Falstad Wildhammer is from the World of Warcraft universe where he is the High Thane of the Wildhammer Clan and is also part of the Council of Three Hammers in Ironforge. He is a versatile ranged assassin that makes use of mage-style abilities or ferocious auto attacks to deal with opponents. He has multiple builds with some variation depending on the situation. His global presence and his disengage ability make Falstad a highly prioritized hero in The Nexus.

Q - HAMMERANG: A skillshot where Falstad throws out a hammer in a straight line that returns to him. It both slows and damages any enemies hit. It’s important to line this shot up so that it hits either a good chunk of a minion wave (preferably before the minion wave engages with anything so they remain in a straight line) or as many heroes as possible if you are stacking with Gathering Storm. Think about your placing when the Hammerang returns. It follows where Falstad moves to, so positioning in a way that it hits more minions or heroes on the way back is always optimal.

W - LIGHTNING ROD: A simple point and click ability that deals damage to a single-target enemy for 4.25 seconds as long as they stay within a specific range. With this ability, it’s important to acknowledge the limited range because once the targeted enemy hero steps out of it, the damage stops. Make sure you are close enough to get the full duration to maximize damage.

E - BARREL ROLL: Falstad’s disengage and gap closer ability. Dash in a straight line to a further location and gain a temporary shield. This ability is great for dodging incoming enemy attacks or getting in close for a kill-shot. It’s advised not to jump into the beginning of a fight using this ability, because its cooldown is 14 seconds and in that time a squishy Falstad could be targeted and taken down with no way to escape. Barrel Roll can also go through walls and terrain, so if Falstad gets cornered, Barrel Roll can provide him with an escape that is difficult for the enemy team to follow up on.

TRAIT (PASSIVE) - TAILWIND: Falstad does not have the ability to mount and gain movement speed like other Heroes, so this passive is a bit of a compensation for that. If Falstad does not take damage for 6 seconds he gains 15% increased movement speed.

Z - FLIGHT: Instead of mounting like other heroes, Falstad has the ability to fly a large distance across the map after a 2.5 second channel. This has a 55 second cooldown, so use it carefully and be mindful of objective timers, as using this ability to go soak a lane and having an objective spawn in an opposite lane leaves Falstad with no quick way to get there. Also, be careful using this ability to fly into a group of enemies because it spawns a circle that shows where Falstad will land, making it easy for enemies gank him upon arrival.

LEVEL 1

GATHERING STORM: This is a Quest talent that is key to the mage-Falstad (also known as Magestad) build. Every time Hammerang hits an enemy hero, its damage is increased by 1.5. So the more heroes you hit per throw, the faster damage stacks are increased. If the end of the Hammerang skill shot hits an enemy hero, it counts for two stacks and double damage, as it is technically hitting the hero both as it leaves and returns.

SEASONED MARKSMAN: This is also a Quest talent, and it is important to Falstad’s auto attack build. Each minion killed near Falstad is worth an extra 0.2 attack damage, and each enemy hero killed near Falstad is worth 0.5 attack damage. The quest is completed once 40 bonus attack damage is achieved and then it becomes an Activated Ability, which requires it to be cast as a spell (usually with the 1 or 2 key depending on how you have your hotkeys set up). Once activated, it gives Falstad increased attack speed of 40% for 3 seconds and has a 60 second cooldown. Stacking for this talent works really well with Falstad because his Z ability allows him to fly to a specific location and solo soak a lane and then fly in for team fight if he's needed.

WINGMAN: This is a pretty fun talent for maps that have a lot of mercenary camps or maps where mercenary camps are highly prioritized. Early game it can work well to help add some lane pressure but as the game goes on with more 5v5 team fights, there may be less time to soak minions for stacks or find opportunities to grab camps. Thus, it is not a common competitively picked talent. If you want to get in more single target damage, this talent works OK, but it also relies on Falstad being close to his enemies which makes him quite vulnerable and it doesn't hold up in damage as well as the other two talents at this tier.

Wingman empowers Falstad’s Lightning Rod and allows him to stack up on killing minions in exchange for bribing mercenary camps. The total amount of stacks you can have is 80, which is 80 minion kills. Each mercenary costs 20, so if you are doing a smaller camp with only two mercenaries at it, it would cost you 40 stacks. This talent also causes any mercenary camps completely won over with it to spawn 50% faster. Bribe does not work on bosses.

LEVEL 4

STATIC SHIELD: Falstad gains a shield for each of the individual hits of Lightning Rod. Picking this talent is very dependent on the enemy team. It’s great for some extra protection against enemy compositions that have very sticky heroes like Illidan, Tracer, Chen, or Alarak, but otherwise it is not often picked. Other talents at this tier are usually a better choice.

UPDRAFT: This increases the range of Barrel Roll and the shield it creates. This is very useful if you are facing a dive type composition with a lot of melee assassins as it grants a large disengage and the extra shield helps to absorb more damage. It’s one of the two better valued talents at this tier.

HAMMER GAINS: Falstad’s auto attacks cause him to heal for 20% of the total damage they deal, which is amazing for his auto attack build. The only thing to worry about is making sure you can get a lot of value from your auto attacks either from minions or an enemy composition that has a lot of warriors, bruisers, or melee assassins. Proper positioning and watching for enemy flanks is also important when going auto attack Falstad.

LEVEL 7

SECRET WEAPON: This increases Falstad’s Hammerang range and also increases basic attack damage while Hammerang is out. This talent is great for maps where you need to get some poke to interrupt channels, like Towers of Doom, Tomb of the Spider Queen, Warhead Junction, etc. It’s also great for the Magestad build, as it lets Falstad compete with true ranged mages like Li-Ming and Chromie while letting him have safer positioning during team fights.

BOOMERANG: After casting Hammerang, activate the ability a second time to deal more damage. This talent adds a lot of burst potential to Falstad’s Hammerang but it can be a bit tricky to get the hang of the second activation timing while making sure Hammerang’s placing hits what you want. This talent also makes Hammerang’s waveclear a lot quicker as it does a bit more area-of-effect damage. A well timed activation and enough stacks with Gathering Storm can nearly one-hit a whole minion wave.

LEVEL 10 - HEROICS

HINTERLAND BLAST: A long range lightning beam damages all in its path. This heroic is almost never picked. It can be OK for finishing off low health enemy heroes trying to escape a team fight, but it just can't compete with the insane value Mighty Gust brings to the game.

MIGHTY GUST: One of the best heroics in the game. This ability creates a wave that pushes enemy heroes in the direction of the skill shot, also slowing them. It’s amazing, has a relatively short cooldown, and has so many ways it can be useful. Gust can be used as a great disengage tool if the teamfight is not going well for your team; It has the ability to reset any team fight, which can be really frustrating for an all-in enemy team composition. Gust can also be used to isolate members of the enemy team through combinations with Entomb from Leoric, stuns from other heroes, or other stasis effects that cause the enemy hero not to move when Gust is cast, leaving them separated from the rest of their team and easier to kill.

Gust can also be used to force a team fight. By flying behind an enemy team, Falstad can Gust them into his own team (but make sure you have a good stun or burst composition that doesn't have too many squishies that will die in the process), into his towers, or, on battlegrounds like Towers of Doom, into the death zone. Gust can stop enemy heroes from capturing points on map objectives, steal mercenary camps from enemies, and, most importantly, steal bosses from enemies. It’s tricky, but it can be done. It is pretty much 99.9% expected that all Falstad players take this heroic as it is just too good to pass up.

LEVEL 13

FLOW RIDER: This talent causes Falstad’s passive, Tailwind, to recharge his basic abilities faster. This is great for Magestad poking builds where you can regularly stay out of harm’s way to gain faster cooldowns on abilities and dish out more damage. As for other builds, if you are great at positioning yourself out of damage, this talent is always a great pick up.

GIANT KILLER: This talent is mainly picked for chunking down enemy compositions with large health heroes, like warriors or characters like Azmodan. It’s perfect if the other team is running a double warrior composition. Paired with Falstad’s auto attack build, an activation of Seasoned Marksman coupled with this can really do some huge damage to an unsuspecting enemy warrior.

LEVEL 16

AERIE GUSTS: This talent gives a huge boost to Falstad’s passive, Tailwind. It reduces the activation time and increases the movement speed Tailwind provides. It’s a great talent that helps Falstad in many ways. Movement speed is always important. Paired with Flow Rider, this refreshes basic abilities even faster.

AFTERBURNER: This adds a large movement speed increase to Falstad after he uses Barrel Roll, but it only lasts for 3 seconds. This can be a good choice if you are getting targeted a lot and need a better escape. The additional movement speed after Barrel Roll makes it more difficult for enemy heroes to follow up after your disengage.

LEVEL 20

NEXUS FRENZY: This talent is amazing for Falstad’s auto attack build. It increases the attack speed and range of Falstad’s auto attacks. Paired with Seasoned Marksman and Giant Killer, Falstad becomes the ultimate killer of all high health heroes in the late game. With the range increase, he also gain a bit more safety.

EPIC MOUNT: Probably the most picked talent at this tier. It reduces the cooldown of Falstad’s Flight and also reduces the cast time. It greatly increases Falstad’s map mobility and allows him to play more aggressively by flying in and secure kills against nearly dead enemy heroes. It also helps Falstad quickly capture late game map objectives or reach his team for fights. It’s a hard talent to pass up at this tier.

Falstad is a squishy backline hero that requires really great positioning to stay safe. Whether you go auto attack build or Magestad build, make sure you are safe while trying to do as much damage as possible. Remember to keep track of your positioning when using Hammerang for the possibility of damage on its return. Falstad is often a solo laner, so watch the minimap for rotations because if Falstad gets stunned out, he cannot use Barrel Roll to escape. Be smart about your use of Fly. If an objective is spawning soon, don’t use Fly to soak an opposite lane and end up late to the objective.

Falstad is a great addition to nearly any composition. He offers great ranged damage for either poke or chunking down warriors. For maps that highly prioritize globals, Falstad is often a first ban/first pick, as he is one of the best global heroes in the game. The bigger maps are great for his global ability, but even smaller maps like Tomb of the Spider Queen can offer him quick stacks for either Seasoned Marksman or Gathering Storm.

A well timed Barrel Roll into a boss pit that the enemy team is engaging on, paired with a perfectly timed Gust to push them off the capture point, can allow Falstad to steal the boss quite effectively. This takes some really great estimating and/or vision of the boss area without being seen by the enemies. It’s very difficult to accomplish, but as a last ditch effort it sometimes really pays off! Be warned: escaping afterwards can be tricky if your team can’t catch up in time.

When using Fly, there is a small chance that if a nearby Kerrigan engages on you, she will end up coming along for an unintended ride. Normally this just ends up in a hilarious backfire for Kerrigan players.

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