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Franchise-diablo This is from the Diablo universe.


Kneel before the Lord of Terror.

Damage (5/10) Utility (7/10) Survivability (9/10) Complexity (5/10)

Diablo is a Melee Warrior Hero and the main antagonist of the Diablo universe. He has made a few appearances in the StarCraft and Warcraft series as well.

Diablo is able to charge at his opponents, soaking up damage and dealing it back threefold.

Background[]

Known in the ancient tongue as Al'Diabolos, the Prime Evil Reincarnate, the Demon Lord Diablo seeks to claim the world of Sanctuary for the Burning Hells. His victims are innumerable, his schemes unknowable, his gender malleable, with his own occupation as an artist of fear having risen to greater prominence since the character was created in 1996 in the first Diablo game.

Gameplay Summary[]

Diablo is an aggressive Warrior who fulfills both the role of a Tank and a Bruiser, due his unique abilities that make him an excellent duelist and ganker, as well being very resilient. He is unique as his trait, Black Soulstone, allows him to progressively increase his healthpool to massive amounts (reaching over 7000 at level 20 with max souls), with an added effect of greatly decreasing his respawn timer if he dies at the maximum of 100 stacks.

Overall, Diablo has a solid kit suited for ganking-oriented teams, where he can can catch Heroes offguard and interrupt abilities, making him outstanding in maps that require a lot of movement between objectives. He shines in Double Warrior compositions.

Strengths[]

  • Massive healthpool once Black Soulstone reaches 100 souls, meaning 40% increased health.
    • In addition, dying when at maximum stacks causes him to respawn in 5 seconds.
      • Dying with less than 100 souls do not causes him to lose any stacks.
  • Solid ganking kit, with multiple crowd control abilities and interrupts.
  • Flexible talent options.
    • Devil's Due grants Diablo a massive sustain at 100 souls, with a 35% increased healing from Health Globes and 120% from Healing Wells.
    • Devastating Charge can transform Diablo into a situational burst Assassin, and is exceptionally strong against multiple Warrior compositions.
  • Shadow Charge is an outstanding gap closer, being an aggressive engaging tool, excellent for starting team fights and putting opponents out of position.
    • In addition, Shadow Charge can go through any kind of structure and obstacle.
  • Overpower is a powerful follow up to Shadow Charge, allowing for an effective 2 step combo for body blocking foes.
  • Fire Stomp is relatively useful for waveclear, and can deal consistent damage at very close range.
  • Apocalypse is a global-range Heroic Ability that can completely change the course of teamfights. It's fantastic when used as a follow up or setup to other powerful crowd-control Heroics, such as ETC's Mosh Pit.
  • Lightning Breath covers huge range, being a quite strong follow-up when the allied team already features solid crowd control.
  • Lord of Terror can save Diablo from tight situations by providing a decent sustain and damage, specially against melee oriented teams.
  • Hellgate provides Diablo with a very needed mobility tool, which an added effect of being able to stun opponents. It can also be used alongside Apocalypse to further pressure opponents with stuns.

Weaknesses[]

  • Relatively mana intensive.
  • Low damage output unless under the right circumstances.
  • Poor movement options for escaping if charging too deep into the enemy territory.
  • While dying at maximum stacks of Black Soulstone means a 5 second respawn, Diablo has to farm for souls again in order to regain his high healthpool.
  • Not very effective on defensive teams, and requires teams that can follow-up his hard engages effectively.

Abilities[]

IconShadowCharge
Shadow Charge (Q)
Mana: 60
Cooldown: 12 seconds

Charge an enemy, knocking them back, dealing 78 (+4% per level) damage and gaining 25 Armor for 2 seconds, reducing damage taken by 25%. If the enemy collides with terrain, they are stunned for 1 second and take an additional 156 (+4% per level) damage.

IconFireStomp
Fire Stomp (W)
Mana: 40
Cooldown: 6 seconds

Unleashes fire waves in all directions that deal 54 (+4% per level) damage each. Once they reach maximum range they return, dealing an additional 81 (+4% per level) damage.

IconOverpower
Overpower (E)
Mana: 60
Cooldown: 12 seconds

Grabs the target and slams it behind Diablo, dealing 75.92 (+4% per level) damage and stunning for 0.25 seconds.

Traits[]

IconBlackSoulstone
Black Soulstone [Trait, Passive]

Gain 10 Souls per Hero killed and 1 Soul per Minion. For each Soul, gain 0.4% maximum Health. If you have 100 Souls upon dying, you resurrect in 5 seconds and lose 100 Souls. Maximum 100 Souls.

Heroic Abilities[]

IconApocalypse
Apocalypse [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 100
Cooldown: 100 seconds

Create a demonic rune under each enemy Hero on the battleground. After 1.75 seconds the rune explodes dealing 142.48 (+4% per level) damage and stunning for 1.75 seconds.

IconLBreath
Lightning Breath [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 80
Cooldown: 60 seconds

Become Unstoppable while channeling lightning that deals 50 (+4% per level) damage over 4 seconds. The direction of the Lightning changes with your mouse cursor position.

Talents[]

Tier 1, Hero Level 1[]

IconShadowCharge
Bulwark
Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)

Increases the duration of Armor granted by Shadow Charge from 2 seconds to 4 seconds.

IconDevilsDue
Devil's Due
Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)

Black Soulstone increases the effects of Regeneration Globes and Healing Fountains by 2% per Soul.

IconLifeLeech
Life Leech
Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)

Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 1% of the Hero's maximum Health and heal you for the same amount.

Tier 2, Hero Level 4[]

IconShadowCharge
From the Shadows
Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)

Increases the range of Shadow Charge by 40%.

IconRelentless
Speed Demon [Passive]
Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)

Being Stunned or Rooted increases Diablo's Movement Speed by 30% for 5 seconds.

IconOverpower
Demonic Strength
Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)

Once Overpower's stun expires, the target is slowed by 30% for 3 seconds.

Tier 3, Hero Level 7[]

IconBlackSoulstone
Soul Feast
Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)

Black Soulstone increases Diablo's Health Regeneration by 0.4 per second per Soul.

IconDevilsDue
Soul Shield
Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)

Black Soulstone grants Diablo 0.25 Spell Armor per soul, reducing Ability Damage taken by 0.25% per Soul.

IconDiabolicalMomentum
Diabolical Momentum
Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)

Basic Attacks reduce the cooldown of Overpower and Shadow Charge by 1.5 seconds.

Tier 4, Hero Level 10[]

IconApocalypse
Apocalypse [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 100
Cooldown: 100 seconds

Create a demonic rune under each enemy Hero on the battleground. After 1.75 seconds the rune explodes dealing 142.48 (+4% per level) damage and stunning for 1.75 seconds.

IconLBreath
Lightning Breath [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 80
Cooldown: 60 seconds

Become Unstoppable while channeling lightning that deals 50 (+4% per level) damage over 4 seconds. The direction of the Lightning changes with your mouse cursor position.

Tier 5, Hero Level 13[]

IconDevastatingCharge
Devastating Charge
Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)

Shadow Charge's terrain collision against Heroes deals an additional 5% of the target's maximum life.
IconQuestTalent Quest: Each time an enemy Hero takes terrain collision damage, increase the maximum life damage by 2%, to a maximum of 10% bonus.

IconFireStomp
Fire Devil
Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)

Fire Stomp increases Diablo's Basic Attack damage by 20% and surrounds Diablo in flames that deal 20 (+4% per level) damage every second. Lasts 6 seconds.

IconHellfire
Hellfire [Passive]
Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)

Each enemy Hero hit by Fire Stomp increases the damage of the next Fire Stomp by 12%, up to 120%.

Tier 6, Hero Level 16[]

IconFireStomp
Debilitating Flames
Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)

Enemy Heroes hit by Fire Stomp are slowed by 15% for 2 seconds, up to 30%.

IconOverpower
Domination
Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)

Casting Overpower resets the cooldown of Shadow Charge.

IconImposingPresence
Fearful Presence
Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)

Activate to reduce the damage dealt by nearby enemy Heroes by 30% for 3 seconds.

Passive: Heroes and Summons that attack Diablo have their Attack Speed slowed by 20% for 2.5 seconds.

Tier 7, Hero Level 20[]

IconApocalypse
Dying Breath
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)

Apocalypse's cooldown is reduced by 20 seconds and is cast for free when you die.

IconLBreath
Hellstorm
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)

Lightning Breath lasts and reaches 50% longer.

IconLordofTerror
Lord of Terror
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)
Cooldown: 60 seconds

Activate to steal 10% of the maximum Health of nearby enemy Heroes.

Bolt of the Storm Icon New
Hellgate [Active]
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)
Cooldown: 100 seconds

Teleport and place a demonic rune at target location. After 1.75 seconds the rune explodes dealing 142.48 (+4% per level) damage and stunning enemies for 1.75 seconds.

Talent Builds[]

  • Balanced Build: focused on giving Diablo a healthy blend of survivability, damage and utility, allowing him to effectively initiate teamfights and gank isolated foes. Key talents include From the Shadows, which greatly increases the range of Shadow Charge, thus allowing him to surprise and chase his opponents more effectively; Diabolical Momentum, enabling him to use Shadow Charge and Overpower more often by simply Basic Attacking anything (including minions); and Domination, which makes the Shadow Charge > Overpower combo even more powerful, as it allows Diablo to use Shadow Charge again, thus further pushing away his victim from safety. Some talents can be changed depending on the situation, such as Devastating Charge, which is incredibly powerful against Double Warrior compositions and on maps with lots of tight spaces.

Tips[]

  • Try not to dive too deep and leave Diablo vulnerable among his enemies, which will give him little chances of escaping.
  • Remember to farm for souls again should Diablo die at 100 stacks of Black Soulstone, in order to regain the bonus health lost.
    • However, do not prioritize farming over teamfights and objectives. Unlike The Butcher, who has manually collect his Fresh Meat, Diablo gets his Souls naturally by standing nearby Minions and Heroes who perish next to him.
  • Consider taking the talent Soul Shield should the enemy team feature two or more "Mage" Assassins (i.e. Azmodan, Chromie, Kael'thas, Ragnaros).
  • Shadow Charge > Overpower is Diablo's bread and butter combo to disrupt his opponents; this becomes even more powerful by picking the level 16 talent Domination, effectively allowing for Shadow Charge > Overpower > Shadow Charge.
  • Shadow Charge can be used as a disengage tool, as long there are enemy minions away from the enemy team.
  • If properly used, the level 13 talent Devastating Charge can turn Diablo into a very potent, yet situational, Burst Assassin. Once completed, this talent deals 15% max health damage if Diablo collides his opponents against walls; if Domination is taken at 16 and the situation is favorable, Diablo can deal a total of 30% of his opponent's max health, plus the flat damage from Shadow Charge damage.
  • Use Fire Stomp to check bushes and suspecting stealthed Heroes nearby.
  • Save Apocalypse for moments where the enemy team is about to unleash their own cooldowns, specially those that require stationary channeling (i.e. Junkrat's RIP-Tire and Nazeebo's Ravenous Spirit). It is also very effective to start engages if the allied team has proper ways to follow-up.
  • Use Lightning Breath as a follow-up to a chain of crowd control on the enemy team.
    • It is great when used in enclosed spaces, such as Mercenary Camps, or when defending static objectives.

Matchups[]

Pairings[]

Diablo is best when paired with Heroes that can reliably follow-up and/or opening chances for him to disrupt the enemy team. Heroes that feature any kind of hard crowd control (such as stuns and roots) have great synergy with all of Diablo's abilities. Because of this, having another Warrior can greatly improve Diablo's performance.

Arthasplate
Arthas has a great kit for disabling opponents, which synergizes with Diablo's own disruptive abilities. Both Howling Blast and Summon Sindragosa give Diablo enough time to set up his combos, as well hitting opponents with Apocalypse.


ETCplate
ETC and Diablo form a great duo into disrupting and harassing opponents. In addition Powerslide +Mosh Pit is a powerful combo to be followed up by Apocalypse, capable of disabling the entire enemy team.


Garroshplate
Garrosh has immense synergy with Diablo, allowing for a strong double combo that can easily destroy key targets: Groundbreaker > Wrecking Ball followed by Shadow Charge > Overpower. Opponents caught by this combo will have little chances to survive as the rest of the allied team swarms on the victim.


Jainaplate
Jaina's ability to slow her opponents makes easier to Diablo to charge, and vice-versa. In addition Ring of Frost and Template:Apocalypse can win any team fight if timed properly.


Kerriganplate
Kerrigan and Diablo share one distinct trait: they're both excellent gankers. Diablo can effectively charge at his victim and put them in a perfect position for Kerrigan to finish them off, leaving little time to react.


Malfurionplate
Malfurion's Entangling Roots and Twilight Dream are two powerful abilities with great synergy with Diablo's kit.


The Butcherplate
In a similar fashion to Kerrigan, The Butcher makes an excellent ganking buddy to Diablo, able to dive alongside Diablo to eliminate key targets with precision.


Tyrandeplate
With his hard-engage and aggressive gameplay style, Diablo can quickly set up and follow up Lunar Flare, effectively trapping opponents into crowd control chains, specially if Diablo picks Apocalypse and Domination and Tyrande picks Starfall.


Valeeraplate
Diablo and Valeera are of like mind during team fights: find a squishy target and eliminate them. When you combine Diablo’s displacement and lockdown with Valeera’s, no place on the battlefield is safe.


Zeratulplate
Zeratul ability to blink in and out of combat makes him valuable for Diablo's ganking power, as he can help into eliminating key targets. Additionally well timed Void Prison can be followed up by Apocalypse for massive control.


Effective against[]

Diablo shines against opponents with poor mobility, as he can pressure them by simply charging with Shadow Charge. His ability to dive into the backline, combined with his massive bulk, makes him perfect at interrupting the rotations of his enemies, such as channeled cooldowns.

Aurielplate
Auriel wants time for her allies to generate energy for her healing, but Diablo likes to press the issue. If Diablo chooses to concentrate his disabling effects on the character that generates the best energy for Auriel, he effectively cripples Auriel’s healing capabilities.


Lúcioplate
Heroes who can quickly close the gap like Diablo can give Lúcio as hard time, as they are often difficult to kite. Lúcio also has an unfortunate penchant for being near walls, which is something that Diablo can easily take advantage of with Shadow Charge.


Effective foes[]

Having one of the largest health pools in the game, Diablo is naturally countered by Heroes that can deal direct damage to health percentage. In addition, solid and defensive backlines capable of negating his Shadow Charge > Overpower combo can make extremely difficult for Diablo to make his job properly.

Leoricplate
Leoric excels against heroes with high healthpools, and Diablo's trait Black Soulstone will allow Drain Hope will allow Leoric to cause high chunks of damage against Diablo. Wraithwalk also nullifies the crowd control effects of Shadow Charge and Overpower, which can mess up Diablo's rotation if used without the proper talents.


Malthaelplate
Malthael's high sustain, relatively high mobility and natural ability to melt opponents with high health makes difficult for Diablo to pin him down.


Tychusplate
Tychus superior range, kiting and ability to shred opponents with high health. While he lacks the mobility avoid Diablo in a direct combat, he can completely destroy the Lord of Terror if his team provides enough peel. In addition, Frag Grenade can disrupt's Diablo's rotation completely.


Skins[]

Lord of Terror (base)
Diablo - LOT Diablo - LOT - Visceral Diablo - LOT - Onyx Diablo - LOT - Toxic
Lord of Terror Visceral Onyx Toxic IconShard 100
Kaijo IconShard 100
The scientists of Tristram Labs had grown overconfident. They believed the power of the atom was finally under their control. They were wrong.
This skin is related to the Mechas VS Kaijos themed-skins.
Diablo - Kaijo Diablo - Kaijo - Tyrant Diablo - Kaijo - Crimson
Kaijo Tyrant Crimson
Iron Diablo IconShard 100
The heroes foolishly believed shattering his soulstone upon the Hellforge would end his reign. Now, adorned with the Hellforge's remnants, he would shatter every bone in their bodies in return.
Diablo - Iron Diablo - Iron - Soul Diablo - Iron - Fell
Hell Soul Fell-iron*

*Though the spelling is fel in World of Warcraft, fell is the spelling used for demonic magic/power in Diablo.

Lurkablo IconShard 400
It is with hushed whispers the fishermen of Stormwind speak of the Lord of the Depths. His very name an eternal curse upon any angler foolish enough to speak it aloud: Lurkablo.

This skin is related to the Warcraft themed-skins. Features altered voice-over.

Diablo - Lurkablo Diablo - Lurkablo - Luminescent Diablo - Lurkablo - Cave Dweller
Lurkablo Luminescent Cave Dweller
El Chamuco IconShard 600
The terrifying El Chamuco is well-known as the muscle of the "Hell's Screamer" tag-team alongside El Jefe. Rumors circle that he actually is a demon, born in the pits of the burning hells, but that can't be possible. Can it?
Diablo - El Chamuco Diablo - El Chamuco - Hell's Screamer Diablo - El Chamuco - Underworld
El Chamuco Hell's Screamer Underworld
Archangel IconShard 1600
Bringing a whole new meaning to "Holy Terror."

Features altered voice-over and themed abilities.

Diablo - AA Diablo - AA - Toxic Diablo - AA - Twilight Diablo - Archangel - Skyborne
Archangel Toxic Twilight Skyborne IconShard 2400
Prime Evil Diablo IconShard 1600
After twenty years, all seven essences swirled within the Black Soulstone. With Adria's final betrayal, the seven were combined into one, giving rise to a reborn Diablo... The Prime Evil.

Features replaced voice-over.

Diablo - PE Diablo - PE - Nightmare Diablo - PE - Toxic
Prime Evil Nightmare Toxic
Diablo - PE - Horrific Diablo - PE - Timeless
Horrific IconShard 2400 Timeless IconShard 2400

Notes[]

  • Samwise Didier likes to joke that Lurkablo is the offspring of Diablo and a murloc.[1]
  • A mini-figure of Diablo based on his appearance in the game was released in May 2015.[2]

Development[]

Diablo was conceived within the first two years of the game's development.[3]

In a 2011 build of the game, Diablo was considered as a boss for the now canceled Tristram map.[4] By April 2012, it appeared that Diablo had become a playable character.[5]

As of BlizzCon 2015, the development team is looking to give Artanis a death animation more fitting of his lore.[6]

Patch changes[]

  • Patch (Patch July 11, 2017Note: Skyborne Archangel Diablo, Horrific Prime Evil Diablo, Timeless Prime Evil Diablo skins added.
  • Patch (Patch June 13, 2017Note: Prime Evil Diablo’s model while no longer freeze in place during its victory animation.
  • Patch (Patch April 25, 2017Note: Prime Evil skin added.; Fixed an issue preventing Diablo from using Basic Attacks against his Overpower target if Overpower was interrupted by Zeratul’s Void Prison.
  • Patch (Patch January 24, 2017Note: Fixed a visual issue affecting Diablo's tail during certain animations.
  • Patch (Patch December 20, 2016Note: Base Maximum Health reduced from 2647 to 2567; ​Health Regen reduced from 5.52 to 5.35.
  • Patch (Patch December 14, 2016Note: Received updated visual effects and talent icon color tints.
  • Patch (Patch December 6, 2016Note: Diablo's Basic Attack has received responsiveness improvements.
  • Patch (Patch October 18, 2016Note: Diablo has received additional idle animation polish.; Received custom Hearthstone animations.
  • Patch (Patch September 27, 2016Note: Diablo’s prices have been reduced to $3.49 USD and 2,000 Gold.
  • Patch (Patch August 18, 2015Note: Diablo III and Diablo III: Reaper of Souls players who log in to Heroes during the three weeks following the release of today's patch will permanently receive Diablo in Heroes of the Storm.

References[]

  1. 2013-11-10, Blizzcon 2013: Heroes of the Storm - Overview. YouTube, accessed on 2013-12-09
  2. 2015-02-19, Pre-Order FUNKO Heroes of the Storm Mystery Minis Mini-Figures. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2015-02-20
  3. 2016-11-21, BlizzCon 2016 Heroes of the Storm Deep Dive Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2016-11-21
  4. 2013-11-11, Heroes of the Storm: Sixen Interviews Dustin Browder. YouTube, accessed on 2013-12-01
  5. 2014-05-21, Blizzard set out to make a StarCraft mod, and instead reinvented gaming's most popular genre. Polygon, accessed on 2014-05-22
  6. 2015-11-06, Heroes of the Storm – Hero Deep Dive | Summary. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2015-11-09

External links[]

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