Hello, I'm Xyrin, currently a Master League player for Heroes of the Storm. I mainly play Solo Queue in both Quick Match and Hero League, and I've decided to make my first guide for
Kerrigan.
Pros:
- Very heavy damage throughout all of the game.
- Lots of control.
- Can get in and out of combat relatively easily post 13.
- Great at chasing.
- People underestimate her burst damage.
- Can chase people out of team fights with her Ultralisk.
Cons:
- Low escape options pre 13.
- Is prone to being focused as she is a melee hero.
- Very Mana hungry.
- Low damage output if you aren't landing your combo.
Tier 1 Talent Choice::.
You may want to get
Block if there is an enemy
Nova on the other team, as she will try to focus on you because you're up in the front lines, as well as to get you out of the fight from destroying her team mates. On almost all other occasions though, you're going to want to go with
Sweeping Grasp as it allows you to pull from further away. This can land you more pulls into your Impaling Blades as well as grab someone who is just out of range if you hadn't picked up this talent.
Tier 2 Talent Choice::.
Other than
Envenom as your main choice, the only other talent in this tier that is worth looking into is
Fury of the Swarm. It's useful for clearing lanes and getting merc camps. If you find your team doesn't have good clearing potential or Merc control, you might want to think of grabbing it, otherwise stick with
Envenom as it promotes your burst style damage, and can be used in several ways.
Tier 3 Talent Choice::.
With the loss of
Rewind on good ol' Kerri, I find that
Battle Momentum is a good substitute. This allows you to pull off multiple combos in team fights, and give you just that one extra
Ravage that you might need to jump on a low healthed enemy. Thankfully,
Battle Momentum also works with your Heroic, being able to have that Ultralisk up often is a godsend. The only other talent worth mentioning is
Impaling Swarm, like with the last talent, if you have little to no Merc control. With that talent you'll be able to solo any Merc camp with ease.
Tier 4 Talent Choice (Heroic)::.
I tend to prefer
Summon Ultralisk over
Maelstrom just from the benefits you get from it. This is entirely based off of your style of play and the team compositions of both teams. With
Maelstrom you'll be able to dish out more AoE damage and be able to survive more in team fights. With
Summon Ultralisk you'll be able to push someone out of a team fight entirely unless they feel the need to soak the damage from it. The reason I get it over
Maelstrom overall is that it not only helps in team fights, but also in small skirmishes as well. Using it in a 1v1 or 2v2 instantly gives you the advantage, where
Maelstrom would only provide a bit of extra damage and sustain. Decide what Heroic you will be choosing at the start of the game, whatever is needed more.
Tier 5 Talent Choice::.
Sprint is broken on
Kerrigan. As a Melee initiator you can essentially re-initiate onto people that have already disengaged from a team fight, disengage from a team fight yourself, or use it to quickly position yourself when in danger. With the loss of
Rewind, this is the only talent you want in this tier, and it replaces the need of
Adaptation, so you can get
Battle Momentum in Tier 3.
Tier 6 Talent Choice::.
Blade Torrent is my go-to for this tier. It allows you to nab multiple people, as well as makes it difficult to miss your combo with. If you feel confident in your abilities in landing your combo
and the enemy team has mostly ranged damage, then you might want to consider
Blood for Blood as long as they have a large healted target, like
Azmodan or a Warrior.
Tier 7 Talent Choice::.
I want to settle this now and say you do not need
Bolt of the Storm. With
Sprint you already have a disengage and re-engage ability, and will not need another, and while the
Torrasque talent sounds amazing on paper, by the time your Ultralisk is dead the team fight will already be over. Well, should be over. The amount of times that
Torrasque would work in your favor does not warrant the talent choice. While on the other hand,
Nexus Blades will always have its uses. It's a flat damage increase to your auto attacks and will slow the enemies you are auto attacking.
So,
Nexus Blades has several uses, and options are always key into my talent choices. You can use it for chasing, use it to slow people who are on your other Assassins for them to get away, and to keep people from escaping into safety in team fights.
Early game you are going to want to be semi-passive in lanes. You will be tempted to jump on someone just because you can, but you really want to wait until at least level 7 before you start going ham on people. The only time you should be aggressive in the early game is if your team mate laneing with you forces your hand, if there's a team fight, or
both of the enemy are next to each other, giving you the possibility to land a double stun.
Remember, you are going to go through mana like mad, it's best to save that mana for opportune moments rather than using it as often as you can. Otherwise, you'll be having to go back to base just to refill on mana again, leaving your team mate alone and possibly losing experience because of it.
This is where you really start to shine as your talents start falling in order. While
Kerrigan is one of the few heroes that stays powerful throughout the entirety of the game, mid game is really where it starts to show as you obtain more and more levels. Save
Sprint for an escape first, and as a killing tool second. If you absolutely know you can land that kill with
Sprint active and it will be a quick clean death, do so. You can jump in and get out rather quickly with
Sprint still being active.
During team fights you will mainly want to be using your
Summon Ultralisk on the support of the enemy team. This does a few things as the Support only has two choices. Run from the team fight, leaving the enemy team with no support, or soak the damage and be forced to heal themselves rather than their team mates through the encounter. Either one is a win for you and your team.
You will also want to be landing your combo on as many people as you can, or (more importantly) people whom are out of position on the front line. Being able to pull someone towards your team and stun them, all while dealing incredible damage to them is game changing. You want to play the same role as you do in early game as you do in team fights. Be patient, it will be well worth it.
Late game is pretty much the same as Early Game except you will have all of your tools at your disposal. As well, you will also have even more potential at chasing. As you slow enemies you will be able to land more auto-attacks off, which in turn will give you faster ability usage thanks to
Battle Momentum.
Kerrigan works best with heroes that have forms of crowd control and burst damage. Stuns and Snares being the most useful form of CC. A stun or a snare will allow you to avoid using Ravage to initiate, and instead pull them in even deeper into your team with another stun.
That being said,
Kerrigan can fit any sort of team composition, and instead of trying to find a synergy with other heroes, you should instead be looking for heroes that you shouldn't be picking up
Kerrigan with. The heroes you want to avoid are ones with disposition or knock back effects, as a poorly timed knockback can screw up your entire initiation and combo. You can still do it with these heroes, but it just makes your job that much harder when trying to set up plays.
(Red = Harder to Deal with, Yellow = Mildly difficult to deal with)
E.T.C
Falstad w/ Might Gust
Raynor
Tychus
Sgt. Hammer
Kerrigan is a Melee Assassin with the unique trait of having disposition and an AoE hard CC. She is a great initiator, does some incredible burst damage, and in the right hands can turn a team fight around in a heart beat. She has a uniqueness as well for being one of the few heroes to keep her power from level 1 to 20, can solo most heroes, and has the ability to create insane plays.
I hope you give the build a shot and see just how good
Kerrigan can be, and hope to read your comments below! Thanks for your time.
- Xyrin
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