Fenix Talents
Welcome to our Talents page for Fenix. Here, we give you an overview of how strong each of Fenix's talents is. Then, we present several viable builds, before analyzing each talent row separately, so that you can make informed decisions.
Fenix's Talent Build
Level | Choices |
---|---|
1 | ✘︎ ✓ ? |
4 | ✓ ✘︎ ✘︎ |
7 | ✘︎ ✘︎ ✓ |
10 | ✓ ? |
13 | ? ? ✓ ? |
16 | ✓ ? ✘︎ |
20 | ? ✘︎ ? ✓ |
Fenix's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Basic Attack Build
RecommendedThe Basic Attack Build is the only recommended build for Fenix. Most of his damage comes from Repeater Cannon and Phase Bomb. Therefore, it is better to pick talents that increases the damage output from Basic Attacks, such as Arsenal Synergy or Mobile Offense. This build stacks several Talents that increase Basic Attack damage. Divert Power: Weapons should usually be activated to increase damage once it is clear that the enemy team is committed to a teamfight. This will allow you to trade optimally until your shields are gone, and to benefit from the bonus damage as long as possible. Photonic Weaponry is a safe pick that will almost always add damage, but Offensive Cadence can be very strong against Tanks and Bruisers if they are unable to retaliate.
Level 1 Talents for Fenix
Quest: Hitting enemy Heroes with Plasma Cutter permanently increases Fenix's Basic Attack damage by 0.5, up to 60.
Reward: After hitting 30 Heroes, Plasma Cutter circles an additional time.
After hitting enemy Heroes with Basic Attacks 3 times while Repeater Cannon is active, the next Basic Attack with Phase Bomb deals 150% more damage and splashes in a 50% larger area.
After moving, Fenix's next Basic Attack deals 35% more damage to Heroes.
Discussion
Advanced Targeting increases Plasma Cutter's damage and utility by allowing it to circle Fenix an additional time. However, in most games the other 2 options will add more damage to him than Advanced Targeting would.
Arsenal Synergy increases Weapon Mode: Phase Bomb's damage and area of effect greatly, but only after hitting Heroes 3 times with Weapon Mode: Repeater Cannon. This should be the pick in most of the games. It increases your single target DPS almost as much as Mobile Offense does, and also deals much more area of effect damage.
Mobile Offense is a great way to increase your Basic Attack damage against Heroes, and it encourages the user to stutter-step. Take this Talent as part of a Basic Attack Build. This Talent is also useful if you need to practice stutter-stepping; the critical damage indicator may help reinforce this behavior. Mobile Offense is a good choice if the enemy team can easily punish Fenix when trying to basic attack with Weapon Mode: Repeater Cannon, forcing him to use Weapon Mode: Phase Bomb most of the time.
Level 4 Talents for Fenix
Basic Attacks against Slowed Heroes with Repeater Cannon active grant 10% Movement Speed for 4 seconds, up to 40%.
Every 10 seconds, Fenix's next Basic Attack with Phase Bomb active Slows all enemies hit by 60%, decaying in strength over 1.5 seconds.
While Fenix has shields from Shield Capacitor, he gains 10% Movement Speed. This bonus is increased to 15% when Fenix loses shields from Shield Capacitor.
Discussion
Target Acquired triggers when its user delivers Repeater Cannon Basic Attacks to enemy Heroes who are Slowed by Plasma Cutter. This allows Fenix to become extremely fast in fights, as long as he is able to safely deliver Repeater Cannon Basic Attacks. Target Acquired is one of the most important Talent for Fenix, considering it enhances his ability to retreat, advance and kite. The duration and effect are also refreshed when attacking an enemy Slowed by your team. For those reasons, this is the Talent to pick in every game.
Inhibiting Energy is an extremely underwhelming Talent. It provides an unreliable Slow on Weapon Mode: Phase Bomb every 10 seconds. The Talent is wasted on every Phase Bomb, even if you did not hit a Hero with it, being terrible if you need to clear the Minion Wave, because you will not have the Slow afterwards.
Emergency Protocol permanently increases Fenix's Movement Speed, but it still is not enough to compare with Target Acquired, that overshadows this Talent completely.
Level 7 Talents for Fenix
Plasma Cutter deals 35% more damage to Slowed targets.
After arriving with Warp, gain 175% Attack Speed for 4 seconds while in Repeater Cannon mode. Hero Takedowns reset Warp's cooldown.
Activate to gain 40% Basic Attack damage for 5 seconds. Basic Attacking a Hero refreshes this duration. Once Divert Power: Weapons ends, drain all of Shield Capacitor's Shields.
Discussion
Combat Advantage enhances Fenix's PvE, allowing him to quickly solo capture all types of Mercenary Camps except Boss Camps, and speeds up his waveclear. Unfortunately, Divert Power: Weapons will be a better option, since it will add more damage in teamfights than Combat Advantage would.
Warp Warfare is a risky Talent, since Fenix has to use Warp offensively to get the most out of it. We do not recommend this Talent because Divert Power: Weapons will deal more damage in long fights without risking yourself.
Divert Power: Weapons allows Fenix to greatly increase his Basic Attack damage for a duration. Basic Attacking an enemy Hero refreshes the duration. Fenix's Shields will drain when he is no longer able to refresh the duration. If enemies are able to disengage, Fenix will be left with no Shields and no bonus damage. This Talent is exceptionally powerful when activated at key moments.
Level 10 Talents for Fenix
- Cooldown: 90 seconds
Channel for 1.5 seconds, sweeping a laser in front of Fenix that locks onto enemy Heroes. Once Channeling finishes, fire 5 missiles at each locked Hero, dealing 79 (+4% per level) damage each. Deals 50% increased damage to Slowed targets.
- Cooldown: 100 seconds
After 0.5 seconds, Channel a powerful beam that spans across the battleground for 4 seconds, dealing 112 (+4% per level) damage every 0.25 seconds to non-Structure enemies hit.
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.
Purification Salvo is a fantastic Heroic for Fenix, because it gives him a tool to secure kills with. Fenix has a great kit for poking enemies at a distance, but his Basic Abilities lack reliable burst damage. Purification Salvo fills this void in his kit, making him an Assassin capable of securing kills on his own. Fenix can walk or Warp away once enemies have been locked, and Purification Salvo will still fire. Casting Warp during Purification Salvo's firing sequence will not interrupt it; the salvo will finish firing during and after Warp. This Heroic Ability will be excellent when you already have tools for Slowing all enemies in your team, such as Lightning Breath or Earthquake.
Planet Cracker is a channeled beam that covers unlimited distance in the direction it is cast. It is quite amazing to see, and fun to use. However, enemies must simply walk to the side of it to avoid most of its damage. It does not often deliver meaningful results without setup from allies. For this reason, you should default to Purification Salvo. Planet Cracker can be good in combination with crowd-control from your team, but it is best to make sure your allies want to play this way before selecting this Heroic Ability. It can be an option in Braxis Holdout, since it can be used towards the Zerg Wave, clearing most of it on spawn.
Level 13 Talents for Fenix
After arriving with Warp, gain 50 Armor for 4 seconds.
Fenix gains 30 Spell Armor while he has a Shield from Shield Capacitor.
The time before Shield Capacitor begins regenerating after taking damage is reduced by 2 seconds. Whenever Fenix is healed, Shield Capacitor's Shield recharges for 60% of the healing received.
Permanently reduce Fenix's maximum Health by 30% but increase Shield Capacitor's Shield by 40%. Basic Attacks regenerate Shields equal to 10% of the damage dealt.
Discussion
Adanium Shell grants a massive amount of Armor for several seconds after Warp is completed. The drawback of Adanium Shell is that it does not increase your self-sustain, only your survivability. It is a good option when facing Heroes that can easily dive you, but cannot cancel Warp, such as Zeratul or Genji.
Dampening Field gives a considerable amount of Spell Armor while Fenix has Shields from Shield Capacitor. In most scenarios, Rapid Recharge will be a better option. However, against heavy dive compositions, Dampening Field will be useful, since it will be the only Talent that will increase your resistance against burst damage in this tier.
Rapid Recharge decreases the amount of time before Shields begin to regenerate. This is the default choice for this tier, because it often allows him to get back to trading with enemy Heroes sooner than the other Level 13 Talents would have. It is also a good Talent when your Healer has burst heal, like Uther or Deckard Cain with Super Healing Potion have.
Auxiliary Shields replenishes your Shields by a percentage of all damage dealt by your Basic Attacks. This includes splash damage dealt with Weapon Mode: Phase Bomb. This effect will occur in combat, making Auxiliary Shields excellent when you do not have a reliable burst heal from allies when low on Health.
Level 16 Talents for Fenix
Every 3rd Basic Attack against Heroes while Repeater Cannon is active deals an additional 6% of the target's maximum Health as damage.
Fenix deals 20% more damage while he has a Shield from Shield Capacitor.
Basic Attacks with Repeater Cannon reduce Ability cooldowns by 0.5 seconds. Basic Attacks with Phase Bomb active reduce Ability cooldowns by 0.5 seconds per Hero hit.
Discussion
Offensive Cadence deals percent-based damage every third Basic Attack while in Weapon Mode: Repeater Cannon. The Talent is a good choice when you find yourself against an enemy team composition that cannot reliably punish you for delivering consecutive Repeater Cannon Basic Attacks to their frontline.
Photonic Weaponry passively increases all damage that Fenix deals, as long as he has any amount of Shields from Shield Capacitor. This is a safer pick than Offensive Cadence, considering it will roughly increase all your damage, including damage from Heroics. If enemy team can easily punish you when you are trying to deliver Repeater Cannon Basic Attacks, go for Photonic Weaponry instead.
Arsenal Overcharge can greatly reduce the cooldown of any of your Abilities, including your Heroic. We do not recommend this Talent, because most of your damage comes from Basic Attacks, so Offensive Cadence and Photonic Weaponry are better options for this tier.
Level 20 Talents for Fenix
Planet Cracker's width increases by 100% over 1.5 seconds.
Passive: Reduce Planet Cracker's cooldown by 40 seconds.
Hitting an enemy Hero with Plasma Cutter fires a Purification Salvo missile at them after 0.5 seconds, dealing 79 (+4% per level) damage. Deals 50% increased damage to Slowed targets.
Repeater Cannon grants 100% more Attack Speed, and Phase Bomb grants 1.25 more range.
Upon taking fatal damage, Shield Capacitor regains 800 (+4% per level) Shields. This effect has a 120 second cooldown.
Discussion
Armageddon Beam reduces Planet Cracker's cooldown and increases its width over 1.5 seconds. This Talent is an excellent upgrade for Planet Cracker, as it makes it much harder for enemies to walk away from the beam. However, if you do not have a reliable crowd control in your team, it is better to pick Unconquered Spirit instead, as it will be better in fights.
Secondary Fire would be good with Advanced Targeting because Plasma Cutter would circle an additional time. But Unfortunately, this synergy would only come at Level 20. Therefore, Secondary Fire or Plasma Cutter Build is not recommended by this time.
Singularity Charge increases the benefits you receive from both Weapon Modes. This means you can poke from a greater distance with Phase Bomb, and increase your Attack Speed even more while using Repeater Cannon. It is a good option if your team is dying earlier than you, and in this case Unconquered Spirit would not be useful at all, forcing Fenix into getting Singularity Charge instead.
Unconquered Spirit makes you much harder to kill. Fenix already requires a lot of coordination to kill, thanks to Warp. This Storm Talent makes you that much harder to kill, and can trick enemy Heroes into overextending for what looks like a takedown. Take this if you need more survivability.
Changelog
- 26 Mar. 2021: Updated Talent recommendations.
- 04 Mar. 2021: Talents and Builds updated after recent balance patch.
- 20 Jan. 2021: Talent section reviewed and no changes are necessary.
- 07 Apr. 2020: Talent section updated to reflect current meta.
- 15 Feb. 2020: Talent section and build guide recommendations updated to reflect February 12 balance patch.
- 24 Aug. 2019: Guide reviewed and updated to reflect meta developments.
- 12 Dec. 2018: Removed Warp Conduit.
- 28 Jun. 2018: Talent section updated to reflect June 26 balance patch.
- 25 Jun. 2018: Talent choices and text have been updated to reflect the meta's development.
- 13 Apr. 2018: Talent choices updated to reflect April 12 balance patch.
- 04 Apr. 2018: Talent section updated to reflect meta's development.
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Derenash has been playing Heroes of the Storm since 2015 and has achieved Grandmaster in multiple seasons, peaking at Top 1 in Season 3 and 4 of 2018. He participated in the HGC Copa America in 2018 where his team had a strong victory. He is passionate about teaching others about the game, and streams often on Twitch in Portuguese, and you can find him in Wind Striders' Discord as well where he is happy to answer any questions in English or Portuguese.
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