Varian Talents

Level	Choices
1	? ✓ ?
4	✓ ? ?
7	? ? ✓
10	? ✓
13	? ✓ ?
16	? ? ✓
20	? ? ? ✓ ?

Offensive Taunt Build

Recommended

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7 ?

Level 10

Level 13 ? ?

Level 16

Level 20

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Varian's Offensive Taunt Build turns him into a Tank who is capable of engaging and/or peeling for his team.

In particular, this variation of Taunt Build helps you burst down a given target with the help of Overpower at Level 1 and by denying defensive tools with either Mortal Strike or Shattering Throw at Level 13.

We recommend this Build when your team needs a Tank and your team's strategy consists of bursting down enemy Heroes.

Defensive Taunt Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7 ?

Level 10

Level 13 ? ?

Level 16

Level 20

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Varian's Defensive Taunt Built turns him into a Tank who is capable of engaging and/or peeling for his team.

In particular, this variation of Taunt Build gives you access to Shield Wall at Level 10 while avoiding anti-synergistic Talents, hence why we recommend High King's Quest at Level 1.

You can play this Build when your team needs a Tank, the enemy team can deal a huge amount of burst damage, and your team does not have enough tools to deal with that.

Colossus Smash Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13 ? ?

Level 16

Level 20

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Colossus Smash Build turns Varian into a highly explosive Melee Assassin, who excels at bursting down enemy priority targets using Colossus Smash to engage and exploit the Armor reduction effect to increase not only his own damage, but also the damage of the rest of his team.

You can play this Build only when your team does not need a Tank or an Offlaner because you will not be tanky enough to act as second frontline Hero.

Twin Blades Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13 ? ?

Level 16

Level 20

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Twin Blades Build turns Varian into a Bruiser thanks to the additional damage that Twin Blades of Fury provides.

Keep in mind that this Build is only viable when playing as Offlaner, and not when your team needs a Tank or a second Assassin.

ARAM Build

ARAM

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13 ? ?

Level 16

Level 20

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ARAM Build turns Varian into a Tank who is capable of engaging and/or peeling for his team.

In particular, this variation of Taunt Build helps you burst down a given target with the help of Overpower at Level 1 and by denying defensive tools with either Mortal Strike or Shattering Throw at Level 13.

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Lion's Maw (Level 1) Varian

Quest: Every time Lion's Fang hits a Hero, increase its damage by 7, up to 175.

Reward: After hitting 25 Heroes, the Slow is increased to 50% and its duration is increased to 2 seconds.

Lion's Maw is a good Quest-based Talent that provides a better Slow and additional damage to Lion's Fang upon being completed.

Pick this Talent when you want a better Slow in your kit, usually because you are not playing for burst damage as your team is not good enough for that approach.

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Overpower (Level 1) Varian

When Parry blocks a Hero's Basic Attack, Heroic Strike's cooldown is refreshed and the next one does 40% more damage.

Overpower is a strong Talent that adds burst damage. When playing against Heroes with high Attack Speed, you will get double the value from it because the trigger will happen twice per activation, if you can manage to Basic Attack an enemy Hero twice during Parry.

While it is hard but possible for the enemies to suddenly stop using Basic Attacks on Varian to avoid triggering this Talent, it is worth mentioning that Taunt will negate any counter-play besides crowd control that can stop you from casting Abilities.

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High King's Quest (Level 1) Varian

Quest: Hit 50 Heroes with Basic Attacks.

Quest: Participate in 5 Hero Takedowns.

Quest: Gather 15 Regeneration Globes.

Reward: Completing a Quest grants 10 Base Attack Damage. Completing all 3 Quests grants an additional 30 Base Attack Damage.

High King's Quest is a good Quest-based Talent that increase Varian's Basic Attack damage, something that is crucial when going for Twin Blades of Fury and works well when choosing Colossus Smash too.

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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Taunt (Level 4) Varian

• Mana: 20
• Cooldown: 16 seconds

Silence a target Hero and force them to attack Varian for 1.25 seconds.

Passive: Maximum Health and Health Regeneration increased by 40%.

Taunt is a strong Heroic Ability that turns Varian into a Tank who is capable of engaging and/or peeling for his team, while increasing his maximum Health at the same time. Choose this Heroic Ability when your team needs a Tank, but it can also be played as Offlaner.

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Colossus Smash (Level 4) Varian

• Mana: 40
• Cooldown: 20 seconds

Smash a target enemy, dealing 185 (+4% per level) damage and lowering their Armor by 25 for 3 seconds, causing them to take 25% increased damage.

Passive: Base Attack Damage increased by 100%.

Passive: Maximum Health and Health Regeneration reduced by 10%.

Colossus Smash is a good Heroic Ability that turns Varian into a highly explosive Melee Assassin, but it reduces his maximum Health.

Choose this Heroic Ability when a second Assassin is needed. The Armor reduction effect provided will drastically increase your team's damage output when correctly focusing the damage on the same target.

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Twin Blades of Fury (Level 4) Varian

Basic Attacks reduce Heroic Strike's cooldown by 9 seconds, and increase Varian's Movement Speed by 30% for 2 seconds.

Passive: Attack Speed increased by 100%.

Passive: Base Attack Damage reduced by 25%.

Twin Blades of Fury is a decent Heroic Ability that turns Varian into a Bruiser. Choose this Heroic Ability when an Offlaner is needed.

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Lionheart (Level 7) Varian

Increase Lion's Fang's healing from Heroes by 75%.

Lionheart is a good Talent which enhances Varian's self-healing if Lion's Fang hits enemy Heroes, without the need of getting personal as it can be done from the distance.

Being based on a skillshot with the possibility to hit multiple Heroes for extra value, this Talent works better against team compositions that feature multiple melee and/or low-mobility Heroes, since they are usually easier to hit.

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Second Wind (Level 7) Varian

Basic Attacks heal Varian for 1% of his maximum Health. While below 50% Health, they also heal him for 50% of the damage dealt.

Second Wind is a good Talent that unconditionally increases Varian's self-healing, especially if there are no Blinds or crowd control to prevent him from landing Basic Attacks.

Second Wind is obviously good when paired with Colossus Smash or Twin Blades of Fury. Due to the fact that Second Wind's second effect scales with Varian's maximum Health, it becomes quite strong if paired with Taunt too.

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Victory Rush (Level 7) Varian

Every 30 seconds, Varian's next Basic Attack will heal him for 350 (+4% per level) Health. When a nearby enemy Minion or Monster dies, the cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.

Victory Rush is a strong Talent that gives a burst of healing when you Basic Attack any target, however, it only works once every 30 seconds and its cooldown can be reduced by staying near dying Minions and Monsters.

While this Talent does not go off when you have full Health, its main downside is that it can end up overhealing you if you are almost full Health when it goes off.

Considering that it triggers more often if you have enemy Minions or Monsters nearby, this Talent is way better on Maps where team fights happen near them (such as Braxis Holdout, Dragon Shire, or Infernal Shrines).

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Shield Wall (Level 10) Varian

Parry grants Protected, preventing all incoming damage while active. Additionally, Parry's cooldown is reduced by 5 seconds, but it loses 1 charge.

Shield Wall is a good Talent that can make you Invulnerable, but this advantage comes at the cost of a Charge of Overpower. As a consequence, this Talent is not that good against Heroes who rely on Basic Attacks. Pick this Talent when playing against burst damage and you are scared of dying from it.

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Warbringer (Level 10) Varian

Reduce Charge's cooldown by 8 seconds and Mana cost from 45 to 22. Additionally, Charge can be cast on allied Heroes.

Warbringer is a strong Talent that lowers the cooldown on Charge by 8 seconds, a nice boost to both his chasing and peeling capabilities. In addition to that, you will also be able to use Charge on allied Heroes as a form of escape or just to reposition yourself during team fights.

The cooldown reduction provided by this Talent has good synergy with Juggernaut at Level 13, allowing you to deal more damage in prolonged team fights.

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Juggernaut (Level 13) Varian

Charge deals bonus damage to Heroes equal to 4% of their maximum Health.

Juggernaut is a good choice when your team wants to focus the enemy front line first and/or if the enemy team has several Heroes with high maximum Health (such as Stitches, Chen, and Azmodan). In case of prolonged team fights, this Talent has good synergy with Warbringer at Level 10.

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Mortal Strike (Level 13) Varian

Heroes hit by Heroic Strike receive 40% reduced healing for 4 seconds.

Mortal Strike is a strong Talent that reduces the healing received by enemy Heroes recently hit with Heroic Strike, which automatically goes off when you Basic Attack. Make sure it's not on cooldown when you need it.

We recommend this Talent against team compositions featuring 2 Healers or when you want to counter some Heroes with self-healing capabilities (such as Arthas), but not against solo Healers with limited healing (notably Lúcio).

If you decided to go for a Taunt Build featuring Taunt at Level 4 and Overpower at Level 1, you can guarantee an application of Mortal Strike after successfully Taunting an enemy Hero and Parrying the following Basic Attack even if Heroic Strike is on cooldown when you engage.

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Shattering Throw (Level 13) Varian

• Cooldown: 30 seconds

Activate to throw a sword at a target Hero that deals 50 (+4% per level) damage, and up to 1400 (+4% per level) bonus damage to their Shields.

Passive: Basic Attacks against Heroes deal up to 200% bonus Physical Damage to Shields.

Shattering Throw is a very powerful but situational Talent that can be used to hard counter Shields (for example it can be used to completely deny Sound Barrier by Lúcio on the target that you and your team intend to focus).

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Banner of Stormwind (Level 16) Varian

• Cooldown: 25 seconds

Activate to place a Banner that grants 25% increased Movement Speed to nearby allied Heroes. Lasts 12 seconds.

Banner of Stormwind is a situational Talent that can be used to give your whole team Movement Speed in a given area, allowing Varian and allied Heroes to reposition, chase, or escape.

The short cooldown allows you to use it with more freedom, especially when combined with Glory to the Alliance at Level 20.

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Banner of Ironforge (Level 16) Varian

• Cooldown: 45 seconds

Activate to place a Banner that grants 20 Armor to nearby allied Heroes, reducing damage taken by 20%. Lasts 12 seconds.

Banner of Ironforge is a situational Talent that provides Armor to Varian and nearby allied Heroes, decreasing the amount of damage they take from all sources.

Due to its long cooldown compared to the alternatives, only pick it when the enemy team is capable of one-shotting an allied Hero with huge burst damage and your team composition does not have the tools to handle that.

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Banner of Dalaran (Level 16) Varian

• Cooldown: 25 seconds

Activate to place a Banner that grants 20% increased Spell Power to nearby allied Heroes. Lasts 12 seconds.

Banner of Dalaran is a strong Talent that increases the damage and healing done by allied Heroes nearby, useful for either quick team fights or drawn-out battles.

The short cooldown allows you to use it with more freedom, especially when combined with Glory to the Alliance at Level 20.

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Vigilance (Level 20) Varian

Being hit by a Hero Basic Attack reduces the cooldown of Taunt by 1 second.

Vigilance is a situational Talent that works only when facing Heroes with high Attack Speed (such as Tychus) because it allows you to use cast your Heroic Ability twice in quick succession and snowball the team fight from there.

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Master at Arms (Level 20) Varian

Colossus Smash affects all enemies near the target, and its cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.

Master at Arms is a decent Talent to boost the area of effect burst damage of your team. The cooldown reduction is good when you want to pick isolated targets with the help of your team, but it is not the reason why you pick this Talent because a late game team fight where your team focuses on burst damage will not last that much anyways.

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Frenzy (Level 20) Varian

Twin Blades of Fury increases Heroic Strike damage by an additional 25%, and Basic Attacks increase his Movement Speed by an additional 10%.

Frenzy is a decent Talent to increase your own damage, and it also increases your Movement Speed by a small amount.

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Glory to the Alliance (Level 20) Varian

Banner now also increases health regeneration and all healing received for nearby allied Heroes by 50%, and the cooldown is reduced by 50%.

Glory to the Alliance is a strong Talent because it provides both increased healing to the whole team and cooldown reduction on any Level 16 Talent.

Together with the healing reduction from Mortal Strike at Level 13, the extra healing provided by this Talent makes Varian great against team compositions featuring 2 Healers.

If paired with Banner of Dalaran or Banner of Stormwind that have only 25 seconds of cooldown, you can basically spam it every 12 seconds, even if just for checking a bush after another—a trap by the enemy team in the late game can have a devastating outcome.

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Demoralizing Shout (Level 20) Varian

• Cooldown: 20 seconds

Activate to demoralize nearby enemy Heroes, reducing damage they deal by 40% for 5 seconds.

Demoralizing Shout is a situational Talent to use as counter against team compositions that focus a lot on burst damage from short distance.

Being able to debuff several Heroes at the same time allows Varian to protect not only himself but also nearby allied Heroes who might be in danger. Do not hesitate to use Demoralizing Shout on a single Hero when needed.