After the last balance update of March went live, many players flocked to the newly buffed Probius to see how the changes affected his play style. One of those players was Rich, the previous mechanical god for MVP Black. Now that he has retired from competitive play, fans have flocked to his stream for more of his signature plays.

Rich is a hero specialist and lately his Probius has been terrorizing the Korean Hero league. Probius isn’t considered a top-tier hero, but when Rich pilot's him, it’s hard to deny the impact he has on the game.

In this clip, the hit-and-run style of Rich’s Probius is on full display.

Rich is very mobile with Probius, always staying far away from harm while simultaneously poking enemy heroes and pushing lanes. He utilizes Probius’s defensive talents and zoning abilities to stay relatively safe during a teamfight.

Probius has short cooldowns and infinite mana regeneration, which encourages lane pushing, but this comes at the risk of abandoning your team during a crucial team fight. Rich’s decision making is a large part of his strong Probius play, but his talent selection can’t be ignored. By sacrificing popular damage talents, he actually builds a stronger Probius that can win more games.

Here are the talents that Rich consistently picks when playing Probius. These include situational picks that he considers depending on the battleground and enemy draft.

 Level 1

Gather Minerals

Quest: Enemy Heroes and Minions drop Minerals when killed. Collect them to increase the Health of Photon Cannons by 8, up to 560.

Reward: After collecting 70 Minerals, Photon Cannons deal 25% more damage, can see over obstacles, and reveal nearby Cloaked units.

Gather Minerals is a necessary talent to make Photon Cannon an ability that has any sort of impact. Without this talent, Photon Cannon lacks the damage and Health to survive any opposition and, in turn, leaves Probius defenseless. This quest is easy to finish and is especially powerful against enemy heroes with cloaking abilities. Always choose this talent.

 Level 4

Turbo Charged

Worker Rush grants an additional 20% passive Movement Speed while in a Power Field, and its cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.

OR

Shield Capacitor

Probius gains permanent Shields equal to 10% of his max Health. Shields regenerate quickly as long as he hasn't taken damage recently.

These are two of the most important defensive talents for Probius. Against most lineups, you want to chooseTurbo Charged. The added 20% passive movement speed is useful at all stages of the game and allows Probius to remain very illusive near a Pylon. Because Probius has such low auto attack damage and HP, movement speed is his primary tool for surviving 1 vs. 1 situations.

Shield Capacitor, on the other hand, is the go-to talent when the enemy team has heroes that can easily damage Probius. When facing Valeera, Nova, Zeratul, or any other hero that can successfully get the jump on Probius (and threaten lethal burst damage) the extra 10% shield becomes an important tool for survival.

 Level 7

Tower Defense

When Photon Cannon damages an enemy Hero, its cooldown is reduced by 1.25 seconds.

Tower Defense might come as a surprise, but Rich prefers this talent at level 7. Warp Rift and Disruption Pulse are already strong without the need for upgrades, but Photon Cannon requires the combination of Gather Minerals and Tower Defense to pose a real threat.

A subtle play only possible thanks to Tower Defense. This type of zone control happens often with this talent.

Thanks to Probius’s infinite mana, any talent that gives him more opportunities to spam his spells becomes useful. The clip above is a common scenario with this talent and allows Probius to set up more threats and control more space.

Level 10

Pylon Overcharge

Increase the size of Pylon power fields and allow them to attack enemies within it for 110(+4% per level) damage per second. Lasts 10 seconds.

Passive: Pylons gain permanent Shields equal to 50% of their max Health.

Become Probius is often in lane pushing or quickly clearing minion waves, he can’t always show up to every team fight. This makes the short cooldown of Null Gate hard to get max value from and makes Pylon Overcharge the preferred choice nearly every game.

Without Pylon Overcharge, Probius has a hard time capitalizing on his incredible zone control. Rich knows this, so he saves his heroic usage for objective team fights or moments when the enemy team has already committed to a team fight. In this clip, you can see how useful Pylon Overcharge is when defending against map objectives.

Level 13

Power Overflowing

Pylon's Power Field grants allied Heroes 10% increased Spell Power and 2 Mana per second.

OR

Shield Battery

Pylon's Power Field grants allied Heroes 26 (+4% per level) Shield per second, up to 104 (+4% per level). Shields persist for 4 seconds after exiting a Pylon Power Field

Shield Battery and Power Overflowing are balanced choices that Rich chooses depending on his particular team composition. Shield Battery is a great tool against AoE damage and should be chosen if your team is light on sustained healing. This is also the ideal talent when facing burst heavy heroes that threaten to one-shot Probius.

Power Overflowing is the most aggressive choice and is powerful when your team is on the offensive. This ability increases an entire team's sieging capability and the extra mana regeneration can help mana starved support heroes like Lt. Morales and Uther. Consider this option when paired with any mage hero, including Kael’Thas, Li-Ming, and especially an Azmodan who has successfully empowered his Globe of Annihilation.

 Level 16

Quantum Entanglement

Enemies continue to be slowed for 3 seconds after their last contact with a Warp Rift.

OR

Interference

Enemy Heroes hit by Warp Rift detonations have their Spell Power reduced by 35% for 5 seconds.

OR

Repulsor

Enemies hit by a Warp Rift explosion are knocked away from the center.

Each of these talents is useful in certain situations, so it is safe to pick any of them. Rich switches back and forth between them depending on the situation, but the only talent he never chooses is Gravity Well. This talent is easily avoided by skilled opponents and Quantum Entanglement does a much better job of reliably slowing down enemy heroes.

Interference is the niche pick that can be good in certain situations, but requires finesse to use correctly. If you are confident in your Warp Rift detonations and are facing spell casters, Probius can negate a large amount of spell damage. Choose this talent against Kael’Thas, Jaina, or Li-Ming, as these medium-to-close-range casters are more likely to get hit by a detonation and have their burst damage negated over the course of a team fight.

Lastly, Repulsor is the optimal choice for improved space control and peel ability. Against dive heavy opponents or heroes that rely on their mobility, the knock back is too good to pass up. This is another talent that requires finesse to use properly, so if your Probius new, stick to Quantum Entanglement.

Level 20

Construct Additional Pylons

Probius can now have up to 3 active Pylons, and increase the damage of Pylon Overcharge by 25%.

Construct Additional Pylons synergizes the most with Rich’s standard build and makes his heroic much more impactful. With the extra Photon Cannons Tower Defense provides, the additional Pylon can ensure their placement as well.

This type of zone control using Photon Cannons and Pylons is when Rich’s Probius build really shines.

This level 20 talent choice is an important hint into how Rich successfully plays Probius. By choosing talents that empower Probius’s stationary strengths (upgrading Photon Cannons and Pylon Overcharge), Rich maximizes his team fight potential to have the most impact when it really matters.

Instead of choosing talents that might increase his overall damage, Rich stays in his lane clearing minion waves and using his defensive talents to stay safe. The result is very impressive siege damage, hero damage, and XP contribution stats.

Be sure to check out Rich’s stream for more top-tier play and immaculate hero control. Nobody knows whether Probius is a hero he will stick too for long, but one thing is for certain: if you are as good as Rich, the Probius buffs are something you should look into.