Anub'arak Talents

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

Legion of Beetles indirectly improves Anub'arak's survivability and damage output by passively creating more fodder Beetles to absorb skillshots and distract Minions and Structures. As such, it is particularly effective against Heroes who rely on skillshots, such as Li-Ming. Legion of Beetles is never a bad choice, though the alternatives may provide more niche utility under the right circumstances. Legion of Beetles can be picked in most matches.

Nerubian Armor stacks up with Anub'arak's 40-point Spell Armor from Harden Carapace to make him unnaturally difficult to take down for Ability-reliant Heroes. Even against Heroes that do not rely on Abilities as their main damage source, Nerubian Armor will find a way to passively improve your survivability. Pick against two or more casters.

Regeneration Master is the alternative to Nerubian Armor. Although it is more versatile, in that its Health Regeneration and later Health bonus "mitigate" more damage types, it needs to be built over time, whereas Nerubian Armor pays off right away. Pick Regeneration Master if the opposing team features absolutely no Ability-reliant Heroes.

Bed of Barbs greatly 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; simply aim right down a Minion wave with Impale.

Shed Exoskeleton provides Anub'arak with a strong and reliable movement speed increase effect. It does, however, compete with Bed of Barbs, which, for the reasons described above, is an outstanding Talent.

Underking increases Anub'arak's threat range, making it invaluable against long-range Heroes and for escaping. Underking also lets Anub'arak initiate from unexpectedly far and through Terrain.

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.

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.

Burning Rage offers less damage and utility than Urticating Spines and Acid Drenched Mandibles, respectively.

Urticating Spines is the alternative to Acid Drenched Mandibles should you have opted to pick Chitinous Plating at Hero Level 7.

Acid Drenched Mandibles provides Anub'arak with some of the single-target damage potential he so sorely lacks. You need to use as many Basic Attacks as possible against enemies that are affected by crowd control whenever you can to really make the best of this Talent.

The potency of the Cooldown reduction provided by Epicenter cannot be understated, as Burrow Charge and its other related Talents are key to Anub'arak. The increased area of effect is also extremely helpful in reliably hitting more targets, making the Talent synergise with itself.

Debilitation has niche usefulness against team compositions that feature two or more Ability-damage reliant Heroes, such as Alarak, Cho'gall, Gul'dan, Jaina, Kael'thas, Li-Ming, Nazeebo, or Ragnaros. Otherwise, you are likely to get more out of Epicenter.

Beetle, Juiced requires an unnaturally large amount of Basic Attacks to truly see any effect. Even when this is possible, the Talent fails to impress, and pales in comparison with Epicenter.

Although Hive Master adds a significant amount of damage and self-healing, making Anub'arak one of the strongest duelists, the Talent typically comes into play so late that team fight-oriented Talents should be prefered. Still, if you feel that your team sorely lacks damage, Hive Master may be the way to go.

Cryptweave requires Anub'arak to remain relatively close to Cocoon's target for to see any value. However, the Ability is often used specifically against Healers, whom tend to remain away from combat. The only exception to this would be Kharazim, against whom the Talent may be viable as a counter to Divine Palm.

Hardened Shield does not fit Anub'arak's game plan particularly well. To develop on this further, Anub'arak is meant to be played aggressively, using crowd control to setup for kills. After using his important Cooldowns, Anub'arak essentially becomes a mild annoyance. Surviving for a few more seconds through Hardened Shield at the cost of the outstanding Rewind alternative is simply not worth it.

Rewind is outstanding and versatile, allowing you to double your short term damage, survivability, and crowd control on demand. Double-casting Impale and Burrow Charge can lead to some of the game's longest crowd control chains, and the possibility of quickly summoning six Beetles to assist you is significant. Simply make sure that you have used all of your Basic Abilities before using Rewind, so as to not waste its effect entirely.