Illidan Build Guide : Anti-Meta Illidan Survivability Build :: Heroes of the Storm (HotS) Strategy Builds

Illidan

Build: Betrayer of Hope

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

Threats to Illidan with this build

Threat

Low

High

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Threat		Notes
1	Abathur	Just watch for hats on heroes like Raynor, and check to see if he's going slow mines. Otherwise he's no threat.
2	Li Li	Watch out for her Blinds. Also, watch for her trait to quickly lure you into a group of enemy heroes. Sticking to her can have consequences, so be careful.
2	Nazeebo	Very low threat, as you can simply leave his Zombie Wall. The spiders are an annoyance, as are the toads, but little more. Even his Gargantuan can be dispatched fairly easily.
2	Gazlowe	Don't let him kite you through a clump of turrets, 'nuff said.
3	Brightwing	Only threat here is Polymorph, so just watch out if she has friends nearby.
3	Artanis	Your melee is superior to his, your sustain is superior as well. Just don't get swapped into a group of his friends and you're golden
4	Uther	His stun requires him to be very close to you, so don't let HIM approach YOU. He's more likely to miss when you're flipping over and through him.
4	Anub'arak	His CC is pretty easily avoided. Watch your positioning and he won't do you nearly any harm.
5	Jaina	Has substantial burst, but I've found that most Jaina players tend to overextend (both in fights and lanes), and have a habit of panicking when you Dive them. Just dodge skill shots (esp. Blizzard) and she's easy to kill. Watch out for her Elemental! If it's on you, engage it and kill it immediately!
5	Muradin	His Stun is irritating, but his damage output is not much of a hassle.
6	Tyrande	Not scary by herself, but watch for Lunar Flare. Stuns ruin your day.
6	Li-Ming	Ming-Lee is only dangerous if you forget about her in the enemy back line. Watch out for orbs (which are pretty easy to dodge), and try not to get caught in her Beam with low HP. 1v1 just dive on her face and watch her pop.
6	Azmodan	Mid-level threat only because of his Beam. Otherwise you have nothing to fear.
6	E.T.C.	Mid because of Mosh mostly, which you are more likely to get caught in, being up in everyone's face and all. Slide is more of an annoyance than anything else.
6	Thrall	Roots and good sustain, can be a big pain in the ass. Easily dispatched if he's turned to run though.
6	Valla	Biggest concern here is Strafe, as her AAs can be largely ignored.
6	Leoric	Drain Hope is a bitch, try not to hang out in it. Entomb is easily countered with your Q.
7	Greymane	His dive and burst (in the form of AA's) can be devastating, and are only countered by your E. So watch out if you're low, and save time your E to make this fight easier.
7	Lt. Morales	You lack burst, so the threat that Morales poses comes in the form of out-healing you, and leaving you on someone that you can't kill. Bad news.
7	Arthas	Slows and Roots can pose a big threat in team fights, so be careful. He also has good sustainability, so he is not easily killed.
7	Nova	Lacking much of the burst she once possessed, she is less of a threat. Triple Tap is your biggest concern here.
8	Kael'thas	If you can time your E BEFORE you get hit by Gravity Lapse (post 13) then he can be dueled successfully. Otherwise his power is mostly too strong for you.
8	Lunara	Her range and poison can easily take you down if you get careless. She HAS to be engaged if she's attempting to chase, as escape is unlikely.
8	Zeratul	Zeratul can Blink out of your range, after getting you for a decent chunk of your HP. Spot his shimmer and W through him first! He will be caught off guard, and more likely to run than to stand and fight.
9	Raynor	Raynor can be a major pain in the ass, but if he's out of position, he's not scary in a 1v1. Spam your E to render his AA ineffectual. Just watch for double stuns!
9	Stitches	Hooks + Gorge=Dead Illidan. Save your E if you're laning against him, it'll help you escape should you get hooked.
9	The Butcher	If he charges you, you can expect a large chunk of your HP to disappear. Try only to pounce on him once he initiates on one of your teammates.
9	Johanna	Stuns, slows, and blinds for your AA. Best not to engage Johanna if at all possible.
9	Zagara	If you're up against a good Zagara player, then she'll have an escape route on Creep, and is liable to take you down quickly with all of her spawns. Only engage her if you a.) have a healer at your back, or b.) are looking to finish her off when she's attempting to flee.
10	Diablo	High health pool, chain stuns, one of your worst nightmares. Try not to dive until his stuns are on CD.

Illidan

Build: Hunter

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

Illidan

Build: Betrayer of Hope (Alternate)

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

Introduction Top

Hey all! This is my current preferred build for the Betrayer of Hope. Illidan isn't favored in the current meta, and his popular build has been stagnant for months. I've been experimenting with different build ideas, and I found this style to present more viability to Illidan in the Stun-Heavy meta we're currently experiencing. You sacrifice some DPS for a substantial increase to your survivability, allowing you to remain in team fights much longer than normal.

Build Differences, Tips & Tricks Top

Build Differences

The major differences like in Level 4 and Level 7 Talent picks. Rather than the universal & , I opt instead for and . I found fairly ineffectual in team fights, as Illidan is most vulnerable to burst damage. does next to nothing to mitigate the effects of burst, so I swapped for . ToB allows you to spam your E every 4-6 seconds, as well as ensuring a constant AA damage buff from your . This, coupled with , allow Illidan to endure most sources of incoming damage, provided you're regularly Auto-Attacking. At 13, the halved ability damage applied by provides a pretty large power spike to your fighting ability.

Tips & Tricks

Illidan is about finesse, timing and positioning. Simply mashing your keys in a frenzy is not going to cut it, as you are likely to miss key ability presses, as well as auto-attacks, which keep you alive. Excessively clicking actually interrupts both your abilities and your attacks, so control is key. Keep a close watch on CDs on your Ability Bar, as you want to be spamming your E as often as possible, and ensuring you W every 4 seconds at most.
Know when to dive, but more importantly, know when to leave. Don't try to force a kill if it requires you to chase too deeply, as you're likely to get baited.
Remain on high alert around all heroes that carry stuns, as these are likely to get you killed.
Blood for Blood can be used to help secure a kill if necessary, but is most often used to gain 20% of a tank's Health pool, keeping you alive longer.

When to Hunt Top

is a good and unique talent that is underappreciated in my opinion. The range allows you to return to the battlefield quickly (a la ), gank enemy heroes from across the map, shoot to objectives, and rotate lanes very quickly. It also benefits from crazy cooldown reduction from , allowing it to be recast regularly. I am more likely to take it on large maps that require regular rotation and jungling, with less large teamfights ( , , ).

Otherwise, is your go-to Heroic. It provides an increase to attack speed, health, and, at 20, a 50% reduction of ALL disabling effects. It gives you more presence in team fights, more sustainability, better damage output, etc. Great on maps like , , , anything with a single objective that gets contested by both teams.

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