I use Vess exclusively. I love the play styles open to Vess. That said, he is far from a competitive top ranking hero. I usually get ~230-250 rating or so with him.
Vess has excellent draw strength with the Confluence of Fate and Blood Frenzy attachments, and also can take control the board early on with attachments like Crippling Blow, Enslave the Beast, and Lythian Shackles.
To use Vess successfully, you have to strike a balance between getting allies on the board and taking pressure off with attachments.
However, the problem is that there are so many hard counters to Vess and his attachments.
For example, Priests have Mass Purification, which allows them to remove all attachments, and Jericho Spellbane can of course remove any attachments. Human heroes have A Legend Rises which negates any attachments you place. Humans also have Sorceror of Endia, which can make you have a really bad day by removing attachments left and right. Warrior heroes and Wulven heroes have Spectral Sabre to remove attachments. Wulven heroes can also use Wulven Resistance to not only remove your attachments but buff their own allies significantly (+3 attack, 1 armor, and attachment removal? Really OP). Elemental heroes can ignore your attachments using Super Focus or reassign them with Morphic Armor. Shadow heroes can remove attachments with Shriek of Revulsion, or they can drop Rapacious Vermin to start destroying attachments. Next, there is the neutral ability available to everyone, Sever Ties. On top of all of that, heroes can use return abilities like Retreat, Banish, Road Less Traveled, and Rest for the Weary or summon allies like Slingblade Demon and Darkwood Wraith to simply remove the attachments, then resummon.
Vess relies on attachments, but literally everything can counter him and make him useless. Vess doesn't get powerful abilities/weapons like Mind Control, Tidal Wave, Supernova, +4-5 attack weapons, Now You're Mine, Death From Above, Assassination, Transmogrification Curse, nor does his shadow ability help him offensively control the board.
I honestly think that a new attachment should be considered that can't be targeted and removed. The only current attachment in the game that cannot be targeted and removed is Exaltation, and that is only available to Elemental heroes.
I propose a new Warrior attachment card that reads as follows:
------------------------------------------Cost 5
"Attach to target ally. That ally has steadfast, -4 attack, and its attachments can't be targeted by its controller."
EDIT: Cancel the above suggestion, this is I think a better one:
Cost 5
"Attach to target ally. That ally -4 attack and can't be targeted by its controller. When that ally dies, it is exiled."
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