Arthas Talents

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

Death Coil Build

Recommended

Level 1 ?

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ? ? ?

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Arthas's Death Coil Build increases his self-sustain and poke damage, so that he is less vulnerable to poke damage and can trade better in team fights.

When casting Death Coil on enemy Heroes after picking Immortal Coil at Level 7, Arthas can heal himself and deal damage to the targeted enemy Hero at the same time. When self-casting it, Arthas gets extra healing from the same Talent.

Frozen Tempest Build

Advanced

Level 1 ?

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16 ?

Level 20 ? ? ?

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Arthas's Frozen Tempest Build allows him to cripple the enemy team's advance or retreat by further increasing the power of Howling Blast and Frozen Tempest.

The combination of Frozen Wastes at Level 4 and Remorseless Winter at Level 16 is particularly good to keep melee Heroes in check.

Frostmourne Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ? ? ?

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Arthas's Frostmourne Build increases his damage output in the late game, given you can get at least 20 stacks for Eternal Hunger at Level 1 during the game.

ARAM Build

ARAM

Level 1 ?

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ? ? ?

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Arthas's Death Coil Build increases his self-sustain and poke damage, so that he is less vulnerable to poke damage and can trade better in team fights.

When casting Death Coil on enemy Heroes after picking Immortal Coil at Level 7, Arthas can heal himself and deal damage to the targeted enemy Hero at the same time. When self-casting it, Arthas gets extra healing from the same Talent.

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Frost Presence (Level 1) Arthas

Quest: Root enemy Heroes with Howling Blast.

Reward: After Rooting 5 Heroes, Howling Blast's cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds.

Reward: After Rooting 10 Heroes, Howling Blast's range is increased by 20%.

Reward: After Rooting 20 Heroes, Howling Blast also Roots enemies in its path.

Frost Presence is a strong Talent that, once the Quest is completed, allows Arthas to Root enemies with Howling Blast on its path, rather than just at the target point.

After completing the Quest, remember to change your playstyle from aiming right on the enemy Hero to aiming slightly beyond them—not because the former will not work, but because the latter will give you more value as the Ability will cover a bigger area and sometimes even hit more enemies than usual.

If you are playing as main Tank for your team, you should prefer picking this Talent over the rest because the additional range helps you to engage and the additional area covered helps you to peel, unless you really need Rime to survive.

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Eternal Hunger (Level 1) Arthas

Quest: Use Frostmourne Hungers on an enemy Hero.

Reward: Increases the Mana it restores by 4, to a maximum of 40, and its damage by 4.

Eternal Hunger is a decent Talent that increases the damage done and Mana restored via Frostmourne Hungers. While the Mana bonus has a cap, the damage does not have a reachable limit.

Pick this Talent only if the enemy Offlaner will easily allow you to stack (for example Rexxar) and you do not need Rime.

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Rime (Level 1) Arthas

Every 5 seconds, gain 75 Physical Armor against the next enemy Hero Basic Attack, reducing the damage taken by 75%. Stores up to 3 charges.

Rime is a situational Talent that provides additional survivability when playing against Heroes with slow but heavy-hitting Basic Attacks (such as Leoric) and really bad when playing against Heroes with fast-hitting Basic Attacks (like D.Va).

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Deathlord (Level 4) Arthas

Increase the range of Death Coil by 30%, reduce its cooldown by 3 seconds, and if Death Coil is used on an enemy Hero, its Mana cost is refunded.

Deathlord is a good Talent that allows Arthas to poke enemy Heroes for free from the distance. In particular, this Talent removes the Mana cost of Death Coil when used on an enemy Hero, increases its range, and reduces its cooldown.

Pick this Talent to better handle a particular matchup in the offlane (for example to constantly poke Fenix so that Shield Capacitor cannot regenerate his Shield), or when planning to go Deathlord at Level 7 and Embrace Death at Level 16.

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Frozen Wastes (Level 4) Arthas

Frozen Tempest Mana cost reduced by 2 per second.

Quest: Damage enemy Heroes with Frozen Tempest.

Reward: After damaging enemy Heroes 150 times with Frozen Tempest, the Movement and Attack Speed Slows of Frozen Tempest last an extra 1.5 seconds against enemy Heroes.

Frozen Wastes is a good Talent that reduces the Mana cost of Frozen Tempest when picked and allows its effect to persist on enemy Heroes for a short while when the Quest gets completed.

Pick this Talent when playing against Heroes who have short range and rely on Basic Attacks, especially if they are able to get out from Frozen Tempest by using their mobility (such as Kerrigan with Ravage).

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Icy Talons (Level 4) Arthas

Gain 3% Attack Speed for 1.5 seconds every time a Hero is damaged by Frozen Tempest, to a maximum of 60%.

Icy Talons is a situational Talent that provides a powerful Attack Speed buff when fighting against Heroes who cannot get out of Frozen Tempest with ease (such as Artanis).

All that said, you should usually avoid picking this Talent because it is hard to get value from it in most scenarios, especially during team fights.

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Immortal Coil (Level 7) Arthas

Gain the healing effect of Death Coil even when used on enemies. If Death Coil is used on Arthas, it heals for an additional 50% bonus healing.

Immortal Coil is a good Talent that doubles the healing provided by Death Coil when used on enemies and increases its effectiveness when used on himself.

You should pick this Talent only when having Deathlord at Level 4 and planning to go Embrace Death at Level 16.

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Rune Tap (Level 7) Arthas

Every 3rd Basic Attack heals Arthas for 5% of his max Health.

Rune Tap is a decent Talent that slightly increases Arthas's survivability while dueling in the offlane by making every third Basic Attack heal him for a percentage of his maximum Health.

The healing via Basic Attacks has synergy with Frostmourne Hungers that resets the cooldown of your next Basic Attack and with Icy Talons that increases your Attack Speed.

The synergy with Icy Talons should not be a reason to skip the always useful Icebound Fortitude.

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Icebound Fortitude (Level 7) Arthas

• Cooldown: 35 seconds

Activate to gain 25 Armor, reducing damage taken by 25%, and reduce the duration of Stuns, Slows, and Roots against Arthas by 75% for 3 seconds.

Icebound Fortitude is a strong Talent that heavily increases Arthas's survivability against most crowd control effects and burst damage, something that is always a threat to Arthas during team fights.

Think twice before not taking this Talent because the lack of it will make Arthas way easier to kill for the enemy team. For this reason, you should always take it when playing as main Tank and almost always when as Offlaner.

In this section we discuss when and why to pick a given Heroic Ability. If you want to read how they work in detail and/or you are looking for some tips on how to use them, check them out on the Abilities and Strategy page.

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Army of the Dead (Level 10) Arthas

• Mana: 80
• Cooldown: 80 seconds

Summons Ghouls that last 15 seconds and atttack for 20 (+4% per level) damage. Sacrifice Ghouls to heal for 267 (+4% per level) Health.

Army of the Dead is a strong Heroic Ability that heavily increases Arthas's survivability in team fights.

Pick it in most if not all games, sometimes even against burst damage and/or healing reduction effects because it still helps before and/or after they hit you.

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Summon Sindragosa (Level 10) Arthas

• Mana: 100
• Cooldown: 100 seconds

Deals 230 (+4% per level) damage and Slows enemies by 60% for 4 seconds. Also disables Minions, Mercenaries, Monsters and Structures for 20 seconds.

Summon Sindragosa is a strong Heroic Ability that gives some damage and crowd control, something that allows Arthas to engage from the distance and eventually combo with other Heroic Abilities (for example Purification Salvo by Fenix).

Pick when you do not need the additional survivability provided by Army of the Dead and your team wants to play aggressively, especially if your team has a solid lead when reaching Level 10 and you can capitalize on it by getting an early Keep with the combination of a powerful Objective and the enemy Structures being disabled for enough time to take them down or get some kills and then push uncontested.

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Shattered Armor (Level 13) Arthas

Enemy Heroes hit by Howling Blast have their Armor reduced by 15 for 4 seconds.

Shattered Armor is a strong Talent that, by reducing the Armor of enemies Heroes hit by Howling Blast, indirectly increases the damage output of your team, especially if there is a Mage involved (for example Kael'thas).

While it has synergy with Frost Presence at Level 1, it is not a strong requirement and can therefore be picked without it as well.

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Biting Cold (Level 13) Arthas

Each second an enemy is damaged by Frozen Tempest, it deals 12.5% bonus damage, up to a 50% bonus.

Biting Cold is a good Talent that causes Frozen Tempest to deal significantly more damage over time, which is especially useful against targets that lack any form of mobility.

Pick this Talent when your team does not really need Shattered Armor because your team does not have enough burst damage to follow up and team fights are lasting long enough to get value from it.

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Frost Strike (Level 13) Arthas

Reduces Frostmourne Hungers' cooldown by 2 seconds. Frostmourne Hungers also Slows the enemy by 50% for 1.5 seconds.

Frost Strike is a weak Talent that adds a Slow effect to Frostmourne Hungers.

We do not recommend this Talent because, while the Slow provided may help you hold enemy Heroes within Frozen Tempest enough time to let it ramp up, you already have the Root from Howling Blast for doing so.

The synergy with other Trait-based Talents should not be a reason to skip the powerful Shattered Armor or Biting Cold.

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Embrace Death (Level 16) Arthas

Death Coil deals more damage and heals more the lower Arthas's current Health is, to a maximum of 100% bonus damage and healing.

Embrace Death is a good Talent that increases the effectiveness of Death Coil when Arthas has low Health.

Pick this Talent when there is a need of burst healing (for example against Greymane with Cursed Bullet), or when having Deathlord at Level 4 and Immortal Coil at Level 7.

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Remorseless Winter (Level 16) Arthas

Enemy Heroes that remain within Frozen Tempest for 3 seconds are Rooted for 1.25 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 10 seconds.

Remorseless Winter is a strong Talent that allows Arthas to Root enemy Heroes that stay too long inside Frozen Tempest, drastically increasing his crowd control capabilities against low-mobility Heroes (such as Cassia).

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Frostmourne Feeds (Level 16) Arthas

Increases the amount of Basic Attacks empowered by Frostmourne Hungers to 2.

Frostmourne Feeds is a decent Talent that increases your burst damage when using Frostmourne Hungers by providing a second charge of Frostmourne Hungers.

If you have a good amount of stacks on Eternal Hunger at Level 1 and you do not need the extra crowd control from Remorseless Winter or the extra healing from Embrace Death, then you may consider going for this Talent to basically double them.

When going for this Talent, it is important to use both charges of Frostmourne Hungers as soon as possible, otherwise it will not start cooling down. For doing so, you can use Basic Attacks on any enemy target, not only enemy Heroes.

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Legion of Northrend (Level 20) Arthas

3 additional Ghouls are created. Ghouls deal 50% more damage, heal for an additional 50%, and last 5 seconds longer.

Legion of Northrend is a good Talent that drastically increases Arthas's survivability by increasing the amount of healing, the duration, and the number of Ghouls coming from Army of the Dead.

Avoid picking this Talent when the enemy team has healing reduction effects (for example Mortal Wound by Xul).

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Absolute Zero (Level 20) Arthas

Sindragosa flies twice as far. Enemy Heroes are Rooted for 2.5 seconds, and then Slowed by 60% for 4 seconds.

Absolute Zero is a strong Talent that greatly increases the strength of Summon Sindragosa by adding a relatively long Root before the already powerful Slow effect.

Considering that Summon Sindragosa already has a high range, the additional distance covered is not that useful. That said, sometimes it may help you disable enemy Structures from the distance and/or catch enemy Heroes that want to avoid a team fight at all costs.

Avoid picking this Talent when you need the additional survivability provided by either Legion of Northrend or Anti-Magic Shell.

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Death's Advance (Level 20) Arthas

Increases Movement Speed by 10%. Frozen Tempest's maximum Movement Speed Slow and Attack Speed Slow increased from 40% to 60%.

Death's Advance is a strong Talent that slightly increases Arthas's Movement Speed, making up for his lack of mobility, and empowers both effects provided by Frozen Tempest, further reducing the Movement Speed and Attack Speed of enemy Heroes hit.

The combination of these effects allows you to chase and/or body block enemy Heroes, so pick this Talent when you want to play more aggressive and do not need defensive Talents from this Tier.

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Anti-Magic Shell (Level 20) Arthas

• Cooldown: 60 seconds

Activate to make Arthas immune to Spell Damage for 4 seconds and heal Arthas for 25% of the damage prevented.

Anti-Magic Shell is a situational Talent that allows Arthas to survive burst damage in the form of both Spell Damage and percent-based damage.

Activating this Talent allows to mitigate the huge amount of damage that notable Arthas's counter picks (for example Jaina) can deal to him.