Zenyatta by Nima Nightmare

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Zenyatta

By: Nima Nightmare
Last Updated: May 15, 2026
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Zenyatta

Wandering Guru

This concept has been reworked from the ground up. For the previous iteration (August 2021), see here.

(The old version was basically a poorly ported carbon copy of Zenyatta's Overwatch kit with poor talent diversity, starting off as very weak to borderline broken).


(Highly inspired by this great concept)


Zenyatta is an omnic monk who wanders the world in search of spiritual enlightenment. It is said that those who cross his path are never the same again.

Strengths:

  • Not Mana dependent
  • Can be played both as a Healer and a Ranged Assassin
  • Access to both sustain and burst healing
  • Access to baseline Physical Armor reduction thanks to Orb of Discord
  • Excellent synergy with Basic Attack-centric Heroes (e.g. Valla, Illidan)
  • Great out of combat self-healing via Restore Orbs, reducing his need to Hearth back to the Hall of Storms for healing
  • High Attack Range and Cast Range
  • All Abilities are unit-targeted or AoEs, relying less on skill-shot based timing

Weaknesses:

  • Extremely fragile, 5th lowest Health pool in the game and the lowest one amongst Healers
  • Cost-management intensive despite not being a Mana user
  • No AoE healing outside of certain talents
  • No access to Crowd Control of any kind outside of certain talents
  • Underwhelming mobility
  • Almost no synergy with mages or Spell Damage-centric Heroes
  • Steep learning curve, not beginner-friendly
  • Mediocre waveclear


Stats:


Health: 1210
Health Regen: 5.9 per second
Attack Damage: 60
Attack Speed: 2.5 per second
Attack Range: 6.0

Combat Trait

1
Restore Orbs
Zenyatta uses Orbs instead of Mana. Can store up to 100 Orbs. Orbs are restored by 1 per second. Activate to remain stationary and restore 25 Orbs each second. Can be cancelled early to continue with the current amount of restored orbs. Using abilities interrupts channeling. Lasts up to a maximum of 4 seconds.

Passive: Whenever Zenyatta restores an Orb, he heals for 1% of his maximum Health.

Cooldown: 25 seconds

Primary Abilities

1
Orb Volley
Target an enemy to channel for up to 3 seconds, creating 2 projectiles that are launched at the targeted enemy by reactivating the Ability or by channeling Orb Volley to its maximum duration, each dealing 98 (+4% per level) damage to the first enemy or Structure they come in contact with. Deals Physical damage instead of Spell damage.


Cooldown: 10 seconds
Orbs: 5 per second


Cast Range: 10
Missile Speed: 26

Similar to Nova's Triple Tap, Orb Volley projectiles hit the first enemy in their path instead of their intended target, meaning Minions, Mercenaries, Structures and other Heroes can be used as cover to block these projectiles.
While channeling, Zenyatta can move, but cannot Basic Attack nor use his other Abilities.
2
Orb of Harmony
Attach an Orb on an allied Hero, healing them by 93 (+4% per level) Health per second. Target another ally to switch targets. Target self to cancel Orb of Harmony. Reactivate on the same ally to consume 20 Orbs and instantly heal them for 250 (+4% per level) health.

When Zenyatta’s Orbs fall below 5 or when the current target allied Hero walks out of range, Orb of Harmony is instantly deactivated.

Does not consume Orbs if the target is at full Health. Cannot be reactivated on the same ally if they are at full Health.

No cooldown
Orbs: 5 per second

Cast Range: 10

Heals for 5.8125 health every 0.0625 seconds.
In Overwatch, Healers are designed with 2 Healers per team in mind while in HotS, they are designed with 1 per team in mind. The reactivation aspect is there to allow Zenyatta to help his team on his own while also differentiating the Ability from similar ones (e.g. Lt. Morales's Healing Beam)
3
Orb of Discord
Attach an Orb on an enemy Hero, reducing their Physical Armor by 15. Reactivate on another enemy to switch targets. Reactivate on self to cancel Orb of Discord. Reactivate on the same enemy Hero to consume 30 Orbs and increase the Armor reduction by an additional 10 for 2 seconds.

When Zenyatta’s Orbs fall below 5 or when the current target enemy Hero walks out of range, Orb of Discord is instantly deactivated.

No cooldown
Orbs: 5 per second

Cast Range: 10

Just like the Orb of Harmony reactivation integration, Orb of Discord also received one, albeit this one costs more Orbs due to how oppressive it can get in team fights, hence the extra cost.
Additionally, Orb of Discord exclusively reduces Physical Armor as there are existing Armor Reductions like it (e.g. Tyrande's Hunter's Mark).

Heroic Abilities

1
Transcendence
After 0.5 seconds, enter Stasis and channel for up to 4 seconds. All allied Heroes near you become Unkillable and gain 30% increased Attack Damage. Can be canceled early.

Cooldown: 75 seconds
Orbs: 50

Radius: 8

Despite sharing the same name, Transcendence works differently here than it does in Overwatch. Not only because similar ultimates already exist in HotS (Malfurion's Tranquility and Anduin's Holy Word: Salvation), but also because this is meant to be Zenyatta's defensive-based ultimate. The Stasis aspect is kept, but this also means Zenyatta cannot participate in fights directly.
Zenyatta cannot move during Transcendence.
2
Orb of Inversion
Target an allied Hero, then target an enemy Hero within 4 seconds to link them together.

The allied target is healed for 100% of all the damage the target enemy Hero receives and the target enemy Hero takes 50% of the healing the target ally receives as damage. Lasts 4 seconds.

Cannot be used on Zenyatta.

Cooldown: 60 seconds
Orbs: 50

Cast Range: 12

The healing and damage dealt via Orb of Inversion does not affect the opposing targets.

Level 1 Talents

Free Mind (W)
Orb of Harmony lingers for 2 seconds on allied Heroes when they get too far away from Zenyatta before it disappears, and its heal overtime is increased by 75% on allied Heroes below 25% Health.

Passive: Orb of Harmony continues to heal its last target for 1 more second upon removal.

Walking in Harmony (Trait)
Increase the maximum Health Zenyatta restores via Restore Orbs by 0.5%. Every 5 Orbs restored heals all nearby allied Heroes for 1.5% of their maximum Health.

Radius: 6

Instant Karma (Passive)
Gain 15 permanent Armor.

Repeatable Quest: Participating in Hero takedowns grants a stack of Karma, with each stack increasing Zenyatta’s Basic Attack damage by 6% and reducing his Armor by 5. Can stack up to 6 Karma.

At max stacks, Zenyatta gains an additional 24% Attack Damage, but his abilities cost 100% more Orbs.

Karma stacks are lost upon death.

Level 4 Talents

Salvation Seeker (Q)
Upon impact with enemy Heroes, Orb Volley projectiles split into smaller orbs each per nearby enemy Heroes, homing towards them (aside from the target initially hit), dealing 49 (+4% per level) Physical damage each.

Search Radius: 6 units around the damaged Hero

Vampiric Gaze (W)
Orb of Harmony allows its target to heal for 15% of the Basic Attack damage they deal to enemy Heroes. Reactivating Orb of Harmony on the same allied Hero increases this bonus to 35% for 2 seconds.

Risky Prayer (Active)
Activate to consume all of Zenyatta’s current Orbs and gain a Shield equal to 0.75% of his maximum Health per Orb consumed. Lasts 4 seconds.

Each use of Risky Prayer permanently increases the cooldown of Restore Orbs by 2 seconds, its duration by 2 seconds and reduces the amount of Orbs it restores per second by 2. Stacks up to 5 times.

Zenyatta cannot restore any Orbs while he has Shields from Risky Prayer.

Cooldown: 40 seconds

Level 7 Talents

False Promise (Q)
Instead of channeling, Orb Volley projectiles passively charge up every 1.5 seconds and Orb Volley can be reactivated to launch all of the current projectiles at the targeted enemy, but each projectile consumes 2.5 Orbs. Up to a maximum of 6 projectiles at a time. This effect can be toggled on and off.

Passive: Launching fully Charged Orb Volleys sets the next Orb Volley’s cooldown to 5 seconds.

Soul Sap (E)
Orb of Discord deals 93 (+4% per level) damage to its target over 3 seconds. This effect has a 25 second cooldown per enemy Hero, and reactivating Orb of Discord on the same target resets this cooldown on them.

Enlightenment (Trait)
Gain 5% Movement Speed. Every time Zenyatta heals himself with Restore Orbs, this is increased by an additional 5%, while healing allies with other Abilities increases this by 1% every time they heal them.

This stacks up to a maximum of 20% Movement Speed and lasts 4 seconds.

Level 13 Talents

Tranquility (Trait)
Restoring 50 Orbs empowers Zenyatta's next Basic Ability, stacking up to 2 times:
  • Orb Volley creates 1 additional projectile with each second it charges up (if False Promise is active, increase the next Orb Volley charge amount by 3).
  • Orb of Harmony can be reactivated on the same allied Hero once without consuming any Orbs.
  • Orb of Discord's next reactivation Slows its target's Movement and Attack Speed by 35% for 2 seconds.

Iris' Protection (Trait)
Getting Stunned or Silenced while channeling Restore Orbs makes Zenyatta Protected for 2 seconds.

Passive: Restore Orbs persists for 1 second upon ending or being interrupted.

Lesson in Humility (Trait)
Every 25 Orbs spent empowers Zenyatta’s next Basic Attack against an enemy Hero, causing it to deal 50% increased damage and restore 10 Orbs. Can be stacked up to 4 times.

Passive: Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes restore 2 Orbs. This amount is increased to 5 if the target enemy Hero is below 50% Health.

Level 16 Talents

Strike at Weakness (Q)
Each Orb Volley projectile deals an additional damage based on 1.75% of the target’s maximum Health when damaging Heroes. If all projectiles from a fully charged Orb Volley hit the same enemy Hero, the last projectile deals 50% increased damage.

Overflow (W)
Whenever the target of Orb of Harmony gets Stunned, Rooted or Silenced, they are instantly healed for 125 (+4% per level) Health and gain 25 Armor for 3 seconds.

The Armor bonus does not stack on itself.

Darkness Falls (E)
Orb of Discord also reduces its target’s Physical Damage by 30% while it is active. Every 3rd consecutive Basic Attack of Zenyatta against this target reduces their Physical Damage by an additional 25% for 1 second.

Level 20 Talents

Equanimity (Heroic R)
Increase Transcendence's radius by 25% and it now also affects nearby enemy Heroes, applying untalented Orbs of Discord on them that don't consume Orbs and cannot be reactivated.

Rapid Inversion (Heroic R)
Orb of Inversion grants 30% Attack Speed to its allied target while it is active. If the enemy target of Orb of Inversion dies while under its effects, then reset its duration and apply Orbs of Inversion to all Heroes near the dead enemy.

Additional Orbs of Inversion do not recast upon takedowns.

Search Radius: 8 units around the dead Hero

Dual Harmony (W)
Orb of Harmony also applies a secondary Orb of Harmony that consumes no Orbs on an allied Hero closest to the current target. This secondary Orb of Harmony heals for 50% of its original value, and mimics the commands and Talent benefits of the original Orb of Harmony.

Does not affect Zenyatta.

Search Radius: 8 units

Dissonance (E)
Orb Volley projectiles and every 3rd Basic Attack of Zenyatta explode on enemies affected by Orb of Discord, dealing 108 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies nearby the target.

Search Radius: 5 units around the damaged Hero

One With The Universe (Active)
Target an allied hero to Protect them from damage, and heal them for 100% of the damage they take during the next 2 seconds instead of taking that damage. Every tick of Orb of Harmony’s heal overtime reduces this cooldown by 0.125 seconds, and its reactivation healing reduces this cooldown by 15 seconds

Cannot be used on Zenyatta.

Cooldown: 180 seconds

Cast Range: 8

Changelog

15/05/2026


General
  • Description fixes.
  • Added property descriptions to Talents that required them.

Abilities


Orb of Harmony (W)
  • Can no longer be reactivated for burst healing on allied Heroes with full Health.

Talents


Level 13


Tranquility
  • No longer activates by just channeling Restore Orbs for 2 seconds. Exclusively activates after restoring 50 Orbs.
  • Now stacks up to 2 times.

Level 20


One With the Universe
  • Cast Range reduced from 14 to 8.

08/05/2026


General


  • Health increased from 1100 to 1210.
  • Health Regen increased from 2.4 to 5.9 per second.
  • Attack Damage reduced from 80 to 60.
  • Attack Range increased from 5.5 to 6.
  • Attack Speed increased from 2 to 2.5 per second.
  • No longer has Mana as energy resource.
  • Energy resource replaced with Orbs.

Abilities


Trait: Contemplate (D)
  • Removed.

Trait: Restore Orbs (D)
  • Added.
  • Replaces Zenyatta's energy resource with 100 Orbs.
  • Can be activated to restore 25 Orbs per second.
  • Passively restores 1 Orb per second.
  • Every 1 Orb restored heals Zenyatta for 1% of his maximum Health.
  • Not restorable with Regen Globes, Fountains, Hall of Storm or Mana regenerating abilities.

Orb Volley (Q)
  • Changed from skillshot to point-and-click targeted.
  • Projectiles hit the first enemy in their path instead of always hitting their intended target.
  • Cost changed from 30 Mana to 5 Orbs per second.
  • Maximum projectile count increased from 5 to 6.
  • Cooldown increased from 5 to 10 seconds. Interrupting Orb Volley reduces its cooldown to 6 seconds.
  • Damage increased from 90 to 98.
  • Damage type changed from Spell to Physical.

Orb of Harmony (W)
  • Heal overtime reduced from 95 to 93 per second.
  • Cost changed from 20 Mana per second to 5 Orbs per second.
  • Can now be reactivated on the same target for burst healing at the cost of Orbs.

Orb of Discord (E)
  • Armor reduction type changed from all Armor to Physical Armor.
  • Cost changed from 20 Mana per second to 5 Orbs per second.
  • Can now be reactivated on the same target for a brief extra Physical Armor reduction at the cost of Orbs.

Transcendence (R) (REWORKED)
  • No longer makes Zenyatta Invulnerable.
  • No longer heals nearby allies.
  • No longer deactivates Orb of Harmony and Orb of Discord.
  • Makes nearby allies Unkillable and increases their Attack Damage.
  • Puts Zenyatta in Stasis and makes him stationary.
  • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 75 seconds.
  • Cost changed from 100 Mana to 50 Orbs.

Dissonance (REWORKED)
  • Moved to level 20 as a selectable talent.
  • No longer makes Zenyatta Protected.
  • No longer deals damage around Zenyatta.
  • No longer increases Zenyatta's Movement Speed.
  • No longer deactivates Orb of Harmony and Orb of Discord.
  • Makes Orb Volley projectiles and every 3rd Basic Attack of Zenyatta to explode on Discordant targets to deal explosion damage around them.

Orb of Inversion (R)
  • Added.
  • Links an allied and an enemy Hero together to deal healing and damage to them based on the amount either of them receive.

Talents


Level 1


Free Mind (Moved from level 7) (REWORKED)
  • No longer increases Orb of Harmony's healing if the target is disabled.
  • Now causes Orb of Harmony to linger and heal for 1 more second after removal.
  • Increases Orb of Harmony's heal overtime on allies below 25% Health.

Walking in Harmony (Moved from level 16) (REWORKED)
  • No longer increases Orb of Harmony's range.
  • No longer allows Orb of Harmony to grant Attack Speed.
  • Increases the max Health Zenyatta restores with Restore Orbs.
  • Allows Zenyatta to heal nearby allies with every 5 Orbs restored.

Instant Karma (NEW)
  • Grants permanent Armor.
  • Has a Quest that increases Zenyatta's Attack Damage and decreases his Armor.

Level 4


Vampiric Gaze (Moved from level 7) (ADJUSTED)
  • Lifesteal granted with Orb of Harmony is exclusively Physical instead of Spell.
  • Lifesteal amount reduced from 20% to 15%.
  • Lifesteal amount increases by reactivating Orb of Harmony on the same target.
  • No longer increases the cost of Orb of Harmony.

Salvation Seeker (NEW)
  • Upon impact with enemy Heroes, Orb Volley projectiles split into smaller orbs each per nearby enemy Heroes, homing towards them (aside from the target initially hit), dealing 49 (+4% per level) Physical damage each.

Risky Prayer (NEW)
  • Activate to consume all of Zenyatta’s current Orbs and gain a Shield equal to 0.75% of his maximum Health per Orb consumed. Lasts 4 seconds.
  • Each use of Risky Prayer permanently increases the cooldown of Restore Orbs by 2 seconds, its duration by 2 seconds and reduces the amount of Orbs it restores per second by 2. Stacks up to 5 times.
  • Zenyatta cannot restore any Orbs while he has Shields from Risky Prayer.
  • Cooldown: 40 seconds

Level 7


Soul Sap (Moved from level 13) (REWORKED)
  • No longer causes Basic Attacks to deal percent damage to Discordant enemies.
  • Causes Orb of Discord to deal damage overtime.
  • 25 seconds cooldown per Hero that resets by reactivating Orb of Discord on the same target.

False Promise (NEW)
  • Instead of channeling, Orb Volley projectiles passively charge up every 1.5 seconds and Orb Volley can be reactivated to launch all of the current projectiles, but each projectile consumes 2.5 Orbs. Up to a maximum of 6 projectiles at a time. This effect can be toggled on and off.
  • Passive: Launching fully Charged Orb Volleys sets the next Orb Volley’s cooldown to 5 seconds.

Enlightenment (NEW)
  • Gain 5% Movement Speed. Every time Zenyatta heals himself with Restore Orbs, this is increased by an additional 5%, while healing allies with other Abilities increases this by 1% every time they heal them.
  • This stacks up to a maximum of 20% Movement Speed and lasts 4 seconds.

Level 13


Tranquility (REWORKED)
  • No longer grants Movement Speed.
  • Empowers Zenyatta's next Basic Ability with every 50 Orbs restored or with channeling Restore Orbs for 2 consecutive seconds.

Iris' Protection (NEW)
  • Getting Stunned or Silenced while channeling Restore Orbs makes Zenyatta Protected for 2 seconds.
  • Passive: Restore Orbs persists for 1 second upon ending or being interrupted.

Lesson in Humility (NEW)
  • Every 25 Orbs spent empowers Zenyatta’s next Basic Attack against an enemy Hero, causing it to deal 50% increased damage and restore 10 Orbs. Can be stacked up to 4 times.
  • Passive: Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes restore 2 Orbs. This amount is increased to 5 if the target enemy Hero is below 50% Health.

Level 16


Strike at Weakness (ADJUSTED)
  • No longer requires all Orb Volley projectiles to deal damage to the same Hero in order to deal percent damage.
  • Percent damage changed from 6% of maximum Health if all Orbs hit to 1.75% of maximum Health per Orb hit.
  • If all Orb Volley projectiles hit the same Hero, the last Orb deals 50% increased damage.

Overflow (Moved from level 20) (REWORKED)
  • No longer affects Contemplate.
  • Grants burst healing and Armor to disabled targets of Orb of Harmony.

Darkness Falls (REWORKED)
  • No longer increases Orb of Discord's Armor reduction.
  • No longer causes Orb of Discord to reveal Heroes.
  • No longer causes Orb of Discord to reduce enemy Spell Power.
  • Causes Orb of Discord to reduce its target's Physical Damage by 30%.
  • Causes every 3rd Basic Attack of Zenyatta against this target to increase this amount by an additional 25% for 2 seconds.

Level 20


One With the Universe (ADJUSTED)
  • Duration reduced from 5 to 2 seconds.
  • Cooldown increased from 80 to 180 seconds.
  • No longer applies the damage negated to the target ally.
  • No longer doubles the healing received.
  • Converts damage taken to healing.

Equanimity (NEW)
  • Increase Transcendence's radius by 25% and it now also affects nearby enemy Heroes, applying untalented Orbs of Discord on them that don't consume Orbs and cannot be reactivated.

Rapid Inversion (NEW)
  • Orb of Inversion grants 30% Attack Speed to its allied target while it is active. If the enemy target of Orb of Inversion dies while under its effects, then reset its duration and apply Orbs of Inversion to all Heroes near the dead enemy.
  • Additional Orbs of Inversion do not recast upon takedowns.

Dual Harmony (NEW)
  • Orb of Harmony also applies a secondary Orb of Harmony that consumes no Orbs on an allied Hero closest to the current target. This secondary Orb of Harmony heals for 50% of its original value, and mimics the commands and Talent benefits of the original Orb of Harmony.
  • Does not affect Zenyatta.

Removed Talents
  • True Self (Trait) (Level 1)
  • Levitation (Passive) (Level 1)
  • Iris' Precision (Q) (Level 1)
  • Artificial Intellect (Trait) (Level 4)
  • Destruction (Q) (Level 4)
  • Chaos Plague (E) (Level 4)
  • Reborn (W) (Level 7)
  • Iris' Perspective (Q) (Level 13)
  • Iris' Light (Heroic R) (Level 20)
  • Hateful Chaos (Heroic R) (Level 20)

10/05/2020

  • Created.

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