Anub’arak Build: Bug Bomb
by JR Cook - 9 years ago show comments
Anub’arak is the king of the Nerubian empire and is a strong choice for the warrior role. The newest patch helped Anub’arak out a ton with taking away the wind up on two of his attacks and making the beetle AI much smarter. Today I have an AOE engage build for you to try out so lets get into it! For all the basics you can check out BlizzPro’s Anub’arak hero page here.
Abilities
Scarab Host – This is Anub’arak’s trait and it allows him to spawn one of his beetle’s every time he uses his abilities. Since this build won’t focus on the beetles there isn’t much to say about it. They will come out and do some work for Anub’arak on their own so just enjoy the benefit. They are great for soaking tower ammo or applying extra damage in 1v1 duels so be sure to capitalize on those effects.
Impale (Q) – Impale comes out in a straight line as a skill shot that damages and stuns the enemy. You can use this to try to poke people who are keeping you ranged out but, you will have to lead it a bit since it’s a long range skill shot and people rarely just stand still. This is a great initiation tool for your team fights as it will interrupt enemies channeling skills and give your team time to focus a stunned target(s).
Harden Carapace (W) – Anub’arak’s shield is great for trading with enemies or providing you that extra bit of sustain to get away from a bad situation. Try to use this right before you become the focus and not during to get the most out of it. You can also use this to activate my level 7 talent choice Urtricating Spines.
Burrow Charge (E) – This is a great ability because of its range and long stun. It takes a bit of practice to hit with it due to the fact that you have to guess where the enemy will end up. You can end the burrow early by tapping E again if a target changed position. Try not to just burrow into a ton of enemies by yourself because they will recover from the stun and probably destroy you. This can also serve as a great escape tool because of the massive distance it can put between you and the enemy.Heroic Abilities
Web Blast (R)- This is a great heroic even though I don’t take it in this build. It will lock one enemy out of the fight for 8 seconds which is a really long time for a disable. If the enemy team is smart they can attack the webbed target to reduce the duration of the disable, which often happens at high levels of play, diminishing its effectiveness.
Locust Swarm (R)- This is a wonderful ability to use after a great hit from a Burrow Charge. The damage this thing puts out is insane and also give Anub’arak a bit of health back on top of it. When getting the most out of Locust Swarm by hitting a ton of enemies with its AOE damage it can be a really great feeling. Just try not to waste it as it has a fairly large cooldown at 100 seconds.The Build
Level 1
Regeneration Master – This is one of my go to talents for any tank because you are going to need some extra regen after constant engages. Collect the globes and see the benefit long term from the extra regen. When using Regeneration Master never overextend and get yourself killed for one globe because it’s just not worth it. There will be plenty of globes especially around main objectives and merc camps so dying for one is just silly.
Level 4
Locust Needles – This makes Anub’arak’s basic attacks have significant AOE damage on them. This will help Anub’arak clear waves of minions really quick along with some extra damage for clumped up team fights. Remember to use your auto attacks on the enemies to take advantage of this!
Level 7
Urtricating Spines – This gives Anub’arak a strong AOE damage every time he uses his E. When dueling or teaming fighting giving his shield a close range AOE damage is a big boon. Since the theme of this is AOE damage this talent is a natural fit. If you require more mobility then Shed Exoskeleton isn’t a bad option but takes away from the damage of this build.
Level 10
Locust Swarm – see the heroic abilities section.
Level 13
Burning Rage – This creates a constant AOE damage radius around Anub’arak. Again this fits the theme of trying to have free damage when Anub’arak puts himself in the thick of things or is dueling an enemy.
Level 16
Epicenter – This makes the area in which enemies are hit and increases the damage on burrow charge by 85%! This makes your damage out put much higher and allows burrow charge to hit big groups of enemies with ease. If your team is having trouble with one specific target Blood for Blood is probably a better choice. The other option here is Imposing Presence if you find yourself the target of a lot of auto attacks.
Level 20
Rewind – Since Anub’arak’s abilities provide great stuns but, have high cooldowns you’re going to want something to mitigate that. Rewind is the obvious choice as it can allow you to chain a possible 4 stuns together that will leave the enemy in tears. If you’re having trouble keeping Anub’arak alive then Hardened Shield would be the go to choice here.
The Strategy
This is a niche build that requires a strong healer to keep you alive. Early game you can use Anub’arak’s abilities for a strong lane presence that most enemy heroes will have a hard time dealing with. Toss the enemy a stun with Impale then engage them for a few auto attacks. Use your shield during this then reset your position to do it all over again. This sort of sustained harass is Anub’arak’s specialty and when executed properly it can be a pain for the enemy laner to deal with early on.
Mid game and late game is always when the big team fights start to happen and Anub’arak will need to be there. His stuns will allow your team to focus down one target and create an advantage. Make sure to communicate with your team who the target is and when you’re going in because if the enemies focus you after a missed burrow charge it can be lights out for Anub’arak. Communication and strong heals are what will help this build truly shine in the team fight phase so without those this build might not be for you.
While this build might be a bit odd and advanced for some players taste it’s a very strong way to play Anub’arak. The constant AOE damage can be a pain for the enemy to deal with and also affords Anub’arak the ability to deal with minion waves and mercs with ease. Feel free to leave any feedback below and let me know what you think. Thank you for reading and look forward to more guides from me every Thursday!
