My name is Mike "Zombi", the self proclaimed Zombie King. I have been into competitive gaming for the last 7 years. My experiences come from World of Warcraft(Arena/Rated Battlegrounds), League of Legends, Smite, CS: Source and Global Offensive. The list can keep going but those are some worth noting. As with any guide disclaimer ever seen or written; I am by no means "the best" player nor am I saying that this will be "the best" build you will ever see. I will say that this build is fun, has fantastic sustain and keeps you on the battlefield for all eternity. "You cannot kill that which has no life... -King Leoric"


I will try to make this guide easy on the eyes and mildly entertaining. I hope you enjoy it and provide feedback.

MikeZombi#1216 - HotDogs

Leoric has great sustain and amazing solo lane capabilities. He is a Warrior that will cause a headache for your enemy if played correctly and give your team the advantage over objectives. During the later game, I call him the "babysitter". To give you a more in depth reason why, with his ability to smash through waves of minions and push with friendly minions/siege the enemy team more often than not will send at least two of their own to come deal with you. If it's their two Assassin's: This gives your team an upper hand in team fighting creating a 4 vs 3 which should almost always be won. If they send weaker opponents such as Support or Spcialists: You will be able to sustain their blows long enough to get a tower down and possibly escape. Again, it all depends on your ability to get out of dodge quickly when the time is right or eat the death and keep pushing.

Please note the maps selected before continuing. Blackheart's Bay, Dragon Shire and Battlefield for Eternity are what I like to call "Holy **** Team Fight" maps. These maps, as described, are team fight maps where talent choices for maximum damage are ideal which this particular guide does not cover.

Pros:
+Great Sustain in Lane
+Solid Harass/Hero Damage
+You never have to "B"
+Can Solo Forts
+Looks ****ing awesome

Cons:
-Escape is weak, can't go through walls
-Lack of CC besides slow and "R"
-Long CD's
-Can be hard to play if you don't know how to position

Undying [Trait]

Skeletal Swing [Q]

Drain Hope [W]

Wraith Walk [E]

March of the Black King [R]

Entomb [R]

Level 1: Reanimation - Health Globes Make You Unstoppable

I go with this on laning maps solely because the health regen by mid game allows you to face towers without breaking a sweat. You will eventually get to the point where you can use Skeletal Swing, and wipe out most of the minion wave and take no damage whatsoever. This also makes you cheat death faster. By level 20 I have revived in ~20 seconds.

Level 4: Hardened Bones - Improved Escape/Survivability

Willing Vessel comes into play both in life and in death. The 10% increased healing power will sustain you better in a 1v1 situation or even a 2v2 depending on who is attacking you. For example, I took down a Raynor and Gazlowe, alone. I know that isn't saying a whole lot but I still won. Also keep in mind that while you are in the Undying phase, this also grants a greater amount of time of "cheat death" which will bring you in the fight even faster.

Level 7: Ossein Renewal - Early Game Life Saver/Faster Undying Timer

Ossein Renewal is the "bread and butter" of you surviving and spawning. In the early mid game, this ability will help you stay up longer when sustaining high damage after level 10/13. This ability should only be used while "Undying" to cheat death faster. This works well with our first talent choice.

Level 10: March of the Black King - Super Smash Mode: ACTIVATED

March of the Black damages and heals for each enemy hero hit. Because you will be focusing on laning, I find Entombed to be somewhat useless as that would be more for team fights. By level 20, you will be healing for absurd amounts all while becoming unstoppable.

Level 13: Burning Rage - Nuke the Base!

Buring Rage adds to your sustain in lane. Since Leoric has a pretty long cool down on Skeletal Swing and being that it's his only real damaging ability against enemy minions, forts and camps, this ability will keep you alive longer by burning forts down faster.

Level 16: Consume Vitality - The Undying King!

While you are pulverizing towers and taking on minion waves in the process either solo or with a buddy, having another heal to aid you on your quest to the enemy core is more than welcome and helpful. It will heal you up to 10% of your maximum health assuming you strike 5 targets in one strike. Considering this big bastard has a 180 degree swing, it should not be difficult to land this ability. Where this talent really shines is when you're in Undying mode. With Reanimation and Ossein Renewal, this is where you begin to spawn in at around 30 seconds. By the end game, we all know that death timers are at about the minute mark so respawning back quickly is heavenly and this is what make's Leoric so unique. This ability is best used on Minion waves only. You could attack heroes but only hitting one for 2% and an 8 second cool down is simply not worth it.

Level 20: Death March - Leoric, the Unstoppable

The moment we have all been waiting for. The unstoppable wrecking ball, Leoric. With Death March, it add's his Drain Hope to ALL enemies near Leoric at the final strike of March of the Black King. Alternatively, if you feel this talent choice is not for you, there is nothing wrong with Hardened Shield for increased Survivability. The only way Death March is going to be 100% effective is if you actually land 2 out of the 3 swings. It shares the same attack animation as Skeletal Swing and the same rules(180 degree arc). One tip for making this talent work is if you get on the target, slow with your Q and then go ham with your R. Pay attention to the enemies movements. If they are running in a straight line away from you while they are slowed, you will land all 3 swings guaranteed.

[Edit: I have noticed some people like to grab Spectral Leech but for the this build it is not as effective. I feel this talent is better suited for team fight maps. Choose this talent at your own risk.]

Early Game

On our way to level 10, laning is obviously the key to our success. Focus on smashing the mage's in the minion crowds to pick up Regen Orbs to stack your Reanimation quickly. The best tactic for me is roaming as Leoric. I prefer to start laning with a Specialist if one is available on our team and float between their lane and mid. This allows for us to harass the enemy team, push closer to their towers, gain an experience curve(i.e. Hit Level 10 first) and collect Regen Globes. Please remember - Just because you're a heavy hitting Warrior with a decent amount of HP does not make you invincible. The enemy cannon towers will nuke you down very fast until you hit the sweet spot between Level 7 and 10. This also gives the enemy team an advantage to nuke you down quickly which hurts your team in experience and could cause the death of the second person in your lane. Play smart, do not over extend. If you go beyond the half way point, you're not laning properly. Save that junk for the mid game.

Mid Game

This is where things start to spice up. You're Level 10, we have our Heroic Ability and hopefully are ahead or at least evenly matched in experience. This is where you start to shine and also have to make very careful and tactful decisions. First, communicate with your team. Say you're on Cursed Hollow. Check the map. Is the Tribute spawning? Ask your team if they need assistance. If they feel confident securing the tribute, keep laning. If they require your aid, stop and help them. You are not a one man army(...yet), you need your team just as much as they need you. Warriors are there to absorb the harassment of the enemy, and you just so happen to provide necessary tools to slow and secure kills for your teammates.

If you have friendlies with big AoE abilities, Slows or Stuns, use that to your advantage when going crazy with March of the Black King. Remember to line the enemy heroes up, leave a little bit of space between you and them so you can land at least 2 out of the 3 swings. If they run from you, Wraith Walk can be used to chase and body block the enemy from escaping, apply your slow and give your team a chance to land the killing blow. The only time you should EVER use this ability to chase is when the enemy team is scattered from an objective or if an enemy hero is over-extended(i.e. Trying to push a friendly tower by themselves with a basic minion wave). I can't stress enough how important map awareness and communication is. Try to expect where an enemy gank is about occur. It will save you more than you know.

Late Game

The moment we have all been waiting for. You're level 16 now, pushing to level 20. We have our Consume Vitality and are ready to smash whatever may be left of the enemy team's forts. If you are in a game with an Abathur on your team... You NEED his Symbiote, otherwise known as "The Hat." A friend of mine and I caught wind of this duo and tried it out and with the following talent build plus Abathur's ability to shield and heal you, you become a force no one wants to deal with. Moving forward, the end game is pretty much mopping up anything left. You can become a huge distraction if you can knock down two full lanes and stand at their core. This is where the "baby sitting" comes in to play as the enemy team will have at least two people trying to guard you as you smack their core around while your teammates continue pushing, grabbing camps and picking off enemy stragglers hiding in the "fog."

Using Your Abilities Wisely

By level 16, you will have all necessary components to lane like an absolute boss. Your level 20 is entirely up to the situation your match is currently giving you. To make the best use of this build, try following these simple rules.

While you're alive, use Skeletal Swing on cool down whether it's against enemy waves or forts. If you have one or two enemy heroes smacking you around while you are in "siege mode", use Wraith Walk to get out of harms way. At this point you may choose to go bold and attack while out of range of the enemy towers or call for assistance. Remember the attack priority of Healer > Assassin/Specialist > Tank. Make use of Drain Hope to top yourself off to sustain your lane presence or get that killing blow on a weak target attempting to run so long as you can keep up with them for it's duration.

When you are Undying, use Ossein Renewal to speed up your death timer. Try to stay within range of enemy minion waves to land Skeletal Swing with Consume Vitality to shave off more time from your death timer. With all this on top of Regneration, you can maintain lane presence by respawning very fast. You can also solo the enemy Core with ease but to remember, you will be dying a lot with this play style but you will also be causing a major distraction for the enemy allowing for your teammates to help push and grab any objectives or mercenary camps. If you decide to go solo-lane boss mode, I tend to pick Hardened Shield over Death March.

Thank you for taking the time to read my guide and look forward to seeing how everyone does with this build. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions, concerns or just want to say hello. :D