Blaze Abilities and Strategy

• Flame Stream fires two parallel projectiles. Hit with both to deal more damage.
• An Ignited Oil Spill will Ignite any other Oil Spills that overlap with it.
• Jet Propulsion has a long delay, so it should be used after Oil Spill.
• Avoid staying too long in Bunker Drop if unnecessary. Press the R key or right-click near it to exit.
• Combustion prevents you from casting other Abilities while it is being channeled.
• The cooldown of Pyromania is reduced when hitting enemy Heroes with Flame Stream.

Blaze's Basic Attacks are unique: in addition to being ranged, they hit all enemies in a small cone-shaped area directly in front of Blaze. This attribute is particularly useful for dealing damage to melee Heroes without allowing them to retaliate as well as for waveclearing purposes.

From a pure damage-dealing standpoint, Blaze's Basic Attack is comparatively very weak when hitting less than 3 targets. As a consequence, while clearing Minions and Mercenaries, it is important to try and make the most out of Blaze's Basic Attacks by positioning yourself in a way that as many targets as possible can be hit. When not fighting Heroes, this generally means walking in melee range of the nearest target so that the cone-shaped area hits enemies further back. During team fights, however, you should not try to hit multiple Heroes because you will easily end up taking unnecessary damage or, even worse, put yourself at risk of dying just to deal a bit more damage with your Basic Attacks.

Flame Stream is an unusual skillshot that fires two relatively fast parallel projectiles which pierce any target hit. Since these projectiles are fired close to each other, it is possible to aim in a way that they both hit an individual target, allowing you to deal extra damage in the process. Still, this can be useful to poke or finish off fleeing enemies.

Flame Stream can be used to Ignite your Oil Spill by casting it directly on top of the Oil Spill's area. Deciding when and when not to Ignite them is key to playing Blaze and will be discussed below.

Each Hero hit by a single stream of Flame Stream reduces the cooldown of Pyromania by 4 seconds and each Hero hit by two streams of Flame Stream reduces its cooldown by 12 seconds—4 seconds per stream and 4 seconds thanks to the bonus damage of the double hit.

Oil Spill is arguably Blaze's most important Ability. On its own, it provides a powerful Slow effect with a long duration. However, the Ability also has a second form: when Flame Stream hits Oil Spill's tar-like area of effect, it becomes Ignited for an additional 2.5 seconds. When Ignited, Oil Spill no longer Slows, but instead deals a large amount of damage-over-time to enemies within its area of effect and heals Blaze for a significant amount as long as he remains within the Ability's area of effect. Ignited Oil Spill will also Ignite overlapping Oil Spills, which is relevant given that it has two charges, and that certain Talents can generate additional Oil Spills.

It is worth noting that Oil Spill uses an uncommon targeting system known as Vector Targeting. This means that Oil Spill's rectangular area of effect does not originate from the caster himself, unlike most Abilities, but instead from the targeted point and then expands in the direction you move your mouse cursor. Due to Oil Spill having a rectangular shape, this flexible targeting system allows you to accurately control Oil Spill's coverage, which is particularly useful for cutting off escape routes or hindering initiations by aiming in the direction opponents are moving towards.

Ignited Oil Spill is certainly useful for Blaze. To Ignite, or not to Ignite, however, is the first aspect of Oil Spill to master. In most cases, the Ability's Slow effect may be more valuable than its damage and healing. Generally, this is when you are trying to peel off or Slow fleeing opponents while your allies attempt to finish them off, or when attempting yourself to hit with Jet Propulsion. Igniting Oil Spill, however, is useful when you need self-healing.

Jet Propulsion is a versatile Ability that brings together Blaze's only form of mobility and hard crowd-control, making it effective at initiating, peeling, and interrupting channeled-abilities. Jet Propulsion allows Blaze to pass right through non-Heroic entities such as Minions, though not terrain nor Structures. Its short 0.5 seconds cast time and traveling time also means that you need to aim slightly ahead of your intended target, though Oil Spill can and should be used to Slow them and make the Ability easier to hit with.

As a combo piece, successful Jet Propulsion hits should be naturally followed with Oil Spill and Flame Stream, as itsrelatively lengthy 1.25 seconds Stun will force struck Heroes to remain within Oil Spill's area for at least this long. The Ability can also be used as a setup for Combustion or powerful allied Abilities; be sure, however, not to overextend and to communicate your intentions with Pings or a quick "engaging soon!" chat message.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Bunker Drop is Blaze's defensive Heroic Ability choice. Its main purpose is to allow allied Heroes to temporarily disable themselves in exchange for a large shared Shielding effect and the ability to deal some damage through a new Flame Stream-like Ability. Bunker Drop also automatically garrisons Blaze after its 0.5 seconds cast time, making it useful as a last resort to try to stay alive or to buy some time for allies to help out.

Ideally, Bunker Drop should be used next to fragile allies who are being targeted by threatening Melee Assassins such as Genji, Greymane, Illidan, The Butcher, Valeera, and Zeratul, who tend to rely on quick kills to generate an advantage. It is worth noting that while the Bunker is far from unkillable, it does have more Health than many Heroes, and is generally difficult for a single Hero to burst down timely.

It should be mentioned that cooldowns keep progressing while inside the Bunker, which could allow an important Ability to become available again while protected. Entering the Bunker dispels the majority of crowd control effects and other types of debuffs (such as Temporal Loop by Chromie), damage-over-time effects (for example Corruption by Gul'dan), and cause Abilities that stick on Heroes to repeatedly hit it instead (like Purifier Beam by Artanis).

Blaze will automatically be in the Bunker when summoned. To exit the Bunker, press [R] or right-click near the Bunker. To enter the Bunker, right-click on it. Heroes cannot enter the Bunker while Rooted or Stunned, although Blaze can cast Bunker Drop while Rooted.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Combustion is Blaze's damage-oriented Heroic Ability choice. If you are running a double Tank or double Healer team composition, feel like your team may lack damage, or have a proper way of setting up for the Ability (such as Void Prison) Combustion is an appropriate choice.

The Ability's impressive area of effect damage and potent Slow make it an effective deterrent to anyone trying to attack you or your allies, or trying to contest a specific area such as an Objective or Boss Camp. Ideally, you should hit multiple Heroes with it, however, what matters is that you can secure a kill with its damage. Jet Propulsion's Stun effect can help you setup your own Combustion hits despite the self Slowing effect of the Ability.

As a mobile-channeled Ability, Combustion allows Blaze to move during its channeling time, but prevents him from using Basic Attacks or Abilities other than Combustion itself, which will end the channeling early and deal proportionally less damage. Since Combustion can also be interrupted, keeping track of reliable crowd-control effects is important.

Pyromania is Blaze's main defensive Ability. Its use is generally reserved to when you are being targeted by two or more Heroes. The Armor, combined with Blaze's large Health pool and self-sustain makes him extremely difficult to take down, and may even bait opponents into overcommitting to killing you. Pyromania also deals a reasonable amount of damage, although it should almost never be used solely for this.