Artanis' shield generation will be halved or more whenever you use Cursed Strikes on him and Bone Prison leaves him exposed to be finished. Only thing to worry about is Artanis' Suppression Pulse heroic.
1
Azmodan
Both heroes are pretty slow but Xul can out-push Azmodan with both minions and amount of AoE damage Xul can do. Use Bone Prison for tight situations when laning or helping the team finish him off.
1
Illidan
Illidan won't be able to do a whole lot against Xul as Cursed Strikes can reduce Illidan's attack and Bone Prison can be used to keep him from moving around for Xul to deal his damage.
1
Lt. Morales
Lt. Morales won't be able to do anything against you. It's obvious she won't be by herself so depending on who this second person will be will decide whether you need help or not. Bone Prison can leave Morales exposed to taking her down and the Mortal Wound talent at level 20 for Xul can hurt her healing by a lot.
1
Nova
Nova isn't going to be a problem. You can use Bone Armor to shield yourself from her snipes. Bone Prison to keep her from stealthing away and Xul's Poison Nova can keep her from stealthing.
1
Sylvanas
Xul can push a bit harder than Sylvanas as Cursed Strikes can slow her attack speed and Bone Prison can deny her from using her Haunting Wave from escaping. Should only watch out for her Wailing Arrow.
1
The Butcher
The Butcher won't be able to do a lot to Xul outside of his heroic abilities. Attack speed gets slowed to almost nothing from Cursed Strikes and the Bone Prison can leave him open to attack.
1
The Lost Vikings
The Vikings are annoying in their own right mostly from the exp soak. When it comes in laning though Xul wins and can easily kill them off one by one.
2
Abathur
Abathur can't really do much against Xul. His locusts can be cut down very quickly. Only thing to worry about is Abathur's land mines depending on his talents.
2
Cho
The Cho half on Cho'gall can't do much against you outside of his heroics. Use Bone Prison to flee or to have your team follow-up on the kill.
2
Falstad
Cursed Strikes can hurt Falstad's damage by a good amount but he has abilities that deal damage too. Use Bone Prison to keep him from flying away.
2
Greymane
Cursed Strikes can do a number against Greymane. However Greymane can deal some damage outside of his basic attacks. Use Bone Prison to lock him down.
2
Kael'thas
Kael'thas early-mid game won't be able to do too much against Xul and Bone Prison can take down Kael'thas easily.
2
Kharazim
Cursed Strikes can really be devastating against Kharazim whether it's to hurt his healing or damage or both and can use Bone Prison to keep him from dashing out of a fight. Only thing to keep an eye on is Kharazim's heroics. Seven-Sided Strike makes him invulnerable and Divine Palm puts a player on Stasis which will remove the Mortal Wound debuff meaning it's healing won't be cut.
2
Malfurion
Malfurion isn't a threat to Xul about 90% of the time. Only thing to worry about is his Entangling Roots. Keep in mind to check his talents to see whether or not to pick Mortal Wound or not. If Malfurion for some reason isn't going for healing talents then don't worry about it. If the Malfurion is smart and goes for healing talents then it's worth getting Mortal Wound.
2
Murky
Murky early game is not a problem. Mid game watch out for his Octo-grab + Pufferfish combo and make sure not to use Bone Prison on him, he can just bubble out of it.
2
Nazeebo
Noting serious to worry about Nazeebo. Bone Armor can shield you from his sustain damage and you can use Cursed Strikes to clear the Zombie Wall in no time.
2
Rehgar
The Slow from Rehgar is the most annoying part for Xul. Once you get the Mortal Wound talent Rehgar won't be much of a healer. Imagine Rehgar is about to use Ancestral Healing on a target and you use Spectral Scythe. They will barely get healed so good.
2
Rexxar
Aside the stun and slow Rexxar provides he isn't an issue if you are spreading your Cursed Strikes between Misha and Rexxar.
2
Thrall
Thrall isn't a big threat whenever Xul has Cursed Strikes active and Bone Prison can keep him from running away. When Thrall is able to move however can move at a high speed from Windfury and both heroic abilities can be difficult but nothing to worry about too much.
2
Zeratul
Zeratul isn't going to be a issue outside of his Void Prison. You can use Bone Armor to shield yourself from his sneak attacks. Bone Prison to keep him from stealthing away and Xul's Poison Nova can also keep him from stealthing.
3
Raynor
Raynor in back can safely deal strong basic attack damage. Bone Prison him then use Cursed Strikes when you get the chance.
3
Tyrael
Tyrael isn't too much of threat but his Smite can provide a movement speed buff which will be annoying and his Judgement heroic can stun and lock onto Xul. Other than that Tyrael doesn't have any strong crowd-control or damage to be an issue.
3
Uther
Uther's stuns can be annoying to deal with as Xul but late-game you can reduce his healing by a lot. Keep in mind Mortal Wound won't work on a target affected by Divine Shield. Other than that easy pickings.
3
Valla
Xul can slow Valla's attack speed and Bone Prison will keep her locked down before vaulting away. Her abilities can also be an issue so move or dodge away if needed.
4
Anub'arak
Anub'arak can stun from Impale and lock an hero away from his Cocoon heroic. Use Bone Prison to catch him before he uses Burrow Charge to escape.
4
Chen
Xul can't really do much to Chen when its an 1v1 situation but Chen can't do much against Xul either. Use Bone Prison if you need to flee.
4
E.T.C.
Powerslide alone would be fine against ETC but when he use Mosh Pit, you're in a world of hurt. Other than those two abilities you should be fine against him.
4
Leoric
Skeletal Swing can destroy Xul's skeletons easily and Leoric can use his Wraith Walk to get out of Bone Prison. Entomb is something to worry about but other than that Leoric isn't a big threat against you.
4
Sonya
Slowing Sonya's attack speed can indirectly reduce her fury generation which prevents for from using her abilities often. Just watch out for her Seismic Slams whenever she has enough fury.
4
Tychus
Tychus' Overkill ability will be the most annoying to deal with when laning against him. When he does do that pop Bone Prison on him then run back for a bit. Use Bone Armor if you are low on health against him.
5
Brightwing
Brightwing's Polymorph can be annoying against Xul and if Brightwing decides to go Emerald Wind its even more annoying but if you can keep her rooted with Bone Prison she won't be able to blink/teleport away.
5
Tassadar
Tassadar can get out of Bone Prison from his Dimensional Shift and probably get rid of the Poison Nova damage. Tassadar however can't do a lot of damage to Xul. One thing to keep in mind is that your Mortal Wound talent at level 20 won't work on Tassadar's shields.
5
Tyrande
Try to watch out for Tyrande's stun when it comes right at you and her vulnerability trait can screw Xul if you aren't careful.
6
Arthas
Arthas' own roots and slows can be annoying for Xul but Arthas can't really do that much damage to follow up on alone. Be careful if there's a bursty assassin next Arthas that can follow-up on the crowd control.
6
Kerrigan
Slowing Kerrigan's attack speed won't be enough to stop her damage and her abilities can be annoying if used perfectly. Use Bone Prison to get out of tight situations against her.
6
Li Li
Li Li's blind are annoying to deal with as Xul and can't stun or silence her out of her healing heroic. Once you get Mortal Wound she should be easy enough to handle.
6
Xul
Facing off against another Xul is annoying for both players. The attack speed debuffs works against each other.
6
Zagara
I'd say roughly that Zagara and Xul laning against each other are about equal in terms of pushing but Zagara is ranged and has a movement speed increase when in creep so It'll be difficult to touch her.
7
Diablo
Diablo's Devastating Charge and Overpower are annoying against Xul. Be careful and use Bone Armor and Bone Prison if needed.
7
Sgt. Hammer
Even though Sgt. Hammer is basic attack heavy and in theory would work nicely for Xul. Sgt. Hammer just has a range advantage which can keep Xul away. Will need some backup preferably some stuns to help Xul get closer to provide the debuffs.
8
Gall
The Gall half on Cho'gall can deal lots of damage compared to Xul and will the help of his allies to help deal with him.
8
Lunara
Thanks to Lunara's slows and her movement speed increase it's difficult to get close to her. Definitely requires help zoning her to get close enough to use Bone Prison and deal some damage.
8
Stitches
Stitches can hook and use Gorge on Xul which can be annoying as its difficult to escape afterwards. Stitches alone won't kill Xul unless it's behind locked gates so I wouldn't worry about it unless his team focuses you down.
9
Gazlowe
Xul is very limited in a lane against Gazlowe as Gazlowe can place a lot of turrets around him to keep Xul away and Gazlowe's gravo-bomb heroic can be deadly against Xul. Avoid laning against him early-mid game.
10
Jaina
Jaina can easily destroy your skeletons no problem and all of her abilities can slow Xul enough to kite him.
10
Johanna
Johanna can slow, pull you back, blind, and stun you not allowing you to use Cursed Strikes and not deal a whole lot of damage and Bone Prison 50% of the time won't work against Johanna if she has Iron Skin ready.
10
Li-Ming
Li-Ming can out-damage you be a mile and at a fairly long range also. Avoid her unless you have backup from your team.
10
Muradin
Muradin can stun, slow your movement speed and your attack speed depending on his talents and his quite difficult to take down. Try avoiding him if possible when laning.
Hello my name is Darkstorm. I have been playing Heroes of the Storm since its Alpha days and I wondered if Blizzard would ever release a Diablo 2 character into Heroes. That dream became a reality as Xul was announced and I was happy to see him coming. The necromancer was my favorite class back then and I'm happy to release this guide for those that are gonna play Xul.
Xul is a strong pusher that can push lanes heavily just as much as Zagara, Gazlowe, and Sylvanas thanks to his trait Raise Skeleton and can deal lots of damage to heroes as well and has decent crowd control. In this guide I'll be showing three builds that can either help push lanes, do some damage, or give tons of debuffs to the enemy team.
I also uploaded a video showing one of Xul's builds that I am covering. Come check it out. :) https://youtu.be/mMyErDVS9uE
CONS
- Suspectible to crowd control.
- Can be kited and has no gap closers.
- Bone Prison has a delay that requires perfect timing.
- Can't kill mercenaries except for Siege Giants alone.
- Blind effects can hurt Xul from using Cursed Strikes.
Spectral Scythe(Q) Short range skillshot that travels along your path.
Cooldown: 8 seconds Mana Cost: 45
This ability is your primary damage ability that requires you to have perfect positioning to make the most of out of it. Can also benefit a lot from your Decrepify and Mortal Wound talents which can slow enemies and reduce healing effect received for that hero hit.
Cursed Strikes(W) Activated ability that makes your basic attacks cleave and slow attack speed.
Cooldown: 15 seconds Mana Cost: 65
Cursed Strikes is what makes Xul one of the best specialists yet as it reduces enemy attack speed from
each hit making heroes like Illidan, Thrall and Raynor weaker. You should use this ability off
cooldown whether it's pushing lanes or helping on team fights.
Bone Prison(E) Target ability that has a 2 second delay then roots for 2 seconds.
Cooldown: 12 seconds Mana Cost: 80
Bone Prison can be one of the strongest crowd control abilities in the game but it requires perfect timing to be used. This ability is perfect on heroes with low mobility or squishy heroes or fleeing enemies that can allow your team to finish off an enemy.
Bone Armor(1) Activated ability can grants you a shield and another benefit from a level 1 talent.
Cooldown: 30 seconds Mana Cost: 0
Bone Armor is your best survival ability that should used in tight situations. Bone Armor can also deal a lot of damage from Backlash, slows enemies for a short time from Shackler or take no damage from basic attacks from Shade but risk having your Bone Armor on a longer cooldown.
Raise Skeleton(Trait)
Raise Skeleton is mostly best when it comes to pushing lanes but it has its moments when its useful in teamfights. Just like Azmodan you can overwhelm a lane from having a lot of skeletons push a fort or keep. It's basically like Sylvanas' Possession heroic ability but there's no skeletal catapults or mercenaries.
Poison Nova(R) After a short delay releases poison around Xul dealing massive damage over time that touches an enemy.
Cooldown: 90 seconds Mana Cost: 100
This heroic ability is most likely going to picked most of the time just from how much damage it can deal
compared to Skeletal Mages. It's ideal to use this ability when you can be in-between your team and the enemies and its great for keeping Nova and Zeratul out of stealth thanks to the damage over time effect. Poison Nova is also perfect for the wombo combos to go along with E.T.C.'s Mosh Pit or Jaina's Ring of Frost heroic abilities.
Skeletal Mages(R) Summons a wall of skeleton mages that slows and damage enemies nearby.
Cooldown: 70 seconds Mana Cost: 80
A similar heroic to Tassadar's Force Wall heroic ability but enemies can pass through it and attack the skeletons. Skeletal Mages is ideal to helping your team control the enemy team a bit as it can slow a bit and limits how the enemy team can move around.
Here you will see recommendations of talents, anything to avoid or anything like that.
Green: Recommended picks. Yellow: Optimal picks. Orange: Situational picks. Red: Rarely or never recommended picks.
Backlash(1) Adds a max health based AoE around you when using Bone Armor.
The idea that main defensive ability also becomes one of your most devastating damage abilities is pretty sweet and dealing 15% maximum health is really strong especially if you are up against Double or Triple Warrior comps.
Shackler(1) Adds a small slow around you for a short time when using Bone Armor.
After some testing I realized Shackler is pretty nice. You can use it both offensively and defensively as it helps Xul with one of his weaknesses which can help chase enemies a bit easier and makes it a little bit harder for the enemy to chase you.
Shade(1) Prevents basic attacks from dealing damage towards you when Bone Armor is active but increases the cooldown.
This talent will further protect Xul from damage as it basically gives Xul Evasion from Illidan but it increases the cooldown of Bone Armor by an extra 10 seconds. Picking this talent will require you to be careful when to use Bone Armor but preventing basic attacks from hitting you is worth it if the enemy team has Raynor, Illidan, Thrall, etc.
Death's Reach(Q) Moderately increases the range of Spectral Scythe.
This talent is versatile in many ways. It can help deal more damage to more targets and depending on your talent choices later on you can slow more targets and have more targets take less healing.
Jailors(E) Summons two skeletons to attack the one trapped by Bone Prison.
This talent could be useful to deal a little bit of damage to a certain target and works well with Corpse Explosion and Skeleton Mastery at levels 13 and 16 for a little bit of extra burst to a specific enemy.
Trag'Oul's Essence(Trait) Restores mana everytime a skeleton is raised.
After testing out on how this talent might be viable or not I'd say much not but if some reason if you are having mana issues and you laning/pushing frequently then this can be a nice talent to have.
Harvest Vitality(W) Allows your Cursed Strikes to heal you per enemy hero hit.
This talent can help keep Xul alive during a team fight as it restores your health. I'd pick this talent if the enemy team doesn't have any basic attack damage dealer heroes. Harvest Vitality heals roughly the same as Rathma's Blessing. I'd recommend this talent if you are helping your team more often than pushing lanes.
Weaken(W) Increases the attack speed slow from Cursed Strikes significantly.
Picking this talent can be very powerful as it can basically make any hero hit by Cursed Strikes not able to deal any damage from basic attacks. I'd pick this talent if the enemy team is basic attack heavy.
Rathma's Blessing(Trait) Restores health when a skeleton is raised
After looking at the numbers between Rathma's Blessing and Harvest Vitality they heal roughly the same I'd pick this talent if you laning/pushing over helping your teammates more often.
Poison Nova(R) After a short delay releases poison around Xul dealing massive damage over time that touches an enemy.
Cooldown: 90 seconds Mana Cost: 100
This heroic ability is most likely going to picked most of the time just from how much damage it can deal
compared to Skeletal Mages. It's ideal to use this ability when you can be in-between your team and the enemies and its great for keeping Nova and Zeratul out of stealth thanks to the damage over time effect. Poison Nova is also perfect for the wombo combos to go along with E.T.C.'s Mosh Pit or Jaina's Ring of Frost heroic abilities.
Skeletal Mages(R) Summons a wall of skeleton mages that slows and damage enemies nearby.
Cooldown: 70 seconds Mana Cost: 80
A similar heroic to Tassadar's Force Wall heroic ability but enemies can pass through it and attack the skeletons. Skeletal Mages is ideal to helping your team control the enemy team a bit as it can slow a bit and limits how the enemy team can move around.
Decrepify(Q) Adds a moderate slow to Spectral Scythe.
This talent furthur makes Xul one of the most scary heroes ever as it adds another debuff to his kit making the enemy team less likely to do anything. On a serious note it can slow a bunch of enemies with this one talent and a good amount compared to some other heroes' basic kit.
Giant's Curse(W) Allows Cursed Strikes to deal max health percentage damage.
I find this talent to be a stronger version from Giant Killer as it does 2% damage instead of 1.5% and it cleaves. If you are looking for a little bit more damage on Xul then this is the talent for you, highly recommended especially against heroes like Cho' Gall, Muradin, Azmodan, or anyone with lots of health.
Corpse Explosion(Trait) Adds an AoE when a skeleton dies.
After some testing on Corpse Explosion I've come to the conclusion that it increase your pushing power tenfold as your skeletons will eat up all the minions, mercenaries, and buildings in no time. Definitely no. 1 pick when pushing lanes a lot.
Executioner(Genetic) Significantly increases your basic attack damage to crowd controlled targets.
This talent has the potential to be a big jump to Xul's damage as a 40% increase in basic attack damage is a lot for Xul. I'd recommend this talent if you have a E.T.C., Jaina, or Muradin in your team.
Flowing Wounds(Q) Reduces the cooldown on Spectral Scythe by half if it hits a hero.
Further buffs your Spectral Scythe by allowing you to slow the enemy or reduce the healing received onto that enemy more often if you picked those talents. This is the preferred talent if you are using the Debuff build or don't have the hard crowd control to benefit from Executioner.
Amplify Damage(E) Makes the enemy hero vulnerable for the Bone Prison's duration.
This talent can further benefit from your bone prisons as it allows your team to quickly burst down that target. This is the preferred talent if your team doesn't have a lot of crowd control to help make use of Executioner or if there's an enemy team you need to burst down quickly or if you have a Tyrande that has Hunter's Mark.
Skeleton Mastery(Trait) Increases the amounts of skeletons you can have and their damage is doubled.
Not at all a bad talent. It definitely has a use. It works nicely with the Jailors talent at level 4 and it shines most on Towers of Doom where you are constantly trying to push down forts or Cursed Hollow to further lanes hard during a curse.
Call of the Grave(R) Adds max health percentage health damage to go along with the base damage over time effect from Poison Nova.
This can be a very deadly talent to have assuming you pick Poison Nova as it does a bit more damage against beefier heroes. Recommended against Double or Triple tank comps that have a sustain healer.
Raised Mage(R) Increases the slow and summons more mages from hero takedowns.
After some testing on how this talent will work. It definitely sounds like a niche pick but the 50% slow actually is helpful. The extra skeletons on takedowns are a nice bonus, a winmore bonus but a nice one. I'd go for this talent if you are up against strong melee assassins.
Mortal Wound(Q) Any hero hit by Spectral Scythe reduces their healing received by a lot.
In my opinion one of the strongest talents to be ever released in heroes as it can almost make any kind of heal almost useless. I recommend this talent if the enemy team has lots of self-heals like Thrall or The Butcher or burst heals like Uther or Rehgar.
Bone Spear(#) Adds a skillshot that damages all enemies in its path.
Bone Spear is a very iconic ability back from Diablo 2 and its perhaps a nice alternative to Mortal Wound if the enemy team doesn't have any self-heals or burst healing and could use the extra damage and since it has a 10 second cooldown and no mana cost you can use quite it frequently.
Along with the usual weakest to strongest heroes list I thought I'd add a list that would benefit Xul the most as well.
Abathur: He can help clear lanes if needed and Adrenal Overload at level 4 can help Xul deal more damage from his Cursed Strikes and making sure to curse as many enemies as possible.
Tassadar: His Shields can help Xul stay in the fight and it's even more effective when Tassadar has the Leeching Plasma talent at level 4 because Xul's Cursed Strikes ability can help hit more enemies which means more healing when the shield is active.
Hope you enjoyed the guide. I'll continue to update it when further testing has been made or any changes have been made to Xul since his initial release. I am open to feedback and criticism. :)
Let me know if my Threat List I just added if about accurate and if there's something I missed I'll change it. I'll eventually add a screenshot and a couple videos to show off on how Xul looks in-game and how well he does.
03/04/16: Updated the Jailors and Raised Mages talents and also updated the buddy list.
03/02/16: Added a video showing the Scythe/Debuff Build.
03/02/16: Added a Threat List and rewrote the Shackler talent.
03/01/16: Reworded the Raise Skeleton talents to make more sense.
03/01/16: Guide released.
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Xul was announced and I was happy to see him coming. The necromancer was my favorite class back then and I'm happy to release this guide for those that are gonna play Xul.
Zagara,
Gazlowe, and
Sylvanas thanks to his trait
Raise Skeleton and can deal lots of damage to heroes as well and has decent crowd control. In this guide I'll be showing three builds that can either help push lanes, do some damage, or give tons of debuffs to the enemy team.
Spectral Scythe
Cursed Strikes
Poison Nova
Bone Prison
Bone Armor
Shackler
Shade
Possession
Skeletal Mages
Mosh Pit
Ring of Frost
Force Wall
Evasion
Giant Killer
Hunter's Mark
Adrenal Overload
Purifier Beam
Phase Prism
Overpower
Overwhelming Force
Punish
Condemn
Blessed Shield
Healing Beam
Stim Drone
Zombie Wall
Snipe
Precision Strike
Inspire
Lightning Shield
Earthbind Totem
Gorge
Leeching Plasma
Feral Spirit
Divine Shield
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