The ABSOLUTE Tank by GrandPaladin

The ABSOLUTE Tank

By: GrandPaladin
Last Updated: Jul 24, 2015
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Muradin

Build: The ABSOLUTE Teamfight Tank

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20

About Me: Top




I'm GrandPaladin and have joined HOTS in the late beta. Although this isn't my first MOBA, it is the first that I've truly dedicated time to learning and playing. As soon as I picked this game up, I looked at Muradin (he was free that week) and knew that this was the Dwarf for me. He's my first and favorite hero! I've gone through many roughs looking into this guy, trying to make "The perfect build" which I found was impossible, since each match had different standards. I've played 150+ games with this guy and have gone from loving him, to hating him since I couldn't pick his talent tree right, to loving him, to hating him, to finding something amazing about him again, etc.


In short, Dwarves are awesome and this one's my favorite! Also this is my first guide, so it probabbly is pretty messy (Sorry in advance for that :3 ) This build is meant for you to be THAT TANK in a 5v5 teamfight that turns the battle without having to sacrifice your entire Early Game to do so! Don't forget to Give this Build a +1 vote if you like it since it's my first one :D

{UPDATE/EDIT}wanna note really fast before you read, that Muradin works best with another damage dealing dealing melee warrior. Not having another melee warrior on your team can really hurt Muradin's overall performance in game. Muradin cannot be a tank by himself, he has lots of health, but cannot deal much damage compared to other melee heroes.

Talent Breakdown Top

Down below I'll go through each talent selection and only cover the key talents along with a few extra variants that may apply. So without any further adu' (that's not how you spell "adu" is it :/ ) LETS GET STARTED!

LEVEL 1 Top



Infused Hammer is an amazing talent to start out with. By picking this talent you won't need to worry about how much mana you have. In combination with Piercing Bolt, hitting 2 targets will refund 90 mana at the cost for a 60mana ability. This insures you have positive mana and that you won't have to hearthstone for it.

Picking any other talent will cause you to use your abilities sparingly because you will run out of mana very quickly. Reverberation recently had my eye for a while, since as a tank in a teamfight having a talent that basically activates Imposing Presence for 3s could be a reasonable choice; however, the usefulness of Muradin becomes unsatisfactory during the Early game, and you may not even get to the end game if you don't have a solid Early Game!

LEVEL 4 Top



In the Early Game, Muradin is best used by switching lanes to support teammates who are having trouble controlling their lane against the enemy heroes. One of the worst ways Muradin is used in the Early Game is by simply smacking minions and trying to gather XP. Muradin's skills are CROWD CONTROLING, which are mean't for heroes!


Now, back on topic. While switching lanes, Third Wind heals you in a matter of seconds so you can go from bottom to top lane with near-full health from Third Wind, and a good amount of mana from Infused Hammer


Infused Hammer and Third Wind are you bread and butter for the Early/Mid game. These take care of all your mana and health problems. By making a tactical retreat with your teammates covering you, in a matter of seconds you can hop right on into the fight and show em' why they call you MountainKing!


(NOTE: Sledgehammer is kinda popular so it seems, but what good are Muradin's abilities (which are CROWDCONTROL abilities which focus on stuning heroes) for trying to take down structures? I promise you even if you try Perfect Storm and Sledgehammer you won't rack up as much siege damage as your hoping for, you might as well play Sylvanas for that.)

LEVEL 7 Top



Piercing Bolt has amazing synergy with Infused Hammer practically solving all mana shortage problems. You can now hit multiple hereos, structures (the 2 cannon towers and wall), and mercs. An extremely powerful talent. The reason Piercing Bolt is a better choice than Battle Momentum is because of the following:

- Piercing Bolt can stun 2 heroes at once, which is very valuable in teamfights.
- In most cases, minions will be surrounding the area of the teamfight which would cause a normal Stormbolt to hit only the minion, and not the pesky hero hiding behind it!
- Battle Momentum may offer more ability usage (even cooldown for Avatar), but the extra mana from Piercing Bolt seals the deal.

However, Battle Momentum has its positives as well. It's truly a matter of opinion between PiercingBolt vs Battle Momentum. Although after months of testing I favor PiercingBolt over Battle Momentum.

In favor of Battle Momentum:

- BattleMomentum lowers the cooldowns of all your basic abilities, your heroic ability (I am pretty sure Battle Momentum does not affect Stoneform or HardenedShield

- If you normally cannot land 2 targets with PiercingBolt, Battle Momentum allows you to throw out more attacks and stuns. This shows its usefulness when in Avatar mode.

LEVEL 10 Top



Since we are going for a tank build. Avatar is the obvious choice. The extra health bonus makes you very durable along with the stuns every single basic attack (Essentailly this is Skullcracker but on every single basic attack.) Make sure to use Avatar when you have your team behind you! NO HERO can win in straight up 3 or 4v1's and shouldn't have to. Heroes of the Storm is a teamplaying game like most MOBAs.

In other build Haymaker proves superior to Avatar depending on what build you're going for.

(NOTE: While Haymaker is a boatfull of fun to use, let's stick on track and pick Avatar for this build.)



LEVEL 13 Top




Burning Rage is a passive talent that is effective whenever you are near enemy minions, structures, and heroes. In teamfights, your melee attacks can't hit every single hero, so dishing out damage via Burning Rage is acceptable. Burning Rage also helps against clearing minion waves with 1 good Thunderclap. Merc Camps are also a lot easier to take this way as well.

The reason I chose Burning Rage and not Thunderstrike is because Thunderstrike is NOT mean't for this build. You are going to be surrounded by multiple enemies, whether you want it or not, while fighting, rendering your Thunderstrike ineffective. Even 1 minion can screw up Thunderstrike, while Burning Rage is a persistant DoT (DamageOverTime) effect.


(NOTE: Healing Static is not worth it whatsoever.... you do not gain enough HP for this to be worth it. Also Spell Shield may be useful, but honestly Thunderstrike and Burning Rage I feel are far superior.)



LEVEL 16 Top




If you look at Stoneform, you will realize that this negates Third Wind while it is active. Why choose it then? simple, THIND WIND CAN'T BE ACTIVATED WHILE YOU ARE IN COMBAT WHILE STONEFORM CAN BE. When you activate Avatar, you have increased HP and become an insta-tank. Now when you are losing HP, you can activate Stoneform and you will regenerate 50% of your NEW max health. These two talents have great synergy! A thing to note though, when you use Stoneform in the middle of a teamfight is VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT! Using Stoneform when you are at 40% HP will cause you to have to retreat in order to actually recover Solid HP. The best time to use it is when you are around 60% your HP. this will ensure you have enough time to regenerate your health back!


( Third Wind is a major help for Muradin in the Early Game, and allows Muradin to recover from battles ASAP! So don't think so badly of it with Stoneform.)

Now lets look at some other choices:

Dwarf Launch is not really for this build, and is more for Haymaker builds, since these 2 talents have amazing synergy. Helps for situational running away.

Give em' the Axe! is something I really wanted to use;however, Stoneform is much more useful in the midst of a teamfight, since you are Absorbing more damage as a tank, not trying to deal small extra damage. Since Muradin does not do much damage in general.

Heavy Impact is meh in my opinion, better for other builds similar to Dwarf Launch However I have seen others use this as an initiator by stunning the target, following with a Stormbolt.

Imposing Presence : Try to avoid picking this and Reverberation since they do the exact same thing. Although this is sort of useful for our tank build, this doesn't cover enemy heroes' abilities that will be used on us, so Stoneform is the better option. Most enemy heroes will use their abilities to overthrow you with tons of damage, Stoneform is your quick option to get back in the fight fast enough to support your team.




LEVEL 20 Top



You are probably wondering... Now why would you choose Hardened Shield over Unstoppable Force? Simply because of Stoneform.


Imagine you are in a 5v5 as Muradin in the Avatar ability and your HP drops to 50% as the enenmy team focuses you down. Your first though would be to activate Stoneform;however, they focus you so much that you must retreat! and your team is without a strong tank and must retreat as well, losing you the battle as friendly heroes die along the way back.
Now imagine right after you use Stoneform.... you pop up a Hardened Shield since the enemy heroes are targeting you because you have low SOLID HP.

- Hardened Shield will reduce the damage from your enemies (since they are targeting you because you have low Solid HP)

-If you do not have Avatar, and are on the run from 3 or 4 enemy heroes, throwing up a Hardened Shield to help your escape.

- Stoneform will be able to recover 25% of your max HP in the 4s of Hardened Shield and the other 25% after it wears off.


(then after you reach 50% max HP) -> (Immediately follows) ->


Conclusion! Top

This is the ABSOLUTE Talent Combo for Muradin being the TANK in a teamfight. Avatar + Stoneform + Hardened Shield, while Burning Rage dishes out decent damage to enemies. Third Wind makes sure you have full HP coming into battle, and Infused Hammer and Piercing Bolt make sure you have enough mana coming into battle.


Notice how EVERY SINGLE TALENT affects this moment where you are in a 5v5, teambattle, where the winner will take the next objective and probably win you the game.

Also notice how the first few talents make sure that your Early Game is solid and doesn't fall behind!




To formally conclude... GET OUT THERE, WIN THAT DECIDING BATTLE FOR YOUR TEAM, AND SHOW THE HOTS WORLD WHO'S THE BEST DAMN DWARF WHO EVER FREAKING LIVED!!! LONG LIVE COSMODAN!!! #DWARF4LIFE

Muradin works well with another damage dealing melee warrior who dishes out damage while you tank the damage and hits, but in this build won't nesesarily need a healer (especially with Third Wind, Stoneform)
Anyways, thanks for reading this 1st build of mine, and don't forget to like it so others can see its value :D

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