Kerrigan Abilities and Strategy

• Kerrigan should always use her Basic Abilities wisely in order to conserve Mana.
• In fights, always use Impaling Blades and Primal Grasp together. Use Primal Grasp to pull enemies into Impaling Blades' area-of-effect.
• Primal Grasp will always pull enemies the same distance. Take this into account when placing Impaling Blades.
• Ravage can be used on enemy Structures or Summons to close the gap between enemy Heroes or to retreat from a compromised position.
• Kerrigan excels with allied Heroes that can follow-up on her burst damage and crowd-control, however is weak against enemy teams with a strong frontline and lots of lockdown.
• Attempt to flank enemies whenever possible to take advantage of an enemy Hero's poor positioning.
• Enemies will usually attempt to avoid Kerrigan's Primal Grasp/ Impaling Blades combo by side-stepping it preemptively. Use this to your advantage when pursuing them by holding onto Kerrigan's combo until her target puts themselves in a bad position, making her combo unavoidable.
• Only use Primal Grasp and Ravage when clearing waves, since Impaling Blades is not necessary and costs more mana.
• When clearing waves, it is better to focus on getting 7 Ravage stacks, rather than trying to clear the wave as fast as possible. To do this, focus on the Ranged Minions first, while keeping an eye on the Melee Minions' Health.

Assimilation (D) Kerrigan

• Passive
• Cooldown: 4 seconds

Gain 10% of damage dealt from Abilities and 20% from Basic Attacks as Shields for 6 seconds. Shield amount gained doubled against Heroes.

Current maximum: 1004 (+4% per level).

Assimilation allows Kerrigan to dive deep into team fights and virtually increase her maximum Health by generating a Shield through her own damage output. Assimilation has very little impact during the early-game, however becomes an integral component to Kerrigan's success as the match progresses and team fights become more frequent. Keep in mind that specific burst compositions may be too much for Kerrigan to handle should she rely solely on Assimilation to keep her alive after she has committed to a fight.

Ravage (Q) Kerrigan

• Mana: 20
• Charges: 2
• Recharge Time: 8 seconds

Leap to a target, dealing 115 (+4% per level) damage. If the enemy dies within 0.75 seconds, restore 1 charge and refund 20 Mana.

Quest: Kill enemies within a short distance of Kerrigan. Minions grant 1 stack and Heroes grant 7 stacks.

Reward: After reaching 100 stacks, Ravage deals 125 additional damage and Hero kills now provide 14 stacks.

Mythic Reward: After reaching a 250 stacks, Ravage deals a further 200 additional damage.

Ravage is Kerrigan's main mobility tool and the key to setting up her combo. It allows her to engage, escape, and reposition to connect Primal Grasp and Impaling Blades on a priority target.

Ravage has a Quest that greatly increases its damage. Completing the first part of the Quest is already an excellent damage boost and should be done as soon as possible. Each Minion wave can provide 7 stacks, and a takedown also grants 7 stacks. For this reason, Kerrigan should prioritize stacking the Quest through wave clears. Pursuing takedowns for stacks is rarer and riskier, and should be done mainly when there is no wave to clear or when you have already committed to a fight.

Before the first Quest milestone is completed, Ravage deals low damage and should be treated primarily as mobility. Use it to engage, escape, or reposition, then follow up with Primal Grasp and Impaling Blades.

Completing the second part of the Quest may not always be realistic, but it should be your goal when the game state allows it. The extra damage it provides, especially when paired with Boundless Fury and any Level 16 damage Talent, can make Kerrigan a decisive threat in fights.

While Ravage's cooldown will rarely reset from killing an enemy Hero, it is easy to proc off of Minions. Kerrigan can use this to her advantage by leaping to an enemy Minion, and then leaping again to her primary target. Using this method will allow Kerrigan to cross much greater distances than she would have been otherwise able to.

Impaling Blades (W) Kerrigan

• Mana: 80
• Cooldown: 9 seconds

After 1.25 seconds, deal 150 (+4% per level) damage to enemies within the target area, Stunning them for 0.75 seconds.

Impaling Blades does not only Stun all enemies it strikes, but also deals a significant amount of area of effect damage to them. There is a noticeable delay between when the Ability is cast and when it will actually trigger, making Impaling Blades relatively difficult to land. This is why Impaling Blades should always (for the most part) be used in conjunction with Primal Grasp, as Primal Grasp will pull enemies into Impaling Blades, making it almost impossible to avoid. When fleeing from a pursuing enemy, it is recommended to simply cast Impaling Blades alone, as Primal Grasp will do nothing to help Kerrigan gain distance and will cause her to pause for its cast duration.

Primal Grasp (E) Kerrigan

• Mana: 65
• Cooldown: 8 seconds

Pulls enemies within the target area towards Kerrigan, dealing 40 (+4% per level) damage. After 2.5 seconds, an explosion occurs around Kerrigan, dealing 160 (+4% per level) damage to nearby enemies.

When clearing Minion waves, do not combine Primal Grasp with Impaling Blades, as Primal Grasp plus Ravage will usually clear the wave quickly while saving Mana. In fights, Primal Grasp should almost always be paired with Impaling Blades, as the two Abilities are far less impactful when used separately.

Primal Grasp's delayed area of effect pulse requires Kerrigan to stay close to her target(s) after the combo to get full value. When needed, Kerrigan can use Ravage shortly before the pulse to reposition and ensure it hits the priority target.

Note that Primal Grasp only pulls affected enemies a predetermined distance towards Kerrigan, rather than pulling them to a specific point. Understanding and mastering this aspect of Primal Grasp is key to Kerrigan's strength and success. Newer Kerrigan players are strongly encouraged to spend time practicing her Primal Grasp/Impaling Blades combo in Training; as without it, Kerrigan loses almost everything that makes her such a valuable asset to her team.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Maelstrom (R) Kerrigan

• Heroic
• Mana: 80
• Cooldown: 90 seconds

Deals 74 (+4% per level) damage per second to nearby enemies. Lasts for 7 seconds.

In contrast to Kerrigan's other Abilities, which deal burst damage, Maelstrom deals damage over time, making it extremely important that she is able to survive past the enemy team's initial burst damage. Maelstrom should be used in every major engagement, as well as in duels or small skirmishes if Kerrigan needs either the additional damage or damage mitigation provided by the Shields Maelstrom will generate through Assimilation. Try to have Maelstrom affect as many targets when possible, however it is more advantageous for Kerrigan to stick to her allies' target of focus instead of positioning where Maelstrom might hit one or two additional targets.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Summon Ultralisk (R) Kerrigan

• Heroic
• Mana: 75
• Cooldown: 80 seconds

After 0.5 seconds, summon an Ultralisk that rushes forward upon spawning, dealing 225 (+4% per level) damage to the first enemy Hero hit and Stunning them for 0.5 seconds.

The Ultralisk's Basic Attacks deal 50% of their damage in an area around their target. Reactivate to retarget the Ultralisk.

Summon Ultralisk summons an Ultralisk companion that follows Kerrigan for 20 seconds. On cast, Kerrigan launches the Ultralisk in a target direction, Stunning and damaging the first enemy hit. The Ultralisk then attacks, dealing Attack Damage and splashing nearby enemies for 50% of that damage. Kerrigan can retarget the Ultralisk by reactivating the Heroic Ability during its lifespan.

Summon Ultralisk's stun can be used to initiate, as its long range can close the gap on targets that would otherwise be out of reach for Kerrigan's combo. It can also be used as follow-up after a combo to add a reliable Stun and secure the takedown.

The Ultralisk's splash damage can hit multiple Minions in a wave, or damage multiple enemy Structures at the same time when they are close enough. This damage contributes to Assimilation Shields. After summoning it, if no enemy Heroes are nearby, Kerrigan can retarget the Ultralisk onto a Minion wave or Structures to quickly build a large Shield while she mounts and rotates.