Jaina
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Build: Spam from safe range for maximum damage
Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20
General
In this guide you'll get some useful tips on how to play Jaina successfully. I find Jaina a really strong hero, she is versatile and can help you carry games if done right. I played her in Hero League (Diamond) regularly and she is one of my highest winrate heroes. Jaina works well in compositions that provide aoe crowd control like E.T.C.'s Moshpit, Malfurion's Entangling Roots, Nazeebo's Zombie Wall, Leoric's Entomb or Valla's Rain of Vengeance. Consider not picking Jaina if the enemy team has a very dive heavy comp with lots of tankiness or runs a Illidabathur comp.
This guide might help you to improve your Jaina skills, however just copying this build and following this guide alone will not make you a good Jaina player. Practice is key and to "carry" yourself to higher ranks you will also need a proper understanding of the games mechanics, good positioning and be able to hit and dodge skillshots.
Notice: My guide is mostly targeted towards players who are playing Storm League solo/duo and/or at lower ranks and want a strong carry to climb. You will often see that pro/GM players choose a fairly different build for Jaina. Please keep in mind that his is due to their deeper understanding of team compositions/teamplay and them knowing exactly what they are doing at their rank and in the current meta.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- High burst potential
- Decent sustained dps
- Fast pusher
- Continuous Slows
- Safety through decent range and kiting capability if played right
Cons
- No escapes till 20
- Low HP
- No damage mitigation till quest completion
- No hard CC
- Skillshot reliant
- Cooldown dependent
Talent choices
- Winters Reach:The increased range on her Q allows you to safely check bushes from afar and to snipe down fleeing targets. Also it is easier to land your slow on enemies standing far away, giving your team the opportunity to engage on them. Interupting an objective channel unpunished is pretty much a no-brainer with the longer range. With an earlier patch Jaina got a new talent on this tier which is highly competing with Winters Reach due to it's strength. Many players will prefer Fingers of Frost to compensate the loss of Frostbitten and to have the extra mana regeneration. I find the mana gain from Arcane Intellect enough though and the advantages of Winters Reach still overweight the ones of Fingers of Frost in my opinion, so I'm sticking to Winters Reach.
- Arcane Intellect:You can free-push a lane with little mana costs and also permanently harass many heroes with this talent. No hearthing due to low mana while spamming out everything. Arcane Intellect is very much underestimated in my opinion. To get the maximum out of it: Q targets and use auto-attacks on them to regain mana as long as you can do this safely. With the old Snowstorm now integrated into a level 13 talent, Arcane Intellect has no competition on this tier anymore and is a must pick for this build in any case.
Edit: This talent even got buffed recently. You now gain a 10% spell power when above 75% mana, which increases her burst potential immensly.
- Icefury Wand:Since Frostbitten has been removed we want an alternative talent to boost Jainas damage potential. Ice Lance seems nice, because the cooldown reduction ups her sustained damage. A closer look at the Icefury Wand however reveals that it is indeed a better pick. Let me explain: On this build Blizzard is your main damage tool, so having it off cooldown faster is already pretty neat. If you want to burst down a target you use your W and E in quick succession. To have that combo back up you need to wait for your W to be ready which is on the highest cooldown with 15 seconds. However, after 4 Basic Attacks your W is on the same cooldown as your E and thus you can use the burst combo again. This makes you a high threat to the enemy faster and the time window they can collapse on you smaller. Also this talent synergizes well with Arcane Intellect as you will also gain mana on your Basic Attacks.
[Previous text - Frostbitten:
- Ring of Frost:If landed perfectly this ultimate can decide a teamfight by it's own and allows for great solo-plays also. The delay can make it difficult to hit a good engage though and for wombo combos your teams follow-up is crucial. Placing the ring as response to your teams engage can be devastating for your opponents in many situations and is the safer bet. Do not hesitate to use your ult to disengage when you are good with it because it can save lives and may even turn things to your teams favour.
- Storm front:Another pretty underestimated talent. It allows you to cast your W from a much larger distance, effectively making it easier to apply your main damage from a safer position. This often leads to bursting enemies without beeing punished. You can better reapply your passive to fleeing enemies. So you can continuously slow them if they are out of E range and if your Q is on cooldown or body blocked by the tank. Also you can finish off targets behind gates more easily.
Patch 45.1 Edit: Now this talent additionally has the 30% increased radius from the old level 16 Snowstorm talent, definitly making it a must pick! Due to the buff to her W hitting 3 times (it used to be only 2 times) this talent becomes a devastating force in combination with Ring of Frost, Moshpit or other wombo combo ultimates. With the bigger radius it is also much harder for enemies to avoid the damage and increases the chances to hit the 2nd and 3rd wave also. Furthermore it can be very helpful in capturing objectives by creating a zone, which is dangerous for the enemy to move through (especially through passways between terrain/structures) and thus buying ur team time, denying channel interruption opportunities and even providing situations to capitalize on. With the bigger zoning radius you can also shut down counterengages.
- Snowstorm:The new functionality of Snowstorm introduced in Patch 45.1 gives Jaina an increased burst potential on her W. As the bonus damage only applies on the 2nd and 3rd wave it's the most powerful to use it in combination with a CC chain. But even without those, a good ability placement assures at least a hit of the second wave and this 20% damage boost alone makes the talent a competition to the other talents on this tier. If you can place your Blizzard well on your own or if your team is providing consistant CC - you don't want to miss out on the burst potential from Snowstorm.
However, if you are playing at a high rank or in a premade team with good communication I suggest taking Northern Exposure instead. The vulnerability debuff is just too good to quickly let your team burst down a priority target. Also in that situation it's more likely for your team to try protect you if you get focused or if you play more aggressive/come to rotate and outnumber the enemy - that way you can use your short E range more safely.
When facing a hard engage comp (in lower ranks) with the risk of getting killed by melee assassins, Numbing Blast provides a decent safety option. Choose this talent to root the engager and give your team more time to react to the threat.
- Ice Blink:A slightly weaker version of the old Blink talent but nevertheless an escape that Jaina is really happy about.
You can blink out of skillshots like Thrall's feral Spirit or get out of a Leoric Tomb which would otherwise be your sure death. And everyone should know that a single death after 20 can throw the game. Can also be used to reapply Chill or engage if the situation allows it. Pretty much no competion on this tier at all.
- Improved Ice Block:Aim for the quest completion at level 13, then you are good to go. Use it to avoid burst damage from e.g. Flame Strike, Arcane Orb, Hinterland Blast, Precision Strike... Make use of the possibility to reactivate early to not get out of position when your team is retreating.
Laning Tips
Since Jaina is squishy and has no escapes early you want to play safe on lane to avoid beeing killed by ganks. Obviously map awareness is the key to know when you are able to play more aggressively and go for kills while laning. If you lack good map awareness or their team has a roamer like Nova or Kerrigan I recommend to stay on your half of the lane. You can do this by following these 2 simple rules:
If you lane against a fast pusher like Sylvanas - place your W ontop of the enemy minion wave once it reaches the middle and the minions group up. When all minions are dead you have free room to make use of your long ranged q to poke.
If you lane against a hero who is slow in pushing - harass them with your Q and auto-attacks whenever possible and let them push your wave till you have only 2 minions left on your side. Then place your W on the enemy minion wave to quickly clear it.
Teamfight Tips
As damage dealer in general always stay behind your frontline. This holds especially true for Jaina due to her lack of escapes. A misposition can quickly be punished and results in your death. Therefore you have to watch your positioning in teamfights carefully. Stay safe and use the range on your Q and W. After your passive quest completion use the Ice Block to mitigate incoming burst damage or save yourself from a melee assassin like Greymane diving the backline. Wait for your team to engage before using your ultimate because the low range can put you in danger. If your team has wombo combo ultimates such as Moshpit or hard CC chains wait with your W. Blizzard is your main damage tool and having it up for wombo combos or CC chain kills is crucial. Do not go close to use your E unless the teamfight is won and you can chase down and finish a target with it. Holding back your E cooldown is also usefull for when you get engaged on, then you still have your Cone of Cold to damage, slow and kite the engager. For objective fights with channeling like Cursed Hollow or Towers of Doom use your Q to cancel the channeling from a distance only. Thus you can utilize your saved W cooldown to apply damage when a opponent is out of position.
I hope this guide will help you getting better with Jaina if you choose to play her. Please try the build and tell me how it worked out for you. I wish you good luck on your games and remember that, no matter how your games turn out, having fun is still the most important!
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