Leoric Talents

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Basic Attacks Build

Recommended

Level 1 ? ?

Level 4 ?

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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Leoric's Basic Attacks Build is particularly good to increase your damage output in a reliable way, without the risk of losing too much value when the enemy Heroes dodge or disconnect Drain Hope.

Spectral Leech at Level 13 and Mithril Mace at Level 16 combined together will empower your Basic Attacks, especially against Heroes with high maximum Health who do not have Armor (such as Azmodan). Drain Momentum at Level 7 helps you stick on enemy Heroes.

Wraith Walk Build

Advanced

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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Leoric's Wraith Walk Build provides a powerful and unique playstyle that, once you reach the late game, allows Leoric to severely cripple the combat performance of any Heroes coming in touch with Wraith Walk.

Ominous Wraith at Level 13 drastically reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes for a few seconds, and it can be applied over and over again with the help of Royal Focus at Level 16. Hopelessness at Level 7 helps you keep Drain Hope active during Wraith Walk.

Drain Hope Build

Situational

Level 1 ? ?

Level 4 ?

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ?

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Leoric's Drain Hope Build is extremely effective against low-mobility Heroes with high maximum Health (such as Arthas).

Unyielding Despair at Level 13 reduces the cooldown of Drain Hope, Crushing Hope at Level 16 increases its damage when lasting its full duration, and Hopelessness at Level 7 helping you with that.

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Consume Vitality (Level 1) Leoric

Skeletal Swing's cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds. Enemy Heroes hit heal Leoric for 4% of his maximum Health.

Consume Vitality is a good Talent that makes Skeletal Swing heal Leoric for each enemy Hero hit, something that works well in long team fights but it is not that interesting while laning, although it can be useful against some Heroes. Consume Vitality slightly benefits from Ghastly Reach at Level 4.

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Fealty Unto Death (Level 1) Leoric

When a nearby friendly or enemy Minion dies, Leoric restores 1.25% of his maximum Health and 6 Mana.

Fealty Unto Death is a good Talent that allows Leoric to regenerate both Health and Mana whenever a nearby allied or enemy Minion dies. Pick this Talent when you will not really need the alternatives during team fights and you want to empower your self-sustain while in lane.

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Ossein Renewal (Level 1) Leoric

• Cooldown: 120 seconds

Activate to heal Leoric for 30% of his maximum Health over 5 seconds. Regeneration Globes lower the cooldown of this Ability by 20 seconds.

Ossein Renewal is a strong Talent that increases Leoric's survivability during relatively short team fights while also boosting Leoric's self-sustain tool in the solo lane.

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Ghastly Reach (Level 4) Leoric

Increase the range of Skeletal Swing by 25%.

Ghastly Reach is a good Talent that slightly increases the area covered by Skeletal Swing, making it easier to hit multiple enemy Heroes with it.

We find this Talent quite useful when going for Consume Vitality at Level 1 and/or Royal Focus at Level 16 because they give more value when hitting multiple enemy Heroes with Skeletal Swing.

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Paralyzing Rage (Level 4) Leoric

Increase the Slow of Skeletal Swing by 20%.

Paralyzing Rage is a strong Talent that increases the Slow provided by Skeletal Swing, which can be good either offensively or defensively.

In general, we strongly recommend this Talent because it helps you with Drain Hope and Basic Attacks. If your team does not have a main Tank, you have to pick this Talent to make up for that as it allows you to engage or peel decently.

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Kneel, Peasants! (Level 4) Leoric

Skeletal Swing deals 75% additional damage to Mercenaries and Monsters, and hitting them activates Skeletal Swing's cost and cooldown refund.

Kneel, Peasants! is a situational Talent that increases the damage done by Skeletal Swing to Mercenaries and Monsters.

Although this Talent makes you faster at clearing enemy Mercenaries in lane and/or at capturing Mercenary Camps on Maps with many of them (such as Garden of Terror), we only recommend it on Infernal Shrines because the cooldown reset from Monsters helps securing the Objective and can also provide value during team fights.

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Willing Vessel (Level 7) Leoric

Increase the healing from Drain Hope to 25% of Leoric's maximum Health. If Drain Hope lasts its full duration, Leoric instantly heals for an additional 5% of his maximum Health.

Willing Vessel is a situational Talent that increases the healing provided by Drain Hope, especially if it lasts for its full duration. Pick this Talent only if you desperately need the additional healing it provides and you are confident that Drain Hope will not be disconnected before its end. Do not pick this Talent against healing reduction effects.

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Drain Momentum (Level 7) Leoric

Drain Hope no longer reduces Leoric's Movement Speed. If Drain Hope lasts its full duration, gain 30% Movement Speed for 4 seconds.

Drain Momentum is a strong Talent that offers a significant Movement Speed bonus for a few seconds, which not only allows you to both chase and escape from enemy Heroes much more efficiently, but also helps you stick to the enemy Hero targeted by your Drain Hope, damaging and healing for more as a result. Drain Momentum indirectly helps Talents that require Drain Hope to last for its full duration.

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Hopelessness (Level 7) Leoric

Increase the range of Drain Hope by 25%.

Hopelessness is a good Talent that increases the range of Drain Hope, decreasing the chance that the targeted enemy Hero will disconnect from it too early. Pick this Talent if you need the additional range it provides. Hopelessness directly helps Talents who require Drain Hope to last for its full duration.

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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Entomb (Level 10) Leoric

• Mana: 90
• Cooldown: 50 seconds

Create an unpassable tomb for 4 seconds.

Entomb is a strong Heroic Ability that gives you access to otherwise weak crowd control, a strong tool to swing the battle in your favor, especially if your team has decent burst damage as a follow up (for example Jaina).

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March of the Black King (Level 10) Leoric

• Mana: 75
• Cooldown: 50 seconds

Leoric becomes Unstoppable and walks forward, swinging his mace 3 times. Enemies hit take 250 (+4% per level) damage, and Heroes hit heal Leoric for 12% of his maximum Health.

March of the Black King is a situational Heroic Ability that increases Leoric's survivability and damage, other than making him Unstoppable for the duration. You may need this Heroic Ability when your team does not have enough burst damage as follow-up for Entomb, when you desperately need to increase the damage output of your team, or when you feel the urgency of extra healing to keep yourself in a good shape during prolonged team fights.

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Unyielding Despair (Level 13) Leoric

Drain Hope's cooldown is reduced by 0.75 seconds for every 1 second it is active. If Drain Hope lasts its full duration, its cooldown is reduced by an additional 2 seconds.

Unyielding Despair is a good Talent that allows Leoric to use Drain Hope more often, especially if the target enemy Hero does not break the connection too early. Unyielding Despair requires either Drain Momentum or Hopelessness at Level 7, Talents that help with the aforementioned weakness.

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Ominous Wraith (Level 13) Leoric

Increase Wraith Walk's duration by 100%. Enemy Heroes that come in contact with the wraith deal 50% less damage for 4 seconds.

Ominous Wraith is a good Talent that makes Wraith Walk reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes hit by its trail, especially useful on Heroes that can deal a lot of damage. Remember that damage reduction effects work on Unstoppable enemy Heroes as well (for example Deathwing). When going for Ominous Wraith, pick Royal Focus at Level 16 for the cooldown reduction.

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Spectral Leech (Level 13) Leoric

Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 2.5% of the Hero's maximum Health and heal Leoric for twice that amount.

Spectral Leech is a strong Talent that empowers Leoric's Basic Attacks with a leech effect. In particular, Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes will deal percent-based damage and heal Leoric for twice that amount. Spectral Leech has good synergy with Mithril Mace at Level 16, unless you want Crushing Hope at the same Tier to increase your burst damage.

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Crushing Hope (Level 16) Leoric

If Drain Hope lasts its full duration, it instantly deals an additional 15% of the target's maximum Health as damage. This damage does not heal Leoric.

Crushing Hope is a good Talent that increases Leoric's percent-based damage even more, something that may be useful against enemy Heroes having high maximum Health and no mobility at all (such as Azmodan). Crushing Hope requires either Drain Momentum or Hopelessness at Level 7, else the enemy Hero will just get out of range before Drain Hope ends and this Talent will not trigger.

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Royal Focus (Level 16) Leoric

Wraith Walk increases the damage of the next Skeletal Swing within 5 seconds by 50%. Each enemy Hero hit by this Skeletal Swing reduces the cooldown of Wraith Walk by 7 seconds.

Royal Focus is a good Talent that increases Leoric's damage by a fair amount and reduces the cooldown of Wraith Walk by 7 seconds for each enemy Hero hit by Skeletal Swing, a powerful boost to Ominous Wraith at Level 13.

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Mithril Mace (Level 16) Leoric

Increase Leoric's Attack Speed by 20%.

Repeatable Quest: Nearby enemy Minion deaths grant 0.3% permanent Attack Speed, and Takedowns grant 3% permanent Attack Speed, up to 30%.

Mithril Mace is a strong Quest-based Talent that increases Leoric's Attack Speed by 20% when picked, up to 50% after killing enough Minions and/or Heroes. Mithril Mace has good synergy with Spectral Leech at Level 13: the increased percent-based damage and self-healing can cause severe issues for enemy Heroes with high maximum Health (for example Stitches).

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Buried Alive (Level 20) Leoric

The duration of Entomb is lowered by 1 second, but enemies trapped inside are Silenced and take 50 (+4% per level) damage every 1 second.

Buried Alive is a strong Talent that turns Entomb into an even more scary engage tool thanks to the Silence effect it provides to the already impactful unpassable terrain. Consequently, it is an excellent choice against Heroes with mobility or defensive Abilities because they are completely defenseless when caught by Entomb. The additional damage is nice to have, but this Talent is already powerful without it.

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Death March (Level 20) Leoric

The final swing of March of the Black King also applies Drain Hope to nearby enemy Heroes.

Death March is a good Talent that makes the last swing of March of the Black King apply Drain Hope to all nearby enemy Heroes. Keep in mind that any instance of Drain Hope applied by Death March will be empowered by Talents as well.

Assuming you do not need Buried Alive, you should prefer going for Burning Despair over Death March because it gives similar damage but constant Armor rather than delayed healing and it works even when your Heroic Ability is on cooldown.

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Burning Despair (Level 20) Leoric

Deal 40 (+4% per level) damage per second to nearby enemies.

While Drain Hope is active, gain 40 Armor and the damage and area is increased by 100%.

Burning Despair is a strong Talent that offers a significant amount of extra damage and survivability. While it passively deals damage around Leoric, the damage and the area covered are doubled while Drain Hope is active on an enemy Hero.

The survivability boost only comes when Drain Hope is being channeled, in the form of bonus Armor, which you will be able to keep constantly active thanks to Unyielding Despair at Level 13.

Burning Despair has good synergy with either Drain Momentum or Hopelessness at Level 7 because they help Leoric to keep the enemy Hero affected by Drain Hope in range for more time.

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Shroud of the Dead King (Level 20) Leoric

• Cooldown: 25 seconds

Activate to become Protected for 3 seconds, preventing all damage.

Shroud of the Dead King is a decent Talent that, when manually activated, makes Leoric unkillable for 3 seconds, a powerful tool against burst damage. All that said, you should rarely pick this Talent because the alternatives will be more valuable most if not all the time.