Heyheyhey, it’s Joy K bringing you another Heroes of the Storm guide. For this one I was joined by Rutzou from CrowdControl, a team that has been performing extremely well in the Heroeshearth CCL league. We will be going over Zarya’s talents and playstyle together, so let's get started!

What is it like playing in CCL so far Rutzou?

Rutzou: It’s one of the best HotS related experiences I’ve had so far. It’s hard with different time zones, but playing against the best that HotS has to offer is great and the amount of interest people have in CCL and HotS as a game keeps me motivated.

What do you like so much about Zarya?

Rutzou: I like Zarya’s playstyle. I come from Overwatch where I played her a lot. I think she has a very enjoyable kit.

Talents

Rutzou’s view on Zarya’s talents and which ones are the overall best to pick according to him.

Level 1

Demolitions Expert: Increase Particle Grenade radius and reduce the cooldown. The radius upgrade comes from a quest that requires 40 heroes hit by Particle Grenade. 

Rutzou: I never really take this talent.

Together We Are Strong: Damage dealt by an ally you have shielded contributes to your energy.

Rutzou: I’d say this is a nice talent on maps like Battlefield of Eternity. Because you don’t spend all time fighting in lane, this helps you to get your energy up quick.

Feel the Heat: Zarya’s basic attacks deal 50% more damage to enemies in melee range.

Rutzou: This talent is good if they have a lot of melee heroes in the enemy team. It’s also good if you want to rush buildings in the beginning of a game. This happens if you’re for example playing against an Abathur or have the Lost Vikings on your team.

Maximum Charge: Regen globes now grant instant 20 energy. It also provides a quest to spend 150 seconds over 50 energy, giving you 20 additional maximum energy once you complete it.

Rutzou: I take this talent most of the time. It’s good to get extra 20 energy so you can deal more damage.

Level 4

I Am the Strongest: Increase Personal Barrier amount.

Rutzou: I never really pick this, because I don't feel like you need a bigger shield if you play Zarya correctly.

Give Me Twenty: Regen globes increase ally shield absorb amount. Provides a quest to collect 20 regen globes to reduce the cooldown of Shield Ally by 2 seconds.

Rutzou: The same goes for this talent.

Speed Barrier: Increase the movement speed of ally under the effect of Shield Ally by 50%.

Rutzou: This is always a good talent. You get value out of it no matter what.

Defensive Shielding: Upon expiring or breaking, both of Zarya's shields grant 75 physical armor for 2 seconds.

Rutzou: This talent can be good if you have some hard hitters on the enemy team like Imperius, Stukov or Hanzo. The block will help to prevent big burst.

Level 7

Pinpoint Accuracy: Grenade center deals more damage and slows.

Rutzou: Most valuable pick on the tier. The extra damage is great and even better if you have full energy. If your team has hard CC this gives you the potential to oneshot a target.

Explosive Barrier: Upon expiring or breaking, Personal Barrier deals 110 damage to nearby enemies.

Rutzou: A talent that might be good against a lot of melees but still not as valuable.

To the Limit: While above 40 energy, Zarya's basic attack size is increased.

Rutzou: Combined with Feel the Heat on Tier 1, but otherwise not as valuable as Pinpoint Accuracy.

Hit Me: Damage absorbed by Zarya's shield contribute to 20% more energy.

Rutzou: Never picked this.

Level 10

Graviton Surge: Launch a gravity bomb that draws enemies to the center for 2.5 seconds.

Rutzou: Some wombo combo potential, but for competitive I wouldn’t pick this. Compared to Expulsion Zone, the cooldown of this ability is way too high.

Expulsion Zone: Launch a gravity bomb that does 124 damage. Enemies hit or that walk into the area are knocked back and have their movement speed slightly slowed.

Rutzou: I would say this is the must pick, because of the insane zoning potential you have with this ability. It also does damage which your energy level contributes to. It’s good for isolating a CCed target if you drop it behind them, so they can’t get back to their team or split up the team by dropping it in the middle of them.

Level 13

Unstopppable Competitor: Zarya’s Personal Barrier now makes her unstoppable for 2 seconds.

Rutzou: Pretty much always the pick since you can bait so much CC with this on your own. Might need some time to get into using it and when to time it, but once you it’s very valuable.

Spell Barrier: Upon breaking or expiring, Zarya's Personal Barrier grants her 75 spell armor for 3 seconds.

Rutzou: I think you need to be playing into a double mage team to pick this talent over the unstoppable, since there is always CC to be prevented over picking this talent. But if they have no CC on the enemy team, I’d say this is the second best.

Endurance Training: While above 70 energy, Zarya gains 20 armor.

Rutzou: NO.

Pain Is Temporary: Consume energy to gain a shield.

Rutzou: Just also no, it gives no value compared to the other talents on the tier.

Level 16

Cleansing Shield: Shield Ally removes all disabling effects.

Rutzou: A game changer if you know when to use it. Most kills come from CC and when you’re able to prevent that you are an actual lifesaver.

Gain Train: Shield Ally now shields a second ally.

Rutzou: Maybe if the enemy team has no CC, you can pick this.

Born in Battle: While above 75 energy, Zarya's cooldowns recharge 25% faster.

Rutzou: Doesn’t add enough value compared to the other talents.

Level 20

Gravity Kills Upgrades Graviton Surge. Increase the duration by 1 second and silence heroes that are caught in the surge.

Rutzou: Not available if you don’t pick Graviton Surge ;)

Clear Out: Upgrades Expulsion Zone. Reduce the cooldown by 25 seconds and increase the duration of the zone by 1,5 second.

Rutzou: This is of course an option, but it’s a bit underwhelming compared to Unyielding Defender. The talent is decent, but I would only consider it if the team is able to rely on themselves to survive the late game damage of the enemy team.

Grenadier: All grenade charges return at once.

Rutzou: Way too underwhelming for the late game potential of the other talents.

Unyielding Defender: Activate to reset the cooldown of Personal Barrier and Shield Ally.

Rutzou: Comes out as top talent on the tier for me. Resetting all your shields is insane for zarya since that is what her whole kit is about. In the late game having that double cleansing shield available is insane and can secure the winning team fight for your team.

A small picture summary of the talents that come out on top:

Playstyle

Zarya is categorized as a support hero, which she of course is with most of her kit based on shielding. You will mostly be following your tank and prevent your allies from taking large amounts of burst. Save your shields for the ally that needs it the most. For example, if your Ana gets harassed by a Zeratul or Tracer then you obviously want to protect her. Otherwise you want to be shielding your tank at the start of a fight and as the fight goes look who needs your shields. You want to never be by yourself as Zarya, because its hard to get value out of your kit and be at high energy that way.

A quick way to boost that energy level is to use your personal barrier and then tank a few tower shots, but only do this if you know it's safe to do. If you don’t see the enemy it’s too risky. For all you know they could be jumping out of the gate, CC you and you might die.

Drafting Zarya

When you draft Zarya, it’s important to make sure you have another high octane damage dealer in your team. A hero that can get great value when enabled to the maximum and has good waveclear, because that is what Zarya lacks. Think of hypercarries like Cassia, Valla or Guldan.

You want to draft her with a tank and healer that have hard CC so Zarya can dump her damage on top of that target. Tanks that work well with her are Garrosh, Diablo and ETC. All of them have good CC but can sometimes use an extra hand engaging or disengaging, so then a shield and movement speed don’t hurt for them.

Healers like Stukov, Ana, and Deckard can set up some good wombo combo potential to combine with either ulti you choose.

Heroes that counter Zarya’s kit are those with blinds (Johanna, Cassia) or Varian who can break shields at level 13. Other heroes that are good to pick into Zarya are Maiev and Illidan that can abuse the fact that you have to stand still a lot and they can just hit you for free while you have no CC to do anything about them.

Thanks for your time Rutzou! What are you most looking forward to in the Heroes scene?

Rutzou:I like to take things step by step so I am currently focusing only on CCL. I have to say I hope that the Mastersclash in Paris is going to happen so that I can meet all the players I’ve been talking to for so long face to face finally.