I play casually, but was dissapointed by the other Orphea guides, so here are my two cents.

Orphea is a HIGHLY flexible sustained damage mage with decent mobility and sustain. She can dart around the battlefield peppering enemies with damage, and is no joke in a 1v1 scenario either. Pay attention to the ebb and flow of battle, hit your Q, and position yourself properly, and Orphea will have your enemies screaming for a nerf.

PROs:
- Sustained DPS from flexible ranges
- Mobility
- Self Sustain
- Light CC Skillshot
- Dueling and Skirmishing

CONS:
- Mobility and Sustain dependent on your ability to hit enemies consistently
- Squishy and weak to poke
- Weak to CC

Orphea can do well in any team comp, but excels in a team that can dish out light CC and long term slows to allow her to hit her abilities easier. She is very, VERY flexible, and your playstyle and build will need to constantly change based on the team and enemy comp to take advantage of this. EVERY SINGLE TALENT is viable in the right scenario, and you need to be able to predict those scenarios and know what you will build while you are still on the loading screen looking at the allied and enemy heroes.
Generally speaking, know at what range you are going to be in a teamfight for THIS particular game. If the enemy wants to dive at you with melee; instead of trying to max Dread, roll with it and punish them with Chomp upgrades. If the enemy is full of slippery casters that will try to burst you from range, don't **** with Chomp and instead get Dread talents that give you the damage at range you need to win that duel. Don't forget to build around what your team brings to the table either.
You CANNOT just plug your favorite build in and try to carry with Orphea, and must understand how the game will develop, adapting to each new scenario with her flexibly ranged kit.

3/7/19: Changelog added. Tweaked sample builds and edited wording in talent descriptions.
3/20/19: Added victory screen image, tweaked Lurking Terror talent description.
9/13/24: Updated guide to reflect talent changes since... wow, its been a while huh.

Shadow Waltz is Orphea's bread and butter, and main source of mobility. It is VERY important that you be able to hit with it consistently, as missing it means you lose potential mobility, stacks of Overflowing Chaos, mana, and talent addons. The ability for an Orphea player to hit this ability determines 80 percent of their skill.
Keep throwing this out while you kite the sidelines of a fight. Whether you are playing up close and personal or tossing out damage from afar, this ability is used for everything, and the constant mobility it affords you is not to be underestimated.

Talents:
1] En Pointe gives this ability extra DPS if you hit it's sweetspot, and is a good default choice if your build doesnt need the other lvl1 talents.
4] Allegrissimo reduces cooldown to 1 sec instead of 2 on a sweetspot hit. Really good if you are milking the mid-range skirmish and want a little extra CDR.
13] Determination gives spell armor on hit. A must have when dueling against burst mages like Li-Ming or Kael'thas.
16] Bond of Anguish makes you very dangerous to tanks and bruisers. In a normal game you will forego this for the other lvl16 talents, but against a particularly meaty team this is a must have for its extra DPS and sustain.
20] Final Toccata. Are you really good at hitting Shadow Waltz on the fly? Wanna run circles around the enemy team every 30 seconds? Have you invested enough into other Shadow Waltz talents to make this worth it? if you answered yes to all of those questions, then this talent is for you. It synergizes super well with every preceding talent (execept Allegrissimo) and makes you a nightmare to fight in a duel. Beware though, as missing a hit means you waste the rest of the ability, so don't get sloppy.

Chomp is your close range punish for foes that either get too close, or don't run fast enough. It is important to note two things in regards to the hitbox on Chomp. 1. This ability extends beyond melee range, and you don't have to engulf an enemy with the hitbox to hit them, so don't bother getting too close. 2. The hitbox starts halfway inside of Orphea's. This means you have a little leeway to hit enemies next to you, but don't get too close when casting this or the enemy hero will just walk behind you to dodge it.
This will be your best friend in a melee heavy brawl, and almost useless in a ranged snipe-off. As your best burst damage option, make sure it is off cooldown before you dart into the fray so you can make good use of it's huge area. Just don't overextend in order to use it.

Talents:
4] Backbiter is a personal favorite of mine as it gives you a neat little health buff and a good disengage against melee heroes. It works against you when you're chasing, but unless you plan to be doing a lot of that, it can help keep you in skirmishing range after darting into melee for a little extra DPS. This is a must have in a Chomp build or against heroes like Tyrael or Illidan who favor dives.
7] Insatiable shows the Greymane talent for some reason :(. It reduces the coodlown on Chomp to 2 secs on a hit, and is a great CDR talent. It allows you to get a LOT more DPS out of Chomp, and it is hard to miss out on given Chomp's size.
7] Ravenous Hunger is awesome if you end up farming lane or using Chomp as a finishing move. It gives Chomp growing damage over the course of the game and if you kill a hero with it you get a sizable heal. Unfortunately you must chose between this and Insatiable as they are both lvl7 talents.
13] Abyssal Symbiosis used to instantly fill your Overflowing Chaos, but not it just gives you a big ol' shield. This talent gives you extra sustain at short range and is a great go-to if you don't need the spell armor from Determination but don't feel confident in your ability to land Invasive Miasma
16] Lurking Terror lets you cast Chomp from Dread's explosion location, and gives Orphea a bit of burst at a greater range (though it takes some setup). In Chomp builds, it gives a lot of extra range on your best DPS option. In Dread builds it gives you more area denial and more bite (no pun intended) to your backline harassment.

Dread is a long range, multipurpose ability. While slow to come out and on a long cooldown, Dread gives Orphea all of her reach. Hitting with the explosion is not only a nice bit of AOE damage, but a pretty decent slow that Orphea can use to kite foes easier. Depending on the abilities you choose it can become higher DPS, area denial, or light CC. No matter how you build it, it is a good solo initiator and can open up all kinds of options in a fight. It is also important to note that both the initial wave and explosion can grant stacks of Overflowing Chaos.
Most effective as a long range initiation tool to give Orphea an advantage from second 1 of the fight, it works just as well at close range. Be mindful of its cooldown however, and be careful when aiming in order to get its full worth. While a useful ability, whiffing it means you wasted all of its utility and have to wait the full 14 seconds for another shot.

Talents:
1] Growing Nightmare is good if you need damage at range. Finishing the quest early makes Dread into a serious threat for squishy or long ranged enemies.
7] Mind Devourer is great if you can make use of Dread reliably. If you can get the quest done, it means you go from being a character who can do long range damage to a character who does long ranged damage.
16] Lurking Terror lets you cast Chomp from Dread's explosion location, and means Orphea doesn't have to get close to use it. In Chomp builds, it means you can pick off someone trying to flee. In Dread builds it gives you more area denial and more bite (no pun intended) to your backline harassment.

Overflowing Chaos gives Orphea all of her self sustain. All of Orphea's utility and flexibility is procced by her hitting her abilities, (which is why it is so important to aim well) but Overflowing Chaos is the main on-hit event. Most of your time in a fight will be spent hovering just outside basic attack range, so make sure that you are getting basic attacks off whenever you are at max stacks and have the chance. For this, I recommend binding your Attack-Move button to an easy to use location, as a good Orphea player doesn't let stacks go to waste.

Talents:
1] Ancestral Strength. Does your team have a good base of CC options? Get this talent. In a team with heroes like Jaina or Malfurion who can toss out slows and roots for you, this easily outclasses the other lvl1 picks.
4] Chaotic Assault adds a significant amount of damage to your Overflowing Chaos attacks if you wait until you have all 3 stacks. It is a nice increase to your damage and sustain, but keep in mind that by taking this you are foregoing the extra mobility granted by Allegrissimo and Backbiter. This is a great talent against teams without flexible or burst movement though.
13] Invasive Miasma turns Overflowing Chaos into an active ability. It lets you deal some close range burst damage, heal, and build stacks. The timing is the tricky part, as it goes off 2 secs after activation. If you have weaving in and out of combat down to a science, this is for you.
16] Dead Magic makes all your autos that consume stacks of Overflowing Chaos more powerful. If you are building Overflowing Chaos or just want the extra sustain, this talent isn't half bad.
20] Eldritch Conduit gives you a massive boost to DPS if you can nurse it's stacks. If you build Overflowing Chaos or find yourself with tons of extra stacks anyways, this is a fantastic lvl20 talent.

Does your team have enough CC? Pick this. This ult gets a lot of flak, but at its worst you force the enemy team to flee from a HUGE area for a sec, and it its best it grinds the whole enemy team down to nothing. If your team has the CC to spare or tools to trap the enemy team in this ult, it is a great option.

Talent: 20] Monster Within gives Orphea a little more DPS and sustain from hits with this ult. I guess its good if you plan on diving on top of your ult, but I find other lvl20 talents to generally be more tantalizing.


Does your team need more CC? Pick this. While not the most reliable CC to hit with, hitting with it means that the enemy team is a sitting duck for your full combo and out of your team's hair. Depending on the enemy and your build, this can combo into a kill fairly reliably if you can land it, and can hit more than one hero at a time if you aim it right.

Talent: 20] Engulfing Oblivion turns Crushing Jaws from a combo maker to a murderer. The armor penalty and CDR let you just ****ing eat enemy hero after enemy hero if you have the damage. If you are favoring Crushing Jaws for it's burst potential, this is a must have.

Like I said, Orphea can find a place in any comp, but she still has strengths and weaknesses. I neglected to include the individual hero threats that are normally beneath the build (that might change if I have time and this guide gets popular) because each build changes who and what is a threat to Orphea, and she should be adapting to meet those threats anyways.
Instead I am listing the generic comp considerations here.
In regards to general hero synergy I have split it up into 2 groups. Synergy on your team, and counters on the enemy team.

Great for Orphea
Good
Bad
Run Orphea, Run

Allies:

Ana: Can heal you at range, and sleep enemies for you, but the real value comes from Nano Boost. This buff is all you could ever ask for.
Kel'Thuzad: Roots and slows baby, roots and slows.
Stukov: Can hit foes with a pretty strong slow as well as silence a team that suddenly solos you out, giving you a chance to escape.
Zarya: Can save you with Shield Ally and can slow if she builds cannon.
Auriel: You can feed her hope, she has a stun, and if she builds it a big area slow too.
Chromie: Time Trap will constantly make you miss abilities.
Lunara: Crippling Spores = easy setup for a kill.
Leoric: Skeletal Swing and other slows are helpful. Plus, draws aggro from you.
Jaina: Every one of her ability slows your enemies. Hitting each and every single one of your abilities has never been easier with her by your side.
Brightwing: Polymorph and Pixie Dust make your life easier.
Arthas: Roots and slows baybeeeeee!
Diablo: Him launching foes around the battlefield = missed hits and missed value for you.
Malfurion: He can root in a huge area AND restore my mana? ****ing marry me!
Stitches: "Stitches bring kills to YOU!" has Hook and slow from Slam.

Enemies:

Hanzo: Will poke you to ****ing death, and good luck catching up to him with his Natural Agility
Yrel: Avenging Wrath is the only thing she can ever do to hit you.
Alexstrasza: You can kite and poke the **** out of her and shut down her healing.
Kel'Thuzad: I can still hear him crying for you to hold still. Just watch out for chains.
Stukov: Can silence and slow you, making you a sitting duck.
Genji: Hyper mobile, can move while AAing, and loves to dive squishies. He cant do too much burst, so just be careful.
Lúcio: Impossible to hit, and will Soundwave you all over the damn place.
Valeera: Silences you out of stealth, and can mean death if another enemy is near.
Zul'jin: Dealing sustained damage to this ******* only makes him stronger, and both his ults counter you too.
Alarak: CC, silence, and burst damage make him a nightmare for you. This is your Hard Counter. Stay away.
Chromie: If you get Time Trapped, you are done.
Tracer: A decent Tracer will know how to dodge everything, and will always win in a duel.
The Butcher: His whole ****ing job is shutting down mobile squishies like you, just try to stay near 2 or more allies or bait out the Ruthless Onslaught before engaging.
Johanna: The most she can do is blind you to prevent a charged auto. Just keep kiting.
The Lost Vikings You have a few builds that make these guys easy to deal with, and your AOE in general reduces their threat should they try anything.
Brightwing: Can Polymorph and help allies corner you.
Illidan: Jumps all over the damn place, wait for him to use his mobility options and THEN hit him.
Stitches: Everyone will die to a full Stitches CC combo, but often just a Hook and Slam can seal off your escape.

Every talent is viable in the right situation. This isn't a one-trick assassin, you MUST learn to recognize these situations, and build for them to make the most of Orphea's flexible toolkit.

The builds listed at the top are merely generic example builds, and your build will change every game to adapt. Once you understand how her talents interact, you can build yourself to be a threat no matter what comp you play with or against.

I cannot overstate how important it is to hit her abilities. Almost all of her utility comes from her on-hit effects, and it is worth practicing a bit in quick play to get the hang of things.

Make sure that you are always watching your stacks of Overflowing Chaos, and don't let any go to waste without landing an auto here and there.

If Dread's wave fills your Overflowing Chaos stacks, make sure you use them before you get more from the explosion.

You need to really pay attention to what range you are going to naturally fall in the fight, and build yourself so that you are most effective at that range.

Building Shadow Waltz works great against enemy mages, tanks, and teams without a reliable engage to knock you out of your dance. It is a good sustained damage option, but lacks the burst to secure kills so make sure you have someone like Zeratul, Nova, or Tracer on your side who can pick off stragglers.

I highly recommend Chomp builds against melee heavy teams or teams that dive, as they will have to think twice before engaging with or even near you. Backbiter is a great help for disengaging or even just standing your ground against these foes. Just be mindful that you cant use Chomp to chase anymore.

Dread builds are great for dislodging backline threats like Sgt. Hammer, Gul'dan, and Alexstrasza, but keep in mind that it leans a lot on completing Mind Devourer, and doesn't help much close range.

Overflowing Chaos will find its niche in almost any build, but building just it can give you a decent burst and AOE kit that packs a lot of self sustain, and it has its place. It works especially well if you have auto attack buffs for your team.


Orphea is one of my favorite heroes to play, and I hope that this guide helped you understand her a little better so that you can go kick some ***.

For the Nexus!