Deckard Cain Abilities and Strategy

• Potions created by Healing Potion last until consumed. Casting Healing Potion beyond the limit of 5 will destroy the oldest Potion.
• Horadric Cube has a short flight time, but can still hit enemies running directly away from Deckard if the targeting reticle is centered.
• Scroll Of Sealing can be used in two ways: after any crowd control effect or right before Stay Awhile and Listen.
• Stay Awhile and Listen has long cast time and channel time that will block you for a few seconds. Use it from a safe position and, when in danger, press [R] again to stop channeling it.
• When you do not need it for peeling or to contest a Capture Point, Lorenado can be used to push enemies towards your teammates, and more importantly, inside the area of Scroll Of Sealing while it is activating.

Although its healing amount is not particularly high when compared to other main healing Abilities, Healing Potion has one of the shortest cooldowns and lowest Mana costs of any Ability; its sustain single-target output and efficiency are unmatched by other Healers. This has the implication of making Deckard or allies difficult to take down without the help of burst damage while they are actively being healed.

Healing Potion's most notable property lies in the fact they can stay unused on the ground, which warrants a short explanation. Throwing a Healing Potion towards an area not currently occupied by an allied Hero who lacks Health leaves the thrown Potion behind to be picked up, instantly healing and applying any Talent-related effects to any allied Hero, including Deckard, who moves over the Potion. This means that several Potions can be left on the ground (up to five) for future use. This helps Deckard deal with burst damage somewhat, as a few Potions can heal all but the most severe of wounds, as long as several Potions have been set up ahead of time and in a way that they that they cannot be picked up by accident. This feature also gives Deckard the unique ability to heal distant allies (such as Heroes in different lanes) by setting up a few Potions to be picked up at the teammate's leisure. This is also why Healing Potion often ends up being—and should almost always be—used on cooldown before impending team fights.

Healing Potion can be difficult to use in combat. With its short flight time, Healing Potion can heal an unintended target or miss outright, and particularly when dealing with moving Heroes or while under pressure. Becoming familiar with Healing Potion's flight time through sheer practice is therefore important for aspiring Deckard players.

Note that holding [Alt] while casting Healing Potion will throw the Potion directly onto Deckard for instant healing, however, allied Heroes overlapping with Deckard may still pick up that Healing Potion before he does, so you should position accordingly when surrounded by allied Heroes who are not full Health.

While under the effects of Fortitude of the Faithful, the cooldown of Healing Potion gets reduced from 4 to about 2.7 seconds.

Horadric Cube's main purpose is to set up for Scroll Of Sealing, thanks to it relatively powerful Slow effect. Although Horadric Cube has a short flight time, its fair area of effect should allow you to hit your intended targets if you center the Ability's targeting reticle properly. Otherwise, the Slow effect is also useful as a general mean of peeling or following up. The Level 7 Kanai's Cube Talent is notable for turning Horadric Cube into a powerful damage mitigation tool and changing the way it should be used somewhat to reduce incoming burst damage.

While under the effects of Fortitude of the Faithful, the cooldown of Horadric Cube gets reduced from 12 to 8 seconds.

Scroll Of Sealing's long triggering period makes it difficult to outright land on targets that are actively looking out for it. There are still several ways of making good use of the Ability. By targeting Scroll Of Sealing in such a way that the area of effect is directly on top of an intended target who has been Slowed by Horadric Cube, you can greatly improve your chances of hitting. Attacking or channeling foes may also be reluctant or find themselves unable to leave the Ability's area of effect in time.

A good tactic is also to cast Scroll Of Sealing in the path of a moving foe so that they are either forced to walk into the area of effect or wait for it to expire, blocking them off and fulfilling your purpose either way. Scroll Of Sealing's main use, however, is simply as a follow-up tool: by using the Ability against foes that have already been crowd controlled, you can ensure successful hits and greatly improve your teammates' uptime. As needed, it can also be used for waveclear, although it is not particularly effective for this task, as is Deckard in general.

While under the effects of Fortitude of the Faithful, the cooldown of Scroll Of Sealing gets reduced from 16 to about 10 seconds.

Here we explain how this Heroic Ability works. If you are looking for more information about it, check the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Stay Awhile and Listen provides Deckard with a powerful but situational area of effect crowd control effect. Due to the Sleep effect being canceled by damage, a best-case scenario for this Ability is to hit every Hero able to interrupt you while your teammates focus down whatever is left awake. Track enemy cooldowns to choose the appropriate moment.

Healers with long healing cooldowns such as Auriel, Rehgar, and Uther are also important targets to consider as it prevents them from exploiting important protection timings. In an uncoordinated environment, Stay Awhile and Listen is more likely to be used as a defensive tool to peel melee Heroes away from you or other fragile teammates.

Strong Stay Awhile and Listen's wide area of effect allows it to be a decent way to set up a number of more difficult-to-hit Abilities (for example Ring of Frost by Jaina).

It should be noted that Sleeping targets will always Sleep for at least 2 seconds after Stay Awhile and Listen is canceled by yourself or enemy interrupts, or until they are damaged. Informing your teammates of your intended targets and warning them not to damage said targets is a good way of improving your success rate.

Here we explain how this Heroic Ability works. If you are looking for more information about it, check the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Lorenado is a versatile but peculiar Ability which seeks to disrupt your opponents' plan. Dealing almost no damage, its main use is preventing players from moving where they may want to go, especially in tight corridors and on Capture Points.

Lorenado can also be used to push enemies into Scroll Of Sealing right before it goes off. By staying inside Lorenado, you can make yourself impossible to approach for melee Heroes for its duration. As a consequence, you should immediately drop it in the retreat direction when getting focused.

It is worth noting that Lorenado uses an uncommon targeting system known as Vector Targeting. This means that Lorenado's rectangular area of effect does not originate from the caster himself, unlike most Abilities, but instead from a chosen point to another. This flexible targeting system allows you to accurately control Lorenado's direction.

Deckard's Trait makes him particularly teammate-reliant, even for a Healer. Fortitude of the Faithful's allied requirement means that Deckard loses out on what amounts to a 33% more Ability casts and a very decent 10 Armor increase. Although Deckard's Abilities do not lend themselves well to spending much time alone, Fortitude of the Faithful may as well read "stay with an ally at all times," as Deckard is tuned around this Ability's effects.