King Leoric - first impression

[Frozen Death Knight]

though the kits and talents on the latest heroes feel much more together and well designed, I think that they're learning to make better kits and talents lately, and I would not be surprised if some old heroes will get reworked for the better.

At least I hope

Their latest Hero designs have become a lot better I think. Leoric is a great Hero and I like that both his ultimates are used quite frequently. I think that it's because of their latest Heroes that some of their oldest ones are becoming a lot more dated and less viable. I honestly think Kael'thas and Butcher basically killed any usefulness a Hero like Arthas used to have, because he's just too slow to react to Kael's burst and is incapable of disengaging the Butcher in a reliable manner as well as being outhealed by him.

[RH92]

Arthas is played quite a lot in a top competetive scene lately. I think he was at least in one game of every series I watched on KhaldorTV (A channel on Youtube). Sure Johanna and Muradin are still picked the most, but I would say Arthas is picked more often than Anub'arak! Also Tyrael is getting more playtime than before. Still waiting for a game with Leoric, really interested in how top teams will use him.

I think Diablo, Chen, Sonya and Stitches need some help. They are either too niche, other Warriors are simply better at what they can do or bring more to the table.

[smiteme12]

No. Only thing he can do in ghost form is slow people, drain people (without doing damage), Hearthstone, and pick up globes if he has the right talent. Everything else is disabled.

Damn I thought he did soak XP while dead because literally every single leoric on both teams always has the most XP contributed every game. I think he should if he doesn't as just another cool little difference for that hero.. love having heros unique in their own ways. But if he is already winning in xp contribution without that then maybe not.. lol

[RH92]

Damn I thought he did soak XP while dead because literally every single leoric on both teams always has the most XP contributed every game. I think he should if he doesn't as just another cool little difference for that hero.. love having heros unique in their own ways. But if he is already winning in xp contribution without that then maybe not.. lol

It is because Leoric is fantastic at clearing minion waves, at high levels he can pretty much one-shot a minion wave with his Skeletal Swing.

If my team isn't actively fighting, I usually control two lanes. Running back and forth, clearing waves and pushing. This alone adds a ton of Experience Contribution, he definitely is like a tanky Specialist.

[Nerraw]

It is because Leoric is fantastic at clearing minion waves, at high levels he can pretty much one-shot a minion wave with his Skeletal Swing.

If my team isn't actively fighting, I usually control two lanes. Running back and forth, clearing waves and pushing. This alone adds a ton of Experience Contribution, he definitely is like a tanky Specialist.

He also respawns way faster than anyone else, plus he doesn't have to run from the spawn to get back to the action.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

He also respawns way faster than anyone else, plus he doesn't have to run from the spawn to get back to the action.

Plus he's also very dangerous when the enemy team goes boss; he can slow people while they are trying to escape boss aoe damage, thus setting up an advantage for your team as they arrive to steal boss and wipe them. He's also a scout that cannot be stopped.

[Ryme]

Also Tyrael is getting more playtime than before.

Tyrael is a common high level team pick purely for jump comps; Judgement is maybe the best hard engage in the game, but requires full team voice communication to use to it's best.

[grindcore]

I love him, high sustain during team fights and he's rediculously huge, great for a damage soaker and distraction. I dislike his march, it's just too avoidable unless you have a full CC team, plus I prefer entombing to split up a whole team to pick off and Dat Ress timer / Ghost harrass tho...

[Shadowbane]

After getting him to level 9 my go-to set of talents usually include Reanimation and Fealty for a passive, on-going HP regen and ghost recovery, and Entomb for the HC. Paralyzing Rage is very handy for later when you pick for helping you land Drain Hope, made awesome with Crushing Hope and and Unyielding Despair. If you can land a Skeletal Swing and slow them, it's quite easy to have Drain Hope last its full duration. It says it drains 25% of a hero's HP and an extra 10% dealt on finishing when talented this way, but it always seems to take people at least to half health. It's also off cooldown very quickly so you can do it again almost straight away. Hardened Shield to counter any burst or incoming damage whilst Wraith Walking, Nova / Zeratul burst and so on. I seemed to start winning matches far more frequently using these talents.

The downsides are heroes who have an active ability to move quickly so that Drain Hope barely ticks before they can get away, since this doesn't reduce the CD out of failing to land it. There's also people like Tassadar who can just turn invisible, but it's still possible to catch these heroes if they've used their abilities already. Since so much damage comes from Drain Hope, which deals damage in % of hero HP, it's not as effective on smaller HP heroes like Murky, but brilliant against high HP targets like Diablo and ETC. This is where it's potentially handier to toy with using Renewed Swing for extra Skeletal Swing burst damage again in place of a shortened Drain Hope CD.

All in all, I've wanted to play Leoric for ages, and I knew I'd buy him regardless of what his kit was like. He's very fun to play, and that there's still room to experiment with talents and that there's no clear 'best' talents (besides Entomb over March) means there's still plenty to learn about him.

[bergmann620]

I put up a quick tips guide on my horribly underdeveloped gaming blog:

http://indignantgoat.com/quick-and-d...-leoric-guide/

I think he's pretty decent. He's fun to play, but there isn't much variation in his viable talent builds.

My biggest problem is getting caught respawning too deep are in a crowd of enemy heroes. You can damn near carry a map with him if you're playing decent- by the time you get to the end, he's damn near impossible to kill.

[Simulacrum]

He's fun to play, but there isn't much variation in his viable talent builds.

Except he's probably the most build-diverse champion in the game so far, besides maybe abathur. Only Reanimation is a must-pick.

[NoiseTank13]

This is my QM Bread n' Butter Leoric Build: http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talen...or/leoric#sDYX

@1: Reanimation is a fantastic talent, but I made it a habit on some maps to hold off on choosing it. If it looks like I'm going to be stuck in a lane all game without a chance to roam, I may be inclined to go for Hopelessness instead for added damage and healing, and to bully my lane opponent more effectively. This is especially true in 2 lane maps and Blackhearts if I get stuck with bottom lane duty. Some games I can get as high as 60 stacks which shave off 30 seconds by itself in the late game.

@4: I'm going to give Fealty unto Death a try, but since I'm in the thick of things in team fights (as my own personal style) I like the controlled healing a lot more than running off to a lane to heal, so I pick Willing Vessel.

@7: I've found there is very little effective difference between a 40% and 60% slow- if my team isn't able to catch them at a 40% slow they won't with a 60%. On the other hand, I've had a lot of experiences with Cleaving and the enemy barely manages to outdistance and run to safety, Ghastly Reach corrects that and mitigates Leoric's inexplicable "Stop to Swing" animation.

@10: Entomb. Some heroes negate it, and that's fine by me. I will go March if the enemy team is composed of Heroes with stupid mobility, but Entomb has a shorter cooldown, it makes a pretty good impact before and after teamfights to keep an engage going or catching people in the open, and it free's up a talent choice at 20 because level 20 Entomb is so awful.

@13: Crushing Hope. Finally, something that actually punishes and forces HP sponge heroes (Mura/Joanna) to decide whether or not to dive near your backline and have 35% of their HP chunked in 4 seconds by one ability alone. 35% is also nothing to sniff at for any other hero, but if you picked Reanimation and not Hopelessness, and there's no tank and the enemy team is fairly mobile, Drain Momentum may be a better choice to keep yourself healed and damaging the team.

@17: I get Unyielding Despair specifically so I can shit on HP sponge tanks. Not so tough and safe now are you? That all being said and done, Renewed Swing is something I get if the enemy team has proven resourceful in getting away or I'm missing skillshots. It greatly aids in lane clearing and orb gathering.

@20: It's a tie between Spectral Leech and Hardened Shield. When it comes down to it, if there's one HP sponge warrior, I get Spectral Leech, it's simply amazing for sustain and terrorizing other warriors. If the enemy team is full on Mage-pants-on-head, Hardened Shield is the go to.

[Lesane]

Except he's probably the most build-diverse champion in the game so far, besides maybe abathur. Only Reanimation is a must-pick.

How?

At 1 you always get Reanimation for the HP regen and the reduced death timer. The talents at 4 aren't very impactful so it doesn't really matter too much which one you choose, although I'd say Hardened Bones is by far the best pick. At 7 I don't see why you'd get anything besides Ossein Renewal, again for extra survivability and reduced death timer. Both heroics can work. At 13 you pretty much take Spell Shield vs Mages or the 10% extra damage on W. 16 is the only tier where all the talents are pretty good and you can actually make a meaningful choice. 20 You either get Hardened Shield or Spectral Leech if they run double tank. The March upgrade is really good but you can play around it, unlike the other two talents. Entomb upgrade is shit.

He seems as "diverse" as any hero to me. Pretty much a set in stone path with occasional deviations based on your enemy's comp (Spell Shield/Imposing Presence, which pretty much every warrior deals with).

[Simulacrum]

How?

At 1 you always get Reanimation for the HP regen and the reduced death timer. The talents at 4 aren't very impactful so it doesn't really matter too much which one you choose, although I'd say Hardened Bones is by far the best pick. At 7 I don't see why you'd get anything besides Ossein Renewal, again for extra survivability and reduced death timer. Both heroics can work. At 13 you pretty much take Spell Shield vs Mages or the 10% extra damage on W. 16 is the only tier where all the talents are pretty good and you can actually make a meaningful choice. 20 You either get Hardened Shield or Spectral Leech if they run double tank. The March upgrade is really good but you can play around it, unlike the other two talents. Entomb upgrade is shit.

He seems as "diverse" as any hero to me. Pretty much a set in stone path with occasional deviations based on your enemy's comp (Spell Shield/Imposing Presence, which pretty much every warrior deals with).

Sure, Reanimation is must-pick. But at 4 you say "the talents aren't very impactful"? Fealty Unto Death turns him into the strongest pusher in the entire game (and, in both mine and the currently highest rated player on NA hotslogs' opinion, is the strongest talent), and Hardened Bones enables his tanking more, while people going for the W build go willing vessel (and, incidentally, is the talent bergmann up here says "almost everyone" picks).

Ossein Renewal is pretty unimpactful talent if you don't have issues surviving, which Leoric usually doesn't. His biggest problem is getting kited, a problem that all the other talents in that tree help solve. Lingering Apparition is really good too, though if a game is going well I usually just pick Ghastly Reach to be able to hit most of the enemy team with my Qs and make all these novas' and zeratuls' stealth pointless.

I usually pick burning rage over crushing hope, unless I know I can hit a tank with it for the full duration, or the enemy damage-dealers have proven themselves chronically incapable of getting out of range of the final tick of W that entire game. It's reliable extra damage, and lets you clear entire minion waves just in time for your mount cooldown to be back up, with one Q and like 3 ticks of burning rage. And at 20 people pick death march, spectral leech, and hardened shield in similar numbers, though lately I only pick death march if the enemy team has been constantly stacking up during teamfights the entire game.

As implied, all my "usually"s up there means I often vary my build a lot depending on the situation, with Leoric being the only hero I do that for. Every other hero I play has set-in-stone builds. I can't even remember the last time I saw a Kael'thas or a Nazeebo (except maybe ice block vs. sprint) or a Zagara that weren't building 100% identically or a game where I didn't do the same thing. Well, except for that one Zagara I met a few days ago that went Giant Killer and Stoneskin... he still topped hero damage too.