Born with the name Go'el. Son of Durotan. Raised a slave and gladiator and called Thrall. He became Warchief of the Horde.

Now he's here in the Nexus.

Thrall comes in and pretty much instantly takes the mantle of one of the most useful melee assassins, if not the most useful. It wasn't a hard mountain to climb, to be honest. His passive, Frostwolf Resilience, serves as an incredible bit of sustainability when you consider the number of targets Chain Lightning and Windfury hit and how quick they do so. His base melee attack is strong, and in my opinion both ultimates are actually useful which is honestly a rarity in heroes.

PROS:

- Strong base melee attack which makes Windfury very useful.
- His (W), Feral Spirit, allows you to close the gap with enemies. It also allows you to chase when...
- ...combined with his (E) Windfury. It also gives you a speed boost.
- Sundering allows you to separate and stun the enemy for easy pickoffs.
- Earthquake slows enemies by 70%, making it virtually impossible for enemies to flee your hammer.
- Unlike most melee heroes, with Chain Lightning you can finish a kill or harass from a distance.
- Laning is easy, as are merc camps due to your self healing with Frostwolf Resilience.
- Many viable talent choices a-la Jaina which is refreshing compared to older heroes.
- He's the freaking Warchief of the Horde. COME ON!

CONS:

- He's melee. As strong as he is, he's a melee boy in a ranged world which is always a bit of a disadvantage.
- Feral Spirit only lasts for a second. Landing it at the right time is going to take practice.
- Thrall can run dry on mana very quickly, which may prompt you to look into Mana Tide at level 4.
- The only escape you have is using Windfury defensively until you can select Bolt of the Storm at 20.
- The animation for Windfury has the potential to leave you high and dry if you dive too deep. Use wisely.
- As strong as your sustain is, repeated stuns from heroes like Uther and Muradin can ruin your day.

(Q) Chain Lightning This ability makes Thrall a bit more useful than other melee heroes as he can harass from a decent range or follow up and finish a kill. Combined with Thrall's (E), it also lets you clear minion waves or merc camps relatively quickly. There are a plethora of talents for this ability stocked into Thrall's tree, as well, if you were to desire going the elemental shaman route.

(W) Feral Spirit Someone at Blizzard must love Thrall to give him (a melee hero) the ability to root runners and/or halt chasers as melee. I'm kidding. Who DOESN'T love Thrall? This is going to be your make or break spell. It's a skill shot, it's narrow, and it feels like the animation moves a little quicker than some other skill shots. Land it on an enemy fleeing and you're a hero. Miss them and you're the goat!

(E) Windfury What's a shaman without Windfury? Nothing. So Thrall's gotta have it and it's gotta be good and boy it is. Windfury takes Thrall's strong base melee and gives you three doses of it rapidly, putting a serious dent in Valla's pretty face. This build is centered around Windfury and it's talents, so prepare to wade in deep.

(Passive) Frostwolf Resilience What can I say? This is one of the better passives in the game due to Thrall's propensity to attack multiple times and/or hit multiple targets. It makes Thrall tankier than you would expect on the front line.

(R) Sundering Rip the Nexus apart and fling your enemies around like Diablo (if only for a second). Sundering is a rather useful heroic ability when you're on a coordinated team. It splits the enemy team in two however you'd like to slice them, separating them from each other and stunning them for 1.5 seconds. The damage is also decent. Sundering finds itself being extremely useful if you have a Stitches to hook a specific target you've split or a Zeratul to Void Prison one side of the enemies to make a fight truly lopsided.

(R) Earthquake My favorite of the two ultimates and the one I chose for this build is Earthquake. Earthquake pulses in a large (large!) area for 10 seconds, periodically reducing an enemies' movement speed by 70%. Moving at a 70% rate of speed may as well mean they are standing still in Heroes of the Storm, so it is prime for excellent follow up by your team. It also pairs extremely well with Thrall's melee heavy kit. Earthquake pairs well with any heroes who have ultimates that have issue following up early such as Nazeebo's Ravenous Spirit or Tassadar's Archon.

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Wind Shear - Windfury starts on a 12 second cooldown. This talent allows us to reduce it to 9 seconds, and when combined with Battle Momentum at level seven your Windfury is almost constantly up which allows you to deal substantial damage and maintain your health through charging your Frostwolf Resilience.

ALTERNATIVES seasoned-marksman - Lots of folks are advocates for this for Thrall, but until we get a concrete answer through more testing I'm not sure if would come out on top of near-constant Windfury that is provided by the Wind Shear + Battle Momentum combo. At a certain amount of stacks I'm sure it will, however there are at least two maps in Blackheart's Bay and Haunted Mines where you do not do a whole lot of laning. I feel like it's situational, and at times will be the better talent. It's just not the one I prefer.

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Envenom - This talent gives you that extra burst so that you can 1v1 with ease early. There's not a lot to say about the talent otherwise.

Mana Tide - If Thrall has any issue, it's that mana can be eaten through at an alarming rate. Mana Tide makes your Frostwolf Resilience a complete regeneration machine, providing you substantial health and some mana as well. You'll want to take this if you are having issues running dry often. You may want to take it anyway just to stay in the fight. For me this and Envenom are down to personal preference.

ALTERNATIVES Spirit Journey - Gives you a little added reach with your Feral Spirit. I don't find it particularly useful in this build since most of your damage needs to be from in the opponent's face, but the added utility could potentially make it worth it for someone.

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frostwolfs-grace - With the removal of Battle Momentum and the stealth nerf to Thrall's passive trait healing, this talent is your new level 7 choice. With a 30 second cooldown, you can use it to stack heals or heal on command as needed to regain some of that sustain you enjoyed in the last patch.

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Sundering - You can't part the seas, but you can part the Nexus with this ultimate. Got a Stitches or Zeratul primed to pounce? Sundering the enemy and split them apart, cutting one half of the team off from another or one enemy off from his team. The damage from Sundering is pretty decent as well. If you take the level 20 upgrade Worldbreaker there is no running away from Thrall.

ALTERNATIVES Earthquake - So you're gonna give me, a melee hero, a 70% pulsing slow across a pretty large area that lasts 10 seconds? GIVE IT TO ME! The applications of this ultimate are numerous, from the aforementioned "net" for Nazeebo's Ravenous Spirit to providing an interesting form of escape or cover for ranged heroes to stay in the fight. It's my favorite of the two, though Sundering seems to be the more popular choice. They both work great in this build, you simply need to pick the one relevant to your team composition. The level 20 upgrade Earthen Shields stacks your team with several 15% shields via each pulse, effectively making the Warchief's crew swole.

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Grace Of Air - Yo dawg I heard you like Windfury so I put extra stacks on your Windfury so that when you Windfury...you get the picture. Thanks for the stacks, Jack.

ALTERNATIVES Giant Killer - More useful than you'd initially think since Windfury is simply basic attacks, but not excellent by any means. It's what you'll need if you hit a double warrior comp, however.

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Tempest Fury - What's better than Windfury whacking that scum Illidan three times? How about the 3rd strike landing three times at only a 25% reduction in damage? Windfurious indeed. Oh, did I mention that would make six near-immediate strikes of Windfury which immediately procs your Frostwolf Resilience for an early heal in the engagement? So good.

ALTERNATIVES Blood for Blood - Useful against tanks, useful against runners. I think we all know about this talent by now. It's definitely a viable option but I feel Tempest Fury will bring you the most bang for your buck.

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Nexus Blades - The good Blizzard giveth and the good Blizzard taketh away. While they taketh Battle Momentum, they gave us Nexus Blades so that our basic attacks (and as a result, Windfury) would hit for 20% increased damage and a one second slow. Yummy.

ALTERNATIVES Bolt of the Storm - Wanna get away? Choose this. This is Thrall's only true "out" that is available to him. Running away with Windfury is sweet if you don't get slowed, but Bolt is the only sure thing you have at your disposal.

CHANGELOG:

2/12/15 - Build changes to reflect the removal of Battle Momentum.
1/30/15 - Build changes.
1/24/15 - Some build changes.
1/20/15 - Threats added.
1/19/15 - Updated the abilities section, added new formatting.
1/17/15 - Some talent choice changes, as well as visual improvements.
1/15/15 - Ability explanations added. Multiple situational talent builds included.
1/14/15 - Formatting, images added, etc. Talent choice thoughts expanded.
1/13/15 - Introduction and general talent choices selected.