Greymane Talents
Welcome to our Talents page for Greymane. Here, we give you an overview of how strong each of Greymane's talents is. Then, we present several viable builds, before analyzing each talent row separately, so that you can make informed decisions.
Greymane's Talent Build
Level | Choices |
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1 | ? ? ✓ |
4 | ? ✓ ? |
7 | ✓ ? ? |
10 | ✓ ✓ |
13 | ? ? ✓ |
16 | ? ✓ ? |
20 | ? ✘︎ ✓ ? |
Greymane's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Attack Build
RecommendedGreymane's Basic Attack Build revolves around improving his Basic Attacks and thus sustained damage output. Although it provides less waveclear and burst damage than its counterpart, it provides Greymane with more consistent sustain damage.
Lord of His Pack greatly increases Greymane's damage, and should be the pick in most games where you have any kind of crowd control. If you do not have many Abilities to trigger Lord of His Pack in your team, Alpha Killer is a great option for more power in teamfights, while Eager Wolf is better in the PvE.
Worgen Build
SituationalGreymane's Worgen Build, as the name suggests, is totally focused on dealing high damage as a Worgen. This build may not have the reliability provided by Quicksilver Bullets, but it has a much better kill potential and higher burst damage in melee form.
Considering this build has several Talents that require Greymane to play as Worgen in fights, it is much riskier to use. We do not recommend using this Build against Team Compositions with good single target damage and several crowd control tools to punish you. Otherwise, this build provides an excellent chase potential, dive capability, and a good way to dodge skillshots with Unfettered Assault.
Cocktail Build
SituationalGreymane's Cocktail Build focuses on dealing high damage to the opposing team's backline. Differently from Greymane's other builds, this one does not have a good early game, as it will only be useful after stacking Incendiary Elixir. However, once stacked, Greymane will start to deal massive damage in fights.
Gilnean Cocktail requires an enemy in front of a Hero to actually damage them. For this reason, we only recommend this build on maps with several Minions or Monsters where fights happen, such as Infernal Shrines or Tomb of the Spider Queen.
Level 1 Talents for Greymane
Increase the cooldown reduction from Basic Attacks during Inner Beast from 0.5 to 1.2 seconds.
Increases Gilnean Cocktail's range by 30% and refunds 45 Mana if it hits an enemy Hero.
Increases Inner Beast's duration to 4 seconds, and causes Ability damage to also refresh its duration.
Discussion
Wolfheart provides a significant increase to Inner Beast's potential uptime. This Talent's usefulness is more obvious in situations where you may need to repeatedly use the Ability, such as when claiming Mercenary Camps, roaming, or simply laning; it is never a poor choice. It is particularly useful in Battlefield of Eternity, because it will guarantee that Greymane will have Inner Beast after Immortals' first phase.
Perfect Aim is a good Talent when paired with Incendiary Elixir at Level 7. However, be aware that it should only be chosen on Infernal Shrines or Tomb of the Spider Queen.
Viciousness fulfills a purpose that is similar to Wolfheart. It is typically considered to be the weaker choice for extended fights, but may help you maintain Inner Beast's duration in skirmishing situations such as while laning.
Level 4 Talents for Greymane
Using Darkflight grants 50 Physical Armor against the next 2 Hero Basic Attacks while in Worgen Form, reducing the damage taken by 50%.
Disengage grants Stealth for 3 seconds.
Inner Beast causes Basic Attacks to restore 10 Mana, and reduce the cooldown of Healing Fountain by 0.5 seconds.
Discussion
Thick Skin provides a amall amount of survivability with limited uptime when you need it. Thick Skin is a good choice to improve your ability to trade against Basic Attack-reliant Heroes. However, since it only gives 2 Block charges, it is useless against fast attackers such as Tracer, D.Va, or Tychus.
Eyes in the Dark provides Greymane with a reliable escape mechanism that essentially makes him impossible to chase down for Heroes who do not possess area of effect Abilities, or do not currently have them off Cooldown.
Insatiable is Greymane's main choice for Mana management. By simply attacking, it shall replenish all wasted Mana. However, since Greymane's main damage source comes from Basic Attacks, he does not have frequent Mana issues. This Talent is only decent on Maps where you need to be constantly doing Mercenaries, such as Garden of Terror.
Level 7 Talents for Greymane
Increases Greymane's Human Basic Attack range by 1.1.
Quest: Reduce the cooldown of Gilnean Cocktail by 2 seconds. Every time Greymane hits an enemy Hero with the explosion damage from Gilnean Cocktail, increase its explosion damage by 25, up to 375.
Reward: After hitting 15 Heroes, the cooldown is reduced by an additional 3 seconds.
Quest: Every 6 Human Basic Attacks against Heroes increase Basic Attack damage by 1%, up to 30%. Worgen Basic Attacks grant credit for 3 Basic Attacks. Half of this bonus is lost upon death.
Discussion
Quicksilver Bullets is an excellent Talent, as it facilitates Greymane's kite, applies good pressure onto the enemy Tank, and allows for a much safer playstyle in fights. This is the standard Talent for this tier, but Wizened Duelist is also a great option if you can reliably fight in Worgen form.
Incendiary Elixir is like Gilnean Roulette: it is a good Talent, but should only be picked in Infernal Shrines or Tomb of the Spider Queen. After picking this Talent, it is important to focus all your playstyle around stacking it as soon as possible, as the reduced cooldown after completion is very impactful.
Wizened Duelist has the potential of providing an outstanding 30% increase to your Basic Attack damage. Daring players may find this Talent appealing, especially against team compositions with low single-target damage or little crowd control. Since this Talent takes too long to stack in Human form, it should only be picked if you can fight as a Worgen without dying.
Level 10 Talents for Greymane
- Mana: 90
- Cooldown: 80 seconds
Leap at an enemy Hero and shapeshift into a Worgen, slashing for 355 (+4% per level) damage. If this kills them, the Ability can be used a second time within 10 seconds for free.
- Mana: 50
- Cooldown: 30 seconds
Greymane shapeshifts into a Human and fires a bullet that hits the first enemy Hero in its path, dealing 35% of their current Health in damage.
Does not affect Vehicles.
Discussion
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.
Go for the Throat perfectly complements Greymane's playstyle by providing him with potent unavoidable burst damage. Go for the Throat is particularly effective when the reset clause allows you to snowball one kill into more damage.
Cursed Bullet gives Greymane a unique niche role: that of bursting down Tanks or otherwise very healthy Heroes, such as Azmodan. This is not to say, however, that Cursed Bullet should not be used against any other target; 35% damage is nothing to scoff at for most Heroes. In general, Cursed Bullet tends to be prefered over Go for the Throat when faced with team compositions that feature multiple crowd control effects and make it difficult for you to single out opponents.
Level 13 Talents for Greymane
Increases Darkflight and Disengage's range by 35%, and reduce their cooldowns by 1 second.
Increases Razor Swipe's lunge distance by 60%, and Worgen Basic Attacks reduce Razor Swipe's cooldown by 1.5 seconds.
Inner Beast increases Movement Speed by 30% once it has been active for 3 seconds.
Discussion
Running Wild provides you with some very effective engaging and disengaging utility, as it turns Darkflight and Disengage into some of the longest-ranged gap closers around. This Talent is effective when you are unable to deliver many Basic Attacks.
On the Prowl provides Greymane with a Movement Speed increase that is as reliable as it is potent, allowing you to keep up with or kite all but the most mobile of targets. This, in turn, increases your uptime potential and survivability. Proper Inner Beast management allows one to maintain this effect almost indefinitely.
Unfettered Assault fulfils a purpose that is similar to On the Prowl, although it does so differently. While the aforementioned Talent provides a steady boost to your mobility, Unfettered Assault does so in a bursty fashion, allowing you to use Razor Swipe to very reliably avoid dangerous area of effect Abilities and position yourself for nearly unavoidable body blocking maneuvers. Unfettered Assault is particularly useful against E.T.C., Jaina, and Kerrigan, amongst others, as they heavily rely on hitting you with specific Abilities to be effective. Furthermore, Unfettered Assault is the only Talent available at this tier to provide a direct damage output increase through the cooldown reduction clause, making it useful for claiming Mercenary Camps. It synergises particularly well with Wizened Duelist, Alpha Killer, and Tooth and Claw.
Level 16 Talents for Greymane
Increases the Attack Speed bonus of Inner Beast by an additional 40% after it has been active for 4 seconds.
Attacking a Hero that is Slowed, Rooted, or Stunned increases Greymane's Basic Attack damage by 25% for 3 seconds, increased to 50% while in Worgen Form.
Worgen Basic Attacks against Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 3% of the Hero's maximum Health.
Discussion
Eager Wolf provides a reliable increase to Greymane's main source of damage. It is particularly effective in PvE situations, where DPS greatly contributes to securing Objectives featuring a single big Monster and to taking down enemy Structures.
Lord of His Pack is an alternative to the other two Talents when one or several of your teammates can provide you with a reliable means of meeting the Talent's triggering condition. Heroes such as Arthas, Jaina, and Rehgar are particularly effective for this. In general, this Talent will always be better if it can be activated very often.
Alpha Killer allows you to punish Tank-heavy team compositions by providing a substantial damage increase against tougher Heroes. However, since this Talent is only active during Worgen form, it should not be picked if the enemy team can easily punish your dives.
Level 20 Talents for Greymane
Passive: Go For The Throat's damage is increased by 25%.
If Go for the Throat kills its target, refund its Mana cost and reset the cooldowns of Greymane's Abilities.
Cursed Bullet's damage is reduced to 30% of current health but its cooldown is reduced by 24 seconds.
Human Basic Attacks splash for 100% damage behind the target.
Worgen Basic Attacks cleave for 100% damage. Increase Razor Swipe's damage by 100%.
Discussion
Unleashed is mostly picked for the extra damage added to Go for the Throat, being a good option against very squishy Heroes.
Gilnean Roulette is an extremely underwhelming Talent when compared to Hunter's Blunderbuss and Tooth and Claw, which greatly increase Greymane's proficiency in fights by making his Basic Attacks cleave.
Hunter's Blunderbuss takes Greymane's poking potential to stratospheric levels. Combined with Gilnean Cocktail and related Talents, Hunter's Blunderbuss creates an immense amount of pressure by forcing opponents to spread out at all times. Blunderbuss is particularly potent in sieging scenarios, as the area of effect damage makes it very difficult to mount an effective defense. The waveclear potential provided by the Talent can not be overstated.
Tooth and Claw is Hunter's Blunderbuss's Worgen counterpart. While it is able to deal a significantly more damage than the former Talent, it is also much riskier, requiring you to spend an extended amount of time in melee range. However, if your Healers and Supports enable Greymane to go in during Worgen form, it will greatly increase his damage. It is important to note that it has great synergy with Unfettered Assault and Wizened Duelist.
Changelog
- 16 Dec. 2024: Updated Talents and Builds after recent balance patch.
- 09 Feb. 2022: Updated Talents and Builds after recent balance patch.
- 21 Oct. 2020: Updated Talents and Builds.
- 24 Sep. 2020: Talents and Builds updated to reflect current meta.
- 19 Jul. 2020: Talent builds and recommendations updated.
- 05 Apr. 2020: Updated description for Gilnean Roulette.
- 30 Jun. 2018: Updated Talents to account for the June 27 balance patch changes.
- 07 Feb. 2018: Updated Talents and Build to account for the Maiev's patch changes.
- 14 Jan. 2018: Updated Cocktail Party build.
- 26 Jun. 2017: Updated the amount of damage Cursed Bullet deals to 40%.
- 19 Feb. 2017: Added Cursed Bullet.
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Derenash has been playing Heroes of the Storm since 2015 and has achieved Grandmaster in multiple seasons, peaking at Top 1 in Season 3 and 4 of 2018. He participated in the HGC Copa America in 2018 where his team had a strong victory. He is passionate about teaching others about the game, and streams often on Twitch in Portuguese, and you can find him in Wind Striders' Discord as well where he is happy to answer any questions in English or Portuguese.
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