Garrosh Hellscream, the son of Grommash Hellscream, who was a former chieftain of the Warsong Clan, was Warchief of the Horde and known for his warmongering and ferociousness He will be the newest addition to Heroes of the Storm, is playable already on the PTR and will be released on August 8th in NA, August 9th in EU. This is a first look on his abilities, possible builds, and his role in the Nexus.

 Armor Up - Trait.
Garrosh gains 1 Armor for every 2% of maximum Health missing.    Groundbreaker - Q.
Deal 81 damage to enemies in an area. Heroes hit on the outer edge are pulled toward Garrosh.    Bloodthirst - W.
Deal 156 damage to an enemy and heal for 10% of Garrosh's missing Health. Healing is increased by 100% against Heroes.    Wrecking Ball - E.
Throw a nearby enemy Hero, Minion, or Mercenary to the target location, dealing 91 damage to enemies near the impact and Slowing them by 30% for 2.5 seconds.
(An indicator shows which enemy is the nearest and will be hit by Wrecking Ball)

Garrosh is a solo tank with great repositioning tools. His combo, pulling an enemy Hero with Groundbreaker and tossing him into your team with Wrecking Ball or saving a teammate by throwing enemies out of the way, are really fun and strong abilities. However, Wrecking Ball can be hard to hit on the right target in lanes with minions as it always throws the nearest enemy. Garrosh's trait makes him a beefy Hero to pass by in teamfights but is also the only thing to keep him alive, as he has no real tools to help him escape like other tanks.
All in all, Garrosh needs a bit of practice to get the most value out of Groundbreaker and Wrecking Ball but his kit is a lot of fun.

Q & E combo of Garrosh, securing a kill.

- Level 1 -

 Warbreaker - Q. Quest: Pull Heroes with Groundbreaker.
Reward: After pulling 5 Heroes, Groundbreaker deals an additional 150 damage over 3 seconds to Heroes. After pulling 15 Heroes, reduce Groundbreaker’s cooldown by 3 seconds.    Unrivaled Strength - E. Increase Wrecking Ball’s throw range by 20% and its damage by 100%.    Body Check - Numkey. Activate to deal 111 damage to a target enemy and Slow them by 30% for 3 seconds. Damage is increased by 200% of Armor Up’s current bonus, and the Slow amount is increased by 30% if Armor Up’s bonus is above 25.

- Level 4 -

 In for the Kill - W. Increase Bloodthirst’s damage against non-Heroes by 60% Killing enemies with Bloodthirst resets its cooldown and refunds its Mana cost.    Thirst for Battle - Passive. Basic Attacks against Heroes reduce the cooldown of Bloodthirst by 2 seconds.    Indomitable - Numkey. Activate to become Unstoppable for 1.5 seconds.

- Level 7 -

 Intimidation - Q. Groundbreaker reduces the Attack Speed of Heroes hit by 40% for 4 seconds.    Brute Force - E. Enemies hit by Body Check receive 50% reduced healing for 4 seconds.    Oppressor - Passive. Basic Attacks against Heroes reduce the target’s Spell Power by 40% for 2.5 seconds.    Into the Fray - E. Activate to throw a nearby ally and grant them 25 Armor for 3 seconds. Deals 91 damage to nearby enemies upon impact and Slows them by 30% for 2.5 seconds. While in flight, allied Heroes are Unstoppable.

- Level 10 -

Warlord's Challenge - R. Silence nearby Heroes and force them to attack Garrosh for 1.5 seconds.    Decimate - R. Deal 50 damage to nearby enemies and Slow them by 30% for 1.5 seconds. Deals 100% more damage to Heroes and each Hero hit reduces the cooldown by 1 second. Stores up to 3 charges.

- Level 13 -

Defensive Measures - Q. Pulling a Hero with Groundbreaker grants Garrosh a 350 Shield for 6 seconds.    Bloodcraze - W. When hitting a Hero, Bloodthirst heals for an additional 10% of Garrosh’s maximum Health over 3 seconds.    Double Up - Trait. Armor Up can be activated to increase its Armor bonus by 100% for 3 seconds.

- Level 16 -

Rough Landing - Q. Heroes pulled by Groundbreaker are Slowed by 50% for 3 seconds.  Mortal Combo - Q. If Wrecking Ball is used on a Hero within 2 seconds of pulling them with Groundbreaker, Wrecking Ball’s cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.    Earthshaker - E. Wrecking Ball Stuns enemies near the impact area for 0.75 seconds.

- Level 20 -

 Death Wish - R. Increase the duration of Warlord’s Challenge by 0.5 seconds. If an enemy Hero is killed while affected by Warlord’s Challenge, its cooldown is reduced by 45 seconds.    Deadly Calm - R. Heroes hit by Decimate deal 20% less damage for 3 seconds.    Titanic Might - E. Wrecking Ball now throws the 2 closest enemies.    Inner Rage - Numkey. Body Check gains an additional charge, and its cooldown recharges 100% faster while Armor Up’s bonus is at or above 25.

     Due to the fact that Garrosh hasn't any Stuns, his displacement abilities are the most important tools as a solo tank. Warbreaker at level 1 improves your Q, giving you a shorter cooldown and granting you more peel for your team.           Indomitable at level 4 provides Garrosh some form of escape as he doesn't have abilities for that, allowing him to get out of Stuns, Slows and Roots. In for the Kill can be great to heal you up on minions as its effect procs on enemies in general. Thirst for Battle does not provide that much value as Garrosh's basic attack speed isn't that much.           Intimidation is a great ability when facing opponents that would suffer from attack speed reduction, like Illidan or Zul'jin. Into the Fray should be the way to go when Intimidation isn't needed and is a great tool to save allies from ganks or burst damage in teamfights. Oppressor just doesn't give enough value as the targets you want to hit are always in the backline and getting them out with your Q & E doesn't always work as planned if you get focused.           Warlord's Challenge can be good when picked against a heavy dive team. This ability is great when combined with a Medivh shield or any other comparable ability. However, this ability needs a bit more coordination with your team. Decimate is great for chasing opponents or to keep your team safe while running away and can nearly be spammed in teamfights when hitting enough enemy heroes.           Defensive Measures is great, but also brings an enemy closer to you which you don't want in some situations. The shield you gain will also benefit from your current Armor Up stacks as it doesn't heal you and so it doesn't increase your current Health. Double Up on the other hand is also a great tool to survive enemy burst damage while Bloodcraze doesn't bring a lot to the table.           Mortal Combo is a great tool to use Wrecking Ball way more often if you're able to hit your E on a pulled target and synergizes pretty well with the rest of this build. Earthshaker can get really good value in teamfights when fighting in choke points, hitting a lot of enemy heroes and denying important abilities and/or ultimates. Rough Landing isn't a bad talent at all, but the other talents on this tier seem to be more powerful.          Both improvements of Garrosh's ultimate abilities are great and can be considered as a pick on level 20. When going for Mortal Combo on level 16 though, Titanic Might is also a great talent to be considered as it grants you 20 seconds cooldown reduction when pulling two enemies and throwing both of them with Wrecking Ball, allowing you to use Wrecking Ball a second time right away.

The previous build is more from a solo tank point of view, providing peel and tools to keep your team safe. When going for a double tank team, you might consider more of a damage oriented type of build with Body Check at level 1 and different upgrades for this talent in particular to help your team burst an enemy down.

Garrosh clearly lacks waveclear since his abilities don't deal much damage at all, but he can be devastating with follow-ups by your teammates. His big weakness is burst damage as it chops down his health bar at once, while consistent attacks on him grant him more Armor after each hit by reducing his health more slowly.

Into the Fray in action. Saving Genji from behind a gate.

Combinations of Groundbreaker and Wrecking Ball can derogate enemy's pressure on gates as they might fear to be thrown over it and get wrecked by your fortifications when Garrosh is in the same lane in the early game.

Coordination is key. It's not unusual to throw an enemy out of a teammate's ultimate ability due to missing coordination at the beginning. But with a bit of practice you can throw people as a set-up for ultimates.

Into the Fray can be a really good engagement tool. Some examples are throwing your ETC into the opponents to land a great Mosh Pit or helping your Malthael or Kerrigan to shred everyone with their ultimates when combining Into the Fray with Earthshaker at level 16. You can even use these two talents to interrupt ultimates like Li Li's Jug of 1,000 Cups. Of course there will be a lot of other great combos that we might see in the future.

Of course PTR isn't the right environment to predict if Garrosh will be seen in the current meta, especially when facing high mobility heroes like Genji that are really hard to hit with an ability and this theorycraft might not be the full standard build on his release, but Garrosh is a lot of fun to play and surely will find a spot to fit in certain team compositions. I personally can't wait to see what his role in the Nexus will be.

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