Heroes of the Storm news » Kel’Thuzad Enters the Nexus!

“Minions, servants, soldiers of the cold dark… obey the call of Kel’Thuzad!”

- Kel'Thuzad, Archlich of Naxxramas

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In the time before the Third War of Azeroth, a terrible power was growing. Entrapped within an icy tomb, a lich spirit began enacting its master’s plan to conquer the world by raising an army of the dead. To ensure its victory, the spirit sought the help of other masters of the arcane, calling out to them telepathically. Among these powerful mortals was an Archmage of the Kirin Tor, by the name of Kel’Thuzad. As one of that council’s ruling members, Kel’Thuzad thought himself above the strictures of its self-imposed laws which forbade experimentation with dark magic. When beckoned by the mysterious spirit, he abandoned his post on the council, and wandered far to find the source of this voice which called to him.

In Northrend, the Archmage found what he was looking for. Taken with the promises of power offered by the entity he now knew as the Lich King, Kel’Thuzad pledged his allegiance and went forth to convert more into the service of his new lord. The Lich King’s initial campaign proved successful, although Kel’Thuzad was eventually hunted and slain by the Paladin, Arthas Menethil. Later, as Arthas himself succumbed to the Lich King’s influence, Kel’Thuzad was resurrected to continue his dreadful mission.

From within the dread necropolis, Naxxramas, Kel’Thuzad hunts those who would oppose his master. Either as willing subjugates who serve with their lives, or as mindless undead slaves, it is only a matter of time before all the living bow before the armies of the Lich King.

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Talent Highlights:

Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad – Granting Kel’Thuzad 10% healing on all spell damage dealt, plus the ability to fully respawn after collecting 10 Regen Globes, Phylactery of Kel’Thuzad is a perfect double-dose of survivability that is extremely valuable to the Archlich of Naxxramas.

Glacial Spike - Glacial Spike allows Kel’Thuzad to summon an exploding pillar of ice that blocks movement, deals damage, slows, and acts as a tether points for Chains of Kel’Thuzad. Perfect for use in team fights, splitting enemies, and allowing spell combos in solo lanes, Glacial Spike will be an excellent versatile talent choice for Kel’Thuzad players.

Shifting Malice – Capable of dealing massive damage, setting up crowd control, and applying global pressure, there’s very little that the Archlich doesn’t bring to the battleground. Shifting Malice adds one more tool to his arsenal by granting some much-needed mobility (and a little extra damage) in the form of a short-distance dash at level 20.

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Friends and Foes:

Works well with:

	Kel’thuzad shines the most when his enemies are grouped up so that he can land his devastating 3-spell combo. Heroes like Arthas who have strong crowd control abilities are great for acting as a wall for Kel’thuzad as well as grouping up enemies so that he can perform at his best offensively.
	ETC is a great Warrior for heroes who need setup to land their combos. Since Kel’thuzad’s abilities can be hard to land in a vacuum, heroes who are strong at grouping or isolating enemies are great when paired with him. Mosh Pit also synergizes particularly well with Kel’thuzad, as he can put out an incredible amount of damage when the enemy is unable to move.
	Alarak and Kel’thuzad are both heroes who are great at capitalizing on the mistakes of their enemies. If an enemy hero steps slightly out of position, they can find themselves quickly pulled into the opposing team via Alarak’s Telekinesis, or pulled to their teammates with Kel’thuzad’s Chains. Either way, once one of these paired heroes lands an ability on an enemy, the other one can quickly follow up, resulting in devastating damage or even a quick kill.

Struggles Against:

	Kel’thuzad struggles against high-mobility, diving heroes who can easily dodge his skill shots. Landing a Chain is hard enough on its own against someone like Tracer, and even when one Chain lands, it’s that much harder to land the second one with her zipping around.
	Li-Ming’s high mobility and heavy burst combined can be a nightmare for Kel’thuzad to deal with. She out-pokes him as well and is a large enough threat that if he stands still for any length of time to try to land his abilities, he risks taking heavy damage.
	Kel’thuzad is all about heavy CC combined with high burst damage. Uther’s able to mitigate burst damage by adding Armor to his allies, and has strong anti-CC talents that he has access to fairly early in the game, which combined can completely ruin what would otherwise be a great setup for Kel’thuzad.

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Obey the call of Kel’Thuzad, the Nexus’ newest ranged Assassin!