Mal'Ganis Abilities and Strategy

• Since his engage tools have a limited range, it is better to flank enemy Heroes.
• Using Night Rush immediately after the third activation of Fel Claws will make it hard for the focused enemy Hero to react between the Stun and the Sleep.
• It is advised to crowd control nearby enemy Heroes before using your Heroic Ability, so that they cannot interrupt it.
• Sometimes it is useful not to use Fel Claws three times in quick succession to keep its Stun ready, to use the next activation for mobility, or to maximize your damage output by using Basic Attacks in between.

Fel Claws (Q) Mal'Ganis

• Mana: 45
• Cooldown: 8 seconds

Violently slash in the chosen direction, dealing 66 (+4% per level) damage to enemies.

Reactivate to slash up to 2 more times. The third slash Stuns enemies for 0.75 seconds.

Fel Claws is Mal'Ganis's primary tool for engaging or peeling. It consists of an area of effect swipe that affects all enemies caught within its path. The unique aspect of this Ability is that it can be activated three times per cooldown. Even if you cannot immediately see the cooldown ticking, you should know that it starts counting as soon as you cast it for the first of the three times available. Remember that you have only 3 seconds to cast your free activations before you lose the chance to do so—enough time to use up to two Basic Attacks, but not three. The third activation will also Stun all enemies hit. Although you can do a good amout of damage this way, always keep an eye on your team because they might need your help!

Necrotic Embrace (W) Mal'Ganis

• Mana: 35
• Cooldown: 8 seconds

Desecrate the air, dealing 110 (+4% per level) damage to nearby enemies and gaining 25 Armor for 3 seconds.

While it should mostly be used to help him to stay alive longer during team fights, Necrotic Embrace also gives Mal'Ganis a fair amout of burst damage when he really needs to finish off an enemy Hero. In order to get the most value from this Ability, try to use it when you expect crowd control and/or burst damage to hit you really soon.

Night Rush (E) Mal'Ganis

• Mana: 70
• Cooldown: 14 seconds

After 0.75 seconds, gain 50% Movement Speed for 2 seconds. While active, Mal'Ganis can move through enemy Heroes and put them to Sleep for 2.5 seconds.

After a short cast time, Night Rush grants Mal'Ganis a nice boost in Movement Speed. Any enemy Hero getting in contact with him during the effect will be put to Sleep for a few seconds. Remember that it also makes Mal'Ganis immune to collision with Heroes for the duration. If you want to pass through enemy Heroes, use it. If you want to body block an enemy Hero, then you have to cancel it by pressing the same key again.

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.

Carrion Swarm (R) Mal'Ganis

• Heroic
• Mana: 70
• Cooldown: 100 seconds

After 1 second, disperse into an Invulnerable swarm of bats for 3 seconds, dealing 120 (+4% per level) damage per second to enemies.

Vampiric Touch heals for 75% of Carrion Swarm's damage to Heroes.

Carrion Swarm can deal moderate damage to several enemy Heroes while also healing Mal'Ganis a sizable amount, however, it is mostly used as a great source of survivability and escape, especially after getting quickly burst down after engaging. Keep in mind that we are talking about a mobile channeled Ability that requires a short cast time, therefore it can easily be interrupted by a careful enemy player using Stun or Silence effects, but not knockback effects. If it happens to be interrupted, Mal'Ganis will have a very difficult time to survive. For the same reason, it is highly advised not to engage or play aggressively when it is on cooldown.

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.

Dark Conversion (R) Mal'Ganis

• Heroic
• Mana: 60
• Cooldown: 60 seconds

Channel on an enemy Hero for 0.75 seconds, then swap Health percentages with the target over 3 seconds.

Dark Conversion is a unique Heroic Ability that requires quite a bit of finesse to effectively pull off. After a short cast time, it causes Mal'Ganis to swap Health percentages with the target Hero. Remember to make sure that the Health percentage of the enemy Hero is higher than Mal'Ganis's Health percentage, else it will end up healing the enemy Hero instead of dealing damage to it and damaging Mal'Ganis instead of healing him. Due to how it works, it deals more damage on Heroes that have high maximum Health (such as Stitches), however, it is not considered percent-based damage, therefore it can be affected by damage modifers. A well-timed interrupt will deny its cast and put it on a 10-second cooldown.

Vampiric Touch (D) Mal'Ganis

• Passive

Mal'Ganis heals for 45% of damage dealt to enemy Heroes and 10% of damage dealt to non-Heroes.

While not being Mal'Ganis's strongest surviving tool when in trouble, Vampiric Touch is his primary source of survivability while fighting in close range. The low but consistent self-healing it provides is something that the enemy team should not overlook because it easily adds up. Although the healing is way higher when damaging Heroes, it is good to know that it works when hitting non-Heroes as well.