EPTXul
First Impressions
Analysis and Pro Opinions
”Long hours of study in dank mausoleums have made his skin pale and corpselike, his figure skeletal. Most people shun him for his peculiar looks and ways, but none doubt the power of the necromancer, for it is the stuff of nightmares.”
Quick Jump
Not long ago, Blizzard teased the reveal of two unknown Heroes that were bound for the Nexus in the coming months. After speculation dominated the tweets of fans, pros, and casters worldwide, we were given an answer to who the faces were behind the two silhouettes: Li-Ming the Wizard and Xul the Necromancer. The latter, a Melee Specialist from the Diablo universe, has finally become playable on the fields of battle and, after a week of testing, we are beginning to understand the capabilities and potential of the Cryptic Necromancer.
”Those who disturb the balance shall be unmade!”
Strengths
- Great solo lane potential
- Long-duration root
- Strong waveclear
- Strong against auto-attacking Heroes
- Bonus sustain from Bone Armor
Weaknesses
- No real escape
- Relatively weak burst damage
- Vulnerable to dives
- Long wind-up time on root
Abilities
Trait
- Raise Skeleton
- When a nearby enemy Minion dies, it becomes a Skeletal Warrior for 15 seconds. Up to 4 Skeletal Warriors can be active at once.
Basic Abilities
- Bone Armor (1)
Activate to gain a Shield equal to 25% of your maximum Health for 3 seconds.
- Spectral Scythe (Q)
- Summon a scythe that travels to you after 1 second, dealing 312.00 (+4% per level) damage to enemies.
- Cursed Strikes (W)
- Your Basic Attacks deal damage in a wide area and reduce the Attack Speed of enemies by 50.00% for 2 seconds. Lasts 4 seconds once triggered.
- Bone Prison (E)
- After a 2.00 second delay, deals 83.20 (+4% per level) damage and roots the target enemy Hero for 2 seconds.
Heroic Abilities
- Poison Nova (R)
- After a short delay, release poisonous missiles that deal 592.80 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies hit over 10 seconds.
- Skeletal Mages (R)
- Summons 4 Frost Mages in a line that attack nearby enemies for 48.75 (+4% per level) damage a second and slow them by 30.00% for 2 seconds. Last up to 15 seconds.
Xul can be played in a variety of ways. He is seen as a great counter-pick Hero against Melee Assassins as well as auto-attacking Heroes in general. Cursed Strikes has a rather large radius that slows attack speed by 50%. Couple his ability to slow attack speed with the Shade upgrade to Bone Armor and he becomes a Melee Assassin's worst nightmare.
With no out-of-the-box escape or speed boost, Xul's only baseline method of catching an enemy is Bone Prison, a two second mark followed by a two second root. Pre-casting Bone Prison, although difficult due to its rather short cast range, is key to successful ganks and securing kills. In the later stages of the game, try the Decrepify (Spectral Scythe gains 40% slow)/Bone Prison combination to stack the CC on an escaping target and secure a kill for your team.
Xul's Heroics have both been seeing action in the Nexus with great results. The area slow that Skeletal Mages provides can cause mass disruption on an enemy team during an engage and will make their retreat much more difficult. Combine the base cast of Skeletal Mages with the Heroic's Storm Talent upgrade Raised Mage to create even more damaging/slowing NPCs during a drawn out team fight. Inversely, if you're looking for massive damage from a Heroic, Poison Nova will destroy squishy targets' health bars over time, dealing staggering amounts of damage within a large area of effect range.
Talents
Similar to Kharazim, all three level one talents for Xul will modify his extra ability, Bone Armor, to change its base effect. The player must choose whether they want to increase their damage, add a bit of CC to their kit in the form a slow, or raise their defenses by evading basic attacks for the duration of the ability. Shade has been by far the most commonly picked talent at this tier thus far, but Backlash and Shackler have found their respective places in certain compositions.
Many players have been focusing on a Raise Skeleton build which gives Xul the ability to summon even more skeletons with heavy damage that will explode upon death by end game. The pushing power of the skeletons, even from an untalented perspective, is very strong. In the early game, Xul can easily overpower a lane with his constant harass from Spectral Scythe and Raise Skeleton minions. The additional minions from his passive work to really punish towers by quickly removing their ammo (by creating more targets for them to fire upon) and allowing more direct damage from minions on those front fort walls.
A new mechanic for Heroes has been introduced with Xul, Mortal Wound. For those unfamiliar with the mechanic, all Heroes hit by Xul’s Spectral Scythe will receive 75% less healing for 4 seconds. Due to its incredible game-altering effect, Xul cannot talent into Mortal Wound until Storm Talents are attained at 20. Naturally, it has become the most commonly taken talent against double Support teams, but most Xul builds that include Mortal Wound also take the majority of his other Spectral Scythe talents increasing the length, adding a slow, and decreasing the cooldown of the ability.
Professional Opinions
On Kit, Design and Implementation:
iDream, Cloud9
Xul's kit excels the most at punishing the enemy front line, but his kit is weak at dealing with ranged or mobile heroes. The range on his Cursed Strikes (W) and Bone Prison (E) are extremely short ranged, and Poison Nova's (R) range, despite being fairly big, is slow moving so it fans out at range and becomes easy to dodge. Because of this, Xul needs to find ways to get onto enemy priority targets when possible in team fights or else he won't contribute much. His passive, Bone Armor, coupled with his level one talent, Shade, can be used to dive enemies without taking damage or used to bait. By talenting into his Q talents at level 4, 13, and 16, Xul can almost permanently slow targets from range, while providing consistent damage output, while enabling himself to walk up to heroes and do damage due to the near 100% uptime ranged slows he can put out. His level 20 talent, Mortal Wound, makes him powerful late game despite lacking impacting talents such as Bolt of the Storm, Hardened Shield, or strong heroic upgrades. Tomster, Gust or Bust (Formerly King of Blades - Alpha)
I feel like his kit is new and interesting- it's strong, but I feel like the hero has a lot of room to be countered.Zoia, Caster
I feel his kit and design is very strong and make him one of the best Heroes in the game already. A lot of interesting mechanics were in his kit such as the delayed CC, healing reduction, and forced auto slow (I think the only forced auto slow in game besides this is reverberation on Muradin). He is not very fun though imo. Very simple straight forward kit. Not as flashy as Li-Ming or Greymane.Mirr, Team Relics
Xul has the best wave clear in the game at the moment. Utility-wise, I think he scores very well too. He has a targetable root, attack speed slow, movement speed slow and healing reduction. Damage numbers-wise, I think he is in a very balanced place. Gela, Professional Streamer and Content Creator
Well, overall, I think his kit is very powerful. He has an attack speed reduction, which affects a lot of Melee Assassins and, in case, it has a very big splash -- its really hard to avoid. He has a target roots, which is really strong and basically can be only cleansed, making him good on ganks, because if he can get close enough it's almost a 100% kill and I just told you about [only] 2 abilities :D! In fact, he also has a self shield! And with strong talents he is becoming a bit overpowered, in my opinion..FourCourtJester, Caster
The Xul visual design is very nostalgic and appealing. Many will remember the Diablo 2 Necromancer, and Xul seems to live up to his legacy nicely. Lines like "I don't remember Battle.net being so shiny" are just added polish on top.His kit is very diverse - he can fill many roles in a team fight currently. His push is outstanding when left alone - between Cursed Strikes and Raise Skeleton, he can clean out a wave very quickly. He falls behind in sustain when he's against an aggressive opponent, however, such as Zagara, so he's not quite displacing the queen yet.
Cursed Strikes, when talented, is a very strong team fight tool that brings AoE and bonuses to a fight. He can even heal per hero hit, further decrease attack speed on opponents, and has his own special "Giant Killer" version applied to the strikes as well. His sustain and output can out-do that of Li Ming's in a brutal melee.
Bone Prison, while it has it's uses, needs to be used in the right situations for it to be successful. In a 1v1, it allows Xul to catch up and almost win any trade out, especially with Bone Armor. In a team fight, it's not so useful against Warriors - it needs to be prioritized to setup a situation to pick off a high dps or the support. It IS defeatable though - Muradin can Dwarf Toss it, Tassadar can Phase Shift, etc.
The Spectral scythe is where most of the burst damage will come from on Xul - I think the design on it is rather complimentary to the kit as well, especially when Xul is on the retreat. It's high base damage allows it to trade out nicely on squishy dps targets. The only gripe I have about it is that if Xul dies after casting it, the Scythe itself disappears.
Even both Heroics are useful in their own ways - the body blocking nature of Skeletal Mages makes it ideal against heavy skillshot comps. Li Ming, for example, has a hell of a time landing shots thru the bodies. For a lot of warrior or melee heavy compositions, Poison Nova is ideal due to the Damage over Time nature of the ability. It especially stands out against double Warrior or stealth heroes, since they cannot re-stealth. It IS interruptable; however the window is small.
On Professional Play and Meta Changes:
iDream, Cloud9
I think Xul will see play competitively in every region because his kit is so strong against powerful heroes like Sonya, although his kit and numbers right now seem good enough to make him a solid early blind pick. He has solid damage output, crowd control, tankiness, and even can push well. Tomster, Gust or Bust (Formerly King of Blades - Alpha)
As he stands now, he will most likely be in the more aggressive metas (North America, China) because he is a hero that needs to be set up and have team follow-up to take full advantage of [his strengths].Zoia, Caster
He is def popping up in all the regions as a first pick first ban Hero. Very strong, almost instantly banned in the first set of scrims with him.Mirr, Team Relics
I expect him to be a high tier pick in the competitive meta.Gela, Professional Streamer and Content Creator
I think he is pretty much everywhere right now. He is a top HL pick and highest winrate Hero right now, which already was played in Korea on tournament.FourCourtJester, Caster
Overall, I wouldn't expect Xul to be a first pick material in upcoming eSports due to several reasons. Double melee comps (Xul + X) seem to struggle against triple ranged comps, especially kiting opponents such as Valla, Sylvanas and Li Ming. AoE healing, such as Malfurion and Kharazim, can also count Poison Nova very easily. He will definitely have his place, but likely will be more of a second round pick.On Map and Composition Viability:
iDream, Cloud9
Rotation-heavy maps and push-orientated maps such as Dragon Shire or Tomb of the Spider Queen are Xul's best maps because he brings amazing waveclear to any team. On rotations, he's able to kill a wave fast while spawning skeletons to further push. With or without talenting into his passive, Xul is a powerful solo laner as well and is able to stand up to or even threaten some of the strongest solo laners right now such as Zagara. Tomster, Gust or Bust (Formerly King of Blades - Alpha)
He can work in almost any compositions; he works well with CC and with slows so a Jaina/Lunara comp would be best in my opinion. He can work on all maps, but I feel like his best maps are enclosed maps such as Infernal Shrines and Cursed Hollow.Zoia, Caster
Xul will work in most comps and maps but his strengths will be the 3 lane maps. His split push is insane and, if left unchecked, is devastating. Triple ranged seems like a decent counter to him right now but not good enough to completely shut him down.Mirr, Team Relics
Xul has the best wave clear in the game at the moment. Expect him to be played often on heavy rotation maps such as Dragon Shire or Tomb of the Spider Queen.Gela, Professional Streamer and Content Creator
As I said already, he works good against melee comps and can fit pretty much in every team comp you want to play. As for maps, I'd say he is fine everywhere, he is feeling good on any stages of the game, so there is no specific map he is good on or bad on.FourCourtJester, Caster
Due to the nature of his push, Xul can dominate smaller battlegrounds if given the freedom of rotation. 4 man pushes in one lane allowing Xul to Cursed Strikes -> Raise Skeletons to clear out the other lanesIn larger battlegrounds, his Spectral Scythe for poking at objectives and catching any defenders off guard has proven very useful. Skeletal Mages have also shown great value in battlegrounds like Cursed Hollow, where you can set them up as a wall in small area engagements for maximum value.
Final Thoughts:
iDream, Cloud9
Skeletal Mages (R), Xul's other heroic, seems rather on the weak side right now. They don't do much damage, slow for very much, and die very quickly. It doesn't seem anywhere near as viable as Poison Nova (R) which has huge damage and zoning/pushing capabilities. I also feel like Xul lacks build diversity because his talents are so complementary to each other meaning that if you're going to pick one Q talent, you should pick them all, or if you're going to spec one talent into your skeletons, you should pick them all.Tomster, Gust or Bust (Formerly King of Blades - Alpha)
I feel like if the Hero stands as he does now, he may be a bit too strong and will shift the meta on his own. A nerf to his push potential and arc of his W, and I feel like he will be a strong/decent pocket pick in certain situations.Zoia, Caster
Despite him not being the most fun Hero to play for me I'm really happy with how blizzard has been handling Hero design. Each new Hero is introducing new fun mechanics to the game which is awesome. Really excited for the future of Heroes right now!Mirr, Team Relics
Regarding the game developers' direction comments on him being a hard counter to AA Heroes, I only agree with half of it. Xul does exceptionally well against melee assassins such as Illidan or Zeratul. But I think he gets thrashed badly by ranged AA Heroes such as Lunara or Raynor. It is very possible for these ranged AA Heroes to play around the kit of Xul by kiting him.Gela, Professional Streamer and Content Creator
I think he needs some nerfs, but it's a bit too early to say what exactly before we will see him on pro scene a couple of times. But I'd say he just has too many tools which are easy to pull off, and it's making him strong and easy to play Hero like Li-Ming when she was released.FourCourtJester, Caster
What Xul lacks is a reliable escape - if you catch him in a rotation or offguard, 2v1, etc, he must make a stand, for he will not very likely escape. His skeletons are approximate 1/3 of the stats of normal laning minions. I might want to see them buffed a bit, maybe to 1/2, because right now the skeleton talents are not very useful in the bigger pictures. Corpse Explosion and Skeleton Mastery are really the only ones I'd recommend giving thought to, and even then, Skeleton Mastery could definitely be altered to bump up the Skeleton's health as well as damage IMO.Overall, he's a ton of fun to play, but beware first picking him into a Hero League game - if your team goes Melee heavy, I haven't seen it work yet. What will likely make Xul stand out is the skill use of Bone Prison - it can be a frustrating skill to make use of in the right moments
So what do you think about Xul? Is Poison Nova superior to Skeletal Mages? Let us know!
