Jaina Talents

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Quick Reference
  • 2. Introduction
  • 3. Strengths
  • 4. Weaknesses
  • 5. Role in the Current Meta
  • 6. Contents
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Abilities
  • 1. Frostbite (Trait)
  • 2. Frostbolt
  • 3. Blizzard
  • 4. Cone of Cold
  • 5. Water Elemental
  • 6. ChangeLog
• ×Talent Build
  • 1. Talent Build
  • 2. Common Talent Paths
  • 3. Level 1 Talents
    • 3.1. Descriptions
    • 3.2. Recommended
    • 3.3. Not Recommended
  • 4. Level 4 Talents
    • 4.1. Descriptions
    • 4.2. Recommended
    • 4.3. Not Recommended
  • 5. Level 7 Talents
    • 5.1. Descriptions
    • 5.2. Recommended
    • 5.3. Not Recommended
  • 6. Level 10 Talents
    • 6.1. Descriptions
    • 6.2. Recommended
    • 6.3. Not Recommended
  • 7. Level 13 Talents
    • 7.1. Descriptions
    • 7.2. Recommended
    • 7.3. Not Recommended
  • 8. Level 16 Talents
    • 8.1. Descriptions
    • 8.2. Recommended
    • 8.3. Not Recommended
  • 9. Level 20 Talents
    • 9.1. Descriptions
    • 9.2. Recommended
    • 9.3. Not Recommended
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Strategy, Tips, and Tricks
  • 1. General Jaina Strategy
  • 2. When Not Team Fighting
  • 3. When Team Fighting
    • 3.1. Ability Usage
  • 4. Summary of Tips and Tricks
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Synergies and Counters
  • 1. Heroes Jaina Works Well With
    • 1.1. Diablo
    • 1.2. Tyrande
    • 1.3. Uther
    • 1.4. Zagara
  • 2. Heroes Jaina Is Countered By
    • 2.1. Diablo
      • 2.1.1. How To Play Against Diablo
    • 2.2. Nova
      • 2.2.1. How To Play Against Nova
    • 2.3. Stitches
      • 2.3.1. How To Play Against Stitches
    • 2.4. Uther
      • 2.4.1. How To Play Against Uther
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Map-specific Advice
  • 1. Battlefield of Eternity
  • 2. Blackheart's Bay
  • 3. Cursed Hollow
  • 4. Dragon Shire
  • 5. Garden of Terror
  • 6. Sky Temple
  • 7. Tomb of the Spider Queen
  • 8. Towers of Doom
  • 9. Infernal Shrines
  • 10. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we present the viable talent choices for playing Jaina in a competitive environment in Heroes of the Storm. For each talent, we explain what they do and why they should or should not be taken.

The other pages of our Jaina guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About the Author

Oxygen is a veteran of the MOBA genre, which he has been playing for nearly 15 years. He has coached some of Heroes of the Storm's most prominent North American players and teams alike, including Team Liquid. As a Master player, he enjoys playing all Heroes and roles.

1. Talent Build

Level	Choices
1	✘ ✘ ✔ ✘
4	✔ ✘ ✘
7	✘ ✔ ✘
10	✘ ✔
13	✘ ✘ ✔
16	✘ ✘ ✔
20	✘ ✘ ✔ ✘

2. Common Talent Paths

3. Level 1 Talents

3.1. Descriptions

Winter's Reach increases the range of Frostbolt for 30%.

Lingering Chill increases the duration of Chill from 4 to 6 seconds.

Deep Chill increases the slow of Chill from 25% to 30%.

Conjurer's Pursuit permanently increases your Mana Regeneration by 0.1 per second for every Regeneration Globe you collect, up to 2.5. After gathering 25 Regeneration Globes, your maximum Mana is also increased by 100. Purple Regeneration Globes dropped from neutral Boss monsters count as well.

3.2. Recommended

Deep Chill effectively increases the slow effect from Chill by 20% (25% to 30%). This has a notable impact in fights in general, but is especially helpful in landing both waves from Blizzard.

3.3. Not Recommended

Winter's Reach has very little practical effect. Very rarely will there be a situation where the increased range on Frostbolt makes a difference, especially considering you need to be very close to hit enemies with Cone of Cold.

Lingering Chill, like Winter's Reach, will not benefit you. You will be casting too many abilities — constantly reapplying Chill — for the 4 second duration of Chill to fall off. If it does, it is unlikely that 2 additional seconds will make a meaningful difference. Lingering Chill is an inferior version of Deep Chill.

Conjurer's Pursuit provides you with Mana regeneration that you do not require. If you use your abilities wisely, you should not run out of Mana.

4. Level 4 Talents

4.1. Descriptions

Frost Shards causes Frostbolt to pierce the first target and hit a second target, damaging and Chilling both.

Arcane Intellect allows Jaina to restore her Mana by damaging Chilled enemies. Basic Attacks restore 5 Mana per attack and abilities restore 20 Mana. Abilities hitting multiple Chilled targets will still only restore 20 Mana.

Frost Armor causes enemy Heroes that use Basic Attacks against you to be Chilled. Additionally, every 10 seconds you can block 1 enemy Hero's Basic Attack, reducing its damage by 50%.

4.2. Recommended

Frost Shards improves the reliability of Frostbolt by making it more difficult to block. It is particularly useful for hitting enemies that are hiding behind Minions, Structures, or Summons.

4.3. Not Recommended

Arcane Intellect provides you with significantly more Mana regeneration. However, if you only use your abilities as they are needed, you will only rarely run out of Mana. Therefore, Arcane Intellect is not needed.

Frost Armor effectively blocks very little damage, even against a Nova with Anti-Armor Shells, as most of the damage from Heroes comes from their abilities. Additionally, your targets should already be Chilled from the multitude of sources you have at your disposal.

5. Level 7 Talents

5.1. Descriptions

Ice Floes doubles the width of Cone of Cold and causes the cooldown of Cone of Cold to be reduced by 1 second for every target hit, up to a maximum of 5 seconds.

Frostbitten increases the damage bonus against Chilled targets from 50% to 65%.

Ice Lance reduces the cooldown of Frostbolt by 50% and restores 10 Mana if it damages an enemy that is already Chilled. Note that this effect is not doubled through Frost Shards if you hit more than one enemy with a single Frostbolt.

5.2. Recommended

Frostbitten is the only talent that provides a meaningful increase in damage. While an increase from 50% to 65% may not seem very large, it amounts to a 10% damage increase from one rotation of your Basic Abilities (assuming every ability hits a Chilled target). While your overall damage increase is slightly lower than 10%, Frostbitten will benefit you more than any other talent at this level.

5.3. Not Recommended

Ice Floes is very situational, only having a noticeable benefit when clearing large minion waves. When used against a single target, where it is impossible to miss Cone of Cold, it only reduces the cooldown of the ability by 1 second, which is essentially meaningless. Even in a near-perfect scenario where it hits four enemy Heroes, the cooldown of Cone of Cold is reduced by only 5 seconds. In this scenario, you would deal significantly less damage than the 10% damage increase from Frostbitten, as well as having to wait several seconds until Cone of Cold can be used to gain any benefit.

Ice Lance is quite a strong talent, but the damage it provides is overshadowed by Frostbitten — at least in team fights. Ice Lance provides higher single-target damage if you are able to land two or more Frostbolts, as well as allowing you to chase and kite enemy Heroes more effectively by constantly reapplying Chill. However, Frostbitten will provide significantly more damage if your abilities hit just two or more targets, making Ice Lance a little too niche. Additionally, Ice Lance means that you will be casting twice as many Frostbolts, using twice as much Mana. This can be a problem during the early game when Conjurer's Pursuit does not yet provide enough Mana regeneration.

6. Level 10 Talents

6.1. Descriptions

Ring of Frost creates an icy ring at the target location. After a short delay, all enemies touching the ring take significant damage and are rooted for 3 seconds. The ring persists for 3 seconds afterwards, Chilling (but not damaging) all enemies that touch it. Ring of Frost has no effect upon enemies standing in the centre of the ring.

Summon Water Elemental summons a Water Elemental under your control at the target location, damaging nearby enemies. The Water Elemental will attack nearby enemies, with its Basic Attacks dealing 25% of their damage in an area around the target. It can be commanded to move and attack targets by using the R button. The Water Elemental lasts for 20 seconds or until it is killed. It can be commanded while Jaina is mounted, without dismounting her. It moves slightly faster than unmounted Heroes.

6.2. Recommended

As mentioned on the Abilities page, Summon Water Elemental is an extremely strong ability that exponentially increases Jaina's strength. You can refer to the Abilities page in order to understand the ideal uses of Summon Water Elemental.

6.3. Not Recommended

Ring of Frost deals an extremely high amount of damage, accompanied by an equally outrageous 3-second root. However, it has a long cooldown and is extremely difficult to hit, especially against more skilled opponents who know that the inner circle is completely safe. Ring of Frost's unreliability is too inhibiting, and most team fights will hinge on whether or not you are able to successfully land Ring of Frost. In contrast, there can never be a poorly placed Summon Water Elemental, and it can be just as effective, if not more.

Ring of Frost can be used on an already stunned, rooted, or slowed enemy, but it can be very difficult to coordinate, and chances are that if your team is good enough to coordinate it, the enemy team is good enough to counter it, with abilities like Cleanse or Divine Shield.

7. Level 13 Talents

7.1. Descriptions

Storm Front doubles the casting range of Blizzard.

Ice Barrier causes Jaina's abilities to shield her for 25% of the damage dealt if they are used against Chilled targets. The shield lasts for 4 seconds.

Icy Veins is an activatable talent that causes your Basic Abilities to come off of cooldown three times as fast and cost 50% less Mana. The effect lasts for 5 seconds.

7.2. Recommended

Icy Veins is a fantastic activatable talent that will essentially reduce the Mana costs by 50% and the cooldowns of your abilities to 1.33 seconds, 5.33 seconds, and 3.33 seconds for Frostbolt, Blizzard, and Cone of Cold respectively, for 5 seconds. It accentuates her already fantastic damage and combo potential.

7.3. Not Recommended

Storm Front is a helpful but ineffective talent. You must be within the casting range of Cone of Cold and Frostbolt to kill enemy Heroes and simply casting Blizzard will do very little.

Ice Barrier only increases Jaina's survivability, but Jaina is a strong Hero because of the massive damage and utility she offers, not because she is a difficult Hero to kill. Ice Barrier provides you with benefits that are not helpful to her playstyle. You should be flanking enemy Heroes and instantly using all of your abilities before they have time to react, making them unable to even damage you in the 4 seconds that the shield from Ice Barrier lasts.

8. Level 16 Talents

8.1. Descriptions

Snowstorm increases the radius of Blizzard by 30%.

Northern Exposure causes Cone of Cold to afflict enemies with Vulnerable, increasing the damage they take by 25% for 2 seconds.

Numbing Blast causes Cone of Cold to root enemies for 1 second if they are already afflicted by Chill.

8.2. Recommended

Numbing Blast may not seem very strong, offering only a 1-second root on Chilled targets, but it will actually out-damage Northern Exposure in most situations, simply because of its utility. The root guarantees that the targeted Hero(es) will take damage from both waves of Blizzard, instead of just one. Additionally, the root allows your team to correctly position around the enemy Hero(es) and apply their own damage or crowd control. Since the first ability you use on the enemy Hero(es) will be Summon Water Elemental, they will always be Chilled for Numbing Blast.

8.3. Not Recommended

Although Snowstorm dramatically increases the radius of Blizzard, the talent must compete with Numbing Blast.

Northern Exposure is a good talent, but Numbing Blast is more effective. Vulnerable does not amplify the damage from Cone of Cold itself. Therefore, even if both waves of Blizzard hit, which is unlikely without the root from Numbing Blast, the 25% increased damage from Jaina will barely equal a single wave of Blizzard. Since Numbing Blast guarantees the second wave of Blizzard to hit, it is always a better choice, even when only considering Jaina's damage.

9. Level 20 Talents

9.1. Descriptions

Cold Snap causes the centre of Ring of Frost to also explode once the outer ring has exploded. Enemies can be hit by both explosions.

Wintermute increases the casting range of Summon Water Elemental by 50% and causes your Water Elemental to copy any abilities that you cast. The Water Elemental's mimicked abilities deal 50% damage and are cast at the same location of your own abilities.

Arcane Power is an activatable talent that restores 400 Mana and increases the damage of your Abilities by 15% for 5 seconds. Arcane Power can be used without interrupting progressing channeled abilities, and has a 60-second cooldown.Arcane Power must be active when an ability finishes casting for that ability to have 15% increased damage.

Improved Ice Block is an activatable talent that puts Jaina into a stasis for 3 seconds, preventing all damage and making her unable to take any action. Nearby enemies are Chilled when the stasis ends. If Jaina is affected by any damage over time effects, like Envenom, the effect is paused until Jaina comes out of stasis. Improved Ice Block can be reactivated early to cancel the effect. It is identical to Ice Block, with the exception of the Chilling effect after the stasis ends.

9.2. Recommended

Improved Ice Block can drastically increase your survivability, by either allowing you to dodge enemy abilities or giving your team time to assist you. Improved Ice Block is fantastic versus enemies that deal significant burst or combo damage, such as Kerrigan and Nova. Choose Improved Ice Block when you are being prioritised by enemy Assassins, even when you are playing safely.

9.3. Not Recommended

Cold Snap cannot be chosen when using Summon Water Elemental.

Wintermute is a strong offensive talent, but Improved Ice Block is simply required; the utility that it provides is unsurpassed. During the late game, when the majority of enemy Heroes can kill you nearly instantly, Improved Ice Block is a life saver. If Illidan, E.T.C., or Zeratul attack you, you are dead unless your team can assist you. Improved Ice Block can provide your team with the time that they need to reach you.

Arcane Power is a truly useless talent. Additional Mana has no impact in team fights, unless you are completely out of Mana, which you should not be. When it comes to the 15% increased ability damage for 10 seconds, there is no reason to take Arcane Power over Wintermute, which will give you 50% increased ability power (in the form of mimicked abilities) for 20 seconds, plus the 50% increased range on Summon Water Elemental.

10. ChangeLog

• 11 Jul. 2016: Updated talent descriptions and recommendations to account for the Gul'dan patch changes.
• 17 May 2016: Updated Conjurer's Pursuit's description following Chromie's patch changes. Talent recommendations remain unchanged.
• 04 Apr. 2016: Dehaka patch update.
  • Bolt of the Storm has been removed.
  • Improved Ice Block has been moved to Level 20 Recommended
  • Icy Veins changed to Recommended at Level 13.
  • Ice Barrier has been moved to Level 13 Not Recommended.
  • Descriptions have been updated for the relevant talents.
• 18 Nov. 2015: Updated Jaina's talent.
  • Deep Chill movement speed Slow applied by Chill decreased from 35% to 30%.
• 22 Aug. 2015: Updated talent descriptions for Conjurer's Pursuit and recommendations.
• 02 Jul. 2015: Updates following the Butcher patch.
  • Changed Conjurer's Pursuit from Recommended to Not Recommended. Talent description updated.
  • Changed Deep Chill from Situational to Recommended. Talent description updated.
  • Changed Envenom from Recommended to Not Recommended. Talent description updated.
  • Changed Snowstorm from Not Recommended to Recommended. Talent description updated.
  • Changed Improved Ice Block from Not Recommended to Recommended. Talent description updated.
  • Changed Icy Veins from Not Recommended to Recommended. Talent description updated.
  • Envenom now deals damage over 10 seconds, up from 5 seconds. The amount of damage is unchanged.
  • Conjurer's Pursuit no longer initially provides 0.5 Mana regeneration per second. Each Regeneration Globe now grants 0.1 Mana regeneration (instead of 0.25 for every 3 globes collected).
  • Jaina no longer has Sprint as a talent. Talent and description has been removed.
• 27 Apr. 2015: Changed Deep Chill from Not Recommended to Situational.