Zul'jin Abilities and Strategy
Welcome to our Abilities page for Zul'jin. Here, we give you an overview of every ability in Zul'jin's kit. For each of them, we explain what it does, how to best use it, and how it works in combination with Zul'jin's other abilities. We also give you strategy tips to play Zul'jin efficiently.
Zul'jin's Tips and Tricks
- The damage caused to Zul'jin by activating Berserker can be used to help him attain his bonus attack speed much faster, however try to never abuse Berserker to the point of leaving Zul'jin with low health in a potentially compromising position.
- Grievous Throw will only strike and mark the first two enemies it comes into contact with. When intending to hit an enemy Hero, Zul'jin should avoid casting Grievous Throw at Heroes buried behind enemy minions, mercenaries, or structures.
- Because Twin Cleave always travels the same distance in a circular motion, Zul'jin can cast it at an angle to strike enemies close to him who would otherwise avoid its pathing.
- Make sure to find a safe stop to take cover before channeling Regeneration as damage will interrupt it's effect (this includes aggro on those pesky lane minions!)
- Although Zul'jin will get the most value from casting Taz'dingo! at low Health, it may sometimes be a wiser play to cast Taz'dingo preemptively to avoid enemy ability combos that would otherwise result in certain death.
- There is a slight delay when casting Guillotine, therefore Zul'jin should keep an eye the target's movement path and aim the ability accordingly.
Berserker
Activate to increase Basic Attack damage by 25% but consume 2% maximum Health per attack.
Passive: Zul'jin attacks 1% faster for every 1% of maximum Health missing.
You Want Axe?
Quest: Every 5 Basic Attacks against Heroes permanently increases Basic Attack damage by 1.
Reward: After attacking Heroes 75 times, Basic Attack range is increased by 1.1.
Reward: After attacking Heroes 150 times, Twin Cleave now revolves twice.
When active, Berserker will vastly increase Zul'jin's damage output at the cost of his own Health. This can be used advantageously to quickly produce an increase in Attack Speed as his Health dwindles down in accordance with Berserker's passive component. It is important to note that although the bonus damage from activating Berserker is powerful, Zul'jin should never activate Berserker without good reason. The Health loss from Berserker creeps up very quickly, as the faster Zul'jin's Attack Speed is, the faster he will lose more and more of his Health. Although Berserker being active indefinitely cannot actually kill Zul'jin, it can easily leave him too low to contest Objectives or effectively trade with his opponents.
Grievous Throw
- Mana: 40
- Cooldown: 8 seconds
Zul'jin throws an axe forward, dealing 125 (+4% per level) damage to the first 2 enemies hit and marking them for 6 seconds. Marked enemies take 50% bonus damage from Zul'jin's next 3 Basic Attacks against them.
Grievous Throw is a relatively easy to land skillshot that greatly increases Zul'jin's damage output to the first two targets it comes into contact with. Once a target is struck with Grievous Throw, they will be marked with a debuff that causes them to take 50% bonus damage from Zul'jin's next 3 Basic Attacks. Keep in mind that unless having already talented into Boneslicer at Level 1, Grievous Throw will stop after striking two enemies (this includes Minions, Mercenaries, and Structures). This could mean that Grievous Throw may need to be held if its intended target is currently obstructed by more that one other target.
Twin Cleave
- Mana: 60
- Cooldown: 10 seconds
Throw 2 axes in a large, circular arc, dealing 112 (+4% per level) damage and Slowing affected enemies by 15% per axe for 2 seconds.
Twin Cleave is Zul'jin's basic source of crowd-control which includes a pretty nice area of effect element to it. If Zul'jin manages to strike an enemy with both axes he sends out, they will be Slowed by a combined amount of 30%. This is most easily done at the furthest point of the Abilities cast range, where both axes cross paths with one another. If Twin Cleave is cast directly at an enemy in front of Zul'jin, both axes will miss their target as they travel in a circle around them. This can be avoided by casting Twin Cleave to the side of the target causing the arc to cross paths with the area in front of Zul'jin. Being able to master Twin Cleave's mechanic is integral to attaining success with Zul'jin. Twin Cleave is a very tricky skillshot to pull off and it is recommended to practice this technique in training matches before taking Zul'jin into more serious play.
Regeneration
Zul'jin channels to regenerate 30% of his maximum Health over 4 seconds. Moving while channeling or taking damage will interrupt this effect.
Regeneration provides Zul'gin with a nice bit of self-sustain that allows him to stay relevant for much longer before needing to back away from a fight. Because damage will break the channel effect of Regeneration, Zul'jin should always seek cover before attempting to cast it. Many times enemy Heroes will anticipate the need for Zul'jin to cast Regeneration and will keep an eye out for opportunities to negate its effects. Particularly in the early game, try to constantly change the location where you use Regeneration to prevent enemies from picking up on any sort of pattern in its use.
Taz'dingo!
In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.
- Heroic
- Mana: 75
- Cooldown: 90 seconds
For the next 4 seconds, Zul'jin is Unkillable, and cannot be reduced to less than 1 Health. Taz'dingo!.
Taz'dingo! is an incredibly powerful Ability that causes Zul'jin to go full "Raid Boss" on his enemies for an entire 4-second duration. While Taz'dingo is active, Zul'jin is completely Unkillable and his Health is unable to be reduced below 1. This Ability synergizes phenomenally well with Zul'jins Trait Berserker, as he can benefit from almost 100% increased Attack Speed for Taz'dingo's entire duration without fear of being killed. Although Zul'jin will get the most value from casting Taz'dingo! at low Health, it may sometimes be a wiser play to cast Taz'dingo preemptively to avoid enemy Ability combos that would otherwise result in certain death. More so, in worst case scenarios, Taz'dingo may be used defensively to allow Zul'jin enough time to escape when caught out unprepared by the enemy team, particularly in the late game when a single death can easily result in a loss for his team.
Guillotine
In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.
- Heroic
- Mana: 70
- Cooldown: 40 seconds
Zul'jin launches a massive axe into the air that drops on the targeted area, dealing 330 (+4% per level) damage plus bonus damage the lower his Health is.
Guillotine provides Zul'jin some of the strongest single Ability damage in the game as its damage will be increased dramatically should Zul'jin be low on Health when it is cast. Although the target area of its cast is relatively small, Guillotine can be upgraded at Level 20 with Buzzsaw to have a pretty sizable area of effect allowing it to easily strike multiple enemy Heroes. There is a slight delay in the time from when Guillotine is cast to when it will strike so enemy movement will need to be traced and the Ability will need to be cast accordingly. Guillotine is best used in unison with some form of crowd-control (for example Powerslide by E.T.C.), as to ensure it will strike its intended target(s).
Amani Rage
- Cooldown: 30 seconds
Activate to cause Zul'jin to instantly lose 50% of his current Health and heal for that amount over 10 seconds.
Amani Rage is a special Ability mapped by default to the [1] key. In a vacuum, Amani Rage may seem senseless Ability, as damaging oneself is rarely beneficial. However, examining Zul'jin's Talents and Abilities reveals that the Hero has been designed with the concept "berserking" in mind, causing him to become more and more powerful as his Health is reduced. The aptly named Berserker, Zul'jin's Trait, as well as Guillotine, Recklessness, and Ferocity are notable examples of Talents and Abilities that synergise with Amani Rage.
For all intents and purposes, Amani Rage should be treated as an on-demand damage increase that costs temporary Health. As such, it should be used when there is little to no risk of being killed by burst damage, such as when safely positioned for attacks, dealing with Mercenary Camps, or while under the effects of Taz'dingo! or Divine Shield. Using Amani Rage effectively then becomes a matter of predicting how likely you are to be threatened. Against Melee Assassins or otherwise dive-oriented Heroes, Amani Rage's cooldown should be held on to until you are certain dangerous gap closers have been used.
It is worth noting that since Amani Rage's cost is equal to 50% of Zul'jin's current Health, it will always provide a greater damage increase at a greater cost when used at high Health levels. Correspondingly, using Amani Rage at low Health levels will cost very little and provide little damage and healing in return.
More Ranged Assassin Guides
Outofmilk is an avid Heroes of the Storm player, and has been playing this game since the first wave of Alpha invites. He currently plays around the Grandmaster / high Master area and is now here to share his knowledge with you.
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