Ragnaros

This is from the Warcraft universe.

“

Bow before me, mortals!

”

(8/10) (7/10) (8/10) (7/10)

Ragnaros is a Melee Assassin Hero from the Warcraft universe.

As the lord of Azeroth’s fire elementals, Ragnaros desires nothing more than to burn the world to ash. Banished to the Firelands eons ago, the Firelord now turns his rage toward the Nexus, intent on incinerating everything and everyone within it.

Ragnaros is a Bruiser that can nullify enemy pushes against his Forts and Keeps.

Background[]

The Firelord and his brethren once held sway over the entire world. As a servant of the Old Gods, he fought against the Titans for domination over the planet. The victorious Titans banished him and his brethren to the Elemental Plane — there to remain imprisoned until the end of time. It was then and there that the brothers turned on each other. For five millennia a battle was fought at the core of this world. It was during the Elemental Sundering that Ragnaros attacked Thunderaan, Prince of Air. Thunderaan was utterly defeated and the Firelord feasted upon his essence, but was unable to consume him entirely. Ragnaros divided what remained between his servants, Baron Geddon and Garr.^[1]

Gameplay Summary[]

Ragnaros is an Assassin based on area of effect ability damage. He can harness the his volcanic wrath to call down flaming meteors, crush foes with the explosive might of Sulfuras, and summon lava waves that will incinerate an entire lane's worth of enemy minions. Ragnaros is unique as his trait, Molten Core, allows him to take over a Fort or Keep, becoming a towering inferno over the structure and gaining a second set of abilities that will help to engulf assailants in the fires of doom.

Overall, Ragnaros fits into most team compositions, as his set of abilities can single-handedly change the course of certain map objectives. He requires, however, proper positioning and a team capable of giving him opportunity to unleash his damage properly.

Strengths[]

High area of effect burst damage.
Excelent waveclear and lane bullying.
Very flexible and straightforward talent tree.
Empower Sulfuras gives him decent self-sustain and waveclear.
Living Meteor is very versatile for various tasks, such as waveclear, sieging and poking. Additionally, it has the highest damage potential of all his abilities.
Blast Wave bestows Ragnaros with decent utility, being a flexible ability useful either for engaging opponents or to flee from combat.
Sulfuras Smash has high range and deals massive damage, being extremely potent after opponents have been inflicted by some kind of crowd control.
Lava Wave is powerful defensive ability, and also very strong on minion-related map objectives, such as Tomb of the Spider Queen and Braxis Holdout.
Molten Core allows Ragnaros to take over structures and empower them, granting him a separate healthbar, as well a new set of basic abilities. While allied structures can be taken at any time, enemy structures can only be taken after being destroyed.
- Empower Sulfuras becomes Molten Swing, granting a area of effect stun with high range.
- Living Meteor becomes Meteor Shower, covering massive range and allowing Ragnaros to poke opponents from very high distances.
- Blast Wave becomes Explosive Rune, which is very powerful when combo'ed with the other Molten Core abilities.

Weaknesses[]

Mana intensive during all phases of the game.
Poor survivability and mobility.
Limited utility beyond raw damage.
Cannot deal very well against long range pokes and kiting.
Vulnerable to crowd control effects, such as stuns and slows.
Most of his abilities are very easy to avoid.
Lava Wave is extremely telegraphed, as the wave is also shown as an icon in the minimap, giving opponents plenty of time to avoid.
Molten Core is put on cooldown when the match starts, to prevent Ragnaros from using a such powerful cooldown by the start of the match.

Abilities[]

Traits[]

While under the effects of Molten Core, Ragnaros's abilities change to the following:

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[]

Empower Sulfuras Build: focused on maximizing the damage of Empower Sulfuras, providing incredible amounts of sustained damage, as well improving Ragnaros self-sustain. In addition, Giant Scorcher also makes Ragnaros highly effective at fighting Warriors and other high-health opponents.
- This build is recommended when fighting team compositions that features multiple melee Heroes, to hit as many opponents as possible with Empower Sulfuras and Sulfuras Smash, and low burst damage, since this build means Ragnaros must stay on the frontline as much as possible, which can be dangerous considering his low health.
Living Meteor Build: focused on maximizing the raw damage of Living Meteor, making it the Ragnaros strongest build, theorically. Shifting Meteor, once completed, allows Ragnaros to hit as many opponents as possible, specially if the player is proficient at hard-reads.
- This build is recommended when the allied team has reliable means of crowd control and setups, due the telegraphed nature of Living Meteor.
- Alternatively, if facing too many opponents with high spell damage, Fire Ward can be taken at level 4, instead of Slow Burn.
Blast Wave Build: focused on improving Blast Wave's damage and utility, granting Ragnaros a decent batch of survivability and endurance that makes him a more sturdier Bruiser.
- This build is recommended when the enemy team doesn't have a focused gameplay style, featuring a more balanced composition.

Tips[]

Empower Sulfuras resets Ragnaros Basic Attack, therefore, if used correctly, he can cancel the ending lag of his Basic Attacks to improve his damage per second.
- Additionally, try to hit as many opponents (Heroes and Minions) to maximize the damage and healing.
Aim Living Meteor at opponents running in a specific direction, and try to read their path to ensure it'll hit them as much as possible.
- In addition, position Ragnaros properly when using it for sieging, to hit the structures in the most optimal way.
Save Blast Wave when needed to engage opponents, or to flee from dangerous situations. Make sure to also cast it on an ally to aid them in the same situations.
Ragnaros doesn't really have a rotation, however, under certain situations, Blast Wave > Living Meteor > Empower Sulfuras is an effective combo.
Molten Core can be used on a variety of situations, as either offensive or defensive.
- It is very useful to force a push after taking down an enemy structure, specially on certain maps, such as Tomb of the Spider Queen and Braxis Holdout after summoning the spiders and zerg rush, respectively.
- On the other hand, it can be an effective defensive cooldown to protect structures against map objectives that aim directly at structures, such as Blackheart's Bay and Sky Temple.
Try to time Sulfuras Smash with other crowd control skills to maximize its stunning effects and damage.

Matchups[]

Pairings[]

Ragnaros is a powerhouse, being capable of dishing a lot of damage quickly. He is a notable candidate for Bestow Hope due the fact he can still be affected by it while using Molten Core; although he cannot be healed while under its effects, the energy he can provide to Auriel is remarkable, making the pair useful while defending structures.

Ragnaros works well with Heroes who can displace or group up the enemy team due to his large AoE damage. Heroes like ETC help set up Ragnaros for easy engagements onto enemy heroes with Powerslide and Mosh Pit.

The Lost Vikings often force teams to hold 4v5 engagements with their enemies, where Ragnaros does exceptionally well. Both Lava Wave and Molten Core are powerful tools at defending against enemy pushes, and can buy time for the Lost Vikings to get value out of their ability to be in multiple places at once.

Ragnaros has a lot of self-healing with Empower Sulfuras, and Tassadar’s shields are a great way to ensure that he stays alive long enough for that healing to come through in extended fights.

Effective against[]

Effective foes[]

Ragnaros has no great way to engage on enemy heroes by himself, and can be easily kited. Heroes like Lunara that have great poke and can easily run away when he tries to engage give him a hard time.

Similar to Lunara, Jaina can also control Ragnaros easily and exploit his lack of mobility. Her Chill effect can both keep her safe and help her to peel for allies that he tries to engage onto.

Muradin brings pretty much everything to the table that Ragnaros doesn’t want in an opponent - a Movement Speed Slow, Attack Speed Slow, Stun, and potential huge knockback in Haymaker. Muradin has no problem making sure that Ragnaros doesn’t get to stick on the targets that he wants to kill, as well as enabling his team to get the jump on Ragnaros should he ever be even slightly out of position.

Skins[]

The Firelord (base)


The Firelord	Molten	Scorching

Sulfuron 100: Ragnaros is at his strongest within the smoldering halls of Sulfuron Keep. Adorned in the primal metals that comprise his seat of power, he now carries that strength with him at all times.


Sulfuron	Flame	Infernal

Lil' Ragnaros 1600: YOU FOOL! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SUMMONING ME TOO SOON? I DESPISE BEING ADORABLE!; _{Features altered voice-over.}


Lil' Ragnaros	Blazing	Amber

Development[]

Ragnaros was mentioned before as a potential hero for Heroes of the Storm. However, balance issues existed in regards to his possible implementation.^[2] Data existed for him in the game's code.^[3]

Patch changes[]

(Patch March 28, 2017) Note: Basic Attack damage decreased from 180 to 171.
(Patch January 27, 2017) Note: Base Maximum Health reduced from 2100 to 2000; Base Health Regen reduced from 4.4 to 4.2 per second.
(Patch December 14, 2016) Note: Added.