Anub'arak Build Guide “Time is fleeting.”

Anub'arak is an aggressive anti-caster Tank. His strongest points are his long-range disruption and powerful on-demand resistance to Ability-based damage. Although considered an archetypal tank, Anub'arak's Health pool is considerably lower than that of other tanks. He relies on opportunism and teamwork to survive, exemplifying the adage "the best defence is a good offence."

Strengths

• Excellent initiator
• Access to Cocoon, a valuable Heroic Ability
• Several long-range interruption Abilities

Weaknesses

• Fragile for a tank
• Limited damage output and waveclear
• Main Abilities are skillshots that can be avoided

Balanced Build

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Level 1 ? ?

Level 4 ?

Level 7 ?

Level 10

Level 13 ? ?

Level 16 ?

Level 20

This Balanced Build seeks to provide Anub'arak with a healthy mix of offense, defense, and crowd control. Key defensive aspects of the build lie in the synergistic interaction between Subterranean Shield and Epicenter to readily generate powerful Shields. Offensively, the build exploits the movement speed reduction and stunning effects provided by Impale, Bed of Barbs or Underking, and Burrow Charge to reliably trigger Acid Drenched Mandibles. For crowd control purposes, most of the aforementioned Talents come into play, with Epicenter making team-wide hits with Burrow Charge particularly debilitating. At Hero Level 20, Rewind more or less allows you to double any of the above tricks for one of the game's most powerful power spikes.

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Anub'arak synergizes with

Anub'arak's aggressive crowd control-oriented Ability set makes him particularly useful to any Hero who is able to follow up on said crowd control with their own Ability combo.

Anub'arak is countered by

Anub'arak's aggressive game plan is difficult to execute against Heroes that have ways of avoiding his skillshot or becoming immune to crowd control on-demand.

Anub'arak's stronger maps

Anub'arak's average maps

Anub'arak's weaker maps

Anub'arak's aggressive gameplan works well on most Maps, provided teammates follow through. His sub-par PvE damage output means that someone else will have to help with the many Map Objectives that require killing.

• Exploit Scarab Host Beetles to soak damage from Structures and Mercenaries, and to intercept skillshots.
• Use Burrow Charge to close up on a target, then follow up with Impale for much crowd control.
• Harden Carapace should be used on-Cooldown during fights due to its low Mana cost and ability to summon Beetles.
• Use Locust Swarm with caution; it heals for a large amount, but does not make you invincible, especially versus burst damage.
• Hold onto your Cocoon's Cooldown to interrupt and deny strong enemy Heroic Abilities.

Anub'arak is a unique tank that sacrifices raw durability for powerful on-demand initiations. In general, Anub'arak players are expected to look for opportunities to lock down isolated targets (through Impale and Burrow Charge) to allow their teammates to follow up.

In the early stages of the game, Anub'arak is well-suited for roaming and protecting teammates in lanes. Burrow Charge lets him effectively scout with very little danger. This task is just as important as initiating throughout the entire game. As Heroic Abilities become available, Cocoon is the expected choice to catch and aggressively collapse on rotating opponents on top of being generally useful.