by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

The newest hero to enter the nexus is none other than the legendary Blood Elf mage Kael’thas. He brought an amazing kit of spells along with some interesting synergy in team comps that lacked true stuns from their burst. So far I’ve had great experiences with Kael’thas and decided to feature him for my build this week. To check out some of the lore and basics about Kael’thas check out our brand new hero page located here

Abilities

Verdant Spheres – Kael’s activate-able trait allows you to empower his other abilities. You must be mindful of what spell you are going to cast before tapping this. For instance if you know that you will be initiating an engage on one target by opening with gravity lapse it wouldn’t be a good idea to use this first since you wont need to stun more than one target. I find that using this for living bomb most often allows you to put out more damage since it makes his W free of mana cost with no cooldown.

Flamestrike (Q) – Flamestrike puts out some great damage. It’s best to put this in the path ahead of an enemy that might be about to flee from Kael’s insane burst. I also like to use this directly after hitting a target with E as it will guarantee a hit if you’re fast enough. Activating Verdant Spheres before using this is great for wave clear or putting the big hurt out during team fights or bruiser camp clears.

Living Bomb (W) – This is his bread and butter move in my opinion. With using Verdant Spheres Kael can cast this back to back which will cause the first cast to explode immediately if used on the same target. When casting back to back bombs make sure to give it as much time as you can afford so the first bomb will tick off more damage. Living bomb also serves as a great tool for nuking down enemy structures when pushing a lane.

Gravity Lapse (E) – Kael’s stun is no freaking joke! This ability causes enemies that get caught by it a painful experience as Kael can often unload 3 abilities on them after. The goal is to hit gravity lapse then quickly use Flamestrike on the target followed by Verdant Spheres into a double Living Bomb. Most targets will either out right die or be forced to immediately flee. You can also use this as a disengage tool against targets trying to chase Kael down for a death.

Heroic Abilities

Phoenix (R) – My favorite heroic choice due to the amazing space control and damage put out by it. Phoenix also has a very low cooldown for such a useful Heroic at a mere 40 seconds! Using Phoenix properly on objective fights, such as Tributes in Cursed Hollow or Temples in Sky Temple, will allow your entire team a positive engage and position. Phoenix is also great for scattering the enemy into positions they didn’t plan on being in which can often lead to a quick kill or the inability to help their teammates.

Pyroblast (R) – While the windup on this can be a bit frustrating Pyroblast is one of the strongest heroics in the game. The best thing about Pyroblast is that when it’s cast it will track the target until it hits. The only thing that gets rid of Pyroblast is if a hero can stealth out of the map or make it back to their Hall of Storms before they are hit. I will take this if a high priority target that has been carrying the enemy team early needs to die. It’s great for taking down a gathering power built Nova, Kael’thas, Nazeebo, or Falstad that got fed stacks early. It can also be used to force a Rehgar to blow his ultimate on his self which will allow you to focus the real targets without fear of a full heal.

The Build

Level 1

Fel Infusion – The entire game this will make your Verdant Sphere refill roughly 5% of Kael’s health. Since Verdant Spheres is used very often on a 6 second cooldown I get a ton of mileage out of this talent. Some people prefer Mana Addict which isn’t a bad choice but don’t overextend for globes since Kael is so squishy. I find with good mana management and focusing your abilities on priority targets I get much more out of Fel Infusion compared to Mana Addict.

Level 4

Nether Wind – This makes your E amazingly fast and have much better range. I just started taking this recently and it makes a big difference in Kael’s ability to gank, secure kills, and bail himself out of a bad position. Gathering Power is also a viable choice at this level but only take it if you’re confident in your teams ability to protect you. The thing about Gathering Power is great burst which leads to easier management of Kael’s mana due to the fact that it takes less skills to finish off a target.

Level 7

Fission Bomb -The only strong choice at this level in my opinion. You’re going to be using living bomb a lot and a 75% increase in the explosion damage will often guarantee a kill. This makes the explosion almost as strong as the full 3 second tick of Living Bomb which really ramps up Kael’s output when he uses Verdant Spheres into a double bomb.

Level 10

Phoenix – see heroic abilities section.

Level 13

Chain Bomb – This allows your Chain Bomb to spread to nearby enemies upon the explosion. This is a great tool in team fights as the damage output can get pretty silly. It will only spread once from the first bomb meaning Living Bomb A explodes which activates Chain Bomb and creates Living Bomb B. Living Bomb B will never spread so during team fights it’s beneficial to trigger Verdant Spheres then cast Living Bomb A on two separate targets to increase the chance of the bomb spreading to the most enemies possible. With all the good damage this provides I don’t see many other viable talent choices at level 13.

Level 16

Backdraft – While taking Ignite at level 16 provides a ton of damage I find that it’s overkill on targets that would most likely be dead anyways. Backdraft on the other hand can often turn engages that start off somewhat favorable into outright enemy team wipes. With the bomb spreading it can cause fleeing targets to lose a whole lot of mobility making them very vulnerable for your teammates. Kael’s damage is already amazing without Ignite or Gathering Power so taking Backdraft is often better for the important fights that happen after 16. After all you’re in it to win the game not just have insanely high numbers right?

Level 20

Bolt of the Storm – Bolt is amazing on every hero that has it. It can save you from that dreaded 60 second death timer or counter an enemies attempt to bolt away from Kael. If you find that you have mana problems at this point and can do without Bolt of the Storm then Arcane Power is a great choice here as its around a 50% mana refill that ups Kael’s burst potential.

The Strategy

During the early game your goal is to get some good harass on the enemy and collect the experience provided in your lane. Mana management is key at this point in the game because you don’t want to be forced into an early hearthstone because of overuse of Kael’s abilities. Make sure that you take every opportunity to use Verdant Spheres Living Bomb for free on targets that get to close to Kael’s range. Look for good chances to land a strong Gravity Lapse that leads to the combo of death described in the Gravity Lapse section. The main goal overall is to stay alive and force the enemy to need to hearthstone before you do. If things go well Kael is more than capable of getting early kills that can give your team an early level lead.

Mid to Late game Kael’s job becomes being the anti-assassin assassin. Your ability to nuke targets out of a fight should be focused upon the targets that are dealing the most damage for the enemy team. You can also apply this philosophy to an enemy support who puts themselves too close to Kael’s range. Proper use of your choice in a Heroic Ability will often make or break team fights. A bad placement on Phoenix or casting Pyroblast on the wrong target will hinder Kael’s overall affect on team fights. Remember Phoenix is great for fights that take place on key map objectives or in tight areas of the jungle.

Overall Kael is a fairly easy hero once you become a master of his combos, use of Verdant Spheres, and superior positioning. If you never overextend and take advantage of the targets that get too close then you will see the supreme power of Kael’thas’s fire magic. I hope you enjoyed this guide and came away with a better understanding of how to play the newest hero in the nexus. Feel free to leave feedback below and look for another guide next Thursday!