Maiev

This is from the Warcraft universe.

“

I am vengeance itself!

”

(6/10) (5/10) (7/10) (7/10)

Maiev is a Melee Assassin Hero from the Warcraft universe.

Maiev Shadowsong stood watch over the imprisoned Betrayer for ten thousand years, and hunted him relentlessly after he was released. Some say she's determined; others say she's obsessed. Either way, she will stop at nothing to ensure the security of her world.

Maiev is a mobile Assassin that excels against clustered enemies and prevents their escape.

Background[]

Maiev Shadowsong is a Night Elf Warden and former Priestess of the Moon. Along with her younger brother Jarod Shadowsong, Maiev played a key role in the battle against the Burning Legion during the War of the Ancients. In the aftermath, Maiev asked to be and was appointed the jailor of Illidan Stormrage and took on the mantle of leader of the Watchers. Chasing him across the seas, Maiev faced Illidan's Naga, her anger and lust for vengeance growing as her quest became more desperate. After Illidan rose to power in Outland, Maiev was imprisoned at the Warden's Cage in Shadowmoon Valley, where the Broken Draenei Akama and his Ashtongue Deathsworn served as her jailors.

Maiev allied with Akama and snuck into to the Black Temple during a Sha'tari attack, where she joined Akama and the adventurers he had rallied in the final battle against Illidan. Fueled by the desire for vengeance, Maiev struck the final blow that ended the Betrayer's life, but instead of relishing in her victory, she became a shell of her former self, admitting that with Illidan now dead, she was nothing. Driven utterly mad, Maiev became a vigilante who wishes death to any whom she believes have wronged her, including Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage and High-Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind.

Gameplay Summary[]

Maiev is an agile and slippery Assassin that excels at dodging enemy attacks while preventing their escape with her control-oriented kit. She is built around an escape and chase playstyle, and is mostly effective when the enemy team is clumped together, capitalizing on her opponent's positioning and limiting their mobility, punishing as they attempt to escape.

Overall, Maiev fits in most team compositions thanks to her powerful tether and escape, but she truly excels when in aggressive compositions that force skirmishes and teamfights, as she can setup many takedowns for her allies.

Strengths[]

Has a surprisingly high amount of bulk, having the second highest base health of all Assassins (after The Butcher) and also passive 10 armor.
- In addition, at level 13 she has access to talents that increase her armor, further increasing her damage mitigation.
Great engagement tools.
Outstanding escape.
All her basic abilities have low cooldown.
Relatively good waveclear.
Powerful area-of-effect damage.
Excellent utility.
Flexible talent tree with defining playstyles.
Excels at fighting enemy compositions that cluster together.
Vault of the Wardens has very low cooldown, and gives Maiev temporary immunity to damage and even allows her to dodge targeted abilities.
- Maiev can also move while using it.
Fan of Knives has very low cooldown and covers good range and area of effect, being an excellent poking tool, as well being easily spammeable if Maiev hits at least two targets as the cooldown is reduced.
Umbral Bind allows Maiev to pin down key-targets and prevent them from escaping, akin to The Butcher's Lamb to the Slaughter. This makes her particularly strong when fighting high mobility Heroes, such as Genji. Its displacement properties can single handedly decide the outcome of teamfights.
Spirit of Vengeance grants great mobility as well damage, functioning similar to Sylvanas' Haunting Wave, allowing Maiev to teleport to her shadow's current location.
Containment Disc is excellent for shutting down specific enemies and completely nullify powerful cooldowns. It also completely take down the target's vision, making harder for them to react once the effect is over.
Warden's Cage is a powerful area-of-denial tool that can combo excellently with other powerful cooldowns from her allies.
Has access to high utility active talents, Shadow Orbs, at level 20, that come in three different versions, each one with their own effects and uses.

Weaknesses[]

Considerably high skill ceiling and learning curve.
Lack of self-sustain.
Low single target damage.
Not very effective at solo laning.
Poor at clearing Mercenary Camps.
Relatively weak duelist.
Susceptible to kiting.
Vault of the Wardens cannot move Maiev through terrain and structures.
Umbral Bind can be negated by abilities that grant unstoppable, or by blinding Maiev before the tethers her opponents.
- In addition, enemies can stay close to Maiev to prevent being pulled.
Spirit of Vengeance is considerably slow and telegraphed, being easy to intercept.
Lacks level 20 upgrades for her Heroic Abilities.

Abilities[]

Traits[]

Heroic Abilities[]

Talents[]

Tier 1, Hero Level 1[]

Tier 2, Hero Level 4[]

Tier 3, Hero Level 7[]

Tier 4, Hero Level 10[]

Tier 5, Hero Level 13[]

Tier 6, Hero Level 16[]

Tier 7, Hero Level 20[]

Talent Builds[]

Fan of Knives Build: focused on improving the damage potential of Fan of Knives, turning it into a deadly poking tool. The key talent is Pin Down, which provides a massive powerspike if the player manages to complete the quest as soon as possible. Pursuit of Vengeance greatly synergizes with Vengeful Knives, empowering Fan of Knives to deal even more damage; lastly, Shadow Orb: Vengeance provides high utility and mobility to Maiev, as well synergizing with the other aforementioned talents.
- This build is recommended on most situations, as it allows Maiev to safely poke opponents from a relatively safe distance.
Umbral Bind Build: focused on improving the damage and utility of Umbral Bind. Key talents include Bonds of Justice, which greatly increases Umbral Bind damage potential, specially when combined with Cruel Chain; lastly, Shadow Orb: Shadow Strike further increase Umbral Bind's ability to effectively pull opponents and cause them to take further damage.
- This build is works well in most situations, however, it is more effective against melee oriented teams, as they tend to cluster more, allowing Maiev to hit as many enemies as possible with Umbral Bind and maximize its damage and displacement.
Spirit of Vengeance Build: focused on improving the damage of Spirit of Vengeance, turning it into a very powerful offensive ability. Key talents include Sudden Vengeance and Ruthless Spirit, which can provide an explosive burst if properly timed; and Shadow Orb: Vengeance, which allows Maiev to spam Spirit of Vengeance with proper positioning.
- This build, while potentially more powerful than all her other builds, follows a high risk high reward gameplay style, as it sacrifices Spirit of Vengeance usage for disengaging in favor of spamming it offensively. Therefore, this build requires careful positioning and timing, as Maiev can put herself at risk easily if misusing the Blink effect from Spirit of Vengeance.
Physical Damage Build: focused on maximizing Maiev's damage through Basic Attacks. Key talents include Naisha's Memento, which allows her to deal area damage through Basic Attacks; Blade Dance, which adds an area-of-effect damage to Fan of Knives; Armored Assault, which greatly boosts her physical damage output, which scales with the aforementioned talents (and it is easy to maintain thanks to Bladed Armor); and lastly, Shadow Orb: Huntress, which has outstanding synergy with the rest of the build (the cooldown reduction of this ability is also affected by Blade Dance's area damage).
- This build functions well in most situations, but it's not recommended if the enemy team features Heroes that can inflict Blind, as it will greatly decreases Maiev's damage output.

Tips[]

Avoid solo laning and duel situations: Maiev is at her best when fighting alongside her team against multiple enemy Heroes.
In a similar vein to stealth Heroes, Maiev's kit makes her excellent at ganking and roaming through the map. Make sure to make the best of her abilities to get easy takedowns.
If pursuing a Physical-Damage build by picking Armored Assault, make sure to stay within the range of Knight Mercenaries upon recruiting, as the Wizard Knight provides a permanent Spell Armor aura as long it is alive, meaning 100% uptime of increased physical damage for Maiev.
Don't be afraid to spam Fan of Knives to poke opponents from a safe distance or to check bushes and vents; it has a very low cooldown, and even more so if it hits multiple opponents.
- However, try to make sure it will always hit at least two targets to make the most of the reduced cooldown effect.
  - Pin Down can be easily completed if the enemy team features many Melee Heroes, and it's even easier if there are enemies that can summon clones, such as Samuro and Nova, as the clones counts towards the quest completion.
Umbral Bind can be used on minions and structures, which can be used to tether enemy Heroes that are not in melee range.
Be very careful when using Umbral Bind, as pulling enemies without a follow-up from the allies can result in Maiev being overwhelmed by her opponents, resulting in her own demise; focus on tethering squishy Heroes such as other Assassins or Supports, rather than Warriors.
Positioning is key when using Blink through Spirit of Vengeance, as the ability is telegraphed and can be easily intercepted by the opponents.

Matchups[]

Pairings[]

Maiev excels at displacing her opponents to create favorable situations for her team to take down multiple opponents at once. Because of this, she has great synergy with most Warriors, particularly those that features reliable crowd-control abilities. In addition, she also well with Assassins that can deal heavy area damage to capitalize on the opponents caught in Umbral Bind.

Alarak's Telekinesis is a great tool to either put enemies within range so Maiev can cleave them into Umbral Bind, or to push enemies away so they get pulled by it.

Arthas various of slow and root effects open various opportunities for Maiev to dive and tether as many opponents as possible.

Dehaka is one of the most effective gankers in the game, with Drag being a fantastic tool when combined with Umbral Bind.

Diablo's aggressive playstyle allows him to displace opponents in many favorable ways to be tethered down by Maiev; in turn, her Warden's Cage is fantastic when used in conjunction with Apocalypse.

ETC is arguably one of the best Heroes to be paired with Maiev because of his very powerful stuns, as well Mosh Pit being exceptional when used after Maiev pulls a group with Umbral Bind; in addition, if Maiev attempts to pull tethered opponents while ETC is channeling mosh, they will not be dragged out of the Heroic, but will still take damage. Lastly, ETC's Block Party has fantastic synergy with Maiev's Armored Assault

Garrosh's is a master when it comes to displacing ooponents, and can combo with Maiev's Umbral Bind exceptionally well using his Wrecking Ball to cause havoc in the battlefield.

Maiev can easily cluster opponents together with Umbral Bind, making easier for Gul'dan to hit them with his abilities. In addition, Horrify is very powerful when used when enemies are inside Warden's Cage.

Jaina's natural slowing effects are very effective at setting up situations for Umbral Bind. In addition, Ring of Frost is very powerful when used when enemies are inside Warden's Cage.

Johanna's sturdiness and ability to stick on her foes makes her a fantastic pair to Maiev, who is also very resilient herself. Condemn and Umbral Bind have a potent synergy that prevents enemies from retreating, while Warden's Cage has the a radius wide enough to combo with Falling Sword.

Kael'thas's Gravity Lapse gives Maiev plenty of time to pin down opponents with Umbral Bind, while Living Bomb and/or Pyroblast will do the rest. Lastly, Kael'thas can throw his Phoenix in the middle of Warden's Cage to maximize its damage.

Lúcio's Speed Boost Amp it Up is great to give Maiev the extra movement speed to ensure enemies are pulled by her Umbral Bind.

Stukov's strong slow effects through Weighted Pustule is very useful to prevent enemies from keeping up with Maiev while she tries to pull them with Umbral Bind. In addition, both Flailing Swipe and Massive Shove can also do a fantastic job at forcing opponents out of Umbral Bind's radius to ensure they get pulled.

Uther's stuns and high burst healing pairs well with Maiev as she attempts to displace her opponents. Additionally, Uther's Devotion has great synergy with Armored Assault.

Effective against[]

Maiev is the bane of Heroes that rely on heavy mobility, and can capitalize greatly on teams that tend to cluster together, specially melee-oriented compositions.

Samuro's Mirror Images can actually be used against him with Maiev's Umbral Bind being used to anchor them and nearby Heroes.

The Lost Vikings, being 3-in-1, are extremely vulnerable to Maiev's Umbral Bind and Fan of Knives, as they will, inevitably, cluster together during teamfights.

Effective foes[]

While Maiev's Umbral Bind is fantastic to take down frail opponents, more resilient Heroes will have little to fear when tethered to Maiev, instead posing an actual threat to her. In addition, her one-dimensional and predictable playstyle can be easily anticipated by Heroes that feature a lot of displacement abilities.

Arthas has all the right tools to deal with Maiev and greatly limit her actions; if she is caught by his abilities when Spirit of Vengeance and Vault are on cooldown, Maiev will have little to do to avoid being overwhelmed by the Lich King.

Skins[]

The Warden (base)


The Warden	Ivory	Watcher	Darnassian 150

Dusk

150

Hellwarden (all skins are in a 2000 bundle): Demonic "justice" is cruel and sadistic. The Hellwardens who serve Andariel understand that inflicting physical pain upon their prisoners is not enough. True anguish comes from torturing the mind and soul.; _{This skin is related to the Diablo themed-skins.}


Hellwarden	Bonewarden	Dreadwarden	Hordewarden

Plaguewarden

Spider Warden

Deep in the underbelly of the Raven Tower lies a prison filled with traitors and miscreants brought to justice by the Spider Warden. Now, at the Raven Lord's behest, she hunts down the Heroes summoned to protect King's Crest.

Development[]

Maiev has been listed as a possible hero for Heroes of the Storm since 2011.^[1] Datamining revealed files of her in the game.^[2]

In January 2018 she was teased two times in the Heroes of the Storm Official Twitter page, before the third tweet in 25th that finally revealed her.

Trivia[]

The teasers that revealed Maiev are a reference to her appearance in the Demon Hunter intro cinematic for World of Warcraft: Legion.
Maiev, alongside Fenix, are currently the only Heroes in the game that don't have talents at Level 20 that improve their Heroic Abilities.
Maiev's level 4 talent, Naisha's Memento, refers to the character of the same name who was the first lieutenant of Maiev and the Watchers. She survived Tyrande's initial raid of the Barrow Deeps, and emerged with Maiev to hunt down Illidan after he was set loose. Naisha died at the Tomb of Sargeras while tracking down Illidan with Maiev.
- The talent itself references the Moon Glaive passive from the Huntress unit in Warcraft III, which would cause their glaive attacks to strike an additional unit with one attack.
Maiev's Shadow Orb talents are a reference to the same artifact from Warcraft III.
- It was a magical artifact created by the Gul'dan's Shadow Council. Its ten fragments were found and pieced back together by Maiev in the Tomb of Sargeras in the Night Elf Campaign from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
  - Maiev continually employed the artifact's powers in her fight against Illidan at Lordaeron, aided by Malfurion and Tyrande.

Patch changes[]

(Patch May 9, 2018) Note: Health reduced from 2150 to 2021.; Health Regeneration reduced from 4.48 to 4.21.; Basic Attack damage reduced from 150 to 145.
(Patch February 21, 2018) Note: Health reduced from 2236 to 2150; Health Regeneration reduced from 4.66 to 4.48.
(Patch February 9, 2018) Note: Basic Attack Damage reduced from 162 to 150; Base Maximum Health increased from 2150 to 2236; Health Regeneration increased from 4.48 to 4.66.
(Patch February 6, 2018) Note: Added.