Someone suggested I make a Sylvanas guide and I felt like I should go through with it. Seems fun. Also, I just hit 1000 forum posts, so to celebrate it seems fitting I make a topic about my all time favorite Blizzard character. This will be Sylvanas’s Shadow Dagger Build, my most used and favorite build.
First things first, this is how I personally play Sylvanas and I will be showcasing this build how I use it. If you’re looking for a guide to learn how to play Sylvanas’s Shadow Dagger Build then this should be a great place to start, however know that you don’t have to follow this build to the teeth, but it is suggested to. It has 2 separate mini-builds inside this one build, so its versatile.
Before we jump in, lets discuss her talents and builds
Talents: To make this shorter use this link to look at the talents
https://heroesofthestorm.gamepedia.com/Sylvanas#Talents
Ability Breakdown:
Black Arrows (D) Trait: This is mostly for pushing because it stops buildings/minions/mercs from attacking allowing you to push well if left alone. It can also be used for defense. Simply activate it using D and either auto/basic attack, throw a dagger and auto attack the dagger target, or cast E over whatever you want to freeze.
Note: you can throw a dagger at a building to spread the Black Arrows to other nearby non-hero/elite units (explained further below).
Withering Fire (Q): This is mainly just an additional damage ability in this build. I believe these shots also allow the Shadow Dagger to spread. Its useful for when enemies are running away and you can’t stop and auto/basic attack. Its also great for burst damage. Other than that, just use it when heroes are nearby do deal additional damage to them. There is a build based off of this ability but I’m not covering that one today, sorry.
Shadow Dagger (W): The foundation of this build. Crucial for this build. The main focus of this build is to gain Unfurling Shadow stacks, which I will call “Dagger stacks”. The more Dagger stacks you gain, the more damage you will do with this ability both initially casted and spread to other enemies. Stacking up this ability is very important. (Explained further below).
Haunting Wave (E): Another very important part of the build and Sylvanas herself. I will explain more below but this can be used for 3 things, to engage, to disengage, and to apply Banshee’s Curse to all units/heroes hit (Explained further below). You can teleport with this ability which makes it so important to Sylvanas’s kit. To teleport, simply cast it, and however far the wave goes, and Sylvanas will teleport to where its at by clicking E again. Simply said, but to use effectively in combat takes practice.
Trick: to deceive opponents or escape, cast the ability you want to go, but run the opposite direction of the wave, then teleport. If you do this right, you’ll most likely be safe. The reason this works is you’ll have the enemies follow you but the distance you create between your final destination and where you are luring your enemies is large. When you teleport, you’ll have a larger space in between you and the enemy. It can also go over walls so use that to your advantage.
Note: If the enemies follow you, teleport. If the enemies follow the wave, keep running and hope you get away or try to wait to cast it again and repeat. Be careful, the enemy might catch on to your patterns so its important to see what your opponents do and react to it. Try not to be predictable.
Wailing Arrow (R1): Useful for the silence, to finish kills, or to engage. Its best to wait until they are grouped so that all the enemies can be silenced, then you engage and hopefully secure a kill. Its also good for stopping duration abilities like Anduin’s protection, ETC’s Mosh Pit, Li Ming’s level 20 beam, among other things. It can also be used 1v1 to make the enemy not be able to use abilities for a short time while you burst them down. Not super effective against auto/attack heroes… as much but still stops them from using abilities.
Mind Control (R2): This is more like a taunt/stun except you bring the target closer to you. This is great when dueling because you can spam your abilities and auto attack them and you’ll definitely do a lot of damage. If targeted right, it can help take out a hero. It can also be used as an ability canceler so don’t forget that. Great for targeting and bursting down a single hero, not effective against a grouped team without your team’s help.
Talent Tree (suggested):
Level 1: Unfurling Shadows
Level 4: Unstable Poison
Level 7: Lost Soul or Festering Wounds
Level 10: Mind Control I’ve found better with Lost Soul. Wailing Arrow I’ve found more useful with Festering Wounds
Level 13: Take Remorseless if you chose Lost Soul. Take Windrunner if you chose Festering Wounds. Cold Embrace can work well with both.
Level 16: Life Drain (Will of the Forsaken if you have heavy CC on enemy team)
Level 20: R upgrade for either ultimate, Bolt of the Storm if you need extra chase/escape power.
This build is designed to empower your Shadow Dagger (W) and you can do that with AA’s or your spells.
How to stack up your W:
- Stage 1 - If you read the talents you’d know that you need 3 stacks of Banshee’s Curse in order to stack your W. You apply Banshee’s Curse by auto/basic attacking a hero 3 times within a certain time or using your E Ability with the Festering Wounds talent. This talent automatically applies 3 stacks of Banshee’s Curse to anyone it hits. Try to throw your E to cover as many heroes as possible to mark them.
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Stage 2 - Throw your W ability at any hero once they have 3 stacks of Banshee’s Curse to start stacking.
Note: Auto/basic attacking whatever target you threw your W at, will spread the Shadow Dagger to enemies nearby resulting in more possible stacks (math explained below after examples).
Examples:
- You can throw your dagger to a cannon tower or other building/unit and if you have enemies nearby with 3 stacks of Banshee’s Curse, it will spread to anything nearby and you are rewarded stacks if it hits a hero. This is useful if you cant consistently hit a hero 3 times safely.
- Enemy boss is pushing and the enemy team is with it. Get 3 stacks of Banshee’s Curse on any enemy hero using the E ability or through auto/basic attacking a hero 3 times, throw the W at the boss and auto attack the boss.
These 2 methods help against hyper mobile heroes and if you can’t overextend. If you spread your dagger to 2 or more heroes with 3 stacks of Banshee’s Curse, it will give you about 6 stacks multiplied by the number of heroes. Ex: if you spread your Shadow Dagger to a total of 3 heroes that are all affected by 3 stacks of Banshee’s Curse you will get 18 stacks for that one use of your W
So that’s how you stack. Let’s look at why the talents you chose are important. There is no limit to how many stacks you can get so get as many as possible.
Level 1: Unfurling Shadows is the base. Without it, you can’t empower your W ability.
Level 4: Unstable Poison gives Sylvanas great wave clear. Pretty much it. If you throw a W on a wave and auto/basic attack the target, you’l clear it fast. Throw in a Q also, it helps.
Level 7:
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Lost Soul - reduces cool down so you can use your W ability more often. It’s great for dueling because you’ll be stacking up your Dagger stacks while dealing a lot of damage to your enemy.
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How to stack using this talent:
Auto/basic all the time on heroes and throw your W on them. Repeat over and over. Your cool downs are reduced with every auto/basic attack so as long as you keep auto/basic attacking, you’ll be able to throw more W’s. This talent requires consistent auto/basic attacks and it helps if you know how to stutter step well. Stutter stepping is almost crucial in order to kite and chase. Its great if you can auto/basic attack a lot without interruption. Weak to blinds, stuns and heroes who can block auto attacks (Illidan, Varian, Chen), and heroes who reduce auto/basic attack speed (Rehgar, Arthas) -
Festering Wounds - allows you to apply multiple heroes with Banshee’s Curse with one cast of E, which allows you to gain multiple Dagger stacks very quickly. This is great for if you are unable to consistently hit auto/basic attacks on heroes because of blinds, stuns and things of the sort. Weak against silences/taunts.
Note: Heroes with spell reduction/armor talents are less affected by the spell damage from your W, but it doesn’t affect your ability to stack. -
How to stack using this talent:
Throw both the W ability at a unit nearby your group of heroes and E ability over a group of heroes and auto/basic attack the target of your W. Make sure you auto/basic attack the target you threw the W at so you can spread the Shadow Dagger
Edit note: Using your E to gain stacks puts your escape mechanism on cool down. Beware.
Level 10:
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Wailing Arrow is great for silencing a team specially when used with Festering Wounds because it silences them, allowing you to throw your E and W and auto/basic attack for a good amount of stacks. Most of the ability I explained above.
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Mind Control is great with Lost Souls because you can focus the target, auto/basic attack them and reduce the cool down of your W because of it allowing you to cast multiple W’s in a shorter time than normal. Good way to stack or burst down a hero. I’d save it to finish off a hero, not really to engage since it only affects one person.
Both level 10 talents are good but it depends on your play style.
Level 13:
- Remorseless allows you to occasionally throw a W so that’s good, but mainly it increases your range so you can reduce your Lost Souls more often. Might not look like much but the range increase is what is most useful.
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Windrunner allows you to engage and disengage in a tricky, yet effective Genji like style. In order to use the double teleport you first have to teleport one way, then cast E the second desired duration. So it can be in/out or you can chase a bit better. In addition, if you use it over heroes, you can apply Banshee’s Curse another time, allowing you to stack again. I suggest trying to teleport over the enemy team so you can mess with them and keep them cursed. This. Takes. Practice To. Perfect.
Note: Each time you teleport, it will reset the Q talent so don’t forget to use your Q when you teleport. - Cold Embrace lowers armor. Useful across the board with either of the level 7 talents. Only affects damage output, not stacking ability. Its a pretty passive, yet powerful talent.
Level 16:
- Life Drain is a go to with this build, either variant you chose because it gives Sylvanas sustain she didn’t normally have. The more you stack up your W, the more damage you will do and therefore more healing you will do in return. Only take if you don’t have an issue with CC.
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Will of the Forsaken is a must pick if you keep getting stunned locked and such. Only choose this if you are having trouble with CC during the match because you’ll be missing out on self sustain.
Note: You have until level 16 to decide which talent you need.
Level 20:
- Bolt of the Storm is only useful if you need assistance with engaging and retreating or even dodging sill shots. Otherwise upgrade your Heroic ability (Deafening Blast or Dark Lady’s Call).
What is my role with this build?:
- Your main role is to deal damage, so your main goal is to get as many Dagger stacks as possible. It helps you deal more damage. If you don’t get a good amount of Dagger stacks, you stunt her ability to deal damage. So your #1 priority is to get stacked! I’ve seen that 10-15 stacks per minute is a decent stacking rate.
Hint: You can stack off of the Dragon Knight and The Protector objectives so if the enemy got one of those objectives, just use that to stack up your W. Just be careful. - Another role you can do is push lanes, but not all the time. If you think laning might be good at times, then do it. You have the ability to do that well. I would try not to get tunnel visioned though because ganks will happen.
- You need to be there during team fights. Sylvanas is so amazing at dealing damage during team fights and you being there makes a big difference. Also, you should be stacking anyway.
- Minimize deaths. The longer you are dead, the more stacks you’re missing out of. But that’s pretty much the same for all heroes.
- This build is a jack of all trades build that can do a little bit of everything. Clear waves, soak, push lanes, freeze a lane, deal team fight damage, secure kills, silence enemy heroes, and she can escape pretty well. I’d just make sure you are where you are supposed to be, and not pushing a lane during a large team fight or objective for example.
Things to watch out for:
- CC. She is susceptible to it and can be pretty squishy if you get stunned locked. Its good to play aggressive, but not stupid.
- Bursty heroes. Sylvanas doesn’t do well against burst and as far as I know, doesn’t have any shield or damage reduction talents so you get what you get as far as health.
- Use walls/terrain to help escape. Using your E over terrain is one of the best ways to escape. Pay attention when you’re escaping and try think on your feet.
- Be confident, but not overconfident. You’re useless when you’re still respawning.
This pretty much sums up my guide on Sylvanas’s Shadow Dagger. Once you try her out and get used to how she works, this build will get easier. I hope I covered everything about these builds. If you have questions, feel free to ask. Sylvanas is one of the most powerful ranged assassins in the game, if not the best. This is very long, but if anyone wants another Sylvanas build guide, I’d be happy to make another. (If you are interested in me creating another build guide, post a purple heart at the bottom of your posts/replies).
Victory for the Forsaken! 
#1000posts
died to boss stun on core, desperate to cross 300 mark (it was a lost game)