Heroes of the Storm

Yrel Tips from Zarmony and Robadobah

Yrel Tips from Zarmony and Robadobah

The draenei paladin Yrel has burst into the Nexus to continue her fight against evil in yet another alternate universe. To help get you started with "The Light of Hope," we spoke to the HGC pros Robert "Robadobah" Purling and Matic “Zarmony” Mikec of Team Zealot to get their thoughts on building the new Warrior Hero.

Zarmony and Robadobah both see Yrel as a formidable and bulky main tank character who can help support her team with a variety of healing abilities and disruptive crowd-control tactics. Robadobah likens her to Johanna, “who also trades the traditional stun ability for strong survivability and area-of-effect control.” Zarmony likens her to “a less mobile but tankier Tyrael,” saying that her sustain and healing power can make her “very annoying to deal with since her job is to stay close to someone to get the value out of her Q.”

Zarmony's Build:

YrelTalents_Zarmony_Inline.jpg

Robadobah's Build:

YrelTalents_Robadobah_Inline.jpg

They both say that her main weakness is how easy it can be to interrupt or cancel her abilities while they are being channeled with the proper types of stuns or other forms of crowd control.

“My main tip to Yrel players is to try and consider when you want to channel your basic abilities,” Robadobah says. “If you are already in an enemy carry’s face, the self-slow caused by channeling may give them an opportunity to escape from you. When in doubt as a tank, it’s always fine to hold onto your cooldowns and wait for the right moment to strike.”

Level 1: Upgrade Vindication

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Zarmony and Robadobah agree that it’s best to start out with Light of Karabor, which upgrades the radius and healing effects of Yrel’s swinging attack, Vindication (Q).

“The increased range helps a lot in team fights,” Zarmony says.

“It makes it much easier to hit multiple heroes,” Robadobah agrees. Plus, while they both have different recommendations for Yrel’s level 13 Talent pick, they both think their selections synergize well with Light of Karabor—making Vindication even more useful later in the game.

Level 4: Unlock Her Healing Potential

Yrel is a tanky Warrior with a lot of Support-ish tendencies when played the right way, and Zarmony and Robadobah see the level 4 Talent Gift of the Naaru as a key way to play up her healing abilities to the advantage of the rest of her team.

“Yrel becomes a pseudo-Support upon reaching level 4,” Robadobah says. “Gift of the Naaru gives a significant burst heal to a nearby low-HP ally. There is also a very strong synergy with level 16’s Divine Favor, allowing you to activate the heal much more often.”

“Gift of the Naaru seems like the best straightforward Talent since it works well with diving (Genji, Tracer) and peeling (Lunara, Valla, Hanzo),” Zarmony says.

Level 7: Steed Fast Steed Furious

While Yrel’s jumping ability Avenging Wrath (E) helps her move around the Battleground, she can still use some extra mobility. Zarmony says that you basically “need” to take Divine Steed at Level 7 “because it’s your best gap closer if you can’t use your Trait (D) into Avenging Wrath.”

“The playmaking potential of Divine Steed is through the roof,” Robadobah says. “It is an 80% movement speed bonus on a 5 second cooldown. Use it to peel, use it to chase, use it to escape, use it mid-combat to run around an enemy and knock them back into your team with Righteous Hammer (W).”

Level 10: Take Your Pick

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Robadobah and Zarmony are on the same page with their Yrel builds until they get to Level 10. Zarmony likes Ardent Defender because it “helps with diving deep” and protects you against burst damage since, like Dehaka’s Adaption Heroic, it can give Yrel a solid healing boost at just the right moment. But Robadobah is less convinced.

“I expect Ardent Defender to initially be the more popular Heroic,” Robadobah says, “but I think that the comparably small cooldown of Sacred Ground appeals to me more. Yrel becomes extremely tanky for an indefinite amount of time and forces the enemy team to either try to ignore her or to retreat and re-engage in a different area. The 40-second cooldown also means that, much like Blaze's Bunker Drop, it will almost always come back up when needed.”

Zarmony concedes that both Heroics “seem viable to play,” noting that while he prefers Ardent Defender, Sacred Ground is a powerful tool to throw down on Battlegrounds focused on capturing and holding specific points on the map, such as Infernal Shrines, Volskaya Foundry, and Sky Temple. “Ardent Defender is the best choice against heavy burst,” he says, “while Sacred Ground has the advantage in long sustained fights.”

Level 13: Look For the Synergy That Works Best for You

Each of the level 13 Talents complement different parts of Yrel’s kit, so it’s best to take the Talent that works best with the way you perform her combos. Robadobah recommends Velen’s Chosen, saying that “the increased Spell Power makes both your self-sustain with Q and Gift of the Naaru feel much stronger. The 10-second uptime is also very easy to maintain throughout a fight.”

Zarmony prefers Aldor Peacekeeper to focus solely on empowering Vindication. “Reducing enemy damage is always good, especially if you are in the middle of the enemy team—and that will be your goal anyways since you’re the tank.”

“Overall you just want to hit your Q on as many targets as possible after level 13.

Level 16: Lower Your Trait’s Cooldown for More Frequent Attacks

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The two pros reunite at level 16, both saying that Divine Favor is the clear winner of the Talent tier simply because it allows you to start spamming your fully charged abilities much more frequently thanks to the Divine Purpose cooldown reduction.

“This Talent allows you to use your Trait much more often,” Robadobah says. “One effect is that this should mean more empowered abilities and less time spent channeling them in fights. But the main strength of Divine Favor within this build is that it greatly increases the amount of healing Yrel can do with level 4's Gift of the Naaru. The heal is tied to Trait activation and at level 16, you can reduce the Trait cooldown from 10 seconds to, potentially, all the way down to 4.”

Level 20: Lots of Ways to Go

Robadobah recommends taking Seraphim as Yrel’s Storm Talent because “a 2-second Unstoppable on a 10-second cooldown is too good to pass up.” Zarmony, meanwhile, suggests upgrading her Ardent Defender Heroic with Word of Glory, which is “another great tool for extra sustain for your whole team.”

What do you think of these builds for Yrel? Click here to discuss this post with other players in the official Heroes of the Storm forums, and we’ll see you in the Nexus!

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