Introduction
Hero Overview
Abilities
Talents
Matchups
General Strategies
Map Strategies

Hello everyone, I am ESV.iakona, the support player and shot caller for ESV.Wildfire. Since the community for this game has been so kind and helpful putting together all these tournaments, I thought I would give back a little and write a guide. Having played mostly supports throughout the alpha, specifically Uther, I thought he would be a good place to start.

Uther the Lightbringer is a melee Support from the Warcraft franchise. The first paladin and founder of the Order of the Silver Hand, Uther the Lightbringer is a faithful servant of the Light. Dispensing justice with the swing of his hammer, Uther is a bastion of truth and an unflinching symbol of the Alliance.

Pros:

• 2 burst heals
• 2 stuns (if you take that ult)
• Survives if killed

Cons:

• Long cooldowns
• Stuns have short range
• Low damage output

	(Trait) Eternal Devotion	This skill is what can make Uther so annoying in team fights. Even if he is focused down and killed, he can still throw out heals and stuns for days, er uh 10 seconds. Even though your damage and healing is reduced by 50%, Hammer of Justice & Divine Storm still stun for the full duration, and your actives like Shrink Ray and Protective Shield are not weakened.
	(Q) Holy Light	One of the two sources of healing, the other being Holy Radiance. This skill is what makes Uther's healing so strong, by level 20, this skill is healing for over 1k. The tricky part is making sure you heal the person you want to, since skill targeting is done a little different in this game. If heroes are clumped up, often times you might heal the wrong target. It can be used on heroes as well as minions, however, once again targeting the minion or mercenary might be difficult.
	(W) Holy Radiance	The second of Uther's healing spells, instead of being a single target skill, this one is a cast in a straight line. Every friendly hero or minion will get healed, and every enemy hero and minion will get damaged. Also no matter what direction you cast the skill in, you will always be healed. While this skill doesn't heal as much as Holy Light, it can heal your entire team for when they take aoe damage from Psionic Storm or Seismic Slam.
	(E) Hammer of Justice	This is a single target stun with a very short range, think melee attack range. The damage on the skill isn't that great, but the point of the skill is the stun, not the damage. Being a stun, it can be used to interrupt channeled spells like Phase Shift or Deep Tunnel. This skill is great to chain with Divine Storm to lock down a single target.
	(R) Divine Storm	This is why people play Uther, an aoe stun, and the damage is not something to sneeze at either. Being only 70 seconds, the cooldown is short compared to other heroics. Also at level 20 you get Divine Hurricane which makes the stun go from hitting 2-3 people to 3-5 people. This is insane for team fights when you can stun the entire enemy team. Since its a stun, you can interrupt channeled abilities, but with the long cooldown on this skill, you are better using Hammer of Justice first. That being said this is great for interrupting Ravenous Spirit or stopping the casting of Emerald Wind or Mosh Pit.
	(R) Divine Shield	While I recommend taking Divine Storm 90% of the time over this heroic, there are times where this is very useful, I'm looking at you wombo combo's. If your team gets hit by Void Prison or Devouring Maw and you see a Leap or Grav-O-Bomb 3000 following up, be sure to drop this on someone who is caught so they can just laugh and walk away. I can also see this being used to prevent Gorge. Since Rewind was taken away from Uther, you will lack cc if you take this heroic. Also the new Bulwark of Light is only really good if you are caught in the wombo yourself with a teammate.

Level 1

	Conjurer's Persuit	This is my goto talent since you can often run into mana problems with Uther. On Garden of Terror, Blackheart's Bay, and the-haunted-mines, I recommend this especially since regeneration globes are easier to get.
	Reach	If you have a heavy dive composition like Arthas or Sonya, this could be a good talent so that way you can heal front line or back line, depending upon how the fight goes.
	Dense Weightstone	If you are lacking damage on your team, I could possibly see this. However, the damage on this skill is small to begin with, so the increase won't be too much.
	Blessed Champion	As my manager best put it, 25% of 0 = 0.

Level 4

	Hammer of the Lightbringer	0 attacks = 0 mana, if you are having mana problems run Conjurer's Pursuit instead.
	Fist of Justice	Once again, you shouldn't really be getting auto attacks on the enemy.
	Protect the Weak	If you are running a Mercenary Lord composition, I could see this being good. But Protective Shield is almost too good to pass.
	Protective Shield	This is what I run in 99% of my games since its basically a 3rd heal for you. Very good to bait the enemy to overextend, and then you drop this ability on them. Keep in mind this is an active, and you should practice using them.

Level 7

	Wave of Light	I could see this being run in a Mercenary Lord push composition, but otherwise the two actives are too good to pass up.
	Rebuke	While this might seem good, you want your teammates to attack the person that is stunned, and if you knock them farther away, what good is that doing?
	Holy Devotion	I don't plan on dying on purpose, sorry.
	Clairvoyance	This is the talent I used to run until a realized how good Cleanse was, but in the off chance the enemy really doesn't have any cc you can stop, I would recommend this. Vision is good in this game, you can use it to catch the enemy taking a mercenary camp, or prevent them from ganking, or so many other things.
	Cleanse	This talent is extremely underrated right now. It counters so many heroics, Judgment, Leap, Grav-O-Bomb 3000, and Apocalypse to name a few. Even for non heroics like Entangling Roots, Polymorph, and Howling Blast to name a few. This is a high skill cap skill, so don't expect to be good at it at first, but the effects this brings to the battlefield is huge.

Level 10

	Divine Storm	AOE stun, enough said. You generally don't want to initiate with this unless you are running Sprint, instead I would use this to peel for your carry. When a Sonya or Arthas dives your back line, you can just chain stun lock them with this and hamer-of-justice.
	Divine Shield	While Divine Storm is so good, I could see this heroic to be taken when the enemy is running a wombo against you. However, at this current point in time, I do not see the merits of this.

Level 13

	Burning Rage	While this might be entertaining with eternal-devotion, the damage output is meh, and you shouldn't be in their back lines anyways.
	Spell Shield	Yea.. no. This does make you a little tankier, but both actives bring more to the field. Also if you do end up getting bursted down early, you still have 10 seconds to use spells anyways.
	Sprint	Only really useful if you are running Divine Storm and your team has no other possible way to engage, so that you can use this to engage. Otherwise, I recommend to take Shrink Ray instead that way you can peel for your carry.
	Shrink Ray	Since the removal of Rewind (RIP), this is my fall back talent. Usually I would triple stun and heal to peel for my carry, instead you are going to be using this active for that instead. Prime targets are Sonya and Kerrigan that like to jump into the back lines. If this is somehow up after a fight, you can use it slow a person running away and secure the kill.

Level 16

	Hardened Focus	Since you don't have sustain heal, you probably aren't going to hit the requirement unless there is another healer or two on your team. If you are running 3 healers, I would definitely recommend this.
	Gathering Radiance	I honestly only pick this because there is nothing better. It can help push lanes or clear lanes, so it's okay.
	Holy Shock	If you aren't healing your teammates, you are doing something wrong. That being said, if you are not the only healer on your team, I could see this being good.
	Imposing Presence	Yea no, if the enemy carry be auto-attacking you, you are probably out of position, or your whole team is dead.

Level 20

	Resurgence of the Storm	Might seem solid on a support, but there are way better choices with Divine Hurricane or Storm Shield. Don't get me wrong, this is a good talent, just not as good as the others.
	Storm Shield	This is a good choice for when you run Divine Shield, however, Divine Hurricane is too good to pass up. If you do take this I would recommend trying to use this right when you engage, that way you can maximize the damage absorbed since the shield only lasts for 3 seconds.
	Bulwark of Light	I don't recommend this heroic, but if you take Divine Shield, I think Storm Shield is better, unless you plan on playing out of position. Most of the time it won't make a difference if you are shielded as well as your intended target. If you wanted to be shielded, you can just shield yourself.
	Divine Hurricane	5 man stun = OP, enough said.

Good Matchups

	Kerrigan	If kerrigan jumps in and tries to kill your team, all you do is double stun her and your carry will do the rest.
	Tyrael	Cleanse plays a huge part in this, since if he tries to Judgment someone on your team you can just cleanse the second they get stunned. Though if you cleanse the target before tyrael hits them, it will just stop the heroic in its track.
	Stitches	Usually when Stitches lands Hook on someone it's bad. Instead you can just hard engage off it with having an aoe stun. Divine Shield can also work though since you just throw the ult on them before Gorge is used, and they just walk away.
	Nazeebo	Since you have two stuns, you can very easily interrupt Ravenous Spirit, and since most of his damage comes from that heroic, you can basically shut down a player.
	Arthas	I think you are a very good counter to arthas, being that you can Cleanse someone out of Howling Blast. Assuming arthas took Army of the Dead, you have 2.5 seconds of stun to drop on him when he gets low hp.

Bad Matchups

	Brightwing	While you might be able to get a good stun off a brightwing Blink Heal, usually brightwing will just use Polymorph on you making it so you can't heal your allies, or stun your enemies.
	E.T.C.	Having melee stuns, Mosh Pit can be pretty dangerous even if you don't get caught it in since without Divine Hurricane you can not interrupt it. Cleanse could be used though if someone on your team that is caught in it has a stun.
	Zagara	Since you don't have great damage output if zagara uses hunters-killer on you, you have to hope one of your teammates deals with it, otherwise you will be forced to heal yourself from the damage, or leave the fight. Also if you get caught in Devouring Maw you can't save your teammates, so 1-2 people could die during that time and lose a fight.
	Malfurion	I was a bit torn on this matchup, but I think malfurion has an edge with Entangling Roots. If you try to engage or get to the enemy team backline, you will probably end up rooted. If malfurion went Twilight Dream, you could end up silenced which would be a similar effect as being caught in Devouring Maw. That being said, you could always Cleanse a teammate out of silence, or yourself from being rooted. Overall though Twilight Dream malfurion has the edge.
	Sonya	I think this a bad matchup since the damage output of seismic-slaw is so high. If she use's Leap or Ancient Spear on you, you can't really get away from her. She will just keep using slam, and you won't be able to heal yourself and your teammates to stop everyone from dieing. While you could try to stun lock her down, the sheer damage she will do before you kill her, could win a teamfight on its own.

Early Game

In the early stages of the game, you should worrying about covering a lane's worth of XP. Often times you will have a couple people on your team taking mercenaries or ganking, but that should not be you. If you end up in a 1 v 2 lane, you should try to freeze the lane just outside the tower range so you can't be zoned from XP. Also try to keep stacking the regeneration globes when possible.

Mid Game

By this time, your team should be 10, and you have your heroics. This is where you should be with your team trying to get an objective or pushing a lane. Often times team fights will happen, and you need to be there, since that is where Uther excels. Do not be afraid to use your ult just to secure a pick on one person, even just a 5 v 4 advantage could make the difference between killing the fort or not.

Late Game

Your team should be 20 if not very close, and this is where Uther really shines. Divine Hurricane is huge for team fights when you can stun their entire team. Your team should be looking for those fights, since respawn timers are close to a minute now.

	Blackheart's Bay	On Blackheart's Bay, I recommend sitting in top/mid lane that way you have access to 2 lane's worth of regeneration globes, as well as the 2 pirate camp globes as well. Uther doesn't really have great chest clear, but you could combo down the last couple hits very quickly with Hammer of Justice and Holy Radiance. Since Uther excels at fighting in close quarters, I recommend to be a little more aggressive with taking mercenary camps. All the mercenary camps have tight choke points with bushes, so Divine Storm can hit several people as they try to come in.
	Cursed Hollow	On Cursed Hollow, I recommend Uther to be middle lane. This way when ever a tribute spawns, you are closest to rotating to the tribute. Most fights on this map happen around the tribute, so having a healer there for the fight is a must. When you get a curse, don't forget to group up with your team and push, since, big surprise, Uther is not a good split pusher. While you can gather a tribute, I generally recommend against it since Hammer of Justice and Divine Storm is very strong zoning material. If you went Divine Shield you can also cast that on a teammate after they have been gathering a tribute for 2 seconds to secure the tribute.
	Dragon Shire	On Dragon Shire, I recommend Uther in bottom lane. This is because you can cover the lane while your teammates clear a siege giant camp, then grab the heal globe and heal your teammates back up. Since you can heal yourself, you are pretty good at shrine control. If your team is trying to channel, you can stand on the shrine and prevent the enemy team from taking it, then try to meet back up. I do not recommend taking the dragon knight yourself since you are probably the only healer on your team. You can heal the dragon knight so don't forget that, especially on the first dragon knight since it has a low health pool. Since you are melee and don't have strong damage output, I would recommend against trying to kill the enemy dragon knight yourself, and instead try to heal your teammates that are doing the damage. If you went Divine Shield you can cast that on the personal channeling DK after 2 seconds to secure a free one.
	Garden of Terror	On Garden of Terror, I recommend Uther to be one of the side laners. That way once night starts, you can either hold lane or clear the plant camp that is on your side of the map. Most people overlook clearing that, but they are fast to clear and give decent experience. Also since you are stacking regeneration globes, I would recommend you stand near the golems when you kill them. Usually when you are Uther, you are the main healer for your team, so I recommend not taking the plant terror, and let someone else take it. You also can't heal the garden terror. When the enemy has a terror, watch your feet and if needed, you can Cleanse the polymorph. Since you are melee and don't have strong damage output, I would recommend against trying to kill the enemy garden terror yourself, and instead try to heal your teammates that are doing the damage.
	The Haunted Mines	On Haunted Mines, I recommend Uther to be in a lane with 2-3 other teammates to help sustain the lane. Since the map is small, and Uther has no escapes, the enemy can easily gank him in solo lane. When mines open I would recommend to scout for your team or stick near a carry since your camp clear is not existent. Also try to help clear the golem when you can since it will drop regeneration globes for you. Sadly, you can't heal your team's grave golem, but what you can do is stun an enemy when they are standing in the root or stun range of the golem. If someone does manage to get rooted or stunned, don't forget to follow up afterwards with Hammer of Justice or Divine Storm. If your team manages to get stunned/rooted, you can always Cleanse.