Anub’arak is one of the heroes who is typically played as a main tank, and is currently one of the most successful in that role. His popularity has always fluctuated wildly, as various balance changes seem to impact his effectiveness more than most tanks. He tends to swing between extremes and is at the moment, at least in my opinion, fairly over tuned. However, since the perception is still that he is situational, and with the strength of the tank roster overall, he tends to be picked less often, and is very rarely banned. Because of this, now is a great time to learn how to play this hero and take advantage of the fact that he is very likely to be available, even later in the draft.
Anub’arak is viable in any comp and on any map, but excels in an environment where he faces ability damage, especially burst damage, and where team fights tend to be quick and decisive. There is no other tank as strong in locking down a potential victim (or victims!) long enough to ensure a kill, or diving in aggressively. With Cocoon, every fight has the potential to instantly become a 5v4, giving his team an even larger advantage. He shines when drafted into a comp that provides a lot of raw kill power, but not much CC. Heroes such as Li-Ming, Tracer, or Greymane thrive when given the opportunity to attack a hero that simply cannot fight back. He is also a classic dive buddy if you have heroes like Genji or Kharazim who want company when going in hard.
The main thing to keep in mind when playing Anub’arak is that you want the fight to start and end as fast as possible. Although he can easily handle poke damage through proper use of Harden Carapace (W), he does suffer from mana tension, and his health pool is relatively low for a tank, so an extended fight can stress his healer. He can be talented to enhance his durability, but mana will always be an issue for him, similar to playing Tyrael. Because of this, do not spam his abilities, but make sure that every single use has a specific purpose, especially when you can’t get a kill immediately. Always be willing to abandon a fight if you don’t establish an early advantage, as all of his CDs are quite low, so you will be able to re-engage when you see another opening.
Basic Abilities
No hero has as many options for engaging, peeling, mitigating damage, or escaping built into their base kit as Anub’arak. Every one of his abilities, as well as his trait, can be used for multiple purposes, so knowing exactly what all of his kit can do, and being flexible about using the tools provided, will allow you to be effective in many different situations.
Scarab Host (D) – Anub’arak’s trait is strictly passive, and will summon a beetle whenever any of his abilities is used. It can be talented to spawn additional beetles, and these will provide some additional damage, as well as a great deal of damage mitigation. His trait is what makes it such that he can survive even with his low health pool. Beetles will attack the nearest enemy, prioritizing heroes, and with enough of them on the field, can do a surprising amount of damage on their own. Like Nazeebo spiders, you can often snipe a kill on a low health hero who doesn’t realize they are being chased by their diminutive, skittering doom.
In addition, beetles are considered units in and of themselves, so will draw fire from towers, forts, and other hostile attacks, so are great for tanking structures when your team wants to push, and the next minion wave is still on its way. Beetles can also be used to intercept any ability that isn’t designed to specifically target heroes. A Muradin Stormbolt, Stitches Hook, or Garrosh Wrecking Ball can be soaked up by a beetle, completely ruining the enemy’s engagement. Beetles also intercept skill shots such as anything cast by Li-Ming, Kael’thas’ Gravity Lapse, or Tracer’s Pulse Bomb.
There are many times I will “waste” an ability, just to spawn a beetle so it can take the hit for me, whether from a structure, or an enemy hero.
Impale (Q) – This is a straight line skill shot that deals damage and stuns everything in its path. It can be used to interrupt, peel, safely check bushes, as follow-up CC, a little bit of wave clear, or to reset swing timers when taking a merc camp so you can stagger their AAs to smooth out the damage curve. Play with this ability until you have an intuitive feel for its range and timing, as it has a little bit of delay, as it will be your bread and butter in a team fight. Proper use of Impale is typically what sets up that kill, or prevents an enemy team from securing one of their own.
Harden Carapace (W) – This gives Anub’arak a shield that lasts 3 seconds by default, and provides 40 spell armor while active. Note that this is spell armor, so only reduces the damage done by abilities, not by AAs, although the shield does offer some AA protection. This is Anub’arak’s main personal mitigation tool, and is relatively cheap to cast with a fairly short CD, so can be somewhat spammed in combat. I will also use W specifically to spawn a beetle, even if the shield isn’t needed, such as when tanking structures during a push or to intercept an incoming skill shot. If the enemy team has scary burst ability damage, such as a Chromie, Alarak or Imperius, try to save your W to counter their big hits. It should also be timed for reducing damage from things such as Kael’thas’ Living Bomb.
Burrow Charge (E) – This is his signature ability, and what makes him both terrifying to face, and hard to pin down for a counter-kill. It is also a straight line skill shot in how you use it, but an AoE damage and stun in how it affects enemy targets. It is his main dive tool, but make sure you can get the kill, as it is also his only form of escape. This is similar to most tanks’ engage/disengage ability, such as Muradin’s Dwarf Toss, Diablo’s Shadow Charge, or ETC’s Powerslide.
There are a few tips and tricks to note to get the most out of your E:
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It can be canceled by pressing E again, meaning you can control exactly where and when you surface.
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You are Unstoppable while E is active, so it can be used as a personal cleanse for things such as Chromie’s Temporal Loop, Xul’s Bone Prison, and to dodge things such as Mei’s Avalanche, ETC’s Mosh Pit, and everything annoying about Gazlowe.
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Note that you are Unstoppable, not Invulnerable, so you will still be taking damage as you burrow, including from AAs, so don’t wait until things are critical to use it to leave a fight that is going sideways.
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Burrow Charge will go under terrain, so you can ignore things like structures or Tassadar Force Walls for repositioning and making it impossible for an enemy to chase you. You can also use it to take weird shortcuts across a number of maps, such as on Blackheart’s Bay to go from pier to pier the quick way. Don’t ask me how you can burrow through water, it just works. Trust me.
Heroics
Cocoon. That is all.
OK, fine. Sure, you can take Locust Swarm, it is a good talent, but the CD is too long to be a game changer like Cocoon. I will take it on large maps where I may not be near a healer, such as Warhead Junction, or in those no-healer QMs. Otherwise, Cocoon is one of the best heroics in the game, especially against other powerful heroics like Tassadar’s Archon, Tychus’ Odin, Ana’s Nanoboost, and more.
Oh, and at 20, take Rewind. Always.
OK, fine. The other level 20 talents are quite good, but locking a team down for that long, as well as having the option to use the second E as an escape, means you can dive in hard, and they simply aren’t allowed to play the game. If your team shows no interest in following up, you can just E back out.
Builds
With the buffs to a number of his trait talents, Anub’arak has several viable builds, and a lot of flexibility at most tiers. There are three “typical” builds I use on him, depending on what I am facing, that are a good place to start if you aren’t sure about which talents to take.
Trait build – “Say hello to my little friends!”
This is the build I use the most often these days, as it is good against the meta team comps where they have a good balance of sustained and burst, AA and ability damage. It also works well against most AA comps. There is really no bad time to use this build, so if you don’t feel very confident in being experimental, you can’t really go wrong with this one. It definitely boosts his self-sustain, overall damage, and waveclear.
1 – Legion of Beetles
4 – Bed of Barbs
7 – Leeching Scarabs
10 – Cocoon
13 – Burning Beetles
16 – Beetle, Juiced
20 – Rewind
You can take Shed Exoskeleton at 4 and/or Epicenter at 16 if you want additional mobility on him. It makes him deceptively slippery for a hero with a massive hit box.
Carapace Build – “Mages? What mages? I didn’t notice any mages.”
1 – Nerubian Armor
4 – Shed Exoskeleton
7 – Chitinous Plating
10 – Cocoon
13 – Urticating Spines
16 – Epicenter
20 – Rewind
This build makes him very nimble and durable, so you can dodge most things they throw at you, and if they do hit you, your HP is untouched. Double mage comps are fairly rare, but this will shut that down. It is also good against bruisers who do most of their damage through abilities, such as Deathwing or Imperius. Yes, Imperius’ damage is triggered by his AAs, but the damage itself is mostly spell damage.
Dive (E) Build – “LEEEEEROOOOY JENKINNNNSSSSS!”
1 – Nerubian Armor
4 – Underking
7 – Subterranean Shield
10 – Cocoon
13 – Urticating Spines
16 – Epicenter
20 – Rewind
This build is the one I use the least, as you need strong dive buddies you can trust to go in hard with you. This is the build that makes Greymane or Qhira mains ecstatic.
Conclusion
Anub’arak is a dynamic, mobile tank who can reward aggressive play. He has multiple build options, and some flexible talent tiers, so can adapt to the map and comps as needed. As a main tank with a strong win rate at all ranks, he is a good hero to know and have as an option for when the popular tanks are all picked or banned.
