This is my main build with Zeratul. Although some situational choices can seem more viable depending on your enemy team, your own team, and the map, and sometimes depending even on how far you have fallen behind or in the lead, I keep to the basic build alone and leave those out for now.

As a result this is a quick guide for the build as is and does not dwell in all the situational / conditional choices for the character. I am sure there are plenty guides out there that get give detailed description for the overall use of Zeratul, and so I wanted to keep this one clean with covering my build alone and how to use it.

There is a second build in this guide, Void Survivor, which is my second main build. I usually switch between these two and although depending on the situation I too might swap talents around here and there on the go, these are the two basic formats I stick to 80% of the time and occasionally do a combo of these two builds as well.

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Vanishing Terror
The idea of this build is a lot of sneaky yet powerful damage, quick relocation, hunting your enemy down, some nice cc, and lastly some survivability in doing all this to keep yourself alive as much as possible.

It works well especially with a good healer in the team. When I decide I need to go for more survivability in a match for any given reason (no healer present for example or no good tanks, or simply because you might feel more comfortable in a certain map, etc) then I switch to the second build = Void Survivor.

Cleave Use this both as a damage dealer as well as utility. It is great cc for minions, and the CD is decent to allow you to feel a little free in using it. Striking other Zeratuls or Novas out of their stealth is especially fun I think. By increasing its range you increase its utility and cc, and in team fights it makes a difference when it reaches more grouped up heroes. Lastly, with Void Slash and Assassin's Blade this deals a good amount of burst damage. Learn to sneak into a team fight unnoticed with stealth and open with this as much as possible.

Singularity Spike Use this the same way any Zeratul would. For slowing the enemy down and extra damage. If you feel you need less utility and more survivability switch to Vampiric Strike. Otherwise, hold on to that Sustained Anomaly, it adds even more CC to you and can allow you to de-cloak enemies without yourself leaving stealth. It is a good practice to target the enemies that are most likely to run away with it (like Lili). Strike her with it in a team fight to make getting rid of her or any healer easier. Or to slow down a chasing foe that is after an ally. And ofcourse, to slow down those you are in pursuit for. A great and handy skill that really shines even more when you add Double Bombs to it. At which point you can do any combo you need or even strike an enemy twice with Singularity Spike to deal much more damage along with the slow.

Blink This is your "get in there" or "get out of there" skill you should learn to use well like any good Assassin. What can be said about it? Just use it right for either chasing or getting away. In some occasions I find it useful to slip into a fight unnoticed, use Cleave and 2 Singularity Spikes (in whichever way seems more fitting however do try to prioritise Cleave for an opener to gain its extra damage from stealth) then straight away Blink out of there. This strategy is a huge help in team fights whilst you keep yourself alive to keep hunting them down. Many times they will try to focus on you, at which point your Blink ruins their play for your team to add extra damage in there. At which point, do not keep running away. The worst practice I have seen with Zeratuls' is dealing damage, blinking out, then escaping. You want to make things easier for your team, and not have them chase enemies around that are chasing you (which is a good strategy as well sometimes, as long as you go in circles or do it right to make sure your team is not just running but also landing damage). I personally even sacrifice myself with no regrets. Keep focus on me and break their strategy up, and in many occasions this can have their team with 4 deaths or even 5, and our team with 1 death alone... Me. That is a sacrifice I would take anyday to push faster to a win.

Shadow Assault Great for hunting your enemies down, and later for healing yourself whilst doing so. It is especially annoying with Vorpal Blade if Sustained Anomaly doesn't do it for you.

Trick with Zeratul is to learn how to use your stealth smart. Veteran players and most casual players will be able to spot you out all the time even when cloaked, so you need to learn how to go around their attention. Moving about when they are focused on another threat conceals you more than the cloak itself does. And a fast Blink while cloaked into a fight also helps however does not allow you to evade as easily. And Zeratul excels when used as a back and forth hero. Jump in, jump out, and rinse and repeat.

Stay alive, you are a little squishy with this build, and try to use your stealth for the extra advantage. Never walk alone in the game, always have someone near you. If done right, this build dishes out crazy burst damage where not expected and ruins entire strategies. Using him wrong can mean a quick death as well, so be careful.

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Have a team that you notice simply isn't cooperating? Or the enemy is overwhelming you with better burst damage? This build starts out as the ultimate survivability build, and keeps to the Double Bombs and Nerazim Fury for offence in later levels as well.

The idea is to play as before, yet more defensively. Dealing damage and ruining the enemy team strategy is still a priority as before. The difference is that you deal less damage but have more survivability.

It is a build for much better solo playing as well, for a map or team perhaps were you take the role of one that criss-crosses back and forth more to help in the strategy rather than dish out damage when no-one expects it in team fights. For example Dragon Shire. This build is great to keep a top or bottom position all alone at times (unless they truly over-crowd you).

Meanwhile, the Spell Shield might have your team calling you names but pay no attention to them. In really hard matches it has been a complete life-saver, allowing me to dish out more damage and remain a threat for longer than with the other build. And public match players can whine all they want, in the end they will be happy you stayed alive those extra seconds longer to help them out and even thank you for it (happens more often than not).

If you see that your team is going good at it and that the Spell Shield is overkill and you really do not need that much defence, then switch it out for Assassin's Blade adding more speed to you in cloak and more threat when leaving your cloak with an attack, or Wormhole for more in-and-out attacks depending on the team you are against.

End of the day, you play more or less in the same way described in the first build. However this time you deal a little less damage however your mistakes are less punishable as you allow yourself the chance to get out of a fight alive more than before.

Well, that was it as far as my double-build and guide for Zery goes. I hope you enjoy this one.

Don't forget to change talents around if you need to, however keep in mind that the initial damage build will be less menacing if you do so. Either way, Zeratul is a great tool (lol, that sounded weird) for just ruining their sh!t up.

As for the haters on the second build, like I said, they will thank you for it. I know most frown upon Spell Shield, but if it is the right choice for a certain match, they will be happy you did so. And if they are too stubborn, at least you will be happy you used it and that is all that matters.

I mean seriously, Zeratul works as a great hero to jump in there, which means you are easilly picked off with a couple abilities piled up against you. You reduce all that important damage and halve it for three seconds, making you an even better opener than before. At times, I pop the Spell Shield on even on the first build, sacrificing some of the extra damage but making me an even better initiator. Trust me, if that is your style (initiating) you will love this talent and add it to both builds.

Enjoy guys. And take care.