Anub’arak, the undead beetle from Warcraft universe is making his appearance in Heroes of the Storm as well. He’s a Warrior class Hero who excels at tanking entire teams and has a wide range of useful abilities to help his team to victory.

To those who played the Undead in Warcraft III some of the ability names and overall playstyle will definitely be familiar, and my Anub’arak build guide will outline his strengths and weaknesses and show you how to best play him in Heroes of the Storm.

If you don’t want to be Anoob’arak read my guide and learn more about his abilities, heroic spells, talents, and more tips and strategies you can use to dominate your opponents.

Quick jump: Skills, Talents, Heroic Ability, Recommended Build, Tips & Tricks

Disclaimer: the recommended talents are based on my personal preferences and play style, and are by no means the only way to play Anub’arak. It’s intended for newer players looking for a quick guide, and once you start grasping Anub’arak’s basics you should experiment and see what works for you! Choice of talents may also depend on map or team composition.

Spells

• Trait – Legion of Beetles: Whenever Anub’arak casts a spell he summons a beetle for 10 seconds.
• Q – Impale: Shoots spikes in a straight line dealing damage and knocking enemies caught into air.
• W – Harden Carapace: Anub’arak gains a small duration shield which absorbs all damage.
• E – Burrow Charge: Burrow underground and charge in a direction, and stuns enemies around resurface point. Can be activated during traveling.
• R – Locust Swarm: Deals AoE damage every second around you, and heals you for each enemy damaged.
• R – Web Blast: Wraps a targeted enemy Hero into a cocoon, disabling actions and making him untargetable.

For more advice about which Heroic (R) ability to pick, refer to “Level 10 Talents” further down.

Talents

Below we’ll take a closer look at talent choices at levels 1, 4, 7, 13, 16, and 20. If you want to find out which talents are best on Anub’arak and which ones to pick and avoid be sure to take a look at each section.

Level 1 Talents

1. Extended Spikes – Impale (Q) has 25% increased range.
2. Persistent Carapace – Shield (W) lasts 3 seconds longer.
3. Assault Scarab – Beetles (trait) deal 25% more damage.
4. Regeneration Master – Gathering Regeneration Globes permanently increases Health Regen.

Recommended Level 1 Talent:

Extended Spikes and Regeneration Master are both good choices. Most often I prefer taking Extended Spikes, ensuring enemies have a much harder time getting away from you.

Regeneration Master can be very helpful since Anub’arak has little sustain to keep him in action until his ultimate abilities, but since it doesn’t give you any combat stats nor utility it’s often best skipped.

Your Harden Carapace (W) shield doesn’t absorb a huge amount of damage, and the default 3 second duration is usually more than enough time for enemies to break through it anyway. Assault Scarab is not recommended.

Level 4 Talents

1. Underking – Burrow Charge (E) has 20% increased range and 2 second lower cooldown.
2. Superiority – Reduces all non-Hero damage taken by 50%.
3. Locust Needles – Basic Attacks deal 50% splash damage to nearby targets.
4. Legion of Beetles – Anubarak automatically spawns a Beetle once every 8 seconds.

Recommended Level 4 Talents:

Wonderful choice of level 4 talents will require a bit of thinking from your part. Besides Locust Needles which I avoid taking, all other talent choices at level 4 are very good and often depend on your team’s composition, enemy Heroes, map you’re playing on, and whether you’re in lane solo or with another player. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each talent.

Underking is very good if you’re looking for even more reliable crowd control in fights. Paired with the talent Extended Spikes at level 1, you can catch up to anyone if your cooldowns are up, and easily get to the enemy team’s backline damage dealers to keep them busy.

Legion of Beetles can be extremely useful for fast pushing structures. Summoning Beetles once every 8 seconds quickly expends tower and keep ammo and helps with damage, albeit slightly.

Lastly Superiority is possibly the best choice. Anub’arak is all about tanking and soaking damage anywhere he can, and with this one talent his becomes incredibly durable when taking down mercenary camps, bosses, and even structures. It’s usually the superior choice and if you don’t think you make the most out of other talents go for Superiority.

Level 7 Talents

1. Shed Exoskeleton – Increases the Scarab’s movement speed for 3 seconds after using Harden Carapace (W).
2. Urticating Spines – Casting Harden Carapace (W) deals AoE damage around you.
3. Bed of Barbs – Casting Impale (Q) leaves a trail for 3.5 seconds dealing damage and slowing enemies standing on it.
4. Leeching Scarabs – Nearby Beetles summoned by your passive trait heal you for 50% of their damage dealt.
5. Mercenary Lord – Siege and Bruiser Mercenaries around you deal 50% more damage.

Recommended Level 7 Talents:

Shed Exoskeleton or Bed of Barbs are top choices on level 7, with the former being my most common choice. Since your W shield only has an 8 second cooldown you can constantly speed yourself up allowing you to both catch up to enemies or escape from them.

Bed of Barbs can be helpful for additional crowd control capability. Notable choice are also Leeching Scarabs, which can in fact heal for a decent amount especially if you have Legion of Beetles level 4 talent (spawning Beetles every 8 seconds), or if you didn’t take Regeneration Master talent at level 1.

Level 10 Heroic Ability

Locust Swarm: Damages enemies around Anub’arak and returns health for each enemy damaged. 100 second cooldown and 8 second duration.

• Makes you incredibly durable, and unless focused by an entire team you can absorb a ton of damage all the while dealing damage to everyone around you.

Web Blast: Wraps target enemy Hero in a cocoon for 8 seconds. Cocooned enemy is unable to act and can’t be targeted, and his allies can attack the cocoon to break them free early.

• Strong single-target CC, can easily take out an opponent out of the fight and make it essentially a 4v5.

When used on a support or squishy damage dealer this Heroic can easily swing the fight in your favor, but Web Blast is best used in coordinated teams who can properly take advantage of this 8-second duration CC.

For everything else there’s Locust Swarm. It has immense healing giving you more than enough sustain during teamfights, and considering the overall durability of the scarab lord this ultimate will make everything think twice before focusing their damage on you. Paired with a level 20 talent you can also have a near-permanent Locust Swarm giving you constant heals.

Level 13 Talents

1. Burning Rage – Continuously deals damage to enemies around you.
2. Chitinous Plating – Increased Hardened Carapace (W) shield amount by 40%.
3. Symbiotic Armor – Using Hardened Carapace (W) also gives a shield to summoned Beetles.
4. Spell Shield – Reduces consecutive spell damage once every 30 seconds.

Recommended Level 13 Talents:

Burning Rage is what I do with in most matches. Due to Anub’arak being so durable you can usually stay in fights very long, and Burning Rage can continually melt enemies around you. With various forms of crowd control and gap-closers at your disposal you can easily stick to your desired target, and Burning Rage makes you a much bigger threat to them.

Alternatively if you’re feeling too squishy you can go for Chitinous Plating, increasing your W’s shield by 40%. Or, if caster assassins are causing you issues Spell Shield can also be a good alternative as it helps tremendously in decreasing potential burst damage you take.

Level 16 Talents

1. Epicenter – Increases Burrow Charge (E) area and damage.
2. Beetle, Juiced – If a Beetle kills an enemy it heals to full health, gain double the normal damage and health, and has refreshed duration. Only occurs once per Beetle.
3. Imposing Presence – Passive skill slowing enemy attack speed by 50% whenever they attack you.
4. Blood for Blood – Active spell stealing 15% of target Hero’s max health, and reducing their movement speed by 30% for 3 seconds.

Recommended Level 16 Talent:

I never take Beetle, Juiced, and Epicenter is sub-optimal in my opinion as well. Blood for Blood or Imposing Presence are much more useful, and the choice depends on your and enemy’s heroes picked.

If they have Assassins such as Valla or Zeratul who’s damage is almost entirely based on Basic Attacks, Imposing Presence is incredibly powerful. Taking it against ranged spell-casters like Jaina wouldn’t make much sense, but otherwise the usefulness of this talent can’t be overstated.

Blood for Blood is an active spell many champions have access to and it can be very useful, though on Anub’arak I haven’t felt much need for taking it. Imposing Presence is definitely superior, but if you don’t require it Blood for Blood can make you even more annoying.

Level 20 Talents

1. Hive Master – You passively gain a permanent life-stealing Locust Swarm (R), dealing damage to nearby enemy and healing you once every 3 seconds.
2. Cryptweave – Channeling on a Web Blasted (R) target increases the cocoon duration by 4 seconds.
3. Hardened Shield – Active ability reducing all damage taken by 75% for 4 seconds.
4. Rewind – Active spell resetting cooldowns of your Basic (non-Heroic) abilities.

Recommended Level 20 Talent:

If you took Locust Swarm ultimate, then you definitely should pick up Hive Master. This constant passive heal is yet another incredibly useful weapon in your tanky/damage/sustain arsenal, giving you enough sustain to even solo Boss monsters on the map.

I wouldn’t recommend taking Cryptweave even if you have Web Blast heroic spell. Both Hardened Shield and Rewind are more useful alternatives and either one will be a great choice, so choose whichever one you prefer or require.

Recommended Build

Below is my recommended talent build for Anub’arak:

• Level 1: Extended Spikes
• Level 4: Superiority
• Level 7: Shed Exoskeleton
• Level 10 (Heroic): Locust Swarm
• Level 13: Burning Rage
• Level 16: Imposing Presence
• Level 20: Hive Master

This is the build I go for in majority of my games. Sometimes I’ll go for full sustain build taking every health regeneration and life-stealing talent I can just to be extra annoying, but in most matches the build outlined above will work very well.

As explained in more detail in section about every talent, you should consider all the factors when choosing talents, including the map you’re playing on and your team’s and enemy heroes picked. Anub’arak is a versatile and scary tank with a great choice of talents, and you can and should always adapt to the match as needed, rather than focusing always on certain talents.

If you need a quick talent guide or if you’re ever in doubt, simply go for the recommended build above and I’m sure it’ll work well for you.

Tips & Tricks

• Don’t forget you can unburrow while traveling with Burrow Charge (E). You don’t need to travel the full distance.
• Try to target Burrow Charge slightly behind enemy target, making sure you stun them and get a few basic attacks in while you’re at their escape path.
• Harden Carapace (W) has a fairly low cooldown and mana cost, don’t be afraid to use it whenever you can.
• Always chain crowd control from Burrow Charge (E) and Impale (Q), don’t use both at once.
• Locust Swarm makes you incredibly hard to kill, but that doesn’t mean you’re indestructible. You should make sure enemies focus you in teamfights, but still try to stay relatively safe and make use of your sustain and shield to live as long as you can. Being alive longer and throwing another stun can make all the difference.
• Don’t forget you can use Burrow Charge as an escape tool, and you don’t always need to engage with it. You can also travel across walls with it.

If you have any tips of your own for playing Anub’arak, be sure to tell us in the comments after the guide.

Final Thoughts

Of all the melee warriors in HotS, Anub’arak is potentially one of the most durable ones. He has amazing utility, survivability, sustain, and crowd control. Although not often considered a top-tier pick I always like having (or playing) Anub’arak and I believe he brings a lot to any team composition.

Do you have your own way of playing Anub’arak? Let everyone know how to make the most out of this hero in the comments below.

What Zagara lacks in defense and mobility, the makes up for in damage output. For demolishing structures she has quite a lot of tools at her disposal, from long-range damage spells to summonable voidlings that help quickly expend turret ammo.

Zagara’s playstyle is a bit similar to Nazeebo’s, but I definitely consider Zagara a more potent and versatile specialist.

For a full HotS Zagara hero guide including spells, talents, heroic abilities and various tips and tricks keep reading our guide!

Quick jump: Skills, Talents, Heroic Ability, Recommended Build, Tips & Tricks

Disclaimer: the recommended talents are based on my personal preferences and play style, and are by no means the only way to play Zagara. It’s intended for newer players looking for a quick guide, and once you start grasping Zagara’s basics you should experiment and see what works for you! Choice of talents may also depend on map or team composition.

Skills

• Trait: Creep Tumor – Lays a creep tumor at a target location giving you and your minions increased movement speed and health regeneration while standing on it.
• Q: Baneling Barrage – Launch 4 Banelings in a straight line dealing splash damage near the first target hit.
• W: Hunter Killer – Summons a Hydralisk on your enemy, following them and dealing damage.
• E: Infested Drop – Targets a small area dealing damage and summoning Roachlings which attack your enemies.
• R: Devouring Maw – Disables all enemies within a targeted area dealing damage.
• R: Nydus Network – Summons a Nydus Worm at a target location, allowing you to enter them by right-clicking on one. You can exit on any Nydus Worm anywhere, and you can summon up to 4 of them at the same time.

For more advice about which Heroic (R) ability to pick, refer to “Level 10 Talents” further down.

Talents

Below we’ll take a closer look at talent choices at levels 1, 4, 7, 13, 16, and 20. You can also refer to it if you want to find out which talents are usually best on Zagara and which ones to pick and avoid.

Level 1 Talents

1. Centrifugal Hooks – Banelings (Q) can travel twice as far.
2. Corpse Feeders – Roachlings take less damage from non-hero sources.
3. Reconstitution – Increased health regen while standing on Creep (trait).
4. Demolotionist – Basic attack against Structures destroys 1 ammo and deal extra damage.

Recommended Level 1 Talents:

In almost all cases I pick Demolitionist — Zagara is very good at sieging and pushing turrets, and dealing more basic attack damage and spending turret’s ammo is very helpful.

Corpse Feeders and Centrifugal Hooks can be rather helpful as well though: Feeders can tank structures a bit longer allowing you to get a few more hits in, and Centrifugal Hooks gives you an absurd range on Banelings allowing you to deal continuous siege damage from a screen away.

Level 4 Talents

1. Envenomed Spines – Increases Zagara’s basic attack range and gives them a slight DoT effect.
2. Medusa Blades – Basic attacks hit 3 additional targets.
3. Tumor Clutch – Decreased cooldown on Creep Tumor (trait), and casting it no longer costs mana.
4. Envenom – Active ability dealing DoT damage to an enemy hero.
5. Infest – Increases the damage of an allied lane minion for 30 seconds by 400%.

Recommended Level 4 Talents:

Plenty of viable choices with level 4 talents, but I almost always prefer taking Envenomed Spines. 20% increased basic attack range gives you plenty of breathing room and ensures you can stay relatively safe when constantly pushing down towers, keeps, and forts.

Medusa Blades gives you additional quick wave clear, though with so much AoE abilities Zagara doesn’t really need help with that. In the same way Envenom can be good, but Zagara is a wonderful duelist and typically doesn’t need extra damage.

Though Infest does hold two charges and helps you also keep your minions on the enemy side of the map, it’s too situational to be taken in most cases.

Level 7 Talents

1. Battle Momentum – Each basic attack decreases ability cooldowns by 0.5 seconds.
2. Volatile Acid – Banelings (Q) do increased non-Hero damage.
3. Ventral Sacs – Infested Drop (E) spawns 3 Roachlings.
4. Endless Creep – Creep (trait) spreads 50% further and has increased health.
5. Rapid Incubation – 45-second cooldown active spell restoring up to 25% of your health and mana (3 second channel time).

Recommended Level 7 Talents:

All five of these talents have their uses and usefulness, but Rapid Incubation is hands down the best one. Channeling for 3 seconds is rarely a problem, and the extra health and mana you get can save you many trips to the healing fountains. Rapid Incubation is a wonderful talent with only a 45-second cooldown and my top recommendation for majority of games.

Level 10 Heroic Ability

• Devouring Maw – Completely disables all enemies within a targeted area for 4 seconds, and deals damage for the duration.
• Nydus Network – Summons a Nydus Worm at a target location, allowing you to enter them by right-clicking on one. You can exit on any Nydus Worm anywhere, and you can summon up to 4 of them at the same time.

Nydus Network is an interesting choice but more suited for players who are better skilled in HotS than I am. It can give you plenty of mobility and help with ganks or taking global map objectives quickly, but I always found it difficult to take proper advantage of it.

Devouring Maw however is much easier to use, and extremely useful. It’s an Area-of-Effect spell which completely disables all enemy actions, and it can wreck entire teams in teamfights. Not only is it one of the scariest AoE disables, but it also deals a decent amount of damage.

This ultimate can is also a great escape tool since everyone will try to avoid getting caught by it, but it’s best used to set up other abilities and wreck teams with AoE combos.

Level 13 Talents

1. Mutalisk – Hydralisk (W) now summons a Mutalisk with increased duration and splash damage.
2. Grooved Spines – Hunter Killer (W) now has 35% extra range and 20% extra damage.
3. Bile Drop – Infested Drop (E) has increased damage.
4. Giant Killer – Increases your basic attack damage against enemy Heroes.
5. Spell Shield – Reduces subsequent incoming ability damage once every 30 seconds.

Recommended Level 13 Talents:

I prefer upgrading my Hunter Killer’s range and damage with Grooved Spines. This little beastie is very good at chasing enemies, and this talent allows him to be even more annoying and attack enemy champions from further away.

Mutalisk can also be a good choice for some additional wave clear, and it lasts considerably longer. I typicaly avoid taking Giant Killer and Spell Shield on Zagara as they are both sub-par damage/defensive talents.

Level 16 Talents

1. Baneling Massacre – Increases number of Banelings (Q) summoned from 4 to 8.
2. Brood Expansion – You can hold 2 charges of Hunter Killer (W).
3. Metabolic Boost – Increases your movement speed bonus on Creep (trait).
4. Stoneskin – Active ability giving you a 5-second shield equaling 30% of your max health once a minute.

Recommended Level 16 Talents:

If you’re feeling particularly squishy and can’t help but get caught by assassins, Stoneskin can be a very helpful talent. Metabolic Boost also gives you quite a lot of increased mobility while standing on Creep.

However, both talents fall short for me compared to Baneling Massacre and Brood Expansion. I typically go for the former: Baneling Massacre really is true to its name, and spitting out 8 Banelings can deal significant Hero damage in teamfights or even 1v1 skirmishes, or alternatively help you take down structures even quicker.

Level 20 Talents

1. Tyrant Maw – Devouring Maw (R) deals 50% more damage, and it’s cooldown is reduced by 25 seconds for each Hero killed by it.
2. Broodling Nest – Spawn Broodlings when exiting a Nydus Worm (R).
3. Fury of the Storm – Basic attacks will occasionally chain to enemy Minions and Mercenaries.
4. Bolt of the Storm – Active ability allowing you to instantly teleport a short distance.

Recommended Level 20 Talents:

Definitely Bolt of the Storm. It’s one of the best — and perhaps THE best escape ability in the game, and since you have very limited defensive tools on Zagara I would certainly recommend taking it in nearly all situations.

Recommended Zagara Build:

• Level 1: Demolitionist
• Level 4: Envenomed Spines
• Level 7: Rapid Incubation
• Level 10: Devouring Maw
• Level 13: Grooved Spines
• Level 16: Baneling Massacre
• Level 20: Bolt of the Storm

This is the build I go for in most games, and whenever I’m in doubt I just go for what I know works well for me. There are of course other options and it often depends on team composition and who you play against, but this Zagara build works well and it a good starting point for anyone looking for a quick guide.

Tips and Tricks

• Use your Hunter Killer (W) and Infested Drop (E) while pushing towers for extra damage and to quickly expend ammo.
• Keep Creep (passive trait) always on your retreat path. In case you have to escape to the safety of your structures having extra movement speed can be immensely helpful.
• If possible, hide Creep in brushes. Heroes will usually need to enter the bush to destroy it, which can perhaps put them in a more exposed position where you can hit them with your Baneling Barrage (Q).
• If you have nothing else to do, use Baneling Barrage (Q) on enemy structures.

Final Thoughts

Zagara is a true specialist champion: very much capable of destroying structures from afar and quickly, this Zerg can stay fairly safe when doing it. Her defensive capabilities are very limited, but both single-target and AoE damage is comparable to most characters in Heroes of the Storm.

With summoned zerglings and Creep you can frequently poke enemy heroes from range and stay fairly safe while doing it, so make sure to play to Zagara’s strengths and don’t go face first into fights. She can get blown up very quickly if caught overextended in lane (or anywhere else), so always be cautious and patient.

Do you have your own way of playing Zagara? Let everyone know how to make the most out of this hero in the comments below.

Zombies, spiders, toads, and other nefarious summons are his trademark and if you want to curse your enemies (outside the chat, of course), Nazeebo could be a great hero to purchase in Heroes of the Storm.

Below we’ll take a look at Nazeebo’s spells giving you a breakdown of how this hero plays out, and of course we’ll go into detail about which talents you should be leveling up.

Quick jump: Skills, Talents, Heroic Ability, Tips & Tricks

Disclaimer: the recommended talents are based on my personal preferences and play style, and are by no means the only way to play everyone’s favorite witch doctor. It’s intended for newer players looking for a quick guide, and once you start grasping Nazeebo’s basics you should experiment and see what works for you! Choice of talents may also depend on map or team composition.

Skills

• Trait: Voodoo Ritual – Basic attacks deal damage over time, and enemies afflicted by Voodoo Ritual will restore Health and Mana if slain.
• Q: Corpse Spiders – Area of effect spell dealing damage upon impact and summoning spiders which attack enemies.
• W: Zombie Wall – Conjures a ring of zombies which trap enemies caught within it and deal damage to them.
• E: Plague of Toads – Cone-shaped AoE spell summoning several “toads” that deal damage to first enemy hit.
• R: Gargantuan – Spawns a Gargantuan who deals damage upon impact and continues attacking for 30 seconds. Deals extra damage to structures.
• R: Ravenous Spirit – Channeled spell which creates a spirit dealing area damage.

For more advice about which Heroic (R) ability to pick, refer to “Level 10 Talents” further down.

Talents

Below we’ll take a look at all Nazeebo’s talents and give you a guide on which ones are best to choose.

Level 1 Talents

• Blood Ritual – Voodoo Ritual (Trait) returns more Health and Mana.
• Death Ritual – Minion kills give permanent health and mana bonus.
• Demolitionist – Basic attacks against structures destroy ammo and deal extra damage.
• Bribe – Active spell allowing you to instantly “bribe” mercenaries to fight for you.

Recommended Level 1 Talents:

In most cases I pick Demolitionist: it allows you to do what Nazeebo is good at doing even quicker: take down turrets and keeps. Since turrets will also attack your zombies (W) you can quick expend their ammo.

Bribe is also a choice I frequently go with. Though not nearly as popular among players, I’ve found it very useful on certain maps with important team objectives, such as Haunted Mines or Garden of Terror. Quickly grabbing a Siege mercenary camp right before these map objectives spawn can cause a ton of pressure to the opposing team, and usually at least one player will have to deal with it therefore not joining a teamfight in time.

Level 4 Talents

• Spider Cluster – Corpse Spiders (Q) creates even more spiders.
• Gathering Power – Passive spell giving you increased Ability Power.
• Envenom – Active spell dealing damage over time to a single enemy hero.
• Promote – Gives increased health and damage to a friendly minion.

Recommended Level 4 Talents:

Envenom is my favorite level 4 talent. Nazeebo is capable of quickly controlling and bringing down his enemies, but very often I lack a bit of damage to finish off opponents so Envenom helps a lot to bring their health down.

Promote is a viable option as well, giving you even more tools to push down structures as fast as possible. It has a short cooldown and even holds 2 charges, and paired with Zombies, Bribe and Gargantuan you can quickly summon and strengthen an entire army to fight at your side.

I’ve seen players taking Gathering Power quite often as well, though I typically tend to stay away from it.

Level 7 Talents

• Gidbinn – Empowers your Basic hero abilities (QWE). Corpse Spiders (Q) and Wall of Zombies (W) lasts 25% longer, and Plague of Toads (E) has an increased explosion area.
• Fresh Corpses – Your zombies have increased damage.
• Mercenary Lord – Siege and Bruiser mercenaries near you deal 50% more damage.
• Calldown: MULE – Summons a mule which repairs structures and replenishes their ammo.
• Clairvoyance – Active spell giving you vision of targeted area for 10 seconds.

Recommended Level 7 Talents:

Gibinn, Fresh Corpses, and Mercenary Lordare the best choices. The choice very much depends on your playstyle and opposing heroes, so Gidbinn is best if you need extra crowd control duration, Fresh Corpses for slightly more damage, or Mercenary Lord if your voodoo army needs even more potency.

Level 10 Heroic Ability

1. R: Gargantuan – Spawns a Gargantuan who deals damage upon impact and continues attacking for 30 seconds. Deals extra damage to structures.
2. R: Ravenous Spirit – Channeled spell which creates a spirit dealing area damage.

Gargantuan is almost a no-brainer here, at least for me. He’s strong, deals plenty of damage to enemies, and most importantly helps you take down structures in record time. Leaving Nazeebo unchecked while Gargantuan is up usually means you’ll end up with dead turrets and a downed keep in no time.

Ravenous Spirit, while fun as an occasional channel-your-inner-troll spell, is just not nearly as versatile or helpful as Gargantuan is. Although I must point out, many players would disagree with me completely on this one, so don’t sweat about it and simply test which ultimate works better for your play style! The damage of course does work on buildings as well so it can fill in Gargantuan’s role as well.

Level 13 Talents

• Dead Rush – Upon expiring your Zombies will uproot and attack enemies for 3 seconds.
• Toads of Toughnes – Toads gain damage and size with each hop.
• Sprint – Active spell giving you a 75% move speed boost for 3 seconds.
• Ice Block – Place yourself in stasis and become invulnerable for 3 seconds.

Recommended Level 13 Talents:

Dead Rush can be good for extra damage, and can further help to spend enemy tower’s ammo. But, Dr. Nazeebo being as defenseless as he is I often tend to pick up Sprint or Ice Block for more survivability in a pinch, with Ice Block being my most common choice.

Level 16 Talents

• Specialized Toxin – Voodoo Ritual (Trait) deals double damage to enemy Heroes.
• Leaping Spiders – Corpse Spiders (Q) leap at enemies and do increased damage.
• Infested Toads – Plague Toads (E) create Corpse Spiders upon exploding.
• Stoneskin – Active spell giving Nazeebo a 5-second duration shield equaling 30% of his maximum health.

Recommended Level 16 Talents:

Leveling to 16 is not particularly exciting for the Witch Doctor, as the choice of talents is more than often not much of a choice at all. Stoneskin is always good to have, and other talents don’t add nearly as much utility to be considered in majority of games.

Level 20 Talents

• Humongoid – Gargantuan (R) deals double its previous damage to structures, and lasts until killed.
• Annihilating Spirit – Increased range and movement speed on Ravenous Spirit (R).
• Fury of the Storm – Passive ability making your Basic Attack deal extra damage and chain to other targets once every 5 seconds.
• Bolt of the Storm – Active skill teleporting you to a nearby location.

Recommended Level 20 Talents:

Contrary to level 16 talents, on leveling to 20 does add a bit more variety. Humongoid and Fury of the Storm are both quite fun to have, and when I’m doing quick A.I. games for daily quests choosing between these two is quite difficult. If you took Ravenous Spirit heroic spell, then Annihilating Spirit can really help out with dishing out damage from even further away.

However, in normal games nothing beats the usefulness and often the necessity of having Bolt of the Storm. This spell helps you bolt away from danger at a moments notice and is likely to keep you alive more than once during a match.

Tips & Tricks

• If you can’t push in your own lane, roam to another and go do a quick few hits on the turret or use Zombies to expend tower ammo.
• Always do your best to keep your passive trait up on dying minions. While it may not seem like it restores a lot of health and mana, it adds up to quite a lot for an entire minion wave.
• You can also use your trait to help you push minions faster: since it deals damage over 4 seconds, keep attacking different minions to stack the damage on all of them (just make sure to keep in mind the above tip as well).
• Use Wall of Zombies (W) to expend tower ammo whenever you feel safe enough to use it.
• Always try to combo your Q and E ability when enemies are caught in Wall of Zombies (W) to make sure they can’t avoid the damage.

Final Thoughts

Of all the Specialist characters in Heroes of the Storm, Nazeebo is likely my favorite one. Though dark and mysterious, he’s also quite entertaining and playful and he certainly fits my somewhat trollish style. He’s great at quickly raising an entire army of minions and mercenaries to help him demolish structures, and taking timely advantage of missing or dead enemies is crucial.

He’s great at causing chaos when everyone else is focused on something else, and is particularly useful in backdooring the enemy base while they’re off grabbing skulls, seeds, or other map objectives.

Do you have your own way of playing Nazeebo? Let everyone know how to make the most out of this hero in the comments below.

While he has some downsides (most importantly, his survivability), he’s certainly at the top of the food chain as an assassin. The following guide will show you Zeratul’s abilities, talents, and show you the basics of playing him.

Jump to: Skills, Talents, Heroic Ability

Disclaimer: the recommended talents are based on my personal preferences and play style, and are by no means the only way to play Zeratul. It’s intended for newer players looking for a quick guide, and once you start grasping Zeratul’s basics you should experiment and see what works for you! Choice of talents may also depend on map or team composition.

Skills

• (Trait) Permanent Cloak: When you’re out of combat for 3 seconds you are automatically stealthed.
• (Q) Cleave: AoE attack dealing damage to all nearby enemies.
• (W) Singularity Spike: Skillshot which hits the first enemy unit or hero hit by it, dealing damage and slowing them.
• (E) Blink: As it’s name suggests, Blink will instantly teleport you to a targeted location. It also doesn’t break your stealth.
• (R) Shadow Assault: For 6 seconds your Basic Attacks (right-click on enemy) causes you to instantly dash to them, in addition to having 20% extra attack speed.
• (R) Void Prison: Significantly slows everything caught in the area, making all allies and enemies invulnerable to damage and unable to act for 5 seconds.

Talents

Below we’ll take a look at all Zeratul’s talents and give you a guide on which ones are best picked.

Level 1 Talents

• Block – Periodically reduces damage received from Hero Basic Attacks by 50%.
• Greater Cleave – Increases the radius of Cleave (Q) by 33%.
• Rapid Displacement – Reduces the cooldown of Blink by 1.5 seconds.
• Regeneration Master – Collecting regeneration globes permanently gives you a health regeneration bonus (4 HP/s for every 3 globes collected).
• Seasoned Marksman – Killing enemy minions, mercenaries, or heroes gives you a permanent attack damage bonus.

Recommended Level 1 Talents:

Seasoned Marksman is no doubt the best talent option here. The whole point of playing a melee assassin in Heroes of the Storm is to get kills, and by taking this talent you are further awarded for it. Every 6 minions and mercenaries killed near you will give you 1 attack damage, and every champion killed will give you 2. It can add up to a lot of extra damage if you can farm well and get some early kills, and can easily snowball you into victory.

Level 4 Talents

• Focused Attack – Every 10 seconds your next Basic Attack will deal 75% extra damage.
• Vampiric Assault – Basic attacks heal you for 15% of the damage dealt.
• Gathering Power – Passively grants Ability Power, and further stacks with champion kills.
• Sustained Anomaly – Singularity Spike (W) explodes for area damage and slows even if it doesn’t hit the target.
• Vorpal Blade – Active ability which teleports you to the last attacked enemy.

Recommended Level 4 Talents:

Focused Attack and Vorpal Blade are the two best ones in my opinion, with Vampiric Assault having its uses as well. If you’re looking for sneak attacks on squishy targets (which you usually do), Focused Attack gives you a great deal of extra burst damage.

Vorpal Blade is amazing since it gives you an easy chance to catch up to enemies if they get away with their escape abilities: great against champions like Valla which can easily get away. Another upside to Vorpal Blade is the fact you don’t have to use Blink to chase enemies, but rather save it for escaping.

Lastly Vampiric Assault gives you a great deal of sustain if you’re constantly attacking minions, and very much helps you clear Mercenary camps without the help of your team. Some players consider this talent situational, but if you feel the need for sustain this is the best option.

Level 7 Talents

• Follow Through – Using an ability empowers your next basic attack giving it a 40% damage bonus.
• Void Slash – Cleave deals additional 30% damage if used while stealthed.
• Shadow Spike – Using Singularity Spike (W) doesn’t break your stealth and has increased range.
• First Aid – Active ability healing you for 35% of your max health over 6 seconds.
• Searing Attacks – Active ability increasing your basic attack damage for 50% for 5 seconds, but draining 15 mana per attack.

Recommended Level 7 Talents:

Like level 4 talents, on level 7 you have plenty of viable choices as well. My preference usually is Searing Attacks, since it gives you a ridiculous amount of damage for a short period, but typically enough to get rid of any squishy opponent.

Follow Through is yet another quick burst-damage tool you can use, and if you overall have trouble managing your mana you may want to consider it instead of Searing Attacks.

First Aid is actually a very viable choice as well, considering you don’t have many defensive tools at your disposal this can help keep you alive when focused in teamfights or smaller skirmishes.

Level 10 Heroic Ability

Of the two ultimate spells, I definitely prefer Shadow Assault. The way it allows you to stick to your target (or even dash around in a pinch) is remarkable, and paired with your other gap closers and escape abilities it’s my absolute favorite.

The second Heroic spell Void Prison is very situational, and while it may look good remember that all allies and enemies caught in the zone will be invulnerable for the duration. Only later on with a Level 20 Talent can you not affect your allies, however it’s still a fairly situational spell, and in nearly all cases Shadow Assault will be a much better option.

Level 13 Talents

• Giant Killer – Basic Attacks to enemy Heroes deal extra damage equal to 1.5% of their max health.
• Burning Rage – Passively deals damage to all nearby enemies.
• Wormhole – For 3 seconds after using Blink, you can activate it again to return to your starting location.
• Assassin’s Blade – Increases move speed by 10% while stealthed, and gives you 25% extra attack damage for 5 seconds upon leaving stealth.
• Spell Shield – Upon taking Ability Damage, reduce that damage and further Ability Damage by 50% for 2 seconds. Can only trigger once every 30 seconds.

Recommended Level 13 Talents:

Wormhole or Assassin’s Blade, depending on your preference and needs. Lets take a look at pros and cons of each one.

If you’re mostly dealing with squishy targets which are unlikely to fight back, Assassin’s Blade will add EVEN more burst damage after you de-stealth. Paired with Searing Attacks and Focused Attack talents mentioned above, you become an absolute monster very few heroes can deal with.

Wormhole on the other hand gives you an amazing ability for hit-and-run attacks: start attacking your enemy from stealth (or just Blink on them like a boss), get a few quick attacks in to deal tons of damage, and simply Blink back if it won’t work out. Or simply continue hitting them until they’re dead.

For teams who stick together and are likely to crowd-control and focus you down, Wormhole would certainly be a superior talent choice, but for everything else Assassin’s Blade will make you even more of a beast.

Level 16 Talents

• Rending Cleave – Cleave (Q) deals additional 50% damage over 5 seconds.
• Double Bombs – After casting Singularity Spike (W), Zerathul can cast it again for free within 3 seconds.
• Stoneskin – Active spell lasting 5 seconds giving you a shield equal to 30% of your maximum health.
• Berserk – 4-second duration active ability increasing your attack speed by 40% and movement speed by 10%.

Recommended Level 16 Talents:

I typically take Stoneskin or Berserk. Your damage and ability to stick to your target is likely beyond ridiculous at this point already, so extra damage from Berserk is often unnecessary. Stoneskin is a very decent defensive spell, especially when paired with First Aid; using both can often prevent you from being CCed and focused in fights.

Level 20 Talents

• Nerazim Fury – Shadow Assault (R) grants 20% lifesteal for the duration, and lasts 50% longer.
• Protective Prison – Void Prison heroic ability no longer affects allies.
• Nexus Blades – Basic attacks slow enemies for 1 second and deal 20% extra damage.
• Rewind – Resets all Basic Ability (QWE) cooldowns.

Recommended Level 20 Talents:

More sustain during Shadow Assault, more damage and slowing basic attacks, or double/quad Blinks? Tough choices once again.

Double Blink/Wormhole combo is funny as heck, but besides its entertainment value I tend to skip Rewind. Nexus Blades is great since it further increases your basic attack damage (by a whooping 20% no less), and perma-slowing your enemies ensures they go down in case your other billion gap-closers and slows fail to put them to death.

In majority of matches I pick Nerazim Fury, giving my Shadow Assault ultimate a 9-second duration in total, and giving me a ridiculous 30% lifesteal for the duration. Although it may not always be up, this Heroic ability is generally enough to catch and kill any target you like, thus making the other two passives above seem a bit sub-optimal in comparison.

Recommended Talent Build

This is my recommended build for Zeratul:

• Level 1: Seasoned Marksman
• Level 4: Vampiric Assault
• Level 7: Searing Attacks
• Level 10: Shadow Assault
• Level 13: Assassin’s Blade
• Level 16: Berserk
• Level 20: Nexus Blades

This works for me best in a majority of my games. You should always consider multiple factors when choosing a build, including your team, opposing heroes, and the map you play on, but if you’re ever in doubt as to which talents to pick you can simply choose the ones I recommend.

Be sure to share your opinions and Zeratul builds in the comments below this guide!

Final Thoughts

Zeratul is a great hero choice for everyone looking to annihilate their enemies. He has a wide range of abilities and talents that perfectly synergize together and make him do exactly what he was designed to do. While his overall survivability and defenses are lower than that of some other melee assassins, Zeratul is still my favorite choice for the role.

Also being a fan of samurai I simply can’t resist playing him in the Ronin skin:

I hope my Zeratul guide helps you devastate your enemies in the Nexus. If you have any suggestions or preferences on the best way to build him be sure to blink your thoughts in the comments below.

If you enjoyed playing a Demon Hunter in Diablo III, you will quickly fall in love with Valla. I’m actually impressed how familiar the playstyle feels from spending countless days and nights in the Sanctuary, and how seamlessly it translates into Heroes of the Storm.

Valla is a ranged Assassin specializing in hit-and-run tactics with quick bursts of damage, and she also excels at chasing down her enemies. Her spells and talents truly make her a unique hero which is not only viable in competitive games but also immensely fun to play.

Disclaimer: the recommended talents are based on my personal preferences and play style, and are by no means the only way to play her. It’s intended for newer players looking for a quick guide, and once you start grasping Valla’s basics you should experiment and see what works for you! Choice of talents may also depend on map or team composition.

Skills

• (Trait) Hatred: Basic Attacks grant Valla a stack of Hatred. Each stack increases your Basic Attack damage by 2% and movement speed by 1%.
• (Q) Hungering Arrow: Fires a skillshot arrow dealing damage to the first enemy target hit, then seeking 2 nearby enemies and dealing reduced damage to them. The arrow can hit a single enemy multiple times.
• (W) Multishot: AoE cone dealing damage in an area in front of Valla.
• (E) Vault: Dashes to a targeted area.
• (R) Strafe: Fires bolts from Valla for 4 seconds prioritizing and damaging nearby heroes. Lasts 4 seconds, and you can move and use Vault while Strafing.
• (R) Rain of Vengeance: Bombards a targeted area 2 times for heavy damage and stuns enemies for 0.5 seconds per wave.

Talents

Level 1 Talents

• Cost-Effective Materials – Reduces mana cost of Hungering Arrow (Q).
• Siphoning Arrow – Hungering Arrow returns 50% of the damage dealt as health.
• Composite Arrows – Increases range of Multishot (W).
• Rancor – Each stack of Hatred increases Attack Speed of Valla by 1.5%.
• Punishment – Using an ability gives 3 Hatred stacks.

Recommended Level 1 Talents:

Rancor gives you a decent attack speed increase, which further synergizes very well with other talents.

Level 4 Talents

• Vampiric Assault – Basic attacks heal you for 15% of the damage dealt.
• Manticore – Every 3rd attack on the same target will deal 50% additional damage.
• Puncturing Arrow – Increases range by 25% and bounces 3 times instead of 2.
• Arsenal – Multishot launches 3 grenades dealing additional damage.

Recommended Level 4 Talents:

Manticore or Vampiric Assault. If you can manage without lifesteal, Manticore is definitely a better option and gives you amazing dueling potential.

Level 7 Talents

• Caltrops – When Vaulting Valla drops Caltrops, which deal damage and slow enemies who step on them.
• Hot Pursuit – When at 10 Hatred stacks your movement speed is increased to 20% (rather than 10% with passive).
• Repeating Arrow – Using Vault refreshes the cooldown for Hungering Arrow.
• Searing Attacks – Active spell increasing your Basic Attack’s damage but draining mana for every attack.

Recommended Level 7 Talents:

Searing Attacks give you a huge amount of extra damage and is my recommendation in most cases.

Level 10 Heroic Ability

Rain of Vengeance stuns, Strafe does not. Crowd control good. Furthermore, since I prefer having a strong auto-attack build Strafe is a bad option for it.

Level 13 Talents

• Giant Killer – Basic Attacks against Heroes deal additional damage.
• Frost Shot – Multishot (W) slows enemies struck by 40% for 2 seconds.
• Tempered by Discipline – Gain up to 10 stacks of Discipline after you have max stacks of Hatred. Each Discipline stacks heals you for 3% of the damage dealt.
• Spell Shield – Passive ability which activates once every 30 seconds, reducing the damage you take from abilities by 50% for 2 seconds.

Recommended Level 13 Talents:

Frost Shot is great for making sure your enemies can’t get away from you as easily. Tempered by Discipline provides a ton of healing in extended team fights, very helpful if you didn’t take Vampiric Assault at Level 4. Giant Killer can add even more damage to your autoattacks, but I tend to skip it in favor of other talents.

Level 16 Talents

• Executioner – Basic Attacks deal 40% extra damage to disabled (rooted, stunned or slowed) targets.
• Tumble – Hold two charges of Vault.
• Blood for Blood – Active skill stealing 15% of enemy Hero’s maximum health and slowing their movement speed by 30% for 3 seconds.
• Stoneskin – Active ability giving you a 5-second shield equaling 30% of your maximum health.

Recommended Level 16 Talents:

Executioner has amazing synergy with previous talents like Frost Shot and Rain of Vengeance heroic spell. All other talents are very good as well, so if you require more mobility or survivability go for it!

Level 20 Talents

• Vengeance – Strafe (R) also fires penetrating bolts in a line.
• Storm of Vengeance – Increases the number of waves on Rain of Vengeance to 4, thus increasing the stun from 1 to 2 seconds.
• Nexus Frenzy – Your Attack Speed and Range are both passively increased by 20%.
• Bolt of the Storm – 40-second cooldown active ability teleporting you instantly a short distance.

Recommended Level 20 Talents:

Nexus Frenzy or Bolt of the Storm. Bolt gives you a much-needed escape if you find yourself in the thick of things, otherwise if you feel safe enough Nexus Frenzy for increased attack range and speed is very good due to more synergy with other on-hit passive talents.

Recommended Talent Build:

• Level 1: Rancor
• Level 4: Vampiric Assault
• Level 7: Hot Pursuit
• Level 10: Rain of Vengeance
• Level 13: Frost Shot
• Level 16: Tumble
• Level 20: Nexus Frenzy

It may not be the most optimal build since it doesn’t include much defensive talents, but this is actually what I most often go with. Good alternatives are Searing Attacks at level 7, Executioner or Stoneskin at 16, and of course Bolt of the Storm at level 20.

Valla is definitely one of my favorite picks in Heroes of the Storm, and playing her is always fun regardless of the outcome. She can bring a lot to every team even if she’s not in the hands of a particularly skilled player, but those who master this hero will certainly understand her power and contribution in any lineup.

How do you build Valla in HotS? If you have any recommendations or preferred builds shoot them in the comments section below and tell us all about it.

Jaina Proudmoore is everything you’d expect from a frost mage coming from the Warcraft universe. She’s a ranged assassin with tons of damage, devastating spell combos, and she excels at crowd control and AoE damage. What Jaina lacks in escape and defense she more than makes up for with burst damage, critical strikes, and the ability to chase and finish off her enemies.

Check out my Janna spells and talents guide below, and find out the best way to build her.

Skills

• (Trait) Frostbite: All abilities Chill targets, slowing Movement Speed by 25% and amplifying damage from your abilities by 50%. Lasts 4 seconds.
• (Q) Frostbolt: Skillshot dealing damage to a single enemy and applying chill effect.
• (W) Blizzard: Bombard an area with 2 waves of ice, dealing damage and chilling enemies.
• (E) Cone of Cold: cone-shaped area of effect spell dealing damage and slowing targets.
• (R) Ring of Frost: creates a Ring of Frost in an area dealing damage and rooting enemies. The ring persists for 3 seconds afterwards, Chilling any enemies who touch it.
• (R) Summon Water Elemental: Summons a Water Elemental for 20 seconds at a targeted location, dealing damage and Chilling nearby enemies. Water Elemental’s attacks do 25% splash damage and apply chill to targets.

Talents

Level 1 Talents

• Winter’s Reach – Increases the range of Frostbolt by 30%.
• Lingering Chill – Increases the duration of Chill from 4 seconds to 6 seconds.
• Deep Chill – Increases the slow of chill from 25% to 35%.
• Conjurer’s Pursuit – Increases Mana Regeneration by 0.5 per second, increasing by 0.25 per second for every 3 Regeneration Globes you gather.

Recommended Level 1 Talent:

Lingering Chill: your abilities deal extra damage if your target is chilled, the 6 second duration allows you to constantly have extra damage on all subsequent abilities and easily chase enemies.

Level 4 Talents

• Frost Shards – Frostbolt (Q) pierces the first enemy struck and damages an additional target behind them.
• Snowstorm – Increases the radius of Blizzard (W) by 30%.
• Arcane Intellect – Dealing damage to a Chilled  target returns Mana to Jaina. Basic attacks return 5 Mana and abilities return 25.
• Envenom – Active ability with a 60-second cooldown dealing damage to a single target over 5 seconds.

Recommended Level 4 Talent:

Depends on your playstyle, and sometimes your team’s composition. I usually prefer Arcane Intellect to make sure I have as little mana problems as possible. Increased radius from Snowstorm talent also allows you to easily hit enemies with both waves of Blizzard, which is especially important if you later on intend to take other Blizzard talents.

Level 7 Talents

• Ice Floes – Doubles the width of Cone of Cold and causes each target hit to reduce its cooldown by 0.5 seconds.
• Frostbitten – Increases the damage bonus of Frostbite (passive) from 50% to 65%.
• Frost Armor – Enemy Heroes that attack you are Chilled. Additionally, once every 8 seconds you can block the next basic attack from an enemy Hero reducing its damage by 75%.
• Ice Lance – The cooldown of Frostbolt (Q) is reduced by 2 seconds if it hits a Chilled target.

Recommended Level 7 Talents:

Ice Floes if you want extra fast wave clear, Ice Lance if you want to chase and pick off targets, or Frost Armor for all-around good synergy with other spells. I often prefer Frost Armor since it automatically slows anyone who attacks me possibly giving me some breathing room when trying to get away from them, and since it also applies Chill it means your abilities deal extra damage immediately.

Level 10 Heroic Ability

I always prefer Ring of Frost. It deals immense area damage and is capable of annihilating entire teams if used correctly, especially around map objectives like Tributes. Comboing this ultimate with your other spells can be truly devastating.

Level 13 Talents

• Storm Front – Increases cast range of your Blizzard (W) by 100%.
• Improved Ice Block – Active ability giving you invulnerability for 3 seconds, and Chilling any nearby enemies once the effect ends.
• Icy Veins – Active ability making your basic (non-heroic) ability cooldowns recharge three times as fast, and cost 50% less mana for 5 seconds.
• Sprint – Active ability giving you 75% extra movement speed for 3 seconds.

Recommended Level 13 Talents:

Lots of tough choices here, as all of these talents give you so much potential. Players often take Ice Block, though I prefer either Icy Veins for even more burst damage, or Storm Front just because you can practically cast it from a screen away.

Sprint is also a viable choice if you’re looking for more defensive and kiting utility.

Level 16 Talents

• Snow Crash – Increases the number of waves in Blizzard (W) from 2 to 3.
• Northern Exposure – Enemies damaged by Cone of Cold (E) are also afflicted with Vulnerable effect, increasing the damage they take by 25% for 2 seconds.
• Numbing Blast – Cone of Cold also roots Chilled targets for 1 second.
• Ice Barrier – 25% of increased damage dealt from Frostbite (passive) is given to Jaina as a shield, lasting for 3 seconds.

Recomended Level 16 Talents:

Once again a tough choice. I typically go for Northern Exposure or Numbing Blast. Snow Crash can be good, particularly if you took the Level 4 talent increasing Blizzard’s radius.

Level 20 Talents

• Cold Snap -Gives your Frost Ring heroic ability an additional frost explosion in the center of it.
• Wintermute – Increased cast range on Water Elemental, and he mimics your basic abilities (casting your QWE spells for 50% damage).
• Arcane Power – Active ability instantly restoring 400 Mana and giving you 15% increased Ability Power for 5 seconds.
• Bolt of the Storm – Active spell teleporting you to a nearby location on a 40-second cooldown.

Recommended Level 20 Talents:

Bolt of the Storm is a wonderful escape escape ability giving you some much needed breathing room from enemies, or when necessary you can even use it to chase other players and finish them off.

Recommended Talent Build

This is my recommended Jaina talent build:

• Level 1: Lingering Chill
• Level 4: Arcane Intellect
• Level 7: Frost Armor
• Level 10: Ring of Frost
• Level 13: Icy Veins
• Level 16: Numbing Blast
• Level 20: Bolt of the Storm

This is by no means the best build you can go for, as it’s always my advice you should adapt to the game you’re playing: take a look at your team’s composition and heroes and see what everyone brings to the table. Enemy team hero picks are very important as well, as certain team compositions may not require you to pick many defensive talents.

Once you get a good graps of Jaina’s play style I’m sure you’ll be able to understand her talent builds better and find the best choices which suit a given situation, but if you’re ever in doubt my recommended talents should work well in most games.

I hope you found my Heroes of the Storm Jaina build and guide helpful. If you have any recommendations or other ways to build your favorite frost mage be sure to cast your thoughts in the comments below.

Playable Heroes can also be purchased with in-game gold but earning it in substantial amounts can be a very time-consuming process, something which the game has been quite criticized about.

If you’re a new player and don’t have any heroes unlocked, you are restricted to playing 5 characters which rotate every week (or 7 with certain account-wide levels). Permanently unlocking a Hero will require either Gold or real-world money, and unsurprisingly most players much prefer the free option.

How to get Gold

There are four different ways you can get Gold in Heroes:

• Reach certain account level thresholds – a total of 16,000 gold for level 40
• Win a game – 10 gold for every match you win against bots, 30g in competitive modes
• Reach level 5 with any Hero – 500 gold for every one
• Daily quests – 300-800 gold per quest

In the guide below we’ll take a look and provide more insight into how each of these ways works and how you can maximize your gold gains!

Account experience and leveling

Simply by playing games, your HotS account also receives experience and levels. It’s referred to as “Player Progression”, and there are a total of 40 levels your account can achieve. Each level will require progressively more experience. An average “Cooperative” game (against A.I. controlled bots) will net you around 60,000 experience, and it will take hundreds of matches played to reach level 40.

Leveling your account is essentially done passively just by playing lots of matches, but certain levels are very important to achieve. On level 6 you will unlock daily quests, which are the bread and butter of gold-gains in this game. At level 10 you get a free 7-day Stimpack, boosting your experience and gold gain substantially for every match you play.

Considering this is the first and only free Stimpack you will get it’s very important to use it wisely. Meaning, for the next 7 days you will want to play as many matches as you possibly can.

Cooperative game wins will net you 25 Gold instead of the usual 10 (150% increase), and while it doesn’t seem like much it adds up after a few dozen (or hundred) games during that week.

Furthermore, the experience your Heroes get for playing a match is doubled, so this is the perfect opportunity to play as many different characters as you possibly can and get them to level 5, therefore getting 500 extra Gold each time.

It will take about 8 matches played with every Hero to bring them up to level 5 with an active Stimpack, so try to play every hero available during the weekly free-to-play rotation, even if you don’t like their playstyle. With “only” ten level 5 Heroes you could get extra 5,000 gold!

Playing games

There’s not much to talk about here: just by playing and winning games you gain more gold. This is a passive way to get gold, and just by playing a few matches per day you can eventually get enough gold for some cheaper champions, though it will take quite awhile.

For new players and even others who play certain Heroes for the first time, Cooperative games are a great way to quickly grab a few wins and more experience. The matches will rarely last longer than 20 minutes, and it’s highly unlikely you will lose any of them. For Co-Op games you gain 10 gold per win, and for competitive Quick-Match mode you get 30 gold per win or 20 per defeat.

Leveling Heroes

As mentioned above, leveling every Hero in the game to level 5 will give you a one-time boost of 500 gold. At the time of writing this there are 35 Heroes in total in Heroes of the Storm, which means you can get 17,500 gold just for reaching level 5 with each of them. Reaching level 2 requires 100,000 XP, reaching level 3 and 4 the same, and from level 4 to level 5 you will need 475,000 XP.

So, a total of 775,000 XP is needed to get a Hero to level 5, which equals to an average of 6 Cooperative games with an active Stimpack, or 12 games without. Losing against bots in Co-op mode is unlikely to happen so this is a great way to learn the basics of new Heroes, unlock all of their Talents, and get some experience and gold in the process.

Below is a list of all Hero unlocks you get by leveling them:

• Level 2 – second Heroic ability
• Level 3 – Advanced talents
• Level 4 – Expert (all) Talents
• Level 5 – 500 Gold
• Level 6 – mount variation and Hero portrait
• Level 7 – skin variation
• Level 8 – second skin variation
• Level 9 – second mount variation and Master profile Portrait
• Level 10 – Master skin
• Level 15 – 1250 gold
• Level 20 – 2500 gold

At Hero levels 15 and 20 you also gain gold rewards: 1250 and 2500 gold, respectively. Though it will take a bit longer to reach those levels, when you truly fall in love with a particular Hero you will have no trouble reaching it eventually.

Daily quests

The most important and easiest way to farm gold in HotS is by doing daily quests. Simply by logging in every day and playing a few games you can get really good amounts of gold, and the game really loves to award you for doing it. There are 9 different Daily Quests you can get:

1. 200g – Play 2 games as a Warcraft Hero
2. 200g – Play 2 games as a Diablo Hero
3. 200g – Play 2 game as a Starcraft Hero
4. 300g – Play 3 games as Assassin
5. 300g – Play 3 games as Specialist
6. 300g – Play 3 game as Support
7. 300g – Play 3 games as Warrior
8. 600g – Win 3 games
9. 800g – Play 8 games

You can have up to 3 daily quests active at any given time: even if you don’t complete the quest today, it will remain in your Daily Quest log until you do. I love this system as I don’t necessarily have to “force” myself to play every day if I can’t find the time,  I can just log in to grab the quest and complete it some other time. On average you get 355 gold per quest, which require you to play an average of 3,5 games (assuming you always win).

Note: you may need the level 12 and 15 Hero Rotation Slots unlocked, otherwise certain Hero archetypes will not be available to you in the weekly free-to-play hero rotation.

If you played for a month every day just to complete your Daily Quests, it would take 105 games and net you 10,650 gold. As you can see objectives of some quests also overlap, so if you keep 2-3 quests in your log all the time you would play even less, averaging to about 3 games a day.

For casual players who only want to play for about an hour every day, this is an amazing system and will allow you to purchase at least one Hero a month (prices vary from 2,000 to 10,000 gold per Hero).

That of course doesn’t take into account gold bonuses from leveling your account or certain Heroes! Playing 105 Cooperative games would give you another 1,050 gold, and assuming my calculation about an average of 6 co-op wins needed to reach champion level 5, you would have 17 level 5 Heroes each awarding you with 500g, or in other words another 8,500 gold.

TL;DR: Playing Co-op games for 30 days every day and completing daily quests with different free-to-play Heroes would get you 20,200 gold.

Depressing fact: 35 currently available champions to purchase cost a total of 223,000 gold. That’s 11 months of daily quests and 1150 matches played! Assuming an average match time of 18 minutes, it’s 345 hours or just over 14 days spent playing.

Recommended Ranked play Heroes

You don’t need all Heroes unlocked to play ranked. In fact just buying a dozen of them is enough to jump into competitive play. Below is a quick list of viable heroes and their prices!

Warriors:

• Stitches -7,000g
• Tyrael -7,000g
• Arthas -7,000g

Assassins:

• Thrall – 10,000g
• Valla – 2,000g
• Tychus – 4,000g
• Zerathul – 10,000g

Supports:

• Brightwing – 10,000g
• Uther – 7,000g
• Tassadar – 4,000g
• Li Li – 2,000g

Specialist:

• Nazeebo – 10,000g

This is by no means a must-have list, rather a good starting point for new players with current top-tier heroes. Note that hero viability may change with various patches and nerfs.

Purchasing all of the above heroes would cost a grand total of 80,000g.

Final tips and thoughts

• Consider purchasing a Stimpack early on. 7-day Stimpack costs $3,99, and 30-day Stimpack is $9,99. For the price equivalent of a 30-day Stimpack you can purchase only one 10,000 gold Hero, making Stimpacks a much better investment if you intend to play a lot during that month. You will probably make up most of the gold to purchase said hero, but also gain double the usual experience.
• Grouping up with other players gives you a 50% XP bonus. If you don’t have any, just add a few good ones after a match and queue together with them. 50% XP is a fixed bonus regardless of party size.
• Don’t purchase champions before you try them at least once. Their abilities or theme may seem appealing at first, but you may end up disliking their gameplay after awhile. Try to level them up to level 4 at least and see all of their talents before you make the purchase.
• You cannot have 2 identical quests at the same time. An interesting tactic is to try and avoid completing low-value quests (like “Play 2 games as a Warcraft hero” for 200g) for as long as you can, making sure your quest log always has 2 low-value quests. This increases your chances of getting a higher value quest (600g or 800g ones). It can total to about 45 extra gold per day.
• Never buy heroes the first two weeks after release. Their initial release prices are set to 15,000g, but are reduced to 10,000g after two weeks. They may seem awesome and fun, but a bit of patience can easily save you a substantial amount of gold.

Conclusion

For casual players Heroes of the Storm has a lot to offer. Grinding gold by playing countless matches is viable, but Daily Quests are your main source of gold gain. Despite players being very vocal about stingy gold gains in HotS, the game’s main competitor League of Legends requires far more matches (which are also far more frustrating, and last twice as long) if you wanted to unlock every Hero.

Of course, you absolutely don’t need to unlock every hero to play Heroes of the Storm, even if you intend to play Ranked games exclusively. The ranked Hero League game mode requires you to have at least 10 heroes unlocked to even play it, and some of the most popular and powerful ones aren’t in the most expensive 10,000 gold price tier. In fact you’d need only about 70,000 – 80,000 gold to unlock viable ranked heroes, which you can farm in just 4 months of very casual play time.