I'm trying so hard to get into Gazlowe. I got him in one of the alpha bundles so I'd like to level him, but I just don't know how to play him. It almost feels like I should be laning the entire game, but I know that's a noobish thing to do.
What is his role, anyway? I feel so worthless in big hero battles.
- As others have mentioned, turrets are his main source of damage. Make sure you use Scrap (D) to get rid of turrets you no longer need and collect the bolt, this speeds up your cooldowns and gives you a small amount of mana back. You can do this while mounted. Turrets will also soak a ton of tower ammo/damage if you drop them in range. If you roll up to an enemy tower and your creeps aren't pushing it yet, you can drop turrets to soak ammo away while you get a few melee hits in + drop a charge for more damage.
- The xplodium charge has several good uses. For one, it is great to throw into a pile of enemy creeps for lane clearing. You can also hit multiple buildings with one charge if you are careful about placement. Most experienced players will not be caught in the blast, but if you throw the charge at them it will force them to move from their position. Use this to your advantage. You can also stand in the blast radius if you are being chased by a melee hero to discourage them from jumping on you, or drop it in front of you while being chased. If you time and place it right, you can force a chaser to run around it to avoid the stun, buying you extra time. Also, drop one in the middle of a thick teamfight and more often than not you will catch someone not paying attention.
- Nobody likes Deth Lazor, but it can do a chunk of damage in a wide range if you let it charge for a second and a half (with no talents, it is at full damage when the arrow completely widens out after growing longways.) It is amazing for dealing damage to a bunch of creeps + an enemy hero in the early laning phase. Don't hesitate to whip it out when everything else is on cooldown. You can also use it to pick the last little bit of health from an escaping enemy hero if you are quick about it.
- Hero talents: Grav-O-Bomb has a Wombo Combo where you drop a charge, then immediately drop the bomb. If you do this right, you'll suck the enemies into the charge, and stun them just long enough so they'll all take damage and stun from the charge too. However, I vastly prefer Robo-Goblin. The insane bonus damage means you shred buildings, lanes, and merc camps. Roll up to a Siege camp, drop a charge, drop a turret and start attacking, you'll have that camp cleared in seconds. Roll up to a tower, that tower is pretty much gone if someone doesn't jump on you immediately. Plus, at Level 20, Mecha Lord lets you abuse that bonus damage on heroes, who often don't realize that you are suddenly very dangerous in melee range.
Other tips: If you are being chased, run around in range of your turrets whenever possible, especially if you don't think a clean escape is likely. I have gotten countless kills making an enemy hero run around in circles chasing me while my turrets blasted them the whole time. They are often so focused on ending your life that they don't notice their life bar disappearing. Also remember that it only takes a split second to drop a turret, don't be afraid to drop them on the run as you are doing this. If you find yourself being wailed on by a boss or a merc camp, drop a turret in front of you and back off just a little bit, and they'll attack your turret instead.
This is a lot of info to digest, probably, and your best bet is to go watch a few Youtube videos of good Gazlowe players to see what they do.
