Garrosh Build Guide “This will prove useful.”

Last updated Yesterday at 14:42 by Elitesparkle 25 comments
General Information

Welcome to our guide for Garrosh, a Tank in Heroes of the Storm. Within these pages, you will find everything required to understand how best to play this hero, in both different map styles and team compositions.

1.

Garrosh's Overview

Garrosh is a Tank who becomes more difficult to kill the closer he is to death because of how his Trait, Armor Up Icon Armor Up, works. Arguably, one of Garrosh's strongest mechanics is his ability to displace enemy Heroes over relatively large distances via Wrecking Ball Icon Wrecking Ball, something that will immensely impact the outcome of a team fight and put a lot of pressure on the enemy team while laning.

2.

Garrosh's Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
  • +Incredibly durable via Armor Up Icon Armor Up, becomes harder to kill the closer he is to death
  • +Can reposition enemies or allies with Wrecking Ball Icon Wrecking Ball and Into the Fray Icon Into the Fray
  • +Very strong playmaker
  • +Provides a reliable frontline, with excellent damage mitigation
  • +Very high skill ceiling
X Weaknesses
  • -Rather poor damage output, especially during the late game
  • -Can be easily kited, particularly by Ranged Assassins
  • -Absolutely no method of increasing mobility; relies entirely on Abilities and crowd-control to reach his desired target
  • -Very complex Hero, requires mastery of many subtle nuances to be most effective
3.

Garrosh's Talent Build Cheatsheet

Bloodthirst Build

Recommended
Level 1 Unrivaled Strength Icon Body Check Icon ?
Level 4 Indomitable Icon
Level 7 Oppressor  Icon
Level 10 Decimate Icon
Level 13 Bloodcraze Icon
Level 16 Seasoned Soldier Icon
Level 20 Deadly Calm Icon

Garrosh's Bloodthirst Build provides various improvements which allow him to shine in most situations: additional damage, more survivability, and utility to help teammates. Just keep in mind that, due to going Decimate Icon Decimate, you will not have any tool to deal with high-mobility Heroes (for example Zeratul) who will try to dive.

The extra damage comes from Decimate Icon Decimate and the utility is given by its upgrade, Deadly Calm Icon Deadly Calm. With it, you can debuff multiple enemy Heroes in order to Slow them and, after upgrading it in the late game, reduce their damage.

Groundbreaker Build

Advanced
Level 1 Warbreaker Icon Body Check Icon ?
Level 4 Indomitable Icon
Level 7 Oppressor  Icon Intimidation Icon ?
Level 10 Warlord's Challenge Icon
Level 13 Defensive Measures Icon
Level 16 Earthshaker Icon Mortal Combo Icon ?
Level 20 Titanic Might Icon

Garrosh's Groundbreaker Build gives him more crowd control at the cost of survivability, allowing for powerful plays to enable his teammates and giving him the ability to deal with high-mobility Heroes.

Warlord's Challenge Icon Warlord's Challenge is great for locking enemy Heroes in place for your team to damage them, a strategy that is extremely powerful when your team features one or more Heroes who can follow up with burst damage.

Wrecking Ball Build

Advanced
Level 1 Unrivaled Strength Icon
Level 4 Indomitable Icon
Level 7 Oppressor  Icon Intimidation Icon ?
Level 10 Warlord's Challenge Icon
Level 13 Defensive Measures Icon
Level 16 Mortal Combo Icon
Level 20 Titanic Might Icon

Garrosh's Wrecking Ball Build gives him more crowd control at the cost of survivability, allowing for powerful plays to enable his teammates and giving him the ability to deal with high-mobility Heroes.

Warlord's Challenge Icon Warlord's Challenge is great for locking enemy Heroes in place for your team to damage them, a strategy that is extremely powerful when your team features one or more Heroes who can follow up with burst damage.

When you have Mortal Combo Icon Mortal Combo at Level 16 and Titanic Might Icon Titanic Might at Level 20, when catching 2 enemy Heroes with Wrecking Ball Icon Wrecking Ball and hitting them with Groundbreaker Icon Groundbreaker right after, you will be able to throw them on the spot 2 more times.

Basic Attacks Build

Situational
Level 1 Body Check Icon
Level 4 Thirst for Battle Icon
Level 7 Oppressor  Icon
Level 10 Decimate Icon
Level 13 Bloodcraze Icon
Level 16 Seasoned Soldier Icon
Level 20 Deadly Calm Icon

Garrosh's Basic Attacks Build gives him more survivability while also reducing the damage and healing done by enemy Heroes, allowing him to easily out-trade the enemy team.

The survivability comes in the form of healing when hitting enemy Heroes with Bloodthirst Icon Bloodthirst empowered with multiple Talents, including Seasoned Soldier Icon Seasoned Soldier at Level 16 that increases your maximum Health as well.

The damage reduction, which will help your whole team to survive for longer, comes from Oppressor  Icon Oppressor at Level 7 and Deadly Calm Icon Deadly Calm at Level 20.

The healing reduction comes from Body Check Icon Body Check at Level 1 when you hit the target of healing (i.e., who is going to be healed or self-healed) and from Oppressor  Icon Oppressor at Level 7 when you hit the healing source (who is going to heal or self-heal).

ARAM Build

ARAM
Level 1 Unrivaled Strength Icon Body Check Icon ?
Level 4 Indomitable Icon
Level 7 Oppressor  Icon Intimidation Icon ?
Level 10 Decimate Icon
Level 13 Bloodcraze Icon
Level 16 Seasoned Soldier Icon
Level 20 Deadly Calm Icon

Garrosh's ARAM Build provides various improvements which allow him to shine in most situations: additional damage, more survivability, and utility to help teammates. Just keep in mind that, due to going Decimate Icon Decimate, you will not have any tool to deal with high-mobility Heroes (for example Zeratul) who will try to dive.

The extra damage comes from Decimate Icon Decimate and the utility is given by its upgrade, Deadly Calm Icon Deadly Calm. With it, you can debuff multiple enemy Heroes in order to Slow them and, after upgrading it in the late game, reduce their damage.

4.

Garrosh's Synergies and Counters

V Garrosh synergizes with

If you want to get more value from Garrosh, pair him with Heroes who can follow up his engage with crowd control (such as Deckard Cain) and/or burst damage (for example Kael'thas).

Garrosh does not have a strong engage from the distance, so he likes to play in team with Heroes who have access to powerful Abiliities to help him engage (like Hanzo with Dragon's Arrow Icon Dragon's Arrow).

Compensate his lack of mobility (for example with Speed Barrier Icon Speed Barrier by Zarya) and Garrosh will become even more scary to play against as he will be able to just walk towards enemy Heroes for catching them with Wrecking Ball Icon Wrecking Ball.

X Garrosh is countered by

Garrosh does not like to face Heroes who have access to on-demand Unstoppable effects (such as Johanna) because Wrecking Ball Icon Wrecking Ball will not target them but the second nearest target in range. If these Heroes get thrown instead of an ally to peel for them, then they can use that defensive Ability to walk out uncontested, unless crowd controlled to death.

Heroes who can kite him away from their team (for example Lunara) are great Garrosh's counters, however, keep in mind that he can occasionally mitigate this by activating Indomitable Icon Indomitable at Level 4.

Considering that Garrosh relies on Armor to mitigate incoming damage, he is weak to percent-based damage (like Leoric) and effects that reduce Armor (for example Sylvanas with Overwhelming Affliction Icon Overwhelming Affliction at Level 1).

Another way to counter Garrosh is using tools to help allied Heroes survive burst damage (such as Force of Will Icon Force of Will by Medivh) and/or move them out of danger (like Leap of Faith Icon Leap of Faith by Anduin).

5.

Garrosh's Maps

Garrosh's stronger maps
Braxis Holdout Dragon Shire Tomb of the Spider Queen Towers of Doom Volskaya Foundry
Garrosh's average maps
Alterac Pass Battlefield of Eternity Blackheart's Bay Cursed Hollow Garden of Terror Hanamura Temple Infernal Shrines Sky Temple Warhead Junction
Garrosh's weaker maps
None

Garrosh thrives in situations where his enemies are forced to clump together in groups. This is because most of his Abilities, (notably Groundbreaker Icon Groundbreaker and Warlord's Challenge Icon Warlord's Challenge) gain value when they are able to strike more than one target. Maps with many narrow choke points provide Garrosh a playground of opportunities to catch out his enemies. Wrecking Ball Icon Wrecking Ball is a lot of fun on Maps with lots of terrain as Garrosh can use it to completely isolate an enemy Hero away from their allies by flipping them over impassable terrain or Structure into his team.

6.

Garrosh's Tips and Tricks

  • Armor Up Icon Armor Up gives Garrosh an impressive amount of damage mitigation while at low Health, allowing him to stay in combat longer than most other Heroes.
  • Groundbreaker Icon Groundbreaker can be used to Stun an enemy Hero before or after throwing them with Wrecking Ball Icon Wrecking Ball.
  • Bloodthirst Icon Bloodthirst's self-sustain is most effective after Garrosh has suffered damage as it heals for a percentage of his missing Health.
  • Remember that Wrecking Ball Icon Wrecking Ball is not a targeted Ability and will automatically target the closest non-Unstoppable Hero (including Misha), Clone, Minion, or Mercenary within range. Summons and Monsters are invalid targets.
  • Due to the small radius of Warlord's Challenge Icon Warlord's Challenge, it will sometimes be difficult to strike multiple Heroes with it. It will often times be worth using Warlord's Challenge on a single Hero should it help secure a kill and ensure a numbers advantage for Garrosh's team.
  • To play around Abilities that give mobility or Unstoppable, you can use Wrecking Ball Icon Wrecking Ball and immediately cast Warlord's Challenge Icon Warlord's Challenge before the target enemy Hero lands.
7.

Garrosh's Role in the Current Meta

Garrosh is a great Hero choice for teams that are in need of a strong frontline and happen to lack a reliable source of crowd control. As a consequence, he works best with Heroes who are able to follow up on his engage with additional crowd control and especially large amounts of burst damage.

8.

Changelog

  • 08 Dec. 2024 (talents page): Guide reviewed.
  • 08 Dec. 2024 (abilities page): Guide reviewed.
  • 16 Dec. 2023 (talents page): Guide reviewed.
  • 16 Dec. 2023 (this page): Guide reviewed.
  • 20 Sep. 2023 (talents page): ARAM Build added.
  • 20 Sep. 2023 (this page): ARAM Build added.
  • 16 Sep. 2023 (talents page): Guide reviewed.
  • 16 Sep. 2023 (this page): Guide reviewed.
  • 13 Jul. 2022 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 07 Jul. 2022 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 06 May 2022 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 06 May 2022 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 16 Jun. 2021 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 16 Jun. 2021 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 16 Jun. 2021 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 18 May 2021 (this page): Updated Overview and Role in the Current Meta.
  • 05 May 2021 (talents page): Bloodthirst Build's Description improved.
  • 05 May 2021 (this page): Bloodthirst Build's Description updated.
  • 24 Apr. 2021 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 24 Apr. 2021 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 14 Apr. 2021 (abilities page): Tips and Tricks updated.
  • 14 Apr. 2021 (this page): Tips and Tricks updated.
  • 14 Mar. 2021 (this page): Synergies and Counters fixed.
  • 27 Feb. 2021 (talents page): Build Tags updated.
  • 27 Feb. 2021 (this page): Build Tags updated.
  • 25 Feb. 2021 (talents page): New layout.
  • 16 Feb. 2021 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 16 Feb. 2021 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 24 Oct. 2020 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 24 Oct. 2020 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 16 Jul. 2020 (talents page): Builds and Descriptions changed according to the latest Balance Update.
  • 16 Jul. 2020 (this page): Builds and Descriptions changed according to the latest Balance Update.
  • 11 Apr. 2020 (talents page): Talent Build partially revised to match new standards.
    • Talent Build and Talent Build Cheatsheet modified to reflect the current metagame.
    • Talent Descriptions modified to better describe when to pick them.
  • 11 Apr. 2020 (abilities page): Ability and Strategy partially revised to match new standards.
  • 11 Apr. 2020 (this page): Introduction partially revised to match new standards.
    • Talent Build Cheatsheet updated to reflect the current metagame.
    • Role in the Current Meta modified to remove the unnecessary part about the now fixed Experience Globes.
  • 12 Dec. 2019 (this page): Added an entry about the current Anomaly to the guide.
  • 10 Jun. 2019 (talents page): Revised the Garrosh guide and fixed minor issues. The guide is, overall, up-to-date.
  • 25 May 2019 (talents page): Updated Garrosh's talents and builds due to a major overhaul of the guide.
  • 24 Dec. 2017 (talents page): Talents page updated to reflect the Dec. 20 balance patch notes, particularly the Groundbreaker Ability changes.
  • 24 Dec. 2017 (abilities page): Ability page updated to reflect the Dec. 20 balance patch notes, particularly the Groundbreaker Ability changes.
  • 24 Dec. 2017 (this page): Guide updated to reflect the Dec. 20 balance patch notes, particularly the Groundbreaker Ability changes.
  • 17 Oct. 2017 (talents page): The increased duration of Warlord's Challenge by the Level 20 Talent Death Wish has been removed.
  • 17 Oct. 2017 (abilities page): The increased duration of Warlord's Challenge by the Level 20 Talent Death Wish has been removed.
  • 01 Sep. 2017 (talents page): Full Descriptions have been added to Talent page.
  • 01 Sep. 2017 (abilities page): Duration of Warlord's Challenge has been increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds.
  • 08 Aug. 2017 (this page): Added Garrosh guide.
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