Orphea Abilities and Strategy

• Each enemy Hero hit by Overflowing Chaos generates one Chaos, making area hits key to improving your survivability.
• Shadow Waltz may be tempting to use on-Cooldown, but using it to avoid dangerous skillshots is paramount.
• Shadow Waltz does not require Orphea to instantly dash after hitting an enemy, the dash can be used after a delay to avoid a skillshot or to wait for her next ability to be ready.
• Shadow Waltz's dash can be used to dodge certain player created walls, such as Leoric's Entomb or Tassadar's Force Wall.
• Chomp synergises naturally with Shadow Waltz; use the latter to dash to your intended target.
• Both Dread's initial wave and eruption can hit a given target, so it is better to aim slightly behind an immobilized or slowed target.
• Before having Dead Magic, it is better to not waste Orphea's empowered Basic Attack on an armored enemy, as it would greatly reduce her healing output.
• After reaching Level 20 with Crushing Jaws and picking Engulfing Oblivion, Orphea should not hesitate to use it on a tank enemy, as the -50 armor debuff is enough to burst anyone down.

Shadow Waltz (Q) Orphea

• Mana: 35
• Cooldown: 5 seconds

After 0.5 seconds, deal 165 (+4% per level) damage to enemies in a line.

Hitting a Hero with Shadow Waltz sets its cooldown to 2 seconds, refunds 35 Mana, and causes Orphea to dash a short distance upon moving.

Shadow Waltz is Orphea's most important Ability. Shadow Waltz's short Cooldown (2 seconds on Hero hits) gives it a high sustain damage output, especially when considering Overflowing Chaos. Shadow Waltz's cooldown, however, is significantly higher when failing to hit an enemy Hero (5 seconds). This makes accuracy and the ability to follow up on crowd control important skills for Orphea players to develop.

Shadow Waltz's name comes from the short dashing effect that follows a successful hit. This dashing effect can be triggered by right-clicking a point or unit, upon which Orphea will rapidly move a short distance towards the target. This effect can and should be used, as possible, to avoid enemy skillshots or otherwise reposition yourself offensively for Basic Attacks or Chomp. It should be noted that while Orphea can dash through units, she cannot dash through terrain and Structures. However, she can move through some walls generated by certain Heroes, such as Leoric's Entomb or Tassadar's Force Wall. Further, she cannot dash while under the effects of movement-preventing crowd control.

Since Shadow Waltz has a 0.5 seconds cast time, care is required so as to not miss one's intended target. In parallel, enemies are likely to try and avoid Shadow Waltz due to its importance to Orphea, making mindgames an important aspect of the Hero.

Although using Shadow Waltz on-Cooldown may be tempting, its utility in avoiding dangerous Abilities makes restrained use much more prudent under most circumstances.

Chomp (W) Orphea

• Mana: 60
• Cooldown: 10 seconds

After 0.625 seconds, deal 305 (+4% per level) damage to nearby enemies in front of Orphea.

Chomp is Orphea's highest damage Ability. Its very short range and relatively long cast time, however, make it difficult to use on its own. This is why it is generally preceded by an offensive Shadow Waltz's dash to close the gap between Orphea and the intended target. This combo is, in fact, the crux of Orphea's offensive playstyle, particularly when following up allied crowd control.

Chomp's area of effect is large enough to allow it to hit an entire Minion wave, although its short range makes retaliation easy for opponents. In fact, one should always be very mindful of their surroundings when using Chomp at any time.

Dread (E) Orphea

• Mana: 50
• Cooldown: 14 seconds

Release a wave of dread that deals 85 (+4% per level) damage to enemies hit. Dread erupts 0.75 seconds after reaching the end of its path, dealing 175 (+4% per level) damage. Enemies hit by Dread's wave or eruption are Slowed by 25% for 2 seconds.

Dread is Orphea's filler Ability. Its long range allows it to be lobbed at immobile enemy Heroes and Minions alike safely and to good effect. Since Dread's eruption effect has a short delay, it can be avoided by opponents. As such, you should see to aim slightly ahead so as to force them to take the hit or fall back and risk being hit by your other Abilities.

It should be noted that both Dread's initial wave and eruption can hit a given target, making it optimal to aim slightly behind immobile targets (such as those under the effects of crowd control) so as to ensure double hits.

Further, Dread's eruption's Slow effect can help with hitting Shadow Waltz and Chomp alike, as well as provide a limited means of self-peeling.

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.

Eternal Feast (R) Orphea

• Heroic
• Mana: 75
• Cooldown: 50 seconds

After 1.5 seconds, deal 210 (+4% per level) damage in an area. Eternal Feast repeats every 1 second as long as it hits an enemy Hero.

Eternal Feast is a large area of effect Ability designed specifically for area denial. In other words, its purpose is to force enemies away from a specific area of effect for fear that they may repeatedly trigger Eternal Feast.

Due to its long 1.5-second initial delay, hitting enemies with Eternal Feast without the help of crowd control is unlikely. Without allied crowd control to setup for it, Eternal Feast is generally used to break team fights apart or on important points of contention such as Objectives and Bosses.

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.

Crushing Jaws (R) Orphea

• Heroic
• Mana: 75
• Cooldown: 70 seconds

After 1.25 seconds, pull enemies in an area towards the center, dealing 250 (+4% per level) damage and Stunning them for 0.5 seconds.

Crushing Jaws is Orphea's main team fighting Ability and only true source of crowd control. Successful Crushing Jaws hits allow you to follow up with each of your other Abilities perfectly for significant amounts of damage. Your allies, too, may find Crushing Jaws' effects useful to secure their own hits. As such, you should aim to hit two or more Heroes, as possible. Beware, however, as Crushing Jaws has a delay of 1.25 seconds, making it easy to avoid for Heroes with a gap closer that is off-Cooldown. Crushing Jaws should certainly be used in conjunction with allied crowd control so as to prevent it from being avoided.

Crushing Jaws also opens up the possibility for Orphea to land solo kills against some of the squishier Heroes, assuming it is followed up with your other Abilities. Since Crushing Jaws has a relatively short cooldown, this should be done whenever possible if you think you can secure a kill.

Overflowing Chaos (D) Orphea

• Passive

Hitting an enemy Hero with a Basic Ability grants 1 Chaos. Chaos can stack up to 3 times.

While Orphea has Chaos, her Basic Attacks against Heroes consume all Chaos, dealing 50% increased damage per stack, and healing for 100% of the damage dealt.

Overflowing Chaos is Orphea's source of self sustain, and represents a good reason to use Basic Attacks as often as possible, unlike most casters. To maximise the use of Overflowing Chaos, one Basic Attack should be used against a Hero every time 3 stacks are reached, as further stacks provide no additional effect. Shadow Waltz can be used to help deal such Basic Attacks and generally quickly generate Overflowing Chaos stacks.

It should be noted that hitting multiple Heroes with a single Basic Ability cast does generate multiple Overflowing Chaos stacks, making area hits desirable to try and land.