Yrel Abilities and Strategy

• Ardent Defender is a great defensive tool against enemy burst damage. That being said, feel free to use the Ability after dropping down to 50% Health instead of waiting until the last moment. This ensures you can stay fighting rather than having to withdraw from combat.
• Every of Yrel's Basic Abilities has a wind-up time. Make sure to charge up Basic Abilities in time when you need to gain maximum value off them in fights.
• Divine Purpose can be used to instantly cast an Ability with maximum value. Use it with Vindication to gain an instant heal, with Righteous Hammer to immediately knock enemies back, and with Avenging Wrath to engage or disenage at once.
• Dauntless greatly increases Yrel's survivability; use your Abilities within 2 seconds between each other in order to not lose the extra Armor from the Talent.

Divine Purpose comes with a short 8-second cooldown and upon activation, it allows Yrel to instantly cast her next Basic Ability. This can be absolutely crucial to enhancing her combat performance during team fights.

Depending on which situation Yrel finds herself in, she may have to consider triggering a different Basic Ability. Using Divine Purpose and Vindication provides a considerable amount of healing and waveclear. Chaining it with Righteous Hammer can get her out of dangerous situations or help her allies get kills. Last but not least, Avenging Wrath can be immediately used to either engage a fight swiftly or get Yrel to safety.

It is important to note that using a Heroic Ability resets Divine Purpose's cooldown. After using an empowered Avenging Wrath, Yrel can use a Heroic Ability to instantly use an empowered Righteous Hammer, stunning a squishy Hero to your team. However, this should only be done if Yrel's player is extremely confident that it will result in a kill, as losing your Heroic Ability may be very impactful.

Just like Yrel's other Basic Abilities, Vindication comes with a channel animation. The longer Yrel charges the ability, the more powerful it becomes. This influences the amount of damage and healing she can get out of this ability. Vindication is Yrel's standard source of waveclear, however, keep in mind that she does not need to hit an enemy to receive the healing it provides. As such, cast Vindication off-combat to replenish your health pool.

Righteous Hammer provides a useful Knockback effect that can be used both offensively and defensively. If used offensively, Yrel can thrust enemies towards her allies and enable an easy takedown. If used defensively, she can keep enemies at a distance to allow your allies escape. Keep in mind that this ability only comes with a short stun if charged up to the maximum.

Avenging Wrath is Yrel's main gap-closer which allows her to leap over a short distance. Upon impact, enemies are damaged and slowed, which makes it a strong initiation ability. If combined with Divine Purpose, Yrel can launch surprise attacks or get herself out of an otherwise hopeless situation.

Be aware that roots will cancel Avenging Wrath during channel or jump, while Knockbacks will only interrupt it if they affect Yrel during the cast. It is better to only start channeling it when enemies cannot control you, by either walking backwards or waiting for them to waste their Cooldowns.

Ardent Defender is the ultimate defensive ability available for Yrel. It makes her Invulnerable, however, unlike Uther's Divine Shield, Yrel remains targetable for the enemy team. The more damage she absorbs while Ardent Defender is active, the more healing she receives. Use this ability to shut down hard-hitting abilities, such as Jaina's Ring of Frost or Kael'thas's Pyroblast and strike back with replenished health. It is absolutely worth mentioning that Ardent Defender should usually be used while Yrel is still at 50% of her health or higher, in order to guarantee her participation during a team fight once the ability has expired. If used while Yrel is on the brink of death, it will usually result in her retreating anyway.

Sacred Ground Is an underwhelming Heroic Ability, because it does not stack armor with Dauntless. It also greatly reduces Yrel's options during a teamfight, considering you should not move outside of the area. Sacred Ground can be easily canceled with Displacements as well, by pushing Yrel outside of its area. We do not recommend Sacred Ground because of how good and versatile Ardent Defender is.