Alarak Talents

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Quick Reference
  • 2. Overview
  • 3. Strengths
  • 4. Weaknesses
  • 5. Role in the Current Meta
  • 6. Reading Further
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Abilities and Strategy
  • 1. Tips on Ability Usage
  • 2. Sadism (Trait)
  • 3. Discord Strike
  • 4. Telekinesis
  • 5. Lightning Surge
  • 6. Deadly Charge
  • 7. Counter-Strike
  • 8. ChangeLog
• ×Talent Build
  • 1. Talent Build
  • 2. Common Talent Paths
    • 2.1. Chaos Reigns Build
    • 2.2. Lightning Surge Build
  • 3. Level 1 Talents
    • 3.1. Discussion
  • 4. Level 4 Talents
    • 4.1. Discussion
  • 5. Level 7 Talents
    • 5.1. Discussion
  • 6. Level 10 Talents
    • 6.1. Discussion
  • 7. Level 13 Talents
    • 7.1. Discussion
  • 8. Level 16 Talents
    • 8.1. Discussion
  • 9. Level 20 Talents
    • 9.1. Discussion
  • 10. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we present the viable talent choices for playing Alarak in a competitive environment in Heroes of the Storm. For each talent, we explain what they do and why they should or should not be taken.

The other pages of our Alarak guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About the Author

Straften is a Grand Master ranked player in both Hero League and Team League. He has a passion for theorycrafting, and regularly tests new features early on the PTR. He explains his strategy, reasoning, and implementation in these guides.

1. Talent Build

Level	Choices
1	✘ ✔ ✘
4	✔ ? ✘
7	? ? ✔
10	? ✔
13	✘ ? ✔
16	✘ ? ✔
20	? ? ? ✔

Create your own build and share it with friends!

2. Common Talent Paths

3. Level 1 Talents

3.1. Discussion

Sustaining Power will add healing to Lightning Surge, but this comes at the cost of the increased range you would get from Extended Lightning. By taking Extended Lightning, you can prevent more damage than Sustaining Power can heal. This is accomplished by casting Lightning Surge from a safer distance than would otherwise be possible. Sustaining Power will require a buff before it can be recommended over Extended Lightning.

Extended Lightning is made up of three quests which enhance Lightning Surge. The first quest increases the range of Lightning Surge, allowing you to poke from much safer positions. It will give you more opportunities to find targets behind enemy Heroes, which will allow you to stack other Lightning Surge related quests more easily. The additional range will also allow you to heal with Lightning Surge more safely. This quest can usually be completed in the opening team fight, if there is one. The second quest adds a slow to enemies hit by the center of Lightning Surge. This can be very powerful in team fights, and as a follow-up to Telekinesis and Discord Strike. The slow can also be used to set up your combo, as the slowed enemies will be much easier to hit. The third quest gives a 10% Sadism bonus; this essentially refunds Extended Lightning's initial Sadism penalty.

Ruthless Momentum can help to reduce the cooldown of Alarak's combo, as long as he remains near full Health. It will reduce the cooldown of Telekinesis the most, since that Ability has the longest cooldown. This Talent will be at its best when laning with allies during the early game, because your support can help to make sure you stay near full Health. The problem with recommending Ruthless Momentum over Extended Lightning, is that Extended Lightning will get even more value in the same scenario.

4. Level 4 Talents

4.1. Discussion

Chaos Reigns is a great Talent that increases Discord Strike's damage when various quests are completed. Discord Strike should be used quite often, so this Talent will help increase damage with most builds. All three quests can be completed instantly by hitting three or more Heroes with a single Discord Strike. This quest can be very easy against Heroes who have multiple bodies in a small area, like Samuro.

Negatively Charged can greatly increase your damage in team fights when using a Lightning Surge poke focused playstyle. Make sure to hit enemies between you and your target in order to get value. The bonus damage only applies to Lightning Surge's center area, so it is best to pair this Talent with Extended Lightning. This quest's stacks are not lost if Alarak dies.

Show of Force is a very satisfying Talent that promotes landing all three Basic Abilities in quick succession. It is a lot of fun, and can make practicing Alarak's combo entertaining. However, Alarak's Abilities should not always be used in quick succession. It is often better to use them individually. Chaos Reigns is better overall once completed, because it will deal more bonus damage than Show of Force will until Level 22. It is also easier to hit multiple enemies with Discord Strike than it is to chain three Abilities on multiple enemies; adding damage to Discord Strike will generally be more effective than adding a similar amount of damage to an Ability chain.

5. Level 7 Talents

5.1. Discussion

Dissonance increases the silence duration of Discord Strike. This can be useful for locking down Heroes who have escapes, as they will be unable to cast them for an additional amount of time. This is especially useful against Warriors, who usually need to cast Abilities to enhance their survivability. This Talent has the added benefit of not reducing Sadism.

Hindered Motion adds a slow to Telekinesis, which can be useful if you are experiencing difficulty landing Discord Strike.

Applied Force greatly increases the impact of Telekinesis, and makes landing the Telekinesis into Discord Strike combo much easier. At the same time it increases the effects of the other uses of Telekinesis, including peel and escape. This Talent generally has the greatest impact of the Talents in this tier; it allows Alarak to pull enemies out of position from a safer distance.

6. Level 10 Talents

6.1. Discussion

Deadly Charge can deal massive damage to several enemy Heroes, or deal fatal damage to a low health enemy who is fleeing a team fight. You will be fully committed after your charge, so make sure your team is ready before you charge in. If your team does not want to commit to a fight, you may cancel the channel at any time. Attempting to channel Deadly Charge while inside or behind an enemy Minion wave will not work, as the Minions will attack you and cancel your channel. Deadly Charge is more risky than Counter Strike, because its defensive uses are limited.

Counter-Strike is a great Heroic option that can be used to save Alarak from high damage Abilities, hard crowd control, or simply to deal burst damage during a fight. When using Counter-Strike primarily as a damage source, enemy damage over time effects will proc the strike very reliably. You will need to think ahead and counter an enemy attack, which is much different than the hard engage you get from Deadly Charge. It is generally recommended over Deadly Charge due to the control and versatility it provides.

7. Level 13 Talents

7.1. Discussion

Blade of the Highlord adds a temporary bonus to Sadism while Alarak applies Basic Attacks to enemy Heroes. This bonus is lost shortly after the application of Basic Attacks ends. The bonus Sadism has a limit of 35%. This Talent is not currently recommended because Rite of Rak'Shir's bonus can scale well past 35%, and is only lost if Alarak dies.

Pure Malice increases Sadism up to 40%, but requires your teammates to die for this to happen. For this reason, Pure Malice will get the most value when you have expendable Heroes like Murky or The Lost Vikings on your team. You should still consider Rite of Rak'Shir, as its bonus can scale far past 40%.

Rite of Rak'Shir has the potential to scale Sadism's bonus to absurd amounts. This bonus is lost on death, but can otherwise be stacked without limit. You can gain 5% Sadism easily, just by casting this on an enemy Hero who is about to die. Some enemies will be zoned out of fights, simply by casting Rite of Rak'Shir on them. It is important to note that destroying D.Va's Mech will not reset Rite of Rak'Shir's cooldown; casting it on her is not recommended.

8. Level 16 Talents

8.1. Discussion

Lethal Onslaught is similar to Mocking Strikes, in that they both grant a bonus to Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes who have been hit by Discord Strike. Lethal Onslaught can only be triggered by Discord Strike. However, Mocking Strikes can be triggered by any silence, slow, stun, or root effects. In addition to this important difference, the effect of Mocking Strikes is much more powerful than that of Lethal Onslaught. For these reasons, this Talent is not currently recommended.

Lightning Barrage is a great Talent for playstyles focused on Lightning Surge use. This enables you to deal more damage, heal more often, and stack Negatively Charged higher.

Mocking Strikes is very strong, and is generally recommended. It greatly reduces Basic Ability cooldowns each time Alarak Basic Attacks an enemy who is stunned, silenced, slowed, or rooted. You can silence enemies with Discord Strike, and slow them with Extended Lightning or Hindered Motion. Basic Attacking after landing these Abilities is quite natural, and Mocking Strikes will generally get a lot of value.

9. Level 20 Talents

9.1. Discussion

Counter-Strike is covered in detail above. Alarak is able to take both of his Level 10 Heroics in the same game. It is recommended to do so if Deadly Charge was taken at Level 10, because Counter-Strike is incredibly valuable after Deadly Charge is used to commit to a fight.

Deadly Charge is covered in detail above. This can be a good choice if you are against a very squishy composition, or if you are being denied Rite of Rak'Shir stacks which could be spent on Hasty Bargain. Deadly Charge is also good if you are getting resets from Mocking Strikes, in which case Hasty Bargain may not be needed.

Last Laugh is a risky Talent that is almost exclusively useful as an escape. Attempting to use this Talent offensively will often result in death, unless you are very confident in your ability to reliably land Alarak's skillshots. As a last resort escape it can be worth taking, as Telekinesis is a rather poor tool for a full retreat. If you need something to preserve your Rite of Rak'Shir stacks, this Talent can often work.

Hasty Bargain gives up some of Sadism's bonus damage with each use; however, it allows Alarak to kill most Heroes in the game by himself. If you are confident and comfortable on Alarak, this Talent can allow you to close out a late game team fight in order to secure victory. For maximum value, throw out your full Ability rotation, then activate Hasty Bargain and repeat. Don't worry about the damage you give up doing this, as kills in the late game are much more valuable. Additionally, you can farm Sadism back with Rite of Rak'Shir.

10. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 26 Aug. 2017: Blade of the Highlord text updated to reflect balance patch, earlier this week.
• 20 Jun. 2017: Extended Lightning text updated.
• 01 Jun. 2017: Text updated for Show of Force's discussion.
• 31 May 2017: Talents page updated following balance patch.
• 16 May 2017: Talents page updated following Alarak's rework in D.Va's release patch.