Symbiote implanted. You augmented

Introduction

Abathur is a weird hero difficult to master. His goal is to soak lanes and transform a 1v1 into a 1.5v1. Even the best Abathur can't carry his team. He is an omnipresent bonus, but a bonus anyway.

Draft

You can pick him on large maps. Picking Aba means that the game will be 4-5. And you can pick him only if your team of 4 is 'complete' (tank, dps, heal, bruiser). The better self substain your team has, the better abathur is. You want an example? You team already has Auriel, Garrosh, Junkrat, Zagara ? Mmh don't (Lack of CC, dive etc). Your team has Artanis, Diablo, Malfurion, Fenix ? Yes good pick (Enough CC, good damage output, good self substain etc)

Talents

lvl1:  Pressurized Glands  is a good tool to clear waves efficiency. With it,  Symbiote  a melee minion and you can hit the whole enemy wave.

lvl4:  Adrenal Overload  is perfect for your ally in auto-attack mode (Artanis , Tracer , Valla , Illidan etc).

lvl7:  Needlespine  brings some damage and may help to kill an escaping enemy. But sometimes,  Calldown: MULE  is interesting. For example in "Sky temple", you will repair damaged keeps.

lvl10:  Ultimate Evolution  is just amazing. Yes it is. But are you ? Because you need to know all the abilities of your teammates. Have a look at the "Tips" to clone the perfect hero. Otherwise you want to afk or you don't feel confident enough? Don't worry. Go  Evolve Monstrosity . I'm not judging you too much.

lvl13:  Soma Transference  is the best pick. Furthermore it has a good synergy with lvl1  Pressurized Glands .

lvl16: Same idea than lvl13. From time to time I pick  Adrenaline Boost  to save my (dishonorable) escaping ally.

lvl20:  Hivemind  for team fight value

Tips

Tip1: Don't afk behind your core. Do not AFK. You can move with Aba, i'm not joking, try it! Be a sneaky soaker. For example let the enemy solo clearing his lane, and kill the enemy wave next to your gate to gain xp. The best is when there is no enemy hero on a lane : hide in a bush near a wonderful fight minions vs minions. But don't participate, just watch and grab popcorn while soaking.

Tip1 bonus: You want to know if you are moving enough? If you don't die or escape death at least one or two times in a game, you are an Abafk (Aba - afk. get it? haha). 

Tip2: The next tip is to always have a look at the minimap. The minimap is your best friend. Why? First of all because from now you are soaking in a bush. But  Locust Strain  is a pain in the a$$. It reveals your position... and you can't toggle it. An enemy is missing or is coming ? Bring your little hands together and dig far away from your position. The second reason why you should look at the minimap is to help you teammates. They have some difficulties to clear a wave?  Symbiote . Team fight imminent? Symbiote . A lane with wounded minions to kill?  Symbiote  again.

Tip3:  Symbiote  a hero no more than 5 secondes. Hit your abilities to help/clear/damage/troll then stop symbiote, look at the minimap, then Symbiote someone again depending of the situation. For soaking it's a bit different. Remember that you only gain xp if your  Symbiote is activated. Sometimes it's better to wait a few seconds with Symbiote to soak the whole wave. Then take a look at the minimap again.

Tip4: Toxic Nest  is a tool, not a weapon. I know it's kinda fun to put like 4 or 5 mines in a bush and see the enemy hit in panic but you should mainly use mines as wards. Place them in strategic places. For example in a path to prevent ambush against your allies, or to check mercenaries camps etc.

Tip5: Ultimate Evolution . When and who to clone. Hard question, no simple answers. But here is few questions you should ask to yourself :

□ When : My teammates won't survive this fight (because 4-5)? Can I secure a kill? 

□ Who : What my team need the most (CC, damage, peel, heal, tankiness...)? Do I master this hero before cloning?

Don't waste your clone in the first 2 seconds just to deal some damage. Instead you should use your clone during 20s, except if you can save an ally. Quickly adapt yourself to the role your are cloning. Clone a tank ? Then think as a tank and prevent the enemy team to deal damage to yours. Clone a bruiser? Then think as a bruiser and harass the enemy back line during 20s if possible. Clone a dps? Think as a dps and deal damage to strategic target without being killed, except if you can secure a kill of course. Same with healer but I don't think it's the best solution in my opinion because healing prolong the fight and you only have 20s. 

Tip6: A small tip but it may save you allies. When you look at the minimap, check the life of your allies at the top of the screen too. A life bar goes down quickly? React quickly and Symbiote  !

Have fun with Abathur and don't forget to be omnipresent ! Keep an eye on the minimap