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Anub'arak · Tank

Anub'arak Aggressive Guide

OffensiveData-drivenMediumPatch 2.57.0.98304
158Updated

More Anub'arak guides

This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.

Overview

This guide is about playing Anub'arak aggressively. Aggressive tanking means engaging whenever an enemy is caught out and pushing your team forward into objectives. Your big moments are level 10, when you pick Locust Swarm or Cocoon, and level 20, when the heroic gets its upgrade.

Strengths

  • Strong gank potential around the map.
  • Crowd control: Impale applies a stun.
  • Has escape tools, according to Blizzard's own hero tags.
  • Sustain from Locust Swarm.

Weaknesses

  • Mana-hungry: Blizzard flags its energy as important, so manage it early.
  • Low damage by itself: it needs its team to finish kills.
  • Every death while playing aggressively hands the tempo back to the enemy.

Build cheat sheet

Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.

Builds

Damage talents

OffensiveRecommended
Open build

When to use it

At each level, the talent most focused on damage. Choose it when your team has enough frontline and needs you to kill.

Map job

Battlegrounds change every match, so this is its job on any of them.

  • Solo laneHolds a lane alone and wins it.
  • Double soakSoaks experience in two lanes at once.
  • RotatePriority 2Rotates between lanes to create kills and pressure.
  • Mercenary campsTakes mercenary camps when it is safe.
  • With the teamMainStays with the team: it wins fights, not lanes.

Talents by level

  • Nerubian ArmorIncrease Harden Carapace's Spell Armor by 25.W
  • Legion of BeetlesBeetles have 30 Spell Armor. Automatically spawn a Beetle every 12 seconds. Can be toggled on and off.Trait
  • Regeneration MasterQuest: Gathering a Regeneration Globe increases your Health Regeneration by 1 per second, up to 30. Reward: After gathering 25 Regeneration Globes, you also gain 500 Health.PassiveQuest
  • 1The most survivability-focused option at level 1.
  • 4Upgrades Impale for more damage.
  • 7The most damage-focused option at level 7.
  • 10Heroic ability focused on damage.
  • 13The most damage-focused option at level 13.
  • 16Upgrades Impale for more damage.
  • 20The most damage-focused option at level 20.

Abilities

  • QImpale12s65 mpDeals 90 (+4% per level) damage. Stuns for 1 second.
  • WHarden Carapace7s25 mpGain a Shield that grants 40 Spell Armor and absorbs 340 (+4% per level) damage over 3 seconds.
  • EBurrow Charge14s65 mpBurrow to the target location, dealing 91 (+4% per level) damage and briefly stunning enemies in a small area upon surfacing, slowing them by 25% for 2.5 seconds. Burrow Charge can be reactivated to surface early.
  • RLocust SwarmHeroic100s75 mpDeal 68 (+4% per level) damage per second to nearby enemies. Each enemy damaged restores 24 (+4% per level) Health. Lasts 6 seconds.Heroic — heals and hits an area. Time it for the enemy's burst, not for chip damage.
  • RCocoonHeroic70s70 mpWraps target enemy Hero in a cocoon, rendering them unable to act or be targeted for 7 seconds. Allies of the Hero can attack the cocoon to break it and free them early.Heroic — applies a disable. Use it on the target your team can kill.
  • DScarab HostTrait8sUsing an Ability spawns a Beetle which lasts for 8 seconds, attacking nearby enemies for 20 (+4% per level) damage.

Strategy

1When to fight

Your big moments are level 10, when you pick Locust Swarm or Cocoon, and level 20, when the heroic gets its upgrade. Aggressive tanking means engaging whenever an enemy is caught out and pushing your team forward into objectives.

2Picking your targets

Open with Impale on a priority target, then stand between the enemy divers and your healer. The best target is the one your team can reach and kill before the enemy answers, not always the most valuable one.

3Snowballing a lead

After a won fight, take map objectives and mercenary camps before anything else: that's what turns kills into a lead the enemy can't erase. Early, be the first at map objectives and mercenary camps and help your team win the first level race.

4When to back off

Safe tanking means peeling for your backline, holding your crowd control for enemy divers and letting them come to you. If your key abilities are on cooldown or the enemy is missing from the map, the aggressive play is to wait.

Tips

  • Use Impale to start the fight, then commit your damage.
  • At level 10, pick the heroic that ends fights fastest: Locust Swarm or Cocoon.
  • Track the enemy's key cooldowns and attack right after they use them.
  • Turn every kill into map objectives and mercenary camps: a kill without an objective is a wasted lead.
  • Push your lane before you roam so the aggression doesn't cost you resources.

Matchups

Strong against

  • Lunara

    Blizzard classifies Lunara as a Ranged Assassin: once Anub'arak is on top of them, that distance stops mattering.

  • Mephisto

    Blizzard classifies Mephisto as a Ranged Assassin: once Anub'arak is on top of them, that distance stops mattering.

  • Nazeebo

    Blizzard classifies Nazeebo as a Ranged Assassin: once Anub'arak is on top of them, that distance stops mattering.

Changelog

  1. Updated for patch 2.57.0.98304.
  2. Updated for patch 2.57.0.98297.
  3. Updated for patch 2.57.0.98285.
  4. Guide created for patch 2.55.17.98025.

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