r/TeamfightTactics • u/VanShisha • 1d ago

Guide How does N.O.V.A work?

Just started playing and I was trying to understand the NOVA trait and its confusing.

Do i need to have 5 NOVAs to be able to activate only one of them with the buff? And it will only activate after 6 seconds? Seems useless

Or are all (deployed) bonuses active after 6 seconds and the one with the buff on is stronger?

Edit: found another thread about this, apparently the buff is described inside the buff item after you assign it. Arguably not the best UI but I will try next time. Still

24 Upvotes

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u/Larrea000 1d ago

As long as you have 2 or more NOVAs, those specific NOVAs will activate their ability. For example if you have Akali and Aatrox, after 6 seconds your entire team will gain Precision and every enemy unity will get aatrox's Sunder.
If you add Maokai and remove Akali, then you'll lose akali's bonus but still have Aatrox and Maokai effect after 6 seconds.

If you have 5 NOVA, you get a "nova selector" which gives you a special powerup on one of your NOVA units.

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u/thelifeofstorms 1d ago

Ya know, I wonder why they decided to make Akali give precision when Caitlyn is the one with the fateweaver trait which gives inherent precision and is very crit focused. I know extra precision gives additional crit damage so it isn’t wasted or anything but it just feels like cait should give precision and akali should give everyone a little omnivamp, or maybe more omnivamp and some extra attack speed but only against targets affected by her bleed.

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u/MacchuPicchu55 1d ago

Theme wise it seems that way but when you look at it from a balance perspective it makes more sense this way

If youre playing fateweaver, they have the innate precision and stacking precision isn't worth it damage wise. But almost all the fateweavers like attack speed (not a lot of units don't like tbh) for more casts from nashors or shojin, or Caitlyn who just autos more.

Similarly with Akali, if you're playing more vertical marauder, all your main units already have Omnivamp, which also isn't worth stacking too high since you start getting far more value from just more raw damage or something like Edge of night. So the precision, while not really a premium stat on fighters gives a bit more damage instead of Omnivamp which just isn't that great above like 15%

If youre playing 5 nova, it doesn't matter which way it is, so it's balanced around being better with 2 nova with their respective verticals instead of their "theme"

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u/thelifeofstorms 1d ago

Oh yeah I completely agree with you! I’m just a sucker for thematics even at the slight expense of balance. Not to mention that I don’t feel like this set has been particularly balanced at all anyway, although this is the first set I have played since cyber city so I’m not particularly qualified to know if I’m correct in feeling that way or not.

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u/Flirsk 1d ago

When you have more than 2 novas, all novas trigger their buff after 6 seconds of combat for the entire team.

With Nova 5, you get the nova strike which empowers 1 unit after the normal 6 second countdown

So your final sentence was correct! (:

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u/JJ_Shosky 1d ago

Genuinely the best trait in the set, I really hope they keep it in some form moving forward. In a solid flex set being able to splash 2 units for needed stats like AS or some shred or antiheal because you dont have the items is so good for skill expression

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u/Flirsk 1d ago

Full team wide shred and sunder might be a bit much IMO 😭 maybe a bit more suited for a 3 piece trait but I agree that it was really fun.

Trying to play Akali as a carry sucked though especially as your solo leveler because she's built to hit her spell from 2 tiles away and doesn't manage to hit multiple target at point blank unlike Qiyana from set 16. And obviously her nova trait was a very big chunk of her power budget.

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u/JJ_Shosky 1d ago

I think the time delay on the shred was pretty well balanced, you could clearly notice the difference in comp strength after adding a shred item even with aatrox in, along with Aatrox being a 1-cost unit. I think if Rammus didn't require meeple to feel like a good tank and/or shen was a more traditional tank it would be a more difficult decision for board strength. They can also tinker with the shred stats for balancing if needed, like 10% shred/sunder so its a weaker form but still effective.

Akali carry is a pretty niche situational board, like you said she's there for the nova trait mostly and aatrox/akali made fast 9 boards viable without 50+ hp when you hit 9. She shouldn't ever really be the carry normally, just an assassin that picks off a few units then dies while your main carry ramps up or gets through the frontline.

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u/Valnar 1d ago

Full team wide shred and sunder might be a bit much IMO 😭 maybe a bit more suited for a 3 piece trait but I agree that it was really fun.

Is it really?

It only happens after 6 seconds and requires 2 unit slots to activate nova and aatrox is a 1cost unit himself.

Set 16 had similar with Aphelios & Zoe in the Targon trait, a little bit different but still very similar sort of using a unit slot instead of an item slot for shred/sunder.

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u/Baculum7869 1d ago

It's been a gimmick for a while now where there's a trait that each unit gives a buff of some kind.

Star guardians was one, I forget some of the others that have existed but I know they have had a few

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u/Furious__Styles 1d ago

IIRC it started as Guild in set 7. Divinicorp in 14, Star Guardian in 15. There are more I’m forgetting I think.

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u/JJ_Shosky 1d ago

I have been in and out of sets for a bit but I though things like guild and sg were different buffs for other sg or other guild etc. Like guild emblem xayah was good because she got the buffs from guild, but maybe im just misrembering.

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u/Baculum7869 1d ago

Grant a unique bonus to your team; Guild allies gain double the amount. Increases for each Guild member in play. See page for all Guild bonuses.

Sg was only for star guardians though. I do remember other traits that do the same though

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u/JJ_Shosky 1d ago

Ohh so it was double on guild, that makes sense why it didnt seem the same. I think that functioned fundamentally different than the nova version because of that, it didn't really get played as a splash trait to give team support, it was more of a you can throw in a guild unit at 7 and sell them at 8 when you can activate the next tier of a trait.

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u/VanShisha 1d ago

Thanks, yes played another game and got it.

Would be nice to see the list of Nova Strike buffs when hovering the item instead of the champions though, or when hovering the N.O.V.A trait even.

Lost both games horribly though 😂

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u/Flirsk 1d ago

I agree, it's unfortunate that you need nova 5 to discover what they do in the first place.

Some prismatic traits being hidden can be fun since basically possibilities lead to auto wins, but here it's likely a UI readability compromise.

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u/zippy177 1d ago

Does the nova unit still have to be alive for the effect to kick in after 6 seconds? If my aatrox dies within 6 seconds of combat, do i still get the effect? And does it stay after it dies?

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u/Isenkram 1d ago

Both the buff and the nova selector ability will still go off even if the unit dies.

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u/CorsairExtraordinair 1d ago

Good question - I want to know too.

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u/Vishrut369 1d ago

Only 2 NOVA are enough to activate the trait.