Spread the word of Holy Ground!
This talent - Holy Ground[13] - completely warps your capabilities as Tyrael. So it is vital that we talk about it as much as possible in a more convenient manner.
First off, Holy Ground's best used when blocking off a tight chokepoint. You can cut off enemies from escaping, or stall them from advancing toward a given area. This is the most likely manner for Holy Ground to secure a kill.
You technically do not need to create a perfect wall off. Since it's a circle, and all Heroes have circular hitboxes, you can line it up against the wall in such a way that it is too tight for an enemy Hero to cross. How so? Well, take a look at yet another terrible drawing I made here. Imagine the Heroes are inflexible, steel balls. If the ball cannot cross through, then it will never get through. It is stuck. This is as good as an outcome as it gets.
[INSERT DRAWING]
So, look for any type of terrain that can assist creating a tight spot. Buildings, walls, other terrain, etc. If they can't get through the small opening, it's even more lethal than your typical Holy Ground.
[INSERT SECOND DRAWING OF VARIOUS EXAMPLES]
Tossing out your Sword is a little slow. Still, it's fast enough to get a decent angle to get behind someone and shove them with Holy Ground. Because of this, you may find it advantageous to pre-emptively lay down a Q on the ground. Wait for an enemy to cross it and teleport to it as soon as they do. You'll lock them off and you can score an easy kill. If the enemy team chooses to respect the Sword and not pass, then you've done an equivalent job of having Holy Ground for 5 seconds in that chokepoint.
Another cool strategy is to selectively choose when to "lock the door" on a chokepoint. You may have one enemy Hero cross, sure, but do you want more to pass through? The whole enemy team? Maybe you're waiting for someone extra important? Depending on what you can manage with, and how vulnerable the enemy Heroes are to it, you can divide a team in half. This can be a great idea against
Lt. Morales or
Alexstrasza.
The second most important thing to know is that Holy Ground can guarantee Mercenary Camp captures. Tyrael's "terrain" is unique in the fact that it is team-coded. Enemies can't pass through, but you and Allies can enter without a hitch. Abuse this fact to stand on a contestable Mercenary Camp by aiming directly at the center of a Camp and deploying Holy Ground. Better still, not even unstoppable enemies can pass through your wall!
Although I'm pretty sure Holy Ground is 1:1 to the size of a capture point, there's human error involved when aiming. If you're off a nanometer from the center then someone can
still contest the point with the very edge of their hitbox. So, to counter this problem, overlap your Holy Ground with the camp. Then, slightly favor the side the enemies are approaching from. The Holy Ground will bulge out and prevent them from touching the tip from the direction they're coming from. The opposite end will be somewhat open, but hopefully that's not an issue given the current situation!
Thanks to Holy Ground, feel free to be extra aggressive and decisive when taking camps. Whether it's stealing them from under the enemy's noses, or starting a risky boss. Tyrael can always capture the camp. However, if you can't kill the monster in time, then your team could die in the process. "Mercenary Killing Speed" is hence an important thing to consider.
Did you know that you can deploy... two Holy Grounds? Yes, that's right, with the power of Horadric Reforging, you could easily make two unpassable circles. The key to this strategy is to have your Q on the ground. Basic Attack some so you could refresh the cooldown, and then teleport. Your Q is already off cooldown, so toss out another one. This is especially effective at cutting off larger corridors from enemies trying to escape.
Speaking of Horadric Reforging, that talent can also allow you to keep an area permanently locked down. Deploy Holy Ground and immediately get to work attacking. As soon as you can, toss your sword in the exact same location you did prior. This is even easier with Seal of El'Druin's attack speed, but you don't need that talent for 100% uptime.
Tyrael can "leapfrog" with Horadric Reforging. Lay down your Q, attack a few times to reset the CD, and then teleport twice in quick succession in a direction. You can surprise a lot of Heroes with this sudden mobility.
Think of ways to block an area off from enemies with Holy Ground so that your team can capture an objective uncontested, of any kind, on a map. You are the tank, it's still your job to create space.
A Holy Ground can allow Tyrael to force-capture an objective camp on Alterac Pass by himself, just like an Anub'Arak. I consider this to be his best map.
Shoving someone aside by teleporting with Holy Ground counts as a "displacement" CC, but does
NOT apply "Daze", which is what prevents someone from acting while being shoved. If you recall being shoved by
Falstad's
Mighty Gust, this is why you can't do anything. Holy Ground is incapable of stopping any abilities, attacks, or channeled abilities. It is purely a wall.
Holy Ground can also be used to prevent Chen from barreling through a specific location.
Medivh is very annoying for Tyrael to face. Luckily, Holy Ground is a pretty nice counter. As soon as you see the visual effects of a portal being summoned, consider tossing your sword near it. The "enter" distance of a Portal is pretty far, so enemies can still reach it over a Holy Ground. Because of this, you want to put El'Druin somewhere in the middle. In the path, and overlapping the Portal, but not directly on top. This way they need to walk around the wall somewhat so they can teleport. Furthermore, if your timing is good, you can wait until they try to channel going into the Portal. Teleporting will shove and disrupt them and can buy you half a second of time.
Alternatively, you can deny a clean Portal engage. By centering Holy Ground directly underneath the portal, anyone who goes through the portal will instantly get flung out of the Holy Ground. It's always in the shortest direction to get out of the circle, but often times it is chaotic so it resembles random chance.
Also, because of his portals, you should almost never try locking down Medivh. He's just going to use his portal to get over your Holy Ground if you use it too soon.
Although this is a rare circumstance, you can technically make an Ally immune to melee attackers by letting them sit inside a Holy Ground. Tyrael himself is melee, so he always opens himself up to be attacked when he is attacking. But this is not the case for a ranged Hero! If they play it well, they can literally dance inside the Holy Ground to avoid being attacked by Melee Heroes. I find this to be effective against the shortest range Heroes - Dehaka (1), Muradin (1), Illidan (1.2). Someone like Imperius (2) likely has enough reach to render this strategy invalid.
Lastly, a random Holy Ground can make a wide open space a little tighter. This is advantageous if your team has big AoE abilities.
Your Basic Abilities
Congratulations on getting through my Holy Ground tips! Let's talk about... everything else with Tyrael. But do start dreading my upcoming Sanctification section.
Your Q teleport and W are instant cast abilities. Hold down their buttons when they're on cooldown if you need to use them ASAP, especially when you're in a pickle under some CC.
Teleporting to El'Druin follows
teleport properties. Anything that is homing on to you - whether it is an attack, ability, and especially a missile from a fort - will be disjointed upon teleport. They will fizzle out on your previous location, leaving you unscathed. Time it properly to avoid damage. Note - ultimate abilities are given special exclusion from this rule, for obvious reasons. They will continue to follow you after your teleportation. But on the other side of the coin, a
Zeratul can never escape Judgment.
You may have forgotten about this by now, just like me, but remember that teleporting to El'Druin re-applies the slow in its radius. That's right, if you want additional slowing, you should hold off on teleporting until an enemy steps close to it. Furthermore, since the slow-applying-radius is 3, which is conveniently the same as Holy Ground's 3 radius, you will always apply the slow before shoving them aside with the wall. That slow is actually very important in making it as agonizing as possible for them to get around the circle.
As you're tossing out your sword, it takes about half a second before it can reach its destination. In that brief 0.5 second window, prioritize making your movements unpredictable and avoid skillshots. I like holding down right click and Q so that my movement is smooth and I devote 0 thought to teleporting because it occurs automatically.
You can do some hat tricks utilizing Sword of Justice to continuously jump back and forth when escaping an enemy team. This tactic is much more effective when you utilize the speed boost from Smite, multiple times.
Tyrael is very mana hungry. Frequently tap the fountain just for mana, grab all Regeneration globes, and limit usage of your Righteousness.
Smite is an interesting skillshot. It deploys in a somewhat curved rectangle, in front of you, perpendicularly. It is significantly wider than it is tall. Because of this, you should instead move Tyrael himself sideways to an enemy before Smiting. This turns the rectangle 90°. This is important in ensuring you hit multiple enemy Heroes for Purge Evil[7].
Just like how you aim for Heroes, you want to use this tactic in killing minion waves, too. Move to the side of the Wizard minion and center it on him. The wings should stretch from the Melee minions all the way back to the Ranged ones.
Never forget that you can speed up your allies with Smite. It is one of Tyrael's unique strengths.
I should also point out that Tyrael is an extremely effective orb-walker (moving inbetween attacks). Due to your Q's slowing, and Smite's speed up, and Tyrael's generous 1.25 attack speed, you can always attack an enemy over and over as you're pursuing them. It's very important to make good use of this tactic because Tyrael's basic attacks are very important for the type of build I follow.
It's also very important to
keep Tyrael moving. He's not a heavy weight tank like
Diablo, so he needs to utilize his small frame and high speed to dodge spells to stay alive. He does have a high chance of dying if he gets chunked by an ability or locked down by a chain of CC.
Judging Efficiently
Judgment is a rather straight forward tool compared to Sanctification. It doesn't get any simpler than "Uunga buunga I see enemy I press R." But there are tactics involved with the ability.
As soon as you hit level 10 and plan on taking Judgment, immediately start hunting for your first kill. Judgment has a short cooldown and is built to body an unsuspecting enemy. Your best bet is to gank an enemy with help from your teammates to secure a kill. Bonus points if you start instilling fear into the enemy team whenever you're gone.
Since Judgment is a strong picking tool, you should leverage your fresh kill into more momentum. Seize enemy mercenary camps with bravado, secure objectives easily, and mount sieges. Whatever it is you call to do, your team will follow.
Judgment has a range of 12, which is the same as the vision radius of a Hero. If Tyrael makes eye contact with an enemy, he can Judgment them.
Tyrael doesn't always
need to Judgment to get into a fight. On principal he is very fast and your mount will get you most of the way in to a team. The real power of Judgment lies in the fact that your team can jump in and capitalize on the target you stun with Judgment. So, if your team is not prepared, nearby, or the enemy team is entrenched deep, you may need to break it open a little more before your team is ready to follow through a Judgment.
I should also reiterate the fact that Tyrael is incapable of 100-0 someone. Not when you dive in 1v5 against the enemy team, that is. You NEED your team for the shock and awe. Before you banzai in, quickly look at your team and look how they posture. If they are low on health, mana, or used their abilities recently, they're not going to be as dangerous as you need them to be. They need to be on the same page as you. Type out your intentions. Ping your target. Give a moment for mental preparation. Then you can jump in.
If I see a low health enemy Hero, I sometimes Judgment onto their nearby teammate instead. First, I stun their healthy teammate so they are unable to stop me. Second, I immediately change targets and toss a Q out toward the fleeing enemy to try and execute them. When I'm done with them, then I turn around and start attacking whoever it is I Judged. This is an especially effective strategy when you Judge and disable the
Healer before you execute someone else.
Why do this? Well, if you Judge the low health enemy, of course they will die. But maybe you can score 2 kills by distributing your abilities. Remember, you're rarely alone, and your team should be right behind you. By maximizing the stun duration on the healthy target, your team can probably catch up and kill them by the time you're changing targets.
If a straggler is getting away, but charging in will likely result in your death thereafter, then I have a plan for you. Drop your El'Druin on the ground behind you right before you use Judgment. Then, when you charge and kill your target, you should still have a time window to teleport back to safety. This tactic is especially potent with Law and Order[13] since it can dramatically boost the damage on your Smite.
A Sanctification, As Foretold
The key to the best Sanctification is
prediction, not reaction. It's hard to get in position and channel for the 0.5 seconds, as you'll often be stunned and interrupted in the maelstrom of enemy focus fire. But if you do it beforehand, you nullify any CC to begin with, as well as all follow up damage. The most important signal that predates an enemy team jumping on you is the aggressiveness they display as they posture for position. If they're confident or bold, then they
think they can win a fight. Correct their thinking.
Do not be afraid of using Sanctification for yourself. You can waste ~3 seconds of the enemy team's time by taking some hits and dropping to half health. Then, activate Sanct when enemy CC is expended. You pause all damage and incoming CC for another 3 seconds, while regenerating up a
ton of health via your
talents. Now, you exit Sanctification at ~80% Health. Does the enemy team have enough time to kill you from full health again? Most likely not when your team is nearby.
You should
never use Sanctification when the teams are not committed to a battle or there is no reward for staying in an area. The enemy team will just walk away when they see Sanctification. But they're less likely to walk away when they have to defend a fort, or contest a mercenary capture, or fight for an objective in the area. In this case, your invulnerable presence can cause many enemies to panic when they don't know what to do. Do they run, and give up ground and lose an objective? Or do they maintain position, but must suffer a Tyrael right up their faces? Win-win situation for you.
Getting ontop of a Mercenary Camp and immediately putting down Sanctification is an awesome idea. You tend to attract a LOT of damage and CC. This also denies enemy Heroes that have knock back effects from shoving you off the point. I have won many Tyrael games by gathering my team and stealing the enemy's boss camp.
To get a big-team Sanctification where everybody is on the same page and is in it, look for opportunities that may bring Heroes together. Funnily enough, people just dodge a team Sanctification, but are totally happy in standing their ground or huddling up when they have good reason to. So use that "something else" as a carrot on a stick to lure them closer to you so you can do a big Sanctify. Such examples include:
- When you're battling over a Mercenary Camp, everyone and their mother will give their life to contest the point. So everyone just piles in. Awesome opportunity to use Sanctification! Especially with boss camps.
- When pushing down the enemy core, you can convince your team to right click the thing and ignore all else. This is a common way to Sanctify all 5 of your team members, and extract value from
Holy Arena[20].
- When Entombed, or being Moshed, or Graviton Surged, your team is likely forced in place as a unit. Amazing if you can save them via Sanctification.
- Most objectives on all maps will cause people to take big risks and fight tooth and nail. This is a healthy habit, and you can reward them with a strong Sanctification.
- Tight corridors can force your teammates to clump very closely together. Good opportunity to Sanct.
- Alexstrasza healing circles will attract team members like moths to a flame. Perfect place to Sanctify.
Keep El'Druin off cooldown if you haven't seen an enemy lockdown ultimate. You need to be ready to answer an enemy Entomb, Gorge, Graviton Bomb, Mosh Pit, Octograb, Engulfing Jaws, etc. etc. If you get caught in the crossfire, then you too will be CC'd and unable to Sanctify. Stay separate from your team or in the frontlines. Sanctification denials are significantly easier with Sword of Justice, as you have substantial freedom in leaving behind your sword in key locations on a battle, as opposed to Holy Grounds in offensive chokepoints. When your team needs you, you just teleport instantly and not have to be delayed for half a second when tossing your Q out. Plus you can double teleport right back to where you were so you don't "sacrifice" a choice.
Invulnerability cures you of CC, poisons, and many enemy marks that would be hidden to you. For example,
Zeratul's
Vorpal Blade mark is removed, so it is impossible for him to return to you with that specific ability.
Muradin's
Thunderclap Attack Speed reduction pierces through Unstoppable, but is cured on Invulnerability. There are countless examples. Every so often, touch the Sanctification for a split second for a
hard cleanse of all effects (and especially poisons), seen or unseen.
Another strong point about Invulnerability, or cleanses for that matter, is to use it when assisting a hard-engage. By activating it early, you ensure your damage dealers are
unstoppable when using their damage or combos, and are obviously damage immune. None of their abilities get mini-stunned and stopped short. No ultimates are put on 10 second cooldowns because of stray CC. Making your ally flow as smoothly as possible can greatly increase their ferocity, confidence, and literal success rate. At the end of the day - your Sanctification is meant to win a teamfight. If this is how it helps, all the better.
Being a tank is hard work. If you mess it up, your team will die right behind you. Whereas
Garrosh has a simple formula of "Find bystander. Toss bystander. Stun bystander," which results in a kill 90% of the time. The Garrosh player largely sticks to the same formula the whole match through, but someone like Tyrael will evolve dramatically based on talents and levels. You may feel lost and powerless compared to other tanks. Fear not, I have a plan for you.
The Commandments
First of all, let's talk about the responsibilities of the tank role in general. The things they do well versus what they can't do. I am no tank expert, I'm much more comfortable as a damage dealer, so take what you will from this advice.
1. Gain vision, find enemies, and figure out the enemy's plan.
Tanks are the most durable type of Heroes. They have the health to survive a confrontation, and the mobility to get out of a sticky situation. Since most tanks don't have adequate damage, they need to spend a lot of time killing stuff. Hence, an even better reason for you to spend your time conducting reconnaissance. When you double check the rotation path in between lanes and the enemy Mercenary camps, you can quickly rule out what the enemy team is currently trying to do. All teams want to be spending their time as productively as possible, so get in their heads and think, "What would I be doing right now if I were them? Is it possible to be audacious? Or do they have to play safe?" Do this correctly, and you can counter any plan the enemy tries to pull.
2. Lead the charge into territory and initiate fights.
When checking for bushes, use abilities. Then, the tank's physical body must be the first to enter it. Although the Tank's life is very important in acquiring an objective, you cannot permit another squishier ally to risk their lives. They are important. They'll die super quick, or be unable to escape a situation. You have much higher chances at surviving first contact than they do, so let them stand behind you as you safely reveal vision and take punishment on the chin. Do this correctly, and your team won't be picked off all silly willy.
3. Secure ground and punish trespassers.
When you get to an important point in an area, which is vital to reaching the objective (or any other thing that's going on), you need to stand and secure it. An enemy team cannot advance past your body because you will threaten the use of CC. Remember - you got to the bush/area first. They don't know who is near you yet. There probably is a teammate nearby. They wouldn't dare risk body checking you because a Judgment/Holy Ground/Slow might be all it takes to kill them. You only ever give up the ground when the enemy tank comes to challenge you. Also, if they are mounted, you should dismount them to slow them down. Do this correctly, and you can force a team to abandon an objective, or allow your team to set up advantageous positions.
4. Create space, protect, and enable your team to do their jobs.
Similar to point 3, you need to give off a threatening aura. If you are not in the area, then the enemy will get into the area. And then you need to fight them over it at a losing position. Secure it first and give off menacing energy so that they don't try forcing you off. By doing this, your team won't worry about being face-to-face with the enemy tank. They can stay at their safe range to do their thing. You should also be thinking about the capabilities of your team's heroes and work along those lines. Do this correctly, and your team has the power to support you in an engagement trouble-free.
5. Achieve a positional advantage on the map by finding picks and disrupting rotations.
Since a team cannot advance into unknown territory without a tank, they are then dependent on you. Use this power and take responsibility in telling the team what to do. Use pings. Take mercenary camps ahead of time. A coordinated team moves the fastest and smoothest, which gives you a timing advantage. A timing advantage gives you free time, so that you can gank an opponent and kill them. Or you spend that free time by getting in the way of common rotation paths and dismounting them. You are slowing them down and "taking away" their time. Do this correctly, and the enemy team will always be a step behind when taking an objective, which leads to an XP advantage in your favor.
6. A tank should stay mounted.
All Heroes have the same movement speed. But someone on their mount is dramatically faster than someone who is not, obviously. Here's the thing though - most tanks have CC but they need to get close to apply it. Stay mounted for as long as a time as you charge into an enemy, and then make up the rest of the distance with abilities if you need to. The speed is free, so use it! Not only that, but it's much easier to dodge skillshots when you're 30% faster than normal.
What a tank should NOT be doing is:
1. Occupying the solo lane for a prolonged period of time.
Bruisers, ranged assassins that can flex lanes, and
Blaze have the best wave clear and sustain. They can hold their own against most opponents well. More importantly, there is usually only one tank on a team and that tank should be with the rest of the team to be in the frontline and do their job. The rest of your team desperately needs the CC and control of a tank and will struggle when fighting one without theirs. You cannot spend your time on the other side of the map - let someone else deal with it until early game is over.
2. Spending time clearing waves when there is no downtime.
Is there literally nothing to do on the map? Sure, go ahead, get some XP for the team by killing a wave. But for 90% of the match, there is something more important for you to do. Most tanks, especially Tyrael, have pathetic damage and take a long time to kill minions. If you dismount and stay to clear waves, you are signaling to the enemy team that you are about to waste 10 seconds of your time + another 10 seconds in rotating to a different lane. They can force a fight, steal a merc camp, or do other nasty things. What you rather be doing is
catching dropped experience when a wave crashes into a Fort's gate. It's easy XP - you spend 0 effort killing stuff and you got most of the XP. Yes, XP is important, but that is not your job to harvest it. Ask for someone else to help with it.
3. Revealing themselves for no good gain.
Following the rules of a tank, you need to scout for vision, deny rotations, and secure ground. If you reveal yourself - then the "paranoia" an enemy team might have over your whereabouts is lifted. They can also choose to avoid your general area and go elsewhere to do more productive things. Also, if they know for fact where your team is, they can easily run over you because they are not scared of a retaliation when trying to seize your secured ground away from you. Avoid walking near enemy walls, minions, or doing damage to an entity that belongs to the enemy team. The more they are scared of you, the less likely they are to enter unknown areas to begin with. In their minds, it's as if you're in every single bush, projecting fear into their hearts.
4. Diving in by themselves, assuming the team will always follow.
Yes, the tank is tough. Yes, the tank can reach and stun and root and threaten the enemy backline. But does that mean you kill them? No, you need your other teammates to deal damage and execute who it is you lockdown. If you do not pay attention to what your team is doing, or where they are, you can get yourself killed by diving into the enemy team alone. And just because your team is obligated to follow you around, doesn't mean that they are always able to. Maybe they're out of mana. Maybe they spotted an invisible Zeratul. Million reasons. But your team needs to be ready before you can engage the enemy.
5. Hiding in the middle of the team.
The tank is the most durable member on a team. You should be in front of a team to absorb damage and force the enemy to deal with you, rather than someone more important. If the enemy sees a squishy, easy to kill hero on the periphery, then they can probably quickly annihilate him without retaliation. The enemy is aware that a tank is incapable of projecting their CC and body if you are far away. And they'll exploit that. Do not be craven. Be in front of the team. You are the most likely to survive when you run face first into a problem. But your teammates cannot say the same.
6. Using up abilities on Mercenaries and monsters.
This rule is not set in stone, since countless exceptions exist. But, the spirit of the message is, if you are clearing a mercenary camp with your team, you should not use your important abilities. They deal minimal damage. The mercs don't care about being CC'd, either. Save your CC for just in case that the enemy team comes to invade. Then, you have everything ready. Your damage dealers are the ones that kill the camp, you're just there for moral support or tanking. Even better - post yourself far from the camp to stand guard and ward off a potential invade. Your team gets advanced forewarning and you can dismount enemies and apply CC as needed to buy time.
Tyrael's Place
As you can see, despite the fact that Tyrael has minimal CC, all of the fundamental rules of a tank still apply to him. You have your Q to teleport out, E for speed, and W for shielding and a strong body. This is an excellent skillset for scouting and moving into risky territory. Your waveclear, although not the worst, costs a lot of mana and time. Your self sustain is also mediocre, but your damage is usually horrendous when compared to a bruiser. Hence, you're a poor fit for the solo lane and you have very good reasons to do all of the above.
Since Tyrael is a very survivable tank, feel free to walk into enemy territory to check out if they're doing a Merc camp. If they're not, great. You just narrowed down the possibilities the enemy might be. If you do find them doing a camp, start posturing around them. Your mere presence might scare them off from doing it. Look at your mini-map constantly. If you see missing enemies, they could be coming to you. If you see all Heroes in lanes or whatnot, then you know that this is what you're dealing with. Finally, evaluate if you
should engage and harass them. Tyrael does good damage, can tank a lot of damage, and escape if need be. So you can easily overpower certain Heroes.
If you have Holy Ground, you should 100% hover near them. Wait until the merc camp gets low on health. Toss the sword in the middle of the camp and wait the mercs to die. Or if they wisely choose to stop killing the camp, you can choose to teleport in and execute it yourself if it's down to 1% health. Then, capture it confidently.
Now, unfortunately, Tyrael carries no damage and no CC. I can sweet talk to you all day long but most people are just not afraid of Tyrael and will walk right past him. You can't secure ground and defend it from being challenged. But, these two talents are key. Purge Evil[7] with Divine Vigor[4]. Being able to hit enemies for ~180 damage and restoring about 140 health back gives you a huge edge when dueling an opponent. Most people realize that, "Hey, wait a minute, this is not going anywhere and I'm slowly dying. Let me get out of here." You force enemies away from your area - not through the threat of locking them down and bursting them 100-0, but through being an unshakeable menace that can severely wound them.
That's the bonus power of these talents.
When I figured out that fact, I have also discovered an unconventional way of "zoning" away enemies in a battle. Tyrael does not have CC. He imposes his own form of CC by
distraction. If Tyrael has immense durability, speed, and damage - what is stopping you from diving in to the enemy and just whacking on the squishy healers and ranged assassin? When you attract attention, you can score a massive Purge Evil[7] buff, which then can seriously threaten the life of a squishy hero. The enemy team cannot ignore you. And the squishy Heroes can't hope to beat you solo - so they send two people to deal with you, at the minimum. So, let's analyze the situation here.
- You are preventing the enemy damage dealer, and likely healer, from approaching the front line. You are occupying the time of two enemy Heroes for just one of yours. Your backline is now at a 4v3 advantage.
- The enemy tank is disconnected and must either engage your team at a 3v4 disadvantage (with likely no backup damage), or must cede all the ground he took to answer Tyrael. You can choose to teleport back to safety and re-claim what ground he left behind.
- If in a stalemate, Tyrael has the endurance to stay in the fight and enough damage to kill a hero. The enemy tank does not, and he's on a timer before he implodes from a lack of healing and under a 3v4 disadvantage.
The "distraction" strategy is incredible when fighting a mage, since they're dependent on skillshots and a target standing still, and are best when they deploy their immense AoE against a team and not a single hero. Tyrael is fast, has a tiny hitbox, and tends to be on his own. On the flipside, Tyrael's distraction is somewhat tricky against most right clickers. They can return the damage right back to you with minimal ability usage. Furthermore, if they challenge you in a 1v1 and it becomes a 4v4 fight, your team is at the disadvantage now. A tank + three any-other-role is better than No tank + 4 of anything else. So it doesn't work against every composition.
Another thing to note - you best hope your own team is capable of fighting and defending themselves without a tank. Maybe you have a tough bruiser with CC like
Imperius and
Rexxar that can adequately take care of your team. Maybe your heroes are excellent duelists and have reliable abilities. That's why I recommend those Heroes for Tyrael. But there are Hero compositions that would rather take their chances at a 5v5 than a 4v3. Play appropriately.
This is why Level 13 is such an important powerspike for Tyrael. All of his options allow him to adequately support his team. Holy Ground can force the enemy team to separate, or to deny an enemy's advance. Plus your team can kill a walled off enemy. Sword of Justice gives you freedom to bother the enemy backline, and gives you the option to return to your team immediately when it gets hairy. Law and Order gives you a numbers advantage in terms of shielding + damage so that in the 5v5s Tyrael doesn't feel so insecure when comparing up to the enemy tank's CC.
Stages of the game
Tyrael has a terrible early game. You want to get out of it as smoothly as possible. Support your team in the 4 man and get all the XP that you can. Tyrael can still act as a tough front liner that will attract fire and provide speed ups and slowing. He's pretty decent at making sure the team doesn't die. Skirmish some, but don't act too bold because you need level 7 before you can make any plays of your own. If both teams have 0 deaths, consider the early game a success in your favor. But do know that Tyrael really can take a level advantage and run away with it since he is so numbers-based.
Once you hit 7 and 10, you have sufficient power to kill the enemies. Whether through Purge Evil[7] or Judgment. Now, you can do some fancy hat tricks with the distraction strategy, but you should remember that it is
unlikely you score a kill solo. That only happens when the enemy commits a mistake, which is unreliable and their decision making is largely out of your control. You can narrow down their valid options, and if they step out of line you can punish them, but they still have free will. You are still a tank, and you still need the firepower from your team to reliably take down opponents. Concentrate your damage on a single target; ping them; slow them; Judgment them.
If you took Sanctification instead, I would recommend defaulting your stance as frontline for your team. You need to take the attention of the enemy tank away from your team and onto you. Then, you can browbeat them into submission from your superior damage + healing. Sanct up if you or your team found themselves in a tight place.
As for Judgment, remember that the ability
requires support from your team. If you dive too deep, your team can't follow, and you will find yourself stranded. And when you don't have support, your target will likely walk away alive. Always look around you before you go charging in to see if your team is ready to follow. This is why I love Judging enemy assassins that are threatening my team's backline. Your team is
already in position, close to the enemy. Locking him down with a stun is guaranteed death.
Level 13 is the next big power spike so when you achieve it, become much bolder. Now you have an incentive to find tight spaces so that you can lure enemies in and lock off their escape route via a well placed Holy Ground. You should also consider embarking with your team to steal enemy camps, since Tyrael can lock off the passageways around the camp and can also guarantee the camp capture as well. You should leverage your level 13 advantage as much as possible so that you can reach level 16 first.
Come level 16, you don't become much stronger. But your team will, and that's good enough. Many teams will concede objectives or bosses when you're on them because the talent tier difference is just that strong. Once teams stabilize, keep looking for Holy Ground opportunities and abuse Horadric Reforging to lay down more grounds.
Level 20 is literally the same story as level 16. However, the tension in the match will rise dramatically. The game is now all about vision and map control due to the 65s death timers. It's a chess board. You must figure out where the enemy is and see what you can get away with when they're absent. Here are likely scenarios:
- How likely are they to be doing a faraway merc camp?
- What about the boss?
- Where were they last seen?
- Do they have reason to come find and engage on us first?
- Is our team stronger in wide open areas, or in tight spaces of the jungle?
- What about securing a bush the enemy might cross by?
- Has any enemy shown themselves to clear a minion wave?
- Are they allowing a big wave to hit their keep, and if so, what is so important that they aren't dealing with it?
- Do we need to deal with any minion waves? Are they big enough to threaten taking out our keep or deal core damage?
- Are any ultimates on cooldown?
- Where/when is the next objective going to take place? Do we need to prepare?
There are many more questions, but these are the ones I think in my head to get a good idea on what the enemy is planning. Knowing
approximately where the enemy is a million times better than having 0 idea.
Malthael.
Auriel.
Inarius.
Tyrael, and only he had the strength, vision, and will to believe that it'll all work out in the end. That is why he's the star of this guide.
Movement Speed for 
Additional Notes on Archangel's Wrath
Slowing them by 
Minions,
Mercenaries and Summons for 
Stunning them for 
knocked away and take 
This tier is all about protection and how it is distributed. Do you go for a stronger, brief shield? More shields for your team? Or longevity in the middle of a battle?
heal Tyrael for 
Level four carries much of the same philosophy as level 1 - only this time, you get one option for bolstering your potential CC.
duration by 
heal for 
Like many Heroes, level 7 marks an important crossroads for a Hero to specialize. Tyrael has the option in embracing his utility, providing substantial fire support for his team. Or he can choose a substantial mark up in damage, putting him in the drivers seat.
Tyrael gains access to some of the best Heroics in the game. Both are equally viable, and are dependent only on what you plan on doing in the match.
An excellent plethora of choices between three pillars: Do you want the CC and disruption of Holy Ground? The mobility and flexibility of Sword of Justice? Or the sheer brawn and power of Law and Order?
swaps places with Tyrael, and El'druin's Might can be reactivated to teleport an additional time.
Unfortunately, Tyrael doesn't transform into a monster when he reaches Level 16. Still, the talents on this tier are highly synergistic, and can push your limits even higher than they were.
It is a shame that Tyrael gains no access to unique talents at 20. They're all straight forward number boosts, one way or another. They do not come unwelcomed, though.
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