Heroes of Newerth's latest champion, Tremble, will shake up the lanes

Heroes of Newerth players suffering from entomophobia (fear of insects) are about to get a nasty surprise: Tremble, the seventy-sixth hero to join HoN's ragtag bunch, is sure to give hapless noobs nightmares. Combine the horrifying appearance of Warhammer 40K's Tyranid Lictor with the creepy burrowing of StarCraft II's equally horrifying Zerg, and you'll understand why heroes should be terrified when the ground starts rumbling beneath their feet. Read on to find out more about the bloodcurdling beetle who'll be coming soon to a gank near you.

Role:

Tremble, an Agility-based melee hero, has got it where it counts: his abilities make him both an excellent farmer and ganker. His early-game harassment and his ability to rake in gold can make him a force to be reckoned with mid-game, giving him free reign to roam around the map killing everything in sight (courtesy of his temporary invisibility). Players will have to use Tremble's early-game advantages to stay ahead, lest they end up weak in the late-game when everyone else's abilities that start scaling up. His Ultimate ability, Hive Mind, summons a powerful bug-pet, Shudder; this incredibly strong pet can effectively double your presence around the map. You can farm with Tremble while microing Shudder to aid your team with ganks and scouting. Check out Tremble's four powers, with tips from S2 Games' own [S2]Nome, the mind behind this hero.

Abilities:

Dark Swarm: When activated, Tremble becomes enveloped in a Dark Swarm of bugs. Enemies outside of Dark Swarm do less damage to Tremble, while enemies inside the Swarm take high magic damage. In the lane, it can be used when going for a kill, or simply to farm creeps. Coupled with the slow from Impalers, Dark Swarm can make Tremble a difficult hero to pin down and eliminate. In team fights, activating Dark Swarm while engaging a target grants massive damage mitigation against ranged heroes, forcing them to enter the Swarm to take Tremble down.
Terrorform: Once leveled, Terrorform grants access to two sub-abilities: Terror Mound and Terror Port. Terror Mound allows Tremble to place nodes (called Terror Mounds), while Terror Port allows Tremble to tunnel from one Mound to another. When within the influence of Terror Mounds, Tremble is granted invisibility, regeneration, and movement speed. Mounds are destructible, but have a high out-of-combat regeneration rate, making their maintenance a mini-game in itself. The typical lane with Tremble has the enemy trying to destroy the Mounds, while Tremble focuses on farming and harassing the opponent so he backs off and the out-of-combat regeneration kicks in.
Impalers: Impalers passively provide Tremble with damage and heavy movement-speed-slowing on attack. In addition, upon inflicting the slow, the opponent takes bonus damage, while Tremble gains the same amount in flat HP heal. This means that while a series of sustained attacks will not maintain high damage, periodic harassment is very effective.
Hive Mind: When Hive Mind is activated, Tremble's pet Shudder is permanently summoned. Shudder has access to both Terror Form and Impalers, and an additional immobilizing skill called Ensnare. Because Shudder can operate independently from Tremble without a leash, how the player chooses to utilize him can completely define the hero's play style.
A Tremble solo mid against heroes with traditionally high rune control can use Shudder to shut them out. If Shudder is sent to Terror Mound one rune location, then sits at the other location, Tremble can completely own the runes by Terror Porting to the further one to grab it before your opponent. Money-focused players can take it a step further by simply sending Shudder to kill neutral camps by himself; he takes little to no damage from creeps. He can also farm and push an entire lane by tanking the opposing creep wave, eating away at enemy towers with passive armor reduction.