Hi there, ChaosOS again. Today's post is looking at the math behind Garrosh Hellscream, the newest addition to the Nexus. Garrosh is labeled a Warrior in game, but under my proposed classification system he would be a Tank. As a tank, look for two key factors: Durability, and threat level. Tanks need to be durable so they can lead the way into the Fog of War, as HotS, unlike other MOBAs, has a relative deficiency of vision sources. Second, Tanks need to present a threat. A tank that lacks the damage and/pr CC to be a threat is one that can be ignored in a fight. Most tanks do this by having so much CC that if ignored, them they will completely prevent enemies from attacking the rest of their team.



Garrosh Hero Spotlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-_qEVW9I_A



Link to today's Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13JzEYuEprACwH3B3L2BPqeQJiDXaobAE4qeRcbMKqtk/edit?usp=sharing



Usual Disclaimer: All health and damage numbers below are base "level 0" stats unless otherwise noted.



(Usual "Hero with Nexus Background" wallpaper is not available on the media kit for some reason)

Base Stats

Garrosh's base stats are as follows:



HP: 1970 health - HP Regen: 4.1015 per second (Usual 1/480th of max HP)

AD: 137 damage

AS: 0.83 attacks per second - Attack Period: 1.2 seconds per attack

Attack Range: 1.25 meters



Garrosh has the second lowest base HP amongst Tanks at only 1970 base HP, and doesn't even have base armor to compensate. Anub’arak is the lowest at 1925 base HP but has significant base spell armor. However, Garrosh gains a significant amount of durability from both his Armor Up passive and his Bloodthirst spell, meaning that his “real” HP is much more competitive with other tanks. The following sections will address how Armor Up and Bloodthirst contribute to his durability.

Garrosh’s basic attacks are the strongest in the tank role, as can be seen in the table below

Garrosh 250.2 Muradin 236.2 Diablo 235.0 Varian 226.3

Hero DPS at 20

Garrosh’s lead in basic attack strength is relatively insignificant, but he does set a new high water mark. This is most likely because of a desire to make his legendary axe Gorehowl feel important. Garrosh’s basic attack speed is the lowest out of all the tanks, making stutter stepping easier and more impactful for him relative to a hero with with a faster attack speed, such as Tyrael. This helps contribute to Gorehowl feeling impactful and furthermore helps with his utter lack of mobility.

Despite Garrosh’s high basic attack damage, his below average range of 1.25 leaves him vulnerable to melee heroes with above average range, such as Arthas and Chen, who have 2.0 attack range. This range difference in a solo lane situation means Arthas and Chen will always have the last say in any in-lane trade.

Armor Up

TL;DR Armor up provides a 17 to 38% EHP boost, usually >30%, before factoring in healing to stabilize at low HP for increased armor value

Some credit for this section goes to the reddit post by alstegma, however this section will go more in depth and use the base “level 0” numbers for Garrosh.

​​​​​​Garrosh’s ​trait, Armor Up, reads “Garrosh gains 1 armor for every 2% of maximum health he is missing”. His trait is more effective the smaller the chunks of damage he is intaking. To demonstrate this, let’s examine Garrosh getting one shot versus two-shot. To one shot a Garrosh at full health, he must take 1970 damage, equal to his max health, because the attack will be completely unaffected by armor. To two-shot a Garrosh it's insufficient to do (1970/2)=985 damage per hit, because the second hit’s damage will do 25% less damage. Instead, each attack must do 58.6% of Garrosh’s maximum HP (1154 damage) per hit, giving Garrosh ~17% more effective HP. This will form our lower bound for Armor Up’s effectiveness on Garrosh’s EHP, as there are no abilities in the game which can one shot Garrosh. This upgrades Garrosh’s base EHP from 1970 to 2308, lifting him above Tyrael, ETC, and Johanna for base HP.

To establish an upper bound for Garrosh’s EHP (Not accounting for the healing amplifying effect that Armor has), we need to do some calculus. The end result as the amount of each instance of damage becomes infinitely small is that Armor Up provides a 38.26% increase in Garrosh’s EHP, moving his base EHP from 1970 to ~2731, moving him above Arthas, Varian, and 0 soul Diablo.

So, which of these two cases is more representative? Well, it depends a bit on what type of enemy composition Garrosh is facing. The burstier the enemy composition (Eg Chromie, Kaelthas) the less EHP Garrosh will have. Notably this is the reverse of the Block situation, where a fast-tickrate/high attack speed is more beneficial than a slow one. Even though Tracer may output a lot of damage in a small amount of time, her guns are less effective than Zeratul’s warp blades, despite both having similar AA DPS numbers. However, even at base damage numbers smaller than ~430 Garrosh’s EHP bonus rises to 30%. This is balanced out by % HP effects ignoring Garrosh’s armor. Thus, for most intents and purposes I assume Garrosh’s Armor Up to be equivalent to 30% more base HP, moving him from 1970 base HP to 2561, above Arthas but just below a 0 soul Diablo.

Armor Up does not just affect the hit points Garrosh has naturally, however. Stabilizing at a low HP value may leave Garrosh vulnerable to burst, but allows his armor to heavily mitigate sustained damage. To put it another way, Armor can be translated not only to a larger health pool, but also healing amplification. To use the chart, the “healing multiplier” use Garrosh’s HP after he is healed, because if Garrosh is healed to full then he then has 0 armor. This HP multiplier is essentially the minimum amount of EHP Garrosh could get from the healing, not accounting for as his health falls he will gain additional armor. Unlike other healing amplification effects, this one can also affect shields, and uses the amplification value at whatever HP Garrosh was at before he was affected by the shield.





What this shows is that the lower Garrosh’s health goes, the farther each point of healing will go. Combining Garrosh with steady sources of healing such as Malfurion or Lucio are best to stabilize Garrosh's health pool above burst range but still utilizing the mitigation armor provides. Uther-Garrosh, despite the burst healing being less desirable, is still very effective as armor is more powerful the more of it a hero has. For a hero with 0 armor, +25 armor represents a 33% EHP boost. For a hero with 50 armor, +25 armor represents a 100% EHP boost. Thus, Uther’s heals are significantly more effective the lower Garrosh’s health goes, even beyond the “healing amplification” provided by Garrosh’s armor up.

Unlike regular healing amplification effects, Armor Up also works with shields. To find the amplifying factor, use Garrosh’s hit points at the time he receives the shield. Tassadar’s shields are slightly more complicated, as the lifesteal it provides will also reduce his armor, meaning the shield can absorb less damage. It is never so far as to suggest that Garrosh becomes more vulnerable by lifestealing, but it significantly mitigates the EHP gain that the lifesteal provides.

Bloodthirst

Baseline, Bloodthirst offers up to 20% of Garrosh’s maximum HP back (10% on non-heroes) every 12 seconds. That is up to a (1970*.2)=394 point heal (197 against non-heroes). That is a bit more than than an Uther Holy Light, which heals for 360 HP. Baseline Bloodthirst has an equal cooldown of 12 seconds, but is unlikely to get the full 394 point heal. For a Garrosh at 25% HP, Bloodthirst will heal for (1970*.15)=295.5 HP, which is a bit more than a Tyrande heal, which heals for 270 HP.

Accounting for the healing amplification effects of Armor Up, the max heal off bloodthirst is (1970*.2*1.667)=656.6 (33% of Garrosh’s max HP). This healing may be a bit more if Garrosh doesn’t get one shot and can benefit from his armor increasing as he gets low.

Displacement

Groundbreaker has a range of 7.25 meters and pulls everything between 6.25 and 7.25 meters away 6.125 meters over 0.4375 seconds, placing them between 0.125 and 1.125 meters away from Garrosh

Wrecking ball has a base range of 5.5 meters and grabs the closest enemy within 2.75 meters. Unrivaled Strength, a level 1 talent, adds an additional 91 damage and ups the throw range to 6.6 meters. The total displacement thus is up to 7.75 meters, or 8.85 with Unrivaled Strength.

Thus, the total displacement range from Garrosh’s combo is between 11.25 and 12.25 meters, or between 12.35 and 13.35 meters with Unrivaled Strength. By comparison, Diablo’s Shadow Charge knocks back 5 meters and overpower flips an enemy within 1 meter to be 1 meter away on the opposite side of Diablo, totaling a potential 7 meter displacement. Garrosh’s Wrecking ball is potentially more powerful in terms of displacement, but is unreliable in melee and does not have a wall stun. However, it is less positioning dependent with regards to relative positioning, meaning Garrosh can be to the side of an enemy and still throw them towards or away from his team. Groundbreaker adds a significant amount of displacement to Garrosh’s kit, but Garrosh also lacks any sort of mobility skill to enable Wrecking Ball.

Level 1 Talents

Each of Garrosh’s level 1 talents adds to his control power in some fashion. Warbreaker is a moderately difficult quest that adds 150 damage over 3 seconds to Garrosh’s Q, and can reduce the cooldown from 8 to 5 seconds. Unrivaled Strength adds 91 damage and increases the throw range of Wrecking Ball by 1.1 Body Check’s damage ranges from 111 to 222 based on Garrosh’s armor, and can have either a 30% slow (60% if Garrosh is below 50% HP) for 3 seconds. The body check slow does not stack with Wrecking Ball’s 30% slow for 2.5 seconds, meaning that it does not enhance his throw combo outside the damage but can be used as a follow up slow to keep an enemy slowed for an extended period of time.

Level 4 Talents

TL;DR In for the Kill provides out of fight sustain, Thirst for Battle provides in fight sustain, and Indomitable is anti-CC

In for the Kill upgrades Bloodthirst from dealing 156 damage against non-heroes to 249.6 damage. Last hitting 7 minions (A full wave) restores 52% of Garrosh’s missing HP.

Thirst for Battle takes 2 seconds off the 12 second cooldown of Bloodthirst per basic attack, meaning that with continuous basic attacks Bloodthirst has a 4 second cooldown, a 66% reduction. In longer fights the effective cooldown is instead 5 seconds, as I assume the first basic attack is instant, but realistically Garrosh won’t be able to continuously basic attack due to his slightly shorter than normal melee range and lack of mobility spells.

Indomitable is effectively a self-cleanse on a 40 second cooldown, but has the weakness of not being able to be used to self-cleanse stuns and roots.

Level 7 Talents

TL;DR Pick Into the Fray and throw teammates over enemy walls. Everything else is based on enemy composition

Garrosh’s Level 7 talents (Except Into the Fray) provide some form of significant enemy mitigation.

Intimidation provides a 40% attack speed reduction for 4 seconds. This has a base 50% uptime, or 80% with a completed Warbreaker (level 1 quest).

Brute Force is only selectable if Garrosh picks Body Check at level 1, and provides 50% healing reduction for 4 seconds. This is a good option for picking off a single enemy, especially if the enemy team is a double support composition that is based on supporting a single hypercarry like Greymane, Illidan, or Butcher.

Oppressor is not only effective at cutting the effectiveness of enemy mages, but also enemy supports, as the ability power also modifies their healing output. Garrosh however lacks mobility and is unlikely to be able to hit enemy supports or mages, meaning Oppressor will struggle to gain value.



Finally, Into the Fray is a powerful additional ability that has a seperate 30 second cooldown from Wrecking Ball, and can be used to throw an ally up to 8 meters. Whether for trolling or legitimate initiation, this ability is probably the most fun out of the level 7 talents and also has the highest skillcap.

Level 10 Talents

There’s not much to say here, but it feels like people are undervaluing Decimate. The three charges of Decimate deal 300 damage to heroes in total in a respectable AOE, and have a good chance of resetting the cooldown for a quick 4th charge. In order to chain the 1.5 second slow on a single target, spacing out each of the 3 charges puts the CD to 5 seconds slows the target by 30% for 4.5 seconds. After that each charge comes 7 seconds apart, meaning that for truly prolonged fights Garrosh is reliant on getting into the thick of combat and casting decimate on a larger number of enemy heroes.

A consideration to make with Decimate is that the slow does not stack with Body Check, meaning that it may be preferable to take Warlord’s Challenge with Body Check.

Level 13 Talents

TL;DR Double Up if there's a lot of burst, else Defensive Measures if reliable to proc, otherwise Bloodcraze.

Defensive Measure’s 350 point shield is equal to a (350/1970)=17.76% of Garrosh’s maximum HP, while Bloodcraze heals for (1970*.1)=197 HP over 3 seconds. Baseline Groundbreaker has a much lower cooldown of 8 seconds compared to Bloodthirst’s 12. However, both cooldowns can be modified by talents, down to 5 second Q’s with Warbreaker or 4 second W’s with Thirst for Battle. Comparing them does not stop there, however, as Groundbreaker’s shields effectively “lock in” whatever armor value Garrosh currently has, while Bloodthirst raises Garrosh’s HP. Despite this, Bloodthirst is more likely to benefit from armor, as Groundbreaker will usually be used at the start of a fight, when Garrosh is at full HP and 0 armor, while Bloodthirst can be more safely saved for after Garrosh has taken some damage. If we assume Groundbreaker is used at full HP (0 armor), then Garrosh would need to make up (350/197)=77.67% more EHP via damage reduction. This break-even point is at 12.57% HP, or ~248 base HP. That value is an extraordinarily low amount of HP to sit around in a fight, and also requires holding onto Bloodthirst until Garrosh has taken some damage, meaning the effective cooldown is prolonged relative to Groundbreaker. Overall, if Garrosh can reliably get the shield from Defensive Measures, it will easily outperform the healing from Bloodcraze.

Despite the extended discussion above, the third talent on this tier is the most bonkers one. Double Up is an incredibly effective talent that provides a gigantic boost to Garrosh’s EHP. To start, I’d like to provide a graph

Essentially, while Garrosh remains above 25% HP (where he hits the armor cap of 75), he is only taking current HP damage. To imagine what that’s like, go to the collection and start Greymane in try mode. Level up to at least level 10 and select Cursed Bullet. Then, turn off cooldowns and try to kill Arthas with just Cursed Bullet. It’s actually impossible to do this, and that is because Cursed Bullet's damage falls off dramatically as Arthas’ HP falls. This is what Double Up does for Garrosh. It transforms him from slightly more durable at lower HP values to functionally unkillable. However, if Garrosh falls below 25% (492.5 base) HP, the magic ends. Hitting the armor cap means instead that all damage is “merely” reduced by 75%, but at this low of a life total that can easily be lethal. Double up only lasts for 3 seconds, but healing Garrosh during the duration to keep him above 25% HP can guarantee he remains immortal. Like any cooldown-based defensive utility however, Double Up requires a lot of work to maintain effectiveness and for a less mindful player may be as good as not picking any talent at all.



Addendum 8/8: After watching some Garrosh play on live and some further consideration, Double Up isn't as crazy as I was initially thinking due to uptime considerations. While it may function as immortality for 3 seconds, the longer cooldown (40 seconds) means you won't get nearly as much value as the shield from Defensive Measures

Level 16 Talents

TL;DR Mortal Combo for picks or Earthshaker for team disruption

Garrosh’s level 16 talents all add disruption. Rough Landing adds yet another slow to Garrosh’s kit, however the slow is only a minor improvement (50% vs. 30%) over the base slow provided by Wrecking Ball if comboed together.

Mortal Combo is like Diablo’s level 16 Domination talent, which resets Shadow Charge when Diablo uses Overpower. Groundbreaker has a 0.5 second cast time and takes just over 0.4 seconds to pull, which means that with Mortal Combo Garrosh’s Q and E will be on a 7 (4 with Warbreaker) and 6 second cooldown respectively.

Earthshaker provides a significant ranged CC in the form of a 0.75 second stun. Landing the Groundbreaker pull can be unreliable on mobile ranged heroes, meaning that Earthaker may be Garrosh’s best bet at catching a Genji/Valla/etc.

Level 20 Talents

TL;DR Many good, diverse talents

Unfortunately there isn’t much to say about the math on this tier. Deadly Calm’s uptime on a single hero is rather impressive, spacing each Decimate 3 seconds apart allows for 5 casts without dropping the damage debuff. Spamming Decimate to keep up the slow in addition and dump more damage drops this uptime, but can be made up for by actually hitting more than 1 hero with a single cast of Decimate.

Closing Thoughts

Overall Garrosh is a solid new addition to the solo tank roster. He has the durability to compete with the other tanks and provides a significant amount of peel and disruption. However, the tank role is difficult to evaluate purely mathematically, as most of their strength comes from CC and disruption rather than an easy to evaluate metric such as damage or healing output. I'll close out by providing a new "Piano build" Garrosh.

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