by Hotstreak - 10 years ago     show comments

Hello everyone and welcome to this weeks Storm Watch where we will be going over the quick assassin Illidan Stormrage. Illidan has very good mobility and aims to get in, down his opponent fast, and get out while applying his passive to further increase his effectiveness. Illidan also relies heavily on Mark of Azzinoth to be able to use the rest of his skills to their fullest potential.

Back Story

Illidan Stormrage. The Betrayer.

Born during the height of Night Elf civilization, Illidan hungered for many things: to be the equal of his twin brother, Malfurion; to hold close the one woman he loved, Tyrande; but most of all, Illidan hungered for power. His potential was so great that the Dark Titan Sargeras himself burned out Illidan’s eyes and gifted him the ability to see all forms of magic, knowing he would be a powerful servant. But Illidan, having already betrayed his family, then betrayed the Legion that had empowered him, and his actions led to the destruction of the Well of Eternity and the sundering of the world, defeating the Burning Legion’s advance.

Imprisoned for his actions, Illidan brooded on all that had been taken from him, and everything he had sacrificed for his people. When Tyrande released him to fight against another invasion from the Legion during the Third War, he earnestly sought to prove that his intentions were pure… but his tactics, including consuming the Skull of Gul’dan in order to transform into a demon himself, were abhorrent to Tyrande. He would find no respite among the Kaldorei.

Kil’jaeden the Deceiver sought out Illidan to offer him both power and purpose; if Illidan destroyed the Lich King, he would be greatly rewarded. Ultimately, Illidan failed, and fled to the shattered remains of Draenor to secure himself a new home. Around him he gathered other outcasts, all desperate for the power Illidan could command with the last vials of the Well’s waters… but in time, he would himself be betrayed.

When the Legion redoubled its efforts to secure Outland as a staging ground for another invasion of Azeroth and re-opened the Dark Portal, Illidan and his forces rallied against them. One by one, his most powerful servants were defeated or defected, either turning to serve the Legion or joining with the mortal heroes of the Horde and Alliance to strike against Illidan himself and end his tyranny over Outland.

Power, at any cost and without regard for its consequences, was what defined Illidan and his choices. Only an overwhelming power could be used to counter his enemies at every turn, because the idea of sacrificing potential power was anathema. So to understand the Betrayer, one must understand that nothing, neither loyalty nor friendship nor duty, is more sacred than pursuit of greater power. Power will bring you victory. Power will bring you peace.

Dare you to challenge the Betrayer, he who has gathered such fountains of power to his will?

You are not prepared.

Backstory provided by Crow (Twitter)

Talent and Abilities

This is a passive that is going to synergize with most of his skills as you will be wanting to keep Mark of Azzinoth up as much as possible to do more damage and reduce your cooldowns. This is a very useful passive.

  Imbue Glaives

You will be using this skill a lot to do bonus damage and to apply Mark of Azzinoth to trigger your passive and to further improve the effectiveness of your other skills. This skill will probably cause you to be mashing it’s button as much as you can and will most likely be the first skill you use in an engagement.

  Slam 

As we see here, Illidan needs Mark of Azzinoth applied to make this skill effective. Without applying it, this skill loses out on 50% extra damage. This skill will be a Illidan’s nuke and will synergize pretty well with his (W) and Shadowstep. Dashing or teleporting to the target, hitting your (Q) to apply Mark of Azzinoth, then slamming them into oblivion.

Dash

This is a good get in get out skill. I can see this skill being useful for jumping into the fight quickly and for chasing down opponents. Especially when you have Mark of Azzinoth on your opponent, dealing more damage and appearing behind them.

Heroic Abilities

Shadowstep

This is a pretty useful skill as any kind of teleporting ability is always welcomed when playing an assassin hero. This is going to be a very good skill for chasing or getting the jump on people, not to mention it applies Mark of Azzinoth for some additional fun. You Shadowstep your enemy, apply your mark, use your (W), and then dash at them with your (E) when they try to get away. I can see this being a pretty popular skill choice.

Metamorphosis

What fun would Illidan be if you couldn’t use his signature abillity? Metamorphosis is sure to be a fan favorite just because of it’s reputation. With that aside, this skill is very powerful and it will probably be the one that I pick up. You transform and leap dealing damage in an area while also increasing his attack speed and health based on the amount of enemies hit with the leap.  This skill is very powerful but will also require some skill to land and get the most out of it as possible. This will be a good skill to use in all situations but will shine the most in team fights where you can hit the most targets with your leap’s AoE. Not to mention this skill looks awesome too.

Conclusion

So Illidan is a very fun and fast paced assassin hero that is sure to be a fan favorite. He definitely won’t be a boring hero since you will constantly be using skills to apply Mark of Azzinoth while jumping in and out of the fight. Backed by a cool set of ultimates, you will really be showing your enemies that they truly aren’t prepared.

Come back next week to learn more about Diablo III’s Demon Hunter, Valla.