Artanis has a very interesting mechanic, unlike most heroes in this game. His game starts when his health is below 50%. Just when you think you have him, his shield pops up, and he just holds on to dear life until someone dies.

The thing about Artanis is that he is a very YOLO, all or nothing hero. You will either jump in the middle of the enemies like a madman and fight till the end, or you won't fight at all. Let's take a look at his trait, abilities and heroics.

Trait: Shield Overload

Cooldown: 20 seconds
If you take damage while below 50% Health, gain a 984 (186 + 42 per level) point Shield for 5 seconds. Your Basic Attacks lower the cooldown of Shield Overload by 4 seconds.

The reason why you will stay alive while dashing like a madman between the enemy team. Time your attacks and abilities carefully so your shield will always be up.

Q: Blade Dash

65 Mana Cooldown: 10 seconds
Dash forward and deal 125 (30 + 5 per level) damage to enemies, then return and deal 375 (90 + 15 per level) damage.


His first skill, it is meant to disrupt your opponents with constant displacement, evading area abilites, skillshots and CC. It can even dash through walls, ignoring collision. Just be sure to use carefully. Never use it just to harass people, since it can very easily backfire. Should they use any kind of roots or stuns on you, it will cancel the dash and you will be stuck in their midst. Also never try to use it as means of escaping, unless you need to buy time. The best thing to do is use it to collect things such as seeds in garden of terror and doubloons in Blackheart's bay.


W: Twin Blades

25 Mana Cooldown: 4 seconds
Your next Basic Attack immediately strikes the enemy 2 times


His second ability, Twin Blades, is his unseen trademark. When activated, his next basic attack strikes twice. Keep in mind the the activation of this kills, just like Athas' Frostmourne Hungers, causes your attack time to reset. So, if you use it just at the right moment, your next attack will hit three times, four if you picked the Triple Strike talent. If you combo this with Force of Will at level 20, your passive shield will instantly reset.

E: Phase prism

70 Mana Cooldown: 14 seconds
Fire a Phase Prism that deals 145 (50 + 5 per level) damage to Heroes and swaps your position with theirs.

This is one tricky ability. If used correctly, you can get the enemy healer right in the middle of your team, or even their assassin. It is also good when used to counterganking, if your opponents try to surround you to cut your escape rout, or even when chasing, since you can use this to trap your enemy between you and another ally in a tight corridor. The short range and slow missile speed makes this a very difficult ability to use correctly, though. Keep in mind it can very easily backfire, because only a moron would swap places with the enemy tank and get himself in the middle of two assassins and a blinding Lili.


Heroic Ability: Purifier beam.

80 Mana Cooldown: 80 seconds
Target an enemy Hero with an orbital beam from the Spear of Adun, dealing 400 (96 + 16 per level) damage per second for 8 seconds. The beam will chase the target as they move. Unlimited range.

It has an incredible amount of damage with the only setback that the ray is quite slow, meaning that if the enemy keeps moving constantly, they can avoid it entirely. It is a good pick for when you have plenty CC in your team, or you wish to execute someone with low health. It can even be used in that moment of madness in the teamfight where no one knows what the f#ck is going on and all is noise and dust.

Heroic Ability: Suppression Pulse

40 Mana Cooldown: 50 seconds
Fire a large area pulse from the Spear of Adun, dealing 250 (60 + 10 per level) damage and Blinding enemies for 4 seconds. Unlimited range.

Although it lacks the damage of Purifier Ray, Suprression Pulse more than makes up for it with utility, boasting an incredible four second blind and global range. Meaning that you can use this to prevent the enemy from damaging bosses in maps such as garden of terror, Dragon Shire or even battlefield of eternity, buying you precious time and occasionally winning teamfights against people like Butcher and Valla.

Artanis is not quite an all out tanker like some warriors such as Johanna, Muradin and Stitches. In fact, if he didn't have slightly higher health and that shield passive, he would make one hell of an assassin. He is closer to durable brawlers, such as Sonya, Anub'Arak and Arthas; People who are harder to kill, but are not quite tankers. In order to keep your shield up and apply your immortality mechanics, you will want to get low health, jump at an enemy and hack away with your blades while dancing back and forth among their midst.

Keeping his shield up can be very difficult. If played right, Artanis can stay at 10 health and laugh as he solos a full health Illidan or Thrall. Or he can say "You know what **** it" and straight at that enemy Kael, and slice away half of his health bar with a single Twin Blades (When buffed by triple strike and titan killer). I don't reccomend being the only warrior in the team when you pick him, and if you do, go for the more durable build, constantly hitting enemies to keep your shield up. If you have more sources of durability, such as an Uther or a Johanna on your side, feel free to go all out on damaging and rely on your trait to stay alive while battling.

TIER 1

Khaydarian Resonance : Overall, a very noob talent. That's not a necessarily bad thing. If you feel like spamming your E and constantly try to switch places with your enemies, go ahead and pick this one. Otherwise, I'd say if you're good enough, you won't need it.

Reactive Parry : The best standard talent to be picked. It will add some durability to your most spammable ability. Works greatly and should be a default option.

Amateur Opponent : I suppose if you seek to push more, and solo bosses, this could work. Not of any use at teamfights, so I would never pick it.

Seasoned Marksman : Now this is a tricky one. To swap durability for late game damage is always a dangerous road to thread. It has the potential to be great as much as it can be terrible. Up to the player.





TIER 2

Shield Battery : An overall bad talent. Like I said, as Artanis, you want to make full use of your shield and fight until the end. Attacking to lower the cooldown is much better than running away with some intact.

Lethal Alacrity : It can be very dangerous to go too far when using your blade dash, even if you do come back faster. I don't recommend this one at all, even if there weren't better talents to use.

Chrono Surge : I'd say this is an advanced talent only veterans would make most use out of. To swap places with an enemy and immediately rain down punishment is the best case scenario, but only if you are skilled enough to pull it off at the right moment.

Templar's Zeal : Considering how wonderful Artanis is at low health and how anyone with a brain will use him best at that moment, this is the best choice, especially if combo'd correctly with Pionic Synergy at the next level.




TIER 3

Warp Sickness : Another advanced talent, used best when combined with Chrono Surge in the previous level. The extra Crowd Control can be a game changer when used correctly.

Solarite Reaper : Can be a good talent if combined with Templar's Zeal, since most people evade the second slash but are hit by the first. Good for clearing waves, since the combined damage will be enough to sweep most minions and even the zombies at Haunted Mines.

Psionic Synergy : The best one of all, this would allow you to instantly refresh your shield in a teamfight if you can hit all five foes. Or it can be used as a last resort while twin blades is on cooldown and allow you to put up another shield while dueling. An overall great talent for survivability and endurance.

Follow Through : Unlike Illidan and in some cases Zeratul, Artanis does not really spam his skills often enough to make proper use of this talent. The damage boost is not that great and barely noticeable. It won't be a game changer when dueling and it won't allow you to burst anyone.




TIER 5

Phase Bulwark : A very good talent that combos very well with Reactive Parry at level one, since it will make you resistant to both abilities and attacks. Since your shield will keep resetting every four seconds of so, you can keep yourself resistant for most of the time. Recommended when you need more endurance.

Triple Strike : I would say this is another advanced talent for veteran players. The choice between Triple Strike and Phase Bulwark can be a game changer. Triple strike will allow you to reduce your shield cooldown for another four seconds - added to the damage it deals, and the late game combo with Force of Will - and should be a standard choice. But only if you don't have to worry about being disabled, and can manage to make it to your enemies with ease. Otherwise, pick the endurance provided by Phase Bulwark.

Graviton Vortex : You will rarely manage to hit more than one enemy with phase prism, and even if you do, it won't help much getting two people between you and your team, since that could cause confusion about who to focus. Use only if you have a plan and a specific combo in mind with a nice team filled with cooperation.

Burning Rage : Alrhough it is a good talent with other heroes, Triple Strike is simply much better damage-wise.




TIER 6

Shield Surge : A very good talent for the teamfights, when your shield will keep popping up time and time again. Since the extra amount will be subtracted first when you take damage, you will barely feel that decaying effect three seconds later. Recommended against bursters and even DPS-ers.

Zealot Charge : Ok, I know it's cool to see a zealot charge at it's enemies in Starcraft II, but you need to think seriously before picking this. It can be good when played right and combined with Phase Prism for a point-black shot, but this is another advanced talent to be used only with a reliable team and proper combos.

Titan Killer : Works wonderfully with triple strike to rip out a large chunk of the enemy's health. Otherwise, not too great a skill. Used better for burst and whatnot.

Psionic Wound : Considering the presence of other useful talents, I'm not a big fan of this one. You will not make use of the vulnerability time, since your twin blades will be on cooldown for it's duration. And if you are looking for a burst combo with your teammates, I dare say the Zealot Charge + Phase Prism combo is a better option. Pick at your own volition.



TIER 7

Orbital Bombardment : Upgrading your heroic ability is always a welcome thing, especially if you manage to score an 8 second blind during a long teamfight. Or even use it as a disengage and try again later. But considering the other talents, I dare say this one would end up underused. Very situational.

Target Purified : As I said, upgrading your heroic ability is great and all, but this one... Is hard to use right. It can be used to execute the entire enemy team, but it's very hard to pull off and extremely situational. An advanced talent that requires good teamwork. You'll be lucky if you take out two people before the ray expires.

Force of Will : An insanely good talent that will cause your twin blades to cut the cooldown on your shield by more than half, or reset it entirely with the triple strike talent. Always recommended.

Nexus Blades : It's not exactly bad, since Artanis relies on his basic attacks and it combos well with his double strike... But I would only pick it in a full damage build or if the enemies are extremely squishy in overall. Another advanced talent.