Probius Build Guide “What do you need?”
Welcome to our guide for Probius, a Ranged Assassin in Heroes of the Storm. Within these pages, you will find everything required to understand how best to play this hero, in both different map styles and team compositions.
Probius's Overview
Probius is a Ranged Assassin who excels at zone control by means of setting up and activating a plethora of structures and abilities. When given the opportunity, Probius is able to craft a devastating gauntlet that will cripple the entire enemy team. His bread and butter ability combo ( Disruption Pulse/ Warp Rift) can deal massive amounts of AoE damage to multiple enemies, while Photon Cannon will chip away at any and all who stray too close. At Level 10, Probius is able to chose between damage ( Pylon Overcharge) and utility ( Null Gate), either of which will greatly aid his allies in combat.
Probius's Strengths and Weaknesses
- Good area of effect burst damage
- Great zoning potential
- Excellent waveclear
- Great staying power, impressive Mana regen via Warp In Pylon
- Able to contest Objectives for a long duration
- Very high skill ceiling
- Very low Healthpool
- Vulnerable to crowd-control
- No reliable hard crowd-control like stuns or roots
- Hard learning curve
- Unreliable damage
Probius's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Photon Cannon Build
RecommendedPhoton Cannon's Build is a balanced Probius build that focuses on always having several Photon Cannons active in the battlefield. Echo Pulse is picked instead of Gather Minerals because of its synergy with his Level 7 Talent, Tower Defense. It is important to always use Photon Cannons and Disruption Pulse when they are available, as Probius can get a whole cooldown refund in a single Disruption Pulse with these Talents.
Probius's Synergies and Counters
Probius works best with Heroes that provide a strong frontline he is able to seek refuge behind, as well as supports who can assist in peeling away enemies attempting to dive him. These Heroes also should have some reliable source of hard crowd-control since Probius unfortunately does not have any himself until Level 10 with Null Gate.
Probius is countered by high mobility Assassins with large amounts of burst damage and crowd-control. Probius' lack of a gap-closer may regularly be capitalized on by more agile opponents.
Probius's Maps
Probius performs best on larger Battlegrounds that revolve heavily around objectives that he is able to have ample time to set up for. Probius has incredible staying power and is able to easily prevent enemies from capturing certain objectives (such as Altars on Towers of Doom) with his ranged abilities and Photon Cannons. Battlegrounds with lots of narrow spaces and chokepoints give Probius many places to hide Pylons and force enemy Heroes through the effected area of his Warp Rifts.
Probius's Tips and Tricks
- Unlike mounts, Worker Rush may be used in combat. Keep in mind that ALL damage (including damage-over-time such as poisons) will immediately break the effect.
- Place Pylons from Warp In Pylon within brush or behind terrain or allied fortification to protect them from being immediately destroyed.
- Do not be afraid to poke enemies with Disruption Pulse when unable to set up or waiting on the cooldown of Warp Rift.
- Warp Rift is most effective when used in narrow corridors and chokepoints that force enemies to travel through its AoE.
- Photon Cannon is great for zoning as well as soaking damage from Minions, Mercenaries, and enemy structures.
- Save Pylon Overcharge for teamfights surrounding important Battleground objectives. This will force the enemy to either stay within its range or give up the objective to disengage, either of which are good for Probius and his allies.
- Instead of simply placing Null Gate across a pathway to block it off, Null Gate can be angled slightly (depending on the space) to maximize the distance an enemy will be forced to travel through it.
Probius's Role in the Current Meta
Probius is a very situational Hero, which makes it a rather weak choice overall. Admittedly, its laning phase is decent, however, not outstanding. There are several Heroes that can pressure Probius off lane. He is mostly picked for his insane waveclear and zoning for Objective control. Unfortunately, he suffers against any Hero that can reach him, so he requires very good positioning to be useful.
Probius provides his team with a healthy mix of teamfight damage, zone control, and pushing power. During the early game, Probius does well in a offlane. His unlimited Mana regen from Warp In Pylon gives him incredibly staying power and he is able to easily clear waves of Minions with a single combo of Disruption Pulse and Warp Rift. Probius should often favor split-pushing over team fights, except when it comes to potentially game-deciding Objectives, such as the third Tribute on Cursed Hollow, for instance. Also, Probius should ensure he has ample time to set up his Pylons, Photon Cannons, and Warp Rifts when a teamfight is looming. Because of this, knowing each Map (such as Objective's timers and locations) is important for effective Probius gameplay.
During teamfights Probius should play similarly to most other Ranged Assassins, staying safe behind the allied frontline while casting his Abilities. When considering Hero options to pair with Probius, make sure to include Heroes with reliable crowd-control, as this is something Probius is severely lacking (aside from Null Gate at Level 10 should it be taken).
Changelog
- 09 Feb. 2022 (talents page): Buidls and Talents updated after recent balance patch.
- 09 Feb. 2022 (abilities page): Updated Pylon's description after recent balance patch.
- 09 Feb. 2022 (this page): Guide updated after recent balance patch.
- 09 Dec. 2021 (talents page): Builds and Talents updated after recent balance patch.
- 09 Dec. 2021 (abilities page): Abilities section updated after recent balance patch.
- 09 Dec. 2021 (this page): Guide updated after recent balance patch.
- 04 Jun. 2021 (talents page): Updated description for Photon Barrier.
- 04 Jun. 2021 (abilities page): Updated Cooldowns and durations to correspond to their real values.
- 04 Jun. 2021 (this page): Fixed some inconsistences in the Guide.
- 31 Jan. 2021 (talents page): Updated Probius Loop's description.
- 07 May 2020 (talents page): Updated Warp Rift Build and Talent page in accordance to May 6th balance patch.
- 01 May 2020 (this page): Added small changes into Maps, Weaknesses and Role in the Current Meta sections.
- 09 Apr. 2020 (talents page): Removed Interfence as a viable option.
- 23 Jan. 2020 (talents page): Removed Repulsor in accordance with the latest Balance Update and revised the guide.
- 16 Dec. 2019 (this page): Added the current Anomaly (Experience Globes) to the guide.
- 25 Jul. 2019 (talents page): Updated Particle Accelerator's talent description. The talent remains Not Recommended.
- 17 Jul. 2019 (talents page): Completely overhauled the Probius guide and added new talent builds.
- 17 Jul. 2019 (abilities page): Abilities section reviewed.
- 17 Jul. 2019 (this page): Completely overhauled the Probius guide and added new talent builds.
- 07 Jul. 2017 (talents page): Updated Pylon Overcharge description, as it no longer gives Pylons bonus Health.
- 07 Jul. 2017 (abilities page): Updated Pylon Overcharge description, as it no longer gives Pylons bonus Health.
- 16 May 2017 (abilities page): Changed Pylon Overcharge's passive shield amount from 50% to 30% in accordance to the May 10, 2017 Balance Update.
- 11 May 2017 (abilities page): Fixed error regarding Photon Cannon's duration and target prioritization.
- 14 Mar. 2017 (this page): Guide added.
More Ranged 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 Updated PTR Patch Notes: November 26th
- Celebrating 30 Years of Warcraft in Heroes of the Storm
- Heroes of the Storm PTR Patch Notes: November 14th
- Heroes of the Storm Patch Notes: October 14th
- 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