Kerrigan Abilities and Strategy

• Kerrigan should always use her Basic Abilities wisely in order to conserve Mana.
• In fights, always use Impaling Blades and Primal Grasp together. Use Primal Grasp to pull enemies into Impaling Blades' area-of-effect.
• Primal Grasp will always pull enemies the same distance. Take this into account when placing Impaling Blades.
• Ravage can be used on enemy Structures or Summons to close the gap between enemy Heroes or to retreat from a compromised position.
• Kerrigan excels with allied Heroes that can follow-up on her burst damage and crowd-control, however is weak against enemy teams with a strong frontline and lots of lockdown.
• Kerrigan is a fantastic early-game Hero. Take advantage of this by ganking early and often by maintaining extreme aggression.
• Attempt to flank enemies whenever possible to take advantage of an enemy Hero's poor positioning.
• Enemies will usually attempt to avoid Kerrigan's Primal Grasp/ Impaling Blades combo by side-stepping it preemptively. Use this to your advantage when pursuing them by holding onto Kerrigan's combo until her target puts themselves in a bad position, making her combo unavoidable.
• Only use Primal Grasp and Ravage when clearing waves, since Impaling Blades is not necessary and costs more mana.

Assimilation allows Kerrigan to dive deep into team fights and virtually increase her maximum Health by generating a Shield through her own damage output. Assimilation has very little impact during the early-game, however becomes an integral component to Kerrigan's success as the match progresses and team fights become more frequent. Keep in mind that specific burst compositions may be too much for Kerrigan to handle should she rely solely on Assimilation to keep her alive after she has committed to a fight.

Ravage is Kerrigan's sole source of mobility and should be primarily used to set up her Primal Grasp/ Impaling Blades combo by leaping onto an enemy target.

While Ravage's cooldown will rarely reset from killing an enemy Hero, it is easy to proc off of Minions. Kerrigan can use this to her advantage by leaping to an enemy Minion, and then leaping again to her primary target. Using this method will allow Kerrigan to cross much greater distances than she would have been otherwise able to.

Impaling Blades does not only Stun all enemies it strikes, but also deals a significant amount of area of effect damage to them. There is a noticeable delay between when the Ability is cast and when it will actually trigger, making Impaling Blades relatively difficult to land. This is why Impaling Blades should always (for the most part) be used in conjunction with Primal Grasp, as Primal Grasp will pull enemies into Impaling Blades, making it almost impossible to avoid. When fleeing from a pursuing enemy, it is recommended to simply cast Impaling Blades alone, as Primal Grasp will do nothing to help Kerrigan gain distance and will cause her to pause for its cast duration.

Although Primal Grasp has a shorter cooldown than Impaling Blades, it should most often be used in combination with Impaling Blades, as both Abilities are significantly weaker on their own. The delayed area of effect damage portion of Primal Grasp relies on Kerrigan staying close to her target(s), even after having successfully landed her combo, in order to be effective.

Note that Primal Grasp only pulls affected enemies a predetermined distance towards Kerrigan, rather than pulling them to a specific point. Understanding and mastering this aspect of Primal Grasp is key to Kerrigan's strength and success. Newer Kerrigan players are strongly encouraged to spend time practicing her Primal Grasp/Impaling Blades combo in Training; as without it, Kerrigan loses almost everything that makes her such a valuable asset to her team.

Here we explain how this Heroic Ability works. If you are looking for more information about it, check the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

In contrast to Kerrigan's other Abilities, which deal burst damage, Maelstrom deals damage over time, making it extremely important that she is able to survive past the enemy team's initial burst damage. Maelstrom should be used in every major engagement, as well as in duels or small skirmishes if Kerrigan needs either the additional damage or damage mitigation provided by the Shields Maelstrom will generate through Assimilation. Try to have Maelstrom affect as many targets when possible, however it is more advantageous for Kerrigan to stick to her allies' target of focus instead of positioning where Maelstrom might hit one or two additional targets.

Here we explain how this Heroic Ability works. If you are looking for more information about it, check the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

As the name implies, Kerrigan's first Heroic Ability summons an Ultralisk companion that will accompany her for 20 seconds. When the Ability is first cast, Kerrigan will shoot the Ultralisk in a target direction that will Stun and deal damage to the first enemy struck. The Ultralisk's attacks render Attack Damage and will splash nearby enemies for 50% of the damage. The length of this skill shot allows Kerrigan to close the gap on a target that may be initially out of reach of her Impaling Blades/Primal Grasp combo. Kerrigan can adjust the Ultralisk's focus target by reactivating the Heroic Ability as many times as she desires during its lifespan.