Today we're looking at the Lord of Terror, Diablo. The beefiest of Warriors, Diablo offers a unique kit with a ton of disruption. His trait, Black Soulstone, allows Diablo to collect and harness the power of his defeated enemies's souls (1 per minion, 10 per Hero). Each harvested soul grants Diablo 5 extra health in addition to his current health pool. Upon death, Diablo will revive with a reduced death timer of 5 seconds should he have in his possession 100 enemy souls. Shadow Charge, Q, is a directed charge which knocks an enemy hero, minion, or mercenary back dealing DMG (46 at level 1, 206 at 20) and stunning them for 0.5 seconds. Should the opponent hit unpathable terrain, they will be stunned for a full second. This ability combos well with Overpower, E, a powerful slam that picks an opponent up and drops them on the opposite side of Diablo's character model. It deals DMG (40 at level 1, 160 at 20) as well as stunning for 0.25 seconds. Between the two abilities, Diablo can cause quite a bit of disruption as well as forcing opponents into dangerous positions. Fire Stomp, W, is an Area of Effect ability. It casts 10 waves arrayed in a circular fashion around Diablo. These travel away from his character model dealing small amounts of damage (30 at level 1, 210 at 20). The Heroic of choice, R, with this build is Lightning Breath. This is a channeled ability that deals damage (1040 at level 10, 1760 at 20) over 4 seconds in a line which can be directed with the mouse. Note: unlike other channeled abilities, Diablo's Lightning Breath cannot be interrupted. To kit Diablo out, we focus on buffing his trait and stacking his strong healing potential while adding a bit of resilience to enemy CC and attacks. At level 1, we take Soul Feast. This talent adds an additional 5 health to Diablo for each Soul currently in his collection as well as 0.1 Health per second. At the maximum of 100 souls, Diablo will then have an extra 1000 max health as well as plus 10 health per second. Amplified Healing on 4 increases the health regeneration rate even further and makes for a very resilient monster. Finally, to cap out the health buff, we use Endless Death at level 7. This talent increases Diablo's maximum Soul count to 150 from 100 meaning an extra 500 maximum health and plus 5 health per second for a total of 1500 extra maximum health and 15 more health per second in regeneration. Battle Momentum is another great choice here especially if you end up taking Apocalypse at 10. It helps to reduce the cooldown by quite a bit. Levels 13 and 16 see us boost Diablo's defenses with either Relentless or Spell Shield (depending on the enemy team composition) and Imposing Presence to reduce incoming enemy auto attacks. If you need a bit more then, then take Firestorm on 16 instead. This talent causes the Fire Waves from Fire Stomp (W) to return to you whilst dealing 150% damage and is great in the middle of team fights or for clearing large minion waves. The final talent at 20 gives us 3 good options: your Heroic Upgrade, Bolt of the Storm, or Storm Shield. The choice is up to you, but ultimately depends upon the game and team compositions. If your team needs a little extra damage, take Hellstorm, the Lightning Breath upgrade, or Dying Breath. The former extends the range and duration of your Heroic by 50%. The latter causes Apocalypse to trigger upon dying. If sustain is the problem, take Storm Shield instead. The 20% Max HP as Shields for 3 seconds can allow you and your teammates the time to survive and kill the enemy team. The last option, Bolt of the Storm, is incredibly strong and allows you to both engage and disengage at the click of a button. This is a great tool for causing even more disruption amongst the enemy team. With it Diablo can instantly blink to the back line and interrupt any hero on the enemy team. He can also play a bit more aggressively as he has the ability to teleport away and over terrain in order to escape the enemy team. Diablo is a resilient hero and can uproot your foes quite literally. In the hands of a good player, he can deal quite a bit of damage while still effectively tanking for his team. He can be quite difficult to play and is not for the faint of heart, but is still a hidden treasure :) Talents (hotkey): Lvl 1 - Soul Feast (Trait) Lvl 4 - Amplified Healing (Innate) Lvl 7 - Endless Death (Trait)/Battle Momentum Lvl 10 - Lightning Breath/Apocalypse (R) Lvl 13 - Relentless/Spell Shield/From the Shadows (Q) Lvl 16 - Imposing Presence/Firestorm (W) Lvl 20 - Heroic Upgrade/Bolt of the Storm/Storm Shield As always, share your thoughts/suggestions in the comments. Is there a specific guide/topic you want to see? Leave a suggestion in the comment and I'll see what I can do. GLHF Heroes of the Storm Diablo Guide Heroes of the Storm Diablo Gameplay Heroes of the Storm Diablo Spotlight Heroes of the Storm Diablo Build

• published: 18 Feb 2015
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