Introduction Top
In current ranked play Diablo is not something you want to see on your team. the unpredictable effect of
Shadow Charge and the lack of mobility up to level 20 makes for a huge liability. something you really do not want. However with the build I will be presenting here I got a lot of use out of this undervalued hero. Not as a frontline hero but more as a sort of specialist.
The build requires a defensive playstyle and is relatively uneffective in teamfights until late game. Really effective in an immortal style team. not too effetive in a short game setup.
Playstyle Top
Whilst laning stay in the middle of your own creeps to avoid skillshots preferably on a 1v1 lane since it gives you a better chanse of getting away using your abilities and its harder to nuke you down. Try to use
Fire Stomp as much as you can. when possible try to get into the middle of the enemy creep wave when doing so. More specifics on ability use below.
In teamfights DO NOT get into the middle of your opponents. you are playing a defensive hero and should try to shield your main ranged dps from people comming at them. Use your Q end E to do so unless there is a really good opportunity to do use it offensively.
Abilities Top
Q
Shadow Charge
Currently probably bugged. The target somehow never shoots straight ahead unless you use it at almost max range so be careful when using it offensively. Use this ability mainly as a defense mechanism during early game. push your target towards his base and run the other way. If you have a chanse to push an enemy hero into your turret line do so but only if its safe enough for yourself. when using the ability at close range the target gets knocked to the front left from diablos point of view but that will hopefully get fixed soon.
W
Fire Stomp
Your best ability ever. Doesnt do too much damage against heroes early game but huge amounts to creepwaves. Especially with the
Molten Impact and
Firestorm talents. Late in the game this ability allows you to blow up enemy push waves in a matter of seconds. Use as much as you can without draining your mana too hard. Get right in the middle of your enemy creepwave as much as you can to maximise effectiveness.
E
Overpower
In many builds your main ability but not so much in this one. Since you have to get really up close and personal I really do not like this ability. Diablo has a good healthpool but can still be burned down quite quickly because of the lack of mobility and damage mitigation. especially if you are low on souls. Use this ability whilst laning only when you have to. for example to clear the way for your escape in combination with the shadowcharge pushback or if an enemy overextends. In teamfights save it as a channel interruption unless you have a really opportune moment like throwing someone in a zombie wall or any ult
R
Lightning Breath
I will only be going into this ultimate since it is the go to ult in this build. whilst
Apocalypse can be good in a lot of situations it does not complement the defensive playstyle of this build. Use this ult as much as you can. with only 1 minute cooldown it can be spammed since your downtime is not significant. Even though your W ability is usually enough this gets the job done a lot quicker. Use it mainly to kill neutral or enemy mercs. Or save it against heroes either offensively or defensively. Channeling this ult from behind a wall whilst your enemy is trying to rush it is a huge deterance and the time you save can often outweigh the fact that you dont use it to its full damage potential. This ability is easy to dodge by enemy players so dont try saving it for the perfect moment. In a teamfight the best moment to start blasting is when a teammate stuns/slows an enemy.
Talents Top
Level 1
Soul Feast
By far the best choise, when stacked up on souls this ability gives you 1k extra health easy, and on to of that a lot of extra regen. I can see how Devils Due would come to some justice in a more offensive team build, but in that case you shouldnt be playing diablo anyhow.
Level 4
Molten Impact
The main power of this build. The extra damage on
Fire Stomp allows you to control your lane really early in the game and will help massively late game against enemy mercs or pushwaves. Not choosing amplified healing makes you less tanky, but as said this is a turtle build.
Level 7
Battle Momentum
This will allow you to spam your
Fire Stomp even more, which is the main ability so thats always good. When taking down creepwaves end game this allows you to clear a huge wave, mercs included, in about 5 seconds.
Level 10
Lightning Breath
As explained above
Level 13
Relentless
Since you lack mobility its hard to get out of harms way from disables, and its even worse getting hit by one because you will get nuked. This improves your mobility and allows you to get out of dodge quicker. When going offensive this talent also allows you to be a bit more on the front line.
Level 16
Firestorm
This empowers your main ability even more. The return damage is huge and with good positioning can be a huge impact to both heroes and creeps. This is where your hero damage starts catching up significantly! It also gives you the ability to aim the ability. if your target is running away and you cant catch up, cast and move up/down depending which bolt gets closest to him. This takes some practice but it can rack up quite some hero kills when done propperly. From this point on you will want to be in teamfights and use this aiming to trap as many of the heroes in the return wave as possible. the initial wave is not nearly as important!
Level 20
Bolt of the Storm
I personally prefer
Bolt of the Storm over
Hellstorm here, but both can be viable. The positioning advantage from bolt is huge but choose depending on how youre doing. If your enemy team is not too mobile or has a lot of healing, hellstorm might be a better choise simply to do damage across the board, making it harder for healers to keep up, or to use it at its full damage potential against immobile heroes. Bolt however is a perfect getaway but also a great chase talent, making your
Overpower a lot more viable and making it easier to aim
Fire Stomp and
Shadow Charge
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