Artanis Build: Shields and Unity

by JR Cook - 8 years ago     show comments

Artanis played specifically as a bruiser in heroes of the storm since his release but with the balance changes that took place on March 9th, 2016 he now has the option to be a hard to kill tanky pest. I think this build on Artanis gives him a bit more flexibility in the role of solo tanking and can be used to dive on problematic back line heroes, like Li-Ming, without getting blown up. If you’re new to Artanis you can check out the basics on Artanis at the BlizzPro hero page section by clicking here

Basic Abilities

Shield Overload – (Passive) The bulk of this build is all about this passive. It’s a very strong passive that gets more effective the longer the game goes on. Since the balance update, he has more health/health regeneration and the talents related to this passive got a significant buff. Since the damage scaling on his abilities are pretty strong I feel that talenting into Shield Overload is an effective strategy.

Blade Dash – (Q) Dash in and do some damage then go back to were you started after a delay. Artanis must exercise caution when using this skill against enemy heroes with hard CC options. The frame on mind when using Blade Dash should be “I’m going to get in there and mix it up with the enemy” not “I’m going to teleport in and out while poking the enemy.” If you stick to this style of thinking when using Blade Dash then you won’t get yourself caught out in bad situations very often.

Twin Blades – (W) This gives you a double strike on your next basic attack. Artanis has some good basic attacks so this is a great skill for him when it comes to mixing it up with the enemy. This also has some great synergy with Shield overload in reducing your passive’s cooldown quicker.

Phase Prism – (E) Damage a hero and swap positions with them. Obviously you can use this to push someone into your team so they have the opportunity to focus them. The key to this ability as a tank though is make sure to use it as peel for you back line when they are being dived on. You can save your teammates when using Phase Prism in this matter which is what a tank should be trying to do anyways.

Heroic Abilities

Suppression Pulse – (R) A decent AOE ultimate that has a very long blind on it. I would only really take this if they enemy team is melee/auto attack heavy otherwise Purifier Beam offers much more.

Purifier Beam – (R) One of the best tools for punishing slippery back line enemies. With the addition of Xul there is some amazing synergy with Purifier Beam and Bone Prison as well. Overall the global displacement and raw targeted damage Purifier Beam offers makes it the obvious choice 9/10 times.

The Build

Level 1

Seasoned Marksman – The goal of this build will be to use your auto attacks to keep your shield up as often as possible. This makes Seasoned Marksman the go to talent choice for level one. If you’re on a map that wont allow for much farm then I recommend taking Reactive Parry.

Level 4

Shield Battery – This will put your shield down to a 12 second cooldown if it didn’t get burnt through. This will have some great synergy with later talent picks that will allow you to keep your shields going for dueling.

Level 7

Psionic Synergy – I like Psionic Synergy in this build because Blade Dash is such a tricky skill to use in the late game and this helps ensure that Artanis will have access to his shields as often as possible.

Level 10

Purifier Beam – See Heroic Abilities section

Level 13

Phase Bulwark – In a very ability heavy burst damage meta Phase Bulwark can really shine. This will allow you to deal with some of the new threats that recently arrived on the scene like Li-Ming and Xul. If the enemy team isn’t really focusing you or they don’t do much ability damage then going with Triple Strike is the obvious choice.

Level 16

Shield Surge – At level 16 this will make the initial shield 1530 points of damage absorption! After 3 seconds it will decay back down to 765 but any damage that gets absorbed in that initial shield burst is all gravy. Shield Surge will allow Artanis to trade with impunity and force the enemy to seriously reconsider their strategy for dealing with you.

Level 20 

Nexus Blades – At this point in the game its time to take a nice damage spike to pair with your Seasoned Marksman pick at level 1. With your massive shields and ability to move and displace, Nexus Blades is a huge boon! The enemies have probably come to respect you enough to either all 5 focus you or just leave you alone until other threats are dealt with so tacking on some meaningful damage is very relevant.