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Illidan is one of the three melee assassins in Heroes of the Storm. He does not have shields like Kerrigan or stealth like Zeratul which makes him very vulnerable and squishy if not played right.

Pros:

- Probably the best champion in the game when it comes to chasing, there is no escape from Illidan.

- If you get an early game advantage, you can easily snowball the game.

- Quite good at clearing merc camps.

- Extremely strong in a 1v1 scenario, can easily pick off less tanky targets that are out of position.

Cons:

- Very squishy early game if cought (especially against ability based damage dealers).

- Vulnerable to heavy CC.

- If your team is behind, you will have a very hard time to turn the game around (you won't be able to poke the enemy team/defend your base without going in, and if you do, you might get picked off very easily hence your damage will be quite low).

- Very punishing if a mistake is made.

Trait: Betrayer's Thirst

This trait makes Illidan such a good pick. Without his abilities, Illidan is one of the most squishy (if not THE most) heroes in the game. If you won't use them correctly, then you will keep on dying all the time.

Q: Dive

An amazing chasing tool that allows you to leap onto a target and jump in front of it. Can be used to body block your opponent or to leap through obstacles such as towers, forts and so forth.

W: Sweeping Strike

Always try to have this ability available and do not ever use it to engage your opponent - that is what Dive is for. If you used your Dive and your opponent is still running away, only then resort to using Sweeping Strike. This is your only escape tool that as a rather squishy melee assassin without stealth, you will need very much.

E: Evasion

Be sure to time this ability well, using it too early can prove quite fatal (and vice versa, using it too late will end in the same manner). If another hero on your team is taking damage from the merc camp, be sure to help him out - always tank both hard and boss camps if your Evasion is off cooldown.

R1: The Hunt

If you are far ahead, this ability is amazing and can be used to snowball the game in your favour even further. Keep in mind that it can also stun your opponents and can be very useful for example against Valla that is using Strafe. Also, The Hunt can be used on any mob in order to escape from death which can come in quite handy at times (while this ability is mostly used to engage, due to Illidan's trait affecting ultimate's CD, you can sometimes find yourself being able to use it twice in one team fight, for example to escape after everyone else in your team died).

R2: Metamorphosis

A less risky ultimate choice with decent AoE damage that is much better in longer team fights.

*smaller icons = not viable talent choices

Level 1



Seasoned Marksman can be quite good once you stack it up to 30 or so but Illidan is very vulnerable early game and Shadow Shield really helps out in that regard. I'd personally go for the shield every time. Still, this one comes down to a personal preference.

Level 4



Immolation out damages Marked for Death not only in terms of AoE damage but in terms of single target damage as well. Thing is, it has to tick every time during those 3 seconds which can be quite tricky at times. Marked for Death is better if you want more burst potential and if you're looking to quickly go in, harass your opponent and then instantly retreat.

Level 7



I tried out all of the above and I stronly recommend you go for First Aid. I used to roll with Thrill of Battle and it is definitely viable but also not as reliable.

Level 10



Already explained in the 'Abilities' section.

Level 13



Giant Killer is quite nice against tanky targets (with increased attack speed from Metamorphosis, it is decent even against heroes with relatively low health pool). Though if you're afraid of getting bursted down by Nova or whatever, go for Sixth Sense.

Level 16



Honestly, picking between the two is quite tough (quite possiblity the toughest choice for Illidan when it comes to talent point distribution). If there are at least two tanky champions in the enemy team, you should probably go for Blood for Blood instead of Stoneskin. The thing is, Stoneskin gets even better when you're playing with Metamorphosis.

Level 20



Some people like to go for blink, I suggest you do the same. Improved ultimates are an alternative if you feel like you don't need blink.


If you are playing against a very squishy team comp that consists mostly of damage dealers and lacks decent front line bruisers, then you could potentially go for the 'Hunt them Down' build variant. Honestly, it comes down to personal preference, I used to pick hunt from time to time depending on what team comp I was up against but recently I always go for Metamorphosis, it is just safer, usage of hunt can be very rewarding but also quite risky.