Imperius Build Guide “Valor will be victorious!”

Imperius is a high-damage melee Bruiser that can also be played as a tank. He has a variety of self-healing mechanisms allowing him to pursue his enemies relentlessly. While his damage is to be respected, his limited mobility and underwhelming peel potential usually require him to be paired with another frontliner.

Strengths

• Outstanding self-healing
• Strong burst damage
• Decent in lane
• Good late game
• Can be played either in solo lane or as a main tank
• Great follow up for crowd controls

Weaknesses

• Dependent on hitting Celestial Charge
• Limited mobility
• Has no peeling mechanics until Level 20
• Can be kited easily by enemies with high range
• Mediocre waveclear
• Weak against knockbacks, Roots, and Slows

Basic Attacks Build

Recommended

Level 1 ?

Level 4 ? ?

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ? ? ?

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Imperius's Basic Attacks Build improves your waveclear in the early game and your burst damage in the late game.

The additional waveclear and Mercenary clear comes from Consuming Flame at Level 1 and particularly Holy Fervor at Level 7.

The cooldown reduction provided by Divine Rage at Level 13 allows you to get more value from Melting Touch at Level 16, Holy Fervor at Level 7, and Sovereign Armor at Level 4 while fighting enemy Heroes.

We recommend choosing this Build when playing Imperius as Solo Laner, especially on Maps where waveclear is too good to pass, but it can also be used when playing as Tank there.

Molten Armor Build

Situational

Level 1 ?

Level 4 ? ?

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ? ? ?

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Imperius's Molten Armor Build is all about improving your burst damage during team fights, at the cost of macro.

Melting Touch at Level 16 allows you to reduce the Armor of enemy Heroes and Divine Rage at Level 13 lets you use it more often.

Avoid going for this Build when playing Imperius as Solo Laner on Maps where waveclear is important to have. We recommend this Build when playing Imperius as Tank, especially if your team lacks Armor reduction effects.

Celestial Charge Build

Situational

Level 1 ?

Level 4 ? ?

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ? ? ?

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Imperius's Celestial Charge Build allows you to reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes once you get to the mid game and also provides a high amount of damage.

The damage boost comes from Celestial Swiftness at Level 16 whereas Pathetic Mortals at Level 13 reduces the damage done by enemy Heroes. In addition to that, both Talents help you stick on your target by increasing your Movement Speed and by Slowing down enemy Heroes respectively.

Avoid going for this Build when playing Imperius as Solo Laner on Maps where waveclear is important to have. You can go for this Build while playing Imperius as Tank, especially if you need damage reduction effects.

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Imperius synergizes with

Imperius's mobility is one of his greatest weaknesses, consequently, he pairs extremely well with Heroes like Jaina or Fenix that can slow enemies, so Imperius can catch them up with Celestial Charge. On the other hand, Heroes like Mal'Ganis or E.T.C. that can keep enemies in place are even better, because Imperius is very dependent on hitting his Charge, and a sleeping or stunned enemy is a guaranteed hit. Furthermore, as a tank, Imperius requires another resistant Hero in the frontline that can compensate for his lack of peel, like Yrel or Blaze.

Imperius is countered by

Imperius has limited mobility, and can be easily punished by ranged Heroes if he cannot hit Celestial Charge. For this reason, slows and knockbacks are very good against him, since they greatly facilitate the kiting against Imperius and can be used to interrupt Celestial Charge.

Imperius's stronger maps

Imperius's average maps

Imperius's weaker maps

Imperius falls slightly behind other solo laners when it comes to waveclear. However, he excels in teamfights due to his high damage and sustain. For those reasons, Imperius is a great hero in teamfight focused maps that do not require you to double soak, such as Towers of Doom, Volskaya Foundry, or Alterac Pass.

• Molten Armor is very strong in a 1-versus-1 situation, as it focuses all of its damage on the same target.
• Angelic Armaments can be used to take down enemy Heroes, so do not hesitate to use the activatable component if you do not have to worry about getting damaged.
• Celestial Charge can be used to impale and Stun several enemies at once, however, keep in mind that Imperius cannot move during the animation.
• Molten Armor can be activated while Imperius is impaling enemies with Celestial Charge to maximize his damage output.
• Stutter-stepping is crucial when playing Imperius in order to maximize Valorous Brand's damage output.
• To improve Imperius' waveclear, use Solarion's Fire when the enemy Minion wave is lined up in a straight line.
• The closer your target is from you, the easier it is to hit Celestial Charge. If you aim Celestial charge very close to Imperius, it will hit enemies much sooner, because there will be no time spent moving towards the enemy.

While Imperius's sustained damage may be slightly higher than that of other Bruisers, his poor waveclear turns him into an underwhelming bruiser if you need to constantly double soak. For this reason, Imperius can also be picked as a main tank, where he will still bring all his damage to fights, while not compromising your macro play.

Imperius's early game is decent, however, he truly shines in the later stages of the game with increased self-sustain and damage thanks to his Level 7, 13, 16 and 20 Talents. Imperius will be a dangerous threat after level 7 and beyond, so it is recommended to play carefully before those power spikes.