i usually pick up block for extra tanking

great build bro, thank you

Update Please

nice looking guide but the build is weak.

Hehe funny, I played like this guide from the beginning. I tested a few builds on my own and now thought, I have tor ead a guide or a forum to see, how others play this dude. Amazing =)

I like lightning breath so much better but it is lackluster till the 20 upgrade, apoc damagr is **** and stun is too short imo, it had to be timed crazy good, maybe if I'm on team I can speak to via headset and its part of specific strat MAYBE, but lightning breath just wins so many fights 20+, and I laugh when I read " they disengage" the range on lvl 20 is ridiculous and unless u have a crazy long leap you can try to run but u dead, I always innate fight and as I take damage I back off position myself, and lightning breath on whole yea fight essentially wiping them out, and when teamfights happen in this game people group like crazy, I have no problem hitting all the enemy team most of time with the massive width and range, but even when I can't I'm hitting targets I want to hit, and cd so short your scary most of the time. After playing a ton of games trying out everything I just can't imagine not taking lightning breath, it is quite lack luster though till you get 20 upgrade is the only downside. I almost never get hit by enemy Diablo apoc it's too easy to play around, it's only strong combo'd with other lock downs and cd so long there is going to be a teamfight or 2 until it comes back up typically. Not saying it's complete garbage, but I think lightning breath is too useful to pass up, apoc too situational and cd sooo long.

Love the guide! Thanks to the guide diablo is one of my three heroes i play now.
One little question: do you have any hints on how to play diablo in each map?
Like haunted mines him als defensive against oppogolem ... Or?

edit: Ah yes forgot about bolt of the storm. It's imho mandatory on Diablo no matter what build you chose. Both ult upgrades are fairly situationnal while Bolt synergises too much with his skillset at first place. Bolt + combo is better than Tyrael's ult when you think about it. And with the impact of body blocking and kills later on(no buybacks meaning that if you kill a key hero especially in a team VS team) past 25mn mark you greatly improves your chances of winning the game. Also diablo can easily suicide engage for trade kills past a certain amount of game time because he will have no issue getting back his self "resurgence of the storm".

I have been playing him with a heavy firestomp build last week, and it won lots of game, soloqueue and it was even better in party.

I really agree with your playstyle and skillbuild except lvl1 and 4 talents mainly. Range on Firestomp is invaluable most of the games because it increases your area of influence. The non heroic damages(50%) on Firestomp can be of use, especially in solo queue and I used with great success preventing a push 1v3 on my lane early game and gathering mercs quicker on the tribute map.(I felt it made a great difference this game in particular) Lvl4 talent on diablo isn't something to take lightly at all. Area of influence for a zoning hero or sneaking time efficiency have potentially more value.

Fire stomp is the core of this character. It gives diablo a higher area of influence than most heroes, it wins the number battle by itself when pushing and force reactions where you'll have an edge thanks to your great single target disruptive options and beefy stats. Diablo is imho about zoning an positionning. If Diablo was a street fighter character he would be Zangief with some hadoken :).

Also about other talents, I think that getting the rez cost to 60 souls is better than gaining 500 max hp and ****ty regen providing you never die XD. Imho the stacking talent isn't properly balanced number wise while the other just does what it does. Imho you haven't understood it, late game there are huge creep waves and you have good clear, puting the soul count to 60 scales far better than eventuals 500hps and is imho equaly good midgame. And spell shield is no brainer to me, if they have hard ccs, don't miss the chance of taking those.

note about ults: I take breath because it's efficient at clearing objectives, mercs, walls and pushing in general. I rarelly see myself in a situation where it is good in TF. The other ultimate is quite strong but atm HotS doesn't have imho the proper roster to make it shine at its finest. (tho it already works with Gaz/Uther...)

Thanks for the build SchAmToo :) been playing diablo and im at 100% win ratio with him even though i only just started^^

I find lightning breath better too. Apocalypse is too difficult to set up though could be good if you do have the set up for it like an uther in team. Lightning breath though is just a low cooldown heroic that suddenly gives your low damage hero some nice damage output, using it liberally is key I think because of the low cooldown anyway. Creeping or zoning people out with it is fine and makes it a better spell I think.

I love the guide, thanks for putting the effort it, it shows.

I'd like to reopen a discussion about [Apoc] and [Lightning Breath]

Honestly I find both to be pretty lack luster in practicality, but both have HUGE potential.
It must be said that Diablo fits into/around teams as a displacement-tank role, much like Stitches. That is his role, the issue is Diablo's displacement is that [charge] and [dunk] dont have the niche that Stitches does via [Hook] into 5v4s. Anyone will ***** about Diablo that "he just has no damage".

The only times ive seen even the best teams (SMG, Wildfire, etc) nail [Apoc] is when they deliberately coordinate it with Zagara [Maw] or Sonya [Leap], otherwise ON AVERAGE, against good players... it will tend to hit 1/5 people. This is not enough use for me, especially in solo queue.

I see some korean Diablos using [Lightning Breath] as a fort/gate/tower siege tool, to discourage teams from pushing into your team to defend a merc lane push. [Lightning Breath] is good damage if you make use of at least 2 or 3 seconds of the cast, this can be done by standing infront of your team and soaking as you discourage an active defense while your ranged team pummels a wall at siege. The short 60s cooldown allows this type of lane push, objective-focused play to be more effective than a 2s stun, on a long cooldown, which is only likely to hit one person in the first place. Thoughts?