Ragnaros Abilities and Strategy

• Empower Sulfuras resets your Basic Attack, so use it immediately after a Basic Attack to maximize your damage output.
• Living Meteor works best against Heroes that are running in a specific direction, such as during chases or escapes.
• Blast Wave can be used on allied Heroes to help them disengage when in danger or even engage when appropriate.
• To hit enemy Heroes with its center, Sulfuras Smash should be used as a follow up to any crowd control effect.
• Generally speaking, Lava Wave should be used around x:22 or x:52 minutes to catch the Experience of enemy Minions that will spawn near the enemy Core as it gets there. You can find more details in our Lava Wave Timings guide.
• After losing a Boss or an Objective, Molten Core should not be used to absorb damage directed towards your Structures because it would decrease its duration, but to deal damage to the enemies before they can even hit you.

Empower Sulfuras (Q) Ragnaros

• Mana: 25
• Cooldown: 4 seconds

Ragnaros's next Basic Attack is instant, dealing 191 (+4% per level) Ability damage in an area, and heals for 20% of the damage dealt. Healing doubled versus Heroes.

Molten Core: Molten Swing

Stun and damage nearby enemies.

Empower Sulfuras is a Basic Ability that empowers Ragnaros's next Basic Attack so that it deals slightly more damage in the form of Spell Damage to your primary target and any enemy within 3.5 range from them. In addition to that, Empower Sulfuras will heal Ragnaros for 20% of the damage dealt to non-Heroes and 40% of the damage dealt to Heroes.

Remember that activating Empower Sulfuras will reset your Basic Attacks cooldown, so the best way to use it is to immediately activate it after a Basic Attack. Do not keep it active before starting the fight or you will not be able to use this trick. If you activated it by mistake, you can use your Basic Attack on anything nearby to make its cooldown start.

Considering how it works, Empower Sulfuras is crucial for Ragnaros's survivability during the laning phase. Use it on as many Minions as possible to maximize both its damage and healing output.

In some situations, you can exploit the splash range of Empower Sulfuras to hit targets that are outside of your Attack Range by hitting someone or something near them instead.

Living Meteor (W) Ragnaros

• Mana: 60
• Cooldown: 12 seconds

Summon a meteor at the target point that deals 68 (+4% per level) damage, then rolls in the target direction dealing 272 (+4% per level) damage per second for 1.75 seconds.

Molten Core: Meteor Shower

Drop a line of meteor impacts.

Living Meteor is a Basic Ability that deals damage to enemies hit while rolling on the ground in the chosen direction, in addition to a small amount of damage at the start.

What allows you to choose the direction of Living Meteor is the Vector Targeting system: after choosing its starting point by pressing and holding its key, you will be able to choose its direction by moving your mouse, and then cast it by releasing its key.

While it deals a fair amount of damage to stationary targets as well, Living Meteor counts on your enemies to move in the same direction you chose for it in order to deal high damage, something that is not always the case as they will actively try to avoid doing so.

In general, Living Meteor is suitable for a variety of tasks, ranging from waveclearing to sieging to poking. To maximize your waveclear, cast it in the same direction as Minions are heading to. While damaging Structures, cast it starting from their edge so that it will not overflow on the other side.

Blast Wave (E) Ragnaros

• Mana: 50
• Cooldown: 9 seconds

Ignite Ragnaros or an ally, granting 25% Movement Speed for 1.5 seconds before exploding dealing 104 (+4% per level) damage to nearby enemies.

Molten Core: Explosive Rune

Cause a delayed explosion in a large area.

Blast Wave is a Basic Ability that provides a good amount of Movement Speed to its target for a short time, then explodes and deals damage to any enemy around its target.

You can use it on Ragnaros, allied Heroes, or even allied Minions. When you want to target yourself, you can use the Self Cast Modifier [Alt] instead of mouse-hovering your Hero.

While it deals damage, often times you should use Blast Wave as a mobility tool for yourself or, if the situation demands, to help allied Heroes to engage or disengage.

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.

Sulfuras Smash (R) Ragnaros

• Heroic
• Mana: 70
• Cooldown: 60 seconds

Hurl Sulfuras at the target area, landing after 0.75 seconds, dealing 250 (+4% per level) damage. Enemies in the center take 594 (+4% per level) damage instead and are Stunned for 0.5 seconds.

Sulfuras Smash is a Heroic Ability that, after 0.75 seconds of delay, hits all enemies in its outer area with moderate damage and all enemies within its inner area with high damage and a short Stun. You can cast it from a very long range.

Even if it covers a wide area, Sulfuras Smash should mostly be used as a follow up to allied crowd control in order to increase your chances to hit a given Hero with its inner area and benefit from its bonuses described above. Thanks to its massive range, it will be easy to be in a good position to follow up allied engages without exposing yourself.

During Molten Core, you can chain your Abilities together in order to execute a powerful combo that will allow you to single-handedly take a chosen Hero, but some of them have too much Health for this combo to work. All you have to do is cast Molten Swing followed by Explosive Rune and Sulfuras Smash, so that the Stun will ensure that delayed Abilities will connect.

Keep in mind that Sulfuras Smash can also be used to interrupt channeled Abilities (such as Holy Word: Salvation by Anduin).

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.

Lava Wave (R) Ragnaros

• Heroic
• Mana: 80
• Cooldown: 120 seconds

Release a wave of lava from Ragnaros's Core that travels down the targeted lane, dealing 240 (+4% per level) damage per second to non-Structure enemies in its path and instantly killing enemy Minions. Damage increased by 100% versus Heroes.

Lava Wave is a Heroic Ability that releases a wave of lava traveling down a chosen lane, from the allied Core to the enemy Core, and dealing damage to enemies—doubled against Heroes, null on Structures, and instantly killing Minions.

Lava Wave progresses slowly within the targeted lane and shows up on the Minimap as an icon representing a flame, giving enemy Heroes a warning and enough time to leave the affected area. As a consequence, it is easy to use Lava Wave to hit enemy Heroes that are near your Keeps or right below your Core, but it is hard to hit them somewhere else.

The main way to use Lava Wave is to kill as many enemy Minions as possible, but this is only useful on medium-sized and big Battlegrounds. In order to do so, you have to accurately time the cast of Lava Wave. While the exact timing changes for every lane on each Battleground, generally speaking, Lava Wave should be used at exactly x:22 or x:52 Game Time to catch the Experience of enemy Minions that will spawn near the enemy Core as it gets there. You can find more details in our Lava Wave Timings guide.

When pushing with your team or during Molten Core, you can use Lava Wave as a zoning tool. Even if it will not hit enemy Heroes, the fact that they will have to disengage for a few seconds will give you and your team a small period of safety.

Due to its moving nature, Lava Wave deals more damage to foes that run directly away from it; however, there is enough space at the side of each lane where enemy Heroes can move to not get damaged by it.

Molten Core (D) Ragnaros

• Cooldown: 120 seconds

Channel on an allied or destroyed Fort or Keep to replace it with Ragnaros's ultimate form, temporarily gaining new Abilities, having 3996 (+4% per level) Health that burns away over 18 seconds.

Ragnaros returns to his normal form upon losing all Health in Molten Core.

Molten Core is a Trait that can only be used on allied Forts or Keeps that are still standing or on allied or enemy Forts or Keeps that have been destroyed. After a 2-seconds channel, Ragnaros will replace the targeted Fort or Keep with his dedicated Form and gain access to new Abilities: Molten Swing, Meteor Shower, and Explosive Rune. In addition to that, being in this Form will increase the range of Sulfuras Smash from 16 to 35, matching Explosive Rune.

The duration of Molten Core is based on damage taken and time. Right after transforming, Ragnaros will have 3996 Health decaying by 222 Health per second. As a consequence, the maximum duration possible for this Form is 18 seconds and every 222 damage taken will shorten its duration by 1 second.

Using Molten Core on destroyed enemy Forts and Keep can make it harder for the enemy team to defend their other Structures, but be careful when doing so. When Molten Core ends, instead of dying, Ragnaros respawns in the exact same spot where he was while casting Molten Core. Unless they managed to interrupt its cast in the first place, experienced enemy players will either retreat for 18 seconds or quickly burst you down during Molten Core and then try to kill you immediately after.

There are some Battlegrounds where it is possible to use Molten Core as a poke tool, to delay the enemy team from getting the Objective and/or even damage them while the rest of your team is fighting (such as Cursed Hollow).

To make up for its power, Molten Core will be on cooldown at the start of the game, until around 1:25 Game Time.

Molten Swing (Q) Ragnaros

• Cooldown: 6 seconds

Swing Sulfuras in a wide arc, dealing 161 (+4% per level) damage and Stunning enemies for 1 second.

Damage increased by 25% versus Minions, Mercenaries, and Monsters.

Molten Swing is a special Basic Ability usable only during Molten Core, instead of Empower Sulfuras.

When cast, it damages and Stuns all enemies in a wide arc, but with a relatively short range. The crowd control provided is particularly useful for setting up your other Abilities, especially Explosive Rune.

Meteor Shower (W) Ragnaros

• Cooldown: 2.5 seconds

Summon 3 meteors at the target point that fall in the target direction. Each meteor deals 151 (+4% per level) damage and slows enemies by 25% for 2 seconds.

Damage increased by 25% versus Minions, Mercenaries, and Monsters.

Meteor Shower is a special Basic Ability usable only during Molten Core, instead of Living Meteor.

Similarly to the Ability it replaces, Meteor Shower uses Vector Targeting. Thanks to that, it can hit enemy Heroes outside of the area covered by Molten Core that enemy players can see marked on the ground, something that can occasionally surprise enemy players.

Explosive Rune (E) Ragnaros

• Cooldown: 4 seconds

Create a rune that deals 285 (+4% per level) damage to non-Structure enemies after 1.5 seconds.

Damage increased by 25% versus Minions, Mercenaries, and Monsters.

Explosive Rune is a special Basic Ability usable only during Molten Core, instead of Blast Wave.

To make up for its delay, it is extremely important to use Explosive Rune as a follow up to crowd control effects, such as the Stun provided by Molten Swing and the Slow provided by Meteor Shower.