Vinnie & Spike – ALPHA AS F*CK!

Overview

How to play Vinnie & Spike MY WAY!

Introduction to the ALPHA VINNIE & SPIKE

I’ve been playing Vinnie & Spike since he came out and he’s one of my two mains (along with Admiral Swiggins, which I may write a guide for aswell). I consider him my favorite because he does the most damage out of anyone who isn’t a slow tanky f*ck like Clunk or Derpl.

I have over 1,000 hours on Awesomenauts, spanning across 3 steam accounts. I used to be Rank 2, but I’m slowly working my way back up after being idle for a few months. I consider myself the most alpha Vinnie & Spike player, which is why I’m writing this guide.

Standard Build for Alpha Vinnie & Spike

This is the build order I ALWAYS use. Always follow this build order and make no exceptions, otherwise you’re not an alpha V&S… you’re a beta cuck.

STARTING ITEMS:
Start by buying Piggy Bank, then buy your Spike Dive, then buy the Goldfish. NOTHING ELSE!!!

NEXT ITEM (IMPORTANT!):
The next item is your damage for the spike dive, BUT ONLY BUY IT WHEN YOU HAVE 360+ SOLAR! The damage upgrade costs 210, if you buy it you will lose the damage bonus from your goldfish, which in turn would give you less damage. It’s best to hold off until 360 solar to back and buy the damage item. Repeat this process twice, for each tier of the damage item.

It’s at this point I’m giving you a choice:

After maxing the damage on your spike dive, it’s up to you to buy either your Smoke Cloud or the lifesteal item. In most cases, I buy the lifesteal item first. MAKE SURE TO STAY ABOVE 150 SOLAR!

Buy speed before buying anything else!

The speed upgrade isn’t THAT good. It isn’t life or death and you should be able to go throughout the game without it, but it can be useful for saving your life or securing a kill. While it’s not ABSOLUTELY nessicary, it’s a lot more useful than any upgrade after this. Priorities!

Ending items:

At this point, choose either to max your basic attack or your smoke cloud. I typically buy Invisibility and Movement Speed on my Smoke Cloud first, then build Damage and Range on my basic attack, then finish with the CC immunity on the Smoke Cloud.

Make sure to ALWAYS start Piggy Bank, Spike Dive, Goldfish -> Spike Dive Damage (Only buying it when you’re 360 solar or above) -> Lifesteal or Smoke Cloud -> Finish build.

Counters

This section will describe who to look out for and who you want on your team as Vinnie & Spike.

COUNTERS – WHO TO LOOK OUT FOR!

Admiral Swiggins – A very hard counter to Vinnie & Spike. He will lock you down, do a ton of damage, and you’ll have very little to offer in return. The only advantage you’ll have to being able to one-shot his anchor. Beware of his hook/anchor combo and try to engage when you know it’s on cooldown.

Raelynn – A talented Raelynn player will be able to shoot you out of the sky from a safe distance. Her slow is extremely powerful and hard to escape as well, especially if she builds height on it.

Ayla – A smart Ayla player will wait for you to use Spike Dive, then jump on you with her Evil Eye and Rage. You won’t be able to escape! For this, I reccomend buying upgrades on your Smoke Cloud to be able to escape her damage.

Team Picks

This is a section about who you want on your team while playing Vinnie & Spike.

Admiral Swiggins – This pick seems obvious. You want Swiggins on your team to lock down enemies while you deal damage.

Genji – Genji is a great support that can provide you with a shield before you engage with your Spike Dive. He can also lock down enemies with his caccoon. Be sure to wait for the cacoon to expire before pouncing on them with your spike dive!

Sentry X-58 – Sentry works well with Vinnie & Spike for obvious reasons. He can group enemies together with his black hole and you can jump on them with your Spike Dive for INSANE damage.