It appears that you may be blocking the ads, and we are fine with
it (read more Diablo Build Guide “Kneel before the Lord of Terror.”
Table of Contents
General Information
Welcome to our Diablo guide for Heroes of the Storm. Here you will learn everything you need to know in order to play Diablo in a competitive environment, whether you play on your own or with a team.
About the Author
Oxygen is a veteran of the MOBA genre, which he has been playing for nearly 15 years. He has coached some of Heroes of the Storm's most prominent North American players and teams alike, including Team Liquid. As a Master player, he enjoys playing all Heroes and roles.
1. Quick Reference
Shadow Charge Build (talent calculator link)
This 
Shadow Charge Build focuses on improving Shadow Charge to improve Diablo's
ability to initiate and survivability. Key Talents are
Diabolical Momentum, which greatly reduces the cooldown of Shadow Charge
and 
Overpower, and Domination, which allows Overpower to reset
the Cooldown of Shadow Charge. These Talents synergise well with each other to
make Diablo difficult to peel or otherwise kill and very
disruptive due to the amount of crowd control he has at his disposal.
Synergies and Counters
Since Diablo provides such a 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 pleasant combos.
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.
Maps
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.
TL;DR Tips
- Remember that after reviving through
Black Soulstone, your Health pool will be 40% smaller. - 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 as a follow-up or counter-initiation tool to improve your chances of hitting many opponents.
2. Introduction
Diablo is an aggressive Warrior. 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 very limited single-target damage output, however, makes him very dependent upon teamwork and precise Ability usage to perform well.
3. Strengths
- Very large Health pool
- Flexible Heroic Ability and defensive Talent choices
- Excellent at body blocking and peeling
- May respawn very quickly upon death through his Hero Trait, Black Soulstone
- Multiple crowd control Abilities and interrupts
4. 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
5. Role in the Current Meta
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 waveclear, siege, and claim Mercenary Camps
is limited by his low damage output, Diablo is often included as specific
counterpick to team compositions that rely on one key damage dealer or healer.
Widely recognised as one of the best gankers in the game, Diablo
players are expected to both initiate and peel for their team,
all while interrupting key channeled Abilities.
6. Reading Further
To take things further, we have 2 more pages that you can read:
- Abilities and Strategy: an overview of your hero's abilities and how to use them;
- Talent Build: a detailed rundown of your talents and how to choose them.
7. ChangeLog
+ show all entries - show only 10 entries- 26 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Updated the Shadow Charge build.
- 22 Dec. 2016 (this page): Guide updated to account for the Ragnaros patch rework and moved to the new format.
CONTENTS
IN THE SAME CATEGORY
- Anub'arak Guide
- Artanis Guide
- Arthas Guide
- Chen Guide
- Cho Guide
- Dehaka Guide
- D.Va Guide
- E.T.C. Guide
- Garrosh Guide
- Johanna Guide
- Leoric Guide
- Muradin Guide
- Rexxar Guide
- Sonya Guide
- Tyrael Guide
- Varian Guide
- Zarya Guide
LATEST NEWS
- Free-to-Play Hero Rotation: Sep 26
- Battle.net App Update: Sep 22
- Samwise Didier Reddit AMA Summary: Sep 21
- Weekly Collection Update: Sep 26
- Upcoming Collection Adjustments: Sep 26
- Heroes Brawl - Silver City: Sep 22
- Showdown at Volskaya Foundry: Sep 21
- Kel'Thuzad Down to 10,000 Gold
RECENT FORUM POSTS
- Heroes of the Storm Lúcio
- Specialist guide?
- Tragedy
- Heroes of the Storm Stitches
- Heroes of the Storm Kel'Thuzad
- Heroes of the Storm Lt. Morales
- Heroes of the Storm Brightwing
- Heroes of the Storm Xul
POPULAR FORUM THREADS
- Heroes of the Storm Stitches
- Tragedy
- Specialist guide?
- Heroes of the Storm Lúcio
- Genji Heroes of the Storm
FREE HEROES ROTATION
