Kael'thas Talents

Level	Choices
1	? ✘︎ ✓
4	✓ ? ?
7	✓ ? ?
10	✓ ?
13	✓ ✘︎ ?
16	? ✓ ✘︎
20	✘︎ ✘︎ ? ✓

Standard Flamestrike Build

Recommended

Level 1

Level 4 ?

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16 ?

Level 20

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The Standard Flamestrike Build focuses on bolstering the damage output and utility of Flamestrike, providing Kael'thas with an even stronger kit and higher teamfight presence. It is important for Kael'thas to try to complete the quest portion of Mana Addict as early as possible, as the reward will grant a massive shield that can be used defensively to help Kael'thas survive teamfights. Every talent synergizes with eachother in this build which is what makes it so great. Empowering Flamestrike with Verdant Spheres is crucial to make it easier to hit enemy heroes, making great use of either Ignite or Fury of the Sunwell.

ARAM Build

ARAM

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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Kael'thas's ARAM build is similar to the standard build as the build works very well even in ARAM. Focusing on heavy siege and getting the most out of Flamestrikes makes Kael'thas a desirable pick should you get him in ARAM.

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Convection (Level 1) Kael'thas

Quest: Damaging an enemy Hero with Flamestrike increase its damage by 5, up to 100. This bonus is lost on death.

Reward: After hitting 20 enemy Heroes, increase Flamestrike damage by an additional 100 and no longer lose any bonuses on death.

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Fel Infusion (Level 1) Kael'thas

Increases Kael'thas's Spell Power by 4%. Kael'thas heals for 94 (+4% per level) Health when activating Verdant Spheres.

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Mana Addict (Level 1) Kael'thas

Quest: Gathering a Regeneration Globe increases Kael'thas's maximum Mana by 15.

Reward: After gathering 20 Globes, Kael'thas can activate Arcane Barrier to gain a Shield equal to 100% of his maximum Mana for 4 seconds. 45 second cooldown.

Convection, when fully stacked, will prove to be a good Talent. The high-risk, high-reward nature of Convection makes it a challenging, yet rewarding choice. The large increase in damage to Flamestrike may be useful when you plan to pick synergistic Talents. It is very important to play safe when trying to complete the Quest portion of Convection, as Kael'thas will lose all progress should he be killed before it is accomplished. Even if you stack it, however, it is still lackluster when compared to Mana Addict which gives you additional Mana to help Pyromaniac and Flamethrower to give you value while poking and/or fighting for longer.

Fel Infusion provides Kael'thas not only with a moderate increase in damage but also some passive healing by means of activating Verdant Spheres. Unfortunately, neither of these benefits are strong enough to justify Fel Infusion's selection over the damage increase of Convection or the lifesaving potential of Mana Addict.

Mana Addict is a phenomenal source of damage mitigation and Mana Regeneration for Kael'thas. Mana Addict will be integral in success against burst compositions, as the large Shield may help keep him up during the enemies' focus fire, especially in the late game. The increased Mana pool will also help players last longer when trading over Objectives or sieging. The bonus Mana granted after gathering a Regeneration Globe is immediate, and can be seen as an additional source of Mana Regeneration. Picking up globes still stack the quest even after finishing it, making Mana Addict alot more impactful during late game where you want a big Shield that can potentially save you during a teamfight.

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Nether Wind (Level 4) Kael'thas

Increases Gravity Lapse's range by 30%. When Gravity Lapse hits an enemy Hero, refund 80 Mana.

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Energy Roil (Level 4) Kael'thas

Reduce the Mana cost of Gravity Lapse by 70. If Gravity Lapse hits a Hero, reduce its cooldown by 8 seconds.

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Mana Tap (Level 4) Kael'thas

Activating Verdant Spheres restores 5% of Kael'thas's maximum Mana.

Nether Wind is an excellent Talent that increases the utility of Gravity Lapse twice over. The increase in range will allow Kael'thas to more safely catch out enemies or peel for allies. Nether Wind is incredibly strong when combined with Verdant Spheres, as it will allow Kael'thas to land Gravity Lapse on Heroes hidden behind the enemy frontline. The Mana refund is also a great bonus that will help to somewhat relieve Kael'thas from the burden of his Mana intensive Abilities.

Energy Roil provides a significant reduction in the Mana cost of Gravity Lapse which will prove quite useful since its cooldown will be dropped to just 5 Seconds. This Talent can be great versus dive-heavy teams that would allow you to spam CC with Gravity Lapse. Energy Roil also synergizes very well with Pyromaniac

Mana Tap lacks the utility bonus of Nether Wind, but is a reliable source of Mana Regeneration. Mana Tap synergizes very well with Mana Addict, and in the late game, it will provide you with enough Mana to cast Flamestrike on cooldown without going out of Mana.

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Burned Flesh (Level 7) Kael'thas

When Flamestrike damages 2 or more Heroes, they take additional damage equal to 8% of their maximum Health.

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Sun King's Fury (Level 7) Kael'thas

Living Bombs that have spread to enemy Heroes deal 35% more damage.

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Sunfire Enchantment (Level 7) Kael'thas

Activating Verdant Spheres causes Kael'thas's next 2 Basic Attacks to instead deal 115 (+4% per level) Spell Damage. If both of these Attacks hit enemy Heroes, gain 15% Spell Power for 10 seconds.

Burned Flesh will do massive amounts of damage to the enemy team should a cast of Flamestrike land on multiple enemies. Make sure to always cast an empowered version of Flamestrike using Verdant Spheres in order to greatly increase the size of the Ability and help ensure multiple enemies will be struck.

Sun King's Fury will cause Living Bomb to do large amounts of area of effect damage to enemies unable to spread out after being struck. This effect works even when using Living Bomb on non-Heroes, so it is particularly annoying to play against on Maps where team fights happen near Monsters (such as Infernal Shrines) or Minions. The same is true when facing Heroes who rely on Summons or Clones.

Sunfire Enchantment provides Kael'Thas with some single-target damage and a nice added Spell Damage bonus. This Talent can see some use if the enemy team consists of heavy dive Heroes such as Greymane, Tracer or Illidan and can certainly be abused against enemy Tanks who do not threaten Kael'thas enough. Allied Heroes with displacement effects (such as Wrecking Ball by Garrosh) can also help out with landing the 2 Basic Attacks to trigger the Spell Damage bonus. It has to be noted that this Talent can become a hassle to trigger, especially if you overextend trying to trigger the bonus. Burned Flesh is more recommended due to it being entirely passive, but Sunfire Enchantment does provide more damage.

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Phoenix (Level 10) Kael'thas

• Mana: 80
• Cooldown: 60 seconds

Launch a Phoenix to an area, dealing 84 (+4% per level) damage to enemies along the way. The Phoenix persists for 7 seconds, attacking enemies for 84 (+4% per level) damage and splashing for 42 (+4% per level) damage.

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Pyroblast (Level 10) Kael'thas

• Mana: 80
• Cooldown: 100 seconds

After 1.5 seconds, cast a slow-moving fireball that deals 810 (+5% per level) damage to an enemy Hero and 405 (+5% per level) damage to enemies nearby.

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.

Phoenix is a great reliable source of area of effect damage that should be the standard pick for the vast majority of matches. There are a multitude of uses for Phoenix, such as zoning, waveclearing, and sieging. Unfortunately Phoenix lacks any sort of crowd control, so many times enemies will be able to easily walk out of its effect. That is why Phoenix is best used in conjunction with reliable sources of crowd control. The 60-second cooldown of Phoenix further makes it a great Ability. The relatively short cooldown of Phoenix can help guarantee that it will be available for most teamfights or skirmishes, particularly those surrounding important Objectives.

Pyroblast is hands down the most powerful single-target Ability in the game. Pyroblast can be used to finish off most targets, particularly squishier enemies such as Healers or Assassins. Alas, Pyroblast is the definition of situational, as it is incredibly unreliable and difficult to channel. The 1.5-second channeling time puts Kael'thas in an incredibly vulnerable position. Most enemies, especially those with a source of interrupt or burst damage, will attempt to capitalize on Kael'thas's exposure. Even if Kael'thas is able to successfully cast Pyroblast, the slow speed of its projectile will give enemies ample time to react. There are many ways the damage of Pyroblast can be completely negated, such as by Uther's Divine Shield or Tyrael's Sanctification. Pyroblast should never been taken should the enemy team have a means to counter it.

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Pyromaniac (Level 13) Kael'thas

Each time Living Bomb deals periodic damage, Kael'thas's Basic Ability cooldowns are reduced by 0.5 seconds.

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Backdraft (Level 13) Kael'thas

Living Bomb's explosion slows enemy Movement Speed by 30% for 2 seconds.

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Fission Bomb (Level 13) Kael'thas

Increases Living Bomb's explosion radius by 20%.

Pyromaniac is the go-to Talent when trying to maximize Kael'thas's damage output. The reduction in cooldown for Kael'thas's Basic Abilities will greatly increase his damage uptime. Also, the reduction in cooldown of Gravity Lapse will provide Kael'thas with additional utility allowing him to be more useful in teamfights and skirmishes.

Backdraft provides a nice element of crowd control to Living Bomb. Enemies under the effect of Backdraft will also have a much more difficult time trying to escape the area of effect damage of Phoenix. When confronted by melee Heroes, the Slow provided by Backdraft will assist Kael'thas in kiting them. This talent is, however, not used much and has a very low value compared to Pyromaniac.

Fission Bomb is useful in terms of increasing the area-of-effect zone of Living Bomb. The 20% increase in explosion radius will most importantly make it much easier to apply new stacks of Living Bomb to unaffected targets, especially after having Talented into Master of Flames at Level 20.

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Fury of the Sunwell (Level 16) Kael'thas

Flamestrike will explode a second time 1.5 seconds later.

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Ignite (Level 16) Kael'thas

Flamestrikes apply Living Bomb to the enemy Hero closest to its center who is not currently affected by Living Bomb.

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Twin Spheres (Level 16) Kael'thas

Verdant Spheres gains a second charge.

Passive: Kael'thas benefits from all of his level 7 talents.

Fury of the Sunwell is an incredibly strong Talent that is mostly used to allow Kael'thas siege down Towers, Forts, or Keeps. The strongest feature of Fury of the Sunwell is that the second cast of Flamestrike inherits all of the original cast's Talent-related bonuses. This means both Convection and Burned Flesh will be included in the second explosion, allowing a single cast of Flamestrike to do absolutely devastating amounts of damage to the enemy team or Structures.

Ignite is the best option for any Build, as the stack of Living Bomb applied by Flamestrike will be bolstered by all of Kael'thas's Living Bomb oriented Talents such as Sun King's Fury and Pyromaniac. This Talent provides Kael'thas with an even higher teamfight presence and synergizes very well with the Level 20 Talent Flamethrower.

Twin Spheres can be very niche, giving Kael'thas all his Level 7 Talents and might see some use in very specific situations. Compared to Fury of the Sunwell and Ignite, it is still quite underwhelming as the above two Talents are more of a gamechanger than Twin Spheres. Should Kael'thas decide to go with this Talent, it is important to note that each cast of Verdant Spheres will still interact with previous Talents that upgrade it, such as Fel Infusion, Mana Tap, and Sunfire Enchantment.

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Rebirth (Level 20) Kael'thas

Increases Phoenix duration by 100%. While alive, the Phoenix may be ordered to move to a different location. Stores 3 charges.

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Presence Of Mind (Level 20) Kael'thas

Increases Pyroblast's explosion radius by 50%. Heroes that are hit by Flamestrike or have Living Bomb spread to them reduce the cooldown of Pyroblast by 10 seconds.

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Master of Flames (Level 20) Kael'thas

Living Bomb's spread from explosions can now also spread Living Bomb.

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Flamethrower (Level 20) Kael'thas

Increases the cast range of Flamestrike by 40%. If Flamestrike hits 2 or more Heroes, its cooldown is reduced by 4 seconds.

Rebirth allows Kael'thas to reposition his Phoenix once, providing him with additional zoning potential. This repositioning occurs from the location of the Phoenix, not Kael'thas, and can be repositioned globally. The repositioning of the Phoenix can also be used to target enemies who may have exhausted their gap-closers to escape its reach, or follow enemies who attempt to engage or disengage out of the area of the Phoenix. The 100% increase in duration further magnifies its strength, particularly when being used to zone away enemies from an Objective. However, compared to his other Level 20 Talents, it is not very strong.

Presence Of Mind not only increases the explosion radius of Pyroblast, but also allows its cooldown to be significantly lowered by successfully landing casts of Flamestrike and spreading Living Bomb. This Talent does take some time for the cooldown reduction to prove effective, so remember that Presence of Mind may go completely wasted in very quick game-deciding teamfights. Because of this, even after talenting into Pyroblast, Kael'thas may still want to consider the immediate value of the other Level 20 Talents (particularly the one that aligns with Kael'thas's build path).

Master of Flames vastly increases the impact of Living Bomb in teamfights. The beauty of Master of Flames is that the additional applications of Living Bomb will also benefit from Talents that affect the skill, such as Sun King's Fury, Pyromaniac, and Backdraft. Talenting into Master of Flames will force enemy teams to split up from those struck by Living Bomb in order to prevent its spread. This splitting can be capitalized on by Kael'thas and his allies, allowing isolated targets to be quickly focused down.

Flamethrower is the best option in most cases as it allows Kael'thas to cast his strongest Basic Ability from a much safer distance. This allows him to safely zone away enemies and more easily interrupt Heroes attempting to capture an Objective such as an Altar on Towers of Doom or a Tribute on Cursed Hollow. The decrease in cooldown from striking multiple enemies with Flamestrike will allow it to be readily cast, vastly increasing Kael'thas damage output. Combined with the effect of Ignite and Pyromaniac, Kael'thas will be able to trigger a volley of Flamestrike explosions that will chunk large amounts of Health from the entire enemy team.