Leoric - W Build

W build Leoric provides strong frontline pressure, and a potentially game-winning level 20 talent. Consider this build when you need Leoric to provide frontline pressure, but AA build would be hard to pull off (e.g. due to a myriad of CC or blinds) and E build doesn't seem necessary.

Level 1

Consume Vitality provides reasonable raw stats in teamfights, and should be picked if neither of the other options is better.

Fealty Unto Death should always be picked on maps where you are constantly fighting near waves: Tomb, Braxis, Volskaya, Dragon Shire

Ossein Renewal should be picked if you are really afraid of starting a reset chain into Genji/Li-Ming, or you need it to survive a gank

Level 4

Paralyzing Rage provides an increased slow on Q  which makes it almost impossible to miss W, and is fairly punishing for most melees to get hit by. This also provides strong self-setup for March of the Black King .

Ghastly Reach should be picked if you're desperate to hit Qs on a ranged hero, as this extends the maximum range beyond the standard AA range of ranged heroes.

Kneel, Peasants! should be picked if you end up being the Shriner on Infernal Shrines, or if you're somehow the only one who can do merc camp clearing with this. If you want to pick this, strongly consider also picking Consume Vitality at 1.

Level 7

  Hopelessness should usually be picked with Drain build as it generally allows the most uptime on Drain Hope , and has strong synergy with Death March .

Drain Momentum removes the movement speed debuff on W, and grants increased movement speed if the drain lasts. Increased movement speed is one of the best ways to improve your damage output by allowing you to AA more and get into better positions for your abilities, and to reduce your damage intake by making it easier to juke.

Willing Vessel turns a full drain into an absurdly favorable trade for the Leoric. Pick this if it's key you win 1v1 trades and they don't have tools to break your chain without just running away from you entirely.

Level 10

While both ultimates are very strong, W build will practically always want March of the Black King because of the late-game power of Death March . Pick Entomb here if you feel like you need the playmaking potential, but strongly consider if you should pivot to AA or E build if you do so.

Level 13 & 16

Unyielding Despair & Crushing Hope provide permanent uptime and high damage on Drain Hope , and make up the core of W build. This gives Leori  a very strong frontline presence.

Level 20

Death March provides an extremely strong teamfight to Leoric. Hitting a multi-man March of the Black King makes Leoric output so much damage and self-healing that it becomes extremely challenging to win a teamfight into it. Only skip this talent if your opponents have a reliable way to break your drains on multiple heroes, or if you've been getting nuked before being able to cast March of the Black King .

Shroud of the Dead King prevents you from getting bursted down on a low cooldown. Consider this if getting bursted in fights has been an issue.

Burning Despair provides very good raw stats to this build because of the permanent uptime on W. Consider this if you're afraid you can't stick multi-man drains with Death March .