Alarak rains vengeance on his foes in ‘Heroes of the Storm’

The Protoss are often seen as the most enlightened of the three “StarCraft” races. The truth is, however, that no matter how lofty your ideals are, there’s still plenty of room in your heart for all those delicious, primal urges. Alarak, whose whole shtick is hurting those who deserve it in the worst ways possible, is proof of that.

With a kit that centers around punishing enemy players, the Highlord of the Tal’darim is a pure Assassin in that he excels at where it matters most: killing Heroes. This makes him a true danger to confront on the battlefield. The drawback, aside from his average lane-clearing capabilities, is that he doesn’t have great escape options. Some of his Talents also require tradeoffs—to grow in power, you’ll have to sacrifice some of his strength. This alone makes him trickier to play than most Heroes.

In “Heroes of the Storm,” Alarak is a Melee Assassin with one Trait, three Primary Abilities, and two Heroics. His complexity gives him a high skill ceiling.

Sadism (Trait, passive)

Alarak’s Trait is simple: he deals 100% more damage against enemy Heroes.

His Level 13 Talent Pure Malice raises his Sadism bonus by 8% every time an allied Hero dies. The bonus stacks up to 40%, but is lost upon Alarak’s death.

Several Talents reduce Sadism’s bonus to grant him a boost in power elsewhere, as we’ll discuss below.

Discord Strike (Q)

Following a half-second delay, Alarak strikes enemies before him, dealing 175 damage and silencing them for 1.5 seconds. Cooldown is 8 seconds.

The 0.5-second delay isn’t that big of a deal. More importantly, a well-timed Silence can wreak havoc on enemies. Imagine silencing a healer when their teammates need Health, or a magic-using powerhouse whose team has built its entire strategy around their casting of a single, powerful spell. Its range isn’t so great, though, so you’ll have to close in before sealing your enemy’s fate.

Discord Strike works well in combination with basic attacks.

There are Talents that reduce Discord Strike’s cooldown, shorten its delay, increase its range, or raise its damage permanently.

The Level 13 Talent Dissonance decreases Sadism’s damage bonus by 10% to prolong the duration of Discord Strike’s silence by 0.75 seconds.

Telekinesis (W)

Alarak pushes one or more enemies, or himself, a short distance in the direction of his choice. Enemies receive 48 damage. Cooldown is 12 seconds.

Telekinesis has a range of uses. For instance, by pushing or pulling enemies, he can thrust them towards danger, or prevent them from dealing damage to your allies. Throwing enemies around this way can also disrupt the rival team’s positioning.

Alarak can pull enemies towards himself, which is especially effective against fleeing foes.

If Alarak finds himself in a sticky situation, he can push himself out of harm’s way, or repel a pursuing foe. Telekinesis’ adequacy as an escape tool is situational, however; if you’re surrounded on all sides, a short dash might not save you.

Alarak’s Talents can remove Telekinesis’ Mana cost or raise its damage.

The Talents that reduce Sadism’s damage bonus by 10% allow Telekinesis to thrust enemies 20% farther, slow Heroes by 40% for 1.5 seconds, improve Telekinesis’ range, or decrease its cooldown.

Lightning Surge (E)

Alarak goes full Sith Lord and unleashes a lightning strike upon a target. The target, and all enemies caught in between them and Alarak, suffer 90 damage. Additionally, 75% of the damage dealt to enemy Heroes returns to Alarak as Health. Cooldown is 6 seconds.

Lightning Surge can be used to poke foes standing some distance away. However, it is best used when you want to hurt several enemies simultaneously. If there are plenty of enemies before you, target the most distant one, and position yourself so that the lightning will go through as many of them as possible.

Its extra healing effect is fantastic; the more enemy Heroes struck, the more life you’ll regain. As such, it’s a good self-sustain tool. Just remember not to get too aggressive that you end up jumping into a fight you can’t handle.

His Talents can lower Lightning Surge’s Mana cost, increase its width, boost its range, permanently reduce its cooldown, or strengthen its healing effect. Level 16 Talent Negatively Charged enhances the damage dealt by the center beam 100%, but removes its healing effect.

Level 7 Talent Thunderstruck reduces Sadism’s bonus by 10%, but allows Lightning Surge to produce a 1.5-second 70% slow effect in enemies between Alarak and his target.

Counter-Strike (R1)

Upon activation, Alarak is rendered immobile, but receives the Protected status that makes him invulnerable to damage. If an enemy attacks him within a second of Counter-Strike’s activation, he immediately returns the favor, sending an AoE shockwave ripping through all nearby enemies for 250 damage. Cooldown is 30 seconds.

Counter-Strike is both a defensive and offensive Heroic Ability. As its superior damage has the capacity to slay Heroes on the spot, this is a great way to punish overly aggressive enemies, and those who decided to gang up on you. Enemies boasting Abilities with long attack animations also have cause to fear Counter-Strike.

The downside is that Counter-Strike puts Alarak in a unique stance and cocoons him in an eerie, red glow—telltale signs that the Heroic is in effect, allowing observant enemies to avoid him to prevent triggering the shockwave.

Deadly Charge (R2)

Alarak stands in place as he begins channeling the attack. He then dashes towards enemies, dealing 200 damage. How far Alarak travels depends on how long he channels Deadly Charge, with the maximum charging time being 1.6 seconds. He can cancel the Heroic anytime with a move order. Cooldown is 45 seconds.

Deadly Charge’s AoE and massive damage output makes it a valuable Heroic. It’s also a great positioning tool, and can help Alarak set up combos. It can even be used to escape pursuers.

The catch? Deadly Charge can be interrupted if an enemy attack hits him during channeling. Careless use of the skill can also land Alarak in the midst of multiple enemies—a situation he’ll have a tough time getting out of. It therefore helps to have allies around before committing to Deadly Charge.

Sweet revenge

Time for some general tips.

Always take into account Sadism’s damage bonus, and focus Alarak’s attacks on Heroes. Leave most of the lane-clearing to others.

As many of Alarak’s Talents propose tradeoffs, the wrong build could result in disaster. So, if you’re sure about sacrificing some of Sadism’s extra damage, make sure to stick to a clearly defined skill path and not augment too many Abilities. This way, he won’t turn into a “Jack of all trades, master of none.”

While you can’t exactly describe Alarak as “squishy,” he does have limited mobility. For this reason, always have an escape plan in mind when attacking enemies. Strike hard and fast from the sides, and never stand in the middle of the fray. If worse comes to worst, use Telekinesis to push away enemies.

Alarak is the only Hero who can possess both Heroic Abilities. At Level 20, he can pick his second Heroic, giving him even more options on the battlefield. The second Trait is activated by pressing D.

Conversely, you can pick either of two Level 20 Talents, instead. Last Laugh teleports Alarak to a desired location and removes a variety of debuffs, but lowers his Health to 1. Hasty Bargain can be activated to reset Primary Ability cooldowns at the cost of a permanent 4% decrease in Sadism’s damage bonus, so use it sparingly and wisely.

Best served cold

Thanks to various tradeoffs, finding the right build for Alarak can be tricky, and will require practice as well as patience. Once you’ve mastered the balancing act between boosting strengths and accepting weaknesses, however, Alarak can be an extremely deadly Assassin. With skills specifically designed to put the hurt on Heroes, and a sizeable grudge against all who oppose him, this Protoss Highlord is not one you’ll want to meet alone in the dark alleys of the Nexus. — BM, GMA News

Images: Blizzard Entertainment