Whitemane Build Guide : My crusade, is now your crusade! (Experimenting with new) OUTDATED :: Heroes of the Storm (HotS) Strategy Builds

Why would you listen to me in the first place?

Whitemane is my main healer in Heroes of the Storm and I currently have a +60% winrate with her and this build. I am currently in Plat 2 and NOT climbing higher (Hardstuck btw). Not very impressive but hey, it's not gold or silver!

(This build can be for anyone who doesn't like the W build, it's just a more damage variant build. I personally don't enjoy playing the W build. The text below is pretty messy, sorry!)

This will be a detailed guide on a Whitemane build that I've been using a lot recently. Due to the recent nerf towards her W build with the mana cost refund per stack of Desperation on her level 4 talent being changed from 75 to 50 mana per stack I feel like the build has become significantly weaker. Although this might not have been enough to kill her W build, it was enough for me to find another one. This build can be great in comps where your team lacks damage or if you know you're going to be safe in the backline.
You can put out tons of damage and healing in teamfights but you will need to be in a good position. If anyone jumps on you while your is active, you will take 25% more damage, during this time, if the enemy DPS knows to watch out for it then you can be very punished if you aren't out of harms way. So I think that in the lower elo's this build is fool-proof but as you climb higher people will know when to attack you.

I am not saying that there is only one way to build Whitemane but this is a great variant. You might want to change up your talents a little bit depending on the matchup aswell.

Tier 1

is the best option here.
Taking will just give you a lot more burst healing to heal allies below 50% Health which is crucial if you're gonna save low health targets because you can't just spam Q the whole fight so everyone can't be above 50%. It might not be much but in the end it will be worth it because most of your healing will be coming from . Later it will also be great because it combos well with your other talents.

Since you only got 1 way of cc'ing an enemy and that is your talent which we mostly won't be taking in this build. That leaves you to rely on your teammates to cc them. If your team got a way of almost constantly slow, root or stun the enemy then this will be a great way for you to deal more damage becuase in the end heals allies for 100% of the damage and with you heal allies for 125% of the damage you deal, whilst with you deal 175% damage to all enemies hit that are slowed, rooted or stunned. But is applied to all damage sources while only affects .

We won't be taking because our damage will not come from our direct healing spells, it will be coming from our damage which makes this a really bad pick compared to or .

We will not rely on our to deal damage or heal allies which makes practically useless. In the end, for this build, any of the other talents would be better than this. We want to stay moving almost all the time and being stationary more often won't help us.

Tier 2

Because we will be using our as our main damage tool in the game, taking will help us later with our mana, because we will be spamming later on so it's essentially just free mana.

You could consider taking because of the shield, 15 Mana cost reduction on is not much. After casting it 3 times you save 45 mana. And if you take you gain 60 Mana if you hit 1 Hero with both the First and the Second strike. So if you're not in need of the shield, then this is not the talent you want.

As I mentioned eariler, because we didn't take as our first talent we won't be taking either. It can be good becuase it removes the Desperation stacks and grants 50 Mana for each stack, it's just not worth it. It's essentially, remove all stacks of desperation for 50 each stack every 14 seconds if an enemy is nearby and if you want to take the chance to stay still you can deal some extra damage. In the end, it's not worth it.

Tier 3

There is really only one option here no matter what. is just so great that the other two can almost not be compared to this.

should not be taken here what so ever because you can just use it's expensive but hey, rather extra mana than a talent that you will barely have any use for.

could be great if the enemy team has a lot of cc and you have a key target to defend or if you need to just be there and cleanse an ally from any kind of cc. But in the end, will just be better because you can heal them through the cc. Unless it's a . But then you would have to be really quick.

Tier 4 (Ultimates)

For this build, you will not want to take . It has great heal, grants armor and applies , but you put yourself in danger. You will need to be near the allies that you want to use this on essentially making yourself a vulnerable target to enemy attacks. And since you will rely on your damage our other option is a lot better.

Here we go, can be so amazing in fights, but could also turn out to be really bad. This with will give you an insane amount of healing, even if it just hits one enemy it's still a great amount of healing. And if you hit maybe 3 or 4 enemies with this while is active, this could heal a tank from low to full within seconds. This is pretty much your only option if you will go with this build.

Tier 5

is my favorite talent here because it's just really great for yourself. While you use your Q on allies you get a good heal yourself. This is great if you want to heal yourself for a little while dealing damage and healing allies.

is great and all, but I feel like this isn't really needed, it's a potential root every 14 seconds, which isn't amazing because the slow from isn't to bad either if you're gonna stand and channel it anyways. But it's a root for 1.5 seconds and you don't have to be stationary all the whole duration.

is also a good option if you want to speed up your allies, maybe you have a slow and immobile carry like Azmodan or Kel'thuzad that you need to speed up for an escape, or help a Mal'ganis get in range of all enemies. This could work sometimes, and I would recommend considering this aswell.

Tier 6

If you've followed the build and taken everything as I've said, then you want to take Searing Lash second strike deals 25% more damage and if an enemy hero is hit by it, the cooldown of is set to 1 second. This with is just incredible for mana gain. Taking this will make you have a great chunk of mana all the time, if you hit your second strike. You will also heal for a lot because of the extra 25% and the cooldown reset. So in the end this talent is far more superior than any of the other.

is for when you're gonna channel your inquisiton to deal some extra damage to a nearby enemy and reduce the targets damage output if you're gonna take at level 20 (Which I don't recommend most of the time.)

could work, but not really. It's great for healing multiple allies, but in the end is better for the consistent healing, damage and mana gain.

Tier 7

Because we didn't take we are not able to pick .

Judgement Day is a great talent and is my go to pick here no matter what. It's very strong because you pull everyone togheter into the middle the first time they take damage, so it's not just when it lands but also if they would come in when it's been there 2 seconds and they will still be dragged into the middle. And the 30% damage increase is also really great.

is great if the enemy has a carry that deals burst damage. An enemy like or would have their damage reduced by 75% as long as you channel on them. But since they most likey won't be far up you won't reach those key targets.

can be great if your team is coordinated and focuses one target, this can really make them take a lot of extra damage and erase that hero in seconds.

Draft & picks to watch out for

Draft
[*] You will want to look out for potential threats that can dive into the backline easily.
[*] This build won't always work if the enemy has someone that can disrupt you easily.
[*] Be careful who you pick Whitemane against, she might not be the best if the enemy can kill you easily.

Picks to watch out for
[*] Enemies like and can easily apply healing reduction which can make your combo useless and force you to heal them with your and that can be quite expensive.
[*] Enemies that can dive into the backline easily like , or can be really annoying because they can force you to move away and put you in a dangerous position no matter where you stand togheter with your teammates.
[*] Enemies with cc like and can make you have to play really carefully and if you get caught and pulled into the enemy team you will most likely die due to you not having any mobility and they will most likely have a followup.

Early Skirmish

Common mistakes I see Whitemanes do is use on a lot of allies even if they haven't taken damage just to apply . Only heal them when they've taken damage and are in a dangerous position or are low on health. There is no need to heal them if they're at 70% HP and are safe, that's what the healing fountain is made for if they want to be at 100%.

Keep your Zeal on allies when they are in danger or are low and you know you can deal damage soon.
Don't use desperate plea on allies when you got more than 2 or 3 Desperation unless you need to.
Remember to basic attack. That's a free heal for all allies with Zeal.

Laning

Your waveclear damage is not good and it's not worth to use on the minions when you could use it on an enemey hero to heal an ally. Your job is not to keep allies at 100% health because that costs to much mana and will make you an easy target because you will most likely have to step forth in the lane and use your or to heal them which puts yourself at a risk. So only use them when they engage or overstep. But mostly heal them with a it doesn't cost much mana if it's only one cast and you don't need to heal for a lot unless they go in. Because when they go in on the ally, you go on them with applied to the ally. Just counter attack when they try to go in and you and you will be fine.

Save your abilities for when an ally needs healing.
Your job is not to heal allies to full health all the time.
Counter attack the enemy when they go in but don't put yourself in to much danger.

Teamfights

In teamfights you will want to be in the backline behind an ally but in range of hitting the enemies. You will want to be able to dish out healing and damage at the same time by keeping your on allies. Your big healing and damage burst is your and Combo, lasts for 5 seconds and takes 1 second to land and persists on the groud for 4 seconds. so you don't have to be super precise with the timing but you want to make sure you don't use it to early but not to late. So right after you pressed it and you know you are safe you can pop . After level 20 if you have Judgement Day this is not only a pure damage spell, it's a crowd control aswell. Pulling all enemies hit into the middle the first time they take damage from it is really powerful because it can set up a great combo. Maybe a to slow and damage all enemy heroes after you've pulled them in to deal massive damage while also making them slow so they can't escape the damage, or a combo for pure damage.

Always be safe and call for help when someone is on you.
You want to keep Zeal on allies that are in danger or low on health.
Be careful when you use Fanatical Power because of the 25 armor loss for 5 seconds.
Your Divine Reckoning is strong alone and doesn't always need an ult to combo with.
After level 20, look for opportunities to pull enemies togheter for a sick combo with Divine Reckoning.

I hope that you might try this out in a game or just take a look at it. Thank you for reading and take care!

My crusade, is now your crusade! (Experimenting with new) OUTDATED by Lillmy

My crusade, is now your crusade! (Experimenting with new) OUTDATED

Whitemane

Build: Death to all tainted by the Scourge.

Introduction Top

Why would you listen to me in the first place?

Talents Top

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 4 (Ultimates)

Tier 5

Tier 6

Tier 7