Li-Ming Talents

Last updated on Oct 27, 2020 at 06:00 by Oxygen 26 comments
General Information

Welcome to our Talents page for Li-Ming. Here, we give you an overview of how strong each of Li-Ming's talents is. Then, we present several viable builds, before analyzing each talent row separately, so that you can make informed decisions.

1.

Li-Ming's Talent Build

Level Choices
1 Force Armor ? Aether Walker Power Hungry ?
4 Charged Blast ? Triumvirate Dominance ?
7 Seeker ? Zei's Vengeance ? Calamity
10 Disintegrate Wave of Force ?
13 Illusionist Cannoneer ? Glass Cannon ?
16 Fireflies ? Mirrorball Arcane Orbit ? Diamond Skin ?
20 Temporal Flux ✘︎ Repulsion ? Tal Rasha's Elements Archon: Pure Power ✘︎
2.

Li-Ming's Talent Build Cheatsheet

Teleport Build

Recommended
Level 1 Aether Walker Icon Power Hungry Icon ? Force Armor Icon ?
Level 4 Triumvirate Icon Dominance Icon ?
Level 7 Calamity Icon
Level 10 Wave of Force Icon Disintegrate Icon ?
Level 13 Illusionist Icon
Level 16 Mirrorball Icon Diamond Skin Icon ?
Level 20 Tal Rasha's Elements Icon Repulsion Icon ?

Li-Ming's Teleport Build provides superior damage. As key Talents, Calamity Icon Calamity and Mirrorball Icon Mirrorball allow you to deal unparalleled burst damage. Quickly killing Heroes in this manner triggers Critical Mass Icon Critical Mass, allowing you to deal even more damage.

Artillery Build

Beginner
Level 1 Aether Walker Icon Power Hungry Icon ? Force Armor Icon ?
Level 4 Triumvirate Icon
Level 7 Zei's Vengeance Icon
Level 10 Wave of Force Icon Disintegrate Icon ?
Level 13 Glass Cannon Icon
Level 16 Arcane Orbit Icon
Level 20 Tal Rasha's Elements Icon Repulsion Icon ?

This specialised artillery build provides superior ranged damage. Key Arcane Orb Icon Arcane Orb-related Talents allow you to threaten Heroes while safely remaining out of their range. This build is notably effective against team compositions that lack mobility, and on the Infernal Shrines Battleground.

3.

Level 1 Talents for Li-Ming

Li-Ming Force Armor ?
Force Armor (Level 1) Diablo Li-Ming

When Magic Missiles damages an enemy Hero, gain 50 Spell Armor, reducing the damage taken by the next Ability by 50%. Gain 1 charge per cast and store up to 4 charges.

Passive: Li-Ming's Mana regeneration is increased by 100% while below 35% Mana.

Li-Ming Aether Walker
Aether Walker (Level 1) Diablo Li-Ming

Teleport costs no Mana. If Li-Ming hasn't taken damage in the last 3 seconds, Teleport's cooldown is decreased by 2 seconds. Casting Teleport causes Li-Ming's next cast of Magic Missiles to deal 10% bonus damage.

Li-Ming Power Hungry ?
Power Hungry (Level 1) Diablo Li-Ming

Regeneration Globes restore 100% more Mana and grant 10% Spell Power for 20 seconds.

3.1.

Discussion

This Tier improves Li-Ming's Mana efficiency.

Force Armor Icon Force Armor is an excellent counterpick to Ability-heavy team compositions. It is notably effective against Jaina, Kael'thas and Nova, as they all rely on a few hard-hitting Abilities to take you down. Further, it provides a deceptively large amount of Mana Regeneration when it matters most. In a team fight situation, particularly during a winning one, Force Armor lets you get extra Ability casts to further push your advantage. At all stages of the game, it allows you to use Magic Missiles Icon Magic Missiles on-Cooldown for sieging or other purposes without ever running out of Mana. Force Armor is a particularly smart niche pick on the Battlefield of Eternity Map due how much Mana must be expended to battle the Immortal, and due to the unavailability of Regeneration Globes to trigger Power Hungry Icon Power Hungry reliably.

Aether Walker Icon Aether Walker promotes careful play by providing you with a form of Mana conservation and a significant cooldown reduction for Teleport Icon Teleport, granted you are able to avoid damage. Although this Talent synergises particularly well with every other Teleport-related Talent, its effects can be difficult to maintain without proper care and knowledge. Abuse the Mana cost and cooldown reduction to avoid damage and quickly reposition for good Arcane Orb Icon Arcane Orb hits.

Power Hungry provides you with a small damage increase as well as Mana Regeneration at the cost of reliability. Power Hungry is generally a solid choice all-around, though it is particularly useful on Maps where Regeneration Globes are plentiful, such as Dragon Shire, Tomb of the Spider Queen, and Towers of Doom.

4.

Level 4 Talents for Li-Ming

Li-Ming Charged Blast ?
Charged Blast (Level 4) Diablo Li-Ming

Basic Attacking a target recently hit by a Magic Missile does an extra 87 (+4% per level) damage.

Li-Ming Triumvirate
Triumvirate (Level 4) Diablo Li-Ming

If Arcane Orb hits an enemy Hero after traveling at least 50% of its base range, the cooldown is reduced by 5 seconds and 40 Mana is refunded.

Li-Ming Dominance ?
Dominance (Level 4) Diablo Li-Ming

Takedowns restore 30% of Li-Ming's missing Health.

4.1.

Discussion

This tier situationally improves Li-Ming's damage.

Although Charged Blast Icon Charged Blast has quite the damage potential, and particularly in PvE, it requires Li-Ming to endanger herself to reliably exploit due to the Basic Attack requirement. It should be noted that this Talent synergises particularly well with Fireflies Icon Fireflies due to the cooldown reduction it provides. Charged Blast has niche use against Tracer, who is difficult to hit with Abilities but vulnerable to Basic Attacks.

Triumvirate Icon Triumvirate is a Talent with great potential that requires a very specific playstyle to exploit. Typically chosen along Arcane Orbit Icon Arcane Orbit, Triumvirate excels in Maps that feature static Objectives with long-lasting team fights, such as Cursed Hollow and Infernal Shrines. Triumvirate's nature, however, makes it not that good versus teams with plenty of dive potential.

Dominance Icon Dominance exploits Li-Ming's greatest strengths to mitigate her main weakness. If Critical Mass Icon Critical Mass is a compelling reason to get kills, Dominance accentuates this by vastly improving Li-Ming's team fight survivability.

5.

Level 7 Talents for Li-Ming

Li-Ming Seeker ?
Seeker (Level 7) Diablo Li-Ming

If three Magic Missiles hit the same target, the third one deals an additional 140 (+4% per level) damage.

Li-Ming Zei's Vengeance ?
Zei's Vengeance (Level 7) Diablo Li-Ming

Increase Arcane Orb's damage increase for distance traveled by 30%. Additionally, reduce its cooldown by 1 second.

Li-Ming Calamity
Calamity (Level 7) Diablo Li-Ming

Teleport does 300 (+3% per level) damage to enemy Heroes near the destination.

5.1.

Discussion

This tier improves Li-Ming's burst damage.

Seeker Icon Seeker provides a solid damage increase to players with pinpoint accuracy. If you cannot reliably land triple Magic Missiles Icon Magic Missiles hit, avoid picking this Talent. It is worth mentioning that Seeker provides Li-Ming with a considerable increase to her PvE damage, making it useful on Maps featuring two Bosses such as Cursed Hollow and Warhead Junction. However, Calamity Icon Calamity is a powerful, time-proven alternative.

Zei's Vengeance Icon Zei's Vengeance complements Triumvirate Icon Triumvirate and Arcane Orbit Icon Arcane Orbit, and is generally picked in area of effect crowd control-heavy teams that seek to capitalize on Arcane Orb Icon Arcane Orb's capacity to deal Heroic-like levels of damage when Talented for. This is difficult to pull off against dive-heavy teams, however.

Calamity Icon Calamity turns Teleport Icon Teleport, an essentially defensive Ability, into an offensive one. Calamity provides a hefty amount of damage that works very well with Critical Mass Icon Critical Mass. Be careful, however, as aggressively using Teleport may spell the end for you if you do not manage to secure a kill for the reset.

6.

Level 10 Talents for Li-Ming

Li-Ming Disintegrate
Disintegrate (Level 10) Diablo Li-Ming
  • Mana: 80
  • Cooldown: 20 seconds

Channel a powerful beam, dealing 480 (+5% per level) damage over 2.6 seconds to enemies while they are in it. The direction of the beam changes with your mouse cursor position.

Li-Ming Wave of Force ?
Wave of Force (Level 10) Diablo Li-Ming
  • Mana: 80
  • Cooldown: 30 seconds

Knock away all enemies from an area and deal 160 (+5% per level) damage.

6.1.

Discussion

At this Level, you gain access to Heroic Abilities. If you want to read more about them, check the dedicated section in the Abilities and Strategy page.

Disintegrate Icon Disintegrate perfectly complements Li-Ming's Ability set by providing her with one crucial things she lacks: a way of dealing damage that pierces through enemies. Disintegrate further provides Li-Ming with just enough damage to allow her to finish off the more fragile Heroes of the roster with a single Magic Missiles Icon Magic Missiles + Arcane Orb Icon Arcane Orb combo. In a pinch, Disintegrate also provides her with a respectable option for more waveclear.

Wave of Force Icon Wave of Force provides Li-Ming with something else that she lacks: crowd control. Wave Of Force is usually picked as a defensive tool against aggressive team comps or as a reliable interrupt stationary-channeled Abilities.

7.

Level 13 Talents for Li-Ming

Li-Ming Illusionist
Illusionist (Level 13) Diablo Li-Ming

If Li-Ming loses more than 20% of her Health at once, its cooldown is instantly refreshed.

This effect has a 4 second cooldown.

Passive: Increases Teleport range by 50%.

Li-Ming Cannoneer ?
Cannoneer (Level 13) Diablo Li-Ming

When Li-Ming uses an Ability, her next Basic Attack's damage is increased by 75% and deals Spell damage instead of Physical. Stacks up to 3 times.

Li-Ming Glass Cannon ?
Glass Cannon (Level 13) Diablo Li-Ming

Increase Li-Ming's Spell Power by 20%, but decrease her maximum Health by 15%.

7.1.

Discussion

This tier improves Li-Ming's damage.

Illusionist Icon Illusionist is a versatile Talent that provides both offense and defense. The range increase is particularly useful when combined with Calamity Icon Calamity, whereas the reset feature works well with Diamond Skin Icon Diamond Skin to provide that extra layer of protection. Pick this if you have been dying often, and generally, against Stealthed Assassins.

Cannoneer Icon Cannoneer is only situationally recommended under the same circumstances as its Level 4 Basic Attack counterpart, Charged Blast Icon Charged Blast: reliably weaving in Basic Attacks is generally too dangerous for Li-Ming players to do. Again, it should be stated that this Talent works well versus Tracer.

Glass Cannon Icon Glass Cannon is the go-to choice if you feel particularly safe against the opposing team composition, although for Li-Ming, offense is very often the best defense. Glass Cannon is also a solid choice for an Arcane Orb Build, as they tend to promote a safer playstyle.

8.

Level 16 Talents for Li-Ming

Li-Ming Fireflies ?
Fireflies (Level 16) Diablo Li-Ming

Drastically increases Magic Missiles speed. Its cooldown is reduced by 1 second, and its Mana cost is reduced by 5.

Li-Ming Mirrorball
Mirrorball (Level 16) Diablo Li-Ming

Magic Missiles fires an additional 2 missiles, but its Mana cost is increased by 5.

Li-Ming Arcane Orbit ?
Arcane Orbit (Level 16) Diablo Li-Ming

Arcane Orb travels 25% farther, increasing its maximum distance damage bonus from 270 (+3% per level) to 371 (+3% per level).

Li-Ming Diamond Skin ?
Diamond Skin (Level 16) Diablo Li-Ming

Teleport grants a Shield equal to 25% of Li-Ming's maximum Health for 4 seconds.

8.1.

Discussion

This tier significantly improves Li-Ming's damage.

Fireflies Icon Fireflies increases the damage output of Magic Missiles Icon Magic Missiles by making them faster, and thus easier to hit with, and by reducing their cooldown. Generally, the Mirrorball Icon Mirrorball Talent is preferred, as it provides an equivalent damage increase in terms of pure damage-per-second output, but benefits more from Critical Mass Icon Critical Mass, as resetting a longer cooldown for more damage ends up leading to more overall value. Fireflies does benefit more from other Magic Missiles-related Talents, but Mirroball provides more burst.

Arcane Orbit Icon Arcane Orbit complements Triumvirate Icon Triumvirate and Zei's Vengeance Icon Zei's Vengeance, and is generally picked in area of effect crowd control-heavy teams that seek to capitalize on Arcane Orb Icon Arcane Orb's capacity to deal Heroic-like levels of damage when Talented for. This is difficult to pull off against dive-heavy teams, however.

Diamond Skin Icon Diamond Skin is one of the strongest existing defensive Talents, and makes Li-Ming extremely difficult to take out even for dedicated Assassins, especially when combined with Illusionist Icon Illusionist for the additional cast, or simply through the resets provided by Critical Mass Icon Critical Mass.

9.

Level 20 Talents for Li-Ming

Li-Ming Temporal Flux ✘︎
Temporal Flux (Level 20) Diablo Li-Ming

Disintegrate gradually slows enemies caught in its beam, to a maximum of 60%.

Li-Ming Repulsion ?
Repulsion (Level 20) Diablo Li-Ming

Increases Wave of Force knockback distance by 150% and increases its cast range by 100%.

Li-Ming Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Elements (Level 20) Diablo Li-Ming

Casting Abilities increases the damage of the next Ability by 5%, up to 20%. This bonus is reset when the same Ability is used within a chain.

Li-Ming Archon: Pure Power ✘︎
Archon: Pure Power (Level 20) Diablo Li-Ming

Activate to enter Archon form, allowing Li-Ming to repeatedly use Disintegrate, but be unable to cast other Abilities.

9.1.

Discussion

This tier provides powerful offensive utility.

Temporal Flux Icon Temporal Flux makes Disintegrate Icon Disintegrate slightly harder to dodge and has can potentially be used to trigger Talents of allied Heroes which require the target enemy Hero to be Slowed. All that said, we do not recommend this Talent because it does not compete with the damage boost provided by Tal Rasha's Elements Icon Tal Rasha's Elements and the utility of Repulsion Icon Repulsion.

Repulsion Icon Repulsion more than effectively doubles the utility provided by Wave of Force Icon Wave of Force. The cast range increase is particularly valuable for pushing opponents within the range of your Abilities or that of your teammates. If your Tank struggles to engage, you can help them by using Wave of Force Icon Wave of Force behind an enemy Hero. If your teammates need peeling, you can protect them by casting Wave of Force Icon Wave of Force in front of whoever is attacking them.

Tal Rasha's Elements Icon Tal Rasha's Elements provides a solid damage increase in both poke and burst scenarios. To benefit from its effect, use your Abilities in a mixed order, so without casting the same Ability twice in a row. If you have Aether Walker Icon Aether Walker at Level 1 and you feel safe enough, you can use Teleport Icon Teleport to get the first stack.

Archon: Pure Power Icon Archon: Pure Power is a peculiar but ultimately ineffective Talent that does very little that Li-Ming may not already do. While sieging, it may be tempting to simply Disintegrate Icon Disintegrate away at Structures. However, Magic Missiles Icon Magic Missiles would generally yield more DPS, especially when appropriately Talented. During team fighting situations, Archon: Pure Power essentially leaves you very vulnerable without synergising with Critical Mass Icon Critical Mass, a key element in playing Li-Ming.

10.

Changelog

  • 27 Oct. 2020: Talents and builds reviewed and updated.
  • 05 Apr. 2020: Description updated for Disintegrate.
  • 16 Oct. 2019: Talent discussion updated following Balance Update Patch v 2.48.2.
  • 11 Oct. 2019: Talent builds and recommendations reviewed and updated.
  • 14 Jan. 2018: Updated Tier 5 Talent assessments. Updated Orb and Calamity builds.
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