Sylvanas Talents

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

Sustained Damage Build

Recommended

Level 1

Level 4 ? ?

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16 ?

Level 20 ? ?

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This Sustained Damage Build utilizes several Talents to accelerate or facilitate the cooldown recovery of Shadow Dagger. By constantly using this ability, Sylvanas can constantly deal high amounts of damage to all enemies during fights.

This build is particularly effective against enemy compositions with low mobility, as these can be easily kited or hit by Mind Control.

The primary Heroic choice for this Build is Mind Control. It instantly applies all 3 Black Arrows stacks while also rendering an enemy 100% vulnerable to your attacks. This synergy greatly reduces the cooldown on Shadow Dagger and marks other enemies due to Remorseless, speeding up the Black Arrows quest completion.

Burst Build

Advanced

Level 1

Level 4 ? ?

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13 ?

Level 16 ? ?

Level 20 ? ?

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This build focuses on maximizing burst damage potential. At Level 13, choose between Windrunner and Cold Embrace. Cold Embrace is better when targeting melee units to maintain safe positioning. For ranged targets, select Windrunner, as you will need to use the second Haunting Wave to reach them.

While Wailing Arrow is a great part of your burst damage, Mind Control should not be ignored as an alternative Heroic Ability. Consider picking Mind Control if your main target has no mobility and the enemy team lacks cleanse to counter it. This can create several opportunities to pick off enemies for your team.

Aram Build

ARAM

Level 1

Level 4 ? ?

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16 ?

Level 20 ? ?

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This build focuses on having the best late game options available, while also providing decent damage at early levels. However, this build is very dependent on completing the Black Arrows quest, so your early and mid games should be focused on completing this quest as soon as possible.

✘︎

Might of the Banshee Queen (Level 1) Sylvanas

Hitting an enemy Hero with Withering Fire increases Sylvanas's Attack Speed and Spell Power by 5% for 6 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.

✓

Unrelenting Torment (Level 1) Sylvanas

Increase the damage of Shadow Dagger by 20% and increase its duration by 1 second.

✘︎

Overwhelming Affliction (Level 1) Sylvanas

Enemy Heroes with 3 stacks of Black Arrows are Slowed by 15%. Sylvanas's Basic Attacks against Slowed enemy Heroes deal 1% of their maximum Health as damage.

This tier improves Sylvanas's damage output.

Might of the Banshee Queen is currently not recommended, as it encourages opening fights with Withering Fire to benefit from the Spell Power, which is counterintuitive for Black Arrows's quest. To stack efficiently, you should instead save Withering Fire for when enemies already have 3 Black Arrows stacks, otherwise completing the quest will take much longer than it should.

Unrelenting Torment greatly increases Shadow Dagger's damage and duration, for up to a 60% total damage increase that significantly improves Sylvanas's teamfight damage and waveclear. In addition, the extra 1 second of duration causes two additional damage ticks, so as long as you keep attacking your target to maintain 3 Black Arrows stacks, this Talent also accelerates progress on Black Arrows's quest.

Overwhelming Affliction provides much less damage than its alternatives, instead bringing a modest but reliable Slow effect that is useful for kiting and chasing. However, it cannot compare to Unrelenting Torment in terms of damage output.

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Unstable Poison (Level 4) Sylvanas

Minions that die under the effects of Shadow Dagger or Sylvanas's Traits explode, dealing 130 (+4% per level) damage to nearby Minions, Mercenaries, and Summons.

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Mercenary Queen (Level 4) Sylvanas

Friendly non-Elite Mercenaries near Sylvanas deal 60% more damage. Sylvanas Stuns and deals 30% additional damage to Mercenaries with 3 stacks of Black Arrows.

✓

Haunting Arrows (Level 4) Sylvanas

Black Arrows can now be activated to cause all Basic Attacks and Abilities to Stun Minions, non-Elite Mercenaries, and Structures for 3 seconds. Lasts for 10 seconds. Basic Attacks against Structures reduce this cooldown by 3 seconds.

This tier improves Sylvanas's waveclear.

Unstable Poison provides Sylvanas with some of the best waveclear in the game. This potential opens up split-pushing strategies on some of the larger Maps, including Cursed Hollow and Garden of Terror, by allowing a single Shadow Dagger and a few Basic Attacks to set off a chain reaction of Minion kills. This, in turn, allows you to roam and generally apply pressure, forcing opponents to split up to soak or risk losing Experience and Structures.

Mercenary Queen allows Sylvanas to claim non-Boss Mercenary Camps quickly and with little to no Health loss, something that is generally difficult for ranged Assassins, particularly in the early game. This gives Mercenary Queen a niche use in team compositions that lack another Hero able to effectively deal with Mercenaries. Further, the damage increase provided by Mercenary Queen greatly empowers Turrets in Volskaya Foundry or Hanamura Temple.

Haunting Arrows allows Sylvanas to disable enemy Structures, Minions, and Mercenaries for up to 13 seconds (10-second Ability duration plus 3 seconds of disable). It is excellent when you fight alongside your team, as 1 or 2 kills can quickly become 1 or 2 destroyed Towers, and it also shines in a split-pushing role by letting her shred distant Structures without allied Minions while generating many Black Arrows quest stacks, depending on the Level 7 Talent chosen. However, if your team lacks waveclear, Unstable Poison remains the safer alternative.

✘︎

Barbed Shot (Level 7) Sylvanas

Hitting the same enemy with 5 shots of Withering Fire causes the 5th shot to deal 400% bonus damage.

✓

Lost Soul (Level 7) Sylvanas

Basic Attacks against Heroes and Structures with 3 stacks of Black Arrows reduce the cooldown of Shadow Dagger by 0.75 seconds, doubled against Heroes.

Passive: Shadow Dagger deals 10% more damage.

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Festering Wounds (Level 7) Sylvanas

Increase Haunting Wave's damage by 15%. Haunting Wave applies 3 stacks of Black Arrows.

This tier further improves Sylvanas's damage output.

Barbed Shot allows Sylvanas to better threaten isolated targets to make up for her otherwise poor burst damage. However, this Talent's effectiveness is inconsistent in teamfights due to several factors: the damage is negated if Sylvanas is stunned, if the target moves out of range, dies, or if another enemy enters the area. Given these limitations, we do not recommend this Talent for its unreliability.

Lost Soul brings the highest area of effect damage output at this tier. It works especially well with Unrelenting Torment and Remorseless, as this combination makes it much easier to constantly hit fully marked targets while greatly increasing Shadow Dagger's damage. Unlike Festering Wounds, Lost Soul also performs well while split-pushing, as the additional cooldown reduction significantly speeds up quest stacking against frontline Heroes and Structures.

Festering Wounds is a strange Talent that requires Haunting Wave to be used offensively. Its main point of appeal lies in how much it speeds up the completion of Black Arrows's quest, as hitting several Heroes with Haunting Wave and Shadow Dagger can easily grant 12 to 30 stacks per use. The synergy with the popular Windrunner is also worth noting.

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Wailing Arrow (Level 10) Sylvanas

• Mana: 100
• Cooldown: 90 seconds

Shoot an arrow that can be reactivated to deal 228 (+4% per level) damage and Silence enemies in an area for 2.5 seconds. The arrow detonates automatically if it reaches maximum range.

✓

Mind Control (Level 10) Sylvanas

• Mana: 50
• Cooldown: 40 seconds

After 0.25 seconds, fire a missile that Mind Controls the first enemy Hero hit. Heroes hit are Silenced, Slowed by 30%, have 3 stacks of Black Arrows applied to them, and are forced to walk towards Sylvanas for 1.75 seconds.

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.

Wailing Arrow is Sylvanas's foremost team fighting Ability. Its unique ability to quickly Silence in a large area of effect makes it effective at shutting down Assassins such as Genji, Tracer, or Zeratul by making their predictable escapes impossible. Further, Wailing Arrow works well against combo-oriented team compositions, as interrupting a key piece of any given combo on demand will turn the fight in your favor. If nothing else, it can also be used for its respectable area of effect damage.

Mind Control instantly applies 3 Black Arrows stacks to its target and prevents them from acting for 2 seconds, making it an excellent setup tool. When combined with Cold Embrace, this window allows Sylvanas and her team to quickly burst down almost any target, as they are both crowd controlled and with their Armor reduced while also taking increased damage from her. With Remorseless, Mind Control instead enables a strong opening for extended fights: Sylvanas can spend her Abilities freely and then use 3 Basic Attacks on the controlled target to spread Black Arrows to nearby enemies, often leaving multiple Heroes fully infected and granting many quest stacks by the end of the duration. However, if the enemy team has reliable ways to cleanse or mitigate this effect, Wailing Arrow may be the safer Heroic choice.

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Cold Embrace (Level 13) Sylvanas

Shadow Dagger reduces the Armor of the initial target by 25 and any enemy it spreads to by 10 for 2.5 seconds.

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Windrunner (Level 13) Sylvanas

Haunting Wave can be cast a second time for free within 4 seconds after teleporting. Teleporting with Haunting Wave resets the cooldown of Withering Fire.

✓

Remorseless (Level 13) Sylvanas

Sylvanas's Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes with 3 stacks of Black Arrows shoot an untalented shot of Withering Fire. This shot of Withering Fire applies Black Arrows.

Increase Sylvanas's Basic Attack range by 1.

This tier further improves Sylvanas's damage output situationally.

Cold Embrace provides Sylvanas with a powerful Armor-reducing debuff on a uniquely short cooldown. Cold Embrace's power depends entirely on your team's cohesion, making it a niche pick for coordinated play.

Windrunner is a special Talent that opens up many opportunities for Sylvanas. On top of increasing her overall mobility, Windrunner lets Withering Fire be used up to two more times in quick succession, ultimately providing a significant amount of burst damage.

Remorseless is the sustain damage option. Although less flexible than its Windrunner counterpart, Remorseless's range bonus makes it easier to position for Basic Attacks to ultimately improve Sylvanas's ability to deal damage. Works particularly well with Mind Control.

✓

Evasive Fire (Level 16) Sylvanas

Hitting an enemy with Withering Fire grants 6% Movement Speed for 2 seconds, up to 30%. Basic Attacks refresh this duration.

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Life Drain (Level 16) Sylvanas

Heal for 15% of damage dealt by Sylvanas to enemies with 3 stacks of Black Arrows. Healing is doubled against Heroes.

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Will of the Forsaken (Level 16) Sylvanas

• Cooldown: 60 seconds

Activate to become Unstoppable and gain 40% Movement Speed for 3 seconds.

This tier improves Sylvanas's survivability.

Evasive Fire significantly improves Sylvanas's combat mobility with very little thinking involved: simply cast Withering Fire and deliver Basic Attacks as you normally would. Evasive Fire is a strong choice with Remorseless and Withering Barrage so you have great sustained damage and excellent kiting potential with the constant extra movement speed.

Life Drain acts as a weaker, earlier version of the life steal granted by Black Arrows at 400 stacks, helping Sylvanas deal with poke damage. It is a situational choice when you do not expect to finish the quest and are facing heavy poke with limited crowd control.

Will of the Forsaken mirrors its World of Warcraft counterpart by being one of Heroes of the Storm's most powerful Talent and unique to Sylvanas as Heroes of the Storm's Forsaken. Will of the Forsaken's Unstoppable effect has multiple applications, from avoiding deadly crowd control effects meant to lock you down for a kill to chasing opponents who expect to be able to control you in time. The added Movement Speed only adds to this utility. Will of the Forsaken can even be used to easily bait crowd control Abilities in the late-game by playing in an unusually reckless manner. Forget not to use the Ability, however; this effect is not a Passive one.

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Deafening Blast (Level 20) Sylvanas

Enemies at the center of Wailing Arrow's explosion take 50% more damage and are Silenced for twice as long.

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Dark Lady's Call (Level 20) Sylvanas

Heroes hit by Mind Control have their vision radius greatly reduced for 5 seconds. Mind Control's cooldown is reduced by 25 seconds.

✓

Withering Barrage (Level 20) Sylvanas

Withering Fire applies Black Arrows, and Heroes hit by Withering Fire reduce its cooldown by 0.75 seconds.

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Bolt of the Storm (Level 20) Sylvanas

• Cooldown: 70 seconds

Activate to teleport to a nearby location.

This Tier improves Sylvanas's late-game options.

Deafening Blast is a powerful but hard Talent to use. Selecting this Talent requires changing how you use your Wailing Arrow. Previously, your aim was to hit as many enemies as possible, but after this, it's crucial to focus on landing the center of the ability on your primary target. The additional damage and extended silence duration make this Heroic Ability incredibly impactful.

Dark Lady's Call reduces Mind Control's Cooldown to a mere 15 seconds, which is unusually short for a Heroic Ability. This allows you to use Mind Control very aggressively and potentially bait opponents into playing around its usual cooldown.

Withering Barrage significantly boosts your damage output when combined with Lost Soul and Evasive Fire. This combination makes it considerably easier to consistently hit marked targets, reducing Shadow Dagger's Cooldown more frequently.

Bolt of the Storm works well with Will of the Forsaken to make Sylvanas one of the hardest Ranged Assassins to lock down. Whether used defensively or offensively, Bolt of the Storm remains as powerful as ever, particularly against Heroes who rely on skillshots or otherwise try to prevent you from moving, such as Leoric or Tassadar.