Ladies and Gentlemen,

My name is FourCourtJester, and I'm one of the site admins and developers here at HeroesFire. I've been in the Technical Alpha since launch, and by far my favorite Hero to play is Falstad Wildhammer. I've max'd out his quests, unlocked all the skins, and now queueing with the Master Skin.

Falstad has really changed since Technical Alpha, and these days he's all about maximizing team potential over his personal damage numbers. Mighty Gust has really shown itself to be a fantastic tool; use it to initiate a fight, disengage from the opponents, or secure objectives.

The spell casting days of Falstad in higher level games is virtually over, preferring to maximize out damage potential with auto attacks. The binary nature of Hinterland Blast has really put the more favorable Mighty Gust as a clear favorite, and talents like Secret Weapon and Hammer Time have really soared in popularity since the scaling changes.

I hope this guide will help you determine how you like to play Falstad in your games, and help you reach the goals you set forth in learning this Hero.

**This guide is up to date as of the February 10, 2015 patch, aka the Lost Vikings patch.**
**This guide is up to date as of the December 2, 2014 patch, aka the Jaina Proudmoore patch.**
**This guide is up to date as of the September 10, 2014 patch, aka the Chen Stormstout patch.**
**This guide is up to date as of the October 7, 2014 patch, aka the Anub'arak/Azmodan patch.**
**This guide is up to date as of the December 15, 2016 patch, aka the Lunara patch.**

(Trait) Tailwind / (Z) Flight The passive of Falstad, Tailwind kicks in after a few seconds of not taking damage for a movement speed bonus. This bonus works in combat, so make use of it to chase down fleeing targets! The mount of Falstad, Flight, allows you to pick a spot on the map within a fairly large range to fly there, ignoring all terrain on your way. This makes Falstad a great mobility Assassin, and a large part of split pushing.

(Q) Hammerang Bread and butter Nuke. A linear skill shot that damages and slows every target in its path, on the outgoing swing and the returning. Great for lining up multi target bursts, or lines of creep waves. This skill has become the keystone of many builds for Falstad, allowing great combat bonuses.

(R1) Hinterland Blast A short channeling ability that delivers a long linear nuke for some hefty damage. Great for picking off low hit point enemies on the run, or for hitting multiple targets from afar. Has fallen out of favor lately due to it's slim targetting and a high risk of completely missing any target.

(W) Lightning Rod Using mobility to stick to targets, Falstad can deal some significant damage over time with Lightning Rod. You can use it to pressure out a healer, focus down a warrior or even keep someone from slipping back into stealth.

(R2) Mighty Gust A breath of fresh air! A giant gust of wind is casted in a linear skill shot that pushes back any opponents caught in it. While it does not do damage, it does afford a lot of zone control, and opponents that channel will be interrupted. Can be upgraded at level 20 for additional gusts.

(E) Barrel Roll The built-in escape mechanism for Falstad with a decent cooldown. Best used to go over obstacles or enemy team members as it will ignore collision. It can be interrupted during it's wind-up and execution, so you must use it wisely!

Falstad has evolved since Technical Alpha, and is currently favored for his strong disengage and mobility. Split soaking with Flight has also evolved to now using the Mount as a positioning tool as well for increased aggression. Using Gust after flying behind the opponents can be a great way to throw the opponents into disarray. Falstad can still serve as a mage-killer as well, with the right situation, but the poke and disengage strengths is what still brings Falstad to the table.

Things you can do well as Falstad:

• Coordinate your strengths - call out targets with your team so you can burst down an enemy. Mighty Gust can single out opponents and deprive them of support, and the slows available with Hammerang can cut down escaping enemies.
  
  
• Use the terrain - Barrel Roll will allow you to dash over walls and trees. If you're being chased aggressively, use the roll to juke through barriers that your pursuers could have trouble overcoming.
  
  
• Split push - Because of Flight, Falstad can push a lane and still contribute to a team fight halfway across the map. Smart use of Flight can really help put pressure on enemy lanes without any counter.

Things you probably want to avoid as Falstad:

• Don't be on the front lines - use beefier Warrior types to initiate, while you use range to deal the damage from a safe distance. Always try to keep a healthy distance between you and your target so as to avoid any collateral damage.
  
  
• Don't over commit to a kill - breaking rank and diving head first using Barrel Roll can turn around on you quite quickly due to a smaller health pool, and the fact that you've now used your only escape mechanism.
  
  
• Exploring unawares - because Falstad can be easily bursted down when ambushed, and no mount, poking your nose into the wrong part of the Jungle at the wrong time can be easily turned into a death.

More often than not, the auto attack oriented build for Falstad serves well in majority of match-ups, making Falstad a viable assassin with insane utility using Mighty Gust.

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Seasoned Marksman - Increasing your auto attack damage every 6 minion kills, with Hero kills counting as 3 minion kills, this is the level 1 choice in the current meta. Stacking this damage with Secret Weapon and Giant Killer later on can be very deadly for unsuspecting players.

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Power Throw - Increasing the range and slow amount of Hammerang means Falstad gains some significant poke potential for maps that require capture, such as Cursed Hollow or Dragonshire. Also increases the flight time of the hammer, allowing Secret Weapon to be used for more auto attacks per throw.

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Secret Weapon - Because Flow Rider allows so many more Hammerang casts, having increased damage per auto attack while the hammer is in flight is a very powerful burst tool for Falstad.

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Mighty Gust - My how far this Heroic Ability has come! A popular tool for controlling the positioning of your opponents, you can use it for several scenarios - secure an objective by pushing back opponents; defensive disengage to save teammates; or even come around behind opponents to Gust them into a more favorable position. It's a low cooldown too - almost guaranteed up every engage.

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Giant Killer - The damage talent of choice, and with the scaling changes increasing the average health pool of many Heroes, you can't blame players relying upon the percentage damage Giant Killer affords. Synergizes very nicely with Seasoned Marksman and Secret Weapon.

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Hammer Time - A defensive talent that can be immensely useful as it provides the only hard stun for Falstad in his kit. Attack an opponent after hitting them with Hammerang in order to stun them for a short duration.

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Nexus Frenzy - The cherry on top of the auto attacks, increasing both range and attack speed by default. This allows many more auto attacks from safer positions, and synergizes EXTREMELY well with the talent selection of this build. Attacking beefier Warriors at level 20 for 500+ with decent Seasoned Marksman stacks, Secret Weapon and Giant Killer.

With the introduction of Flow Rider, you can use the increased cooldown reduction to become a mana chugging spellslinger and a very mobile Assassin, dancing around team fights and avoiding damage, while also being able to chase down fleeing opponents very easily.

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Seasoned Marksman - Increasing your auto attack damage every 6 minion kills, with Hero kills counting as 3 minion kills, this is the level 1 choice in the current meta. Stacking this damage with Secret Weapon and Giant Killer later on can be very deadly for unsuspecting players.

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Flow Rider - As long as Falstad isn't damaged, reducing all cooldowns by half is a very powerful tool. Your Basic Abilities can be spammed out every few seconds, making great use of Hammerang and Barrel Roll will keep you stoked on both offense and defense.

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Secret Weapon - Because Flow Rider allows so many more Hammerang casts, having increased damage per auto attack while the hammer is in flight is a very powerful burst tool for Falstad.

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Mighty Gust - My how far this Heroic Ability has come! A popular tool for controlling the positioning of your opponents, you can use it for several scenarios - secure an objective by pushing back opponents; defensive disengage to save teammates; or even come around behind opponents to Gust them into a more favorable position. It's a low cooldown too - almost guaranteed up every engage.

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Giant Killer - The damage talent of choice, and with the scaling changes increasing the average health pool of many Heroes, you can't blame players relying upon the percentage damage Giant Killer affords. Synergizes very nicely with Seasoned Marksman and Secret Weapon.

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Aerie Gusts - The second keystone of this build, reducing the amount of time Tailwind needs in order to activate and increasing your base movement speed while it's active to 30%. This almost puts Falstad into a normal Hero's mount movement speed, with the difference of Tailwind working in combat as long as he evades damage.

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Epic Mount - This talent greatly increases the usefulness of your mount. It decreases the cooldown, cast time, and increases the speed at which you fly. On bigger maps, this talent is invaluable to applying map pressure where your opponents can't react in a timely manner.

If you run into a matchup that you're just getting decimated in, or the opponents have insane burst, there is a defensive build you can run. While you run diminshed offensive capabilities, your core utility is intact by keeping Mighty Gust. Recommended if you run into a Quick Match without any Support on your team.

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Updraft - Not a talent seen very often, but increasing the range on Barrel Roll can save your life in many rush down scenarios. Heroes such as Sonya or Tyrael can gap close and stick to Falstad very well, but sometimes you can get just out of reach with the extra range.

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Charged Up - Increasing the amount of Lightning Rod procs will provide extra shielding later on at level 13 with Static Shield. This can go a long way to keeping yourself healthy in some prolonged team fights.

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First Aid - Restore health? Pretty good for keeping you alive! Be sure to use this early in the fight if you start taking damage. If you pop it too late, the healing may not be able to kick in in time.

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Mighty Gust - My how far this Heroic Ability has come! A popular tool for controlling the positioning of your opponents, you can use it for several scenarios - secure an objective by pushing back opponents; defensive disengage to save teammates; or even come around behind opponents to Gust them into a more favorable position. It's a low cooldown too - almost guaranteed up every engage.

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Static Shield - Every tap of a Lightning Rod strike now yields returns with a shield for Falstad. Likely targets are melee Assassins and Warriors as you're likely to get the full 6 strikes off after Charged Up.

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Hammer Time - A defensive talent that can be immensely useful as it provides the only hard stun for Falstad in his kit. Attack an opponent after hitting them with Hammerang in order to stun them for a short duration.

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Epic Mount - This talent greatly increases the usefulness of your mount. It decreases the cooldown, cast time, and increases the speed at which you fly. On bigger maps, this talent is invaluable to applying map pressure where your opponents can't react in a timely manner.

More a fun build than anything, the new Hammerang talents allows some really bizarre plays for Falstad.

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Gathering Storm - Every throw of the Hammer that connects with an opponent, both forwards and backwards, will add +1 permanent damage to the next throw. Some teamfights can yield +10 damage for future throws; once stacked it can boost quite a bit of damage by the end-game.

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Power Throw - The increased range on Hammerang can allow some immense poke for Falstad in fights, and is great for catching unsuspecting opponents.

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Secret Weapon - When you throw your Hammerang with Power Throw and you have targets in range, you can hit for 80% harder on 1-2 extra auto attacks. Late game I've pushed 500+ damage hits.

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Mighty Gust - My how far this Heroic Ability has come! A popular tool for controlling the positioning of your opponents, you can use it for several scenarios - secure an objective by pushing back opponents; defensive disengage to save teammates; or even come around behind opponents to Gust them into a more favorable position. It's a low cooldown too - almost guaranteed up every engage.

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Crippling Hammer - Not a talent that is taken a lot, but a fantastic increase in slow for targets hit by Hammerang. Losing half your movement speed can be quite jarring for players, and allows a big window of opportunity to catch up to fleeing opponents.

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Hammer Time - A defensive talent that can be immensely useful as it provides the only hard stun for Falstad in his kit. Attack an opponent after hitting them with Hammerang in order to stun them for a short duration. Synergizes nicely with every other talent in this build.

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Epic Mount - This talent greatly increases the usefulness of your mount. It decreases the cooldown, cast time, and increases the speed at which you fly. On bigger maps, this talent is invaluable to applying map pressure where your opponents can't react in a timely manner.

Falstad, with the right positioning and protection, can be an invaluable Assassin. But when left alone to his own devices, he can easily be shut down. Getting a sense of what the enemy is building, their level of aggressiveness and the nuances of the map, Falstad can be an absolute terror to deal with. Go forth, and rain down Hammers from the Sky!