Zarya Build Guide “Are you in need of personal training?”
Welcome to our guide for Zarya, a Support 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.
Zarya's Overview
Zarya is a Support who combines protective tools with strong
offensive capabilities. She has a unique Basic Attack that allows her
to hit multiple enemy targets at the same time. She can cast a Shield on herself
or provide a Shield to allied Heroes, get Energy based on the damage
absorbed by any of her Shields, and deal additional damage based on how much
Energy has been stored, however, her Energy will slowly decay over time.
As a consequence, in order to play Zarya effectively, it is important to
predict incoming damage to cast Shields at the right moment, a move that will
allow you to maximize both damage mitigation and Energy generation.
Zarya's Strengths and Weaknesses
High survivability
Good damage output at high
Energy
Shields for allied Heroes
Abilities are free
Relatively low waveclear
Lack of crowd control when Heroic Abilities are not available
No mobility
Vulnerable to displacement effects, especially in the early game
Weak against sustain damage because her Shields have a short duration
Zarya's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Basic Attacks Build
RecommendedZarya's Basic Attacks Build
boosts her damage from melee distance by empowering her Basic Attacks,
which will deal even more damage at high Energy.
Use this Build to melt the enemy frontline.
The signature Talent of this Build is
Feel the Heat at Level 1.
To get more value from it, you need the extra survivability
and the additional Energy generation
from
I Am the Strongest at Level 4.
Shield Ally Build
AdvancedZarya's Shield Ally Build offers damage and utility for your team. Being playable from ranged distance, this Build can be used in a multitude of situations without fear of being punished.
Speed Barrier at Level 4 is great for both
defensive and offensive usage. When someone is in danger, use it
in conjunction with
Cleansing Shield at Level 16
or simply to help them retreat. When everyone is safe, use it as
a mobility tool for melee Heroes.
ARAM Build
ARAMZarya's ARAM Build offers damage and utility for your team. Being playable from ranged distance, this Build can be used in a multitude of situations without fear of being punished.
Once completed, Demolitions Expert at Level 1
empowers your poke damage, especially after
getting
Pinpoint Accuracy at Level 7 and if
you decide to pick
Grenadier at Level 20.
Zarya's Synergies and Counters
As she can provide powerful Shields to allied Heroes, Zarya is good when paired with Heroes who suffer against burst damage: most Marskmen (notably Valla) and sustain Healers (such as Malfurion).
Heroes who lack mobility like to have Zarya on their side
because she can give them Movement Speed thanks to Speed Barrier at Level 4.
A team featuring Zarya should prefer an Offlaner who has enough self-sustain to not need any help from their team and survive to enemy ganks (for example Yrel) when playing on any Map and that can also double soak (such as Leoric) when playing on 3-lane Maps.
Zarya is an easy target for enemy Heroes who can abuse her lack of mobility with
displacement effects (such as Wrecking Ball
by Garrosh), kiting (like Lunara),
and skillshots (for example Maiev).
Considering that her Shields expire after few seconds, Zarya struggles against Heroes who can deal a constant amount of damage, either because they do not rely on their offensive Basic Abilities that much (such as Raynor) or because their Basic Abilities to deal damage have low cooldown (like Chromie).
Blinds are quite effective against Zarya because a good portion
of her damage comes from Basic Attacks. Heroes who can deal high damage to Shields
(notably Varian with Shattering Throw at Level 13)
are also powerful against Zarya because, when playing against them, she is less
durable and cannot easily save allied Heroes from burst damage.
When facing Zarya, your Offlaner needs to be able to mitigate a push made by 3-4 enemy Heroes while the reinforcements are coming. The best tools for doing so are waveclear and/or crowd control (for example Yrel).
Zarya's Maps














The fact that Zarya does not use Mana is great during the early game, therefore she is a fantastic pick on Maps where a good start can make the difference between a win and a loss (notably Braxis Holdout).
If your team has an Offlaner who can double soak (such as Xul), you can basically play Zarya on 3-lane Maps like when you are playing on 2-lane Maps, so just focus on a side lane and pressure the enemy team as much as you can.
Zarya's Tips and Tricks
Particle Grenade should be fired when at high Energy to deal more damage or to interrupt enemies who are channeling an Objective.
Personal Barrier can be used to absorb damage from Structures in order to quickly fill your
Energy.
- Try to anticipate incoming damage when using
Shield Ally and
Personal Barrier to maximize your Energy gain.
- You can use
Expulsion Zone to block an enemy Hero in a corner.
Graviton Surge requires you to predict how enemy Heroes move, else it will miss them.
- Zarya lacks mobility, therefore it is important to have a good position when enemy Heroes are nearby or missing.
- Zarya's Basic Attacks hit all enemies in a straight line and therefore should be used to hit multiple Minions or Mercenaries when possible.
Zarya's Role in the Current Meta
Zarya is a hybrid Hero with the survivability of a Bruiser,
the potential to deal as much damage as a Ranged Assassin
when high on Energy, and the utility of a Support.
When drafting her, make sure that your team composition will not lack a main Tank, a solid Offlaner, and a Healer because a Support like her cannot cover any of these key Roles.
It is better to pair her with a Marksman rather than
a Mage, else your team will lack ranged sustain damage.
Zarya should always be with a Marksman and help them
with Shield Ally when needed.
Since she can provide Shields, Zarya shines against burst compositions that feature a Mage who can deal burst damage (Jaina comes to mind) and sometimes even an aggressive Melee Assassin (such as Kerrigan).
Changelog
- 18 Apr. 2025 (talents page): Guide reviewed.
- 18 Apr. 2025 (abilities page): Guide reviewed.
- 18 Apr. 2025 (this page): Guide reviewed.
- 09 Oct. 2023 (talents page): Guide reviewed.
- 09 Oct. 2023 (abilities page): Guide reviewed.
- 09 Oct. 2023 (this page): Guide reviewed.
- 21 Sep. 2023 (talents page): ARAM Build added.
- 21 Sep. 2023 (this page): ARAM Build added.
- 07 Jul. 2022 (talents page): Builds updated.
- 07 Jul. 2022 (this page): Builds updated.
- 28 Jan. 2022 (talents page): Builds updated.
- 28 Jan. 2022 (this page): Builds updated.
- 07 Dec. 2021 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Major Patch.
- 07 Dec. 2021 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Major Patch.
- 07 Dec. 2021 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Major Patch.
- 28 Sep. 2021 (talents page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 28 Sep. 2021 (abilities page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 28 Sep. 2021 (this page): Guide reviewed for the latest Balance Update.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (talents page): Builds updated.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (this page): Builds updated.
- 25 Feb. 2021 (talents page): New layout.
- 23 Feb. 2021 (talents page): Builds and Talent Descriptions updated.
- 23 Feb. 2021 (this page): Builds and Talent Descriptions updated.
- 16 Feb. 2021 (talents page): Builds updated.
- 16 Feb. 2021 (this page): Builds updated.
- 12 Jul. 2020 (talents page): Talent Descriptions modified to better describe when to pick them.
- 12 Jul. 2020 (abilities page): Ability and Strategy fully revised to match new standards.
- Tips and Tricks modified to add important tips that were missing and to remove obvious ones that were not worth mentioning.
- Ability Descriptions modified to better explain how to use Abilities effectively.
- 12 Jul. 2020 (this page): Introduction fully revised to match new standards.
- Overview rewritten to better describe the Hero.
- Strengths and Weaknesses modified to give a better idea about the Hero when being played right.
- Synergies and Counters modified to mention notable Heroes that were missing and to remove misleading Heroes that were listed.
- Maps modified to focus on the main aspects of the Hero when evaluating a Map.
- Tips and Tricks modified to list important tips that were missing before and to delete more obvious ones.
- 16 Apr. 2020 (talents page): Talent Build partially revised to match new standards.
- Talent Build and Talent Build Cheatsheet modified to reflect the current metagame.
- Talent Descriptions modified to better describe when to pick them.
- 16 Apr. 2020 (this page): Introduction partially revised to match new standards.
- Talent Build Cheatsheet updated to reflect the current metagame.
- Role in the Current Meta modified to remove the unnecessary part about the now fixed Experience Globes.
- 14 Feb. 2020 (talents page): Updated Zarya's talents and revised the guide in accordance with the latest Balance Update.
- 16 Dec. 2019 (this page): Added the current Anomaly (Experience Globes) to the guide.
- 20 Nov. 2019 (talents page): Applied minor changes to Zarya's talents and maps sections to keep it up to date.
- 23 May 2019 (talents page): Updated Zarya's talents and builds in accordance with the latest Balance Update.
- 24 Oct. 2017 (this page): Updated Warhead Junction ranking and removed Energy build.
- 16 Apr. 2017 (talents page): Added a new Anti Melee build, and updated some talent discussions to account for this build.
- 31 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Changed some talent recommendations for Level 4 and 7.
- 24 Nov. 2016 (talents page): Swapped Pain is Temporary and Unstoppable Competitor in talent recommendations.
- 11 Nov. 2016 (this page): Zarya rework with the new guide format.
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Elitesparkle has been hooked on Heroes of the Storm since day one in 2015. Over the years, he has consistently competed at Master level across multiple Seasons and has even climbed into Grand Master a couple of times. Known for his logical mindset and love for theorycrafting, he thrives on breaking down the game's mechanics and engaging in high-level strategy discussions with the community.
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