Hello all!

Hi, I'm CarneAsada! I mainly play Warrior/Support classes. Upon discovering Leoric's addition to the HOTS roster I knew he'd be another favorite to add to the Warrior list. His early-game is strong with a solid solo lane with good creep clear with Skeletal Swing and what I believe is the best escape in the game, his Wraith Walk. Just be map aware and know when you feel unsafe. Even though his trait, Undying, makes Leoric seem unstoppable and immortal but we may be hurting our team more than we are helping if we decide to suicide ourselves into a team fight. We are not playing Murky, when Leoric dies he gives full EXP. Keep this in mind all the time. His late-game is strong being able to take and give more damage than early-game. We will need to be able to land Drain Hope most of the time to mitigate some damage. Skeletal Swing will hit like truck on creeps which is great for lane-pushing. I will get to my choice of Heroic later in the guide.

I will explain my build choices here focusing on one talent over the rest.

Tier 1

- Reanimation

The best talent for Leoric at the moment. A stacking regen that persists through Undying and makes "cheat death" faster. This should be a no-brainer pick. The other three choices seem rather lackluster for the way Leoric plays. Choose Mana Thirst if we find ourselves losing mana but be warned it will not scale well later in the late-game. I have never really liked Hopelessness but go for it if we find ourselves picking up Drain Momentum at the Tier 5 talents or we need that extra reach for Drain Hope. Pick up block if we want to feel like tank.

Overall:
Reanimation > Block > Mana Thirst > Hopelessness

Tier 2

- Hardened Bones

Wraith Walk is one of the best escapes in the game. 25% less damage while Wraith Walking? Yes, please! I can't tell you how much I've avoided death because of Wraith Walk. This is always an auto-pick for me. It just works for me. Wraith Walk can also be considered an initiating ability. Royal Focus can help us be better initiators with the reduced cooldown so if a fight turns sour we can GTFO before they read our eugoogoolies. Willing Vessel is a good pick up if you really like Drain Hope as a source of health regen. I have not tested Fealty Unto Death but other guides seem to like it.

Overall
Hardened Bones > Fealty Unto Death > Royal Focus > Willing Vessel

Tier 3

- Ossein Renewal

My favorite pick of the tier. Useful in a ton of situations. Makes him sustain longer and is usable in Undying to respawn faster. Overall, the best neutral pick for this tier. Ghastly Reach seems like a pick if we find ourselves unable to catch that fleeing hero or somehow can't get a good angle for the creep clears in the late-game. It has it's uses but I found it underwhelming at times. Lingering Apparation seems booty. Not the good booty but the bad booty. Wraith Walk has a pretty good duration already and most of the time we'll just be reactivating it anyways to escape death. Maybe it'll help initiating but I found the default duration is enough. Paralyzing Rage is a good pick for mobile heroes that don't have an escape (i.e. Dwarf Toss/ Leap/ Banshee/ etc.) 60% slow is a really good snare if that Zeratul/Falstad that has bothering you all game has exhausted his only escape. Destroy the fool!

Overall
Ossein Renewal > Paralyzing Rage > Ghastly Reach > Lingering Apparation

Tier 4 - Heroic

- Entomb

Oh man, this Heroic makes you feel good when you trap a whole team to eat a Hinterland Blast/ Precision Strike/ etc. By picking this Heroic we may yell out sweet obscenities to curse our foes to messing with the King. Like Nazeebo's wall, this can be brought down if you accidentally trap our team in it. This can block movement to help save the team. Good initiation Heroic to single out that one Assassin or Support that isn't in the back line. March of the Black King seems rather underpowered. If we could direct Leoric while he is swinging would make it so much better. Most heroes, if not stunned or rooted will avoid that negating all the damage and healing from Leoric. I tried it one game and immediately regretted the decision.

Overall
Entomb > March of the Black King

Teir 5

- Burning Rage

Burning Rage is good pick-up for the Warrior class. Since we'll be in the fight most of the time, a damage aura that ticks per second will help put pressure on the other team as their support will try and heal everyone else so our team focus down a key enemy Assassin or Support. Crushing Hope if Drain Hope was our main damage but for this guide Drain Hope will be used for sustain. Drain Momentum if we want to be more mobile with Drain Hope. I got a few takedowns with Drain Hope which felt satisfying but never blamed the default Drain Hope movement speed restriction. I've never had any field tests with Spell Shield but I would recommend talking to our team to see if we can all take Spell Shield to mitigate ability damage to sustain better and give less stress to our supports.

Overall
Burning Rage > Spell Shield > Drain Momentum = Crushing Hope

Tier 6

- Imposing Presence

Great talent choice. I usually pick this up if there seems to be a good amount of auto-attack heroes on the other team. It will greatly reduce their damage while our support can sustain and our assassin's can kill something. I've ran Renewed Swing a few times and thought it was pretty neat talent. That along with Tier 3 Paralyzing Rage, the enemy hero will not be getting away anytime soon. Better creep clear and damage in the late-game. Consume Vitality if we find ourselves hitting multiple targets in team fights. Good with Entomb if we manage to get at least 2-3 heroes. Usable in Undying, which makes sticking to creep really nice to "cheat death." Unyeilding Despair is a good pick-up if we find ourselves really efficient in having Drain Hope active for a full duration. Helpful in Undying as it's nice to latch on to a tank and just have it help us respawn faster.

Overall
Imposing Presence > Consume Vitality > Renewed Swing > Unyeilding Despair

Tier 7

- Spectral Leech

Great auto-attack damage and more sustain for Leoric. Yay! 5% bonus damage and heal for Leoric, what's not to love. Buried alive is a good pick if we find ourselves trapping more than 2 enemy heroes. Sustained DPS is nice along with all the damage the trapped hero will already be taking. Their support shouldn't be able to keep up. Death March makes March of the Black King almost viable. Even if we don't hit anyone during the active time we should be able to still sustain and keep us alive. But like most heroes, they'll just outrange the Drain Hope. I guess that's where all the Drain Hope talents come in to play, huh? Hardened Shield is great if we find ourselves the main-target for a ton of abilities but usually if that's the case, they have already lost.

If you have any questions feel free to ask! Just wanted to share my build to the community and share some insight of why these talent choices are good for Leoric.