Kel'Thuzad Talents

Last updated on Sep 30, 2024 at 08:00 by Outofmilk 23 comments
General Information

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

1.

Kel'Thuzad's Talent Build

Level Choices
1 The Plaguelands Blighted Frost ? Barbed Chains ?
4 Strip Shields ? Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad ? Armor of the Archlich
7 Accelerated Decay ✘︎ Chilling Touch Ice Cold ✘︎
10 Frost Blast Shadow Fissure ?
13 Icy Grasp Chains of Ice ? Chain-Link ?
16 Arcane Echoes ✘︎ Hungering Cold Power of Icecrown ✘︎
20 Deathchill ✘︎ Might of the Scourge ? Shifting Malice ? The Damned Return
2.

Kel'Thuzad's Talent Build Cheatsheet

Standard Build

Recommended
Level 1 The Plaguelands Icon
Level 4 Armor of the Archlich Icon
Level 7 Chilling Touch Icon
Level 10 Frost Blast Icon
Level 13 Icy Grasp Icon
Level 16 Hungering Cold Icon
Level 20 The Damned Return Icon

Kel'Thuzad's Standard Build focuses on helping you out in hitting your skillshots, siege damage and crowd control. The key to playing Kel'Thuzad well is managing to time your combo. With Chilling Touch Icon Chilling Touch, this becomes a lot easier due to the area of effect Slow component of it. Once Kel'Thuzad hits Level 10, he gets access to Frost Blast Icon Frost Blast which can be a gamechanger either for catching an enemy hero out of bounds or in teamfights, rooting several members of the enemy team. When we get to level 20 and pick up The Damned Return Icon The Damned Return, Kel'Thuzad is able to dish out a lot of siege damage. To successfully perform a combo, we recommend using E-W-E. You have to cast Chains of Kel'Thuzad Icon Chains of Kel'Thuzad on an enemy Hero, then cast Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova between that Hero and another enemy Hero, and then reactivate Chains of Kel'Thuzad targeting the other enemy Hero. When using Glacial Spike Icon Glacial Spike the recommended combo is landing Chains, use Glacial Spike, Frost Nova right in front of the Glacial Spike and reactivating Chains onto the spike. Should the enemy hero be slowed, stunned or rooted from other sources it can also be fine to pop Glacial Spike and chaining from the Spike onto the enemy hero. Depending on your level 10 talent, with Frost Blast Icon Frost Blast the combo doesn't change. Frost Blast can be used either before or after the combo, depending on the situation. Should you use Frost Blast before a combo, Glacial Spike has some follow-up value. Should you go with Shadow Fissure Icon Shadow Fissure the combo becomes E-W-E-R. Should you struggle to perform the recommended combo, you can use the E-E-W Combo, but it's less effective because Heroes with mobility can get out.

ARAM Build

ARAM
Level 1 Barbed Chains Icon
Level 4 Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad Icon
Level 7 Chilling Touch Icon
Level 10 Shadow Fissure Icon
Level 13 Chain-Link Icon
Level 16 Power of Icecrown Icon
Level 20 The Damned Return Icon

Kel'Thuzad's ARAM build is similar to the standard build as the build works very well even in ARAM. Kel'Thuzad hits his powerspike pretty fast as landing his spells on multiple targets is a lot easier in ARAM. He also makes great use of Phylactery as globes are easy to come by.

3.

Important Hero-Specific Information

Kel'Thuzad's playstyle revolves around what we call "The Combo". The combo, to which we will often refer to throughout this guide, is best described as an Ability chain performed by pulling Heroes into Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova's area of effect with Chains of Kel'Thuzad Icon Chains of Kel'Thuzad. This is typically followed up with Shadow Fissure Icon Shadow Fissure, if it was selected as a Heroic Ability, and Death and Decay Icon Death and Decay to deal a large amount of area of effect damage to Heroes frozen by Frost Nova.

4.

Level 1 Talents for Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad The Plaguelands
The Plaguelands (Level 1) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Increase Death and Decay's duration by 1 second. After gaining 30 Blight, increase the radius of Death and Decay's pool by 30%.

Kel'Thuzad Blighted Frost ?
Blighted Frost (Level 1) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Frost Nova deals 75% more damage to enemies in the center. After gaining 30 Blight, increase Frost Nova's Root duration by 0.5 seconds.

Kel'Thuzad Barbed Chains ?
Barbed Chains (Level 1) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Increase Chains of Kel'Thuzad damage by 125%. After gaining 30 Blight, Chains of Kel'Thuzad reduces the Armor of pulled Heroes by 10 for 4 seconds.

4.1.

Discussion

This Tier focuses on improving the damage output of Kel'Thuzad's Basic Abilities.

The Plaguelands Icon The Plaguelands increases Death and Decay Icon Death and Decay's damage potential by approximately 35%, assuming the target remains within the Ability's area of effect for its full duration. The area of effect increase provided by the Talent helps with keeping Heroes within said area of effect somewhat, although it remains unlikely for Death and Decay to ever deal its full damage. As such, we judge The Plaguelands to be primarily PvE- and siege-oriented; it helps with taking down Mercenaries and razing Structures, on top of improving Kel'Thuzad's waveclear by allowing Death and Decay to hit an entire Minion wave, which is difficult to do without the radius increase provided by the Talent. The Plaguelands also has obvious synergy with The Damned Return Icon The Damned Return, as it also benefits the summoned Shade's own Death and Decay.

Blighted Frost Icon Blighted Frost's power lies in its increase to the duration of Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova's Root effect, which is important to Kel'Thuzad's ability to further inflict damage, as well as potential follow up from allies. Blighted Frost synergises particularly well with Hungering Cold Icon Hungering Cold, as the increased Root duration increases the potential number of damage instances that can be inflicted by Death and Decay Icon Death and Decay. The burst damage provided by this Talent is also notable when Master of the Cold Dark Icon Master of the Cold Dark has been completed. Blighted Frost also shines if you have an allied team consisting of crowd control Heroes. The 0.5-second duration can likely entice your allies into further CCing the enemy Hero.

Barbed Chains Icon Barbed Chains provides a notable damage increase to Chains of Kel'Thuzad Icon Chains of Kel'Thuzad; its power, however, lies in improving the damage of any follow up through its Armor reducing effect. As such, with high-level or otherwise reliable teammates, Barbed Chains-based Builds are likely to yield more damage than other builds.

5.

Level 4 Talents for Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad Strip Shields ?
Strip Shields (Level 4) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Pulling a Hero with Chains of Kel'Thuzad grants Kel'Thuzad a permanent 128 (+4% per level) Shield, stacking up to 2 times.

Additionally, Chains of Kel'Thuzad deals up to 270 (+2.5% per level) bonus damage to Heroes' Shields.

Kel'Thuzad Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad ?
Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad (Level 4) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Quest: Collect 12 Regeneration Globes to charge Kel'Thuzad's Phylactery.

Reward: Kel'Thuzad's Phylactery can be activated while dead to immediately respawn at the Hall of Storms, but must be charged again.

Passive: Kel'Thuzad heals for 10% of all Spell Damage dealt while the Phylactery is charged.

Kel'Thuzad Armor of the Archlich
Armor of the Archlich (Level 4) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad
  • Cooldown: 25 seconds

Activate to gain 50 Physical Armor for 4 seconds. Upon activation, nearby enemies take 45 (+4% per level) damage and are Slowed by 35% for 4 seconds.

5.1.

Discussion

This Tier focuses on improving Kel'Thuzad's survivability.

The Shielding effect provided by Strip Shields Icon Strip Shields is equal to approximately 15% of Kel'Thuzad's total Health pool, which is reasonably powerful, especially considering it can be reapplied with relative ease mid-combat. Strip Shields gains real value, however, when used to counter team compositions that make heavy usage of Shields. As such, we recommend Strip Shields against heroes like Zarya, and against team compositions that feature at least two of the following Heroes: Abathur, Anub'arak, Artanis, Chen, Johanna, Kerrigan, Lúcio, Tyrael, and Xul. Strip Shields has notable synergy with Chain-Link Icon Chain-Link. It should be noted that Strip Shields' bonus damage against Shields does scale with the Spell Power provided by Master of the Cold Dark Icon Master of the Cold Dark.

Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad Icon Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad provides Kel'Thuzad with two powerful effects, granted you hurry and gather the 12 required Regeneration Globes as quickly as possible. The self-healing aspect is Kel'Thuzad's sole form of sustain, whereas the respawn element is extremely powerful in the late-game. Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad effectively lets you play more aggressively and potentially "trade" your life for that of an enemy Hero to then revive instantly for an advantage, or, less ideally, make a mistake less punishing for your team. Be sure to revive when relevant; reviving when your entire time has died, for instance, would have no value.

Armor of the Archlich Icon Armor of the Archlich provides Kel'Thuzad with instant, on-demand protection against Basic Attacks. Armor of the Archlich is particularly useful against sticky melee Assassins which rely on Basic Attacks to deal damage, as Kel'Thuzad tends to be a priority target due to his lack of reliable escape means. The Slowing effect is also useful for easily following up with Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova. This Talent is particularly useful against Illidan, Samuro, The Butcher, and Tracer.

6.

Level 7 Talents for Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad Accelerated Decay ✘︎
Accelerated Decay (Level 7) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Each time a Hero is hit by Death and Decay's pool, they take 25% more periodic damage from Death and Decay for the next 4 seconds, stacking up to 4 times.

Kel'Thuzad Chilling Touch
Chilling Touch (Level 7) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Every 8 seconds, Kel'Thuzad's next Basic Attack hits all enemies in the area for 80% additional damage, deals Spell damage instead of Physical, and Slows by 30% for 2 seconds.

Kel'Thuzad Ice Cold ✘︎
Ice Cold (Level 7) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Reduce the cooldown of Glacial Spike by 10 seconds and increase its damage by 400%.

6.1.

Discussion

This Tier focuses on improving Kel'Thuzad's damage output and utility.

Accelerated Decay Icon Accelerated Decay has the potential of greatly improving Death and Decay Icon Death and Decay's damage against Heroes. It does, however, require opponents to stand within the Ability's area of effect. Works well with The Damned Return Icon The Damned Return, as both effects can rapidly increase one another to Death and Decay's damage cap. However, considering the raw power of Chilling Touch, we do not recommended picking Accelerated Decay.

Chilling Touch Icon Chilling Touch provides Kel'Thuzad with something he sorely lacks: an unavoidable source of damage and Slowing effect. Chilling Touch is particularly useful when used to Slow a target before initiating the combo, as Slowed targets are less likely to be able to avoid your Abilities. The unavoidable nature of the damage provided by this Talent is also especially useful against mobile Heroes who may be difficult to hit with Abilities, such as Genji, Illidan, or Tracer. It is worth noting that Chilling Touch's damage scales with the Spell Power provided by Master of the Cold Dark Icon Master of the Cold Dark and Power of Icecrown Icon Power of Icecrown. Chilling Touch is also useful for waveclearing when used with Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova against the centermost Minion.

Ice Cold Icon Ice Cold provides Glacial Spike Icon Glacial Spike with a reasonably strong cooldown reduction. The alternatives are likely to provide more long-term value, however, particularly as one becomes better at hitting Heroes without relying on Glacial Spike.

7.

Level 10 Talents for Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad Frost Blast
Frost Blast (Level 10) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad
  • Mana: 45
  • Cooldown: 50 seconds

Launch a meteor of ice at an enemy Hero. Upon impact, the meteor deals 115 (+2.5% per level) damage to its target and 275 (+2.5% per level) damage to enemies in the area. All enemies hit by Frost Blast are Rooted for 2 seconds.

Kel'Thuzad Shadow Fissure ?
Shadow Fissure (Level 10) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad
  • Mana: 40
  • Cooldown: 16 seconds

Create a fissure anywhere on the Battleground that explodes after 1.5 seconds, dealing 320 (+2.5% per level) damage to enemy Heroes in its area. If an enemy Hero is hit, set its cooldown to 1.5 seconds.

7.1.

Discussion

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.

Frost Blast Icon Frost Blast is Kel'Thuzad's crowd control-oriented Heroic Ability choice. It can be used to great effect as the initiating Ability of burst compositions that seek to isolate a specific target. One side effect of Frost Blast's extremely telegraphed effect is how it forces opponents to spread out and away from your target. Frost Blast can also be used as a counter-initiation move as a means of making following up more difficult.

Shadow Fissure Icon Shadow Fissure works well in conjunction with any crowd control, including Kel'Thuzad's own. This is Kel'Thuzad's most versatile Heroic Ability and it provides you with a lot of burst damage which is needed to make sure you are able to finish off an enemy Hero should you hit them with a full combo.

8.

Level 13 Talents for Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad Icy Grasp
Icy Grasp (Level 13) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Increase Frost Nova's Slow by 20%. Each time Kel'Thuzad damages enemies Slowed by Frost Nova, reduce the cooldown of Frost Nova by 0.75 seconds.

Kel'Thuzad Chains of Ice ?
Chains of Ice (Level 13) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

After Chains of Kel'Thuzad's Stun expires, the enemy is also Slowed by 60% for 1 second.

Kel'Thuzad Chain-Link ?
Chain-Link (Level 13) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Pulling a Hero with Chains of Kel'Thuzad reduces its cooldown by 5 seconds and refunds its Mana cost.

8.1.

Discussion

This Tier focuses on improving Kel'Thuzad's crowd control potential.

Icy Grasp Icon Icy Grasp provides a situationally powerful reduction to Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova's Cooldown. This talent also provides us with a more powerful slow on our Frost Nova

Chains of Ice Icon Chains of Ice provides a powerful Slow effect when it is most needed. Its sheer intensity makes it much easier to follow up for you and your allies after successful Chains of Kel'Thuzad Icon Chains of Kel'Thuzad hits, even without Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova.

Chain-Link Icon Chain-Link reduces the cooldown of what is arguably Kel'Thuzad's most important Ability by 50%. Chain-Link requires good accuracy however, as the Cooldown reduction may only trigger on double hits. This makes it a poor choice for novice players. Otherwise, Chain-Link has particularly strong synergy with Strip Shields Icon Strip Shields and Barbed Chains Icon Barbed Chains; pick if you went for either Talent.

9.

Level 16 Talents for Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad Arcane Echoes ✘︎
Arcane Echoes (Level 16) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Whenever Kel'Thuzad hits an enemy Hero with Death and Decay's explosion, its cooldown is reduced by 1.5 seconds.

Kel'Thuzad Hungering Cold
Hungering Cold (Level 16) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Enemies that are Rooted take an additional 55 (+2.5% per level) damage each time they are damaged by Kel'Thuzad.

Kel'Thuzad Power of Icecrown ✘︎
Power of Icecrown (Level 16) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

Stunning, Rooting, or Slowing a Hero grants 6% Spell Power for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.

9.1.

Discussion

This Tier focuses on improving Kel'Thuzad's damage output.

Arcane Echoes Icon Arcane Echoes can be rather difficult to benefit from; although the cooldown reduction is reasonable, and may work with Accelerated Decay Icon Accelerated Decay to maintain the damage increase effect, situations where you are able to chain several Death and Decay Icon Death and Decay casts are rare. The cooldown reduction provided by Arcane Echoes does not trigger through The Damned Return Icon The Damned Return's Death and Decay casts.

Hungering Cold Icon Hungering Cold provides a massive damage increase to the combo. Successfully casting Death and Decay Icon Death and Decay against a Hero Rooted by Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova and Frost Blast Icon Frost Blast increases Kel'Thuzad's short term damage output immensely, on top of making subsequent Basic Attacks extremely powerful. Further, Root effects provided by allied Heroes can also trigger Hungering Cold, making it powerful with Arthas, Deckard, and Malfurion, among others.

Power of Icecrown Icon Power of Icecrown is a simple and powerful damage increase that affects all of Kel'Thuzad's most relevant damage sources. A single Chains of Kel'Thuzad Icon Chains of Kel'Thuzad hit against two Heroes grants four stacks immediately.

10.

Level 20 Talents for Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad Deathchill ✘︎
Deathchill (Level 20) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

When Frost Blast's Root expires, enemies are Slowed by 40% for 3 seconds. Heroes killed while under the effects of Frost Blast instantly release another Frost Blast explosion.

Kel'Thuzad Might of the Scourge ?
Might of the Scourge (Level 20) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad

If a Hero is hit with Shadow Fissure, a second one is cast below them 1 second later. This second cast will not duplicate itself.

Kel'Thuzad Shifting Malice ?
Shifting Malice (Level 20) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad
  • Cooldown: 240 seconds

Activate to dash forward, dealing 150 (+2.5% per level) damage to enemies in the path. Takedowns reset the cooldown of Shifting Malice.

Kel'Thuzad The Damned Return
The Damned Return (Level 20) World of Warcraft Kel'Thuzad
  • Cooldown: 15 seconds

Activate to create a Shade of Naxxramas that lasts 15 seconds and mimics Kel'Thuzad's casts of Death and Decay.

10.1.

Discussion

This Tier focuses on improving Kel'Thuzad's damage output and utility.

Deathchill Icon Deathchill is a winmore Talent that serves mostly to punish poor play or as a counter to The Lost Vikings. Hitting more than one Hero with Frost Blast Icon Frost Blast is rare, and successfully triggering Deathchill hits is about as rare.

Might of the Scourge Icon Might of the Scourge's potential depends on just how much crowd control your team composition has to offer. With two or more Stuns or Roots besides your own, and some Map awareness, Might of the Scourge may constitute a proper win condition. Otherwise, look into The Damned Return Icon The Damned Return instead.

Shifting Malice Icon Shifting Malice is essentially a defensive Talent for Kel'Thuzad, and is reminiscent of a Bolt of the Storm Icon Bolt of the Storm which can be used to deal a fair amount of damage, but cannot pass through impassable terrain. Shifting Malice is especially useful when being heavily pressured by melee Assassins or otherwise dived repeatedly.

The Damned Return Icon The Damned Return turns Kel'Thuzad into an extremely powerful sustained damage dealer by essentially doubling the effects of Death and Decay Icon Death and Decay. This lets Kel'Thuzad waveclear, claim Mercenary Camps, and siege better than most Heroes, on top of improving his poke. The summoned Shade also acts as an indestructible unit to provide vision over a small area, and may be used as a means of increasing the range of Death and Decay by casting the Ability by proxy. Be creative with this one.

11.

Changelog

  • 30 Sep. 2024: Updated talents and build.
  • 23 Sep. 2020: Updated talents and build.
  • 08 Sep. 2020: Talent builds and recommendations reviewed and updated. Again.
  • 19 Jul. 2020: Talent builds and recommendations reviewed and updated.
  • 05 Apr. 2020: Description updated for Chain-Link.
  • 03 Sep. 2019: Talent descriptions and recommendations updated to reflect latest Talent rework.
  • 30 Aug. 2018: Talent descriptions and recommendations updated to reflect latest balance patch.
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