Disclaimer: HeroesFire is not up to date, and thus the Overwhelming Power talent is not available in builds, so the Raid Boss Build will not be displaying a Level 1 talent for this reason.

Alarak is a strong fighter that focuses on hero damage, but his design is high-risk high-reward.

Alarak's trait Sadism makes him deal increased damage to enemy heroes, and thus his PvE impact is a bit limited, but his Auto-Attack damage is high enough for him to not be useless in that department either.
When getting a takedown, Alarak gains 3% Sadism, up to 30%, which further increases his damage against heroes.

Alarak's Abilities are quite scary, Discord Strike deals significant damage and silences enemies hit by it, Telekinesis allows Alarak to move enemies around, generally pushing them in dangerous areas (including his own silence), and Lightning Surge grants Alarak self-healing while also dealing reliable damage from a safe distance.

Alarak's most powerful and versatile tool is Telekinesis, which can be used in combination with Discord Strike, but also in many other ways; for instance Alarak can pull an enemy towards his Garrosh, who will then be able to throw the target into the team with Wrecking Ball, just as a small example. It's also an escape tool, as Alarak can push himself with it, even when he is slowed or rooted!

The higher you go in ranks, the more susceptible you are to get punished for being in melee range as Alarak.
Also taking in consideration that Telekinesis can be used in various ways it makes sense that you would want to be useful while remaining safe, and Lightning Surge is the best ability to build on for this.

For this build to work, you need to hit targets with the inner arc of the lightning, which means that you will try to click a target that is behind the main target you want to hit; you can click on minions that are behind a hero, it also works on structures, and if multiple heroes are grouped up, you should try to click on the one that is furthest behind.


At Level 1, Extended Lightning will grant extra range after hitting 5 heroes with the center of the lightning, making it more reliable going forward. After 15 hits, it will also provide a 40% slow, which is very significant for an ability with such huge range.
The triple center hit is a good bonus as it will give you back the 10% Sadism you sacrifice for this talent, but you should not aim to complete it, if it happens it's good but you shouldn't look for it too hard.

At Level 4, Negatively Charged increases the damage of the lightning's center, and every time you hit a hero with the center, it will further increase damage.
You should get a minimum of 20 stacks through the game, and if you get around 40 you are really doing good.
The other good thing about this talent is that it also works on non-heroes, so it increases Alarak's Waveclear and overall PvE capability.

At Level 7, Applied Force empowers Telekinesis both in range and length of displacement; you can move targets further and from longer range, making you a much more reliable setup hero.

At Level 10, Counter-Strike is the pick. You do not want to dive in with this build, so the other option is not even a consideration. On top of this, if the enemy gets onto you, you now have an extra safety tool until your team can help you; you are also unstoppable during it, so you can avoid problematic CC abilities with it, as well as things like Temporal Loop for instance.

At Level 13, the safest choice is Pure Malice.
The Auto-Attack talent is not something you really want in this build, and the Rite of Rak'Shir makes you want to hit a marked hero with your Discord Strike for more sadism, while you should mostly remain at safe range instead.
Pure Malice is a mitigation talent. You may never get value from it if you keep winning the game, but in this case, you are winning so it's not a problem. On the other hand, if things get dire and one of your teammates dies, you suddenly get 10% Sadism, up to 40%, which can really help you get back into the game, turning a losing situation into a less losing one, and possibly a winning one!
However, you need to remain safe, as you will lose all your sadism anyway if you are the one dying!

At Level 16, Lightning Barrage is the pick. As your practice hitting center lightnings, you will see that you can very often get those double lightnings instantly, almost doubling your damage output, while making you stack Negatively Charged twice as fast, all while still applying that 40% slow.

At Level 20, Last Laugh can be picked up both as a safety tool or an engage tool. The range of this teleport is really big, so it can often save your life, however you might also be forced out of combat when your team needs you, either way it is still better than dying; the best use case is to reposition with it, and then hit a double lightning so your HP doesn't get reduced to 1.
Hasty Bargain is another option you can pick, especially if you are not comfortable using the teleport. Indeed, hitting a double lightning and a silence combo, then doing it again, can be a game winner, and you don't mind losing a bit of Sadism for that!

This build, while more risky, is also much scarier for many people.
It is the build I recommend for solo queue in Storm League, it is also known as the "combo build".

At Level 1, Overwhelming Power will grant Alarak attack speed and lifesteal after hitting an enemy hero with Discord Strike. It's important to note that the lifesteal works on other things than heroes, so you can silence an enemy in lane and auto-attack minions to regenerate health!

At Level 4, Show of Force will be the pick, as it will provide increased Sadism fairly reliably.
You need to hit an enemy hero with 3 basic abilities in a short time span for it to work, meaning you will usually use Telekinesis to pull your target, then silence them with Discord Strike, and finally use Lightning Surge on them (or behind them for the center hit if you can). This is the main reason we call this build the combo build, as you need to use your combo in order to get maximum value.

At Level 7, Hindered Motion will slow enemies hit by Telekinesis by 30%, which will make hitting Discord Strike on them much more reliable, as well as auto-attacking them after while they are slowed.

At Level 10, Counter-Strike is recommended for safety purposes, especially against high CC teams, but Deadly Charge is an option as well. You can do your full Combo and then do a short range charge to confirm the kill; it is an all-in tactic, high-risk high-reward.

At Level 13, Blade of the Highlord is the pick for this build, as you want to auto-attack heroes anyway. It will easily grant you extra Sadism over a few skirmishes, up to 40%, and in case you die it also helps you build your Sadism back up quite fast.

At Level 16, we are picking Mocking Strikes for cooldown reduction on basic attacks, and even more against CC'd targets!
This is a very significant power spike, as you will now combo and auto-attack, and then be able to combo again in no time.
We prefer picking Hindered Motion at Level 7 because the synergy with this talent is huge both for more reliable auto-attacks, and for increased cooldown reduction from the slow.
If you find yourself in a bad position without Telekinesis available, you can also auto-attack to get the cooldown back faster, and then push yourself out of that situation!

At Level 20, Last Laugh is my personal preference again, both for instant engages, and an extra safety tool if needed. However, picking up the second ultimate ability Deadly Charge is an option as well.
You do not really want to pick Hasty Bargain in this build, as you already have enough cooldown reduction, but also reducing your Sadism when it is you main source of damage is not the best.

Pro-Tip: When you get Mocking Strikes, you should pull your target with Telekinesis, silence them with Discord Strike, Auto-Attack once for cooldown reduction, and then use Lightning Surge. It will be more efficient to get your cooldowns back while still making Show of Force proc easily.