Overview
In-Depth guide to Penny Fox–Net Lens style! This unique play-style of Penny will not only challenge your micro skills, but leave your enemies scratching their heads… “How is Penny…Pulse Mania??!”
Introduction!
Welcome back everyone! Today, we will be taking a dive into Penny Fox, Awesomenaut’s best “fox among hounds”! Penny has been my favorite Naut ever since I unlocked the Starstorm pack ages ago. I felt like it was about time to go-over what she has to offer. Like always, this guide will contain information that is subjective, so any criticism would be welcomed to improve this guide! Today, however, I will be focusing on a single type of Penny build–Death Lens + Heartshaped Net. This combination of items is known as Net Lens. Without further ado, lets go!
Strengths and Weaknesses!
First question we need to ask ourselves: “Why should I play Penny?” Penny Fox can offer just about anything–besides healing of allies of course. This list will be composed of statistical elements, so this is just summary of what she CAN do without factoring player-ability.
Strengths:
– Applies Amplified debuff which increases the enemy’s damage intake by +10% Base (Max 22%) for 3.5 seconds. This can be coordinated/followed-up with outside damage sources.
– Applies Silence debuff for 0.25s – 1s based off # of charges
– Applies Stun to enemies for 0.4s base (Max 0.7s) every 7s base (Max 5s)
– Applies Knockback from 0.6 – 1 base to 1.2 – 2 units max
– Little above average movement speed–sitting at 8.1 with an acceleration of 60.
– Has 3 jumps, jump height of 11, mass of 3. Meaning, very good mobility.
Weaknesses:
– Relatively low-average base health–sitting at 1250 (tied with 8 other Nauts), but above 3 other Nauts.
Generally speaking, Penny is a very strong SoloQ or Teamplay Naut that can be built for anything needed. If you need disengage, dueling, or even a burst-assassin, Penny can just about do it all. While there are numerous unique builds–like I said before, I would like to focus on Net Lens for this guide.
What do I need for Net Lens?
First of all, let me explain what items you need in order to accomplish this.
This beauty is called Heartshaped Net.
Purpose: it allows you to continuously use your pulse. Specifically, it changes the cooldown for pulse to 1 second + 1.5 s per additional charge spent.
“Disclaimer: doesn’t actually catch hearts… Ba dum tss!”
# of Charges:
1 Charge –> 1 second
2 Charges –> 2.5 seconds
3 Charges –> 4 seconds
4 Charges –> 5.5 seconds
5 Charges –> 5.5 seconds
This item compliments very nicely with Herring Snack Badge:
As you are dueling other players, you will have an additional base healing of (30 health / charge) at level 1, that scales with level to a max of (52.8 health / charge) at level 20.
With the first component of Net Lens finished, all we need to do is talk about the final component:
“Warning! Too much Energy through the darkside will destroy planets!”
Purpose: after landing a pulse on a target, your next autoattack will become ranged and deal increased damage.
Specifically:
Stage 1 Death Lens: Base 100 damage, Max 157 damage
Stage 2 Death Lens: Base 200 damage, Max 314 Damage
Just how it looks–your damage will double if you have the 2nd stage of the upgrade.
Do you see this coming together? Heartshaped Net + Death Lens = Net Lens
How to Net Lens?
So now that we have the necessary upgrades, lets just put two and two together–to get fish.
There is one essential combo you need to familiarize yourself with in order to properly Net Lens. And good news for you, its an easy one.
Pounce + AA + Pulse
Here is an example video of a teamfight with a Net Lens Penny:
As seen in the video, I initiated the fight by doing a quick Pounce + AA + Pulse combo. Make sure you either pounce them upwards or downwards–it allows easier follow up on pulses and/or combos. There are many ways to initiate a Net Lens combo, but the most common would be using Pounce as a gap-closer and starting your chain like you just saw. Another way to start a combo is to pulse a wave or creep to gain the Death Lens, then using that lens to gain a stack and follow up with either a pounce or another pulse. It’s all about how creative you can go—mix and mash the order.
Few important notes to consider:
- If you plan on buying Zurian Mechanic on your pounce, you do not need to AA. In that case, just Pounce + Pulse.
- If you plan on buying Gray Man Group Badge (5 Charges), be aware that Pulse/Pounce will ONLY consume 4 charges total. Meaning, you will have 1 additional charge left over so you do NOT need to AA as well.
(I would only recommend these items if you build more standard-oriented Penny, they are, in my opinion, a waste of an upgrade for Net Lens as you will deal less damage and risk of combo break).
Now knowing the premise behind Net Lens, lets take a look at a simple build.
Recommended Build Order!
Like on any build order, it is important to be able to be flexible and build differently based on match-ups and team composition. This is just a general schematic of how it should look like.
Foxy Boots: Should be prioritize. Mobility is very important as Penny, especially as Net Lens! The additional jump and the 0.4 movement allows more freedom in play-making and ability to…be mobile.
Herring Snack Badge: This item will provide you with lane sustain and the healing during teamfights. I’ve had many situations where i survived exclusively because of this item. It is not to be underestimated and is essential for any Penny builds–not just Net Lens.
Photovoltaic Lightning Charger (CDR Pounce): Not only is CDR very important on pounce, this is usually the point where you make a decision between Net Lens or standard. By the time you have enough for your 3rd buy, the game usually shifts to 1 side, or you have a clear understanding of how the enemy plays. If you are confident you can duel the enemy, build Net Lens. If you are against a Derpl, Yuri, and Voltar on Ribbit, just build normally and destroy them that way. The reason why I build this item early on is because CDR between 7 seconds and 5 seconds is just too big to pass by.
Should I buy Heartshaped Net or Death Lens first?
This is my rule of thumb:
- If I can duel the enemy by using a 1 charge AMP to cripple and saving a full charge AMP later, then I always run net first.
- If their comp requires me to 1 shot them, where there isn’t any room for dueling, you’re better off buying lens first.
While it might be questionable buying health this early, I find it very helpful to be somewhat tanky (being able to survive a clunk explosion for example) when fighting. If you are against heavy CC, consider buying Baby Kuri Mammoth in replacement of Regen.
In replacement of Sentient Rock (Silence on Pulse), you can either run Scout Binoculars (extra range) or Bug Jars (extra damage). I personally prefer the silence because if you are fast with combos, you will deny the opportunity for the enemy to break your combos. For example, if you are against a Coco, she is unable to recast her ball if she is silenced. This split second will make her miss her main source of damage, allowing you to automatically win the fight. Not only that, a full-charged pulse will Silence for 1 second. Its also important to consider the practicality of an upgrade outside the scope of Net Lens. This same argument can be used to support Bug Jars as well… But at the end, it’s the user’s decision to make.
Other than that, if anyone has questions regarding why I prioritized other items, feel free to comment below.
General Tips and Tricks!
- When starting a fight with an enemy Naut, try to position yourself at their escape route. Its significantly harder to create Net Lens combos while chasing someone (This is why range can be effective on pulse). This way, the enemy will essentially walk into your point-blank lens and pulses making it somewhat effortless.
- Use extra pulses between creep kills to sap the most amount of health from Herring Snack Badge:
While in this situation, the healing might not be significant, but it allowed me to gain a Death Lens which i can use to deal a free 200+ damage as poke or to start a combo. This same principle can be applied when clearing minion waves and fighting solar boss on Ribbit.
- Use Pounce to re-align enemies. By this, if you want to keep someone pinned down as long as possible, or set up your next Lens + Pulse, understand what Naut they are playing. Lets say you’re against a Yuri–you would want to pounce downwards to keep him on the ground. For Voltar or Scoop who has bad air-mobility, pounce them upwards.
- Net Lens is a 360 degree attack–abuse that. Some Nauts such as Scoop, Gnaw, Deadlift…can only attack in a 180 degree plane. You can beat them in fights by using your superior mobility (from boots) to fight from above, below, or just out of their autoattack range. Make sure to be creative in your lens as well–it bounces off surfaces.
- If you wanted to go for a 1 shot, you can charge up a Death Lens, recall, gain full charges, and use Spiderbird Collector Badge (Range on AA) along with your Death Lens. It will fire simultaneously:
(It may or may not be a known bug, but it is not patched as of 6/15/2020)
- Don’t get distracted by the thought of Net Lens–don’t restrict yourself to only using pulse with 1 charge. While the additional charge does increase the cooldown, if you are about to pounce, dodge, or do something other than following up a combo, it doesn’t hurt to get the additional pulse damage at the cost of a cooldown that would reset by the time you engage again.
Conclusion!
This is the part of the guide where everyone clicks the X button because this part doesn’t interest anyone–just kidding…Unless…
I’ve had a lot of fun making this guide because I’ve been someone who enjoyed running Net Lens and I’m hoping that we can re-ignite the fire that is this type of Penny playstyle. A big thanks to minic78 and NerveAweNuh who actually inspired me to pick up this style of Penny years ago. Wouldn’t be making this guide if i didnt discover this back then for sure.
If you are interested in seeing more Net lens, I’ve also made a montage 2 years ago which honestly has some questionable clips, but is a montage nonetheless.
Here is the link to it:
Feel free to comment below and check out my others guides at:
Leon: [link]
Derpl: [link]
Skolldir: [link]
Deadlift:
[link]
Voltar:
[link]
Thanks for your time! See ya guys around Nauts!