Falstad Talents

Level	Choices
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20	? ✓ ? ?

Basic Attacks Build

Recommended

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16 ? ?

Level 20 ?

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Falstad's Basic Attacks Build provides a fair amount of sustain damage on a single target thanks to multiple Talents that improve your damage via Basic Attacks: Frequent Flyer at Level 1, Secret Weapon at Level 7, and Sustained Winds at Level 13.

As this Build gives you access to percent-based damage, it is great for pressuring and/or taking down the enemy frontline, even if they have access to Armor effects.

Given it does not need to stack on enemy Heroes, this Build is the go-to when you are playing on a big Map (for example Sky Temple) and your strategy revolves around split-pushing to pressure the enemy team.

Hammerang Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ?

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Falstad's Hammerang Build provides a high amount of poke damage, which can be increased by pairing him with a Mage who will get value from BOOMerang at Level 7.

Given it needs to stack on enemy Heroes, this Build does better on 2-lane Maps (such as Braxis Holdout), where it will be easier to stack Gathering Storm.

Lightning Rod Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16 ? ?

Level 20 ?

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Falstad's Lightning Rod Build offers a high amount of damage on a single target by empowering Lightning Rod, allowing him to trade extremely well with Heroes who gank or dive alone.

We find this Build more appropriate when playing against dive Heroes because it greatly increases your dueling power, assuming you manage to stack Dishonorable Discharge at Level 1 enough to unlock the second Reward.

ARAM Build

ARAM

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ?

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Falstad's ARAM Build provides a high amount of poke damage, which can be increased by pairing him with a Mage who will get value from BOOMerang at Level 7.

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Gathering Storm (Level 1) Falstad

Quest: Hit enemy Heroes with Hammerang. Restore 6 Mana for each Hero hit. Upon dying, Lose 8 stacks.

Reward: After hitting 30 Heroes, Hammerang permanently deals 30% more damage.

Reward: After hitting 80 Heroes, Hammerang permanently deals an additional 50% damage.

Pinnacle Reward: After hitting 150 Heroes, Hammerang permanently deals an additional 70% damage.

Gathering Storm is a good Talent that empowers Hammerang when hitting enemy Heroes with it. After 30 stacks, its damage is increased by 30%. After 80 stacks, its damage is increased by 50%. After 150 stacks, its damage is increased by 70%. You also restore 6 Mana for each Hero hit. Upon dying, you lose 8 stacks but you keep any Quest Reward unlocked so far.

We find this Talent less valuable on 3-lane Maps because enemy Heroes will tend to split and you will likely have to cover side lanes too. Unlocking the Pinnacle Reward is great but it may not always be possible because it requires a lot of stacks.

You should pair this Talent with Flow Rider at Level 13 for being able to cast Hammerang more often and therefore gain more stacks and get more value from all the stacks you have gained so far.

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Dishonorable Discharge (Level 1) Falstad

Quest: Each Lightning Rod strike upon a Hero after the 3rd generates 1 stack. If a Hero dies under its effect, generate 2 stacks.

Reward: After 20 stacks, its damage is increased by 30%.

Reward: After 45 stacks, its cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds and its damage is increased by an additional 75%.

Pinnacle Reward: After 75 stacks, its number of strikes is increased by 2 and the final strike Stuns for 1.25 seconds.

Dishonorable Discharge is a good Talent that empowers Lightning Rod when hitting enemy Heroes with it. You gain 1 stack every 3 strikes on enemy Heroes. After 20 stacks, its damage is permanently increased by 30%. After 45 stacks, its cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds and its damage is permanently increased by 75%. After 75 stacks, its strikes go up by 2 and the final strike Stuns for 1.25 seconds.

Even if you do not manage to unlock the Pinnacle Reward, the damage increase provided by the first and second Rewards combined together will greatly empower your kill potential against Heroes without mobility tools usable to disconnect Lightning Rod when cast on them.

Dishonorable Discharge at Level 1, Static Shield at Level 4, Thunderstrikes at Level 7, and Charged Up at Level 13 combined together make Falstad extremely difficult to duel for Heroes who do not have any way to outrange Lightning Rod.

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Frequent Flyer (Level 1) Falstad

• Cooldown: 45 seconds

Activate Frequent Flyer to gain 25% Attack Speed and Tailwind for 4 seconds.

Quest: Minion kills grant 1 stack. Hero Takedowns grant 5.0 stacks.

Reward: After 50 stacks, gain 20 Attack Damage.

Reward: After 125 stacks, gain 50 additional Attack Damage.

Pinnacle Reward: After 300 stacks, gain 125 additional Attack Damage.

Frequent Flyer is a strong Talent that empowers your Basic Attacks. You gain 1 stack every time a nearby Minion dies and 5 stacks every time you contribute to a Hero Takedown. After 60 stacks, Basic Attacks deal 20 more damage. After 150 stacks, Basic Attacks deal 50 more damage, for a total of 70 additional damage. After 300 stacks, Basic Attacks deal 125 more damage, for a total of 195 additional damage. Furthermore, once every 1 minute, it can be activated to increase your Attack Speed by 25% and to enable Tailwind for 4 seconds.

Contrary to normal Tailwind, the effect coming from the Active component of this Talent does not get canceled when taking damage, so it always lasts 4 seconds. Because of this, other than to boost your Attack damage, you can activate it to refresh your Trait right after taking damage while fighting. You can also activate it to increase your damage against enemy Structures when needed, assuming you do not expect to fight for the next 45 seconds (its cooldown).

As it does not require to hit enemy Heroes, this kind of Quest is particularly good for a Hero like Falstad who can easily take care of Minions in lanes that are far from the rest of the team and quickly join them with Flight when a team fight starts. The fact it requires Minions, however, means you will get less stacks on 2-lane Maps because you will not be able to quickly rotate from a lane to another one without using Flight.

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Static Shield (Level 4) Falstad

Lightning Rod strikes grant a Shield equal to 4% of Falstad's maximum Health, up to 28%, for 4 seconds.

Static Shield is a decent Talent that creates a powerful Shield when Falstad is hitting enemy Heroes with Lightning Rod. Each strike gives you a Shield equal to 4% of your maximum Health, stacking 7 times, up to 28%. Note that this Shield only lasts 4 seconds.

We find this Talent to be more effective against melee Heroes who tend to go all-in (such as Illidan) because it increases your survivability while they dive you, so that it will be harder for them to kill you before you kill them.

Dishonorable Discharge at Level 1, Static Shield at Level 4, Thunderstrikes at Level 7, and Charged Up at Level 13 combined together make Falstad extremely difficult to duel for Heroes who do not have any way to outrange Lightning Rod.

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Updraft (Level 4) Falstad

Increases Barrel Roll's range by 40% and Shield amount by 70%, and its Shield now lasts indefinitely.

Updraft is a good Talent that turns Barrel Roll into one of the longest mobility Basic Abilities in the game. The Talent is mostly useful when you are against dive Heroes who can put a lot of pressure on you with their high damage and mobility. With it, not only you will have a Shield, but you will also be able to create more distance between you and enemy Heroes trying to take you down.

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Hammer Gains (Level 4) Falstad

Basic Attacks heal for 20% of the damage dealt to the primary target.

Hammer Gains is a strong Talent that increases your self-sustain, something that is especially useful while taking care of side lanes on your own and slightly increases your survivability during team fights.

Being based on the amount of damage done with your Basic Attacks, this Talent has synergy with Frequent Flyer at Level 1 and Secret Weapon at Level 7, but has no synergy with Sustained Winds at Level 13.

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Secret Weapon (Level 7) Falstad

Increases Hammerang's range by 30% and Basic Attacks deal 75% bonus damage while Hammerang is in flight.

Secret Weapon is a good Talent that increases the range of Hammerang and temporarily allows Falstad's Basic Attacks to deal more damage.

With this Talent, you have to focus on using as many Basic Attacks as possible while Hammerang is flying in the air.

The range increase makes Secret Weapon generally safer and easier to use.

The damage increase provided has synergy with other Talents based on Basic Attacks: Frequent Flyer at Level 1, Hammer Gains at Level 4, and Nexus Frenzy at Level 20.

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BOOMerang (Level 7) Falstad

Hammerang's explosion deals 100% additional damage, and hitting enemy Heroes reduces their Spell Armor by 15 for 3 seconds.

BOOMerang is a strong Talent that increases the damage you deal when reactivating Hammerang and also reduces the Spell Armor of enemy Heroes damaged by the explosion.

Pick this Talent when you want to empower the burst damage of your team and/or when you want to increase your waveclear even more.

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Thunderstrikes (Level 7) Falstad

Lightning Rod deals 25% more damage each subsequent strike.

Thunderstrikes is a good Talent that increases the damage done by each consecutive hit of Lightning Rod on the same Hero, turning Falstad into a real threat for enemy Heroes who cannot outrange or break Lightning Rod with ease.

Dishonorable Discharge at Level 1, Static Shield at Level 4, Thunderstrikes at Level 7, and Charged Up at Level 13 combined together make Falstad extremely difficult to duel for Heroes who do not have any way to outrange Lightning Rod.

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.

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Hinterland Blast (Level 10) Falstad

• Mana: 80
• Cooldown: 120 seconds

After 1 second, deal 475 (+4.75% per level) damage to enemies within a long line. The cooldown is reduced by 30 seconds for every enemy Hero hit.

Hinterland Blast deals a substantial amount of area of effect damage from great range that most players have come to take for granted from Falstad. It is usually chosen as the damaging piece of any kind of teamwide combo that involves a certain amount of crowd control. Hinterland Blast, however, must compete with Gust, widely recognized as one of the best Heroic Abilities available in the game.

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Mighty Gust (Level 10) Falstad

• Mana: 70
• Cooldown: 60 seconds

Push enemies away, and Slow them by 40%, decaying over 4 seconds.

Mighty Gust is a unique Ability that uniquely provides Falstad with a reliable area of effect crowd control, something that is seldom seen in other Heroes, especially Ranged Assassins.

Its relatively short cooldown makes it difficult to pick out Falstad or any of his allies, making the Ability an excellent counterpick to dive-oriented team compositions. It also shines against Healers such as Kharazim and Uther, who strongly rely on specific positioning to be effective.

The knockback effect is also useful for attempting to steal Boss Camps from your opponents by using Flight or Barrel Roll to position yourself on the Capture Point just as the Boss is about to die.

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Charged Up (Level 13) Falstad

Increases Lightning Rod range by 25%. Hero Takedowns reset Lightning Rod's cooldown.

Charged Up is a good Talent that empowers Lightning Rod by increasing its range, so that it becomes harder for enemy Heroes to exit its area, and by providing a cooldown reset mechanic when contributing to Hero Takedowns.

Dishonorable Discharge at Level 1, Static Shield at Level 4, Thunderstrikes at Level 7, and Charged Up at Level 13 combined together make Falstad extremely difficult to duel for Heroes who do not have any way to outrange Lightning Rod.

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Flow Rider (Level 13) Falstad

While Tailwind is active, Falstad's Basic Abilities recharge 100% faster.

Flow Rider has the potential of vastly increasing Falstad's damage potential. It does, however, require you to play extremely safely, to the point of not letting Tailwind fall off by taking damage. The task is often impossible against Heroes with plenty of area of effect damage or who are capable to dive aggressively. Other than that, we find this Talent quite powerful, particularly when combined with Aerie Gusts at Level 16 to keep Tailwind going.

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Sustained Winds (Level 13) Falstad

Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 1.5% of the Hero's maximum Health, increased to 2% while Tailwind is active.

Sustained Winds is a good Talent that increases your damage output in the form of percent-based damage on your Basic Attacks, slightly increased when under the effect of Tailwind.

The damage increase provided has synergy with Frequent Flyer at Level 1 and Nexus Frenzy at Level 20, but not with Hammer Gains at Level 4.

Pick this Talent when you want to pressure and/or take down the enemy frontline and/or when you need damage that goes through Armor effects.

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Crippling Hammer (Level 16) Falstad

Increase Hammerang's Slow from 25% to 50%, and Hammerang's explosion also Slows.

Crippling Hammer is a good Talent that empowers the Slow applied by Hammerang and allows you to apply it via its explosion as well.

You may need this Talent to kite enemy Heroes who lack mobility and/or range in order to help your team damage them or escape, based on the situation. Generally speaking, the crowd control provided by allied Heroes should be enough.

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Aerie Gusts (Level 16) Falstad

Reduces the activation time for Tailwind from 5 to 3 seconds, and increases the Movement Speed bonus from 15% to 25%.

Aerie Gusts is a strong Talent that simultaneously provides offense, defense, and utility in the form of more Movement Speed. This is on top of greatly increasing the uptime of Flow Rider, another potent Talent, by making Tailwind reactivate faster when not taking damage.

You can combine this Talent with either Flow Rider at Level 13 to quickly reactivate its cooldown reduction effect after taking some damage or with Sustained Winds at Level 13 to have more Movement Speed for kiting enemy Heroes and also to restore its bonus damage component in less time.

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Afterburner (Level 16) Falstad

Barrel Roll increases Movement Speed by 60%, decaying over 3 seconds.

Afterburner is a good Talent that provides extra Movement Speed after using Barrel Roll, so it can be used to either chase enemy Heroes or to escape from danger.

As with Updraft and Static Shield, Afterburner is primarily picked against aggressive team compositions that make it hard for you to stay alive.

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Call of the Wildhammer (Level 20) Falstad

Hinterland Blast has double the range and deals 25% more damage.

Call of the Wildhammer is a good Talent that increases the damage done by Hinterland Blast by 25% and its range by 100%. The bonus damage is high enough to make this Talent interesting to pick without even taking into account the bonus range, especially if we consider that it will be rarely useful as the baseline range will already cover your whole screen.

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Wind Tunnel (Level 20) Falstad

Mighty Gust creates a wind tunnel for 4 seconds. Enemies caught in the tunnel will periodically be pushed back.

Wind Tunnel is a strong Talent that transforms Mighty Gust in one of the most powerful crowd control effects in the game by allowing you to lock one or more enemy Heroes on top of impassable terrain, rendering them unable to act for the duration.

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Nexus Frenzy (Level 20) Falstad

Increases Attack Speed by 20% and Attack Range by 1.1.

Nexus Frenzy is a good Talent that provides you with additional Attack damage and Attack range, something that gives more value when you are playing a Basic Attacks Build but it is not required nor advised because it competes with the powerful Wind Tunnel.

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Epic Mount (Level 20) Falstad

Reduce the cooldown of Flight by 50 seconds, reduce the cast time before flying to 0.5 seconds, and increase the speed by 50%.

Epic Mount is a situational Talent that drastically lowers the cooldown of Flight, reduces its channel time from 2 to only 0.5 seconds, and makes the flight animation 50% faster.

The cooldown reduction allows him to completely negate any Catapult pressure on the Core and/or to quickly travel across the battlefield for claiming Capture Points when needed (for example on Dragon Shire).

The shorter cast time and increased travel speed combined together can be useful for when you need to use Flight for an offensive Mighty Gust, to quickly deny a powerful crowd control effect (excluding Time Stop) after a delay (notably Temporal Loop by Chromie) with the useful Unstoppable frames that Flight has, to dodge a delayed effect on the ground (such as Grav-O-Bomb 3000 by Gazlowe), to outrange Abilities that require the target to be within a certain range to go off (for example Pyroblast by Kael'thas) or as a form of escape because the enemy team will have less time to interrupt the cast or kill you.