Diablo Abilities and Strategy

• Sometimes it is better to use Shadow Charge on an enemy Minion and then cast Overpower on an enemy Hero, so they do not get pushed first.
• Fire Stomp can hit any given target up to five times in melee range. Cast it in the direction that is going to result in the highest amount of hits.
• Use Overpower right after Shadow Charge to move opponents towards your teammates, so that they can follow-up.
• Be careful right after reviving through Black Soulstone because you will not have 30% bonus maximum Health.
• In some rare situations it may be useful to cast Lightning Breath just to become Unstoppable for a moment.
• Cast Apocalypse, then use Shadow Charge, and then cast Overpower to put an enemy Hero on the rune that is below them.

Shadow Charge (Q) Diablo

• Mana: 65
• Cooldown: 12 seconds

Charge an enemy, knocking them back, dealing 40 (+4% per level) damage and gaining 15% Movement Speed for 2 seconds. If the enemy hits terrain, they are Stunned for 1 second and take an additional 130 (+4% per level) damage.

Shadow Charge is Diablo's main initiation Ability. Ideally, you should cast it when the target enemy Hero has impassable terrain behind them, so that they get Stunned in the process. When that is not possible, you should immediately follow-up with Overpower. Hold the Queue Command Modifier [Shift] while pressing [Q] to make this combo more consistent.

If you do not want to push the kill target too far from your teammates, you can use Shadow Charge on a nearby enemy (for example a Minion) to close the gap and then Overpower the enemy Hero you intend to kill. This trick is important to know as it can easily make the difference between killing an enemy Hero or missing an opportunity to do so.

Avoid using Shadow Charge when there are no allied Heroes nearby! You will waste an important cooldown and also end up being out-of-position. When you are in danger, Shadow Charge may also be used against a far-away hostile target (for example a Minion) to create some space between yourself and enemy Heroes. You can even use it to get out of Entomb by Leoric.

Shadow Charge can be used to interrupt stationary-channeled Abilities. If you want to reliably interrupt Mosh Pit, however, you have to cast Shadow Charge at its maximum range, otherwise you will be Stunned before reaching E.T.C..

As with most displacement effects, you must be mindful of not actually helping your opponents by accidentally moving them to safety, such as behind their own Gates, or out of friendly area of effect effects. At the same time, your teammates should pay attention to your cooldowns and be ready to follow-up at the right moment.

Fire Stomp (W) Diablo

• Mana: 35
• Cooldown: 8 seconds

Unleashes fire waves toward the targeted area that deal 12 (+4% per level) damage each. Once they reach maximum range they return, dealing an additional 36 (+4% per level) damage. Diablo heals for 130% of the damage dealt to Heroes.

Fire Stomp's main purpose is to provide Diablo with self-sustain and a bit of area of effect damage. Since it has a short cooldown, this Ability can be mostly used on-cooldown when needed to damage enemy Heroes, for waveclear, or when you need to heal yourself.

Since the projectiles generated by the Ability have a relatively long range, they can be used to scout bushes or try to reveal Stealthed Heroes, so that they can be targeted with Basic Attacks and point-and-click Abilities again. Similarly, before full-committing into a team fight, you can cast Fire Stomp from the distance to deal damage and get some healing.

One of Fire Stomp's intricacies lies in its cone shape, requiring good aim and correct timing when paired with other Basic Abilities. Each of the Ability's five projectiles can hit any single target, allowing you to quintuple its damage and healing by positioning properly. Due to the cone-like spread of the projectiles, achieving multiple hits is only possible against targets who are in melee range.

Maximising Fire Stomp's effect comes down to hitting as many targets as possible or, sometimes, hitting the same target multiple times. While fighting, you should aim it towards multiple enemy Heroes or towards a specific enemy Hero who is in melee range, with the help of Overpower.

Overpower (E) Diablo

• Mana: 35
• Cooldown: 12 seconds

Grabs the target and slams it behind Diablo, dealing 73 (+4% per level) damage and Stunning for 0.25 seconds.

Overpower is what makes Diablo so threatening in melee. Whenever you find yourself within melee range of an opponent, its use should become natural, so long as you have allies near you to capitalise on the displacement effect. An often overlooked aspect of the Ability is that it puts you in a perfect position to perform a body block. Otherwise, Overpower synergises so well with Shadow Charge that they are systematically used one right after the other.

Just as with Shadow Charge, when displacing enemy Heroes, be mindful of not actually helping your opponents by accidentally moving them to safety or away from your allies. Shadow Charge deals a dismal amount of damage and should almost exclusively be used if the effect is going to be useful, allow you to get several Basic Attacks off, or to interrupt a channeled Ability with its Stun component.

When defending allied Structures from enemy Heroes, Overpower can be used to slam one of them behind your own Gate. This is often enough to outright seal the fate of most Heroes. When defending allied Structures from enemy Mercenaries, Overpower can be used to pull one of them in range of your Structures. This trick is important to know when dealing with Fallen Shamans on Diablo-themed Maps (Battlefield of Eternity and Infernal Shrines) but also comes in handy when defending your Structures from Giants on Nexus-themed Maps.

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.

Apocalypse (R) Diablo

• Heroic
• Mana: 50
• Cooldown: 90 seconds

Create a demonic rune under each enemy Hero on the battleground. After 1.75 seconds the rune explodes dealing 137 (+4% per level) damage and Stunning them for 1.75 seconds.

Apocalypse's lengthy Stun effect, respectable damage, and large area of effect make it one of the strongest follow up crowd control Abilities in the game, however, since it has a long delay, it should only be used in combination with other crowd control effects.

The single-target combo relies on your Basic Abilities. You should cast Apocalypse while the desired target is in range for Shadow Charge, quickly cast Shadow Charge, and then immediately queue up Overpower by using the Queue Command Modifier [Shift].

The multiple target combo relies on your team's Heroic Abilities. You should cast Apocalypse when they cannot dodge it due to crowd control effects preventing their movements (for example Ley Line Seal by Medivh).

Apocalypse's runes do not spawn below Heroes removed from the battlefield by Stasis effects that affect enemy Heroes (for example Devouring Maw by Zagara).

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.

Lightning Breath (R) Diablo

• Heroic
• Mana: 80
• Cooldown: 90 seconds

After 0.5 seconds, become Unstoppable and Channel for up to 4 seconds, dealing 50 (+4% per level) damage every 0.25 seconds to enemies in front of Diablo. Enemies affected are Slowed by 4% for 2 seconds, up to 40%.

Lightning Breath's direction changes with your mouse cursor position.

Lightning Breath is one of the most damaging Abilities in the game, however, it has the downside of being a stationary channel, so Diablo has to stand still while using it and thus be vulnerable to damage. That said, it can be cancelled when you want to move away from danger.

All enemy Heroes hit will be affected by a stacking Slow effect, which makes it progressively harder for them to get out of Lightning Breath once it connects on them, unless they have mobility tools. There are also some Heroes who deal more damage to Slowed enemy Heroes (for example Fenix with Purification Salvo).

Despite being an area of effect, you should not hesitate to use Lightning Breath on a single target and get a kill, usually with the help of your team. The large area it covers will often result in other enemy Heroes being zoned or taking damage, especially when contesting a Capture Point.

Since you cannot move during Lightning Breath, you should ideally cast it when not having low Health. Also, to increase your survivability, before using Lightning Breath, you should use Fire Stomp to debuff enemy Heroes with Debilitating Flames at Level 16 and activate Soul Shield at Level 1.

Due to the fact that Diablo is Unstoppable during it, the only status effect that can counter Lightning Breath is Time Stop (notably Containment Disc by Maiev). When countered that way, Diablo will end up wasting his Heroic Ability as enemy Heroes will have a lot of time to move out-of-range.

In some rare occasions it may be useful to cast Lightning Breath just to become Unstoppable and then cancel it when it is no longer needed. This trick is important to know when playing against Chromie with Temporal Loop as Heroic Ability.

Black Soulstone (D) Diablo

• Passive

Repeatable Quest: Gain 10 Souls per Hero killed and 1 Soul per Minion, up to 100. For each Soul, gain 0.3% maximum Health. If Diablo has 100 Souls upon dying, he will resurrect in 5 seconds but lose 100 Souls.

After reaching level 10, Diablo only consumes 75 Souls when resurrecting.

Black Soulstone is a Trait which increases Diablo's maximum Health for each Souls collected. To collect Souls, Diablo has to be nearby enemy Minions when they die or to help his team to kill an enemy Hero. When dying with 100 Souls, Diablo will consume them all and respawn in the Hall of Storms after 5 seconds. After reaching Level 10, the amount of Souls consumed while respawning via Black Soulstone is reduced from 100 to 75, meaning you will start from 25 Souls instead.

Considering how Black Soulstone can heavily change the amount of maximum Health that Diablo has, you generally have to play less aggressively when having less than 50 Souls but can play more aggressively when having close to 100 Souls. This means that Diablo is weak at the start of the game and needs to farm Souls for a few minutes (up to Level 7) before becoming a threat. To do so, stay within 13 range from dying enemy Minions (vision has 12 range) or try to gank isolated enemy Heroes.

Avoid dying for no reason and thus wasting all your Souls because then you will have lower maximum Health for a while. When you respawn via Black Soulstone, you can use moments when your team does not really need your help to collect a bunch of Souls from Minions, but do not leave them without Tank for too long.

When your team wants to disengage and you have 100 Souls, it may be good for you to lure the attention of enemy Heroes away from allied Heroes, so that the enemy team cannot kill them. You will consume your Souls but your team will not be outnumbered during the next team fight. This move is particularly good right before an Objective phase or in the late game.