Anub'arak Talents
Welcome to our Talents page for Anub'arak. Here, we give you an overview of how strong each of Anub'arak's talents is. Then, we present several viable builds, before analyzing each talent row separately, so that you can make informed decisions.
Anub'arak's Talent Build
Level | Choices |
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1 |
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4 |
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7 |
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10 |
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13 |
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16 |
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20 |
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Anub'arak's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Hardened Carapace Build
RecommendedAnub'arak's Hardened Carapace Build increases his mobility, survivability, and damage during prolonged team fights.
Choose this Build when you need the Spell Armor
from Harden Carapace and Movement Speed
from
Shed Exoskeleton at Level 4 more often
because
Chitinous Plating at Level 7 reduces its cooldown.
Burrow Charge Build
SituationalAnub'arak's Burrow Charge Build increases his burst damage and survivability
while engaging with Burrow Charge.
The survivability comes from Subterranean Shield at Level 7
while the damage comes from
Underking at Level 4
and
Urticating Spines at Level 13.
Scarab Host Build
BeginnerAnub'arak's Scarab Host Build increases his damage output and survivability during prolonged team fights.
The increased damage comes from Burning Beetles at Level 13
while the survivability comes form
Leeching Scarabs at Level 7,
both empowered by
Legion of Beetles at Level 1
and
Beetle, Juiced at Level 16.
Level 1 Talents for Anub'arak


Increase Hardened Carapace's Spell Armor by 20.


Beetles have 30 Spell Armor. Automatically spawn a Beetle every 12 seconds. Can be toggled on and off.


Quest: Gathering a Regeneration Globe increases your Health Regeneration by 1 per second, up to 30.
Reward: After gathering 30 Regeneration Globes, you also gain 500 Health.
Discussion
Nerubian Armor is a strong Talent that
increases the Spell Armor coming from
Harden Carapace, making Anub'arak extremely hard
to kill with Abilities. Even against Heroes that do not rely on Abilities
as their main damage source,
Nerubian Armor
will still give a good amount of value.
Legion of Beetles is a decent Talent that
improves your ability to intercept enemy skillshot
directed towards you or allied Heroes. You also get an additional Beetle,
slightly increasing your damage output.
Regeneration Master is a decent Talent that
increases your Health Regeneration and, later in the game, maximum Health.
While it works against any type of damage, it gives no value during
the early game and low value during
the mid game because its main Reward
comes in the late game.
Level 4 Talents for Anub'arak


Create a bed of spikes along Impale's path that slows enemies by 25% and deals 21 (+4% per level) damage per second. Spikes persist for 3.5 seconds.


Harden Carapace grants 30% increased Movement Speed for 3 seconds.


Increases Burrow Charge range by 20% and damage by 100%.
Discussion
Bed of Barbs improves
Impale by adding a respectable area of effect movement
speed reduction effect to it. The value of this Talent becomes particularly
noticeable after picking up
Acid Drenched Mandibles, which will trigger
repeatedly against any foe caught by Bed of Barbs. The Talent also helps with
early-game waveclear, should you need to. Keep
in mind that Impale should never be wasted to damage Minions if there are enemy
Heroes around, as it is a key Ability for Anub'arak.
Shed Exoskeleton provides Anub'arak with a strong and reliable Movement Speed
increase effect that makes up for the lack of mobility
right after using
Burrow Charge. Being based on
Harden Carapace,
this Talent has synergy with
Chitinous Plating at Level 7
which provides cooldown reduction for it.
Underking increases both range and damage
of
Burrow Charge.
The range increase is great when you want to dive
the enemy backline or when you want to escape.
The damage bonus is always welcome, especially if your team wants to
burst down enemy Heroes as fast as possible.
Level 7 Talents for Anub'arak


While Harden Carapace is active, taking damage from enemy Abilities reduces its cooldown by 1 second, up to 3 seconds.


Burrow Charge also grants a 345 (+4% per level) point Shield for 5 seconds.


Beetles gain 30% bonus attack damage and they heal Anub'arak for 50% of their damage with each attack if he is nearby.
Discussion
Chitinous Plating has the potential of nearly halving the cooldown of
Harden Carapace. This translates into more survivability, more Beetles,
and, later on, more damage, through
Urticating Spines. This
Talent is a versatile alternative to
Subterranean Shield, when combined with
Urticating Spines, if the opposing team relies on Abilities to inflict their
damage, and would prevent you from landing Basic Attacks to benefit from
Acid Drenched Mandibles.
Subterranean Shield provides Anub'arak with a substantial survivability
increase that is conveniently located on his main initiation tool.
Subterranean Shield becomes particularly potent when combined with
Epicenter.
Leeching Scarabs offers a mediocre amount of self-sustain
while out of player combat. In combat, however, Beetles often die quickly to
incidental area of effect damage, making the Talent less than effective then.
Burst survivability is generally more valuable to Anub'arak, whose playstyle
revolves around quick, decisive attacks as opposed to prolonged combat.
Level 10 Talents for Anub'arak


- Mana: 75
- Cooldown: 100 seconds
Deal 68 (+4% per level) damage per second to nearby enemies. Each enemy damaged restores 24 (+4% per level) Health. Lasts 6 seconds.


- Mana: 70
- Cooldown: 70 seconds
Wraps target enemy Hero in a cocoon, rendering them unable to act or be targeted for 7 seconds. Allies of the Hero can attack the cocoon to break it and free them early.
Discussion
At this Level, Heroic Abilities become available. Both Heroic Abilities have already been described in the abilities section; refer to it for more information.
Locust Swarm makes Anub'arak extremely difficult to
take out for its duration, on top of making him impossible to ignore due to the
Ability's sheer area of effect damage output. Locust Swarm's only downside is a
lengthy Cooldown that reflects its power and versatility. Pick if you do not
have an important target to use
Cocoon against, which
means almost never.
As of the current metagame state, many teams elect to pick a single,
powerful single-target Healer such as Malfurion or Rehgar.
Cocoon can make it difficult for such team compositions to survive, as instantly
disabling these Heroes can essentially negate the usefulness of their defensive
Heroic Abilities. Avoid picking Cocoon against Tracer and Valla, however, as
they possess means of very quickly destroying the Cocoon.
Level 13 Talents for Anub'arak


Casting Harden Carapace will also deal 80 (+4% per level) damage to nearby enemies. Deals double damage against Heroes.


Deal 21 (+4% per level) damage per second to nearby enemies. Beetles deal 6 (+4% per level) damage per second to nearby enemies.


Attacking a Hero that is slowed, rooted, or stunned increases Anub'arak's Basic Attack damage by 70% for 3 seconds.
Discussion
Urticating Spines is a strong Talent
that deals a high amount of burst damage to enemy Heroes
near Anub'arak when
Harden Carapace gets used.
The damage done via this Talent counts as Spell Damage.
Burning Beetles is a decent Talent that provides
a lot of sustain damage when combined with some
Scarab Host-related Talents:
Legion of Beetles at Level 1 and
Beetle, Juiced at Level 16.
The damage done via this Talent counts as Spell Damage.
Acid Drenched Mandibles is a good Talent that
provides a good amount of sustained damage on enemy Heroes recently affected
by specific crowd control effects.
The damage done via this Talent counts as Physical Damage.
Level 16 Talents for Anub'arak


Increases Burrow Charge impact area by 60% and lowers the cooldown by 1 second for each Hero hit.


Enemy Heroes hit by Burrow Charge or Impale have their Spell Power reduced by 50% for 4 seconds.


Passive: Beetles gain 30% increased health.
Every 4th Basic Attack spawns a Beetle.
Discussion
Epicenter is a strong Talent that primarily helps
you land
Burrow Charge on enemy Heroes
while also reducing its cooldown when it successfully hits them.
Debilitation is a situational Talent
that reduces the spell power of enemy Heroes
recently hit with
Impale or
Burrow Charge,
halving all the damage and healing they deal with their Abilities (for example Whitemane's kit).
Beetle, Juiced is a decent Talent that increases
the survivability of your Beetles and makes
Scarab Host
spawn a Beetle once every 4 Basic Attacks. As you can imagine, this Talent
has synergy with any
Scarab Host-related Talent:
Legion of Beetles at Level 1,
Leeching Scarabs at Level 7,
and
Burning Beetles at Level 13.
Level 20 Talents for Anub'arak


Gain a permanent Vampire Locust that attacks a nearby enemy every 3 seconds. The Vampire Locust deals 165 (+4% per level) damage and returns to heal Anub'arak for 80 (+4% per level) health.


Staying near the Cocoon allows Anub'arak to extend the duration by up to 6 seconds per Cocoon. Upon exiting the Cocoon, enemies take 50 (+4% per level) damage over 4 seconds. This damage is increased by 100% for each second that they were inside.


- Cooldown: 60 seconds
Gain 10% bonus maximum Health and 20 Spell Armor.
Activate to gain 75 Armor for 4 seconds.


- Cooldown: 60 seconds
Activate to reset the cooldowns of your Basic Abilities.
Discussion
Although Hive Master is a good Talent that
gives you a permanent Vampire Locust which deals damage to a single nearby enemy
once every 3 seconds and heals Anub'arak for about half of that amount.
The sustain damage and healing provided by this Talent
are particularly good for long team fights. All that said, we do not recommend
this Talent because
Rewind offers more playmaking
potential together with additional survivability and more damage.
Cryptweave is a good Talent that can extend
the duration of
Cocoon, but only if Anub'arak stays within 4.5 range.
In addition to that, the targeted Hero will take damage based on how long it lasted.
We do not recommend this Talent because
Rewind
offers more playmaking potential while also allowing you to deal more damage.
The Traitor King is a good Talent that passively gives
Anub'arak 10% additional maximum Health and 20 Spell Armor,
and it can also be activated once every 60 seconds to gain 75 Armor for a few seconds.
The huge amount of survivability provided by this Talent makes Anub'arak
way harder to kill with burst damage. All that said,
we do not recommend this Talent because
Rewind
offers more playmaking potential while also giving you some additional survivability,
even if not as much as
The Traitor King.
Rewind is a strong Talent that allows Anub'arak
to instantly reset the cooldown of all his Basic Abilities once every 60 seconds.
The effect provided is outstanding and versatile, allowing you to double your
burst damage, survivability, and crowd control on demand.
Being able to cast
Impale
and
Burrow Charge twice in a row can lead to some of
the game's longest crowd control chains.
Thanks to
Scarab Host, you will be also summoning 3 additional Beetles to assist you,
effectively increasing your damage output.
Make sure that you have used most if not all your Basic Abilities
before using
Rewind, else you will waste part or all of its effect.
Changelog
- 15 Dec. 2020: Builds fixed.
- 04 Nov. 2020: Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 28 Oct. 2020: Builds fixed.
- 10 Oct. 2020: Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 19 Aug. 2020: Burning Beetles added.
- 19 Jul. 2020: Talents reviewed and updated.
- 20 Jun. 2020: Talents reviewed following June 3 balance patch. No changes to Talent recommendations.
- 05 Apr. 2020: Description reviewed for Bed of Barbs.
- 27 Jan. 2020: Guide reviewed following January 22 balance patch. No changes to Talent recommendations.
- 26 Jun. 2019: Guide reviewed and updated.
- 05 Feb. 2019: Talents and recommendations updated following Legion of Beetles rework.
- 20 Jan. 2019: Build recommendations updated.
- 30 Jun. 2018: Updated for the latest Balance update.
- 14 Jan. 2018: Updated Balance build.
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Elitesparkle is a multiple times Master player in Europe who plays Heroes of the Storm since its release. He is an active member of the community — especially on Reddit — who likes to teach new and veteran players all he knows about his favorite game.
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