A fast moving light infantry that excels at flanking melee fights, zoning ranged units and hero hunting. She is very good at punishing enemy mistakes – and thus is excellent at carrying players of lesser skill.
Players with better situational awareness will do better with this character than other infantry.
Also, when you play with exceptionally high ping, Diao Chan is one of the few characters that will allow you to make up for your inability to hero duel.
Introduction
Diao Chan is a mobile light tank with turtle formation. She excels at flanking, zoning and repositioning. Hero dueling is fairly easy due to her having quick light attacks (left click) and a shield.
This character applies a great deal of hero threat to the enemy team wherever she goes because she can quickly surround enemy players who are not paying attention.
Enemy units that are out-of-position or who have made a critical error can get punished by Diao Chan very easily because she is fast enough to react even from some distance.
Abilities
Passive: Hero runs fast with shield up. Unit runs fast with shield up too.
Skill 3: Shields up. Useful for blocking ranged attacks but remember that it reduces the attack rate. This should be off during melee engagements.
Skill 4: Shield charge can be used as a gap closer, initiator or chaser ability.
Skill 5: Echelon formation. Runs faster (troops + hero). Can be toggled on even when all troops are dead to improve your own movespeed. Remember that this formation reduces defence and the units have a wide spread. You are weakest while in this formation.
Skill 6: Turtle formation. Shielded from front, sides and top (not back). Very compact formation that is still reasonably mobile. This is your bread-and-butter ability but remember that you move slowest while in this formation.
Ability Q: Shield charge for Diao Chan.
Ability Usage
In a melee fight, you will almost always be using her Turtle Formation (toggle Skill 6) with the units set to follow (F1). Make sure you keep moving the turtle while fighting because a standing Diao Chan is a dying Diao Chan.
Turtle formation swallows up units and enemy heroes when they are not paying attention. You can hit F1 to quickly reform if your units get spread out during combat.
Eschelon formation (toggle Skill 5) is great for moving around the map and chasing enemies. You can couple this skill with Shields Up (toggle Skill 3) to zone ranged troops and ranged cav. It also combines very well with Shield Charge (Skill 4) to charge a wide front.
Although Eschelon formation reduces defence, it is usually the go-to formation for disengaging. The speed buff and wide spread will reduce your troop losses.
Diao Chan should be changing formations often to suit the situation. Don’t just leave turtle up all the time. Closing gaps in between fights or chasing heroes is best done in Eschelon formation. You should keep toggling between formations as the situation dictates.
Playstyle
Diao Chan is an off-tank and should not be used as the main tank. She will lose against all infantry (non-spear, non-support) in a frontal battle. It is much better to use her for zoning, flanking or hunting ranged units.
When flanking, flank from the side and wrap around. Aim to swallow units and apply pressure to out-of-position heroes. Try to avoid holding a front line wherever possible.
Flanking from the back can be useful at times but it comes with big risks. The enemy can turn around and dismantle you fairly quickly unless they have a high priority threat in front of them (e.g. assault infantry). Also, you can get caught if another enemy unit hits you from behind.
Don’t be afraid to shield charge (Skill 4) archers or archer cavalry who are standing near you. It’s not a waste. Simply running at them with Eschelon formation (Skill 5) and Shields Up (Skill 3) can also zone them.
Diao Chan is better than any other character at repositioning and disengaging. Due to this, she is also very good at baiting out core abilities. If the enemy throws their ability as they approach you, simply toggle Eschelon formation and run away while losing minimal units.
When you play against a Diao Chan, always wait until full engagement before popping core abilities. Her troops die very quickly so even if she successfully disengages to nullify your ability, you would have likely made a worthwhile trade.
Diao Chan carries low ranked games not because her units are super strong but because the player can more easily position her and exploit what’s happening on the battlefield. Once your allied troops are all dead, your units are not strong enough to smash the enemy. In that situation, run away and see if you can catch one that’s overextended while chasing you. If not, just accept the loss.
Think before you act, does your melee blob need you to win? Count the numbers and consider the troop composition. If they don’t need you, consider zoning out the skirmisher/ranger. Don’t abandon them if they need you and they have committed expecting you to be there.
Matchups
Trajan: Diao Chan is a hard counter to Trajan. Turtle formation to withstand heavy pelting from afar, Eschalon + Shields Up to chase indefinitely (you will keep catching 1 or 2 units to kill every so often). If they turn around to engage, turtle formation swallows them up. Shield charge to close gap and counter their runaway shield charge.
Caesar: Caesar destroys Diao Chan, even when you flank him with an ally, unless he is getting destroyed by your ally already. As long as he is focusing on you, he will get a load of kills which can be a decent trade for him if he is already in a losing situation.
Heavy Tanks: All heavy infantry that is unoccupied will zone out Diao Chan as long as they mirror her movements. Unless you heavily outnumber them, don’t even bother trying to attack.
Assault Infantry: Although assault infantry should win the frontal engagement by a large margin, you have a chance of outplaying the opponent by swallowing the units while moving to reduce the total dps the enemy units do to your troops. The odds are stacked heavily against your favor though.
Multiple Heroes: This is an interesting setup. If the enemy has troops you can normally kill (e.g. support units) but have more than 1 hero with them, you will likely not win the battle. Heroes kill Diao Chan’s units so very quickly.
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