Imperius Talents
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.
Imperius's Talent Build
Level | Choices |
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1 |
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4 |
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7 |
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10 |
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13 |
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16 |
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20 |
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Imperius's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Celestial Charge Build
RecommendedImperius'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 at Level 13 allows you
to reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes.
Impaling Light
at Level 1 lets you use it more often, unless you decided to pick
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
AdvancedImperius's Hybrid Build is designed to increase your
damage output in team fights by empowering
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 at Level 16 allows you
to reduce the Armor of enemy Heroes,
so that you and your teammates can burst them down.
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
SituationalImperius'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 at Level 16 allows you
to reduce the Armor of enemy Heroes,
so that you and your teammates can burst them down.
Divine Rage at Level 13 lets you use it more often.
The additional waveclear
comes from Consuming Flame at Level 1
and particularly
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 at Level 1.
When playing Imperius in the 4-man, you should pick
Burn the Impure at Level 1 instead.
ARAM Build
ARAMImperius'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 at Level 13 allows you
to reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes.
Impaling Light
at Level 1 lets you use it more often, unless you decided to pick
Burn the Impure at Level 1 in order to deal
more percent-based damage.
Level 1 Talents for 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 is a strong Talent that increases
the damage done by
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'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's marks as possible
on the targets. To do so, hit your target with
Solarion's Fire
before using
Celestial Charge on them and then use
Molten Armor while Imperius is leaping forward.


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 is a strong Talent that increases
the damage done and Slow applied by
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.


Consuming a Valorous Brand mark deals bonus damage equal to 2.5% of the Hero's maximum Health.
Burn the Impure amplifies Imperius's early game
damage output tremendously. The additional percent-based damage works
particularly well with
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).
Level 4 Talents for 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 is a strong Talent that boosts Imperius's survivability
for almost 2 seconds, right after using
Molten Armor.
It has great synergy with
Divine Rage at Level 13, allowing
Imperius to be have the Armor almost constantly.


Increase the healing of Valorous Brand by 80%.
Battle Hunger is a good Talent when paired with
Holy Fervor, greatly increasing Imperius's
self-sustain in fights.


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 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.
Level 7 Talents for 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 is a strong Talent that
provides a Shield and boosts your damage when hitting enemy Heroes
with
Celestial Charge
and then consuming the corresponding
Valorous Brand's mark with a Basic Attack.
After picking Brand of Solarion at Level 20,
Flash of Anger will go off for multiple Basic Attacks,
for up to 5 seconds after using
Celestial Charge.
Given how much damage and healing you can get from Holy Fervor
through the course of a game, we find this Talent lackluster when not combined with
Brand of Solarion at Level 20.


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 is a weak Talent that
increases the damage done by
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.
We do not recommend this Talent because it does not provide enough value compared to the other options in the same Tier.


- Cooldown: 25 seconds
Activate to cause the next 4 Basic Attacks within 10 seconds to cleave for 30% additional damage.
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 counter
in the bottom-left corner will not show until you use a charge
because that is when their expiration time starts.
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.


- 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 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 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.


- 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 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 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 by Chromie).
If you are a beginner on Imperius, avoid picking this Heroic Ability.
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.
Level 13 Talents for Imperius


Stunning enemy Heroes with Celestial Charge reduces their Movement Speed by 25% and their damage by 50% for 4 seconds.
Pathetic Mortals is a situational Talent
that drastically reduces the damage done by enemy Heroes hit
with
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.


Consuming a Valorous Brand mark reduces the cooldown of Molten Armor by 1 second.
Divine Rage is a good Talent that significantly lowers
Molten Armor's cooldown, which greatly increases
Imperius's survivability. Furthermore, it possesses great synergy with both
Sovereign Armor at Level 4 and
Melting Touch at Level 16.


Increase Molten Armor's healing against Heroes by 2% for every 1% Health Imperius is missing.
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).
You can greatly increase the amount healing received from this Talent
by going for Molten Wrath at Level 20.
Level 16 Talents for 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 increases Imperius's Attack and
Movement Speed after Stunning foes using
Celestial Charge. This Talent can be good when paired
with
Brand of Solarion and
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.


Consuming a Molten Armor mark reduces the target's Armor by 25 for 4 seconds.
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 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's range.
If you pick this Talent together with 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.


- 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 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.
Level 20 Talents for 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 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.


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 is a good Talent
which restores a good chunk of Health and Mana
when hitting enemy Heroes with
Wrath of the Angiris.
In addition to that, consuming a
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.
If you picked Wrath of the Angiris
over
Angelic Armaments at Level 10,
then you should heavily prefer upgrading your Heroic Ability.


Molten Armor always strikes 2 additional targets, even if there are Heroes in range.
Molten Wrath is a decent Talent that
makes
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
at Level 13.


Reduce the duration of Valorous Brand to 5 seconds, but it is no longer consumed when triggered.
Brand of Solarion is a strong Talent that heavily
increases Imperius's damage and self-healing by making
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
at Level 1, to deal more percent-based damage,
and with
Flash of Anger at Level 7, to constantly refresh
your Shield over 5 seconds and deal more damage.


- 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 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.
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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Elitesparkle has been hooked on Heroes of the Storm since day one in 2015. Over the years, he has consistently competed at Master level across multiple Seasons and has even climbed into Grand Master a couple of times. Known for his logical mindset and love for theorycrafting, he thrives on breaking down the game's mechanics and engaging in high-level strategy discussions with the community.
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