Zul'jin Talents

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

Boneslicer vastly improves the performance of Grievous Throw by not only allowing it to now strike any target within its cast range, but also by preventing the Grievous Throw debuff from dropping off of a target after 3 Basic Attacks. Additionally, Boneslicer gives Zul'jin moderate return on Mana and waveclear potential, something he tends to lack as a single target damage dealer.

Recklessness will vastly increase Zul'jin's burst potential when running a Twin Cleave Build. Recklessness's bonus damage combined with Amani Rage allows Zul'jin to open up with devastating Ability combos without ever having to actually take damage from the enemy team. The Heroic Ability Guillotine empowered by Recklessness will deal absolutely insane amounts of damage to any Hero caught within the impact, especially when upgraded at Level 20 with Buzzsaw. Recklessness should only be picked if you know you are unable to complete Headhunter reasonably quickly, for example if the enemy team has an Abathur.

Once completed, Headhunter grants Zul'jin an impressive amount of bonus damage and attack range. The Quest even grants incremental amounts of bonus damage for each new enemy Hero killed, making it useful even before its completion. It is important to note that the bonus damage granted to Zul'jin applies to both Basic Attacks and Abilities. This implies that Headhunter is a viable Talent for a Basic Attack Build or Twin Cleave Build. The increased Basic Attack range of Headhunter does indeed stack with the bonus attack range of "You Want Axe?", potentially giving Zul'jin an insane amount of reach.

All of Zul'jin's Level 4 Talents provide him with some means of defensive utility; whether it be through self-sustain or damage mitigation. Each one of these Talents will serve Zul'jin in a unique manner. Which Talent to choose will most likely be determined by the compositions of each team and what form of utility Zul'jin will benefit most from in each individual Match.

Troll's Blood provides Zul'jin with improved staying power and self-sustain. This Talent serves well on Maps that require long standoffs over important Objectives such as Nukes on Warhead Junction. Troll's Blood also can make up for team compositions that lack a dedicated Healer to help keep Zul'jin topped off. Troll's Blood also happens to synergize very well with Forest Medicine at Level 20, which allows the benefits of Troll's Blood to be utilized mid-combat.

Although the cooldown and Mana cost reduction provided by Voodoo Shuffle are nice, the true strength of this Talent lies in its Slow and Root removal. For a Hero like Zul'jin, who lacks any sort of gap closer, being able to escape from a potentially deadly situation by negating a Root or Slow is invaluable. Voodoo Shuffle ONLY removes Roots and Slows, so attempting to avoid being struck by any other form of crowd-control will prove ineffective. This Talent can however single handily save Zul'jin's life when matched up against certain Heroes who rely on Roots and Slows to tie up their targets. Notable examples include Arthas ( Howling Blast), Deckard ( Scroll Of Sealing), Jaina (every Ability, though notably Ring of Frost), Kel'Thuzad ( Frost Nova), Malfurion ( Entangling Roots), Thrall ( Feral Spirit), and Xul ( Bone Prison). If Zul'jin is facing a team that lacks any sort of reliable Root or Slow effects, alternative choices will prove more useful than Voodoo Shuffle.

Amani Hide provides Zul'jin with on-demand Armor through Amani Rage. This Talent also allows you to use Amani Rage more often, resulting in more on-demand Attack Speed to help out with the early game stacks of "You want Axe?".

Much like Boneslicer at Level 1, Vicious Assault greatly increases the performance of Grievous Throw giving you a higher window of Grievous Mark while also increasing the damage taken. The two Talents synergize well and should always be picked together should you go for the Grievous Throw Build.

Arcanite Axes is a mandatory Talent when building around Twin Cleave. The stacking damage component of Arcanite Axes is why Zul'jin's primary concern in the early game should always be completing the "You Want Axe?" Quest as quickly as possible. The sooner "you Want Axe?" is completed, the sooner Twin Cleave will travel two rotations every cast and ultimately generate more and more damage bonus from Arcanite Axes.

Ferocity increases the bonus Attack Speed of Berserker by a total of 40%, allowing Zul'jin's bonus Attack Speed when remaining at 1% Health to cap at 139% instead of 99%. This 40% Attack Speed is huge for his Basic Attack damage, especially when Zul'jin is able to utilize it completely while hovering at low Health during 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'jin's 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'gin 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 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 hard crowd-control, as to ensure it will strike its intended target(s).

Although both Guillotine and Taz'dingo! are great Heroic Abilities, the Build path Zul'jin has decided on will most likely dictate which option to select. Taz'dingo! works particularly well with a Basic Attacks Build, while Guillotine aligns with multiple Talents that are also an integral components for a Twin Cleave Build. The playstyle of each Build (Basic Attacks Build's sustain damage and Twin Cleave Build's burst potential) also derive the most value from each respective Heroic Ability option.

Much like the defensive utility options available at Level 4, all of Zul'jin's Level 13 Talents provide some means of movement utility. Again, which Talent to choose will most likely be determined by the compositions of each team and what form of utility Zul'jin will benefit from most in each individual Match.

Assuming a target is hit with both axes, Lacerate's 10% increase in Slow per ax doubles Twin Cleave's effectiveness as a source of crowd-control. This will result in enemies being Slowed for a total amount of 50% (25% for each axe). The Slow granted via Lacerate will also help the second rotation of Twin Cleave to more easily strike the target again, as they will be less able to flee from its path. This moderate Slow makes for great team-wide peel, as the area of effect component of Twin Cleave will allow it to easily strike more than one Hero. Compared to Eye of Zul'jin and Ensnare, Lacerate is not used much, due to the two other Talents providing more benefits for Zul'jin than Lacerate does.

Eye of Zul'jin is probably going to end up as the most common choice for Zul'jin. Movement speed plays an integral role in the success of any Basic Attack dependent character, and Zul'jin is no exception. Regardless of how much damage Zul'jin can put out, it will always go to waste should his desired target be able to kite him, or in turn catch him while he is the one trying to do the kiting. Eye of Zul'jin can be used both offensively and defensively, allowing him to both pursue or disengage from enemy Heroes. This Talent is incredibly important in effectively using Zul'jin to his full potential and should never be underestimated.

Ensnare is a viable alternative to Lacerate and Eye of Zul'jin should Zul'jin find himself being regularly dove on by one of more members of the enemy team. Ensnare is a situational pick that is best served when Zul'jin seems to be lacking reliable peel from his allied frontline. Ensnare will only Root enemy Heroes, so have no fear of casting the net even if there is an enemy Minion, Mercenary, etc., blocking Zul'jin's line-of-sight.

No Mercy! is a completely situational Talent that should ONLY be considered when Zul'jin is pursuing the Grievous Throw Build and matched up against an enemy Hero that relies heavily on Armor to mitigate damage, such as Garrosh or Uther. Even then, No Mercy only really works when Zul'jin is able to reliably apply the Grievous Throw debuff to his desired target.

Wrong Place Wrong Time can lead to massive bursts of damage when running the Twin Cleave Build. Wrong Place Wrong Time works best when Zul'jin has an ally utilizing a reliable form of movement impairing crowd-control, as to ensure an enemy Hero will be struck when locked up in the path of Twin Blades apex. In order for a target to be hit by both axes at the same time they will need to be in one of two very specific points along Twin Cleave's flight path. This is either directly where Zul'jin casts the Ability, or at the point where the two axes cross paths furthest from Zul'jin. The double rotation granted by "You Want Axe?" generates additional opportunities to proc the bonus damage of Wrong Place Wrong Time as well.

Let the Killing Begin is by far the best Talent available to Zul'jin when navigating the Basic Attack Build. The bonus Attack Speed coming from this Talent is incredibly easy to acquire and maintain, as stacks can be generated via killing enemy Minions and the 12-second duration is quite generous. Also, the fact that Zul'jin will immediately reach 40% increased Attack Speed upon killing an enemy Hero will allow him to further snowball teamfights or potentially give him a much needed edge when turning the tides on a losing one. It is important to note that Basic Attacks alone will refresh this Talent's duration, therefore as long as Zul'jin is able to get off one Basic Attack every 12 seconds he will be able to maintain the 40% increased Attack Speed indefinitely. This is why Zul'jin should always try to farm stacks for this Talent before heading to important Objectives or teamfights, however keep in mind that farming stacks will rarely be worth showing up late to Objectives!

Amani Resilience is a great tool that will help Zul'jin survive longer during Taz'dingo! as well as after it ends. This is important since it is not uncommon for him to be at a VERY low amount of Health upon Taz'dingo's expiration. Keep in mind that Zul'jin will heal for all the damage he does during Taz'dingo, not just the Basic Attack damage (although Basic Attacks will most likely be his highest source of damage assuming he is benefiting from all of his damage and attack speed buffs at low Health). On some occasions, although Amani Resilience will provide some self-sustain to Zul'jin, it might be a wiser call to flee a losing situation altogether even with low Health, as Zul'jin can still be easily picked off despite the amount of Health he will have returned to him once Taz'dingo ends.

Buzzsaw greatly increases the area of effect of Guillotine and will allow Zul'jin to easily hit multiple enemy Heroes with the Ability. Keep in mind that Buzzsaw will ALWAYS travel in the direction directly opposite from where Zul'jin had cast Guillotine, as it cannot have its path redirected unlike some other Abilities in the game. Large targets (such as bosses, forts, keeps) can be struck by Guillotine's initial strike and then again by the path of the Buzzsaw. Make sure to target the initial impact on the spot of a target's hitbox closest to Zul'jin to ensure the Buzzsaw will travel through the remaining part of the hitbox and strike the target two times. Although Guillotine instantly heals Zul'jin to full Health upon killing a Hero, it may not always be the best call to rely solely on this feature just in case the Ability either misses or the damage is mitigated by some enemy Abilities such as Uther's Divine Shield.

Forest Medicine is a phenomenal source of late game sustain and should not be immediately shrugged off for one of Zul'jin's Heroic Ability upgrades. If Zul'jin finds himself in consistent danger of being dove on by a threatening enemy, especially in the late game, being able to survive an attack via Forest Medicine can make all the difference. Forest Medicine allows Regeneration to be used mid-combat, even while moving, taking damage, and casting Abilities. Forest Medicine become particularly potent when combined with the effects of either Troll's Blood or Voodoo Shuffle from Level 4. Ultimately the selection of this Talent will come down Zul'jin's greatest priority during the late game, which may happen to be different each match.

A Surprise For Ya is a great Talent and really the only pure DPS boost Talent that Zul'jin has at level 20. This Talent synergizes great with both the Berserker quest and Headhunter if you have completed them. It is, however, very situational as it will not have any value if you face a team that is mostly spread, i.e., a ranged DPS-heavy team, therefore it is recommended to pick this if the enemy team clumps up in teamfights and you do not feel like you need the survivability from the other Talents. The most important thing to think about when picking this Talent is whether you have a team composition that protects you and you have mostly felt safe during the game. Dying is a harder DPS loss than not picking this Talent!