Malthael · Bruiser
Malthael Early Game Guide
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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
Early, hold the solo lane: soak every wave, win trades when the enemy misses abilities and take mercenary camps when your lane is pushed. Early, keep your lane, take a camp when you can and rotate to map objectives and mercenary camps in time.
Strengths
- Good wave clear, according to Blizzard's own hero tags.
- Can hold a lane alone.
- Strong gank potential around the map.
Weaknesses
- Mana-hungry: Blizzard flags its energy as important, so manage it early.
- Relies on basic attacks: blinds and armor hurt its damage.
- Low damage by itself: it needs its team to finish kills.
Build cheat sheet
Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.
- Early game talentsBalancedRecommendedLevels 1 to 7 lean on survivability to win the early soak and the first objective; from level 10 it follows the balanced plan.
- Balanced talentsBalancedAdvancedAt each level, the talent that serves more than one plan. A safe default when you don't know the enemy team yet. Built by reading the talent texts; Blizzard publishes no pick rates.
Builds
Early game talents
When to use it
Levels 1 to 7 lean on survivability to win the early soak and the first objective; from level 10 it follows the balanced plan.
Map job
Battlegrounds change every match, so this is its job on any of them.
Solo laneMainHolds a lane alone so the rest of the team can rotate.- Double soakPriority 2Soaks experience in a lane, usually alongside a teammate, and clears waves fast.
- RotateMoves between lanes to gank and help.
- Mercenary campsTakes mercenary camps when it is safe.
- With the teamStays with the team for fights and objectives.
Talents by level
Death's ReachIncrease Wraith Strike's range by 35%.W
On a Pale HorseGain an additional 20% Movement Speed while mounted.Passive
Fear the ReaperActivate to increase Movement Speed by 25% and pass through other units for 4 seconds.Active
- 1Upgrades Wraith Strike for more utility.
- 4Upgrades Death Shroud for more survivability.
- 7Upgrades Reaper's Mark for more survivability.
- 10Fits more than one plan at level 10: damage and survivability.
- 13Upgrades Reaper's Mark for more survivability.
- 16Upgrades Reaper's Mark for more damage.
- 20Fits more than one plan at level 20: damage and survivability.
Balanced talents
When to use it
At each level, the talent that serves more than one plan. A safe default when you don't know the enemy team yet. Built by reading the talent texts; Blizzard publishes no pick rates.
Map job
Battlegrounds change every match, so this is its job on any of them.
- Solo laneMainHolds a lane alone so the rest of the team can rotate.
- Double soakPriority 2Soaks experience in a lane, usually alongside a teammate, and clears waves fast.
- RotateMoves between lanes to gank and help.
- Mercenary campsTakes mercenary camps when it is safe.
- With the teamStays with the team for fights and objectives.
Talents by level
- Death's ReachIncrease Wraith Strike's range by 35%.W
- On a Pale HorseGain an additional 20% Movement Speed while mounted.Passive
- Fear the ReaperActivate to increase Movement Speed by 25% and pass through other units for 4 seconds.Active
- 1Upgrades Wraith Strike for more utility.
- 4Fits more than one plan at level 4: utility and damage.
- 7Upgrades Soul Rip for more utility.
- 10Fits more than one plan at level 10: damage and survivability.
- 13Upgrades Reaper's Mark for more survivability.
- 16Upgrades Reaper's Mark for more damage.
- 20Fits more than one plan at level 20: damage and survivability.
Abilities
QSoul Rip2s25 mpExtract the souls of nearby enemies afflicted by Reaper's Mark, dealing 100 (+4% per level) damage and healing Malthael for 25 (+4% per level) per target hit. Heroic targets heal Malthael for an additional 4% of the Hero's maximum Health.- WWraith Strike5s30 mpInstantly teleport through an enemy afflicted by Reaper's Mark, dealing 59 (+4% per level) damage and refreshing Reaper's Mark.
EDeath Shroud8s50 mpAfter 0.25 seconds, unleash a wave of dark mist that applies Reaper's Mark to enemies it hits.
RTormented SoulsHeroic60s20 mpUnleash a torrent of souls, continually applying Reaper's Mark to nearby enemies for 4 seconds. When Tormented Souls is cast and when it expires, reset the cooldown of Wraith Strike.Heroic — hits an area. Plan your fights around its cooldown.
RLast RitesHeroic70s100 mpApply a death sentence to an enemy Hero that, after 2 seconds, deals damage equal to 50% of their missing Health. Quest: Enemies killed between the application of Last Rites and within 1.5 seconds of it dealing damage permanently reduce its cooldown by 5 seconds, to a minimum of 20 seconds.Heroic. Plan your fights around its cooldown.
Reaper's MarkTraitBasic Attacks cleave in an area in front of Malthael and afflict non-Structure targets with Reaper's Mark for 4 seconds. Marked enemies are revealed and take damage equal to 2% of their maximum Health every 1 second.
Strategy
1Early talents
The first three talent tiers (levels 1, 4 and 7) set up how you soak and trade. The early build below leans on survivability to win that phase.
- Picks: Death's Reach and Throwing Shade.
2Trading
Trade when the enemy uses their main ability on the wave; your sustain wins long trades. The kit brings mobility with Wraith Strike and sustain with Soul Rip.
3Soaking and rotations
Soaking is the laning phase: stay in range of your minion waves, rotate between lanes so none is left empty and group before each objective spawns.
4Early objectives
Early, keep your lane, take a camp when you can and rotate to map objectives and mercenary camps in time. Your big moments are level 10, when you pick Tormented Souls or Last Rites, and level 20, when the heroic gets its upgrade.
Tips
- Trade when the enemy uses their main ability on the wave; your sustain wins long trades.
- Death's Reach is your first purchase that changes the lane: get it early.
- Keep Wraith Strike ready when the enemy's gankers are missing.
- Early, keep your lane, take a camp when you can and rotate to map objectives and mercenary camps in time.
Matchups
Strong against
Blizzard classifies Tychus as a Ranged Assassin: once Malthael is on top of them, that distance stops mattering.
Blizzard classifies Valla as a Ranged Assassin: once Malthael is on top of them, that distance stops mattering.
Blizzard classifies Xal'atath as a Ranged Assassin: once Malthael is on top of them, that distance stops mattering.
Weak against
Malthael has to walk up to start a fight, and Ancient Spear (stun) stops that engage before it lands.
Malthael has to walk up to start a fight, and Misha, Charge! (stun) stops that engage before it lands.
Malthael has to walk up to start a fight, and Righteous Hammer (stun) stops that engage before it lands.
Changelog
- Updated for patch 2.57.0.98304.
- Updated for patch 2.57.0.98297.
- Updated for patch 2.57.0.98285.
- Guide created for patch 2.55.17.98025.
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