Heroes of the Storm Xul

[Vlad 411]

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

[methusalix 0]

I really like the Poison Nova build. Feels overall like the strongest build. Against some teams, i prefer Bone Spear on Level 20.

 

Besides I think Shade on Level 1 is really strong. I take it in almost all games, it gives you so much survivability =)

[KendricSwissh 66]

Very true. 

 

The fact that Poison Nova also affects Structures makes it an incredibly strong Heroic while pushing. 

[Guest Savorymlkman]

Very interesting that the benefit of mortal wound has been described as being mostly viable in scythe heavy builds. I don't think there are many talents in the game that compete with it. It just seems more essential than it is being made out to be

[KendricSwissh 66]

Bonespear is a pretty neat talent as well. That's the good thing about Xul - you have an abundance of good talents at your disposal. 

[Guest Nat]

Leoric is a good counter to Xul as well. Both duelling and evading bone prison. 

[Guest fgf]

Great work with the guides, as always! However, I have a slightly annoying question for you, regarding to Xul's Strategy, Tips and Tricks, Synergies and Counters and Map-specific advice sections. Is it still a work in a progress, or have you completely forgotten to update them? ;) This might be quite irrelevant, but Medivh lacks those secctions too (also Infernal Shrines isn't even listed as a map for him).

I love the guides, keep up the good work! Now that every single hero has a guide up, we might see rest of the map guides soon? ;)

[Damien 1,514]

Yeah Kendric had completely forgotten to update it. He's done that with other heroes! I've whipped him a few times and now he understands the value of having full-fledged guides :p

[Emergenza 6]

  On 7/18/2016 at 1:13 PM, Damien said:

Yeah Kendric had completely forgotten to update it. He's done that with other heroes! I've whipped him a few times and now he understands the value of having full-fledged guides :p

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1st: Get a cat-o'-nine-tails.

2nd: Whip him harder! Whip him faster! Whip him more often!

I'm sure, Big Daddy K.'s gonna enjoy it...

Thx for all your efforts 2 keep this rly nice site up2d8. I rly appreciate your work and njoy 2 get some first input here.

[Valks 2,377]

  On 9/24/2016 at 10:10 AM, Emergenza said:

njoy 2 get some first input here.

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Glad to see some more first timers, but damn that was an interesting first time comment :p

[Emergenza 6]

Shame on me! I'm using your site since I've started to play Hots (around 03/16) but it took me 'til today to sign up. All I've contributed before was just a comment in the Falstad section due to a talent which misses an adjustment after a patch.

I pledge for betterment of myself to become a helpful hand for your nice community instead of just 'soaking knowledge'. :)

[Valks 2,377]

  On 9/24/2016 at 3:11 PM, Emergenza said:

Shame on me! I'm using your site since I've started to play Hots (around 03/16) but it took me 'til today to sign up. All I've contributed before was just a comment in the Falstad section due to a talent which misses an adjustment after a patch.

I pledge for betterment of myself to become a helpful hand for your nice community instead of just 'soaking knowledge'. :)

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Glad to see you contributing now! Can't wait to see what else you can show off with :D

[Guest Tamerlein]

Shackler

Death's Reach

Any Level 7 talent

Skeletal Mages

Decrepify

Executioner

Mortal Wound

I have played a lot of this build recently, to good success. Works really well if your warrior doesn't have AoE CC, as you now become warrior-like, as long as you have a strong healer. Also good poke, and high damage at lvl 16.

[KendricSwissh 66]

Hey everyone! 

With the upcoming re-work, the Xul guide is going to receive a major update which should be uploaded by Tuesday/Wednesday. 

Hope you guys are looking forward to it! 

[Fliits 112]

I think there's a potent Spectral Scythe build that isn't listed here. 

Backlash/Shade at level 1

Reaper's Toll at level 4

Trag'oul's Essence at level 7

Poison Nova at level 10

Echoes of Death at level 13

Amplify Damage/Bone Spear at level 16

And Mortal Wound at level 20

I feel like the the synergies between the Spectral Scythe talents are too powerful to miss out. The build would be very situational, yes, but against healing heavy teams I feel like it could work.

[positiv2 953]

  On 7/12/2017 at 12:37 PM, Ilonpilaaja said:

I think there's a potent Spectral Scythe build that isn't listed here. 

Backlash/Shade at level 1

Reaper's Toll at level 4

Trag'oul's Essence at level 7

Poison Nova at level 10

Echoes of Death at level 13

Amplify Damage/Bone Spear at level 16

And Mortal Wound at level 20

I feel like the the synergies between the Spectral Scythe talents are too powerful to miss out. The build would be very situational, yes, but against healing heavy teams I feel like it could work.

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Spectral Scythe is unreliable, and taking a quest to hit 20 Heroes with it might not be a good idea, as it will take long time before it is completed, which means you have basically taken a talent that does nothing. Echoes of Death increase your AoE damage, but so does Rapid Harvest while not being so easy to avoid. This build could possibly work in lower leagues or quick match, where players are not able to respond quickly enough and get hit quite often by the scythe, but is unlikely to work at higher skill levels.

[Valhalen 1,484]

  On 7/12/2017 at 3:48 PM, positiv2 said:

Spectral Scythe is unreliable, and taking a quest to hit 20 Heroes with it might not be a good idea, as it will take long time before it is completed, which means you have basically taken a talent that does nothing. Echoes of Death increase your AoE damage, but so does Rapid Harvest while not being so easy to avoid. This build could possibly work in lower leagues or quick match, where players are not able to respond quickly enough and get hit quite often by the scythe, but is unlikely to work at higher skill levels.

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Well, I'd say that a Spectral Scythe build is situational, at the very least. Remember that quests with "Hit X Heroes" count even if you hit clones (Mirror Image and Holo Decoy), Misha (as she counts as a Hero), and summons (Dragon Knight and Garden Terror). And if you're fighting The Lost Vikings, it becomes even easier, in theory.

So technically, under these conditions, completing Reaper's Toll is doable (even more if the extra scythes from Echoes of Death counts towards this quest, but I'm not sure if it does).

Regarding @Ilonpilaaja's build, I'd just switch Poison Nova for Skeletal Mages, as slower heroes equals to higher chances of hitting Spectral Scythe. Maybe also switch Backlash for Shackler.

Edited July 13, 2017 by Valhalen

[positiv2 953]

  On 7/13/2017 at 7:37 PM, Valhalen said:

Well, I'd say that a Spectral Scythe build is situational, at the very least. Remember that quests with "Hit X Heroes" count even if you hit clones (Mirror Image and Holo Decoy), Misha (as she counts as a Hero), and summons (Dragon Knight and Garden Terror). And if you're fighting The Lost Vikings, it becomes even easier, in theory.

So technically, under these conditions, completing Reaper's Toll is doable (even more if the extra scythes from Echoes of Death counts towards this quest, but I'm not sure if it does).

Regarding @Ilonpilaaja's build, I'd just switch Poison Nova for Skeletal Mages, as slower heroes equals to higher chances of hitting Spectral Scythe. Maybe also switch Backlash for Shackler.

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Even if the quest is completed, the ability is still easy to evade. If the talent increased scythe speed, it would be good, but currently the ability is reliable only in lower skill brackets and against TLV (haven't thought of them before). 

While hitting clones does help with completing the quest, the aforementioned issue is still there. The ability can be used as a clone checking tool, but picking the Scythe build just for that is not good enough (maybe I just can't think of an example, though).

Maybe if the team is made of heroes with strong slows or stuns, the ability would be sufficiently easy to hit. In league or a big premade, different hero would be better. So, it seems that the build is very good when playing QM and ending up in a team full of CC heroes. Your changes seem to improve it, too.

[KendricSwissh 66]

Hey guys! 

After a bit of play testing and further research I found the Spectral Scythe talents to be situational, especially versus Double Support. As such, a third talent build will be uploaded soon! 

Thanks for your input! 

[ArtVandelay 24]

  On 7/16/2017 at 10:49 AM, KendricSwissh said:

Hey guys! 

After a bit of play testing and further research I found the Spectral Scythe talents to be situational, especially versus Double Support. As such, a third talent build will be uploaded soon! 

Thanks for your input! 

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I normally do the cursed strikes build.  It has fast wave clear, can clear camps really well, and against double tanks it can do a lot of damage in team fights.  I find the skeleton build to be not that great, especially when team fights often don't occur in lane (like Blackhearts bay, Battle of Eternity).  I have not tied the Q build, but my friend swears by it.  On what maps/situations would you actually pick it over W build?  If they are solo tank maybe it is better?

[Valhalen 1,484]

  On 9/18/2017 at 3:40 PM, ArtVandelay said:

I normally do the cursed strikes build.  It has fast wave clear, can clear camps really well, and against double tanks it can do a lot of damage in team fights.  I find the skeleton build to be not that great, especially when team fights often don't occur in lane (like Blackhearts bay, Battle of Eternity).  I have not tied the Q build, but my friend swears by it.  On what maps/situations would you actually pick it over W build?  If they are solo tank maybe it is better?

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I think that Cursed Strikes build works on maps where waveclear is not that important (Blackheart's Bay and Warhead Junction, for example) and/or when you have a strong frontline with lots of crowd control, so you can take the most of Rapid Harvest. But if you're facing a double healer team I'd say that the Spectral Scythe build is better, considering the other situations above. It depends.

This build is amazing if you have a Kel'Thuzad in your team (well, actually Xul himself has fantastic synergy with Kel'Thuzad).

Edited September 18, 2017 by Valhalen

[ArtVandelay 24]

  On 9/18/2017 at 3:56 PM, Valhalen said:

I think that Cursed Strikes build works on maps where waveclear is not that important (Blackheart's Bay and Warhead Junction, for example) and/or when you have a strong frontline with lots of crowd control, so you can take the most of Rapid Harvest. But if you're facing a double healer team I'd say that the Spectral Scythe build is better, considering the other situations above. It depends.

This build is amazing if you have a Kel'Thuzad in your team (well, actually Xul himself has fantastic synergy with Kel'Thuzad).

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I don't understand your first comment.  The cursed strike build has very fast waveclear.  Maybe not initially, but mid-late game Xul can basically wipe ANY size wave in seconds.  Like if you are playing Tomb of Spders, you can clear a double wave, and the Spiders/Queen in a matter of a few seconds easily.  It also allows you to easily solo camps as well.  I would say the only weakness is having to be in melee range in a team fight, but if you take the slow at level 1, and drop your heroic, you can easily hammer away at fleeing heroes and burst them down. 

I will give the Scythe build some testing, but I am winning over %80 of the time in Silver/Gold ranked right now going cursed strike build (and taking him probably %30 of all ranked games).  Maybe it would be a harder build in higher divisions where positioning is better though?

[Valhalen 1,484]

  On 9/20/2017 at 4:28 PM, ArtVandelay said:

I don't understand your first comment

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I'm sorry, I think I expressed myself poorly. It is because the Skeleton build is usually more useful in maps with lots of minions. But indeed, you are right, the Cursed Strikes build is a beast to clear waves.

As for the Scythe build, I see more value when you have a team with a lot of crowd control, so you can hit it more reliably. 

Edited September 20, 2017 by Valhalen

[Guest XeaKon]

In the description for Rapid Harvest it is stated that Grim Scythe is a level 1talent which is incorrect.

[Morcalivan 86]

Cursed Strikes are my favourite style for him, particularly against Butcher. The scythes work with bone prison or using yourself as bait to draw them in and then firing, but nothing beats someone diving on you only for you to turn it around on them with cursed strikes after 'trying to get away' while casting bone prison. Minions is a death wish I think. Anything that tries to force you to stick to a location in this game tends to get you killed faster than a more mobile playstyle. They look cool and fun, but, it's like Zagara and Abathur but without the global travels, easy to track, easier to kill. The zerg at least can get out of there fast. Gazlowe has that giant bomb stun to block pursuit, but Xul has to be within Bone Prison range to do so and even then it's only one target. He's more of an all in kinda guy. Makes it tough to know when to commit and when to just stay away, particular on Towers of Doom. You see those groups of enemies and think, man, I could cut them all down in seconds, then bam, you get flanked and die right before you get to finish them and you have no hope of escape. Probably should stick to draft games with him. :p