Updates

Base

• Quickcast Settings
  • Removed Seeker in the Dark.

Talents

• Level 4
  • Psionic Strength [Passive]
    • Added the stack count to the Buff Bar.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Might of the Nerazim abilities to heal for more damage than intended with Shadow Mending.

Bug Fixes

• Difficulty updated from Hard to Very Hard.
• Cleave will now reveal the effect area for 0.75 seconds.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Singularity Spike when cast from Might of the Nerazim to act as a non-Might of the Nerazim Singularity Spike.

Bug Fixes

• Shroud of Adun now contributes to Zeratul's Self-Healing scoreboard stat.
• Shadow Stride now contributes to Zeratul's Self-Healing scoreboard stat.

Updates

Talents

• Level 20
  • Unwavering Pressure [W]
    • Adjusted functionality: Remove the Mana cost of Singularity Spike. Basic Attacks against non-Heroic targets reduce the cooldown of Singularity Spike by 1.25 second, and by 2.5 seconds against enemy Heroes.
  • Shadow Stride [Passive]
    • Additional functionality: Casting Vorpal Blade grants Zeratul a Shield that absorbs 260 damage over 3 seconds.

Developer Comment: We missed the mark on our initial changes to Zeratul's Level 20 talents. We're beefing them up to be more competitive.

Updates

Talents

• Level 20
  • Gift of the Xel'Naga [R2]
    • Removed.
  • Nexus Blades [Passive]
    • Removed.
  • New talent: Unwavering Pressure [W]
    • Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes who are marked or Slowed by Singularity Spike reduce the cooldown of Singularity Spike by 1.25 seconds.
  • New talent: Shadow Stride [Passive]
    • Reduce the cooldown of Vorpal Blade by 10 seconds.

Developer Comment: Zeratul's Level 20 talents have been dominated for a long time by Twilight Falls and Shadow Mending. We're removing the two options that have seen very little play and are instead adding talents that should be more viable.

Updates

Talents

• Level 13
  • Shroud of Adun [Trait]
    • Shield amount increased from 15% to 20%.
    • Shield gain reduced from being over 5 seconds to over 3 seconds.

Developer Comment: Shroud of Adun is slightly underperforming compared to its alternatives. It now has synergy with Move Unseen due to our last round of changes to Zeratul, and hopefully with this buff Shroud of Adun gets pushed into the limelight.

Bug Fixes

• Zeratul no longer auto-acquires targets that walk within range while Cloaked.

Updates

Abilities

• Level 1
  • Shadow Hunter [E]
    • Cooldown reduction from Basic Attacks increased from 1 to 1.5 seconds
  • Move Unseen [Trait]
    • Additional functionality: Reduce the cooldown of Permanent Cloak by 1 second
• Level 7
  • Wormhole [E]
    • Adjusted Functionality: Wormhole cannot be cast for 1.25 seconds after Blink is used
    • Duration that Zeratul can use Wormhole increased from 3 to 4 seconds
  • Warp Skirmisher [Passive]
    • Bonus damage increased from 40% to 50%
    • No longer requires Zeratul to attack a target within 6 seconds of teleporting with Vorpal Blade
    • Additional Functionality: Bonus damage also activates on Zeratul's first Basic Attack after entering Stealth
• Level 16
  • Sentenced to Death [W]
    • Adjusted Functionality: Bonus damage also applies to enemies who are Slowed by Singularity Spike
    • Damage bonus reduced from 30% to 25%

Developer Comment: For a long time, Zeratul's talent picks have been dominated by the combination of Wormhole and Cleave-related talents. We've tried to nerf various Cleave talents in the past to promote other playstyles, but it has not yielded effective-enough results. We believe that the main culprit is the power of Wormhole giving Zeratul too much control over dealing damage incredibly quickly with Cleave before enemies can respond. With this change, Zeratul will have to commit for a little over 1 second to where he teleports to before being able to return to his starting location, which should give opponents who are paying attention to him time to punish him for mistakes. In addition to this change, we're buffing some of Zeratul's alternative talents to promote his other playstyles.

Updates

• Abilities

  • Cleave [Q]
    • Damage reduced from 212 to 200

  Developer Comment: eratul has been a considerable threat, particularly at the higher levels of play. This change is meant to simply reduce his power. We chose to nerf Cleave because it is his least interactive way of dealing damage, particularly when combined with Wormhole.

Updates

Abilities

• Singularity Spike (W)
  • Mana cost reduced from 80 to 70

Updates

Talents

• Level 16
  • Void Slash (Q)
    • Damage bonus reduced from 50 to 40%
• Level 20
  • Shadow Mending (Passive)
    • Healing reduced from 75 to 60%

Bug Fixes

• After death, Zeratul's body will no longer teleport to the location of his last Vorpal Blade target.

Bug Fixes

• Casting Void Prison on Blaze's Bunker while players are inside no longer halts their Ability cooldowns indefinitely after Void Prison expires.

Updates

Abilities

• Cleave (Q)
  • Damage increased from 200 to 212
• Singularity Spike (W)
  • Damage increased from 228 to 240
• Void Prison (R)
  • Mana cost reduced from 100 to 80
• Might of the Nerazim (R)
  • Basic Attack damage bonus reduced from 40% to 30%

Developer Comment: These tuning changes are meant to redistribute Zeratul's damage while also giving him a slight buff. Zeratul should now be a bit stronger during the earlier portions of the game if he takes Might of the Nerazim, but should have less opportunity cost if he chooses to take Void Prison, instead.

Bug Fixes

• Blink will now correctly break invisibility.

Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • Move Unseen (Trait)
    • Movement Speed increased from 25 to 30%
• Level 4
  • Darkness Descends (Active)
    • Passive Attack Speed bonus increased from 10 to 20%
• Level 7
  • Warp Skirmisher (1)
    • Bonus Attack Damage increased from 30 to 40%

Developer Comment: Zeratul currently has the lowest win rate out of all of our Stealth characters, so we're tuning up some of his underperforming talents. He traditionally has been a high performer as players learn to master him, so we will be keeping an eye on him over time to see if he needs any more changes.

Updates

Abilities

• Shadow Assault (R)
  • Removed
• (New Talent) Might of the Nerazim (R)
  • Passive: After using an Ability, Zeratul's next Basic Attack within 6 seconds deals 40% more damage
  • Activate to duplicate the last ability cast. Damaging abilities deal 50% less damage. This ability does not benefit from talents. 20-Second Cooldown

Talents

• Level 1
  • Vorpal Blade (1)
    • Added as a baseline ability. Default Hotkey: 1
  • (New Talent) Move Unseen (Passive)
    • Gain 25% bonus Movement Speed while Stealthed
  • Shadow Hunter (E)
    • Regen Globe required for quest completion reduced from 20 to 15
    • Mana cost reduction of Blink increased from 2 to 3
• Level 4
  • Combo Slash (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Grim Task (Passive)
    • Removed
  • (New Talent) Psionic Strength (Passive)
    • Damaging an enemy Hero with Basic Attacks or Abilities increases Zeratul's damage by 6% for 3 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.
  • (New Talent) Darkness Descends (Active)
    • Passive: Increase Zeratul's attack speed by 10%.
    • Activated ability – Zeratul gains 40% bonus attack speed for 5 seconds. 30-second cooldown
• Level 7
  • Wormhole (E)
    • Duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds
  • Slip into Shadow (E)
    • Removed
  • (New Talent) Warp Skirmisher (1)
    • Vorpal Blade now has 2 charges. Casting Vorpal Blade also causes Zeratul's next Basic Attack within 6 seconds to deal 30% bonus damage
• Level 16
  • Sentenced to Death (W)
    • Bonus damage reduced from 40 to 30%
• Level 20
  • Rewind (Active)
    • Removed
  • Nerazim Fury (R)
    • Removed
  • (New Talent) Twilight Falls (R)
    • Activating Might of the Nerazim resets the cooldown of all of Zeratul's Basic Abilities
  • (New Talent) Shadow Mending (Passive)
    • Zeratul heals himself for 75% of Ability Damage Dealt to enemy Heroes

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue causing the Void Slash talent to display an incorrect value for the damage increase.

Bug Fixes

• Zeratul's face mask will no longer appear to stretch in the Collection while using Low graphic settings.

Bug Fixes

• Zeratul's mask will no longer stretch and bend oddly during Hero Select or in the Collection on low graphic settings.

Updates

Talents

• Level 16
  • Sentenced to Death (W)
    • Bonus damage decreased from 50% to 40%

Bug Fixes

• A revealed icon will no longer appear above enemies hit by Rending Cleave.

Bug Fixes

• Bonus Ability Power granted by Grim Task is now properly removed on death.
• Fixed an issue in which Vorpal Blade could fail to teleport Zeratul the full distance to his target.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue preventing Zeratul from using Wormhole after casting a Blink gained from the Rewind talent.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that could prevent Shields granted by the Shroud of Adun Talent from fully recharging.
• Shroud of Adun will no longer accumulate Shields while using Hearthstone.
• Seeker in the Dark's duration is now correctly paused while a target affected by Singularity Spike is caught within Void Prison.

Updates

Talents

• Level 7
  • Wormhole (E)
    • Now has a short delay before it can be re-activated to avoid accidental activation. This was always the case prior to his recent rework but was an unintended change made during the rework process.

Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • Shadow Hunter (E)
    • Cooldown reduction upon quest completion increased from .75 to 1 second
• Level 4
  • Grim Task (Passive)
    • Ability Power stack bonus increased from 4 to 5%
    • Maximum Ability Power bonus increased from 40 to 50%
• Level 13
  • Mending Strikes (Passive)
    • Healing reduced from 40 to 35%
• Level 16
  • Void Slash (Q)
    • Damage bonus increased from 40 to 50%

Developer Comment: We're happy overall with how Zeratul came out with his talent revamp, and are making some adjustments to make his talent pick and win rates more competitive.

Updates

Stats

• Base Maximum Health increased from 1545 to 1622
• Base Health Regen increased from 3.22 to 3.38

Abilities

• Singularity Spike (W)
  • Mana cost increased from 60 to 80
• Blink (E)
  • Mana cost reduced from 75 to 50

Talents

• Level 1
  • Vorpal Blade (Active)
    • Moved from level 4
  • New Talent: Shadow Hunter (Passive)
    • Gather Regeneration Globes to lower the Mana cost of Blink by 2. After gathering 20 Regeneration Globes, your Basic Attacks reduce the cooldown of Blink by .75 seconds.
  • Block (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Regeneration Master (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Rapid Displacement (E)
    • Removed
  • Seasoned Marksman (Passive)
    • Removed
• Level 4
  • New Talent: Combo Slash (Passive)
    • After using an ability, your next auto-attack within 6 seconds deals 40% more damage.
  • New Talent: Grim Task (Passive)
    • Hero Takedowns increase Ability Power by 4%, up to a total of 40%. This bonus Ability Power is lost on death.
  • Rending Cleave (Q)
    • Moved from level 16
    • Damage is now dealt over 3 seconds from 5
    • Damage reduced from 50 to 40%
• Level 7
  • New Talent: Slip into Shadow (E)
    • Your Blink has 2 charges and its cooldown is increased by 8 seconds.
  • New Talent: Seeker in the Dark (W)
    • Your Singularity Spike takes 50% longer to explode, and can be reactivated while it is attached to an enemy to teleport to them. After reactivation, your Movement Speed is increased by 30% for 3 seconds.
  • Wormhole (E)
    • Moved from level 13
  • First Aid (Active)
    • Removed
  • Follow Through (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Shadow Spike (W)
    • Removed
  • Searing Attacks (Active)
    • Removed
• Level 13
  • New Talent: Shroud of Adun (Passive)
    • You gain a shield equal to 15% of your Maximum Health over 5 seconds while under Permanent Cloak.
  • Vigorous Strike (Passive)
    • Renamed to Mending Strikes
    • Moved from level 4
    • Healing amount increased from 25 to 40%
  • Giantkiller (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Burning Rage (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Assassin's Blade (Trait)
    • Removed
• Level 16
  • New Talent: Sentenced to Death (W)
    • You deal 50% increased damage to enemies while they have a Singularity Spike attached to them.
  • Master Warp Blade (Trait)
    • Moved from level 4
    • Damage increased from 100 to 125%
  • Void Slash (Q)
    • New Functionality:
      • Cleave deals 40% more damage and its cooldown is reduced by 3 seconds when it hits more than 1 enemy Hero.
    • Moved from level 7
  • Double Bombs (W)
    • Removed
  • Stoneskin (Active)
    • Removed
• Level 20
  • Protective Prison (R)
    • Renamed to Gift of the Xel'Naga
    • New functionality:
      • Enemies are slowed by 50% for 3 seconds once Void Prison Ends.

Developer Comment: There were two main goals behind this rework: Upgrade Zeratul's talent tree and introduce some interesting new choices, and better sell the fantasy of being a Dark Templar. As always is the goal with our Hero reworks, we didn't want to change the way he is played, but rather amplify and improve upon it. Overall, he has felt the same to play against in our internal testing, but with a couple new tricks up his sleeve. We hope that our current Zeratul fans will find some new toys to play around with, and that new users will feel more like the mobile shadow-assassin you'd expect from a Dark Templar Hero.

• (!) indicates a Questing Talent.
• Italic text indicates a NEW Talent.
• Bold text indicates a MOVED Talent.

Bug Fixes

• Void Prison will no longer cancel Rehgar's Feral Lunge or Olaf's Charge as long as the target of either Ability is still in range when Void Prison ends.

Bug Fixes

• Casting Blink and Rewind in rapid succession will no longer place Blink on a 2 second cooldown while Wormhole is active.
• Void Prison will now properly interrupt Flying Kick if the target moves too far out of range while Chen is in Stasis.

Updates

• Berserk (Talent) removed.

Bug Fixes

• Zeratul's Wormhole Talent will no longer allow him to Blink out of Root effects.

Bug Fixes

• E.T.C. can no longer change the direction of Powerslide while trapped by Zeratul's Void Prison.

Updates

• Cleave (Q)
  • Damage increased from 189 (+4% per level) to 200 (+4% per level)
• Shadow Assault (R)
  • Range increased by approximately 37%
  • A range indicator will now display while Shadow Assault is active, and when hovering the cursor over the Ability icon
  • Duration reduced from 6 to 4 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 100 to 50
  • Cooldown decreased from 100 to 45 seconds

Developer Comment: Being able to cast Shadow Assault more frequently and stick to his target better should help make Zeratul a lot more lethal when he chooses to give up the massive amount of utility that Void Prison brings.

Bug Fixes

• The tooltip for Zeratul's Permanent Cloak Trait now properly indicates that using Abilities will reveal him.

Bug Fixes

• Punishers on the Infernal Shrines Battleground will no longer fly outside the playable area after leaping into Zeratul's Void Prison.

Updates

• Focused Attack (Talent) removed
• New Talent (Level 4): Master Warp-Blade
  • Every 3rd consecutive Basic Attack against the same Hero deals 100% bonus damage

Developer Comment: Focused Attack was providing Zeratul with a little too much burst damage. Now with the consecutive hit requirement, Zeratul will now gain a more substantial damage boost if he is able to stick to his target for a few seconds.

Updates

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 47 (+13 per level) to 47 (+12 per level)
• Blink (E)
  • Wormhole (Talent)
    • Blink reactivation time reduced from 3 to 2 seconds
• Void Prison (R)
  • Casting range reduced by 50%

Developer Comment: Zeratul is a little bit too strong, especially at competitive and tournament level play. Wormhole remains extremely powerful, but decreasing this timer from 3 to 2 seconds will give increased counter play options to the enemy team, primarily if they can disable Zeratul during this shorter time window. Void Prison remains one of the most powerful Heroics in the game, but with the decreased range, Zeratul will now likely have to use Blink or aggressive positioning to get into place for the perfect Void Prison.

Bug Fixes

• Sonya's Seismic Slam, Tyrande's Light of Elune, and Zeratul's Cleave will no longer place the Hero's Basic Attack on cooldown.

Bug Fixes

• Casting Zeratul's Void Prison on Forts or Keeps should no longer cause targeting issues for Blackheart's cannons.

Updates

• Vampiric Strike (Talent) added at Level 4
• Vampiric Assault (Talent) removed