We know that Varian is a melee multiclass hero and he’s able to choose its path between a Warrior or an Assassin. This time, we’re going to speak about the Warrior build, a true tank that may bring the real power in HotS. Saving teammates by going on the front lines and soaking as much damage as he can is one of the ways to play with Varian. That’s why we’re making this build, in order to get the maximum effect when playing Varian. This Varian’s build is going to be constructed for better tanking.
Enough said. It’s time to preview the talents first and then as always, explain why we’re using those talents.
Varian Tank Build Guide
| LEVEL | TALENT |
| 1 | “Overpower” When Parry blocks a Hero’s Basic Attack, Heroic Strike’s cooldown is refreshed and the next one does 25% more damage.
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| 4 | “Shield Wall” Parry now grants Protected, preventing all incoming damage for the duration.
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| 7 | “Live by the Sword” Increase the duration of Parry by 40%. If at least 2 Hero Basic Attacks are blocked with a single Parry, its cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds.
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| 10 | “Taunt” Force the target Hero to attack Varian for 1.25 seconds. Passive: Maximum Health increased by 30%. Passive: Gain 15 Armor.
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| 13 | “Juggernaut” Charge deals bonus damage to Heroes Equal to 4% of their Maximum Health. or “Mortal Strike” Heroes hit by Heroic Strike receive 40% reduced healing for 4 seconds.
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| 16 | “Banner of Ironforge” Activate to place a Banner that grants 20 Armor to nearby Allied Heroes, reducing damage taken by 20%. Lasts 12 seconds. or “Banner of Dalaran” Activate to place a Banner that grants 20% increased Spell Power to nearby Allied Heroes. Lasts 12 seconds.
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| 20 | “Vigilance” Being hit by a Hero Basic Attack reduces the cooldown of Taunt by 1 seconds. or “Glory to the Alliance” Banner now also increases health regeneration and all healing received for nearby allied Heroes by 50%, and the cooldown is reduced by 20 seconds. or “Demoralizing Shout” Activate to demoralize nearby enemy Heroes, reducing damage they deal by 25% for 5 seconds.
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Varian Tank Build Explanation
At the first three talents, we choose to empower Varian’s Parry as it is one of the most valuable abilities when you’re playing the tank role. The Parry ability will be your best friend later in the game, as you’ll be able to soak a lot of damage and maybe survive throughout the fight, while your teammates will take care and finish the leftovers, more precisely, take care of the enemy team.
While the fight is ongoing, Varian can easily use his Heroic Ability, Taunt and duel the most needed Hero, providing a successful lockdown for 1.25 seconds. While Taunt is active, you’ll also receive a Health boost aswell as Armor boost too. This is just another reason why Varian feels really strong when played as a tank.
Now, moving forward, we need to decide whether we’ll take the Juggernaut or Mortal Strike talent, so we can get the maximum out of the build. This is something what you should determine on your own. Whether is that going to be the first or the second one, we’re convinced that Varian will still do good on his own. But if there are a lot of tanks on their team, we suggest to go with Juggernaut. If not, take Mortal Strike as it is always good.
Picking the right Banner and finishing the build successfully
Now, when it comes down to picking the right banner, do not bother yourself that much. Anything you’d go for needs to be alright. Most of the time, it’s good to go with Banner of Ironforge, but if the enemy team has too much spell power, you might want to reconsider and take Banner of Dalaran.
As the last talent, we have another similar situation where the in-game happenings should lead you to the right pick. This is what you should determine on your own and decide what to go with. Whether is that going to be the Vigilance, Glory to the Alliance or Demoralizing Shout, it should be according to the in-game fights. Most of the time, Glory to the Alliance is a good pick, but sometimes it might be better to pick some other level 20 talent.
That’s it, we’re done with this Varian Tank Build. Hopefully, this will help you improve your Varian’s playstyle and give you a winning streak in Heroes of the Storm.
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