Diablo Build Guide “Kneel before the Lord of Terror.”

Diablo is an aggressive Tank. With multiple crowd control Abilities that also displace his opponents, he excels at setting up and peeling for his teammates, and punishing poor positioning. His displacement Abilities are double-edged, however, and can help opponents more than hinder them when misused.

Strengths

• Extremely reliable on-demand initiation
• Very large Health pool
• Flexible Heroic Ability and defensive Talent choices
• Excellent at body blocking and peeling
• May respawn very quickly upon death through Black Soulstone
• Good self sustain

Weaknesses

• Limited escapability
• Very low single-target damage, leading to poor Merc'ing and sieging
• No reliable means of dealing ranged damage besides Lightning Breath

Standard Build

Recommended

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16 ?

Level 20

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This standard build provides superior self-sustain and fair single-target damage potential. As a key Talent, Diabolical Momentum allows Feast on Fear to trigger often through repeated Ability casts for significantly increased combat survivability.

Situational Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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This situational Shadow Charge build provides superior burst damage and crowd control on closed Maps where one can reliably slam opponents against terrain. Such Maps notably include Cursed Hollow, Dragon Shire, Garden of Terror, and Infernal Shrines.

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Diablo synergizes with

Since Diablo provides reliable means of initiating, it follows naturally that he would work well with Heroes that have a strong and reliable way of playing off and following up said initiating. Any Hero that Stuns, Roots or otherwise hinders the movement of intended targets is preferred, but Heroic Abilities that synergise with Apocalypse make for particularly effective combos.

Diablo is countered by

As a Tank with a large amount of Health, Diablo is naturally vulnerable to Heroes that deal percent-based damage. His reliance on being able to engage to be impactful also makes him lackluster against some of the more resilient backline Assassins who have tools to avoid or otherwise nullify his Shadow Charge + Overpower combo.

Diablo's stronger maps

Diablo's average maps

Diablo's weaker maps

None

As the premiere ganker, Diablo thrives on Maps that give him ample opportunities to catch isolated Heroes or otherwise interrupt rotations. Generally, this includes Maps with Objectives that have changing locations. In contrast, Maps that have static Objectives or that require you to destroy specific Monsters are hardly desirable for Diablo, who lacks sustained damage, though cleverly exploiting terrain with Shadow Charge can make up for this weakness.

• Remember that after reviving through Black Soulstone, your Health pool will be 30% smaller.
• Fire Stomp can hit any given target up to five times in melee range.
• Use Overpower right after Shadow Charge to unconditionally move opponents towards your teammates.
• Cast Lightning Breath when you suspect you may be the target of a crowd control chain, as it makes you Unstoppable for the duration.
• Use Apocalypse right before Shadow Charge and Overpower to unconditionally Stun your target.

Diablo's main strengths lie in his notorious Shadow Charge + Overpower combo, which can unconditionally displace and control a target of his choosing, and very strong zoning Heroic Ability choices. Since his ability to waveclewar, siege, and claim Mercenary Camps is limited by his low damage output, Diablo is often picked for his ability to reliably initiate and counter team compositions that rely on one key damage dealer or Healer. As Diablo is widely recognised as one of the best initiators in the game, Diablo players are expected to position aggressively and look for ganking opportunities or Heroes who are out of position all while interrupting key channeled Abilities.