Heroes of the Storm The Butcher

[Damien 1,514]

This thread is for comments about our The Butcher build guide for Heroes of the Storm.

[Supajee 3]

Looking at the Strategies, Tips and Tricks content, When not teamfighting section should be rewritten abit, because some of the text has been taken from Johanna's guide, for an example:

If there are no map objectives to take, lanes to soak, or enemies to gank, take the Mercenary Camps. They provide a small amount of XP and a significant amount lane pressure. Taking the Mercenary Camps on the enemy's side of the map is risky, and it should only be done if you certain that the enemy team cannot, or will not contest. Johanna is relatively ineffective at capturing Mercenary Camps alone, so you will generally need the assistance of your allies.

Didn't notice any other minor mistakes, heheh ;) The guide's fantastic otherwise, expecially the talent build, now that I've managed to test him against players this week. Compared to many other builds, this one feels somewhat more safe than the others. I'm being told that Nexus Blades is absolute must at level 20, but Bolt of the Storm has secured me many kills and it's the only escape method for The Butcher. And you can't deal damage if you're dead.

Keep up the good work, looking forward for more guides! :)

[Srey 1]

Looking at the Strategies, Tips and Tricks content, When not teamfighting section should be rewritten abit, because some of the text has been taken from Johanna's guide, for an example:

If there are no map objectives to take, lanes to soak, or enemies to gank, take the Mercenary Camps. They provide a small amount of XP and a significant amount lane pressure. Taking the Mercenary Camps on the enemy's side of the map is risky, and it should only be done if you certain that the enemy team cannot, or will not contest. Johanna is relatively ineffective at capturing Mercenary Camps alone, so you will generally need the assistance of your allies.

Didn't notice any other minor mistakes, heheh The guide's fantastic otherwise, expecially the talent build, now that I've managed to test him against players this week. Compared to many other builds, this one feels somewhat more safe than the others. I'm being told that Nexus Blades is absolute must at level 20, but Bolt of the Storm has secured me many kills and it's the only escape method for The Butcher. And you can't deal damage if you're dead.

Keep up the good work, looking forward for more guides!

Oops, that's embarrassing! Will get that fixed asap!

[Guest Abirr]

You should consider changing nexus blades to situation if they have a lili or another fast moving character. Another good reason to at it to situational is the your basic attack damage is 20% more on top of fresh meat stacking making you extremely good at killing people before they get out of the ruthless onslaught stun

[Srey 1]

You should consider changing nexus blades to situation if they have a lili or another fast moving character. Another good reason to at it to situational is the your basic attack damage is 20% more on top of fresh meat stacking making you extremely good at killing people before they get out of the ruthless onslaught stun

I understand your reasoning but my preference is still Bolt of the Storm. You should generally be instantly killing an enemy with Furnace Blast anyway, so fights should be short, preventing Nexus Blades from being effective. Bolt of the Storm provides safety and damage in the form of its utility.

[Guest Neo Eevee]

When you said that the butchers lamb to the slaughter is countered by damage blocking spells, how come you didn't mention Abathur's Carapace? Or do shields not count?

[positiv2 952]

When you said that the butchers lamb to the slaughter is countered by damage blocking spells, how come you didn't mention Abathur's Carapace? Or do shields not count?

 

The guide speaks about Cleanse or abilities that make the target immune (Unstoppable and Invulnerable). Carapace only stops damage.

[Haven 0]

Hi,

 

Could you give more insight/update for the Counter section with Zeratul? In Talent builds section you mention that only take block when facing Nova, but in Counter you also say always take Block against Zeratul. Out of date due to Zeratul recent nerf (losing Focused Attack)? Or Block is still valid against Zeratul?

[Guest HappyPuppy]

Hello,

 

I feel that level 16 talent "Enraged" should be expanded upon. While the reasons for other talents are very viable, "Enraged" too has it's place. 

 

The way I see it, it main goal lies in following up with the engage. Just like all melee assasins, butcher is very susceptible to stun locks. This talent allows to have an opportunity to land a mark and follow up on it in comparison to alternative of being stunned/kited into oblivion. I don't see the situations of rewind Muradin/Uther/Tyrande/Diablo particularly far fetched.

 

Paired up with spell shield,  Butcher can have one of the strongest engages on the competent team. He can absorb enemy's burst while staying alive, mostly on his own. This eases strain on the healer and allows for much safer engage for the rest of the team.

 

Best regards.

[Guest Update Please]

This build guide desperately needs to be updated since the October patch. I would love that - thanks. :) 

[Valks 2,375]

On 10/30/2016 at 6:27 PM, Guest Update Please said:

This build guide desperately needs to be updated since the October patch. I would love that - thanks. :) 

Made a note of it, thanks :)

[Valhalen 1,484]

I'd like to share with you my personal favorite build.

I've been using ever since his rework, and after seeing the Guide I noticed it's kinda of a blend between the two builds featured.

It's not a build for every situation, and depending on the matchup I do some adjustments. But it's mainly used for premades with some friends, where we (almost) always have a healer, high CC tank (ETC/Artanis/Arthas) and a waveclear character.

I know that talents like Victuals tend to be considered a bad talent, but I find it very useful on specific maps like Tomb of the Spider Queen, and it adds an extra survivability when attacking cores and structures. I can't say how many times I got saved from the brink of death by killing minions and recovering with Victuals. When there is a dedicated healer, though, I go for either of the two remaning Talents depending on the matchup.

[EDL666 18]

Victuals discussion section says Butcher recovers 4% per minion killed and the ability itself says 5%.

[Guest Sycops]

Regarding Nexus Blade as a level 20 talent. The slow it provides will guarantee that cheap shot can be procced, since it works on stuns as well as slows. Not that the Butcher needs any additional damage output.

[Valhalen 1,484]

On 07/02/2018 at 2:52 AM, Guest Sycops said:

Regarding Nexus Blade as a level 20 talent. The slow it provides will guarantee that cheap shot can be procced, since it works on stuns as well as slows. Not that the Butcher needs any additional damage output.

That may be true, but that talent really can't compete to Slaughterhouse or Bolt of the Storm.

[ShadowerDerek 69]

On 2018年2月8日 at 11:58 PM, Valhalen said:

That may be true, but that talent really can't compete to Slaughterhouse or Bolt of the Storm.

Butcher is easily one of the best heroes to have Nexus Blade. 

Given his enormous basic attack DPS, the 20% increased damage actually has a lot of value; and the slow allows him to stick to his branded target much easier, which, paired with the basic attack damage increase, significantly improve his survivability.

When comparing to Slaugterhouse and Bolt of the Storm, Nexus Blade is far from a bad competitor. In fact, I'd consider it to be stronger than Bolt of the Storm in general. Slaugterhouse is easily the best Lv 20 talent. Silencing multiple enemy heroes is game-winning. Bolt of the Storm is the best choice if you take Furnace Blast because it significantly increase Furnace Blast's reliability: just blink into the enemy team when it's about to explode to give them a huge surprise. Nexus Blade is the choice when you don't think you can use your heroic again before the game ends. It can also be better than Slaugterhouse when the enemy team never group up for some reason (cough cough Quick Match).

[MZLICH 43]

Sorry guys,I hadnt enough time to read all comments to see if somebody said what I want to say now.. this guide needs an update.. as a butcher main and who got 70% win rate with him in lifetime n above 90% on nowdays(that 30%lose R just happened at first when I was noon and because of my bad Internet)(plus I got this rate on QMs,I don't like to play rank at all) I should say the best talent for butcher is just picking charge talents specially that 10%max hp which site says don't pick it..it's just awesome talent that helped me a lot to get mvps since I could deal high damage to low hp hero to get kill for myself,and lvl20 talent which u should get that teleport one or 20%more dmg...that ult sucks since u usually don't get multiple heroes with it since it's barely possible that 2 or more heroes walk in same place n same time n be in right place for u to kill them..

[ShadowerDerek 69]

17 hours ago, MZLICH said:

Sorry guys,I hadnt enough time to read all comments to see if somebody said what I want to say now.. this guide needs an update.. as a butcher main and who got 70% win rate with him in lifetime n above 90% on nowdays(that 30%lose R just happened at first when I was noon and because of my bad Internet)(plus I got this rate on QMs,I don't like to play rank at all) I should say the best talent for butcher is just picking charge talents specially that 10%max hp which site says don't pick it..it's just awesome talent that helped me a lot to get mvps since I could deal high damage to low hp hero to get kill for myself,and lvl20 talent which u should get that teleport one or 20%more dmg...that ult sucks since u usually don't get multiple heroes with it since it's barely possible that 2 or more heroes walk in same place n same time n be in right place for u to kill them..

Does this guide need an update? Yes, I agree with you. Is Savage Charge the best talent for Butcher? Absolutely no. In my experience, Charge build is mainly used to deal with blind-heavy comps because you don't have to rely on auto attacks to be effective. It gives you burst and survivability, on top of those deadly utility from charge and Lamb to the Slaughter. But without blind, Brutal Strike is going to have more value overall as it can improve both your burst and sustain damage, while also works in PvE situations. 

Slaughterhouse sometimes doesn't have much value in QM because people just don't group up for some reasons. But in ranked, people WILL group up for team fights. That's where Slaughterhouse gets insane value. 

As a Lv 35 Butcher main myself with 50+% win rate (I'm not a MOBA expert or something), I'd say the best talent for Butcher is, no doubt, Enrage at Lv 16. This talent single-handedly wins me so many 1v3 or even 1v4. I'm not even kidding. That 40% attack speed buff on top of your stacked AA DPS is flat out disgusting. With a wise use of your brand, you're unkillable (Taz'dingo?). Besides, Enrage also works in PvE situations, and it allows you to solo boss easily. 

[MZLICH 43]

9 hours ago, ShadowerDerek said:

Does this guide need an update? Yes, I agree with you. Is Savage Charge the best talent for Butcher? Absolutely no. In my experience, Charge build is mainly used to deal with blind-heavy comps because you don't have to rely on auto attacks to be effective. It gives you burst and survivability, on top of those deadly utility from charge and Lamb to the Slaughter. But without blind, Brutal Strike is going to have more value overall as it can improve both your burst and sustain damage, while also works in PvE situations. 

Slaughterhouse sometimes doesn't have much value in QM because people just don't group up for some reasons. But in ranked, people WILL group up for team fights. That's where Slaughterhouse gets insane value. 

As a Lv 35 Butcher main myself with 50+% win rate (I'm not a MOBA expert or something), I'd say the best talent for Butcher is, no doubt, Enrage at Lv 16. This talent single-handedly wins me so many 1v3 or even 1v4. I'm not even kidding. That 40% attack speed buff on top of your stacked AA DPS is flat out disgusting. With a wise use of your brand, you're unkillable (Taz'dingo?). Besides, Enrage also works in PvE situations, and it allows you to solo boss easily. 

Yup Q talent is good for both of pvp and pve but that "charge deals 10% max hp " is awesome for just pvp,since butcher is a slow hero, I need to deal high damage in short time or hero will escape,so I would like to pick that charge one and just keep Q for when hero wants to escape not using it at start of fight to get increased basic attack dmg... and btw I still believe that teleport talent is better for butcher for both getting kills or whenever u need to escape the area or you stuck in teamfights with low health and you're about dying or whenever u see something like nova's ult or rag's ult under your feet 

[ShadowerDerek 69]

35 minutes ago, MZLICH said:

Yup Q talent is good for both of pvp and pve but that "charge deals 10% max hp " is awesome for just pvp,since butcher is a slow hero, I need to deal high damage in short time or hero will escape,so I would like to pick that charge one and just keep Q for when hero wants to escape not using it at start of fight to get increased basic attack dmg... and btw I still believe that teleport talent is better for butcher for both getting kills or whenever u need to escape the area or you stuck in teamfights with low health and you're about dying or whenever u see something like nova's ult or rag's ult under your feet 

If you do the math, Savage Charge's and Brutal Strike's value is very similar when used on squishies; but SC has more value on healthier heroes (like tanks or Azmodan) while BS has more value in PvE. It basically comes down to team comp and personal preference. But if you plan to take SC, Unrelenting Pursuit at Lv 4 is a must have.

Slaughterhouse and Nexus Blade have much more offensive uses than Bolt of the Storm, so I'd only recommend BotS if you really need an escape, or if you take Furnace Blast. BotS drastically improve FB's reliability because you can blink into the enemy team right before it explode, so it's the go-to pick for this heroic.

[Valhalen 1,484]

@ShadowerDerek, @MZLICH

It all depends on the comp; as long The Butcher has a pocket healer (Morales, for example) and a solid frontline, it is hard to stop him. I generally never skip Slaughterhouse. It is a game-winning talent if played right. Yeah, Nexus Blades is really strong, but you can wipe an entire team with Slaughterhouse.

[darkdill 4]

Shouldn't you consider the Chop Meat talent to be situational rather than bad? It helps on Merc-heavy maps like Cursed Hollow or Garden of Terror, though one could argue that The Butcher is not designed to go after Mercenaries.

Edited March 27, 2018 by darkdill

[ShadowerDerek 69]

On 2018年3月28日 at 2:57 AM, darkdill said:

Shouldn't you consider the Chop Meat talent to be situational rather than bad? It helps on Merc-heavy maps like Cursed Hollow or Garden of Terror, though one could argue that The Butcher is not designed to go after Mercenaries.

All lv 1 talents are pickable, depend on the situation you have. Invigoration for sustain damage in team fight, Block for more survivability against heavy AA hits, Chop Meat for better waveclear.

Generally, I'd say Chop Meat is the default choice, especially if you plan to solo lane, since waveclear is always a nice thing to have. But if you plan to gank, Invigoration should be better. If you just wanna charge in no matter what, Block might serve you better. :P

[Guest Nothing updated]

Why is nothing on here ever updated to date?

[positiv2 952]

18 hours ago, Guest Nothing updated said:

Why is nothing on here ever updated to date?

Hey, could you please specify what is out of date in this guide?