Franco Guide

Franco is a supportive tank designed to make plays happen with his hook and protect the backline with his powerful suppression tools. During the early game, he can stick with the team’s marksman to protect them or roam to help the enemy team.

While Franco is tanky, his passive increases his movement speed and health regeneration when out of combat for a while, meaning he is better suited protecting allies than initiating fights. Staying in the back and keeping fragile allies safe from assassins is a good position to be in.

Just because you’re a tank does not mean you need to be leading the charge and absorbing damage. Instead, try to pull enemies into your group, allowing allies to easily focus them and burst them down before they can get back into a good position.

Items

Shadow Mask allows Franco and his allies some stealth on the battlefield, perfect for working with teammates to set up engages that can be initiated with a well-placed hook. 

Magic Shoes give Franco some cooldown reduction, allowing him to use his moves more often and stay relevant contributing in drawn out fights. Rapid Boots are also a good choice, allowing him to roam the map more quickly.

Build defensive tank items on Franco with consideration to the enemy team. A team with a fed mage warrants more magic defense, but a team with a monster marksman will need more physical defense. Build smart and prioritize staying alive so as to better help your allies.

Abilities

Franco’s Iron Hook is his primary playmaking ability. Using it completely displaces an enemy, bringing them into Franco and allowing his nearby allies to devastate them. As a skillshot, you will need to be landing this consistently to get value out of Franco. 

Also, be considerate of who you are dragging and where you’re dragging them. While it might be tempting to drag a burly tank into you because they’re in range, if the only person next to you is your low health marksman, they will likely die as a result of that hook. Use your hook ability wisely!

Fury Shock allows Franco to slow enemies he hooks in down, making their escape even more unlikely. Hook an enemy in and unleash Fury Shock when allies are around and enjoy what should be an easily secured kill.

Bloody Hunt, Franco’s ultimate, is a very good peel ability, capable of suppressing an enemy if they get too close. This can very easily safe a high priority ally if they get jumped by an assassin or burst mage unexpectedly. Keep Bloody Hunt ready to retaliate and make the enemy team regret getting near the allies you protect.

You can also use Bloody Hunt to burst down priority targets that you land your hook on. If you’re hooking a marksman or mage into your team and your fellow allies aren’t doing their job of killing them, finishing them off with Bloody Hunt should either kill them or get them low enough that they’ll be recalling and out of the fight for a minute.

Emblems

Tank Emblems help Franco in the thick of the fight, especially if things are hectic and it’s proving hard to proc his passive. Vitality will boost his health, and Inspire will further his cooldown reduction — especially perfect if you’re choosing Rapid Boots over Magic Shoes to roam. 

Brave Smite returns some of Franco’s health to him when crowd controlling an enemy. Land your hooks and ultimate to enjoy some further sustain!