Samuro Talents

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Quick Reference for Samuro
  • 2. Samuro's Introduction
  • 3. Samuro's Strengths
  • 4. Samuro's Weaknesses
  • 5. Samuro's Role in the Current Meta
  • 6. Reading Further
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Abilities and Strategy
  • 1. Tips on Samuro's Ability Usage
  • 2. Image Transmission (Trait)
  • 3. Mirror Image
  • 4. Critical Strike
  • 5. Wind Walk
  • 6. Bladestorm
  • 7. Illusion Master
  • 8. ChangeLog
• ×Talent Build
  • 1. Samuro's Talent Build
  • 2. Samuro's Common Talent Paths
    • 2.1. Wind Walk Build
  • 3. Level 1 Talents for Samuro
    • 3.1. Discussion
  • 4. Level 4 Talents for Samuro
    • 4.1. Discussion
  • 5. Level 7 Talents for Samuro
    • 5.1. Discussion
  • 6. Level 10 Talents for Samuro
    • 6.1. Discussion
  • 7. Level 13 Talents for Samuro
    • 7.1. Discussion
  • 8. Level 16 Talents for Samuro
    • 8.1. Discussion
  • 9. Level 20 Talents for Samuro
    • 9.1. Discussion
  • 10. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we present the viable talent choices for playing Samuro in a competitive environment in Heroes of the Storm. For each talent, we explain what they do and why they should or should not be taken.

The other pages of our Samuro guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About the Author

Straften is a Grand Master ranked player in both Hero League and Team League. He has a passion for theorycrafting, and regularly tests new features early on the PTR. He explains his strategy, reasoning, and implementation in these guides.

1. Samuro's Talent Build

Level	Choices
1	✘ ? ✔
4	✘ ✔ ✘
7	✔ ? ?
10	✔ ✔
13	? ? ✔
16	? ✔ ?
20	? ? ? ?

Create your own build and share it with friends!

2. Samuro's Common Talent Paths

3. Level 1 Talents for Samuro

3.1. Discussion

Way of Illusion only increases Samuro's damage, it does not increase the damage of Mirror Images.

Way of the Blade increases Samuro's damage. It also increases the damage of Mirror Images, because they will critically strike more often. This Talent has good synergy with Burning Blade and Illusion Master.

Way of the Wind gives Samuro greatly improved mobility that can be used to approach enemies, to retreat, or to dodge harmful effects. This Talent opens up several strategic options for Samuro. While it does not directly increase Samuro's damage, it enables him to be in melee range to deal damage much more often.

4. Level 4 Talents for Samuro

4.1. Discussion

Mirage increases the survivability of Samuro and his Images by allowing you to reduce the incoming Ability damage. This will also make your Images harder to deal with for the enemy team, which can buy your team time to rotate or escape. Mirage is not recommended over One With The Wind, because it only prevents two instances of Ability damage.

One With The Wind greatly increases the survivability of Samuro and his Images by allowing you to reduce all incoming damage at will. This is usually better than Mirage, because it reduces damage from Abilities and Basic Attacks. You can also benefit from it more often than Mirage, because Wind Walk has a lower cooldown than Mirror Image. One With The Wind also grants Armor for a duration, rather than only reducing the damage of a number of incoming Abilities.

Deflection can only reduce incoming Attack Damage, and only does so while you are on the offensive. It is hard to justify taking this Talent. One With The Wind prevents more damage, and can be activated when you need the armor the most.

5. Level 7 Talents for Samuro

5.1. Discussion

Burning Blade greatly increases the damage that your Critical Strikes do, and also works on your Images. It also improves Samuro's waveclear. Of all of the options at this tier, this one is the most versatile.

Phantom Pain can conditionally surpass Burning Blade's single target damage, but is much less consistent. Burning Blade offers almost as much damage, does so in an area of effect, and is not dependent on Images being active.

Crushing Blows does not increase the damage of Critical Strike like the other options at this tier. Crushing Blows can be useful because Critical Strike activations reset your Basic Attack cooldown. This allows you to approach an enemy, apply a Basic Attack, and quickly apply two more with Critical Strike. Press the Attack's Attack Speed buff can be stacked up very quickly this way. The increased Attack Speed will then help you regain charges of Critical Strike. In many match-ups you will not be able to continuously attack an enemy Hero like this, so this strategy has limited usefulness.

6. Level 10 Talents for Samuro

6.1. Discussion

Bladestorm is a great Heroic Ability which will help you to secure kills that could otherwise be prevented by enemy crowd control. If an enemy is low on Health and you are able to get in range, this Heroic will almost always result in a takedown. Bladestorm does benefit from the debuff from Harsh Winds, so try to time it accordingly.

Illusion Master is a novel Heroic that is more of an extra passive, rather than an actived one. Illusion Master will increase the efficiency of your Mercenary clear, so if you are playing on a battleground where camps are very important (like Blackhearts Bay,) it can be a very strong choice. If you want to try a challenging and unconventional approach focused on cunning and subterfuge, try this Heroic out! If you need to win through Hero Takedowns, Bladestorm is probably the better option.

7. Level 13 Talents for Samuro

7.1. Discussion

Mirrored Steel works best when you are able to Basic Attack enemy Heroes frequently. It works well when paired with Press the Attack at Level 16.

Kawarimi is another Talent that allows you to replace Images more often. The Images spawned with Kawarimi will continue to run in the direction you are at the moment you activate Wind Walk; so you can sort of "shoot" them at the enemy team during team fights. If you take Wind Strider at Level 20, you can do this quite often and create significant confusion for the enemy team.

Shukuchi gives you a gap closer that opens up more options for engage and escape. It is the most straight forward and reliable Talent in this tier.

8. Level 16 Talents for Samuro

8.1. Discussion

Merciless Strikes is a good choice if you have a lot of slows and roots on your team. With Heroes like Jaina or Arthas in your composition, you can Critical Strike every strike during team fights.

Harsh Winds gives Samuro enough damage potential to kill many Heroes in the game by himself. Even if you do not go for a kill with Bladestorm, Harsh Winds greatly increases Samuro's burst damage. This makes hit and run harassment much more meaningful, often forcing enemies to retreat from the battlefield completely.

Press the Attack is very good with Crushing Blows for reasons outlined above. Press the Attack will give you some much needed damage against Heroes, especially if you took Illusion Master at Level 10.

9. Level 20 Talents for Samuro

9.1. Discussion

Dance Of Death is a very fun Talent. It can help you eliminate squishy Assassins, and can also cause a lot of damage on team compositions that are designed to wombo combo. However, due to Bladestorm's relatively long cooldown, the other Level 20 options will give more consistant results in your average match up.

Three Blade Style is a good choice if you are a true Illusion Master, as it greatly increases the amount of time you have before Images expire. Because you will be able to spread the Illusions out further, you will be capable of even more complex and mind bending plays! The increased Health on your Images will also assist you with efficient Mercenary clear times, and even makes solo boss captures faily easy to pull off.

Several of the Talents that affect Wind Walk cause unique effects, almost like an Ability. Wind Strider is an amazing Talent because it allows you to activate these effects much more often. If you have two or more Talents invested into Wind Walk, this is almost irrefutably the best choice at Level 20.

Blademaster's Pursuit is primarily useful for because of the increased Move Speed. This Talent can be a good alternative to Wind Strider if you did not take Way of the Wind at Level 1.

10. ChangeLog

• 04 Mar. 2018: Talent section updated to reflect current meta.
• 14 Dec. 2017: Talent section updated to reflect Samuro's rework.

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