Maiev Talents
Welcome to our Talents page for Maiev. Here, we give you an overview of how strong each of Maiev's talents is. Then, we present several viable builds, before analyzing each talent row separately, so that you can make informed decisions.
Maiev's Talent Build
Level | Choices |
---|---|
1 | ? ? ✓ |
4 | ✓ ? ? |
7 | ✓ ? ? |
10 | ✓ ? |
13 | ✓ ? ? |
16 | ✓ ? ? |
20 | ? ? ✓ |
Maiev's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Standard Build
RecommendedMaiev's Standard Build provides superior sustain damage. Key Fan of Knives-related Talents provide you with powerful, continuous area of effect damage that force your opponents to spread out, reducing their effectiveness.
Naisha's Memento is the default option for this build, as it will greatly improve your early game and PvE capabilities. However, on Maps where you cannot abuse your improved Mercenary clear speed, we recommend getting Pursuit of Vengeance instead.
Cruel Chain Build
SituationalMaiev's Cruel Chain Build focuses on dealing the maximum possible damage in the late game. Through stacking in the early Levels, Bonds of Justice will greatly improve Umbral Bind.
Be aware that Bonds of Justice stacks for each secondary target hit by Umbral Bind, so it is better to always apply the empowered Basic Attack on a minion. As the name suggests, this Build is extremely dependent on Cruel Chain, therefore we recommend focusing on stacking your Level 1 Talent before picking it.
Level 1 Talents for Maiev
Quest: Each tether applied to a secondary target of Umbral Bind permanently increases Umbral Bind's pull damage by 15.
Reward: After applying 5 tethers to secondary targets, increase Umbral Bind's pull damage by 75.
Reward: After applying 10 tethers to secondary targets, increase Umbral Bind's cleave damage by 30%.
Each Hero tethered by Umbral Bind reduces the cooldown of Spirit of Vengeance by 2.5 seconds and each Hero hit by Spirit of Vengeance reduces the cooldown of Umbral Bind by 1 second.
- Charges: 1
Activate to make primary Basic Attacks bounce between nearby enemies up to 2 times. Lasts 8 seconds.
Recharge Naisha's Memento by hitting at least 2 Heroes with a single Fan of Knives.
Discussion
Bonds of Justice provides a modest but reliable damage increase. Bonds of Justice's damage can grow quite high on Maps that promote early game combat to allow you to steadily use Umbral Bind, such as Battlefield of Eternity, Braxis Holdout, Dragon Shire, and Tomb of the Spider Queen.
Pursuit of Vengeance provides Maiev with slightly more mobility. Although damage-oriented options may be preferred at this Level, Pursuit of Vengeance is not a bad Talent. If you cannot deliver many Basic Attacks in teamfights, it can be a better choice than Naisha's Memento.
Differently from Bonds of Justice, Naisha's Memento instantly adds an excellent tool to her kit. Naisha's Memento is the default choice for Level 1, as it greatly enhances Maiev's early game and improves her PvE power, while the other options do not add as much.
Naisha's Memento should be used at the start of the fight, right before applying Umbral Bind to maximize the damage dealt. It is very efficient to quickly release Mercenary Camps, as it also bounces on neutral targets.
Level 4 Talents for Maiev
Quest: Hit 3 enemy Heroes with a single Fan of Knives.
Reward: Increase Fan of Knives damage by 35%.
Reward: Each additional time 3 enemy Heroes are hit by a single Fan of Knives, gain an additional 5% damage, up to 50%.
Reward: Hit 4 enemy Heroes with a single Fan of Knives to instantly gain all Rewards.
Using Fan of Knives deals 50 (+4% per level) Physical Damage to enemies around Maiev.
After blinking with Spirit of Vengeance, the shadow explodes, damaging all nearby enemy Heroes for 6% of their maximum Health.
Discussion
Pin Down is dependent on a hard quest to be useful, and therefore we only recommend this Talent for experienced Maiev players. Pin Down's damage boost will be applied to every Fan of Knives hit, while its counterpart depends on being in melee range with your target. For this reason, you only need 1 stack to surpass Blade Dance's effectiveness in fights, which is not hard to get if you are a veteran Maiev player.
For most players, Blade Dance is more reliable than Pin Down, as it has the distinct advantage of being active the instant it is picked. This Talent deals damage in a small radius around you. Position yourself in the middle of the wave to hit all Minions with the short-range effect from this Talent when casting Fan of Knives. The Physical Damage it inflicts also synergizes with two Talents at Level 16, Armored Assault and Cruel Chain (it adds another stack to increase Umbral Bind's pull damage).
Sudden Vengeance provides Maiev with a nice amount of on-demand burst damage. Sudden Vengeance's main advantage over Blade Dance lies in its non-reliance on fighting more than one Hero to generate value. In other words, it is less situational, though its overall damage potential is proportionally lower.
Level 7 Talents for Maiev
Hitting at least 2 Heroes with a single Fan of Knives causes the next Fan of Knives to drop a star on targets that deals 77 (+4% per level) damage when it impacts.
Enemy Heroes pulled by Umbral Bind have their Armor reduced by 15 and are Slowed by 25% for 3 seconds.
Each enemy Hero hit by Spirit of Vengeance increases all damage Maiev deals by 15% for 4 seconds, stacking up to 30%.
Discussion
Elune's Wrath provides Maiev with a great damage boost. Just like Blade Dance, this Talent synergizes well with two Level 16 Talents, Cruel Chain and Vengeful Knives, as Elune's Wrath's damage is calculated as a damage source that is distinct from Fan of Knives. It is the standard choice for this tier, as it will be extremely useful in all teamfights, while its counterparts are much less reliable.
Bonds of Corruption provides Maiev with a decent Slow and Armor reduction effect that occurs right before targeted burst damage is most likely to occur. This is a good Talent when Maiev is unable to deal much damage, so she can be useful without risking herself too much. This is a good Talent with Pursuit of Vengeance.
Ruthless Spirit boosts all damage dealt by Maiev, at the cost of reduced mobility (considering Spirit of Vengeance should be used to hit enemies instead of to reposition). This Talent does not add as much damage into a teamfight as Elune's Wrath does, but it can be activated more often in the game, as it has value even in 1v1 scenarios.
Level 10 Talents for Maiev
- Mana: 50
- Cooldown: 40 seconds
Throw a glaive in the target direction. If an enemy Hero is hit, Containment Disc can be reactivated to remove their vision and Time Stop them for 4 seconds. Leaving Containment Silences the enemy Hero for 1 seconds.
Containment Disc automatically activates 6 seconds after hitting a Hero.
- Mana: 80
- Cooldown: 100 seconds
Summon 8 Warden Avatars as a cage around Maiev. After 1.5 seconds, enemy Heroes that come in contact with an Avatar consume it and are knocked to the center of the cage. Warden Avatars last 5 seconds.
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.
Containment Disc is a unique Ability that is primarily used to instantly take specific Heroes out of the game for a lengthy time period, preventing them from using key Abilities. Containment Disc can be used at any enemy during a teamfights, as it will have great value on all of them. Squishy Heroes will be severely punished by the Silence, Tanks and Bruisers will lose all their momentum and peeling capabilities for 5.5 seconds, and Healers will not be able to protect their teammates as well. It can also be used for killing enemies separated from their team. It should be used at will, as the cooldown is very low.
Warden's Cage is Maiev's more combo-oriented Heroic Ability choice, and doubles as a way to hinder dive. Generally, Warden's Cage follows Maiev's typical Spirit of Vengeance plus Umbral Bind combo to lock down tethered Heroes for an extended period of time. Simply ensure that your allies are nearby and ready to following up. Otherwise, it can be used following opposing initiation to make following up more difficult and creating some breathing room for whoever is being targeted.
Level 13 Talents for Maiev
Each enemy Hero hit by Fan of Knives grants 5 Armor for 5 seconds, up to 20 Armor.
Tethering at least 2 enemy Heroes with Umbral Bind grants 35 Armor for 4 seconds.
Blink grants 20 Armor for 3.5 seconds. Maiev's Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes refresh this duration.
Discussion
Bladed Armor is the most reliable of the three Talent choices at this tier, in that it is easy to trigger and lasts the longest, but also offers the least amount of Armor. It is the recommended choice here, unless you got Pursuit of Vengeance at Level 1, then Shadow Armor will also be very effective.
Chain Gang provides the most Armor and does so exactly when you need it, but its condition to activate is hard to reach. Chain Gang is an excellent choice if you can consistently hit multiple targets with Umbral Bind.
Shadow Armor provides a reasonable amount of Armor with potentially high uptime and usually when you need it as well. Bladed Armor has more potential against melee-heavy team compositions, however, as they allow for liberal and reliable Fan of Knives casts, which are safer than delivering sustain Basic Attacks. Shadow Armor works best for novice Maiev players.
Level 16 Talents for Maiev
Dealing damage to enemy Heroes causes the next cast of Fan of Knives that hits enemy Heroes to deal 1% maximum Health as bonus damage, up to 5%.
Umbral Bind grants 25% Movement Speed for 2.5 seconds. In addition, each time Maiev deals damage to tethered targets, Umbral Bind's pull damage to all targets is increased by 30%, up to 150%.
While Maiev has positive Armor of any kind, all Physical Damage dealt is increased by 25%.
Discussion
Cruel Chain has the ability to vastly increase Maiev's late game damage output when combined with the Bonds of Justice Talent. As such, Cruel Chain should be prioritised on Maps that allow Bonds of Justice to stack up effectively, such as Battlefield of Eternity, Braxis Holdout, Dragon Shire, and Tomb of the Spider Queen.
Vengeful Knives is an excellent Talent that will greatly increase your damage in teamfights. Against certain targets, Vengeful Knives may double Fan of Knives's damage. It has great synergy with Elune's Wrath and Naisha's Memento, since those Talents will help you to get maximum percent-based damage as possible on each Fan of Knives.
Armored Assault provides Maiev with a potent Physical Damage increase, which functions for her Basic Attacks, and Naisha's Memento's bounce property, and the Level 4 Blade Dance Talent. Armored Assault is a good Talent if you cannot reliably hit multiple targets with Fan of Knives, since it will add guaranteed damage. The Armor clause is relatively easy to maintain, particularly with the recommended Level 13 Talents.
Level 20 Talents for Maiev
- Charges: 5
Activate to reset the cooldown of Spirit of Vengeance.
Recharge Shadow Orb by damaging enemy Heroes with Spirit of Vengeance 5 times.
- Charges: 10
Activate to increase Movement Speed and Attack Speed by 40% for 5 seconds.
Recharge Shadow Orb by dealing Physical Damage to enemy Heroes 10 times.
- Charges: 10
Activate to deal 75 (+4% per level) damage to an enemy Hero, Slowing them by 30% and reducing their Armor by 20 for 4 seconds.
Recharge Shadow Orb by dealing Spell Damage to enemy Heroes 10 times.
Discussion
Shadow Orb: Vengeance can be used to initiate with the Spirit of Vengeance plus Umbral Bind combo followed by a second Spirit of Vengeance cast to very reliably pull opponents. Being able to cast Spirit of Vengeance twice can also be useful to catch some of the longer-ranged Heroes, such as Chromie and Sgt. Hammer by surprise. It is particularly good with Cruel Chain, as it can guarantee a good pull with a second blink from Spirit of Vengeance.
Shadow Orb: Huntress provides Maiev with a powerful on-demand movement and Attack Speed increase. Shadow Orb: Huntress works particularly well with Talents that improve Maiev's physical damage, like Naisha's Memento, Blade Dance, and Armored Assault. The Movement Speed increase is particularly useful for securing Umbral Bind hits and pulling Heroes.
Since Shadow Orb: Shadow Strike is targeted, meaning it cannot miss, this Talent is particularly useful for isolating a single key target through Umbral Bind, as it makes it more difficult to keep up with Maiev to deny the pulling effect. The Armor reduction is also valuable for bursting purposes. This is the default Talent for this tier, as it can be used in diverse ways with any build.
Changelog
- 28 Sep. 2021: Talents and Builds updated after recent balance patch.
- 26 Mar. 2021: Updated Talent recommendations.
- 20 Oct. 2020: Builds and Talents updated to reflect current meta.
- 15 Feb. 2020: Talents reviewed following February 12 patch rework.
- 27 Jan. 2020: Talent builds and recommendations updated following January 22 balance patch.
- 11 Oct. 2019: Talent builds and recommendations reviewed and updated.
- 23 May 2019: Talent discussion and recommendations updated following patch v 2.45.1 changes.
- 30 May 2018: Talent recommendations updated to better reflect metagame state.
- 03 Feb. 2018: Guide created.
More Melee Assassin Guides
Derenash has been playing Heroes of the Storm since 2015 and has achieved Grandmaster in multiple seasons, peaking at Top 1 in Season 3 and 4 of 2018. He participated in the HGC Copa America in 2018 where his team had a strong victory. He is passionate about teaching others about the game, and streams often on Twitch in Portuguese, and you can find him in Wind Striders' Discord as well where he is happy to answer any questions in English or Portuguese.
- Heroes of the Storm PTR Patch Notes: September 26th
- Heroes of the Storm Live Patch Notes: August 12th
- Heroes of the Storm PTR Patch Notes: July 15th
- Blizzard at Gamescom 2024
- Icy Veins Seeking Writers for Zenless Zone Zero: Apply Today!
- Heroes of the Storm Live Patch Notes: May 21st
- No BlizzCon in 2024
- Heroes of the Storm PTR Patch Notes: April 16th