Xul Talents

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

Backlash is your standard choice, which requires you to stay close to nearby enemy Heroes in order to benefit from its effect. The damage will still be dealt even if the Shield is broken before running out. In most scenarios, it will have more value on melee Heroes who are easier to hit and tend to have higher maximum Health.

Shackler in a Cursed Strikes Build might refund Bone Armor's Cooldown several times in a fight. To do so, Xul has to be free to hit several attacks without any concerns in a fight. If this happens, you would probably win the combat with any other Talent, placing this Talent slightly behind the other two.

Shade comes with the drawback of increasing Bone Armor's cooldown by 10 seconds. However, the Basic Attack evasion is capable of absorbing more damage done to Xul than the original Shield of Bone Armor, especially against hard-hitting Assassins like Thrall or Greymane. Shade is the best Talent against more than one Hero heavily focused on Basic Attacks.

Since Spectral Scythe's damage cannot compare to the extra damage provided by the 2 Skeletons spawnwed by Jailors, Reaper's Toll is not recommended on any build.

Grim Scythe lays a solid foundation for a Cursed Strikes Build. Its cooldown reduction is vital to increasing the value of follow up Talents like Harvest Vitality at Level 7 and Rapid Harvest at Level 13, as it allows you to use Cursed Strikes with all of its self-healing and Attack Speed buffs.

Jailors's Quest reward can be completed quite easily if Xul rotates between multiple lanes in order to raise as many Skeletons as possible. It is a good Talent in a Bone Prison Build, since it will slightly increase your burst damage.

Harvest Vitality is vital in a Cursed Strikes build. It also works very well in other builds and should be the choice if Xul is having troubles facing the enemy laner, since you can ignore him due to the 70% self-Heal.

Trag'Oul's Essence provides almost no self-sustain in fights. The Mana provided is way too low and not necessary, since you do not need to use any Ability other than Cursed Strikes to clear the wave after Level 9. However, The small self-sustain provided by it is very good in small skirmishes that happen between you and the opposing Offlaner, being a good option if you do not need the other Talents.

Wall Of Bones is a really strong Talent against compositions with much burst damage in the form of Spell Damage. It should not be picked in a Cursed Strikes Build, since Harvest Vitality is necessary, but it is very impactful in the other builds, since it increases your survivability considerably.

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.

Poison Nova is a powerful area of effect damage over time Heroic Ability, which becomes particularly powerful if the enemy team lacks area of effect protection (healing, Shielding, or Armor). Furthermore, melee Heroes obviously have a harder time dodging the Poison Nova's projectiles, since Xul can reach them more easily than ranged Heroes. Consequently, it is crucial to analyse the enemy team composition before picking Poison Nova.

Skeletal Mages fulfills a different role than Poison Nova, since it is less about dealing damage and more about zoning. The wall of Skeletal Mages functions very similarly to Tassadar's Force Wall, it can either be used to prevent enemies from entering a specific area or it can be used to chase down retreating opponents.

Echoes of Death offers increased waveclear and area of effect damage, which will greatly enhance Xul's combat performance during team fights. This Talent also has good synergy with other Spectral Scythe-related Talents, aggregating to a Spectral Scythe Build.

Rapid Harvest's Attack Speed bonus causes you to gain more value from the cooldown and healing provided by Grim Scythe and Harvest Vitality. As such, we definitely recommend going for this Talent if you decided to commit to a Cursed Strikes Build.

Amplify Damage enables Xul and his teammates to focus and kill a single enemy Hero more efficiently by increasing all damage dealt by 25%. It is crucial in a Bone Prison Build, but can still be picked in all the other builds. Go for it if you have Heroes with high burst to kill the desired target while Rooted (such as Li-Ming).

Decrepify is a major improvement to a Spectral Scythe Build, since it will not only boost your engage and chase capabilities, but will also help at hitting the secondary Scythes from Echoes of Death. This Slow is reapplied by the summoned Skeletal Warriors from the scythe.

Weaken will give a Cursed Strikes Build much more survivability, considering that damage reduction will consequently make your Shield and healing better, since it will sustain more attacks. With this Talent, remember to use Cursed Strikes to protect your teammates as well. For example, it can be used on a Kael'thas while his Pyroblast is coming towards your teammates in order to reduce the damage.

Bone Spear comes with a very short cooldown, therefore, it will increase both Xul's burst and sustained damage. Bone Spear should be used when cleaning waves, since it will be up for fight and has no Mana cost. In fights, it is better to use it when a target is Rooted or Stunned, by either your Bone Prison or friendly crowd control.

Andariel's Visage adds a significant amount of self-heal and damage to Xul's kit. Poison Nova will heal from all targets hit, counting Structures, Minions, Heroes, Summons, or Monsters. Therefore it should be used trying to hit the most targets it can. The heal might make Xul almost immortal when paired with defensive Talents, such as Harvest Vitality and Weaken. This Talent is even better with a Cursed Strikes Build, considering it will allow you to be in the middle of the fight in order to deal damage.

Cold Hand of Death is a very underwhelming choice. Mostly the Slow increase in Frost Mages will not be necessary and the one created from Scythe is irrelevant in fights. Most of the time, this Talent will be overshadowed by Mortal Wound.

With Mortal Wound, Xul can turn many fights around by reducing the effectiveness of healing Abilities, like Ancestral Healing or Ray of Heaven, allowing his team to confirm the kill on a target. This Talent is excellent in a Spectral Scythe Build, considering it can reduce almost permanently the healing of every enemy Hero. Mortal Wound can be taken in any of the other Builds, since the Healing reduction will be impactful in every game against one or more Healers.

Kalan's Edict significantly lowers the cooldown of Xul's Heroic Abilities whenever a Skeleton deals damage with a Basic Attack, which unfortunately is a pretty underwhelming investment as you will already have your Heroic Abilities ready in all the late game fights with or without this Talent. To refund the Heroic Ability's cooldown completely in a fight, Skeletal Warriors have to hit enemies at least 50 times, which is extremely hard to happen.