Artanis

Artanis, the Hierarch of the Daelaam, is a melee Bruiser Hero from the StarCraft universe. Despite his relative youth, Artanis was named Hierarch of the Daelaam after the fall of Aiur. Driven by the promise of a brighter future, he hopes to reclaim the protoss' fallen home world and rebuild their once glorious civilization.

Artanis is a tough Bruiser who deals high damage if the enemy team is unable to shut him down. He repositions enemies and strikes with his blades.

Background
is the leader of the. A renowned warrior, he seeks to unify his beleaguered people, and will let nothing stand in his way to restore the glory of the protoss. Hierarch Artanis is an indomitable warrior who seeks to unify his beleaguered people. As a renowned with centuries of experience, Artanis combines martial prowess and tactical acumen—striking swiftly with his psi-blades, taking the brunt of enemy assaults with his shields, or calling upon his flagship, the , to turn his foes into dust. He'll let nothing stand in his way to restore the glory of the protoss.

Artanis was a student of Tassadar, and with the appearance of the during the, Artanis was thrust into command when his teacher was disgraced for defying the will of the. Now an executor, Artanis allied with Fenix to repel the Zerg from their homeworld of, but after Fenix fell in battle and he was ordered away from his home to hunt Tassadar, Artanis became disillusioned with the leadership of the Conclave. Instead of capturing Tassadar, Artanis allied with him, helped him rescue the exiled Zeratul, and even fought his own people as he prevented Tassadar's capture. When Tassadar was freed, Artanis commanded the Protoss in the final assault on the Zerg's, with Tassadar sacrificing himself to slay the creature.

However in the aftermath Aiur was overrun with feral Zerg, and Artanis worked with Zeratul to lead his people from the planet to the Nerazim world of. However, the Zerg followed them there, and the protoss were forced to hunt the and  to activate a temple capable of purging the Zerg from the planet. Artanis had little time to rebuild their society and try to settle when their planet was attacked twice, first by the fanatical Nerazim, and then by Sarah Kerrigan, who kidnapped the Nerazim's matriarch and demanded the protoss aid her in killing the second infant  controlled by the invading terran. When Kerrigan's further betrayal resulted in the matriarch's death, Artanis sent a retaliation fleet, and alongside the and UED fleets, fought Kerrigan's Swarms. But all fleets were repelled.

With an uneasy peace, Artanis reunited protoss society into the, and was made Hierarch to represent all protoss tribes. His primary goal was to reassemble his fleet to retake Aiur, slowly forming the, the largest group of protoss ships ever assembled. Six years of tensions, tribalism and border conflicts later, Artanis released his fleet on Aiur, assaulting the feral Zerg inhabiting the world. However, Zeratul warned him of the return of the fallen, and during the attack Amon seized control of the  that bound Artanis's people, taking direct control of the majority. Zeratul gave his life to free Artanis from Amon's corruption, and Artanis swore to continue the fight, escaping the planet on the Spear of Adun.

Over the course of the war, Artanis managed to rally his people, and bring under his fleet the forces of the under Alarak, and the  under an AI construct of the memories of Fenix named. Together, they used a xel'naga relic named the to drive him into his home realm of the, then allied with Jim Raynor and a redeemed Sarah Kerrigan to dog him there, slaying the xel'naga once and for all. In the aftermath Artanis attempted to rebuild his society, but the scars of the war made it a struggle.

Years later, Artanis was alerted to a Zerg incursion on the planet, and found Zagara and her Zerg there, having regrown the planet using a Xel'Naga creature. Artanis was skeptical of the Zerg's intentions, but joined peace talks there at the behest of Emperor. But a plot brewed by Abathur threatened to respark the conflict between the three races, with Artanis prepared to purify the world. Yet a joint-race survey team managed to uncover Abathur's plot and stop him, allowing peace talks to resume. Yet even after these talks, tensions rose over conflicts on the Terran Dominion and Daelaam border, causing Artanis to be pressured by his people to retaliate against the Dominion.

Gameplay
Artanis is tough Bruiser that deals high damage if the enemy team is unable to shut him down. While below 75% maximum Health Shield Overload and related talents can make him deceptively difficult to kill. Artanis' lack of innate gap-closers means that he must commit to his Blade Dash + Phase Prism combination in order to effectively engage team fights from longer distances.

Strengths

 * Great sustained damage
 * Phase Prism can be used during Blade Dash, which provides Artanis with unexpected mobility
 * Once below 75% health, Shield Overload can make Artanis very difficult to kill if not focused
 * Both Suppression Pulse and Purifier Beam are global, allowing Artanis to influence team fights from anywhere on the battlefield

Weaknesses

 * Can be kited easily
 * Shield Overload only activates once below 75% health
 * Crowd control can prevent Artanis from using his Basic Attacks, making him unable to recoup Shield Overload

Abilities

 * See Data Page for a table of scaled values at key levels.

Trivia

 * Artanis was the "executor" player character in StarCraft (March 1998), though he was not named or seen until StarCraft: Brood War (November 1998).
 * Artanis's default and Daelaam skins reflect his appearance in StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (November 2015).
 * Artanis is voiced by Jason Hayes in StarCraft, and by Patrick Seitz in StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm.
 * Artanis was announced at Gamescom 2015.
 * All purchasers of StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void will unlock access to Artanis in Heroes of the Storm.
 * Those who prepurchased a digital copy of Legacy of the Void gained access to Artanis on October 20, 2015. He became available for sale to everyone as of October 27, 2015.
 * Crimson Purifier Artanis and Test Model Purifier Artanis were inspired by Eva-02 and Eva-01 (respectively) from the influential anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion.
 * The Purifier Beam ability references the weapon of the , and later the Purifier Beam ability of the  in Legacy of the Void''.
 * The level 4 talent Shield Battery references the structure, a protoss structure that allows protoss units to recover their shields.
 * The Level 7 talent Solarite Reaper references the axe weapon used by  from the Legacy of the Void campaign and Co-op Missions mode.
 * This weapon itself is a reference to the weapon from World of Warcraft.
 * The Level 20 talent Zealot Charge references the Charge upgrade that can research in StarCraft II. Much of Artanis's design was based off of the zealot unit.