrupt you or run away.

Ultimate is the only very good thing that this hero has going for him. When Adam activates the Ulti, he will deal energy damage each second, in a large area around him, while also restoring a huge amount of health. This ability should be used in combination with the aforementioned S2+S1 combo in order to keep the enemies inside the AoE.

However, most players know how this skill works and will try to run away as soon as you activate it. That’s why I suggested using both blink and accelerate with this hero. If you see that your foes are getting out of the AoE, activate the accelerate tactic, gain the speed boost, and give chase, preventing them from leaving the area of your Ultimate.

Also, avoid using your most powerful ability when fighting in a lane, since the opponents can run under the tower, and you won’t be able to follow them. Instead try to use it in early game fights that occur somewhere in the jungle, away from towers.

If your Ulti is on CD, avoid moving away from your own tower, because Adam is one of the weakest characters in the game without it.

Adam Warlock mid-late game

In mid and late game, Adam Warlock is probably going to be one of the tankiest characters on his team. However, during team fights, he should wait for somebody else to initiate, before charging in with the Ulti, since that way, at least some of the enemies will get controlled by his allies, and that will stop the opposing players from escaping outside his range. Also, save the accelerate for the big team fights.

Adam should also be very careful around marksmen and other high DPS and lifesteal characters, since they might be able to dish out more damage and heal more health, even with his Ulti. Honestly, this part can be quite frustrating, as the Ulti has a long CD and even if you activate it, heroes like Blade, Hawkeye, and similar can sometimes overpower you with basic attacks in the late game.

If you ever get in trouble, use the Eye of Agamotto. It will buy you some time, which might be enough for the allies to come to your aid.

Countering Adam

Run away, and wait for his Ulti to expire, then turn around and beat the crap out of him. As I already mentioned, Adam Warlock is very weak without the Ulti, especially if you also avoid his S2. To avoid the S2 just move away from him when you see a gold ray marking you – this skill also has a relatively long CD (min 10 sec), so if you avoided it once you’re probably safe until the end of the battle. Also, If you see that he used the Ultimate not long ago, you can safely engage him, since this ability has 60 seconds CD (without items).

Finally, the aforementioned high DPS heroes can often beat him in one vs one combat, even with Ulti.