Arthas has been outdated for years now, and while his kit is good in its simplicity, he still deserves an overhaul.
The goal of this rework is to truly make the Lich King an unstoppable force in melee combat.
Note
This concept has been significantly changed as of 01/01/2026. Comments are outdated.
Stats
Health decreased from 2980 to 2880
Health Regen decreased from 6.208 to 6
Attack Damage decreased from 95 to 80
Combat Trait
1
Hypothermic Presence (New Trait)
Biting Cold and Frozen Tempest apply stacks of Freezing to enemies, each reducing their Attack Speed and Movement Speed by 5%. When an enemy reaches 6 stacks, they are Frostbitten for 3 seconds, losing 40% Attack Speed and Movement Speed, but becoming immune to Freezing for the duration. Freezing cannot affect Structures.
Only one Ability can be active at a time, and Arthas can switch between them by activating the currently used one. There is a 6 second cooldown after switching.
Arthas starts the match with Biting Cold active.
Switching does not dismount and does not interrupt channeling.
Freezing is received after taking the damage.
Stacks of Freezing decay over 0.5 seconds after 1.5 seconds of the last one being applied.
Frostbite is applied after the 6th stack of Freezing.
Reaching Frostbite removes all stacks of Freezing.
Targets that are immune to Slows still receive stacks and can be Frostbitten without receiving the Slow effect until they are no longer immune.
Unstoppable blocks the effects of Freezing and Frostbite for its duration, but does not remove them, meaning they will remain once it is gone.
2
Biting Cold (D1)
Basic Attacks deal 25% more damage and apply 2 stacks of Freezing.
Activate to switch to Frozen Tempest.
Uses the VFX and SFX of the removed Frostmourne Hungers Ability while active.
3
Frozen Tempest (D2)
Deal 8 damage and apply 1 stack of Freezing every second to nearby enemies.
Activate to switch to Biting Cold.
Has the same radius as the original Frozen Tempest.
Active even while mounted.
Primary Abilities
1
Death Coil (Reworked Q)
Mana: 75 Cooldown: 6 seconds
Fire a blast of unholy energy at the target. Deals 120 damage to enemies and restores 120 Health to allies. Healing is increased by 100% if self-cast.
Tooltip updated.
Mana increased from 50 to 75.
Cooldown reduced from 9 to 6 seconds.
Damage decreased from 164 to 120.
Self-cast healing decreased from 290 to 240.
Can now target allies to heal them.
2
Howling Blast (Adjusted W)
Mana: 60 Cooldown: 12 seconds
Send a rigid wind to blast the target area, dealing 90 damage to enemies within and Rooting them for 1 second.
Tooltip updated.
Mana reduced from 70 to 60.
Damage increased from 68 to 90.
Root duration decreased from 1.25 to 1 second.
Missile Speed increased from 17 to 20.
3
Raise Dead (New E)
Mana: 60 Cooldown: 20 seconds
Summon four Ghouls that will follow Arthas and attack his enemies.
Ghouls last for 10 seconds, have 360 Health, deal 40 damage with Basic Attacks, and can be sacrificed to heal Arthas for 120.
Ghouls are all summoned at once in random locations within 3 m of Arthas.
Ghouls have the same behavior and unspecified stats as the ones summoned by the now removed Army of the Dead Ability.
Secondary Abilities
1
Sacrifice (New 1)
Cooldown: 2 seconds
Sacrifice the Ghoul with the lowest Health to heal for 120.
Disabled while there are no Ghouls present.
Heroic Abilities
1
Summon Sindragosa (Adjusted R1)
Mana: 120 Cooldown: 120 seconds
After 0.75 seconds, summon Sindragosa and send her forward, dealing 240 damage and applying Frostbite for 3 seconds to enemies in the way. Minions, Mercenaries, Monsters and Structures hit are disabled for 20 seconds.
Moved from R2 to R1.
Tooltip updated.
Mana increased from 100 to 120.
Cooldown increased from 100 to 120.
Damage increased from 230 to 240.
Range increased from 38 to 40.
Now applies Frostbite instead of Slow.
2
Defile (New R2)
Mana: 60 Cooldown: 60 seconds
After 0.75 seconds, become Unstoppable and channel to defile the surrounding area for 6 seconds, dealing 200 damage per second to non-Structure enemies within.
The area grows over 3 seconds. Cannot be cancelled.
Initial Radius: 2
Maximum Radius: 8
Cooldown starts once the cast ends.
Interrupting the initial cast puts Defile on a 10 second cooldown.
Actually deals a tick of 100 damage every 0.5 seconds.
Radius increases by 0.25 every 0.125 seconds.
LEVEL 1
Frostmourne Hungers (New)
Switching to Biting Cold causes Arthas's next Basic Attack to strike immediately. Passive: Arthas's Basic Attacks against Frostbitten enemy Heroes restore Mana equal to 10% of the damage dealt.
Remorseless Winter (Moved from Level 16)(Reworked)
Frozen Tempest heals Arthas for 100% of the damage dealt to Heroes.
Additionally, Frozen Tempest deals 100% more damage to Minions and Mercenaries.
Rune Tap (Moved from Level 7)(Reworked) Cooldown: 30 seconds Active: Arthas heals 1% of his maximum Health every second and gains 10 Armor. Lasts 5 seconds. ❢Quest: Get 5 Takedowns to turn Rune Tap into a permanent passive effect.
LEVEL 4
Death Touch (New)
Death Coil deals 100% more damage to Frostbitten enemies. Passive: Enemies that die within 2 seconds of being hit by Death Coil are raised as Ghouls.
Eternal Servitude (New)
Ghouls last 5 seconds longer and have 25% more Health. Passive: Every 5th enemy Minion that dies while Freezing or Frostbitten is raised as a Ghoul.
Gathering Storm (New)
After being active for 8 consecutive seconds, Frozen Tempest starts growing by 5% every second, up to 50% bonus radius.
While at maximum bonus, Frozen Tempest applies 2 stacks of Freezing instead of 1.
LEVEL 7
Immortal Coil (Reworked)
Hitting a Slowed target with Death Coil reduces its cooldown by 2 seconds and refunds 25 Mana.
Additionally, using Death Coil on an enemy Hero causes it to return to Arthas after a successful hit, healing him for 120.
Frost Strike (Moved from Level 13)(Reworked)
Every 12 seconds, Arthas's next Basic Attack deals 50% more damage and applies 1 stack of Freezing.
This effect stacks with Biting Cold, and switching to Biting Cold resets its cooldown.
Death's Advance (Moved from Level 20)(Reworked)
Activating Biting Cold or Frozen Tempest removes all Slows from Arthas. Passive: Gain 10% Movement Speed.
LEVEL 13
Necrotic Plague (New)
Ghouls deal 4 damage every second to nearby enemies.
Heroes damaged by this effect receive 40% less healing for 1.5 seconds.
Radius: 1.5
Icy Talons (Moved from Level 4)(Adjusted)
Gain 2.5% Attack Speed every time Frozen Tempest deals damage to an enemy Hero, up to 60%.
This bonus lasts for 3 seconds.
Frost Fever (New)
Each stack of Freezing deals 8 damage every second. Frostbite deals 60 damage every second and also reduces the Armor of Heroes by 10.
LEVEL 16
Chill of the Grave (New)
Reduce the cooldown of Howling Blast by 2 seconds and increase its range by 20%.
Additionally, Howling Blast now hits all enemies in its path and Stuns Frostbitten targets instead of Rooting them.
Fallen Champions (New)
Enemy and allied Heroes that die nearby are raised as Ghouls. Passive: Increase the healing of Sacrifice by 50%.
Radius: 8
Icebound Fortitude (Moved from Level 7)(Reworked)
Gain 1 Armor for 3 seconds every time an enemy receives Freezing, doubled from Heroes. Stacks up to 25 Armor. Passive: While Arthas has at least 15 Armor, the duration of Stuns, Slows, and Roots against him is reduced by 25%.
LEVEL 20
Absolute Zero (Reworked)
Sindragosa flies twice as far. Passive: Increase the Attack Speed and Movement Speed reduction of Frostbite from 40% to 60%.
Soul Reaper (New)
Defile deals 50% more damage to Heroes.
Heroes that die within 3 seconds of being hit by Defile have 25% increased death timer.
Chains of Ice (New) Cooldown: 60 seconds
Root nearby enemies for 1 second and disable their Movement Abilities for 3 seconds.
Radius: 5
Death Grip (New) Cooldown: 30 seconds
Cast for 0.75 seconds on an enemy Hero to pull them towards Arthas's current location.
Cast is interrupted if the target moves beyond active range.
Interrupting the cast starts the cooldown.
Cast Range: 6
Active Range: 9
Pull Speed: 20
I love the changes you made! though i love how arthas is played now, I think your ideas are interesting and looks fun!
I have some suggestions for your already great ones!
Ghouls have the same problem as they have now- they are used mostly as health packs. i think it would be a good idea to improve it like you did with the rest of the abilities and make it have some synergy with the new Frostbites mechanism- having them apply an additional effect on frostbitten enemies like more damage or some other benefit that will make you think more before sacrificing them.
Defile sounds neat! But, it is a bit busted for a character like Arthas- 6 seconds of unstoppable on top of the great damage.
if i'm understanding correctly the area follows you right? I suggest it should be more similar to yrel's Sacred Ground- create an aoe beneath you (that does not follow you) for 6 seconds that deals damage to enemies. while Arthas is in the aoe he gains unstoppable. so now it's more counter-able.
Also i think there can be some cool talents for SACRIFICE (now that its a basic) adding additional effects after you use it like- cd reduction for some ability, increase aa damage or frozen tempest damage, making you time the sacrifice not only to heal.
>if i'm understanding correctly the area follows you right?
Defile needs to be channeled, meaning you can't move while casting it, so there is no movement happening at all.
Great rework. Love the idea of making ghouls baseline. Good job making a slightly weaker FrozenTempest passive as it should be, but to compensate for this I would also make his other mana costs higher as he no longer has the passive drain from tempest. Not to mention that they have all been buffed by Frostbite.
The weakest point here I see is Defile(R1): perhaps add some soft CC to it maybe damage/spellpower reduction to enemies in the area? Especially if he has to channel it. Most tanks usually have a CC/peel ult, and Sindragosa is usually relegated for siege
>I would also make his other mana costs higher as he no longer has the passive drain from tempest
His abilities cost more and his trait restores much less mana.
>The weakest point here I see is Defile(R1): perhaps add some soft CC to it maybe damage/spellpower reduction to enemies in the area
Defile is all about dealing damage. Sindragosa is the CC ult.
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Heroes of the Storm Build Guides
Rune Tap (Moved from Level 7)(Reworked)
Death's Advance (Moved from Level 20)(Reworked)
Soul Reaper (New)
Chains of Ice (New)
Death Grip (New)
Rime
Frozen Wastes
Anti-Magic Shell
I have some suggestions for your already great ones!
Ghouls have the same problem as they have now- they are used mostly as health packs. i think it would be a good idea to improve it like you did with the rest of the abilities and make it have some synergy with the new Frostbites mechanism- having them apply an additional effect on frostbitten enemies like more damage or some other benefit that will make you think more before sacrificing them.
Defile sounds neat! But, it is a bit busted for a character like Arthas- 6 seconds of unstoppable on top of the great damage.
if i'm understanding correctly the area follows you right? I suggest it should be more similar to yrel's Sacred Ground- create an aoe beneath you (that does not follow you) for 6 seconds that deals damage to enemies. while Arthas is in the aoe he gains unstoppable. so now it's more counter-able.
Also i think there can be some cool talents for SACRIFICE (now that its a basic) adding additional effects after you use it like- cd reduction for some ability, increase aa damage or frozen tempest damage, making you time the sacrifice not only to heal.
Defile needs to be channeled, meaning you can't move while casting it, so there is no movement happening at all.
The weakest point here I see is Defile(R1): perhaps add some soft CC to it maybe damage/spellpower reduction to enemies in the area? Especially if he has to channel it. Most tanks usually have a CC/peel ult, and Sindragosa is usually relegated for siege
His abilities cost more and his trait restores much less mana.
>The weakest point here I see is Defile(R1): perhaps add some soft CC to it maybe damage/spellpower reduction to enemies in the area
Defile is all about dealing damage. Sindragosa is the CC ult.