Cho Talents
Welcome to our Talents page for Cho. Here, we give you an overview of how strong each of Cho's talents is. Then, we present several viable builds, before analyzing each talent row separately, so that you can make informed decisions.
Cho's Talent Build
Level | Choices |
---|---|
1 | ? ✓ ? |
4 | ? ✘︎ ✓ |
7 | ? ? ✓ |
10 | ✓ ? |
13 | ? ✓ ? |
16 | ✓ ✘︎ ? |
20 | ✓ ? ✘︎ ? |
Cho's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Standard Build
RecommendedThis standard build provides a balance between sustain and mobility. Calloused Hide greatly enhance Cho's teamfighting potential and escape capabilities when he is low on health, being a great Talent for surviving through the early game.
Like all the Cho and Gall builds, it has great power spikes at Level 13 and beyond. At this Level, Twilight Veil is the standard Talent, but Surging Dash is decent against poke compositions, while Molten Block is good against burst percent-based damage that armor cannot be reduced (such as Greymane's Cursed Bullet and Malthael's Last Rites).
Basic Attacks Build
SituationalCho's Basic Attacks build is totally focused on constantly delivering Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes. Since it has Consuming Fire and Firestarter, this build will be incredibly strong if you can keep hitting enemies, but falls behind other options when enemies can punish you during the early game.
A good point to note is that with this build, you can deal good damage while tanking, with either Ogre Hide or Twilight Veil to protect yourself.
Surging Fist Build
SituationalUppercut adds good percentage damage and insane mobility to Cho. Being able to cast Surging Fist again after hitting 2 targets with it can turn the tides of a fight easily. However, it can be easily canceled by any crowd control, greatly reducing this build's effectiveness. For this reason, we recommend going for this Build when enemies do not have many ways to cancel Surging Fist and if they do, it is better to wait for it to be wasted to cast the Ability again.
Since you do not get Seared Flesh at Level 4, attack speed will not be a great addition at Level 16, so Runed Gauntlet is a better choice at that tier.
Level 1 Talents for Cho
Consuming Blaze heals for 150% more when a Hero is Ignited.
While under 60% maximum Health, Cho gains 15% increased Movement Speed and healing received.
Quest: Killing enemy Minions grants 1 stack of The Will of Cho, and Hero takedowns grant 10 stacks. Gain 1 Armor for every 30 stacks of The Will of Cho, up to a maximum of 10 Armor.
This Armor bonus stacks with Ogre Hide.
Discussion
Consuming Fire increases the healing provided by Consuming Blaze by a mediocre amount, and only situationally, as it is only effective against Heroes. Still, it remains a good choice when paired with Firestarter.
Calloused Hide is the main choice for this tier. It is excellent because it covers Cho'gall's weakness in the early game, that is being rather squishy and easy to kill.
The Will of Cho is a niche option at Level 1. It will only be useful in the late game, if you can keep double soaking in the early game. It is important to notice that the Armor stacks with Ogre Hide.
Level 4 Talents for Cho
Hitting an enemy Hero with Surging Fist deals additional damage to Heroes equal to 5% of their max Health and reduces the cooldown of Surging Fist by 5 seconds.
Rune Bomb rolls back to Cho, damaging enemies in its path.
Each consecutive Basic Attack to enemy Heroes deals 20% more damage, to a maximum of 60% damage. This bonus lasts 5 seconds or until a non-Heroic enemy is attacked.
Discussion
Uppercut excels against compositions without crowd control to cancel your Surging Fist. It has notable synergy with others Surging Fist Talents.
Rollback potentially adds a small amount of damage to Rune Bomb. Its main value, however, lies in giving Gall a second chance to use Runic Blast. With practice, however, this becomes unnecessary.
Seared Flesh allows Cho's damage to grow to be surprisingly threatening. Generally, this will get more value than Uppercut. It does require you, however, to keep delivering sustain damage to enemy Heroes, making it more effective if the enemy composition does not punish you easily. It has insane synergy with Frenzied Fists and C'Thun's Gift.
Level 7 Talents for Cho
Enemy Heroes who are hit by Surging Fist are Slowed by 30% for 2.5 seconds. Gain 15% Movement Speed while charging Surging Fist and for 2.5 seconds after casting the Ability.
Basic Attacks against ignited Heroes decreases the cooldown of Consuming Blaze by 1 second.
Passive: Reduce the cooldown of Consuming Blaze by 3 seconds.
Each time Cho hits an enemy Hero with an Ability or Basic Attack, he heals for 60 (+4% per level) over 3 seconds. Enemy Heroes hit by Gall's Dread Orb receive 35% less healing for 2 seconds.
Discussion
Power Surge excels against low-mobility Heroes. The extra Movement Speed gained by Cho and the Slow applied to enemy Heroes, combined together, can assure you will kill a Raynor, Jaina, or Gul'dan in a bad position.
Firestarter is a strong Talent that improves Cho's damage potential and self-sustain. It is a good choice when paired with Consuming Fire at Level 1.
Enraged Regeneration may not add a large amount of healing to Cho'gall, but since Gall's main build is focused on Dread Orb, the Healing Reduction will be applied very often, being excellent in teamfights. This Talent is the standard pick for this tier.
Level 10 Talents for Cho
- Cooldown: 15 seconds
Activate to swing the Hammer of Twilight, dealing 150 (+4.5% per level) damage, pushing enemies away, and Stunning them for 0.75 seconds.
Passive: Cho's Basic Attacks deal 25% increased damage.
- Cooldown: 40 seconds
After 1 second, pull enemies towards Cho'gall, Slowing them by 25% for 3 seconds and dealing 175 (+4% per level) damage.
Discussion
In this section we discuss when and why to pick a given Heroic Ability. If you want to read how they work in detail and/or you are looking for some tips on how to use them, check them out on the Abilities and Strategy page.
Hammer of Twilight is Cho's more defensive Heroic Ability choice. Although the passive Basic Damage increase is welcomed, the Ability's strength lies in the fact that it provides Cho with a very reliable, albeit short-ranged, crowd control. Hammer of Twilight is typically more useful when you feel that your team is on the defensive, allowing you to more effectively protect your vulnerable backline.
Upheaval is Cho's niche Heroic Ability choice. It is excellent in situations where your team wishes to force engagements, as the Ability allows you to pull several opponents to your own teammates. However, since the Ability takes long to be casted, it is better to use it while enemies are under some crippling effect, so it cannot be dodged.
Level 13 Talents for Cho
While Channeling Surging Fist, Cho heals for 150 (+4% per level) Health per second.
- Cooldown: 30 seconds
Activate to increase the Armor bonus of Ogre Hide to 75 for 4 seconds. If cast while Ogre Rage is active, it instantly swaps to Ogre Hide.
- Cooldown: 60 seconds
Activate to enter Stasis and gain Invulnerability for 3 seconds, damaging nearby enemies for 92 (+4% per level) damage per second.
Discussion
Surging Dash greatly improves Cho's self sustain, and is a good choice if you do not fear burst damage, in which case the other Talents would serve you better.
Twilight Veil provides a large amount of Armor; so large in fact that it meets the game's Armor cap, and this, even when affected by other Armor reductions. Although excellent against burst, it suffers from one important weakness: Twilight Veil does not protect against percent-based damage. If you are getting focused by several of those, like Seven-Sided Strike, Last Rites, or Cursed Bullet, consider getting Molten Block instead.
Molten Block brings some very welcomed defensive utility to Cho'gall's otherwise extremely offense-oriented kit. The Ability is typically used to reliably avoid dangerous crowd control and high damage Abilities. It should be noted, however, that Molten Block also prevents Gall from using his own Abilities and momentarily interrupts Shadow Bolt Volley. The most common use of this Talent is to counter Kharazim's Seven-Sided Strike and Leoric's Entomb.
Level 16 Talents for Cho
Gain 75% Attack Speed for 5 seconds after using Surging Fist.
Gall's Runic Blast reduces Cho's Rune Bomb cooldown by 1 second per enemy hit, and 2 seconds for each Hero hit.
Basic Attacks reduce the cooldown of Cho and Gall's Heroic Abilities by 6%.
Discussion
Frenzied Fists greatly improves Cho's Attack damage per second potential. It synergises particularly well with the damage bonus provided by Hammer of Twilight and Seared Flesh. It should be noted that you do not need to fully channel Surging Fist to benefit from the full Attack Speed bonus provided by the Talent, making it useful to quickly cast-and-release the Ability to gain the buff. The Attack Speed is also helpful with triggering Consuming Blaze's on-hit healing effect.
Runic Feedback significantly reduces the cooldown of Rune Bomb when it is detonated against multiple targets. As such, this Talent's primary uses are waveclearing and sieging, although it remains useful against Heroes, depending on your accuracy. In general, however, it is less likely to yield more overall damage than the Frenzied Fists alternative. Runic Feedback has strong synergy with Gall's Runic Blast's Talents, but currently, Gall is incredibly dependent on his Dread Orb Build.
Even though you may not get enough cooldown reduction to use Twisting Nether twice in a fight, having Runed Gauntlet may allow Cho to use Hammer of Twilight a second time. Furthermore, by disengaging with your second Hammer, Gall may have Twisting Nether ready in the next seconds. Still, it should only be the choice if you did not go for Seared Flesh at Level 4.
Level 20 Talents for Cho
Cho's Basic Attack becomes ranged and Slows targets by 20% for 2 seconds.
Upheaval Roots enemy Heroes for 2 seconds.
Basic Attacks against enemies cause them to explode, dealing 21 (+4% per level) damage to them and 45 (+4% per level) damage to nearby enemies. This damage is doubled against enemy Heroes.
Decreases Cho'gall's death timer by 50%.
Discussion
C'Thun's Gift completely changes Cho's playstyle, turning him into a ranged but still highly durable Hero. This Talent alone increases Cho's damage potential by magnitudes, and the permanent Slowing effect helps everyone, especially Gall. This might be one of the best Talents in the game, and should be the choice whenever possible.
Favor of the Old Gods provides you with a powerful Rooting effect, which, when combined with Gall's Twisting Nether, can have devastating results. If you have been dying relatively often, consider Hour of Twilight instead.
Fuel for the Flame is extremely underwhelming when compared to C'Thun's Gift. In any Build, the extra Basic Attacks you will be able to deliver from the extra range provided by C'Thun's Gift are much more effective than the damage provided by this Talent. This Talent should never be picked.
Hour of Twilight has some excessively important implications for the late game. Realistically, Cho'gall dying always spells bad news for your team, often securing a loss. Hour of Twilight greatly reduces the impact of this occurrence. If you feel safe, consider other options.
Changelog
- 03 Oct. 2020: Builds and Talents updated to reflect current meta.
- 15 Feb. 2020: Talents and recommendations updated to reflect February 12 patch rework.
- 27 Jan. 2020: Guide reviewed following January 22 balance patch. No changes to Talent recommendations.
- 11 Oct. 2019: Talent builds and recommendations reviewed and updated.
- 03 Mar. 2019: Talents and recommendations updated to reflect February 27 patch rework.
- 28 Jul. 2018: Talents and recommendations updated to reflect July 25 balance patch changes.
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Derenash has been playing Heroes of the Storm since 2015 and has achieved Grandmaster in multiple seasons, peaking at Top 1 in Season 3 and 4 of 2018. He participated in the HGC Copa America in 2018 where his team had a strong victory. He is passionate about teaching others about the game, and streams often on Twitch in Portuguese, and you can find him in Wind Striders' Discord as well where he is happy to answer any questions in English or Portuguese.
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