Imperius Talents

Last updated on May 26, 2025 at 12:28 by Elitesparkle 11 comments
General Information

Welcome to our Talents page for Imperius. Here, we give you an overview of how strong each of Imperius's talents is. Then, we present several viable builds, before analyzing each talent row separately, so that you can make informed decisions.

1.

Imperius's Talent Build

Level Choices
1 Impaling Light Consuming Flame ? Burn the Impure ?
4 Sovereign Armor ? Battle Hunger Press Forward ?
7 Flash of Anger Blaze of Glory ✘︎ Holy Fervor ?
10 Angelic Armaments ? Wrath of the Angiris
13 Pathetic Mortals Divine Rage ? Heat of Battle ?
16 Celestial Swiftness Melting Touch ? Valorous Pursuit ?
20 Heavenly Host ? Unrelenting Descent ? Molten Wrath ? Brand of Solarion Impervious ?
2.

Imperius's Talent Build Cheatsheet

Celestial Charge Build

Recommended
Level 1 Impaling Light Icon Burn the Impure Icon ?
Level 4 Battle Hunger Icon Sovereign Armor Icon ? Press Forward Icon ?
Level 7 Flash of Anger Icon
Level 10 Wrath of the Angiris Icon Angelic Armaments Icon ?
Level 13 Pathetic Mortals Icon
Level 16 Celestial Swiftness Icon

Imperius's Celestial Charge Build is designed to increase your damage output and your durability in team fights, but also features a damage reduction effect that can be used to increase your own survivability and the survivability of allied Heroes in the late game.

Pathetic Mortals Icon Pathetic Mortals at Level 13 allows you to reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes. Impaling Light Icon Impaling Light at Level 1 lets you use it more often, unless you decided to pick Burn the Impure Icon Burn the Impure at Level 1 in order to deal more percent-based damage.

Due to its lack of waveclear, you should not choose this Build when playing Imperius as Offlaner but only consider using it when playing Imperius in the 4-man.

Hybrid Build

Advanced
Level 1 Impaling Light Icon
Level 4 Sovereign Armor Icon Battle Hunger Icon ? Press Forward Icon ?
Level 7 Flash of Anger Icon
Level 10 Wrath of the Angiris Icon Angelic Armaments Icon ?
Level 13 Divine Rage Icon
Level 16 Melting Touch Icon

Imperius's Hybrid Build is designed to increase your damage output in team fights by empowering Celestial Charge Icon Celestial Charge, survivability against burst damage, and damage contribution during team fights in the late game by reducing the Armor of enemy Heroes.

Melting Touch Icon Melting Touch at Level 16 allows you to reduce the Armor of enemy Heroes, so that you and your teammates can burst them down. Divine Rage Icon Divine Rage at Level 13 lets you use it more often.

Due to its lack of waveclear, you should not choose this Build when playing Imperius as Offlaner but only consider using it when playing Imperius in the 4-man.

Molten Armor Build

Situational
Level 1 Consuming Flame Icon Burn the Impure Icon ?
Level 4 Sovereign Armor Icon Battle Hunger Icon ? Press Forward Icon ?
Level 7 Holy Fervor Icon
Level 10 Wrath of the Angiris Icon Angelic Armaments Icon ?
Level 13 Divine Rage Icon
Level 16 Melting Touch Icon

Imperius's Molten Armor Build improves your waveclear in the early game, survivability against burst damage, and damage contribution during team fights in the late game by reducing the Armor of enemy Heroes.

Melting Touch Icon Melting Touch at Level 16 allows you to reduce the Armor of enemy Heroes, so that you and your teammates can burst them down. Divine Rage Icon Divine Rage at Level 13 lets you use it more often.

The additional waveclear comes from Consuming Flame Icon Consuming Flame at Level 1 and particularly Holy Fervor Icon Holy Fervor at Level 7. Due to its limited amount, however, you will not be able to double soak.

When playing Imperius as Offlaner, you should pick Consuming Flame Icon Consuming Flame at Level 1. When playing Imperius in the 4-man, you should pick Burn the Impure Icon Burn the Impure at Level 1 instead.

ARAM Build

ARAM
Level 1 Impaling Light Icon Burn the Impure Icon ?
Level 4 Battle Hunger Icon Sovereign Armor Icon ? Press Forward Icon ?
Level 7 Flash of Anger Icon
Level 10 Wrath of the Angiris Icon Angelic Armaments Icon ?
Level 13 Pathetic Mortals Icon
Level 16 Celestial Swiftness Icon

Imperius's ARAM Build is designed to increase your damage output and your durability in team fights, but also features a damage reduction effect that can be used to increase your own survivability and the survivability of allied Heroes in the late game.

Pathetic Mortals Icon Pathetic Mortals at Level 13 allows you to reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes. Impaling Light Icon Impaling Light at Level 1 lets you use it more often, unless you decided to pick Burn the Impure Icon Burn the Impure at Level 1 in order to deal more percent-based damage.

3.

Level 1 Talents for Imperius

Imperius Impaling Light
Impaling Light (Level 1) Diablo Imperius

Celestial Charge deals 180% more damage to Heroes, reduced by 20% for each additional Hero hit. For each Valorous Brand on the target when Celestial Charge's Stun completes, reduce its cooldown by 1 second.

Passive: Reduce Celestial Charge's cooldown by 2 seconds, and its Mana cost from 40 to 30.

Impaling Light Icon Impaling Light is a strong Talent that increases the damage done by Celestial Charge Icon Celestial Charge and reduces its cooldown. The damage bonus is higher when hitting a single Hero and gets reduced for each additional Hero hit. The cooldown reduction is lower when hitting a single Hero and gets increased for each Valorous Brand Icon Valorous Brand's mark on enemy Heroes when the Stun ends.

In order to maximize the benefits of this Talent, you should apply as many Valorous Brand Icon Valorous Brand's marks as possible on the targets. To do so, hit your target with Solarion's Fire Icon Solarion's Fire before using Celestial Charge Icon Celestial Charge on them and then use Molten Armor Icon Molten Armor while Imperius is leaping forward.

Imperius Consuming Flame ?
Consuming Flame (Level 1) Diablo Imperius

Increase the center damage of Solarion's Fire by an additional 125% and its Slow amount by 15%. The first enemy Hero hit with Solarion's Fire restores 30 Mana.

Consuming Flame Icon Consuming Flame is a strong Talent that increases the damage done and Slow applied by Solarion's Fire Icon Solarion's Fire, while also giving some Mana back when hitting any number of enemy Heroes.

Pick this Talent to improve Imperius's waveclear when playing him as Offlaner, else you will struggle at clearing Minions.

Imperius Burn the Impure ?
Burn the Impure (Level 1) Diablo Imperius

Consuming a Valorous Brand mark deals bonus damage equal to 2.5% of the Hero's maximum Health.

Burn the Impure Icon Burn the Impure amplifies Imperius's early game damage output tremendously. The additional percent-based damage works particularly well with Molten Armor Icon Molten Armor if Imperius maintains a consistent Basic Attack sequence after each tick.

We find this Talent particularly good when playing against Heroes who have high maximum Health (like Azmodan) and/or Armor (such as Deathwing).

4.

Level 4 Talents for Imperius

Imperius Sovereign Armor ?
Sovereign Armor (Level 4) Diablo Imperius

Molten Armor grants 20 Armor for 1.5 seconds. Damaging an enemy Hero with Molten Armor increases the duration of the Armor by 0.5 seconds.

Sovereign Armor Icon Sovereign Armor is a strong Talent that boosts Imperius's survivability for almost 2 seconds, right after using Molten Armor Icon Molten Armor. It has great synergy with Divine Rage Icon Divine Rage at Level 13, allowing Imperius to be have the Armor almost constantly.

Imperius Battle Hunger
Battle Hunger (Level 4) Diablo Imperius

Increase the healing of Valorous Brand by 80%.

Battle Hunger Icon Battle Hunger is a good Talent when paired with Holy Fervor Icon Holy Fervor, greatly increasing Imperius's self-sustain in fights.

Imperius Press Forward ?
Press Forward (Level 4) Diablo Imperius

Gain 10 Armor while being healed by a Regeneration Globe. Damaging an enemy Hero sets the duration of an active Regeneration Globe on Imperius to 8 seconds (unless it is already higher).

Press Forward Icon Press Forward is a very useful Talent during duels in the laning phase, but with almost zero value during team fights, where Regeneration Globes are rarely found. It can be an optimal choice if you are losing the lane in Braxis Holdout or Dragon Shire.

5.

Level 7 Talents for Imperius

Imperius Flash of Anger
Flash of Anger (Level 7) Diablo Imperius

Consuming a mark from Celestial Charge deals 150 (+4% per level) damage to the target and nearby enemies and grants Imperius a 250 (+4% per level) point Shield for 4 seconds.

Flash of Anger Icon Flash of Anger is a strong Talent that provides a Shield and boosts your damage when hitting enemy Heroes with Celestial Charge Icon Celestial Charge and then consuming the corresponding Valorous Brand Icon Valorous Brand's mark with a Basic Attack.

After picking Brand of Solarion Icon Brand of Solarion at Level 20, Flash of Anger Icon Flash of Anger will go off for multiple Basic Attacks, for up to 5 seconds after using Celestial Charge Icon Celestial Charge.

Given how much damage and healing you can get from Holy Fervor Icon Holy Fervor through the course of a game, we find this Talent lackluster when not combined with Brand of Solarion Icon Brand of Solarion at Level 20.

Imperius Blaze of Glory
Blaze of Glory (Level 7) Diablo Imperius

Solarion's Fire leaves a line of scorched earth along its center that explodes after 1.75 seconds for 205 (+4% per level) damage, dealing bonus damage with Valorous Brand marks.

Blaze of Glory Icon Blaze of Glory is a weak Talent that increases the damage done by Solarion's Fire Icon Solarion's Fire with a short delay, by leaving a fire trail on the ground that explodes shortly after. The damage dealt by this Talent can be increased by hitting its target with other Basic Abilities first, to mark them with Valorous Brand Icon Valorous Brand.

We do not recommend this Talent because it does not provide enough value compared to the other options in the same Tier.

Imperius Holy Fervor ?
Holy Fervor (Level 7) Diablo Imperius
  • Cooldown: 25 seconds

Activate to cause the next 4 Basic Attacks within 10 seconds to cleave for 30% additional damage.

Holy Fervor Icon Holy Fervor is a strong Talent that empowers your Basic Attacks, causing them to deal 130% damage on the main target and cleave for 30% damage. You can manually activate this Talent to buff your next 4 Basic Attacks.

The 25-second cooldown of the active component—which starts after the first empowered Basic Attack gets used—allows you to easily take care of Minions as they spawn once every 30 seconds.

Keep in mind that the Holy Fervor Icon Holy Fervor counter in the bottom-left corner will not show until you use a charge because that is when their expiration time starts.

6.

Level 10 Talents for Imperius

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.

Imperius Angelic Armaments ?
Angelic Armaments (Level 10) Diablo Imperius
  • Mana: 70
  • Cooldown: 70 seconds

Summon a ring of blazing swords that grants 850 (+4% per level) Shield for 3 seconds.

If the Shield lasts the full duration, this ability can be reactivated within 5 seconds to launch 6 swords toward an area, each dealing 140 (+4% per level) damage to the first enemy hit.

Angelic Armaments Icon Angelic Armaments is a good Heroic Ability which comes with everything an aggressive Bruiser like Imperius needs: its massive Shield prevents enemies from bursting him down while the damage from reactivation can help you securing kills, making him an even scarier foe to face.

If you are a beginner on Imperius, prefer picking this Heroic Ability. Angelic Armaments Icon Angelic Armaments is easy to get value from because it provides a nice Shield which boosts your survivability even if you cannot make good use of the reactivation component.

Imperius Wrath of the Angiris
Wrath of the Angiris (Level 10) Diablo Imperius
  • Mana: 80
  • Cooldown: 80 seconds

After 0.75 seconds, charge in the target direction, lifting the first enemy Hero hit into the Heavens. While in the air, Imperius can steer the landing location by moving.

After 2 seconds, slam the target into the ground, dealing 250 (+4% per level) damage to them, increased by 20% for each Valorous Brand on the target when landing, and Stunning them for 1 second.

Wrath of the Angiris Icon Wrath of the Angiris is a strong Heroic Ability which can be used to crowd control enemy Heroes who are relatively easy to hit with skillshots.

You may need it for countering specific enemy Abilities (such as Phase Shift Icon Phase Shift by Brightwing) and/or to provide additional crowd control effects to your team.

Since it provides Unstoppable as you charge forward, you could also use it for countering delayed crowd control effects (notably Temporal Loop Icon Temporal Loop by Chromie).

If you are a beginner on Imperius, avoid picking this Heroic Ability. Wrath of the Angiris Icon Wrath of the Angiris is easy to dodge due to having a cast time of 0.75 seconds, making it a high-risk high-reward Heroic Ability if not used as a follow-up to allied crowd control.

7.

Level 13 Talents for Imperius

Imperius Pathetic Mortals
Pathetic Mortals (Level 13) Diablo Imperius

Stunning enemy Heroes with Celestial Charge reduces their Movement Speed by 25% and their damage by 50% for 4 seconds.

Pathetic Mortals Icon Pathetic Mortals is a situational Talent that drastically reduces the damage done by enemy Heroes hit with Celestial Charge Icon Celestial Charge for multiple seconds while also Slowing them for a moderate amount.

The damage reduction effect is great to shut down enemy Heroes who deal a lot of damage, regardless of their Role. The small Slow provided is nice to have because it can help you land a few more Basic Attacks on retreating enemy Heroes.

Imperius Divine Rage ?
Divine Rage (Level 13) Diablo Imperius

Consuming a Valorous Brand mark reduces the cooldown of Molten Armor by 1 second.

Divine Rage Icon Divine Rage is a good Talent that significantly lowers Molten Armor Icon Molten Armor's cooldown, which greatly increases Imperius's survivability. Furthermore, it possesses great synergy with both Sovereign Armor Icon Sovereign Armor at Level 4 and Melting Touch Icon Melting Touch at Level 16.

Imperius Heat of Battle ?
Heat of Battle (Level 13) Diablo Imperius

Increase Molten Armor's healing against Heroes by 2% for every 1% Health Imperius is missing.

Heat of Battle Icon Heat of Battle is a situational Talent that comes with stronger healing the lower Imperius's Health is. You may need this Talent when playing against Heroes who can inflict a good amount of percent-based damage (for example Tychus with Minigun Icon Minigun).

You can greatly increase the amount healing received from this Talent by going for Molten Wrath Icon Molten Wrath at Level 20.

8.

Level 16 Talents for Imperius

Imperius Celestial Swiftness
Celestial Swiftness (Level 16) Diablo Imperius

Gain 20% Movement Speed for 5 seconds after casting Celestial Charge. Gain 40% Attack Speed for 5 seconds for each Hero Stunned with Celestial Charge.

Celestial Swiftness Icon Celestial Swiftness increases Imperius's Attack and Movement Speed after Stunning foes using Celestial Charge Icon Celestial Charge. This Talent can be good when paired with Brand of Solarion Icon Brand of Solarion and Flash of Anger Icon Flash of Anger. However, it is very dependent on hitting your Celestial Charge, so go for this if you are very confident in doing that.

Imperius Melting Touch ?
Melting Touch (Level 16) Diablo Imperius

Consuming a Molten Armor mark reduces the target's Armor by 25 for 4 seconds.

Melting Touch Icon Melting Touch is a strong Talent which allows Imperius to consistently lower the Armor of nearby enemy Heroes, increasing everyone's damage done to them.

Holy Fervor Icon Holy Fervor at Level 7 allows you to reduce the Armor of multiple enemy Heroes at the same time, if they happen to be within Molten Armor Icon Molten Armor's range.

If you pick this Talent together with Divine Rage Icon Divine Rage at Level 13, you will be able to reduce the Armor of enemy Heroes more often thanks to the cooldown reduction it provides.

Imperius Valorous Pursuit ?
Valorous Pursuit (Level 16) Diablo Imperius
  • Cooldown: 20 seconds

Activate to teleport to an enemy that has been marked by Valorous Brand and gain 25 Armor for 3 seconds.

Valorous Pursuit Icon Valorous Pursuit is a decent Talent that gives you access to mobility on a moderate cooldown. You may occasionally want this Talent as a counter to kite.

9.

Level 20 Talents for Imperius

Imperius Heavenly Host ?
Heavenly Host (Level 20) Diablo Imperius

Shields granted by Angelic Armaments no longer expire, and on initial activation, nearby allied Heroes gain a Shield that absorbs 600 (+4% per level) damage.

If a Shield granted to an allied Hero lasts 3 seconds, it fires 1 sword at a nearby enemy, prioritizing closest Heroes, dealing 140 (+4% per level) damage.

Heavenly Host Icon Heavenly Host is a good Talent which puts a powerful Shield on nearby Heroes, in addition to the one that Imperius gets, and makes those Shields not expire. After 3 seconds, each Shield that is still up will deal damage to the nearest enemy, prioritizing Heroes.

We find this Talent useful for keeping your most vulnerable allied Heroes (for example Valla) alive.

Imperius Unrelenting Descent ?
Unrelenting Descent (Level 20) Diablo Imperius

Descending from the Heavens restores 30% of Imperius' maximum Health and Mana. Consuming a Valorous Brand reduces the cooldown of Wrath of the Angiris by 10 seconds.

Unrelenting Descent Icon Unrelenting Descent is a good Talent which restores a good chunk of Health and Mana when hitting enemy Heroes with Wrath of the Angiris Icon Wrath of the Angiris. In addition to that, consuming a Valorous Brand Icon Valorous Brand will reduce its cooldown by 10 seconds.

Assuming you do not get bursted down by the enemy team, the cooldown reduction provided will usually allow you to halve the cooldown of Wrath of the Angiris Icon Wrath of the Angiris.

If you picked Wrath of the Angiris Icon Wrath of the Angiris over Angelic Armaments Icon Angelic Armaments at Level 10, then you should heavily prefer upgrading your Heroic Ability.

Imperius Molten Wrath ?
Molten Wrath (Level 20) Diablo Imperius

Molten Armor always strikes 2 additional targets, even if there are Heroes in range.

Molten Wrath Icon Molten Wrath is a decent Talent that makes Molten Armor Icon Molten Armor hit 2 additional targets even when enemy Heroes are in range, meaning that you can get more value from it in combat.

This effect can be used to greatly increase the amount of healing that Imperius receives from Heat of Battle Icon Heat of Battle at Level 13.

Imperius Brand of Solarion
Brand of Solarion (Level 20) Diablo Imperius

Reduce the duration of Valorous Brand to 5 seconds, but it is no longer consumed when triggered.

Brand of Solarion Icon Brand of Solarion is a strong Talent that heavily increases Imperius's damage and self-healing by making Valorous Brand Icon Valorous Brand's marks last only 5 seconds but empower Basic Attacks without being consumed.

This kind of effect has synergy with Burn the Impure Icon Burn the Impure at Level 1, to deal more percent-based damage, and with Flash of Anger Icon Flash of Anger at Level 7, to constantly refresh your Shield over 5 seconds and deal more damage.

Imperius Impervious ?
Impervious (Level 20) Diablo Imperius
  • Cooldown: 75 seconds

Activate to become Unstoppable and gain 75 Spell Armor for 3 seconds. Hitting Heroes with the center of Solarion's Fire reduces this cooldown by 5 seconds.

Impervious Icon Impervious is a strong Talent which can be activated to give Imperius a huge amount of Spell Armor and to make him Unstoppable for a few seconds.

We find this Talent particularly useful when playing against Heroes who have the potential to burst you down with their Abilities, especially when they are paired with Heroes who have access to crowd control effects.

10.

Changelog

  • 26 May 2025: Builds reorganized.
  • 17 May 2025: Guide updated for the latest Balance Update.
  • 18 Apr. 2025: Guide reviewed.
  • 13 Dec. 2024: Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 16 Oct. 2024: Guide reviewed.
  • 05 Mar. 2024: Guide reviewed.
  • 29 Oct. 2023: Guide reviewed.
  • 20 Sep. 2023: ARAM Build added.
  • 07 Dec. 2021: Guide reviewed for the latest Major Patch.
    • Holy Fervor's Description improved.
  • 03 Aug. 2021: Builds updated.
  • 19 Jun. 2021: Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 10 Mar. 2021: Builds updated.
  • 01 Mar. 2021: Minor fixes.
  • 25 Feb. 2021: New layout.
  • 20 Jan. 2021: Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 01 Dec. 2020: Guide reviewed for the latest Patch.
  • 25 Oct. 2020: Builds and Descriptions updated.
  • 12 Oct. 2020: Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 19 Sep. 2020: Builds updated.
  • 16 Jul. 2020: Updated Talents and Builds to reflect current meta.
  • 19 Jun. 2020: Updated Builds and Talents to better reflect current meta.
  • 15 May 2020: Updated Builds and Talents to reflect Pathetic Mortals' changes.
  • 13 Apr. 2020: Updated Builds and Talents to better reflect current meta.
  • 12 Jul. 2019: Updated Talents and Builds in accordance with the latest Balance Update.
  • 10 Jun. 2019: Revised the Imperius guide and applied several minor updates.
  • 28 Jan. 2019: Changed Burn the Impure from from Situational to Recommended and updated the Build accordingly.
  • 10 Jan. 2019: Changed Sovereign Armor from Situational to Recommended.
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