Kerrigan Build Guide “Long live the real Queen.”

Kerrigan is a Melee Assassin that utilizes a devestating combo of Primal Grasp and Impaling Blades to Stun and damage groups of enemies. Kerrigan is able to deal very high burst damage to her target, although she is vulnerable to burst damage herself due to her low Health pool and lack of defensive Abilities. One of Kerrigan's greatest strengths is her Ability to roam the battlefield in search of ganks, as simply one or two successful picks will provide her team a significant Experience lead that can many times snowball into an easy victory.

Strengths

• Excellent burst damage and crowd-control
• Strong inititaition by means of Ravage
• Excels at ganking opponents right from the get-go
• Deceptively tanky due to Assimilation and Assimilation-related Talents
• Great against Spell Damage dealers because of Psionic Barrier

Weaknesses

• Incredibly vulnerable to crowd-control
• Very reliant on Ability cooldowns
• High skill cap and learning curve
• No means of escape (without Psionic Shift)
• Very dependent on completing the first part of Ravage's Quest
• High mana cost for low cooldown Abilities

Primal Grasp Build

Recommended

Level 1 ?

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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Primal Grasp Build consists in constantly having stacked spell armor through Psionic Barrier and Psionic Pulse. It should be the choice when facing more than one spell damage dealer, since it will greatly reduce their damage against Kerrigan.

After Level 13, to get the most out of this build, you should learn the pulse timings from Primal Grasp and Psionic Pulse. Primal Grasp pulses 2.5 seconds after being used, while the second pulse from Psionic Pulse happens 4.5 seconds after the cast. Each pulse will increase Kerrigan's Movement Speed and spell armor, while also extending the duration of the existing bonuses from Psionic Barrier. During fights, Kerrigan should use Ravage shortly before each pulse to hit as many targets as possible and keep these bonuses active.

Combo Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7 ?

Level 10 ?

Level 13 ?

Level 16

Level 20

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The Combo Build favors Talent options that give Kerrigan the most utility possible, while also having good burst damage in teamfights.

This Build is good if your playstyle revolves around following a Tank's engages or if the enemy team has many ways to punish your dives.

ARAM Build

ARAM

Level 1 ?

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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Kerrigan's ARAM Build is focused on adding as much survivability and damage as possible when fighting against 5 enemies at once. While Siphoning Impact paired with Boundless Fury greatly increases the Shields provided by Assimilation, Psionic Pulse in combination with Psionic Barrier will provide enough Spell Armor to make those Shields and Kerrigan's Health last much longer.

When playing without a Healer, Assimilation Mastery can be a good Level 1 choice, as it provides strong sustain and helps with Mana management, allowing Kerrigan to use her combo more often.

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Kerrigan synergizes with

Kerrigan works best with allies who are able to prevent her from being immediately killed by the enemy after engaging onto a target with Ravage. Also, Heroes that are able to followup on her Primal Grasp/Impaling Blades combo with additional crowd-control and burst damage are always a bonus.

Kerrigan is countered by

Kerrigan is countered by Heroes who are able to prevent her target of focus from being immediately killed, which most often will leave her vulnerable and without means of escape deep within the enemy backline. She will also struggle against teams with multiple sources of strong crowd-control that will lock her up after she initiates.

Kerrigan's stronger maps

Kerrigan's average maps

Kerrigan's weaker maps

Kerrigan is best suited for smaller Battlegrounds that are oriented primarily around team fighting, as that is where she excels most. She also thrives on these Maps because shorter rotations allow her to stack Ravage's Quest quickly through frequent wave clears and skirmishes. Maps that contain multiple bushes with paths that lead behind the enemy team will more easily allow Kerrigan to flank her opponents. Kerrigan should avoid larger Maps where fights are rarer and it is harder to keep her Quest progress consistent.

• 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.

Kerrigan is heavily dependent on completing the first part of Ravage's Quest as soon as possible. For that reason, she performs best when rotating with her team, as she can gain stacks from Minion waves while also threatening pickoffs. Pair her with aggressive Heroes who can follow up on her engages, help secure takedowns, and protect her when she commits. If Kerrigan is being countered early and rotations are too risky, she can become a weak asset until the first part of the Quest is completed. In that case, it is often better to split-push or Double Soak during Objectives to accelerate Quest completion. Once the first part is completed, Kerrigan becomes a major threat, as her Ravage damage is already excellent and she can quickly punish exposed targets. However, she should still focus on completing the second part of it, to guarantee her late-game relevance.

Kerrigan benefits the most on smaller Maps, where rotations are shorter and it is easier to collect Quest stacks while staying near your team, such as Dragon Shire, Tomb of the Spider Queen, and Braxis Holdout. On larger Maps, it is harder to rotate safely and keep up constant pressure, so prioritize waveclear and efficient lane coverage to keep Ravage's Quest progressing, then look for team rotations once you have reached the first milestone.