Li-Ming Build Guide
Greetings again! I thought I should write this guide after getting matched up with some really bad Li-Ming players over the past couple of weeks.
I'm not the best, probably not even close, I also don't play ranked almost at all – mainly because I hate waiting more than I have to and I want to be able to play whatever I feel like playing at that time – but I do feel I've come to know everything there is to know about Li-Ming.
I've been playing Heroes of the Storm since its alpha and I can say that Blizzard has done a very good job so far on balancing everything. They may change Li-Ming in the future, as they have done in the past, but for now here's how I am approaching every game.
As soon as you know which opponents you will face, you have to make a choice. You have to decide which kind of build is better suited for that particular team composition. There are 3 main builds worth mentioning that are focused around Li-Ming basic abilities (the rest are just variations):
1) The Magic Missiles Build:
It focuses on dealing massive damage with Magic Missiles thanks to talents like:
Which gets upgraded at level 16 with:
Pick this build if you can easily hit opponents will all missiles or if you want be able to easily destroy forts and keeps or kill bosses, seeing how they do not move.
2) The Arcane Orb Build:
It focuses on dealing massive damage with Arcane Orb thanks to talents like:
Which synergizes very well with:
Pick this build if you want to keep your distance or snipe unsuspecting heroes from afar. It is also good for clearing waves of minions.
3) The Teleport Build:
It's based on adding damage to Teleport with:
And a very useful shield to be able to hold your ground:
Pick this build if the other team is mostly made up of squishy heroes or heroes that are hard to hit with other basic abilities (Illidan, Genji, Tracer, etc.).
You've probably noticed that I have only mentioned level 7 and 16 talents. That's because the rest of the talents are situational. At levels 1 and 4 especially you have to be very careful what you pick. Let me elaborate:
Level 1:
This is rarely useful, in situations where you might not want to go back to base to refill. I can't remember the last time I picked this.
This one, on the other hand is very helpful, especially with the latest changes to the regeneration globes. This is what I am picking most of the time.
This one is strictly defensive. The go-to choice when ability damage is inevitable.
Another rarely useful talent. I've tried this a few times and sure, might prove useful when being chased, but it's not really worth it in my opinion.
Level 4:
If you don't have a healer, the other talents of this tier shouldn't matter. This one in conjunction with the level 16 shield on Teleport is everything you need to dominate.
If you do have a healer and are not using the Teleport build then pick one of these other talents accordingly.
You can still pick this sometimes, even without a healer, if you can keep your distance and avoid most damage or if you really need to hit targets very far away.
Level 13:
This is the single most wrongly picked talent I've seen. Only pick this one if you can easily avoid most damage. Do not ever pick this if there's at least 1 opponent who can dive to you because they will take you out before you realize it. You are already pretty squishy, so don't make it easier for them.
This is my first choice for the Teleport build, mainly because it gives Li-Ming a consistent source of targetable damage. There is no other choice when playing vs summoners that can use their minions to block your other abilities (Azmodan, Xul, Anub'arak, etc.).
This is the alternative for the Teleport build. It is very helpful when trying to take out healers or mages behind enemy lines. It is also useful for the other builds as an escape tool.
Levels 10 and 20:
There's not really a standard ultimate for each build, you have to pick the one that helps you play better and fits your playstyle.
This one is a great source of AoE damage and very useful for taking out opponents sitting behind their team.
You can upgrade it at level 20 to also slow enemies hit which can give your team enough time to eliminate key opponents.
This is great for disrupting enemy abilities and formation.
After upgrading it at level 20 this becomes very annoying for the other team very fast. You can separate your opponents from their team and turn them into easy targets for yours.
If you don't need to slow or disrupt the other team that much, this is a great boost to your damage. Just make sure you use your abilities in the right order.
This last one is very rarely the most useful. It is great for dealing continuous damage from a distance, but lacks mobility and burst and it makes you an easy target.
Let's not forget about the passive:
The Teleport build revolves around this trait, but it is also very useful for the other builds.
If you are too lazy to read through this or some things don't make sense to you and would rather just blindly follow predefined builds, then here are a few for different situations:
- Standard Magic Missiles Build (for easily targetable opponents or for taking down tanks easily): https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/talent-calculator/li-ming#26.0!2111213
- Safe Magic Missiles Build (for when there's one opponent that can easily harass you or you are prone to burst ability damage): https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/talent-calculator/li-ming#26.0!3311213
- Standard Arcane Orb Build (for maps with objectives that need channeling which force the other team to stay in one place): https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/talent-calculator/li-ming#26.0!2221233
- Safe Arcane Orb Build (same as above but provides you with a bit of defense): https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/talent-calculator/li-ming#26.0!2322233
- Standard Teleport Build (for agile opponents like Illidan, Genji, Tracer, etc.): https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/talent-calculator/li-ming#26.0!2111212
- Aggressive Teleport Build (for easily taking out squishy healers or mages sitting behind their team, like Morales or Chromie): https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/talent-calculator/li-ming#26.0!2332343
Hope this helps you! If you have any questions or anything to add please don't hesitate leave a comment below.