Talent

"Every evolution is a choice. Every change affects the final outcome. So when the choice is yours, click on the right one."

- Dehaka

Talents are available to each hero. They act as stat boosts for a hero's base stats and/or abilities. During a game up to 7 Talents can be selected by each player. One talent is unlocked at the start of the game and are unlocked every 3 levels, with the exception of the final talent which is unlocked after 4 levels. The levels of the talents are levels (1/4/7/10/13/16/20). Talents at level 10 unlock the respective heroic ability (R) for the hero (with the exception of Tracer), which can be upgraded with certain talents at level 20.

Generics

The following is a list of generic talents, as in, not specific to any hero.

Name	Level	Description	Heroes
Block	1	Periodically reduces the damage received from Hero Basic Attacks by 50%. Stores up to 2 charges.	Arthus
Bribe	1	Kill enemy Minions to gain stacks of Bribe. Use 20 stacks to bribe target Mercenary, instantly defeating them. Does not work on Bosses.	Azmodan Brightwing
File:IcnonConjurer'sPursuit.png Conjurer's Pursuit	1	Gather 3 regeneration globes to permanently gain +0.25 mana regeneration. This effect stacks.
Healing Ward	1	Activate to place a ward on the ground that heals allies in the area fo r2% of their max Health every second for 15 seconds.(Cooldown: 60 seconds)	Azmodan
Regeneration Master	1	Increases Health Regeneration by 4 per second. Every 3 Regeneration Globes gathered increases this bonus by 4.	Anub'arak Arthus
File:IconScoutingDrone.png Scouting Drone	1	Places a Scouring Drone at target location, revealing a large area around it for 45 seconds. This drone cannot be hidden and is killed by enemies with 2 Basic Attacks.(Cooldown: 45 seconds)	Brightwing
Seasoned Marksman	1	Grants +1 basic attack damage permanently for every 5 minions killed. This effect stacks. Only minions damaged by basic attacks within moments of their death will count toward this bonus.
	1
File:IconScoutingDrone.png Scouting Drone	1	Places a flying drone at the target location which reveals a large area and any cloaked heroes around it for 60 seconds. The drone can be seen and destroyed by enemies.
Envenom	4	Activate to poison an enemy Hero, dealing 180 damage over 5 seconds.(Cooldown: 60 seconds)	Brightwing
File:IconGatheringPower.png Gathering Power	4	Passively grants +8% ability power. Each hero takedown grants an additional 2% ability power, up to a maximum of 12%. This bonus is lost on death.
	4
Locus Needles	4	Basic Attacks deal 50% of your basic attack damage in an area around the target.	Anub'arak
Promote	4	Activate to give target allied lan minion +300% Health and +100% damage for 15 seconds. Has 2 charges.(Cooldown: 30 seconds)	Brightwing
Protective Shield	4	Activate to shield an allied Hero from 185 damage for 5 seconds.(Cooldown: 60 seconds)	Brightwing
Superiority	4	Reduces damage taken from non-Heroic enemies by 50%	Anub'arak Arthus Azmodan
Vampiric Assault	4	Basic Attacks heal for 15% of the damage dealt.
Battle Momentum	7	Basic Attacks reduce Ability cooldowns by 0.5 seconds.
Calldown: MULE	7	Activate to calldown a Mule that repairs structures, one at a time, near target points for 40 seconds, healing for 100 health every 1 second. Grants 1 ammo every 3 seconds.	Abathur
First aid	7	Activate to heal 35% of your max Health over 6 seconds.(Cooldown: 60 seconds	Azmodan
Mercenary Lord	7	Siege and Bruiser Mercenaries near your hero deal 50% more damage	Anub'arak Azmodan
Rune Tap	7	Every 3rd Basic Attack heals you for 3% of your max health.	Arthus
Burning Rage	13	Deal 10 damager per second to nearby enemies.	Anub'arak Azmodan
Giant Killer	13	Upon taking ability damage, now gain a shield that reduces all ability damage taken by 50% for 2 seconds. This can only occur once every 30 seconds.
Relentless	13	Reduces the duration of silences, stuns, slows, roots, and polymorphs against your Hero by 50%	Arthus Azmodan
Spell Shield	13	Upon taking Ability Damage, reduce that damage and further Ability Damage by 50% for 2 seconds. Can only trigger once every 30 seconds.	Anub'arak Arthus
Blood for Blood	16	Activate to steal 15% of target enemy Hero's Max Health and slow its Movement Speed by 30% for 3 seconds.(Cooldown: 60 secondss)	Anub'arak Azmodan
Hardened Focus	16
Imposing Presence	16	Enemies that attack you have their Attack Speed reduced by 50%	Anub'arak Azmodan
Overdrive	16
Stone Skin	16	Activate to gain 30% of your Max Health as Shields for 5 seconds.	Arthus
Bolt of the Storm	20	Activate to teleport to a nearby location.(Cooldown: 40 seconds).	Azmodan
Hardened Shield	20	Activate to reduce damage taken by 75% for 4 seconds.(Cooldown: 60 seconds)	Anub'arak Arthus
Rewind	20	Activate to reset the cooldowns of your Basic Abilities.(Cooldown: 60 seconds)	Anub'arak Arthus
Storm Shield	20	Activate to give all nearby allied Heroes a shield for 20% of their max Health for 3 seconds.(Cooldown: 45 seconds)	Azmodan

Development

Originally, talents were unlocked all at once when a player reached level 8.

In later builds, the number of talents to pick from is based on the Hero level. When playing a Hero for the first time the player is limited to about half of the choices of talents that the Hero has. Upon leveling the hero to level 2, the player gets the option to pick between two different heroic abilities for their level 10 talent. Level 3 lets the player have an additional option per talent level(1/4/7/10/13/16/20). At level 4 all talents are unlocked to pick from. The December 8, 2015 patch removed the "talent gating" feature, allowing all talents for all heroes regardless of level.

Removed

With the addition of artifacts, the following generic talents were removed from the game:

• Minion Killer
• Path of the Assassin
• Path of the Wizard
• Path of the Warrior
• Path of the Wizard