Auriel brings the power of hope to ‘Heroes of the Storm’

They say hope is hard to kill. With Auriel on your side, it’s not hard to see why. The Archangel of Hope is not only the epitome of elegance, she’s quite the badass, too. Those long, pretty ribbons? They’re not just for show – they’re also for wiping the floor with anyone who dares oppose your team.

Heroes of the Storm's Auriel is not only the epitome of elegance, she’s quite the badass, too. Images: Blizzard Entertainment

Though Auriel can certainly hold her own on the battlefield, her true strength lies in her ability to heal her allies, save them from life-threatening situations, and even snatch them from the jaws of death.

Auriel is among the few Heroes who doesn’t come with a traditional mana bar. What she does have is energy, which she has to build up if she’s to be of any use as a healer. This alone makes her more complex than your run-of-the-mill support Hero.

In “Heroes of the Storm,” Auriel is a high-utility Ranged Support Hero. She has one Trait, three Primary Abilities, and two Heroics. Her considerable complexity makes her hard to use.

Bestow Hope (Trait, D)

Auriel’s Trait is both a passive and an activated skill.

Every time Auriel attacks a Hero, 40% of the damage dealt returns to her as energy, while damaging non-Heroes returns 8%.

Additionally, Auriel can activate the skill to Bestow Hope upon a single friendly Hero. As long as the Hero remains near Auriel, any damage they deal to enemies is returned to her as energy. Only one Hero at a time can have Hope.

It’s in Auriel’s best interest to Bestow Hope on highly damaging Heroes – it’ll give her more energy. It also helps for Auriel to do some attacking herself. As long as she and her chosen Hero busy themselves putting the hurt on enemies, she’ll have little trouble keeping her energy up.

Bestow Hope is further improved by Talents such as Will of Heaven, which gives Heroes with Hope a 20% boost in Attack Speed, and Wrath of Heaven, which gives them a 10% increase in Ability Power.

The maximum amount of energy Auriel can store is 505, but this number increases per level.

Sacred Sweep (Q)

Auriel swings her ribbons in an arc, striking enemies caught in their path for 80 damage. Enemies at the center suffer an additional 160 damage.

Because it hits multiple enemies, Sacred Sweep is great at clearing lanes, and also has the potential to award Auriel a good amount of energy.

While Sacred Sweep doesn’t cost any energy to cast, it does have a cooldown of 8 seconds, so spamming isn’t initially possible. Of course, there are Talents that improve the skill. Righteous Assault can reduce the cooldown by a maximum of 4 seconds. Other Talents increase Sacred Sweep’s damage, cast speed, and reach.

Ray of Heaven (W)

Ray of Heaven is Auriel’s heal ability, and is the only skill that costs energy. It’s short to medium range, and heals allied Heroes in a small circular area. Cooldown is 4 seconds.

It’s often a good idea to have your friends bunched tightly together before casting Ray of Heaven on them, so, as always, communication is key.

Casting Ray of Heaven completely drains Auriel’s stored energy. While it isn’t necessary to have a full bar of energy to cast this spell, the strength of the heal increases the more energy you spend. So it might pay to wait a while before giving your friends a good blast of Ray of Heaven.

The Talent Searing Light makes Ray of Heaven harmful to enemies. Level 16 Reservoir of Hope is a quest-type Talent that raises the maximum level of energy stored by 75 per Ray of Heaven cast using a full bar of energy. The quest doesn’t seem to have an end, so it’s theoretically possible to raise your maximum energy an infinite number of times.

Detainment Strike (E)

Auriel whips an enemy Hero with her ribbons, dealing 100 damage and pushing them back. If they slam into structures or terrain, they’re stunned for 1.25 seconds and suffer an extra 100 damage. Cooldown is 14 seconds.

Detainment Strike’s knockback effect can help Auriel or an allied Hero escape a single pursuing enemy.

In the right circumstances, the stun effect also makes Detainment Strike quite deadly. Additionally, the stun effect cancels enemy channeling, preventing them from maximizing their damage output.

The skill is made even more lethal with Talents that increase its damage, add a slow effect after the stun, and more.

Resurrect (R1)

When an allied Hero is killed, their spirit remains at the location of their death. Auriel can channel on a target spirit; after 3 seconds, that Hero is resurrected with 50% of their health. Cooldown is 90 seconds.

Because Resurrect takes 3 seconds to complete, Auriel puts herself at risk every time she chooses to revive an ally. It helps to be under the protection of friendlies while casting the spell.

The Level 20 Talent Light Speed upgrades Resurrect so that it restores the target Hero to full health. The Hero’s Movement Speed is also increased by 200%. The speed buff decays over 4 seconds.

Crystal Aegis (R2)

Auriel puts a single allied Hero into Stasis. After 2 seconds, the Crystal Aegis explodes, dealing 270 damage to all enemies caught in the blast. It has a 60-second cooldown.

This is the perfect skill to use when an allied Hero is surrounded by enemies. A Hero in Stasis can’t do anything, but they become invulnerable to enemy attacks. Crystal Aegis can also encourage enemy Heroes to flee to avoid the explosion. If they don’t flee, the damage they suffer will result in a huge energy boost for Auriel, allowing her to immediately cast Ray of Heaven to save nearby Heroes.

The Level 20 Talent Diamond Resolve makes the Heroic even more effective by giving the target Hero a 4-second shield after the Crystal Aegis’ expiration.

The power of hope

Here are some general tips to help you play Auriel effectively.

Unlike mana, Auriel’s energy isn’t recharged by healing fountains or the hearth. As bad as that sounds, the energy mechanic is actually more a blessing than a curse. As long as Auriel and her chosen Hero are consistent with their attacks, she’ll always have enough energy to cast Ray of Heaven.

Since she isn’t the most damaging of Heroes, staying close to an allied Hero with Hope is a great way to gain a steady influx of energy.

Auriel is rather fragile, so always make sure you have at least one ally nearby before engaging the enemy in combat.

Lastly, Auriel has some interesting Level 20 Talents. Angelic Flight allows Auriel to fly quickly to ANY location on the battlefield. This beats traveling via mount, and ensures she’s where she’s needed in as little time as possible. Then there’s Shield of Hope, which grants allied Heroes in the vicinity a 3-second shield. It saves lives, and helps the group sustain their offensive for those few precious seconds.

Hope springs eternal

Auriel enters a symbiotic relationship with her allies; she relies on their strength to be at her best, and they, in turn, receive the blessings only the Archangel of Hope can grant. In addition to her healing prowess, she’s efficient at clearing minion waves, messing with enemy mobility and positioning, shielding allies from immediate danger, and yanking dead Heroes back into the game. Long story short, this shining beacon of hope is a boon to any team. — BM, GMA News

Auriel is now available for purchase in “Heroes of the Storm.”