Unlike her pupil Li Ming, Isendra is not a burst or poke hero. Instead she has a lot of consistent damage against enemies that come too close. Her biggest strength is her versatility, and can work as a pseudo cc-support or maybe even an offtank if you're crazy. Even then, you can still deal pretty solid damage if built for it, and she has an amazing amount of zone control as well because if an enemy stands where they shouldn't they will take a heck of a lot of damage. She fits in best in more defensive compositions but can fill in as a standard mage easily, especially with how flexible she can be.
Fitting with the no-cooldown style of Diablo II, her spells generally have low cooldowns and can be cast often. Also fitting with her original incarnation, she has access to 3 different schools of elements and each one is good at different things, but synergising them together provides you with tons of flexibility. Fire skills are mainly focused on poking from far away, Cold skills have shorter range and improve cc or durability, and Lightning skills have mid-ranged damage and mobility. This gives her great flexibility depending on the circumstance, however talents will still force you to focus on certain elements or aspects of her kit. Choosing an element isn't that hard, you just activate the Trait (which has no cooldown) and then press QWE corresponding with an element, so if you're faster you can swap between elements quickly. You start the game with the Trait option active so you can't cast without choosing an element. You can see what element she is focused on above her health bar, too.
Q abilities are all self-buffing skills with high uptime. Enchant Weapon gives some potent damage on your basic attacks but you need to be aggressive before the 4 seconds run out. Shiver Armor grants armor and a massive AoE slow which is great for chasing or running, while Thunder Storm give mobility and zaps attackers which is good if you're looking to deal damage in the thick of the action. They're all instant cast and easy to use but choosing which one is best for the moment is most important. W abilities are skillshots with very low cooldowns. Frozen Orb is a strong ranged AoE attack that is easy to evade if not aimed well but can deal great damage to enemies foolish enough to go near it. Charged Bolts have short range but can act like a moving wall for enemies preventing them from advancing, and have a pretty scary root-ish effect making them great for hit-and-run or peeling tactics. Meteor is a slow Flamestrike with a stun, and since it's so slow it makes enemies uncertain of when you'll drop it which is pretty imposing. These abilities fill in the weaknesses in your element's playstyle, with Frozen Orb giving a poke attack to Cold's defensive style, Charged Bolts giving peel to the aggressive Lightning playstyle, and Meteor giving a strong mid-range attack to the poke-based Fire.
Her Hydras are all refreshingly very similar to each other. Given the "place and forget" nature of the Hydra it means she has to rely more on her other abilities for more direct damage, which is convenient due to their low cds. Don't discount the Hydras themselves though! They're similar to a ranged-casted 3x Gazlowe turret that can't be killed, with the tradeoff that they can't be stacked and disappear when Isendra dies. They can still deal good damage if enemies don't respect them and are just another tool in her zone control arsenal. Frost Hydras have short range but deal solid AoE damage, and are probably the best choice against nearby enemies. Static Hydras deal the most raw damage and have the most range but are single-target, making them the best for skirmishes against individuals. Burning Hydras have average range with the least damage in the form of AoE, making them the most flexible of the 3 and good in most circumstances. You may question why the poke-based Fire Hydra isn't long ranged, and that's because it doesn't need to be given how it can be placed far away as a summon, and is likely to get damage off anyways given the AoE, plus Fire could use the extra AoE.
The different heroic elemental Proficiencies simply add more flexibility to her kit in different ways. They're all passives (her kit is convoluted enough already!), with each providing a baseline effect that's all around useful, and a specific effect that only works with the chosen element. When it comes to her other talents choices, every other tier is focused on one element to enhance each aspect of her skillset, while the other tiers let you choose a specific element to focus on to focus your playstyle. At level 20 you have access to all 3 choices to really drill in which playstyle you're aiming for, with each choice providing nice buffs to your playstyle of choice but minor nerfs to the inverse.
Heroes of the Storm Build Guides
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