Li Li Build Guide : Li Li the Healbot [Chromie patch] :: Heroes of the Storm (HotS) Strategy Builds

Li Li

Build: Healbot

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

Li Li

Build: Anti-Basic Attacks

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

Li Li

Build: Mending Serpents

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

Top

RECENT CHANGES (BY PATCH)

05/17/16 (Chromie patch) - reviewed; just a Cleanse change
04/07/16 (Dehaka patch) - reviewed; no significant changes
8/19/15 (Kharazim patch) - reviewed; see notes below
6/2/15 (Johanna patch and game launch) - reviewed guide.
5/25/15 (Kael'thas patch) - started this guide.

Build Disclaimer: Don't let me tell you how to play this Hero. Play her how you play her best! There are many Heroes and many builds that can be viable in the right hands. This is just one guide amongst many and is my take on this Hero. Have fun, and enjoy!

If you want to talk shop, I can often be found playing with friend and steamer Kennigma on twitch.tv/kennigma.

NAME		Li Li Stormstout
CLASS		Support
SUB-CLASS		Sustain heals, not much burst. Ok damage (for a healer)
MY DIFFICULTY RATING		Very Easy: Most accessible Support, can be boring with Smart Cast
ATTACK DISTANCE		Ranged
ACTUAL FIGHT DISTANCE		Mid-range, to trigger her trait
MOBILITY		Speedy, always running around
COMPETITIVE?		Not an auto-pick, but she does see high level play

Li Li is a Support healer. Due to her trait, which makes her quick to get away from aggressive Heroes, and Smart Cast abilities, she's actually a very easy Hero to play and probably a must-play for anyone new to healing or the Support role. In fact, Li Li was my first level 10 Hero due to her easy and accessible style.

As Support Heroes go, Li Li is all about sustained, Smart Cast heals, and not too much damage at all. She can spam heals all day to her team. She does get the Heroic option to do some burst healing on the team, but that ability is a magnet for interruption by the enemy team. While Li Li doesn't do much damage, she can trade with many Heroes 1v1, even late into the game, since she can get away quickly and even do damage and heals while she retreats. Li Li does not have any stun or root abilities. She has a slow with the talent or a stun with the heroic , but otherwise no real CC to speak of. She is also unique in being unable to reveal a stealthed or ; she can only chase them around with her staff swinging as if catching a butterfly.

Kharazim patch updates

(Q) Healing Brew
Cooldown: 3 seconds

This ability is a Smart Cast ability. meaning it automatically heals the nearest Hero who needs the heal the most. It's pretty much the easiest heal to throw in the game, and often Li Li can be seen skipping around the edge of a team fight, spamming Q, and throwing out heals with her eyes closed. This is her bread-and-butter ability and you probably will spam it on cooldown in every fight.

(W) Cloud Serpent
Cooldown: 10 seconds

The Cloud Serpent damage is not terribly impressive, but does give Li Li some additional lane clear early. With , Li Li can cast on a Tank who is about to take some damage, and will add some heals to that target. This is conditional on having enemy targets for the Serpent to attack, however. But it does give Li Li an option for actual targeted heals, rather than relying on 's Smart Cast.

(E) Blinding Wind
Cooldown: 10 seconds

Blinding Wind is another Smart Cast ability, so you can't choose your target easily. In addition to a small bit of damage, Blinding Wind causes the target of the attack to be Blinded, which means they will miss Basic Attacks for the next 2 seconds. Best used against Heroes with high damage per basic attack, such as a Sgt. Hammer. Definitely increase your use of this ability against Heroes reliant on Basic Attacks (or are picking for Basic Attack builds). The Butcher patch replaces missing the next 2 Basic Attacks with missing all Basic Attacks within 2 seconds, meaning you do sort of get a choice in who you block. Do you block someone with slow attack speed but high damage per attack, or multiple attacks from someone who shoots faster?

(Trait) Fast Feet

This trait causes Li Li to be extremely hard to catch and kill. This seems kind of useless in Team Fights, since most Support want to be safely healing at distance, but Li Li does not mind getting close enough to the action to take some damage, trigger Fast Feet, and even synergize it with late in the game.

LET'S TALK ABOUT BUILDS
Li Li is in a great place right now with her builds and talent diversity. There is less one or two rigid builds that you need to follow, and more a flexible series of choices you can make as you progress through the levels. Li Li's talents mostly augment her healing abilities, but some talents do give her some offensive-minded options, such as additional stacks of Blind or Slowing on . The Support role can do direct heals, but preventing damage often ends up being the same effect in the end. She does have some abilities to improve her , which adds to healing throughput and some additional damage for the team. Keep in mind that in most team fights, other Heroes will often be wishing for a full healer Support rather than a Li Li who tries to improve her damage. Traditionally, Li Li's main build has been the HEALBOT build where you improve your . But she also can be viable right now with a build (still focusing on healing throughput) or she can be played as a sort of hybrid with some talents mixed in when playing with a second support. Keep in mind that while has an excellent heal-to-mana ratio, typically you will find more raw healing output with .

BUILD: HEALBOT

Picks

Conjurer's Pursuit

Healing Ward

The Good Stuff

Jug of 1,000 Cups

Shrink Ray

Two For One

Kung Fu Hustle

Alts

Lingering Blind

Pitch Perfect

Surging Winds

Jug of 1,000,000 Cups

This is my typical Li Li build, which of course focuses on healing or preventing damage. There are small changes that can be made to some of these depending your playstyle. and can help with mana efficiency if you feel like you're running out of mana in late game team fights. On a map like the Haunted Mines where you'll miss lots of Healing Globes, is an ok substitute at level 1. There is some synergy between at level 4 and at level 13, and is still an option due to the fire-and-forget healing you can bring to a stationary or zone-control team at no mana cost. at level 20 is also good with a tanky frontline team. At level 7, feel free to pick up as your first choice, if you have a need for it and are used to using the active ability.

BUILD: ANTI-BASIC ATTACKS (see header up top for talent picks)
This is really just a variation on the main HEALBOT build. I swap in at level 4 and to add a little bit of damage in addition to benefits on the Support side where damage is prevented and abilities get a little more potent. If the meta shifts over to basic attack-heavy builds and Kharazim with his basic attack healing abilities, this build can become a more popular way to go.

BUILD: MENDING SERPENTS (see header up top for talent picks)
This build became wickedly popular for a week when a patch bug allowed damage bounces to also count towards heals. Her healing was absolutely insane! That bug was fixed, but this general build is still viable for Li Li to take. I do skip , as the damage bounces do not impact healing from anymore, but otherwise I pick up all of the other serpent talents. This build might be useful if you're facing a team that does not have burst damage, you have a secondary support on the team, or you know that your tank is going to be taking the brunt of the damage. With this build, you can keep a on the tank proactively, to add immediate healing. And while this build can get excellent heals for the mana spend, it's still lots of talents not put into the other really good healing talents.

[ good ] - For 95% of the time, this is my go-to level 1 talent. Li Li is a heal spammer, and it can be easy to spam Healing Brew so much that you're out of mana in the late game fights. With this talent, and some halfway diligent collection of Regen Globes in the early laning stages, Li Li will eventually never run out of mana. For some, mana management is something they unconsciously do, and thus they do not need the extra mana regen later in the game. But there really aren't other compelling choices at this tier anyway. There are times on the Haunted Mines map that I will skip this talent, though, since much of the action takes place away from the lanes and away from the Regen Globes.

[ not recommended ] - I see this talent picked quite a lot by newer Li Li players, but I find this to be one of the more lackluster talents for Li Li . A good healer likely doesn't need the extra range for heals and will manage her positioning accordingly. In addition, Li Li actually wants to be closer to the action, in order to take some damage and trigger , which synergizes later with . As such, I don't see any reason to take this ability, but some players may find it helpful.

[ situational ] - Li Li's is her lesser-used basic ability, as it usually just provides some damage and, with a few talents, some Hero buffs. However, for the Li Li who wants to try out a Serpent build, this talent provides some additional throughput on the Serpent. This can also be useful on the Haunted Mines map to augment skull collection.

[ not recommended ] - is an excellent filler ability as it not only provides damage, but more importantly will Blind nearby Heroes. This is big when you have an Illidan or Valla pinging Basic Attacks on your tank. Improving the actual damage of , though, is not really a concern for Lili, as she does not use this ability for the raw damage output. I usually don't recommend this talent unless you're on Haunted Mines and also going to pick up further Blinding Winds talents.

[ situational ] - This used to be the go-to talent at this tier unless another Hero picked it up in their kit. However, now that the Ward can be more easily destroyed, it's placement and thus usefulness is diminished. However, it still does provide AoE healing, and can definitely be a good pick to augment total healing output during high level team fights. This does scale the more tanky your team is, since it restores a percentage of health. More useful when a team is either relatively stationary or is attacking a stationary objective for team healing at no mana cost. This is less interesting if you're expecting lots of mobile team fights.

[ situational ] - For anyone doing a Serpent build, this talent is the backbone of it, as it causes attacks to heal the host. This is also one of the few ways Li Li can accrue heals while channeling her heroic. When not doing a Serpent build, however, this talent is a waste of a point. (Note: This combined with and was bonkers for a few days before the 5/18/15 hotfix, where bounces would trigger the heal.)

[ situational ] - Again, Li Li isn't really going for damage, and passing up hero health-affecting talents isn't a good idea. should only be considered if it will be paired up with or at level 13. If you're doing something else at level 13, won't help you. There is some merit if you're facing a team with 4 Heroes that rely upon Basic Attacks and will get hit by in team fights. Typically, you're better off picking instead.

[ situational ] - If you're facing a Basic Attack/Auto Attack heavy team, this talent can prevent quite a lot of damage if you hit those targets with it. An interesting choice that I sometimes pick up. Definitely give it a thought against or to mess up their dives into your team. With the Kharazim patch giving more encouragement to Auto Attack builds, this talent may see increased use.

[ yes ] - Combine this talent with at level 1, and you won't have to ever worry about spamming away your mana late in the game. At that point, you can spam and , and if you die, you can at least rest assured that you did all the healing your little panda hands could toss out. For advanced players who can manage their mana and don't need to spam heals out, you can skip this and opt for . Also, for organized teams that have quicker fights, this talent might not be needed; but for solo queue warriors where you'll find yourself in extended team fights with little break, this talent can be excellent.

[ yes ] - Additional healing is good, and I usually pick up this talent for additional healing off my most spammed ability.

[ not recommended ] - Damage is not really Li Li's thing, and this talent is not worth passing up other options at this tier. The one exception might be a Serpent build, but the bounces do not affect the healing throughput from .

[ situational ] - This is a new talent addition for Li Li, and while usually a must pick for many Support, it competes with other very good talents. But if you have a need to save someone from a stun, this is still a great choice to include.

(yes) - Most of the time, this is the heroic to take. This provides a channeled burst of healing, and gets ridiculous at level 20 with . Pretty much always take this heroic.

[ not recommended ] - This talent is almost never taken, but in some team compositions that sorely lack CC, this can be an option. But most of the time, this is the lesser heroic to pick. Note that the Water Dragon chooses its own victim, so there is some measure of luck involved.

[ not recommended ] - An interesting talent, but very self-centered on Li Li, who is already hard to kill by default. The other options at this tier are way too strong to pass up in favor of this.

[ situational ] - In my early Li Li days, I loved this talent, as it means our team could disengage from anyone and we could pursue and kill most anyone. I've since lost some enthusiasm on this talent, instead opting for , but if I have no targets for , I may opt to pick this up to improve team escape or team pursuit.

[ situational ] - This talent can be pretty nice, and is my second option at this tier. I will pick this if I don't have good targets for or don't want to be bothered thinking about .

[ good ] - This is always a great talent for Support to throw out as needed. Reducing a Demonic or Archon is a huge impact, and can lead to some turnaround fights very quickly as that problem enemy is nullified. I usually pick this talent at this tier. (Special note: playing Li Li can sometimes be very mind-numbing as you just run around and spam your abilities, regardless what else is happening. Adding a targeted can at least break up the monotony of this playstyle as you seek our the perfect targets to shrink.)

[ not recommended ] - This won't prevent the initial interrupt on , which is really one of her key fears. So I find this talent to be useless.

[ not recommended ] - The default move speed increase on is just fine, and this talent is unnecessary. Li Li already gets away like a slippery eel as it is, and this talent won't impact the result of team fights.

[ good ] - This is a great talent, and combined with at level 20, this nearly doubles Li Li's healing output. That's huge, and should be the go-to pick at this tier.

[ situational ] - Unless you're looking to do a full build, this ability isn't really all that necessary, and other talents at this tier are far more compelling.

[ situational ] - This is a great talent and completes Li Li's burst heal potential. In solo queue situations, this can be backbreaking for the enemy team in late team fights. However, Li Li becomes a huge target for any experienced player with an interrupt. If the enemy team is heavy on interrupts or you've already been targeted any time you pop , you probably want to skip this talent.

[ not recommended ] - is very rarely picked, and this talent picked even less. Almost everything else at this tier is a better choice, even with .

[ good ] - Newer Li Li players won't appreciate this talent and likely skip over it, but it is a great talent. Li Li loves to dance around the mid-range of team fights, tossing heals and basically moving fast with active due to her close positioning. This talent just means you get extra utility for doing what you do normally. And anything to reduce cooldowns to heal more is a big deal. Combine this with extra heals and improved mana regen/management, and you can spam heals for days.

[ situational ] - Due to Li Li is often near the middle of the team fights, unlike many of her fellow Support Heroes. Li Li also lacks "oh sh*t" burst heals; even if she pops her Jugs heroic, it takes a few moments to turn a lot of team damage around. Storm Shield will give Li Li a chance to get that heroic going. This is usually passed up for or , but this ability can have its place to counter wombo combos in organized team play.

[ not recommended ] - This is usually a great ability for more Heroes, but Li Li is already fast on her feet, making this get-away ability less interesting for her. In fact, it's nearly useless. The other talents here are far better options.

GENERAL PLAYSTYLE
Get used to running around a team fight, skipping along like you've had way too much candy. Get used to spamming Q and even throwing out regular E shots when key basic attack enemy Heroes dive your team. If you have the mana, throw out a W on your front line and stutter-step some of your own ranged attacks when you have nothing else to do. Ultimately, you're just going to be having a boring, but easy ol' time playing as Li Li at any point of the game. She's very easy to get the hang of.

A GOOD LI LI...
...will make good, safe use of her Heroic; making sure to not be interrupted easily.
...will not die easily in team fights or being caught out alone; she watches her positioning to stay safe and toss brews as needed to anyone on the team.
...will be able to kite 1v1 fights pre-20 against almost anyone utilizing her heals, damage, and trait. She can trade very favorably when played somewhat aggressively, but safely.

EARLY GAME
Li Li can lane just fine on her own in the early game, and even bully some opponents. Due to her ranged attacks and , Li Li is pretty comfortable in the early laning phase of the game. This is good, since she needs to grab those Regen Globes to fuel . While she can trade with anyone, she does still have issues with top lane bullies like and , or stun-and-burst assassins like . Try not to use too much mana early on, as you want to be ready to support your team once map objectives start spawning, and you won't have enough regen yet to go too crazy. Feel free to yourself now and then if you're solo in a lane, but try to keep usage to a minimum. If you have a buddy in your lane, you can abandon and mix in some during more aggressive moments. Essentially, don't blow all your mana just to kill creep slightly quicker. If you do use , make sure you cast it early when there are targets for the serpent to attack for as much of its duration as possible, maximizing your mana spend.

MID GAME
Around level 10, Li Li should start looking to pair up with some buddies to start leveraging her healing support role. Li Li can merc, but she's very slow at it and should just help out others with map objectives, team fights, or their own merc camps. You'd think Li Li would be great at baiting aggression from bloodthirsty enemies, but most players have already learned that it's usually futile to try and catch a fleeing Li Li without some impressive stuns or closing power.

LATE GAME/TEAM FIGHTS
In team fights, Li Li is usually just running circles around from the epicenter of the conflict out to the edges, trying to keep active for and spamming heals due to her high sustain and mana regen. Due to her speed, she can even tease some attacks from the enemy onto her to give some extra space for her tank to work. Just be careful about bodyblocking your own team or getting so clumped that you're hit with an AoE stun or wombo combo. Drop and liberally, as will bring them back soon enough. Be aware who the interrupters are on the enemy team; try to save your until after they have burned their interrupts or when you're a safe distance from them. Having that heroic interrupted makes Li Li cry. If you've found yourself being focused by a dive Assassin or two, be sure to save your for them.

PLAYING AGAINST
Don't bother chasing Li Li on your own unless you have some hard burst and stuns, otherwise she'll likely last long enough to get help. That said, if you do have some stuns and burst, put her down quick in team fights. Always prioritize her pretty high for stuns if she has and even more with at level 20. Keep an eye on what talents Li Li is picking. If she's mixing in talents or a heroic or other sub-optimal abilities, this should indicate a new or experimenting Li Li player, and she should be a lesser priority target to deal with. Burst her team down, and Lili can't save them alone.

ABOUT ME
I'm an aggressively casual player looking to climb the ranks and enjoy my free time in Heroes of the Storm. If you want to talk shop, I can often be found playing with friend and steamer Kennigma on twitch.tv/kennigma.

Please comment and let me know what works and what doesn't. Thank you for reading, and remember to not be a toxic community member!

Other people have done better Li Li guides:
Tasty and Lifesaving! - A Li Li guide, by Poultron
2ARC ChubbsZ Li Li Guide, by ChubbsZ
High Sustain Li Li, by tempesti

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