Chromie Talents

Last updated on Apr 16, 2022 at 11:00 by Outofmilk 28 comments
General Information

Welcome to our Talents page for Chromie. Here, we give you an overview of how strong each of Chromie's talents is. Then, we present several viable builds, before analyzing each talent row separately, so that you can make informed decisions.

1.

Chromie's Talent Build

Level Choices
1 Once Again the First Time ? Deep Breathing ? Timewalker's Pursuit
2 Chronic Conditions ? Time Troubles Andorhal Anomaly ?
5 Bronze Talons ? Mobius Loop ? A Proper Greeting
8 Slowing Sands Temporal Loop
11 Gnome Speed Ahead! Here and There ✘︎ Time Out ?
14 Shifting Sands Fast Forward ✘︎ Quantum Overdrive ?
18 Unravelling ✘︎ Stuck in a Loop ? Piercing Sands Blessing of the Bronze ✘︎
2.

Chromie's Talent Build Cheatsheet

Sand Blast Build

Recommended
Level 1 Timewalker's Pursuit Icon Once Again the First Time Icon ?
Level 2 Time Troubles Icon Andorhal Anomaly Icon ? Chronic Conditions Icon ?
Level 5 A Proper Greeting Icon
Level 8 Slowing Sands Icon Temporal Loop Icon ?
Level 11 Time Out Icon Gnome Speed Ahead! Icon ?
Level 14 Shifting Sands Icon
Level 18 Piercing Sands Icon

This is a well-rounded way to build Chromie. Timewalker's Pursuit Icon Timewalker's Pursuit at Level 1 gives Chromie a nice early-game damage bonus, and the reveal helps with scouting enemy hero ganks or camps. At level 14, the talent Shifting Sands Icon Shifting Sands combined with Piercing Sands Icon Piercing Sands marks a significant late game power spike for Chromie, allowing her to nuke down the enemy backline through their frontline.

Dragon's Breath Build

Situational
Level 1 Deep Breathing Icon
Level 2 Time Troubles Icon Andorhal Anomaly Icon ? Chronic Conditions Icon ?
Level 5 Mobius Loop Icon
Level 8 Temporal Loop Icon Slowing Sands Icon ?
Level 11 Time Out Icon Gnome Speed Ahead! Icon ?
Level 14 Quantum Overdrive Icon Shifting Sands Icon ?
Level 18 Stuck in a Loop Icon Piercing Sands Icon ?

The Dragon's Breath build focuses on enhancing Chromie's Dragon's Breath ability. Through Deep Breathing Icon Deep Breathing, Chromie can significantly increase the damage output. The build heavily relies on hitting enemy heroes in the center of your Dragon's Breath, therefore, having CC on your team and waiting for them to use their abilities will greatly improve your own damage output. Thanks to the slow from Mobius Loop Icon Mobius Loop, hitting an enemy hero with the first wave can increase the chance of them getting hit by all three.

ARAM Build

ARAM
Level 1 Once Again the First Time Icon
Level 2 Andorhal Anomaly Icon
Level 5 A Proper Greeting Icon
Level 8 Temporal Loop Icon
Level 11 Gnome Speed Ahead! Icon
Level 14 Shifting Sands Icon
Level 18 Piercing Sands Icon

Chromie's ARAM build is similar to the Sand Blast Build, and due to Chromie's passive ability, you unlock her power spike quite early in ARAM games. Piercing Sands allows you to poke enemies hiding behind any structure.

3.

Level 1 Talents for Chromie

Chromie Once Again the First Time ?
Once Again the First Time (Level 1) World of Warcraft Chromie

Quest: Hit 40 Heroes with Sand Blast from Chromie or her Echoes.

Reward: Increase the maximum number of active Echoes to 2, and increase Echo damage to 45%.

Chromie Deep Breathing ?
Deep Breathing (Level 1) World of Warcraft Chromie

Quest: Every time Dragon's Breath hits a Hero increase its damage by 1%, up to 20%.

Reward: After hitting 20 Heroes, reduce the cooldown of Dragon's Breath by 4 seconds and its Mana cost from 65 to 40.

Chromie Timewalker's Pursuit
Timewalker's Pursuit (Level 1) World of Warcraft Chromie
  • Cooldown: 25 seconds

Gain 10% Spell Power and reduce the arming time of Time Traps by 0.75 seconds. Activate to reveal the targeted area for 4 seconds. Enemies seen are revealed for 4 seconds.

3.1.

Discussion

Once Again the First Time Icon Once Again the First Time's stacking Quest is relatively easy and quick to complete and provides a nice bonus to Chromie's damage thanks to the second echo. This Talent synergizes well with Chromie's Level 18 Talent Piercing Sands Icon Piercing Sands as the Echoes benefit from it as well.

Timewalker's Pursuit Icon Timewalker's Pursuit provides Chromie with an early level damage increase that transitions well into the late game as well. The reduced time of arming Chromie's traps can help you make more impactful plays with them. The reveal is a nice side bonus to this Talent and can definitely help out scouting ambushes or if the enemy team is working on a Mercenary Camp.

Deep Breathing Icon Deep Breathing increases the damage output of your Dragon's Breath and is fairly easy to complete. After completing the quest, Chromie gets a huge bonus to cooldown reduction and the Mana reduction is a nice touch to the Talent, allowing Chromie to use more Abilities before having to go back.

4.

Level 2 Talents for Chromie

Chromie Chronic Conditions ?
Chronic Conditions (Level 2) World of Warcraft Chromie

After its Time Stop ends, enemies affected by Time Trap are Slowed by 30% for 3 seconds and allies gain 30% Movement Speed for 3 seconds.

Chromie Time Troubles
Time Troubles (Level 2) World of Warcraft Chromie

After its Time Stop ends, enemies affected by Time Trap lose 15 Armor for 3 seconds and allies gain 30 Armor for 3 seconds.

Chromie Andorhal Anomaly ?
Andorhal Anomaly (Level 2) World of Warcraft Chromie

Increase the charges and maximum active Time Traps to 3, and reduce its cooldown by 8 seconds.

4.1.

Discussion

Time Troubles Icon Time Troubles is an amazing Talent. Reducing enemy Heroes' Armor can never be underestimated as it automatically buffs all damage done by your allies on that target as well.

Andorhal Anomaly Icon Andorhal Anomaly adds a lot more crowd control to Chromie's kit, especially if the enemy team features multiple hard-engaging threats.

Chronic Conditions Icon Chronic Conditions can provide a nice bonus if your team is not bursty enough to benefit from Time Troubles Icon Time Troubles where the Slow can help out setting up plays instead.

5.

Level 5 Talents for Chromie

Chromie Bronze Talons ?
Bronze Talons (Level 5) World of Warcraft Chromie

Hitting a Hero with Sand Blast from Chromie or her Echoes grants 50% additional Basic Attack damage for 5 seconds.

Chromie Mobius Loop ?
Mobius Loop (Level 5) World of Warcraft Chromie

Dragon's Breath deals 30% bonus damage to enemies hit by its center. Enemy Heroes hit by its center are Slowed by 60% for 0.75 seconds.

Chromie A Proper Greeting
A Proper Greeting (Level 5) World of Warcraft Chromie

Damaging a Stunned, Rooted, or Slowed enemy Hero grants 20% additional damage for 3 seconds.

5.1.

Discussion

A Proper Greeting Icon A Proper Greeting is the best choice here as it is easy to activate and provides a 25% additional overall damage, compared to Bronze Talons which only increases your Basic Attack damage.

Bronze Talons Icon Bronze Talons is weaker than A Proper Greeting, however it has some use if you are facing an enemy Hero like Tracer, where the Basic Attack damage increase is can be very useful.

Mobius Loop Icon Mobius Loop is a huge increase to Dragon's Breath power. With Mobius Loop, it becomes more important to carefully aim your Dragon's Breath so that you are certain to hit the enemy with the center for the damage bonus, while the slow will help with hitting them with all three waves.

6.

Level 8 Talents for Chromie

Chromie Slowing Sands
Slowing Sands (Level 8) World of Warcraft Chromie
  • Cooldown: 5 seconds

Summon a sand vortex that Slows enemies by 10% every 0.25 seconds, up to 70%.

Chromie Temporal Loop
Temporal Loop (Level 8) World of Warcraft Chromie
  • Mana: 60
  • Cooldown: 50 seconds

Choose an enemy Hero. After 3 seconds, they are teleported back to the location where Temporal Loop was cast on them.

Basic Abilities recharge 500% faster for 3 seconds after casting Temporal Loop.

6.1.

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.

Slowing Sands Icon Slowing Sands is a great choice on Maps that feature several choke points like Cursed Hollow or Towers of Doom. Besides, Slowing Sands gains a lot of value if the enemy team composition consists of multiple melee and low-range Heroes, which will likely stay close to each other during team fights. It is of utmost importance, however, to remember to manually re-cast the Ability depending on the enemy team's location.

Temporal Loop Icon Temporal Loop allows Chromie to execute deadly burst damage against a single trapped target. In order to successfully do that, however, you need to carefully watch the timer on Temporal Loop. As soon as the little clock shows less than 40% of the remaining time, you should start casting Dragon's Breath Icon Dragon's Breath followed by Sand Blast Icon Sand Blast. Keep in mind that Temporal Loop can also be cast defensively to trap an engaging Melee Assassin or Tank in order for Chromie to escape. Never pick this Talent if the enemy team has something to counter it. Cleanse effects which make their target Unstoppable will completely deny Temporal Loop Icon Temporal Loop's displacement effect, but only if timed so that they are active exactly at the end, when the effect actually goes off.

7.

Level 11 Talents for Chromie

Chromie Gnome Speed Ahead!
Gnome Speed Ahead! (Level 11) World of Warcraft Chromie

After casting Sand Blast, Chromie gains 20% Movement Speed and 200% increased Health Regeneration for 3 seconds.

Chromie Here and There ✘︎
Here and There (Level 11) World of Warcraft Chromie
  • Cooldown: 20 seconds

Activate to teleport to an area near an Echo, swapping it with Chromie's previous location.

Chromie Time Out ?
Time Out (Level 11) World of Warcraft Chromie
  • Cooldown: 60 seconds

Activate to place Chromie in Stasis and gain Invulnerability for up to 5 seconds. Can be reactivated to end the effect early.

7.1.

Discussion

Gnome Speed Ahead! Icon Gnome Speed Ahead! has virtually no drawbacks, since Chromie does not even have to successfully land Sand Blast Icon Sand Blast in order to benefit from the Movement Speed and Regeneration effects.

Time Out Icon Time Out is a reliable defense tool against bursty enemy team compositions that feature multiple mobile Assassins. If your survival cannot be guaranteed, Time Out may just be the Talent you need in order to survive.

Here and There Icon Here and There is a rather bad Talent compared to the other two, due to always having to keep up with where your echoes are, however, it does see some use if you are facing heavy-dive Heroes such as Tracer, Illidan, or Zeratul, but even then, Time Out would be a better choice.

8.

Level 14 Talents for Chromie

Chromie Shifting Sands
Shifting Sands (Level 14) World of Warcraft Chromie

Hitting an enemy Hero with Chromie's primary Sand Blast grants 5% Spell Power for 8 seconds, up to a maximum of 50%. The duration is refreshed whenever an enemy is damaged by the primary Sand Blast.

Chromie Fast Forward ✘︎
Fast Forward (Level 14) World of Warcraft Chromie

If Chromie's primary Sand Blast travels at least 50% of its base distance and hits a Hero, its cooldown is reduced to 0.5 seconds and it refunds 10 Mana.

Chromie Quantum Overdrive ?
Quantum Overdrive (Level 14) World of Warcraft Chromie
  • Cooldown: 45 seconds

Activate to increase Spell Power by 30% for 8 seconds. Hitting an enemy Hero with Sand Blast reduces this cooldown by 3 seconds.

8.1.

Discussion

Shifting Sands Icon Shifting Sands is a great Talent, especially if your planned Build features other Talents to empower Sand Blast Icon Sand Blast. Even if not, Shifting Sands provides decent value, since you should be able to hit enemy Heroes during team fights quite easily.

Quantum Overdrive Icon Quantum Overdrive can be a great damage boost if your team has plenty of crowd control at their disposal. This guarantees some good hits with Sand Blast Icon Sand Blast and Dragon's Breath Icon Dragon's Breath while Quantum Overdrive is active.

Fast Forward Icon Fast Forward is too unimpactful to make it a worthwhile investment. While the cooldown reduction (if it applies in the first place) is nice to have, the additional damage provided by either of the other Level 14 Talents is too important to give up when it comes to bursting down enemy targets in the late game.

9.

Level 18 Talents for Chromie

Chromie Unravelling ✘︎
Unravelling (Level 18) World of Warcraft Chromie

Every 0.25 seconds, enemy Heroes Slowed by Slowing Sands have their Spell Armor reduced by 10 up to 50. Slowing Sands persists for 5 seconds after it is cancelled.

Chromie Stuck in a Loop ?
Stuck in a Loop (Level 18) World of Warcraft Chromie

Temporal Loop teleports the target a second time after the first, and Basic Abilities continue recharging for an additional 3 seconds. Increase the cooldown recharge rate from 500% to 700%.

Chromie Piercing Sands
Piercing Sands (Level 18) World of Warcraft Chromie

Sand Blasts cast from Chromie and her Echoes now pierce all enemies hit.

Chromie Blessing of the Bronze ✘︎
Blessing of the Bronze (Level 18) World of Warcraft Chromie
  • Cooldown: 30 seconds

Activate to cause Chromie and all allied Heroes to gain 20% Movement Speed and their Basic Abilities recharge 35% faster for 8 seconds.

Hitting an enemy Hero with Sand Blast from Chromie or her Echoes reduces the cooldown of Blessing of the Bronze by 1 second.

9.1.

Discussion

Blessing of the Bronze Icon Blessing of the Bronze is a very bad choice compared to Piercing Sands. Blessing of the Bronze has too small of a visual indicator (no one on your team will know you used it), and Chromie has to stay alive during it's effect. Since you are the damage dealer and you want to burst down squishy enemy Heroes, Piercing Sands is always the way to go.

Piercing Sands Icon Piercing Sands greatly amplifies Chromie's damage output, especially against teams that consist of multiple melee Heroes who tend to clump up during team fights. This Talent turns Chromie into a monster and allows her to nuke out the enemy backline through the frontline, making nobody safe from her Sand Blasts. This Talent also affects the Sand Blasts from your echoes.

Unravelling Icon Unravelling provides Chromie with higher damage the longer enemies remain in Slowing Sands Icon Slowing Sands. This is certainly not a bad thing, however, since the Ability can be avoided, it is a rather unreliable Level 18 investment.

Stuck in a Loop Icon Stuck in a Loop is an interesting Talent, since it causes Temporal Loop Icon Temporal Loop to teleport the trapped target twice. It also allows Chromie to use more Abilities during Temporal Loop due to it happening twice. For a Sand Blast Build it is still recommended to get Piercing Sands, but Stuck in a Loop does see a lot of use in the Dragon's Breath Build.

10.

Changelog

  • 16 Apr. 2022: Guide has been reviewed and no changes are needed.
  • 28 Oct. 2020: Updated talents and builds.
  • 15 Sep. 2020: Guide has been reviewed and no changes are needed.
  • 23 Aug. 2020: Updated talents and builds.
  • 08 Aug. 2020: Builds updated
  • 02 Jul. 2020: Changed wording on Bronze Talons.
  • 04 Sep. 2019: Guide has been reviewed for latest patch and no changes are needed.
  • 19 Jul. 2019: Updated talent choices.
  • 29 Mar. 2019: Overhauled and updated Chromie's talents and talent builds in accordance with the latest rework. All hail the Blessing of the Bronze!
  • 01 Mar. 2019: Updated Chromie's talents and builds.
  • 12 Aug. 2018: Updated Chromie's talents in accordance with her rework in the Whitemane release patch.
  • 17 Sep. 2017: Here and There was mistakenly marked (recommended, instead of not recommended).
  • 16 Sep. 2017: Updated Chromie's talents in accordance with the Kel'Thuzad update.
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