Once an acolyte at the Temple of Karabor, Yrel grew up under the care of her sister Samaara. After being rescued during the Iron Horde’s siege of Draenor, Yrel would grow to be one of the principle leaders in the liberation of her people. Now serving on the Council of Exarchs, Yrel seeks to honor the sacrifices of the Prophet Velen and Vindicator Maraad who helped shape her destiny.

Yrel is a support tank, much in the vein of Tyrael. Through her basic kit and adaptive talent tree, she can provide healing and/or armor for her allies while controlling the enemy team with disruption and damage reduction. She is relatively tanky with significant self-healing and moderate damage, but may not provide the utility of Blaze or the off-lane dominance of Sonya.

Today we will be digging into the first and long-awaited Draenei to enter the Nexus. The observations to follow will serve as initial impressions of the hero, and may adjust over time going into her release.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Abilities

Divine Purpose feels very much akin to Kael’thas’s Verdant Spheres, providing an upgrade and instant cast for any of her three basic abilities. Each basic ability comes in the form of a channel, reaching its greatest power at the end of its 1.5 second channel. Even with quick cast on, each ability must be clicked again in order to activate it (either with the keybind or left click), rather than simply releasing the key. Personally, I’d like to see this interaction adjusted so that quick usage of an ability isn’t hindered by forced double clicking.

The clear weaknesses of these abilities rest in the 1.5 second channel time combined with the reduced movement speed, which is visually telegraphed and susceptible to interrupts. Yrel is also unable to auto-attack during the channel, which significantly affects her contributions during a battle. Divine Purpose allows Yrel to periodically bypass this drawback, allowing her to get burst self-healing, disruption, or mobility on-demand. Divine Purpose will not reset the cooldown of her abilities; so with the exception of combining the Holy Avenger talent at Level 7 and Divine Favor at Level 16, the trait does not enable ability spam. The trait itself is well-balanced, however initial impressions suggest that most of her abilities require Divine Purpose as a crutch.




It is interesting to note that each of Yrel’s basic abilities have the same mana cost and a rather short cooldown. This makes it easy to either rotate through abilities and her trait fluidly or use her diverse kit as needed without feeling the pressure of long cooldowns. Being interrupted during an ability channel will put the ability on its full 6 second cooldown, which can feel very frustrating, but is at least buffered by low cooldowns.

Vindication is Yrel’s primary method of self-sustain, which is quite formidable. The damage and waveclear potential on the ability is rather lackluster, but its utility improves through talents.

Righteous Hammer provides consistent knockback and disruption much like Lucio’s Soundwave. Of her three abilities, Righteous Hammer feels the most awkward, at least when first trying out the hero, and requires the most discipline. Players will need to be very judicious on timing the ability to provide the most value for their team, as it can be easy to push enemies to safety if used carelessly.

The knockback and stun can set up some nice plays, but it is unlikely for Yrel to get behind the enemy team without using a full range Avenging Wrath. Divine Purpose will need to be used on one of the two abilities, meaning the setup potential without getting interrupted may be less than desirable. Rather, it seems like Righteous Hammer is meant for disrupting the frontline and dive assassins. The ability is more consistent when used in tight chokes such as the bottom left and top right tribute points on Cursed Hollow.

Avenging Wrath is a decent gap closer, but is held back by the reduced movement speed during its channel. If using the ability to chase, it is best to use the instant cast version through Divine Purpose, as the reduced movement speed will hinder any attempts at catching your opponents before they get out of Avenging Wrath’s range. It is best to do a full channel when initiating and rely on quick casts (double click) when controlling the teamfight space.




Both of Yrel’s heroic options seem very powerful. Ardent Defender is a strong mitigation tool against burst damage and allows Yrel to confidently soak damage for her team. When coupled with its Level 20 upgrade Word of Glory the ability can reward Yrel players for good timing and game sense while punishing opponents who fail to avoid targeting her. The fact that her Level 20 upgrade provides a benefit to her team is worth considering, as Sacred Ground will only ever benefit Yrel.

Sacred Ground is great for contesting a boss/objective point or for fighting in choke points where the Yrel player knows they’ll get extended value from the ability. It is on a short enough cooldown to be used in every team fight, possibly more than once depending on the map. Once Yrel leaves the effect area, the ability disappears. The 40 armor increases the value of effective healing on her, once again punishing opponents for targeting her in a teamfight.

The real question surrounding these two heroics is whether or not Yrel is threatening or disruptive enough to warrant the attention of her opponents. If so, then Yrel may have two very powerful abilities at her disposal. If not, then neither ability will see much value.

Builds

Light of Karabor Increase Vindication’s radius by 15%. Vindication’s healing is increased by 20% per enemy hero hit.

Gift of the Naaru Vindication’s healing is increased by 20% per enemy hero hit.

Divine Steed Mounting is instant and grants 80% Movement Speed that decays over 3 seconds.

Ardent Defender Surround Yrel in a barrier for 3 seconds, absorbing all damage taken and Healing her for 50% of the damage received. 100 second cooldown.

Aldor Peacekeeper Enemy Heroes hit by Vindication at maximum charge deal 30% less damage for 3 seconds.

Divine Favor Casting a Basic Ability reduces the cooldown of Divine Purpose by 2 seconds.

Word of Glory Ardent Defender heals nearby allied Heroes for 100% of the healing received by Yrel.

Light of Karabor Increase Vindication’s radius by 15%. Vindication’s healing is increased by 20% per enemy hero hit.

Gift of the Naaru Divine Purpose heals lowest health nearby allied hero other than Yrel for 400.

Holy Avenger Hitting an enemy Hero with Avenging Wrath at maximum charge reduces its cooldown to 1 second.

Sacred Ground Yrel sanctifies the ground around her, gaining 40 Armor until she leaves the area. 40 second cooldown.

Repentance Increase Avenging Wrath’s Slow by 25% and its duration by 0.5 seconds.

Divine Favor Casting a Basic Ability reduces the cooldown of Divine Purpose by 2 seconds.

Hallowed Ground Casting Avenging Wrath while inside Sacred Ground moves Sacred Ground to Yrel’s location upon landing.

Talents

Level 1

Light of Karabor (Q) Increase Vindication’s radius by 15%. Vindication’s healing is increased by 20% per enemy hero hit.

Dauntless (Passive) Casting a Basic Ability grants Yrel 35 Physical Armor for 2 seconds.

Maraad's Insight (Passive) After casting a Basic Ability, Yrel’s next Basic Attack heals her for 148.

After initial testing, Light of Karabor seems to provide the most value, especially when paired with Aldor Peacekeeper or Velen’s Chosen at Level 13. Using Divine Purpose on her Q as much as possible makes Yrel unbelievably tanky in a teamfight. It is possible to maintain the physical armor from Dauntless through cycling Yrel’s abilities, though it may not be beneficial to do so considering the needs of the fight. The awkwardness tied to filling in Yrel’s auto-attacks between abilities makes Maraad’s Insight feel less consistent than Light of Karabor.

Level 4:

Aegis of Light (E) Upon landing, Avenging Wrath grants other nearby allied Heroes 25 armor for 5 seconds.

Gift of the Naaru (Trait) Divine Purpose heals lowest health nearby allied hero other than Yrel for 400.

Hand of Freedom (Active) Grant an allied Hero 35% Movement Speed and remove all Roots and Slows from them. Cannot be used on Yrel. 30 second cooldown.

Yrel’s Level 4 tier offers three diverse tools for supporting her allies. Gift of the Naaru is a substantial heal on a 10 second cooldown that is perfect for supporting the other tank or a dive hero. This talent spikes in value when paired with Divine Favor at Level 16. Hand of Freedom is a solid tech choice against Arthas, Lunara, Malfurion, or Stukov and allows Yrel to grant mobile assassins like Illidan, Tracer, or Genji more freedom. The armor buff from Aegis of Light lasts 5 seconds, which is nearly as long as the 6 second cooldown of Avenging Wrath. Yrel can provide sustained damage reduction if necessary, hopping back and forth to protect a desired target. When picking the talent, the target area for Avenging Wrath gains a secondary circle showing the armor buff will be applied in a slightly larger area than the impact zone.

Level 7:

Righteous Momentum (W) While channeling Righteous Hammer at maximum charge, gain 45% Movement Speed.

Holy Avenger (E) Hitting an enemy Hero with Avenging Wrath at maximum charge reduces its cooldown to 1 second.

Divine Steed (Z) Mounting is instant and grants 80% Movement Speed that decays over 3 seconds.

Samaara's Light (Passive) While above 50% Health, gain 15% Movement Speed.

Level 7 is Yrel’s mobility tier. Divine Steed is pretty outstanding in terms of escape and chasing potential, and may be the default pick for most players. Holy Avenger improves Yrel’s teamfighting, combat mobility, and utility when combined with the other Avenging Wrath talents. Samaara’s Light should be fairly easily to maintain value from, as Yrel will likely remain above 50% health frequently.

Righteous Momentum is my least favorite of this tier since channeling Righteous Hammer for an extended period of time feels like a waste when similar benefits can be achieved in more useful forms. It is worth noting that the 45% movement speed bonus from this talent is lessened by the 25% reduction from Divine Purpose, netting a movement speed of 120%, which is not obtained until the 1.5 second channel is completed. I would like to see the movement speed possibly ramp up during the channel duration to help make the ability more dynamic.

Level 13

Aldor Peacekeeper (Q) Enemy Heroes hit by Vindication at maximum charge deal 30% less damage for 3 seconds.

Repentance (E) Increase Avenging Wrath’s Slow by 25% and its duration by 0.5 seconds.

Velen's Chosen (Passive) Hitting an enemy Hero with a Basic Ability at maximum charge grants 10% Spell Power for 10 seconds, up to 30%.

Aldor Peacekeeper feels like a strong default choice, as the aforementioned benefits from the Level 1 talent Light of Karabor enable consistent value from this talent. Velen’s Chosen has a similar interaction and is easy to maintain the buff with its 10 second duration. The spell power improves Yrel’s self-healing, damage, and any healing she does to allies (Gift of the Naaru). Repentance improves Avenging Wrath significantly, amounting to a 75% slow for 1.5 seconds. This enables a lot of control for your team and pairs well with Executioner heroes.

Level 16:

Templar's Verdict (W) Righteous Hammer reduces the armor of enemy Heroes hit by 20 for 2 seconds.

Divine Favor (Trait) Casting a Basic Ability reduces the cooldown of Divine Purpose by 2 seconds.

Holy Wrath (Passive) After casting a Basic Ability, Yrel’s next Basic Attack splashes for 30% increased damage around the target.

Divine Favor at first glance seems like a significant power spike for Yrel, as getting more instant casts improves her kit substantially. Taking the talent automatically reduces the cooldown of Divine Purpose to 8 seconds and goes even lower after the usage of other basic abilities. In reality, the real cooldown reduction of this ability is based on what purpose it is being used for. If, for example, the goal is to get as many free casts of Vindication as possible, the real cooldown is 6 seconds, as Vindcation has no form of CDR and will not be available for another 6 seconds after its use. If you are looking to get more casts of Avenging Wrath when paired with Holy Avenger or giving more healing to allies with Gift of the Naaru, then the cooldown is somewhere in the ballpark of 4 to 5 seconds when rotating abilities.

Templar’s Verdict provides armor reduction tied to what I consider the clunkiest of Yrel’s basic abilities, but AoE armor reduction is nothing to sneeze at. To clarify, Holy Wrath does also increase the damage of the initial basic attacks along with its splash, providing for solid cleave damage after initiating with Avenging Wrath, for example. It is likely that Divine Favor will be the default choice of this tier however.

Level 20:

Word of Glory (R) Ardent Defender heals nearby allied Heroes for 100% of the healing received by Yrel.

Hallowed Ground (R) Casting Avenging Wrath while inside Sacred Ground moves Sacred Ground to Yrel’s location upon landing.

Bubble Hearth (Active) After 1 second, Yrel becomes Invulnerable and casts Hearthstone. Cannot be canceled. 80 second cooldown.

Seraphim (Active) Activate to become Unstoppable for 2 seconds. 10 second cooldown.

Word of Glory is a significant team upgrade when used properly. Hallowed Ground helps Yrel keep up with any counterplay the opponents may have in trying to move out of the Sacred Ground area of effect. Seraphim is on a short 10 second cooldown, allowing Yrel to channel her abilities freely. To compare similar self-cleanses, Garrosh’s Indomitable is a 1.5 second Unstoppable on a 40 second cooldown (at Level 4) and Malthael’s Inevitable End lasts for 2 seconds on a 20 second cooldown (at Level 13). Bubble Hearth is certainly strong in the late game, when a death can mean the difference between victory or defeat. However, Yrel’s sustain is strong enough that the talent is best picked when playing from behind, or if Yrel is frequently isolated from the team.

Discussion

Yrel feels more like a supportive enabler rather than a true CC tank or kill-securing bruiser. Personally, I feel it’s a necessary step for tank and off-tank design, but she still feels weak in the presence of the current tank meta. Initial community impressions note she feels slightly undertuned with her abilities relying too heavily on her trait usage. The ability channel mechanic as of now feels slightly awkward, particularly with the reduced movement speed, but it may become more natural with time. More experimentation on the PTR will revolve around the intricacies of her pacing in a teamfight, which will play heavily into her talent choices and ability rotations. There is a lot of potential with Yrel’s design, so time will tell how the young Exarch will fare.