Varian - Melee Warrior/Assassin - Warcraft Hero

[Nerraw]

And what about lvl 4?
As a tank, I'd really love to have that Shield Wall, but
1) I feel that without Warbringer Varian is friggin useless pre-10
2) 1 sec stun followed with 1.25 taunt is a godly setup for pickoffs
So I end up taking Warbringer anyway.

Yeah, Warbringer is sadly way too good to pass up, and it most likely still will be even with the change.

[Stormcall]

And another question - what to you pick at lvl 1 when playing Prot? Seen Chu8 going for High King's Quest on his stream, but I'm not sold on this. IMO it doesn't make Prot Varian's DPS much scarier. What do you think?

I don't really play him as prot, but I'd go with Lion's Maw. His AA isn't his strong point in prot spec so High King's Quest just seems kinda a waste. Then Warbringer at 4.

[Kjalar]

Played several games as Prot yesterday, enjoyed the hell out of it. It's cool that Taunt no longer reduces attack speed, it felt really clunky. HP increase is very solid, especially combined with reduced CD of Parry.

Want to try Shield Wall as Prot tonight to see if becoming nearly unkillable in teamfights is worth sacrificing great utility that Warbringer provides. If baseline Charge rooted the target instead of slowing it, lvl 4 talent choice would be much more balanced IMO.

[ttak82]

Yeah, Warbringer is sadly way too good to pass up, and it most likely still will be even with the change.

I think the parry talent is very good. Many players just like the all-in brawler playstyle so it is understandable that warbringer is deemed good.

[Deleted]

This Warbringer discussion reminds me so much of the arms warrior talent ranting in WoW. Haha.

To the people who own him: Is he a fun tank? Do you think he is good? The setup with warbringer+taunt sounds pretty solid! Can he survive in teamfights?

[Nerraw]

I think the parry talent is very good. Many players just like the all-in brawler playstyle so it is understandable that warbringer is deemed good.

Shield Wall is indeed very good! There's no denying that. The thing is that Warbringer gives him a clickable stun on a very short cooldown for what it offers. Uther has to be in melee range (which as a healer is not always a good idea!), Illidan has to pick his as a heroic, Murky also has to pick his as a heroic and it leaves him completely unable to do other stuff. Butcher comes very close, but his still has a higher cooldown.

You can also combine Warbringer with Taunt, and potentially lock down a target completely for more than 2 full seconds, all on your own. That is pretty significant.

I hope the recent change is enough to close the gap between the two talents, but a clickable stun on a short cooldown is still a clickable stun on a short cooldown.

- - - Updated - - -

This Warbringer discussion reminds me so much of the arms warrior talent ranting in WoW. Haha.

To the people who own him: Is he a fun tank? Do you think he is good? The setup with warbringer+taunt sounds pretty solid! Can he survive in teamfights?

I haven't had time to try him with the recent changes, but I liked him as a playmaking off-tank before. I don't know if the buffs were enough to give him solo-tank status, but I sadly doubt it. But with some help he is absolutely a solid warrior should you choose to spec him in that direction.

[Kjalar]

To the people who own him: Is he a fun tank? Do you think he is good? The setup with warbringer+taunt sounds pretty solid! Can he survive in teamfights?

He's a lot of fun if you have an ally with good engage, who can take full advantage of Prot Varian's ability to lock a target down for 2.25 sec.
Is he good? It depends. In Gold where I play, pretty much everything can work, including Varian as a solo tank. At higher levels of play, I don't know.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the answers so far.

That clickstun + taunt sounds just so good against those pesky tracers...

[ttak82]

The best thing about Varian in drafts is that you can pick a warrior and go bruiser spec on that hero. For eg. Varian complements Muradin very well. You can get tons of lockdown or sustain with a Varian + warrior duo.

[Deleted]

I actually think that warbringer click-stun is pretty OP

[Nikkaszal]

Shield Wall is INCREDIBLY good vs a burst team - eg Li Ming or Chromie. Giving up Warbringer is tough, but it makes you practically immortal outside of being locked down by stuns