Heroes of the Storm Stukov

[Vlad 414]

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

[Valhalen 1,484]

Stukov easily became one of my favorite Heroes, so intuitive to play. He has so much utility and powerful heals, all while being mana efficient, which combines the best of the both worlds for me (one of the reasons I don't play with Rehgar is because he burns his mana way too fast).

I find myself using the Lurking Arm Build you guys posted most of the time, although I've been tampering with a modified version of it. And his basic attack HITS HARD, which allows for some hilarious kill-steals sometimes; such a huge bitchslap that even the sound effect is satisfying. And Massive Shove is so damn fun to use.

I have a feeling that Blizzard will squash this character with the nerf hammer really hard, so I better enjoy his power while I can!

Edited July 12, 2017 by Valhalen

[VitaminC 12]

Stukov easily been one of my favorite Blizzard franchise heroes. Betrayed vice-admiral became an awesome Zerg Russian. His playstyle, like I expected, is really, really fun. Sound effects, animations, abilities and their precise timing made the hero a new favorite of mine (sorry, Kharazim, your time is up xD). I found most value out of Lurking Arm build, which just seems like a balanced mix-up of really good talents in Stukov's tree. I think almost all of his talents are viable and have their situational use.
Expecting balance changes for him soon. He's a little bit too of a powerhouse as of right now.

Edited July 12, 2017 by VitaminC

[Guest A little change but.]

I'd change Pox Populi for Universal Carrier in the Lucking arm build, and Bio-Explosion Switch as level 20. 
This build is clearly made for teamfights, so passing the healing over and over again among all teammates is essential. Of course it's not as effective without Targeted Excition, but it's still way more useful than pox populi IMHO

Other than that, thanks for the guides.

[Valhalen 1,484]

7 hours ago, Guest A little change but. said:

I'd change Pox Populi for Universal Carrier in the Lucking arm build, and Bio-Explosion Switch as level 20. 
This build is clearly made for teamfights, so passing the healing over and over again among all teammates is essential. Of course it's not as effective without Targeted Excition, but it's still way more useful than pox populi IMHO

Other than that, thanks for the guides.

I thought so too at first, but I really dislike Universal Carrier; the reduced healing is far too impactful to be useful, especially in this Build, since without Vigorous Reuptake Stukov's healing output won't be as effective.

Edited July 13, 2017 by Valhalen

[VitaminC 12]

I played Stukov quite a bit more and had some experiments with his talents. I don't take Lurking Arm build anymore, and there's a good reason for it. 'Spine Launcher' build is beyond amazing. Core talent for it is Targeted Excision, it just provides so much cooldown reduction for Bio-Kill Switch, I can't even describe how impactful it is. Yes, hitting is sometimes can be difficult, but the reward more than makes up for the effort.

So now, the basic combo that I use:

1) spread the Healing Pathogen (can spread indefinitely with Universal Carrier, awesome talent);

2) land the Weighted Pustule on an enemy hero;

3) use Lurking Arm on the target;

4) immediatly pop Bio-Kill Switch;

5) root the enemy for stupidly long 2-second duration thanks to Virulent Reaction with same stupidly long 2-second silence from Bio-Explosion Switch and heal my Pathogen carriers;

6) get reduced CD on the trait, re-apply Healing Pathogen (should spread in a 5-second duration while the trait comes up again);

7) pop Bio-Kill Switch on the whole team again.

It's just so satisfying to execute. Spine Launcher really helps keeping the healthy distance when doing this (also makes a lot easier to land Weighted Pustule on target that you slow with the ranged basic attack) and generally allows you to play more safe throughout the course of the match.

Edited July 13, 2017 by VitaminC

[Valhalen 1,484]

8 minutes ago, VitaminC said:

I played Stukov quite a bit more and had some experiments with his talents. I don't take Lurking Arm build anymore, and there's a good reason for it. 'Spine Launcher' build is beyond amazing. Core talent for it is Targeted Excision, it just provides so much cooldown reduction for Bio-Kill Switch, I can't even describe how impactful it is. Yes, hitting is sometimes can be difficult, but the reward more than makes up for the effort.

(...)

It's just so satisfying to execute. Spine Launcher really helps keeping the healthy distance when doing this (also makes a lot easier to land Weighted Pustule on target that you slow with the ranged basic attack) and generally allows you to play more safe throughout the course of the match.

The combo is awesome, indeed. But I find very hard to put it in practice, though. At least all the times I went with this build I ended up underperforming in Healing Done compared to when I went with my tweaked Lurking Arm Build. Maybe I just need to practice more.

I honestly don't see Spine Launcher being that useful. The few games I picked it I couldn't see much of a different with the 1 sec slow, specially considering how slow Stukov's basic attack speed is.

Edited July 13, 2017 by Valhalen

[Guest Phenom]

I really like Stukov in HotS and how it remind me of playing hours of Starcraft Brood War. My favvo support right now, he hits hard in close combat, Lurking Arms and Massive Shove which I really like a lots. 

Have trying Spine Lanucher build and it work very well if really a lots of heals and stand behind yours team mates to avoid get killed. Not fun as Lurking Arms build but fine build too. 

Weighted Pulse build is harder and need more skills to work. Right now U alomst fight others Stukov in QM so hard justice this build maybe. Bur fun too but harder to work well with. And in this build I switch lvl talent Reactive Ballistospores to Virulent Reaction too have a chance to root a enemy hero to help chase hero down. 

 

Another thing I dont see it have been mention here and maybe some here know it already but Stukov can use Massive Shove to take D.Va mech after D.Va use Self-Destruct which I think is nice!

[Guest Closo]

I'm confused as to why this guide keeps saying that the level 16 talent Pox Populi synergises with One good spread... The bonus HoT that is applied from Pox doesn't count towards One good spread... Wouldn't Universal carrier be an objectively better talent with One good spread... Because it can proc over and over?

[Valhalen 1,484]

2 hours ago, Guest Closo said:

I'm confused as to why this guide keeps saying that the level 16 talent Pox Populi synergises with One good spread... The bonus HoT that is applied from Pox doesn't count towards One good spread... Wouldn't Universal carrier be an objectively better talent with One good spread... Because it can proc over and over?

Technically since Healing Pathogen would spread over and over, it is a bit pointless to pick One Good Spread... and Universal Carrier, since the cooldown reduction won't be as necessary.

For the Spine Launcher build you see a better synergy of Universal Carrier and Vigorous Reuptake (more powerful Bio-Kill Switches combined with infinite spreading plus cooldown resets of it with Target Excision).

[Erathis 53]

I can't say I've been especially enchanted with One Good Spread.  The mana return is only mildly useful and the cooldown, while nice, isn't as consistant or impactful as I feel his other options this tier are.  I've honestly just found myself using Biotic Armor in the majority of my games.  50% physical damage reduction is frankly insane even if there is only one good physical damage dealer on the enemy team.  Combined with Pox Populi for almost double duration and I've had great success keeping my damage dealers (or myself) alive through many a fight.  In the rare instances when Biotic Armor just cannot work, I tend to take Vigorous Reuptake to better burst healing vs a full caster team.

As for the "combat" talent tiers, while the other options are fine in and of themselves, I've just not found any reason not to go Lurking Arm build every game.  The Weighted Pustial build just doesn't do enough for me to really notice it, especially since I only really find a need for that skill when we're chasing or escaping (and never want to use Kill Switch on it when I could be saving it for Healing).  Lurking Arm however has been game winning far too often to count and as such making it bigger, linger, and cooldown faster seems key to me.

Finally I've been far too in love with his insane damage to ever consider Spine Launcher.  Losing half damage for a slow ranged attack seems meh, especially since you need to spend a talent to get it.  I'd rather just take chunks out of heroes and buildings with my support character.

Just my thoughts on Stukov so far.

Edited July 16, 2017 by TSRD

[Guest Swightly]

The expanding talent for lurking arm is just ridiculously good to pass up on compared to everything else on the first talent list, even spine launcher. Stukovs low attack speed doesn't really allow him to make his target constantly slowed with spine launcher unless you follow up with a weighted pustule. The DPS being cut in half also severely affects how much he can help in taking down minions, mercs and sieging when you are safe.

I expect to see a big nerf to this talent since the huge AOE basically just turns lurking arm into a heroic ability, forcing most of the enemy spending precious time pathing around or even through the big circle to cast their spells really shakes up team fights in your favour.

[Guest BlackJoker]

So I've been playing stukov a bit, and I have become a fan of using his pustule quest with targeted excision. The quest is not super difficult to complete, and if you trigger targeted excision then pustule and his trait now have the same cooldown! I understand the range increase on long pitch is huge, but I am surprised this combination is not mentioned in the guide. Is there a reason for this? I also am curious about including the talent that roots if you detonate a pustule inside lurking arm, but I am not sure about that option for the build or not. 

[Valhalen 1,484]

This video here conveys perfectly how I play with Stukov:

 

[Guest phoenixx]

Hello

It seems that you unfairly dismissed the Eye Infection talent as disadvantaged to others in that tier, having overlooked all the utility it offers, that is, the 3 second AOE Blind,  the longest in the game after Artanis' ultimate, with far shorter cooldown (16 sec, can be lowered to 5 seconds with particular talent choice). The damage bonus it offers is the only minor side of this talent.

I'm sure that it's a situative pick, just like other blinds, but in some cases - when playing against AA-heavy team - it can be even more life-saving that other talents in that tier. For example, it can negate 75% of the damage Zul'jin can do during Taz'dingo, or counter self-healing divers like Varian or Illidan. Also, it has top winrate in the HotsLogs as well as frequently taken in pro-gaming.

[Straften 24]

On 10/7/2017 at 11:43 AM, Guest phoenixx said:

Hello

Greetings Traveler!

On 10/7/2017 at 11:43 AM, Guest phoenixx said:

It seems that you unfairly dismissed the Eye Infection talent as disadvantaged to others in that tier, having overlooked all the utility it offers, that is, the 3 second AOE Blind,  the longest in the game after Artanis' ultimate, with far shorter cooldown (16 sec, can be lowered to 5 seconds with particular talent choice). The damage bonus it offers is the only minor side of this talent.

I'm sure that it's a situative pick, just like other blinds, but in some cases - when playing against AA-heavy team - it can be even more life-saving that other talents in that tier. For example, it can negate 75% of the damage Zul'jin can do during Taz'dingo, or counter self-healing divers like Varian or Illidan.

You make some great points, most notably the one about Zul'jin. I think he is one of the best examples of when to consider taking this Talent.

The projectile speed of Weighted Pustule is very slow. This makes it difficult to reliably apply it to high mobility Heroes, like Illidan. It would still be very useful against a Twin Blades Varian! While there are more reliable Blinds out there, you don't always get last pick. This Talent can definitely be useful in those situations where you need a Blind, at least as long as you can land it on the intended enemy when you need to. 

On 10/7/2017 at 11:43 AM, Guest phoenixx said:

Also, it has top winrate in the HotsLogs as well as frequently taken in pro-gaming.

When looking at HotsLogs it is important to not only look at winrate. The pick rate of Eye Infection is less than 10%, and for good reason. Eye Infection requires specific circumstances to be worth it, but as you pointed out, it can perform very well if the situation is ripe for it. For this reason, I moved it to Situational and updated the Talent text :D

[Valhalen 1,484]

21 hours ago, Straften said:

When looking at HotsLogs it is important to not only look at winrate. The pick rate of Eye Infection is less than 10%, and for good reason. Eye Infection requires specific circumstances to be worth it, but as you pointed out, it can perform very well if the situation is ripe for it. For this reason, I moved it to Situational and updated the Talent text :D

Oh gee. They're removing Eye Infection for the next patch.

[phoenixx 0]

On 09.10.2017 at 8:48 PM, Valhalen said:

Oh gee. They're removing Eye Infection for the next patch.

Unfortunately. Blizz seems to make heroes less universal, more niche. For example, Stukov is good vs ability-driven heroes, while this talent makes him also effective vs auto-attackers.

Also, it was picked 5 times during HGC and had 80% winrate. Maybe, this fact was one which made Blizz to remove it.

Edited October 13, 2017 by phoenixx

[Guest eve]

Im seriously suprised that this build isnt in here. 
https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/talent-calculator/stukov#26.0!2441331
Fetid touch has a great synergy with Targeted Excision because it makes both Weightened Pustule and Bio-Killswitch essentially 5 second cooldown.
Vigorous Reuptake because Bio-Killswitch healing will be your main source of heal ofc its always best to wait until HoT did some work on its own but the requirement on Targeted Excision usually fits in the time window. So u get some HoT and Bio-Killswitch.
I take Flailing Swipe because of its strong disengage component but its okay to take Massive Shove. 
At level 13 i usually take Lingering spine since i find it more useful in entirely healing focused build since i dont need to channel it for a time by the time the Lurking Arm expires the enemy hero is already out of its AoE anyway. But other talents can be taken in this build aside from Reactive Balistospores which would probably break this build because of Targeted Excision requirements.
Pox Populi for more healing even after detonating Bio-Killswitch. I find Universal Carries spread to be too chaotic when the build already needs a good execution and the 50% less HoT doesnt make it more appealing either.
For Lvl 20 both heroic upgrades are good to take. Didnt try Bio-Explosion Switch so cant comment on that.

Overall this build Allows you to heal your entire team for 700 (in lvl 1 scale) every 5 seconds while getting 1 hero ready for execution.
You also get the initial HoT and the 3 sec additional because of Pox Populi. 
This my go to build if im going solo heal. 

[Valhalen 1,484]

8 hours ago, Guest eve said:

Im seriously suprised that this build isnt in here. 
https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/talent-calculator/stukov#26.0!2441331
Fetid touch has a great synergy with Targeted Excision because it makes both Weightened Pustule and Bio-Killswitch essentially 5 second cooldown.
Vigorous Reuptake because Bio-Killswitch healing will be your main source of heal ofc its always best to wait until HoT did some work on its own but the requirement on Targeted Excision usually fits in the time window. So u get some HoT and Bio-Killswitch.
I take Flailing Swipe because of its strong disengage component but its okay to take Massive Shove. 
At level 13 i usually take Lingering spine since i find it more useful in entirely healing focused build since i dont need to channel it for a time by the time the Lurking Arm expires the enemy hero is already out of its AoE anyway. But other talents can be taken in this build aside from Reactive Balistospores which would probably break this build because of Targeted Excision requirements.
Pox Populi for more healing even after detonating Bio-Killswitch. I find Universal Carries spread to be too chaotic when the build already needs a good execution and the 50% less HoT doesnt make it more appealing either.
For Lvl 20 both heroic upgrades are good to take. Didnt try Bio-Explosion Switch so cant comment on that.

Overall this build Allows you to heal your entire team for 700 (in lvl 1 scale) every 5 seconds while getting 1 hero ready for execution.
You also get the initial HoT and the 3 sec additional because of Pox Populi. 
This my go to build if im going solo heal. 

Definitely an interesting build. I agree with you on Universal Carrier; not very fond of that talent. However, even though you mentioned Reactive Ballistospores breaks the build, it is still a very "Oh shit" talent that can definitely save you in tight situations.

[BigGaz 0]

I don't know if it's just me but some of the icons / scroll-overs etc for the builds are horribly borked...

[positiv2 953]

18 hours ago, BigGaz said:

I don't know if it's just me but some of the icons / scroll-overs etc for the builds are horribly borked...

Yes, it appears that a slower connection makes them behave strangely. We are working on fixing it. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[Guest Varkarrus]

You should add Stukov's WED build to the page. It's REALLY powerful.

[MagikMurlok 1]

Can anyone think up a build that is purely focused on as sustained as possible I.E max output healing?

[Valhalen 1,484]

2 hours ago, MagikMurlok said:

Can anyone think up a build that is purely focused on as sustained as possible I.E max output healing?

I think both builds were already covered in the original section, but there are two builds I'd recommend:

• The Bio-Kill Switch build: focused on maximizing the burst healing when detonating Healing Pathogen. The general idea is to basically get resets on Bio-Kill Switch through Targeted Excision, thus enabling to complete Vigorous Reuptake as soon as possible.
  • Virulent Reaction plays a pivotal role in this build as you'll be focusing on detonating a single Weighted Pustule, while having Healing Pathogen spread to your allies beforehand.
• The Healing Pathogen build: a mana-efficient build that allows constant uses of Healing Pathogen thanks to One Good Spread... I recommend this build to new players as it is very easy to burn Stukov's mana if you're not careful; both One Good Spread... and It Hungers are very effective at mana management as they will return mana to Stukov.

For both builds you can pick Superstrain at level 16 if the enemy team features a lot of stuns or roots.

Stukov doesn't have a build "purely focused" on sustain because he has more talents oriented around his offensive abilities than his healing abilities; however, the few ones he has play a major role on his performance.