Leoric Talents

Last updated on Oct 22, 2021 at 12:00 by Elitesparkle 50 comments
General Information

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

1.

Leoric's Talent Build

Level Choices
1 Consume Vitality ? Fealty Unto Death ? Ossein Renewal
4 Ghastly Reach ? Paralyzing Rage Kneel, Peasants! ?
7 Willing Vessel ? Drain Momentum Hopelessness ?
10 Entomb March of the Black King ?
13 Unyielding Despair ? Ominous Wraith ? Spectral Leech
16 Crushing Hope ? Royal Focus ? Mithril Mace
20 Buried Alive Death March ? Burning Despair ? Shroud of the Dead King ?
2.

Leoric's Talent Build Cheatsheet

Basic Attacks Build

Recommended
Level 1 Ossein Renewal Icon Consume Vitality Icon ? Fealty Unto Death Icon ?
Level 4 Paralyzing Rage Icon Kneel, Peasants! Icon ?
Level 7 Drain Momentum Icon
Level 10 Entomb Icon
Level 13 Spectral Leech Icon
Level 16 Mithril Mace Icon
Level 20 Buried Alive Icon

Leoric's Basic Attacks Build is particularly good to increase your damage output in a reliable way, without the risk of losing too much value when the enemy Heroes dodge or disconnect Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope.

Spectral Leech Icon Spectral Leech at Level 13 and Mithril Mace Icon Mithril Mace at Level 16 combined together will empower your Basic Attacks, especially against Heroes with high maximum Health who do not have Armor (such as Azmodan). Drain Momentum Icon Drain Momentum at Level 7 helps you stick on enemy Heroes.

Wraith Walk Build

Advanced
Level 1 Consume Vitality Icon
Level 4 Ghastly Reach Icon
Level 7 Hopelessness Icon
Level 10 Entomb Icon
Level 13 Ominous Wraith Icon
Level 16 Royal Focus Icon
Level 20 Buried Alive Icon

Leoric's Wraith Walk Build provides a powerful and unique playstyle that, once you reach the late game, allows Leoric to severely cripple the combat performance of any Heroes coming in touch with Wraith Walk Icon Wraith Walk.

Ominous Wraith Icon Ominous Wraith at Level 13 drastically reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes for a few seconds, and it can be applied over and over again with the help of Royal Focus Icon Royal Focus at Level 16. Hopelessness Icon Hopelessness at Level 7 helps you keep Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope active during Wraith Walk Icon Wraith Walk.

Drain Hope Build

Situational
Level 1 Ossein Renewal Icon Consume Vitality Icon ? Fealty Unto Death Icon ?
Level 4 Paralyzing Rage Icon Kneel, Peasants! Icon ?
Level 7 Hopelessness Icon
Level 10 Entomb Icon
Level 13 Unyielding Despair Icon
Level 16 Crushing Hope Icon
Level 20 Burning Despair Icon Buried Alive Icon ?

Leoric's Drain Hope Build is extremely effective against low-mobility Heroes with high maximum Health (such as Arthas).

Unyielding Despair Icon Unyielding Despair at Level 13 reduces the cooldown of Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope, Crushing Hope Icon Crushing Hope at Level 16 increases its damage when lasting its full duration, and Hopelessness Icon Hopelessness at Level 7 helping you with that.

Hybrid Build

Situational
Level 1 Ossein Renewal Icon
Level 4 Paralyzing Rage Icon Kneel, Peasants! Icon ?
Level 7 Hopelessness Icon
Level 10 Entomb Icon
Level 13 Spectral Leech Icon
Level 16 Crushing Hope Icon
Level 20 Buried Alive Icon

Leoric's Hybird Build is meant to greatly improve your burst damage in the late game, so that you can get high value during short team fights, especially against Heroes with high maximum Health.

Spectral Leech Icon Spectral Leech at Level 13 makes your Basic Attack deal damage based on maximum Health, Crushing Hope Icon Crushing Hope at Level 16 increases its damage when lasting its full duration, and Hopelessness Icon Hopelessness at Level 7 helping you with that.

3.

Level 1 Talents for Leoric

Leoric Consume Vitality ?
Consume Vitality (Level 1) Diablo Leoric

Skeletal Swing's cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds. Enemy Heroes hit heal Leoric for 4% of his maximum Health.

Consume Vitality Icon Consume Vitality is a good Talent that makes Skeletal Swing Icon Skeletal Swing heal Leoric for each enemy Hero hit, something that works well in long team fights but it is not that interesting while laning, although it can be useful against some Heroes. Consume Vitality slightly benefits from Ghastly Reach Icon Ghastly Reach at Level 4.

Leoric Fealty Unto Death ?
Fealty Unto Death (Level 1) Diablo Leoric

When a nearby friendly or enemy Minion dies, Leoric restores 1.25% of his maximum Health and 6 Mana.

Fealty Unto Death Icon Fealty Unto Death is a good Talent that allows Leoric to regenerate both Health and Mana whenever a nearby allied or enemy Minion dies. Pick this Talent when you will not really need the alternatives during team fights and you want to empower your self-sustain while in lane.

Leoric Ossein Renewal
Ossein Renewal (Level 1) Diablo Leoric
  • Cooldown: 120 seconds

Activate to heal Leoric for 30% of his maximum Health over 5 seconds. Regeneration Globes lower the cooldown of this Ability by 20 seconds.

Ossein Renewal Icon Ossein Renewal is a strong Talent that increases Leoric's survivability during relatively short team fights while also boosting Leoric's self-sustain tool in the solo lane.

4.

Level 4 Talents for Leoric

Leoric Ghastly Reach ?
Ghastly Reach (Level 4) Diablo Leoric

Increase the range of Skeletal Swing by 25%.

Ghastly Reach Icon Ghastly Reach is a good Talent that slightly increases the area covered by Skeletal Swing Icon Skeletal Swing, making it easier to hit multiple enemy Heroes with it.

We find this Talent quite useful when going for Consume Vitality Icon Consume Vitality at Level 1 and/or Royal Focus Icon Royal Focus at Level 16 because they give more value when hitting multiple enemy Heroes with Skeletal Swing Icon Skeletal Swing.

Leoric Paralyzing Rage
Paralyzing Rage (Level 4) Diablo Leoric

Increase the Slow of Skeletal Swing by 20%.

Paralyzing Rage Icon Paralyzing Rage is a strong Talent that increases the Slow provided by Skeletal Swing Icon Skeletal Swing, which can be good either offensively or defensively.

In general, we strongly recommend this Talent because it helps you with Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope and Basic Attacks. If your team does not have a main Tank, you have to pick this Talent to make up for that as it allows you to engage or peel decently.

Leoric Kneel, Peasants! ?
Kneel, Peasants! (Level 4) Diablo Leoric

Skeletal Swing deals 75% additional damage to Mercenaries and Monsters, and hitting them activates Skeletal Swing's cost and cooldown refund.

Kneel, Peasants! Icon Kneel, Peasants! is a situational Talent that increases the damage done by Skeletal Swing Icon Skeletal Swing to Mercenaries and Monsters.

Although this Talent makes you faster at clearing enemy Mercenaries in lane and/or at capturing Mercenary Camps on Maps with many of them (such as Garden of Terror), we only recommend it on Infernal Shrines because the cooldown reset from Monsters helps securing the Objective and can also provide value during team fights.

5.

Level 7 Talents for Leoric

Leoric Willing Vessel ?
Willing Vessel (Level 7) Diablo Leoric

Increase the healing from Drain Hope to 25% of Leoric's maximum Health. If Drain Hope lasts its full duration, Leoric instantly heals for an additional 5% of his maximum Health.

Willing Vessel Icon Willing Vessel is a situational Talent that increases the healing provided by Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope, especially if it lasts for its full duration. Pick this Talent only if you desperately need the additional healing it provides and you are confident that Drain Hope will not be disconnected before its end. Do not pick this Talent against healing reduction effects.

Leoric Drain Momentum
Drain Momentum (Level 7) Diablo Leoric

Drain Hope no longer reduces Leoric's Movement Speed. If Drain Hope lasts its full duration, gain 30% Movement Speed for 4 seconds.

Drain Momentum Icon Drain Momentum is a strong Talent that offers a significant Movement Speed bonus for a few seconds, which not only allows you to both chase and escape from enemy Heroes much more efficiently, but also helps you stick to the enemy Hero targeted by your Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope, damaging and healing for more as a result. Drain Momentum indirectly helps Talents that require Drain Hope to last for its full duration.

Leoric Hopelessness ?
Hopelessness (Level 7) Diablo Leoric

Increase the range of Drain Hope by 25%.

Hopelessness Icon Hopelessness is a good Talent that increases the range of Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope, decreasing the chance that the targeted enemy Hero will disconnect from it too early. Pick this Talent if you need the additional range it provides. Hopelessness directly helps Talents who require Drain Hope to last for its full duration.

6.

Level 10 Talents for Leoric

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 in the Abilities and Strategy page.

Leoric Entomb
Entomb (Level 10) Diablo Leoric
  • Mana: 90
  • Cooldown: 50 seconds

Create an unpassable tomb for 4 seconds.

Entomb Icon Entomb is a strong Heroic Ability that gives you access to otherwise weak crowd control, a strong tool to swing the battle in your favor, especially if your team has decent burst damage as a follow up (for example Jaina).

Leoric March of the Black King ?
March of the Black King (Level 10) Diablo Leoric
  • Mana: 75
  • Cooldown: 50 seconds

Leoric becomes Unstoppable and walks forward, swinging his mace 3 times. Enemies hit take 250 (+4% per level) damage, and Heroes hit heal Leoric for 12% of his maximum Health.

March of the Black King Icon March of the Black King is a situational Heroic Ability that increases Leoric's survivability and damage, other than making him Unstoppable for the duration. You may need this Heroic Ability when your team does not have enough burst damage as follow-up for Entomb Icon Entomb, when you desperately need to increase the damage output of your team, or when you feel the urgency of extra healing to keep yourself in a good shape during prolonged team fights.

7.

Level 13 Talents for Leoric

Leoric Unyielding Despair ?
Unyielding Despair (Level 13) Diablo Leoric

Drain Hope's cooldown is reduced by 0.75 seconds for every 1 second it is active. If Drain Hope lasts its full duration, its cooldown is reduced by an additional 2 seconds.

Unyielding Despair Icon Unyielding Despair is a good Talent that allows Leoric to use Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope more often, especially if the target enemy Hero does not break the connection too early. Unyielding Despair requires either Drain Momentum Icon Drain Momentum or Hopelessness Icon Hopelessness at Level 7, Talents that help with the aforementioned weakness.

Leoric Ominous Wraith ?
Ominous Wraith (Level 13) Diablo Leoric

Increase Wraith Walk's duration by 100%. Enemy Heroes that come in contact with the wraith deal 50% less damage for 4 seconds.

Ominous Wraith Icon Ominous Wraith is a good Talent that makes Wraith Walk Icon Wraith Walk reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes hit by its trail, especially useful on Heroes that can deal a lot of damage. Remember that damage reduction effects work on Unstoppable enemy Heroes as well (for example Deathwing). When going for Ominous Wraith, pick Royal Focus Icon Royal Focus at Level 16 for the cooldown reduction.

Leoric Spectral Leech
Spectral Leech (Level 13) Diablo Leoric

Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 2.5% of the Hero's maximum Health and heal Leoric for twice that amount.

Spectral Leech Icon Spectral Leech is a strong Talent that empowers Leoric's Basic Attacks with a leech effect. In particular, Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes will deal percent-based damage and heal Leoric for twice that amount. Spectral Leech has good synergy with Mithril Mace Icon Mithril Mace at Level 16, unless you want Crushing Hope Icon Crushing Hope at the same Tier to increase your burst damage.

8.

Level 16 Talents for Leoric

Leoric Crushing Hope ?
Crushing Hope (Level 16) Diablo Leoric

If Drain Hope lasts its full duration, it instantly deals an additional 15% of the target's maximum Health as damage. This damage does not heal Leoric.

Crushing Hope Icon Crushing Hope is a good Talent that increases Leoric's percent-based damage even more, something that may be useful against enemy Heroes having high maximum Health and no mobility at all (such as Azmodan). Crushing Hope requires either Drain Momentum Icon Drain Momentum or Hopelessness Icon Hopelessness at Level 7, else the enemy Hero will just get out of range before Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope ends and this Talent will not trigger.

Leoric Royal Focus ?
Royal Focus (Level 16) Diablo Leoric

Wraith Walk increases the damage of the next Skeletal Swing within 5 seconds by 50%. Each enemy Hero hit by this Skeletal Swing reduces the cooldown of Wraith Walk by 7 seconds.

Royal Focus Icon Royal Focus is a good Talent that increases Leoric's damage by a fair amount and reduces the cooldown of Wraith Walk Icon Wraith Walk by 7 seconds for each enemy Hero hit by Skeletal Swing Icon Skeletal Swing, a powerful boost to Ominous Wraith Icon Ominous Wraith at Level 13.

Leoric Mithril Mace
Mithril Mace (Level 16) Diablo Leoric

Increase Leoric's Attack Speed by 20%.

Repeatable Quest: Nearby enemy Minion deaths grant 0.3% permanent Attack Speed, and Takedowns grant 3% permanent Attack Speed, up to 30%.

Mithril Mace Icon Mithril Mace is a strong Quest-based Talent that increases Leoric's Attack Speed by 20% when picked, up to 50% after killing enough Minions and/or Heroes. Mithril Mace has good synergy with Spectral Leech Icon Spectral Leech at Level 13: the increased percent-based damage and self-healing can cause severe issues for enemy Heroes with high maximum Health (for example Stitches).

9.

Level 20 Talents for Leoric

Leoric Buried Alive
Buried Alive (Level 20) Diablo Leoric

The duration of Entomb is lowered by 1 second, but enemies trapped inside are Silenced and take 50 (+4% per level) damage every 1 second.

Buried Alive Icon Buried Alive is a strong Talent that turns Entomb Icon Entomb into an even more scary engage tool thanks to the Silence effect it provides to the already impactful unpassable terrain. Consequently, it is an excellent choice against Heroes with mobility or defensive Abilities because they are completely defenseless when caught by Entomb. The additional damage is nice to have, but this Talent is already powerful without it.

Leoric Death March ?
Death March (Level 20) Diablo Leoric

The final swing of March of the Black King also applies Drain Hope to nearby enemy Heroes.

Death March Icon Death March is a good Talent that makes the last swing of March of the Black King Icon March of the Black King apply Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope to all nearby enemy Heroes. Keep in mind that any instance of Drain Hope applied by Death March will be empowered by Talents as well.

Assuming you do not need Buried Alive Icon Buried Alive, you should prefer going for Burning Despair Icon Burning Despair over Death March Icon Death March because it gives similar damage but constant Armor rather than delayed healing and it works even when your Heroic Ability is on cooldown.

Leoric Burning Despair ?
Burning Despair (Level 20) Diablo Leoric

Deal 40 (+4% per level) damage per second to nearby enemies.

While Drain Hope is active, gain 40 Armor and the damage and area is increased by 100%.

Burning Despair Icon Burning Despair is a strong Talent that offers a significant amount of extra damage and survivability. While it passively deals damage around Leoric, the damage and the area covered are doubled while Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope is active on an enemy Hero.

The survivability boost only comes when Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope is being channeled, in the form of bonus Armor, which you will be able to keep constantly active thanks to Unyielding Despair Icon Unyielding Despair at Level 13.

Burning Despair has good synergy with either Drain Momentum Icon Drain Momentum or Hopelessness Icon Hopelessness at Level 7 because they help Leoric to keep the enemy Hero affected by Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope in range for more time.

Leoric Shroud of the Dead King ?
Shroud of the Dead King (Level 20) Diablo Leoric
  • Cooldown: 25 seconds

Activate to become Protected for 3 seconds, preventing all damage.

Shroud of the Dead King Icon Shroud of the Dead King is a decent Talent that, when manually activated, makes Leoric unkillable for 3 seconds, a powerful tool against burst damage. All that said, you should rarely pick this Talent because the alternatives will be more valuable most if not all the time.

10.

Changelog

  • 22 Oct. 2021: Builds updated.
  • 21 Aug. 2021: Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 25 Jun. 2021: Builds updated.
  • 13 Apr. 2021: Builds updated.
  • 09 Mar. 2021: Talents fixed.
  • 25 Feb. 2021: New layout.
  • 17 Feb. 2021: Builds updated.
  • 04 Nov. 2020: Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
  • 05 Oct. 2020: Builds updated.
  • 09 Jul. 2020: Talent Build fully revised to match new standards.
    • Talent Build and Talent Build Cheatsheet modified to reflect the current metagame.
    • Talent Descriptions modified to better describe when to pick them.
  • 12 Apr. 2020: Talent Build partially revised to match new standards.
    • Talent Build and Talent Build Cheatsheet modified to reflect the current metagame.
    • Talent Descriptions modified to better describe when to pick them.
  • 09 Jan. 2020: Changed Mithril Mace from Not Recommended to Recommended and updated the Life Leech Build accordingly.
  • 25 Nov. 2019: Revised Leoric's guide and applied changes to his Drain Life Build. Entomb and Buried Alive are now prioritized.
  • 12 Jun. 2019: Updated Leoric's talents and builds to better reflect the current state of the game.
  • 13 Nov. 2018: Updated Leoric's talent builds and talents section.
  • 08 Jan. 2018: Updated builds and talent recommendations to reflect changes in meta.
  • 12 Sep. 2017: Changed Hopelessness from Not Recommended to Recommended.
  • 08 Sep. 2017: Updated Ominous Wraith discussion.
  • 07 Sep. 2017: Completely overhauled and updated Leoric's talents in accordance with the Kel'Thuzad patch.
  • 03 Jul. 2017: Updated Royal Focus' and Lingering Apparition's descriptions.
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