by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

Sylvanas came out last week and people have been playing the heck out of her. As is typical with new heroes, many people are already calling for the nerfs to come. I’d argue that while Sylvanas is a powerful hero, she’s squishy and can actually be dealt with pretty easily especially if you catch her alone. The mistake I see many players make is thinking they can absolutely push solo with her as people leave her alone. While if you do leave her alone she can tear up a lane by herself, most teams have figured that out pretty quickly. I think her strengths are actually what she can bring to team fights, especially late game, and that’s what this build is about.

If you’re looking to top the boards in hero damage, you probably want a more assassin build (which I especially recommend if you find yourself with a team comp of 2 supports). If you want to help your team dominate in team fights while putting pressure on your opponent with mercenary camps, then this build is for you.

Sylvanas trait is Black Arrow, this is basically what makes her a specialist and an elite lane pusher. It’s also what allows her to take mercenary camps by herself. Being able to stun minions and mercenaries for 1 second is huge. Her Q ability is Withering Fire which has 5 charges to it is where some of her burst damage comes from. Keep in mind that you can just hold down Q and it will fire all 5, it’s also good for quickly clearing waves of minions if needed. Her W ability is Shadow Dagger and is what this build is centered around. This not only deals damage to the target but will also spread to other targets, she has talents where this becomes especially powerful in team fights. Her E ability is Haunting Wave, this ability is basically Bolt of the Storm. Yes, it does some minimum damage but save it for when you need to escape a situation, never use it for fighting. Remember for this to work you hit E, and then tap it again to teleport to the banshees. Don’t wait too long or they’ll disappear and you won’t be able to teleport.

Her ultimate R ability she can choose with Possession or Wailing Arrow. Possession is one of the worst ultimates in the game and Wailing Arrow is one of the better ones. Why is possession so terrible? Because you can only target one minion every few seconds. You can clear minions faster than possessing them. The real power doesn’t come until level 20 when you can actually possess mercenaries but by that time it really doesn’t matter in the game to do that. Possession is useless, don’t take it.

The Build

Level 1

Lost Soul. Like I said above, this build is mostly centered around your E ability so taking Lost Soul as your first skill is pretty important. It allows you to cast it more often which becomes especially important in the late game.

Level 4

Paralysis. A lot of people build Sylvanas with Envenom here. I’d rather increase my duration of Black Arrow because that is something I can keep doing throughout the game without having a 60 second cooldown. In the end you actually do more damage this way than by taking Envenom.

Level 7

Life Drain. This should be a no brainer. Since we’re not going to be taking Blood for Blood later on, this is your sustain to keep you healed up and more active in team fights.

Level 10

Wailing Arrow. Save it for team fights. Pop it off when you can hit the most people with it. If you’re on voice chat let your teammates know before you do it so they can quickly focus as it can single handedly win your team fights very quickly. Remember, you hit R to launch it and then you can hit R again to explode it. Don’t be the noob that just let’s it go on past where you want it to explode 🙂

Level 13

Overwhelming Affliction. Congrats, you’re now Tychus. This allows you to slow the hero as they’re running which at this point in the game you’re probably grouped up, meaning this will allow your team to pick off individuals. It also allows you to chase and finish off opponents by yourself if needed.

Level 16

Cold Embrace. Once again, some people take Blood for Blood here – and it’s another 60 second cooldown ability. Know what I would rather have? An ability that can turn a team fight around in seconds. Pop this when your opponents teams are nearby and watch them get destroyed as they take 25% more damage and it spreads. Or watch one hero die very very quickly as people target them down. This also works against towers and the Nexus Core. This is the talent that I feel gives Sylvanas her power in the game.

Level 20

Deafening Blast. It’s a better version of Wailing Arrow – more damage and keeps them silenced for longer. Bolt of the Storm is also completely viable here. If you’re finding yourself getting targeted a lot, Bolt of the Storm could be the way to go to stay alive more.

The Strategy

Early game Sylvanas is a lot of lane soaking. If the enemy leaves you alone you can cause mass damage to a lane and take down their towers quick. More than likely that’s not going to happen though. Just play it safe and poke and prod when you can. If you’re finding yourself in a lane early with your opponent and they have either Tychus, Jaina, or Tyrael – you’ll want to ask your teammates to switch lanes with you. They are tough for you to deal with early.

Nova will tear your day up, too. If the other team has her watch out on getting ganked by her.

After level 10 you’ll want to group up more with your team. You can solo Siege Giant merc camps without taking damage but they will take you a while to take down. You can solo knights as well, but same applies on taking a while to do. Once you hit level 16 you are a team fighting machine. Use your Wailing Arrow wisely and pop shadow dagger on heroes when you can. I’ve been able to sway entire matches late game by causing a team wide kill near our Nexus Core on a pushing team and we were able to take advantage of it and win the game.

Just remember, Sylvanas is squishy, but if you play it safe and use your Haunting Wave appropriately to get out of danger you’ll be one of the best players on the team.