Heroes of the Storm Auriel

[Vlad 331]

This thread is for comments about our Auriel build guide for Heroes of the Storm.

[Guest Franckyi]

How can Butcher counter Auriel ? Crystal Aegis is a perfect counter for Butcher.

[positiv2 881]

5 hours ago, Guest Franckyi said:

How can Butcher counter Auriel ? Crystal Aegis is a perfect counter for Butcher.

Crystal Aegis has default cooldown of 60 seconds, Ruthless Onslaught has cooldown of only 15 seconds, which means Butcher will be able to charge up to three times while Crystal Aegis is on cooldown. Additionally, if you use Crystal Aegis to save your ally from anything else than Butcher, you won't be able to prevent his abilities to land.

[Straften 15]

On 8/29/2016 at 6:33 AM, Guest Franckyi said:

How can Butcher counter Auriel ? Crystal Aegis is a perfect counter for Butcher.

 

On 8/29/2016 at 0:04 PM, positiv2 said:

Crystal Aegis has default cooldown of 60 seconds, Ruthless Onslaught has cooldown of only 15 seconds, which means Butcher will be able to charge up to three times while Crystal Aegis is on cooldown. Additionally, if you use Crystal Aegis to save your ally from anything else than Butcher, you won't be able to prevent his abilities to land.

This is exactly right. Auriel must either hold Crystal Aegis for Ruthless Onslaught and lose value from the differences in cooldowns, or use it to stop something else which leaves her completely vulnerable to The Butcher's combo. Butcher being in the game forces Auriel to make less then ideal choices, and that is how he counters her.

[WebBowser 2]

Having tried out a few games with repeat offender, I think that it deserves being upgraded to "situational". I've found that getting 6 stacks on maps that involve a lot of narrow corridors such as Garden of Terror and Cursed Hollow to be really easy(usually takes me about 2 or 3 engagements) and the bonus damage really does matter, as getting a chain + Q generally gives you enough for a full heal and often guarantees a kill.

I've also been somewhat disappointed in increasing clarity against single warrior comps, as I've found it to be rather hard to hit more then one person in the center and get stacks up. Against more mobile comps I've had much more success with swift sweep, as it leaves me vulnerable for less time and is much easier to land when the opportunity arises.

[Blainie 1960]

12 hours ago, WebBowser said:

Having tried out a few games with repeat offender, I think that it deserves being upgraded to "situational". I've found that getting 6 stacks on maps that involve a lot of narrow corridors such as Garden of Terror and Cursed Hollow to be really easy(usually takes me about 2 or 3 engagements) and the bonus damage really does matter, as getting a chain + Q generally gives you enough for a full heal and often guarantees a kill.

I've also been somewhat disappointed in increasing clarity against single warrior comps, as I've found it to be rather hard to hit more then one person in the center and get stacks up. Against more mobile comps I've had much more success with swift sweep, as it leaves me vulnerable for less time and is much easier to land when the opportunity arises.

To properly assess this, it's probably better to let @Straften handle this one. I'm not quite well-versed enough with Auriel to help with this one! Hopefully he can.

[Straften 15]

12 hours ago, WebBowser said:

Having tried out a few games with repeat offender, I think that it deserves being upgraded to "situational". I've found that getting 6 stacks on maps that involve a lot of narrow corridors such as Garden of Terror and Cursed Hollow to be really easy(usually takes me about 2 or 3 engagements) and the bonus damage really does matter, as getting a chain + Q generally gives you enough for a full heal and often guarantees a kill.

I've also been somewhat disappointed in increasing clarity against single warrior comps, as I've found it to be rather hard to hit more then one person in the center and get stacks up. Against more mobile comps I've had much more success with swift sweep, as it leaves me vulnerable for less time and is much easier to land when the opportunity arises.

 

You bring up a good point with the fact that the increased damage from Repeat Offender does translate into increased healing; however, I don't think you should build Detainment Strike for Hero damage. You still get the Energy from Detainment Strike's base damage, as well as the Q follow up. Most of your Energy potential comes from correct Bestow Hope use and through hitting Minion waves with Sacred Sweep; even when you do take Repeat Offender. I think it has niche usefulness with Piercing Lash (another Talent I don't recommend on it's own,) and Leoric's Entomb, because then it becomes part of a wombo-combo.

I think Heavy Burden serves as a better augmentation to Detainment Strike in most cases, as it will give your teammates more time to follow up on collisions caused by it. It is ultimately a takedown you are looking for before objectives. You can usually setup kills more effectively with a 3 second 40% slow than you can with 200 extra damage. It just gives your team more time to react to the stun.

Moving on to Increasing Clarity, I do agree with you here. Swift Sweep is a great situational pick that is important to take against highly mobile enemy Heroes. This is especially true if you plan to take Blinding Flash at Level 13. If you can't hit them at all, Increasing Clarity is not getting you much value. I still think it is the best Talent to recommend to a new Auriel player, because I think it is almost always useful for clearing Minions. Even if you are having trouble landing it on a couple of mobile enemy Assassins, the stacks you do get will translate into more map pressure through waveclear. I also find that Majestic Span combined with Converging Force makes landing the center area of Sacred Sweep pretty achievable against most enemy Heroes; although, this is does rule out Blinding Flash.

I have a large update to the Auriel guide that I will post tomorrow, which has many changes to the Recommended and Situational Talents. I look forward to reading what you think about them!

[Lorebot 1]

I'm  not sure if anyone else wants to give it a try, but I've had a lot of success with an alternate Auriel build focusing on Ray of Heaven instead of Sacred Sweep:

Searing Light/Repeated Offense/Bursting Light/Res if you're winning, Aegis if you're not/Repelling Strike/Will or Wrath depending your team comp/Angelic Flight

I haven't gotten to verify it yet, but it seems that the damage you do with Searing Light actually charges Auriel's energy, combined with Bursting Light at lvl7 it allows her to chain cast heals in heavy combat almost like a HoT instead of a normal heal.

I've been having trouble confirming my other reason for taking Bursting Light as well. I can't tell if Empathic Link gives Auriel energy from damage she takes or if it's only from damage the ally with Bestow Hope takes, it certainly feels like it's only damage inflicted on the ally. Since it's most efficient to put Bestow Hope on an ally that's going to be focusing on damaging heroes that means putting it on assassins...and they've usually got ways to avoid taking damage so you're losing out on energy from their avoidance and the energy return from Empathic Link is only 20%...that's not enough to warrant spending a talent on it imo. Energized Cord is also on lvl7 and it would be a fantastic talent to take if it applied to the ally with Bestow Hope as well or included damage from your abilities...but it's only an increase on energy from Auriel's auto attacks, which I almost never get a chance to use in combat since I'm moving around so much to get better positioning or to avoid aoe.

Combining Repeated Offense with Repelling Strike allows for easy stuns and lots of bonus damage which I've found far more useful than Majestic Span's increased range for Sacred Sweep, especially against agile assassins.

And Angelic Flight is simply too versatile to justify anything else on lvl20 imo. Shield of Hope seems like an incredibly powerful ability, but it depends on your team taking massive damage before it's really effective and the shield only lasts 3 secs which isn't enough time for you to get more than a single meaningful heal out if you're already charged when it happens. Angelic Flight isn't interrupted by damage so it's a fantastic escape tool as well as allowing you to instantly change lanes to be with whoever needs heals at that time. It also allows you to get back to the fight faster if you do end up dying since it'll allow you to fly over nearly half the map to get to your chosen location.

 

Edit: After testing Auriel out in the 'Try Hero' function I can confirm that damage done by Searing Light does give Auriel energy and that Empathic Link does only apply to damage taken by your Bestow Hope ally and will not give Auriel energy for damage she takes.

After confirming that Searing Light does allow Ray of Heaven to refund a portion of it's cost I feel confident in arguing that it is especially effective when the enemy team consists of multiple melee heroes. If one of your allies is being attacked by multiple enemies you can easily tag 2 or more enemies at a time with it while healing your ally. It does 30% of the energy spent as damage to each enemy hero hit, then returns 40% of that damage dealt as energy, so each hero you hit with it will refund you 12% of the casting cost. Hitting just 3 enemy heroes with it will return 36% of what you spent to cast it, and if you can manage to hit the entire enemy team with it you'll get back 60% of the energy you spent to cast Ray of Heaven. And that doesn't include collateral damage done to enemy mercs and minions who only return 8% of the damage done to them but will inevitably be caught up in your casts. The range on Ray of Heaven is pretty large too, it makes it easy to tag fleeing targets to try to finish them off when they're at low health...this of course should not be your priority, but it's good to keep an eye out of opportunities :)
 

Edit2: After further consideration and testing I think that Glimmer of Hope may be even better than Bursting Light on maps with lots of extra globes like Garden of Terror and Infernal Shrines. The 50% reduction in casting cost combined with Searing Light's ability to refund energy could actually return more energy than you spent to cast Ray of Heaven under perfect conditions. And even if you only hit a single enemy hero with it you'll still be getting back 24% of what you spent to cast it since the returns are effectively doubled by the 50% reduction in casting cost. If you could land Ray of Heaven on the full enemy team along with a handful of minions or mercs while you have Glimmer of Hope up you could possibly get as much as 150% of the casting cost refunded to you.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Lorebot

[Straften 15]

I was in the process of updating the guide when you posted, as there was a big patch on the 13th. The guide has been thoroughly updated, and I have given each Talent an in depth explanation in the Talents section. I shared some of your thoughts while testing Auriel after the balance changes on 8/24/16.

On 9/12/2016 at 2:37 AM, Lorebot said:

I'm  not sure if anyone else wants to give it a try, but I've had a lot of success with an alternate Auriel build focusing on Ray of Heaven instead of Sacred Sweep:

Searing Light/Repeated Offense/Bursting Light/Res if you're winning, Aegis if you're not/Repelling Strike/Will or Wrath depending your team comp/Angelic Flight

I haven't gotten to verify it yet, but it seems that the damage you do with Searing Light actually charges Auriel's energy, combined with Bursting Light at lvl7 it allows her to chain cast heals in heavy combat almost like a HoT instead of a normal heal.

I actually tested Searing Light a lot. I liked it so much that I included it in my Detainment Strike build. I think Bursting Light can work well if you have Cho'gall on your team; however, in most other cases you will likely get more healing out of Energized Cord. Casting the heal less often is alright, as long as you are doing more healing overall.

On 9/12/2016 at 2:37 AM, Lorebot said:

I've been having trouble confirming my other reason for taking Bursting Light as well. I can't tell if Empathic Link gives Auriel energy from damage she takes or if it's only from damage the ally with Bestow Hope takes, it certainly feels like it's only damage inflicted on the ally.

It is only damage inflicted to the Bestow Hope target, not damage done to Auriel. After they nerfed Empathic Link and buffed Energized Cord, I began rethinking her. After testing all of the changed Talents extensively, I think that in most cases Energized Cord is the best value at Level 7. It allows you to gather Energy more independently, which empowers you with greater influence over the course of the game.

On 9/12/2016 at 2:37 AM, Lorebot said:

Energized Cord is also on lvl7 and it would be a fantastic talent to take if it applied to the ally with Bestow Hope as well or included damage from your abilities...but it's only an increase on energy from Auriel's auto attacks, which I almost never get a chance to use in combat since I'm moving around so much to get better positioning or to avoid aoe.

You should be Basic Attacking as often as possible. Auriel has good Basic Attack range, and can poke enemy Heroes safely while they are fighting with your Bestow Hope target. In addition to this, you should be using Sacred Sweep and Basic Attacks on Minions and Mercenaries any time that you are in a lane and not fighting Heroes. This is the case even without Energized Cord, as Sacred Sweep and a few Basic Attacks on a wave will fill your Energy up.

Getting the positioning right is key. Position yourself just out of Basic Attack range of the enemy, while always staying near (but behind) your Bestow Hope ally. Once you are in this position, you can move forward to Basic Attack, and then stutter step back. Whenever it feels safe to do so, throw in a Sweep. Try playing this way for several games in Quick Match to get a feel for it.

On 9/12/2016 at 2:37 AM, Lorebot said:

Combining Repeated Offense with Repelling Strike allows for easy stuns and lots of bonus damage which I've found far more useful than Majestic Span's increased range for Sacred Sweep, especially against agile assassins.

I am a big fan of Detainment Strike, and I also enjoy playing with more than Sacred Sweep builds alone. If I may quote myself from a post above,

On 9/12/2016 at 2:29 AM, Straften said:

I think Heavy Burden serves as a better augmentation [than Repeated Offense] to Detainment Strike in most cases, as it will give your teammates more time to follow up on collisions caused by it. It is ultimately a takedown you are looking for before objectives. You can usually setup kills more effectively with a 3 second 40% slow than you can with 200 extra damage. It just gives your team more time to react to the stun.

 

On 9/12/2016 at 2:37 AM, Lorebot said:

And Angelic Flight is simply too versatile to justify anything else on lvl20 imo. Shield of Hope seems like an incredibly powerful ability, but it depends on your team taking massive damage before it's really effective and the shield only lasts 3 secs which isn't enough time for you to get more than a single meaningful heal out if you're already charged when it happens. Angelic Flight isn't interrupted by damage so it's a fantastic escape tool as well as allowing you to instantly change lanes to be with whoever needs heals at that time. It also allows you to get back to the fight faster if you do end up dying since it'll allow you to fly over nearly half the map to get to your chosen location.

Angelic Flight's main use is to get to an ally who needs to be revived with Resurrect, after the enemies who killed them have moved on. I love playing with Resurrect and have had a lot of fun with it; however, Resurrect can be a huge liability. Resurrecting an ally means that they can die again, which turns your Heroic into a feeding tool for the enemy team. For this reason, I recommend Crystal Aegis.

Diamond Resolve is an amazing buff that can change the course of a Level 20 teamfight. 5 seconds of 50% reduced damage taken is absolutely insane, especially when applied to a Warrior. Try it out with one of your duo partners, you will love it!

Shield of Hope is great, even if you save a single teammate with it. You can save one ally with Crystal Aegis, and save others with Shield of Hope. You can even Shield of Hope just as Crystal Aegis expires, which can keep your allies alive long enough for them to get the first takedown in the fight.

On 9/12/2016 at 2:37 AM, Lorebot said:

After confirming that Searing Light does allow Ray of Heaven to refund a portion of it's cost I feel confident in arguing that it is especially effective when the enemy team consists of multiple melee heroes.

I came to the exact same conclusion. :D

On 9/12/2016 at 2:37 AM, Lorebot said:

If you could land Ray of Heaven on the full enemy team along with a handful of minions or mercs while you have Glimmer of Hope up you could possibly get as much as 150% of the casting cost refunded to you.

This scenario will occur as an extreme rarity. Try to think about what Ray of Heaven casts usually look like, and make your decision based on that. Your priority should always be to cast Ray of Heaven on your own team as healing with it is 333% more effective than damaging enemies with it. The 30% damage to enemies should only be used as an added bonus when healing allies.

Glimmer of Hope can be good on maps with a lot of globes, and can make stacking Reservoir of Hope much faster. That being said, I feel like it is almost a trap Talent. You will find yourself waiting for a globe to reduce your Energy cost, instead of healing your allies as soon as they need it. Energized Cord rewards you for being more active in the fight by giving you more Energy for Basic Attacks. I think this more aggressive style of play is much more impactful.

I hope you continue to enjoy Auriel as you play her more. She has very quickly become one of my favorite Heroes in the game!

 

[Guest Amber]

guide needs to be updated

[Blainie 1960]

On 10/23/2016 at 3:26 PM, Guest Amber said:

guide needs to be updated

What do you feel needs to be updated?

[Guest Rocksolid]

On ‎26‎.‎10‎.‎2016 at 7:15 AM, Blainie said:

What do you feel needs to be updated?

Tips and tricks ;)

Edited October 28, 2016 by positiv2
Added quote and link

[Blainie 1960]

On 10/27/2016 at 11:56 PM, Guest Rocksolid said:

Tips and tricks ;)

I've just checked and it's on our internal list of things to do, so there's not much else I can add unfortunately :(

There should be a big update coming to the HoTS section at some point in the future, so it's probably included in there.

[Valhalen 753]

On 29 de outubro de 2016 at 11:09 PM, Blainie said:

I've just checked and it's on our internal list of things to do, so there's not much else I can add unfortunately :(

There should be a big update coming to the HoTS section at some point in the future, so it's probably included in there.

With the meta-game evolving I feel you guys will be able to polish the articles better in the future. And with the feedback from other players more stuff can be added as well.

I just wanna say that Auriel has become my favorite Support, or even my favorite Hero in the game. I love how offensive she is for a Support Hero, and the fact she doesn't use mana is awesome. Not trying to brag, but it's not often where I find myself dealing second or third highest damage in the match, since her Sacred Sweep with Increasing Clarity completed deals so much damage.

From my personal experience she also works very well with Zarya; since both use their own resources rather than Mana, the lane presence and survivability is insane. Zarya's AoE and splash damage also contributes greatly for Auriel's energy generation. Another one that aids Auriel's energy generation is Chromie; a single Dragon's Breath on crowded Heroes or Minions fills up the gauge to max.

I have been testing Auriel's energy generation with a huge batch of heroes. In general, ranged assassins are absolutely bonkers for that. Some that excel at filling her gauge:

1) Cho'gall: they were mentioned in the guide already, but still... They provide huge lane presence, combined with 8 skills in total makes them the best pair for Auriel to generate that sweet sweet energy. While they lack the burst of other heroes, like Li Ming, they will be constantly dealing damage due their low cooldowns and combined abilities, which will translate in energy really fast.

2) Li Ming: insane damage combined with low cooldowns allied with her trait makes her fill the gauge absurdly fast.

3) Chromie: huge damage spikes with her skillshots. A Chromie with good aim for Sand Blast will fill the gauge really fast. Dragon's Breath is absolutely fantastic as well and will often max the gauge in one go if used on a crowd.

4) Kael'thas: high AoE burst. Living Bomb is specially powerful since it can easily spread to other targets in chains. Phoenix is specially useful to generate energy as well.

5) Gul'dan: low cooldown on Fel Flame makes him a giving constant spikes of damage in the form of energy. The DoT from Corruption is decent, but only if it hits multiple targets.

6) Lunara: awesome harassing with the strong auto attack + DoT, specially if using the Thornwood Vine ultimate.

7) Butcher: once he completes the Fresh Meat quest, he deals insane amounts of damage fills up the energy in couple of seconds. However, since a good Butcher will not engage recklessly, he will only generate energy reliably during Team Battles and skirmishes.

8) Zagara: constant damage all the time, either from auto attack or skills. Since she will always have a minion out doing some damage, she will provide some constant energy.

9) Raynor: fast and reliable auto attack plus mass haste allows for more energy generation from both him and Auriel herself (specially if Energized Cord is picked).

10) Lt. Hammer: while in Siege Mode she can generate huge amounts of energy if positioned correctly. However, she will be a huge target that will be focused really fast (so in the end she is mostly useful if playing VS AI).

Then there are heroes that, while don't generate energy as much when under the effects of Bestow Hope, have some good synergy with Auriel:

- Zarya: they synergize really well with the constant bubbles and heals, and since they don't use Mana as resource, this results in neither having to visit the Healing Well. Zarya's piercing splash damage from her auto attack also results in constant amounts of small energy that held really well.

- Nazeebo: I absolutely love pairing with Nazeebo for the simple fact he can make Zombie Walls every 14 secs, which is great to stun opponents with Detainment Strike.

- Tassadar: same reason as Nazeebo, assuming he picks Force Wall instead of Archon.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Valhalen

[Valhalen 753]

Auriel is amazing when paired with Ragnaros due all that absurd damage he can dish out.

[Revivial 0]

When are you going to update the guide? The level 7 talents specifically. I see that they are the right talents but the level 7 fourth talent image is incorrect.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Revivial

[Straften 15]

On 12/16/2016 at 9:09 PM, Revivial said:

When are you going to update the guide? The level 7 talents specifically. I see that they are the right talents but the level 7 fourth talent image is incorrect.

Thanks, I didn't notice the outdated icon. I updated the guide's content recently, but will get the image sorted out :)

[Kiarbitrager 2]

Any additional comment on the change in Auriel's ultimate recently? It seems like an interesting change, There seems to be a small but significant shift towards it on hotslogs, but tbh I'd still see resurrect as fairly situational as by memory you have described for death effects like Tyrael's or Diablo's.

[Valhalen 753]

19 minutes ago, Kiarbitrager said:

Any additional comment on the change in Auriel's ultimate recently? It seems like an interesting change, There seems to be a small but significant shift towards it on hotslogs, but tbh I'd still see resurrect as fairly situational as by memory you have described for death effects like Tyrael's or Diablo's.

Even with the quality of life changes for Resurrect I still prefer Crystal Aegis; preventing death is usually better than reviving, in my opinion. I just wish they buffed Crystal Aegis explosion damage.

[Straften 15]

On 5/3/2017 at 8:18 AM, Kiarbitrager said:

Any additional comment on the change in Auriel's ultimate recently? It seems like an interesting change, There seems to be a small but significant shift towards it on hotslogs, but tbh I'd still see resurrect as fairly situational as by memory you have described for death effects like Tyrael's or Diablo's.

Resurrect is easier to channel now, but it can still result in feeding a second kill to the other team. At least Aegis has a small burst of damage in an area around the target, which helps to dissuade enemies from piling onto your teammate. Resurrect has a greater ease of use now, but it is still best when your team is already winning team fights. I don't think there are very many situations where it will help to win a team fight more than Aegis will.

[Valhalen 753]

1 hour ago, Straften said:

Resurrect is easier to channel now, but it can still result in feeding a second kill to the other team. At least Aegis has a small burst of damage in an area around the target, which helps to dissuade enemies from piling onto your teammate. Resurrect has a greater ease of use now, but it is still best when your team is already winning team fights. I don't think there are very many situations where it will help to win a team fight more than Aegis will.

I can think on a few occasions where Resurrect is good, such as having a Tyrael in the team that dies and blows everything, only for you to bring him back. But I prefer preventing death other than reviving; so you don't feed XP to the enemy team.

[Valhalen 753]

I think it would be very worth mentioning in the guide at the Tips part that you can stun opponents with Detainment Strike against any object with collisions, including the ones spawned by Heroes, such as Nazeebo's Zombie Wall, Leoric's Entomb, Tassadar's Force Wall, Sonya's Leap (with Arreat Crater) and even Sgt. Hammer's Barricade.

[positiv2 881]

1 hour ago, Valhalen said:

I think it would be very worth mentioning in the guide at the Tips part that you can stun opponents with Detainment Strike against any object with collisions, including the ones spawned by Heroes, such as Nazeebo's Zombie Wall, Leoric's Entomb, Tassadar's Force Wall, Sonya's Leap (with Arreat Crater) and even Sgt. Hammer's Barricade.

I passed this onto Straften, so let's see how he decides. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Valhalen 753]

3 hours ago, positiv2 said:

I passed this onto Straften, so let's see how he decides. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks! Also, I think it would be pretty important to note on her "Strenghts" that she doesn't use mana as resource. I mean, she is the only healer in the game that doesn't use it. Although it is mentioned that "Cannot heal without storing Energy via combat", I think it's worth noting.

Oh, I think it would be interesting as well to add in her "Strenghts" that she can potentially increase her healing output with a cap using Reservoir of Hope. This is one of the things that makes Auriel stands out, as no other healer can do this.

What do you think, Mr. @Straften?

[Valhalen 753]

Guys, sorry for the triple posting.

I think it is also worth mentioning that Auriel draws Energy from summoned minions as well (although it is obvious). Therefore Zagara's zerglings and Hunter will give Auriel Energy, for example. This even applies to clones, such as Samuro's and Nova's.