Hogger Build Guide “More bones to gnaw on...”

Last updated on Oct 25, 2023 at 19:45 by Elitesparkle 5 comments
General Information

Welcome to our guide for Hogger, a Bruiser 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.

Hogger's Overview

Hogger is a Bruiser with the unique Ability to create and get advantage of impassable terrain with terrain outlines, something that works great in narrow spaces and has low value in wide areas. This characteristic can be used to easily capture Mercenary Camps by strategically aiming Hogg Wild Icon Hogg Wild.

Thanks to having Rage instead of Mana, Hogger inherently prefers drawn-out battles that tend to exhaust enemy resources, especially when paired with a sustain Healer that can keep him healthy for long periods of time. That said, Hogger has access to a respectable amount of burst damage.

2.

Hogger's Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
X Weaknesses
3.

Hogger's Talent Build Cheatsheet

Staggering Blow Build

Recommended
Level 1 On The Prowl Icon
Level 4 Hogger's Joggers Icon Aggro Range Icon ?
Level 7 Seeing Red Icon Garbage Fire Icon ?
Level 10 Shockwave Icon Hoardapult Icon ?
Level 13 Pummel Icon
Level 16 Headbanger Icon
Level 20 No Control Icon

Hogger's Staggering Blow Build allows you to deal a high amount of damage to enemy Heroes when fighting them in melee range, which makes it the best choices for when you need to dive with Hoardapult Icon Hoardapult.

The extra damage comes from Headbanger Icon Headbanger at Level 16, if you manage to land Staggering Blow Icon Staggering Blow, and from either Seeing Red Icon Seeing Red or Garbage Fire Icon Garbage Fire at Level 7.

Level 7 Talents and Heroic Abilities should be paired as follows:

Ez-Thro Dynamite Build

Situational
Level 1 Journeyman Cooking Icon
Level 4 Hogger's Joggers Icon Aggro Range Icon ?
Level 7 Dense Blasting Powder Icon
Level 10 Shockwave Icon
Level 13 Pummel Icon
Level 16 Kablooie! Icon
Level 20 No Control Icon

Hogger's Ez-Thro Dynamite Build makes you not only a threat for enemy Heroes who step too close but also allows you to deal poke damage from the distance, without fully committing to the team fight.

Dense Blasting Powder Icon Dense Blasting Powder at Level 7 makes this Build particularly interesting when you can poke the enemy team, however, this Talent is also good in burst scenarios as you can hit the same Hero multiple times with it.

ARAM Build

ARAM
Level 1 Journeyman Cooking Icon
Level 4 Hogger's Joggers Icon
Level 7 Dense Blasting Powder Icon
Level 10 Shockwave Icon
Level 13 Pummel Icon
Level 16 Kablooie! Icon
Level 20 No Control Icon Power Spike Icon ? Anger Management Icon ?

Hogger's ARAM Build makes you not only a threat for enemy Heroes who step too close but also allows you to deal poke damage from the distance, without fully committing to the team fight.

Dense Blasting Powder Icon Dense Blasting Powder at Level 7 makes this Build particularly interesting when you can poke the enemy team, however, this Talent is also good in burst scenarios as you can hit the same Hero multiple times with it.

4.

Hogger's Synergies and Counters

V Hogger synergizes with

Heroes who benefit from impassable terrain with (for example Hanzo with Scatter Arrow Icon Scatter Arrow) or without (such as Auriel with Detainment Strike Icon Detainment Strike) terrain outlines can get value from Loot Hoard Icon Loot Hoard.

When enemy Heroes are stuck between Hogger and impassable terrain, allied Heroes can easily follow up with Abilities that require their target to stay still for a moment (like Chromie) or inside one area for a few seconds (for example Stukov).

Having access to a high amount of damage, Hogger can be paired with another similar Bruiser to have a more solid frontline than usual. One of them (usually not Hogger because he will take care of Mercenary Camps) will be played as Offlaner whereas the other will stay in the 4-man.

X Hogger is countered by

Try to lock Hogger in place with quick and unpredictable crowd control Abilities and then burst him down before he can get out with either Hogg Wild Icon Hogg Wild or Hoardapult Icon Hoardapult (if selected and not on cooldown after an aggressive play). Since he has access to Armor, percent-based damage helps with that.

Being a melee Hero, Hogger does not like to play against poke damage and kite (for example Lunara), unless he can dive them with the help other Heroes.

There are some Heroes who can easily deny any value which Hogger could get with impassable terrain thanks to their mobility tools (such as Zeratul with Blink Icon Blink or even Medivh with Portal Icon Portal). Even worse, some of them can use impassable terrain against Hogger thanks to dedicated Abilities (for example Diablo with Shadow Charge Icon Shadow Charge).

Be careful when playing against Heroes who can reduce healing (such as Ana with Biotic Grenade Icon Biotic Grenade) because they reduce your survivability by partially or completely denying the healing provided by your chunks of Meat. The same is true for Heroes who can reduce your Spell Power, as it will decrease your self-healing too.

5.

Hogger's Maps

Hogger's stronger maps
Blackheart's Bay Cursed Hollow Dragon Shire Infernal Shrines Towers of Doom Volskaya Foundry
Hogger's average maps
Alterac Pass Battlefield of Eternity Braxis Holdout Garden of Terror Sky Temple Tomb of the Spider Queen Warhead Junction
Hogger's weaker maps
Hanamura Temple

Hogger is great on medium-sized Battlegrounds where he can double soak (such as Infernal Shrines) and on Maps with narrow spaces where he can get value from impassable terrain by Knocking back enemy Heroes towards it or by blocking enemy Heroes in small corridors (notably Cursed Hollow).

Battlegrounds where most of the action happens in wide areas (for example Hanamura Temple) do not favor Hogger because he will not be able to get enough value from impassable terrain and 2-lane Maps will not allow him to dominate the early game by double soaking.

6.

Hogger's Tips and Tricks

7.

Hogger's Role in the Current Meta

Thanks to his self-sustain and waveclear, Hogger is a solid Offlaner who can easily take care of side lanes. When needed, he is also able to double soak or quickly capture Mercenary Camps. That said, he can also be paired with another Bruiser (such as Sonya) and be played in the 4-man, similarly to a Melee Assassin.

During team fights, Hogger will act as a powerful Bruiser capable of providing additional peeling for allied Heroes and dealing a respectable amount of damage to enemy Heroes. Depending on the Build being played, Hogger can either focus the enemy frontline or dive the enemy backline.

8.

Changelog

  • 24 Nov. 2023 (talents page): Guide reviewed.
  • 24 Nov. 2023 (this page): Guide reviewed.
  • 17 Nov. 2023 (talents page): Talents rearranged based on the latest Patch.
  • 26 Sep. 2023 (abilities page): Settings and explanation for doing Mercenary Camps added.
  • 20 Sep. 2023 (talents page): ARAM Build added.
  • 20 Sep. 2023 (this page): ARAM Build added.
  • 27 Nov. 2022 (talents page): Guide reviewed.
  • 27 Nov. 2022 (abilities page): Guide reviewed.
  • 27 Nov. 2022 (this page): Guide reviewed.
  • 14 Jan. 2022 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 14 Jan. 2022 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 17 May 2021 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Patch.
  • 17 May 2021 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Patch.
  • 17 May 2021 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Patch.
  • 22 Apr. 2021 (abilities page): Abilities page improved.
  • 21 Apr. 2021 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 21 Apr. 2021 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 16 Mar. 2021 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 16 Mar. 2021 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 03 Mar. 2021 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 03 Mar. 2021 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 03 Mar. 2021 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 18 Feb. 2021 (this page): Synergies and Counters updated.
  • 15 Feb. 2021 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 15 Feb. 2021 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 20 Jan. 2021 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 20 Jan. 2021 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 20 Jan. 2021 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 21 Dec. 2020 (talents page): Builds and Talents updated.
  • 21 Dec. 2020 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 04 Dec. 2020 (talents page): Builds updated.
  • 04 Dec. 2020 (abilities page): Abilities page improved.
  • 04 Dec. 2020 (this page): Builds updated.
  • 01 Dec. 2020 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Patch.
  • 01 Dec. 2020 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Patch.
  • 01 Dec. 2020 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Patch.
  • 30 Nov. 2020 (talents page): Guide created.
  • 30 Nov. 2020 (abilities page): Guide created.
  • 30 Nov. 2020 (this page): Guide created.
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