Varian

This is from the Warcraft universe.

“

Let's see how you fight!

”

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Varian is a Multi-Class Hero from the Warcraft universe. He is both an Assassin and a Warrior, and playing with him counts towards both role's quests.

Few would have expected that the gladiator known only as Lo'Gosh was in truth the missing ruler of Stormwind, Varian Wrynn. Now the High King of the Alliance, his every action shapes the destiny of Azeroth itself.

Varian extremely versatile Multi-class Hero that can function as a melee Warrior or Assassin, adapting himself to the needs of his team.

Background Edit

Never one to back down from a difficult task or shy away from the front lines, King Varian Wrynn has always sought to do what he believes is best for his people. Without question, he is eager pick up a sword and shield in defense of the Alliance, Azeroth, and now... The Nexus. There is no opponent too great nor battlefield too harsh to stop Varian from leading those around him toward victory.

Great leaders know that a successful conquest requires the flexibility to adapt to any new challenges that may arise on the field of battle. Through talents, Varian can be built to fit several different disciplines and is the first multi-class hero to enter the Nexus. Be the shield your team needs by taunting enemies and soaking tons of damage, or split Shalamayne into its component swords and lead with your blades to cut down any who stand in your way.

Gameplay Summary Edit

Varian is a multi-class Hero who can be played as either a Warrior or an Assassin. He excels at going personal, pressuring his opponents with multiple slow effects, as well being able to parry Basic Attacks.

Ultimately, Varian's flexible playstyle allows him to fit into most team compositions, filling the need of a Tank or DPS depending on the situation.

Strengths Edit

Very flexible playstyle.
Has access to his Heroic abilities at level 4.
So far, the only Hero in the Nexus that can play as either a Warrior or as an Assassin.
Good Basic Attack damage regardless of the Heroic ability picked.
Lion's Fang provides fantastic peeling, and also heals Varian per enemy hit.
Charge is a fantastic engaging tool, being his main form of mobility for pressuring opponents.
Parry is a great tool against Heroes that rely on Basic Attacks to deal damage, such as The Butcher.
- At level 10 he has access to a damage immunity talent in the form of Shield Wall, which makes Parry negate all forms of damage.
Excels at soloing Mercenary and Boss Camps when combining Second Wind and Twin Blades of Fury.
Shattering Throw will completely shutdown Shield reliant Heroes, such as Johanna, Zarya and Fenix.
His Heroic Abilties have a low overall cooldown.
Taunt is fantastic for taking down specific, high-priority targets.
Colossus Smash provides high burst that can melt frail Heroes, such as most Supports.
Twin Blades of Fury drastically increases Varian attack speed, which allow him to trade against most Heroes in the game.
Great utility thanks to the Banners talents given at level 16.

Weaknesses Edit

No hard crowd control when playing as an Assassin.
Misuse of Taunt can be extremely punishing if facing opponents with high Basic Attack damage, if Parry is on cooldown.
Poor waveclear.
Has difficulities with escaping or chasing unless Warbringer is picked.
Twin Blades of Fury has very limited use unless the rest of the team can provide enough crowd control for Varian to unleash his attacks.

Abilities Edit

Traits Edit

Heroic Abilities Edit

Talents Edit

Tier 1, Hero Level 1 Edit

Tier 2, Hero Level 4 Edit

Tier 3, Hero Level 7 Edit

Tier 4, Hero Level 10 Edit

Tier 5, Hero Level 13 Edit

Tier 6, Hero Level 16 Edit

Tier 7, Hero Level 20 Edit

Talent Builds Edit

Protection Build: focused on turning Varian into a reliable tank through Taunt, which increases Varian's health and provides him with one of the strongest crowd controls in the game.
- This build is mostly recommended when Varian is the only Warrior in the team, but can work well in Double Warrior compositions when it features a Bruiser such as Sonya or Artanis.
Arms Build: focused on turning Varian into an explosive Assassin through Colossus Smash, which increases Varian's Basic Attack damage and allows him to burst down his opponents at ease, at the expense of reducing his health.
- This build is mostly recommended when the team already features a dedicated tank but lacks damage.
Fury Build: focused on turning Varian into an Assassin with very high sustained damage through Twin Blades of Fury, which drastically increases Varian's Attack Speed at the expense of reducing his Basic Attack Damage. A key talent is Second Wind, which grants him a self-sustain that rivals Illidan's, and allows him to solo Boss Camps.
- This build is mostly recommended when the team already features a dedicated tank but lacks damage, although Colossus Smash is usually more useful due its burst damage.
  - However, Twin Blades of Fury can be useful in maps that feature multiple bosses, as Varian can solo Boss Camps easily while the team takes the other one.

Tips Edit

Pick Victory Rush for maps that focus heavily on waveclear, such as Tomb of the Spider Queen.
Pick Shattering Throw when the team features one or more Heroes that rely on shields, such as Tassadar and Fenix. It works specially well if Varian is talented for Arms (Colossus Smash).

Matchups Edit

Pairings Edit

Varian has multiple easy to land crowd control Abilities that can allow Chromie’s Sand Blast and Dragon's Breath to land consistently, such as Taunt and Warbringer's Charge.

Varian's aggressive playstyle, combined with flexibility in combat, allows him to adjust his talents to suit the best situation for Kel'Thuzad. However, the favorable build is usually Protection, as Taunt is great at securing takedowns, especially given its low cooldown.

Varian and Kerrigan together have strong ganking potential, due to them both having point-click engage tools and decent damage. When combined with Taunt or Colossus Smash at level 10, the combination gets truly terrifying.

Malthael is very difficult to kill when enemies aren’t able to focus him, and Varian’s Taunt heroic provides a reliable way to ensure that they can’t. The Armor and amplified Healing bonuses Varian’s Banner can provide also have tremendous synergy with Malthael’s powerful self-healing.

If specced as Protection, Varian's Charge and Taunt can effectively pin down opponents, opening opportunities for well a placed Lunar Flare from Tyrande. If specced as Arms, Colossus Smash can extend the period of armor reduction if well timed with Hunter's Mark, allowing the team to quickly dispose of any target.

Zagara’s strong lane presence and early game bully potential shores up Varian’s weaker early game. She can provide that early game edge that Varian’s team needs until he can reach level 10 and unlock his full potential.

Effective against Edit

While all his Talent Builds can pose a threat to The Butcher, if specced as Protection, Varian's Taunt and Parry combined will force The Butcher into switching targets while protecting himself from The Butcher's high damage. In addition, Mortal Strike will also reduce The Butcher's self-sustain with Butcher's Brand.

Regardless of his build, Varian poses a threat to Genji due his Charge, which can give his team enough time to incapacitate Genji. He is even more dangerous if he picks Taunt, resulting on Genji being defenseless.

If specced into Twin Blades of Fury and Mortal Strike, Varian can effectively negate Malfurion's healing if he manages to stick on him.

Effective foes Edit

Since Varian is a melee Assassin that relies primarily on Basic Attacks to deal damage, Li Li has the ability to shut down Varian as he’s charging in by using Blinding Wind.

Since Varian gains more power at level 10 than most Heroes, Sylvanas’ powerful early game pushes are difficult for Varian to handle.

As another good early game pushing Hero, Xul offers Varian troubles towards the beginning of matches. When combined with Bone Prison’s root and Cursed Strikes attack speed slows, Varian can be almost completely shut down if he doesn’t pick his fights correctly.

Skins Edit

High King of the Alliance (base)


High King of the Alliance	Alabaster	Iron

Lionheart 100: The Lion has long been associated with the nation of Stormwind and the House of Wrynn. It is a symbol of courage, dignity and ferocity; truly befitting for the High King.


Lionheart	Royal	Crimson	Obsidian

Lo'Gosh 400: After awakening on the shores of Durotar, the gladiator known as Lo'Gosh became a star of the Crimson Ring Arena. Rumor has it that he fights with the fury of the Ghost Wolf himself.; _{Features themed abilities.}


Lo'Gosh	Azure	Ivory	Deadly 600

Commandant 600 NYR: As chief security officer for Volskaya's Nexus operations, Varian Volkov is no stranger to harsh winters and cold steel. Rather than pilot a Svyatogor mech, he prefers to meet his foes face-to-face.; _{This skin is related to the Overwatch themed-skins. Features themed abilities.}


Commandant	Grand	Recon	Tempered

Tundra

Development Edit

Varian was conceived within the first two years of the game's development.^[1] He was listed as a possible hero for Heroes of the Storm as early as 2011.^[2] As of BlizzCon 2015, he remained under consideration for inclusion.^[3] He was revealed at BlizzCon 2016.

Trivia Edit

Varian's helmet in the "Lionheart" skin is intended to emulate that of Llane Wrynn, as depicted in the Warcraft movie.^[1]
Varian is currently the only Multi-Class Hero in the game, as well the only one that can choose Heroic Abilities before Level 10.
Varian's Heroic Abilities represent each one of the specializations of the Warrior Class in World of Warcraft: Protection (Taunt), Arms (Colossus Smash) and Fury (Twin Blades of Fury).

Patch changes Edit

(Patch March 27, 2018) Note: Health reduced from 2322 to 1850.; Health Regeneration reduced from 4.8375 to 3.8542.; Health scaling increased from 3% to 4% per level.; Basic Attack damage reduced from 91 to 74.; Basic Attack damage scaling increased from 3.5% to 4%.
(Patch September 26, 2017) Note: Commandant Varian, Grand Commandant Varian, Recon Commandant Varian, Stealth Commandant Varian, Tundra Commandant Varian skins added.
(Patch August 8, 2017) Note: Deadly Lo'Gosh Varian skin added.
(Patch May 10, 2017) Note: Basic Attack damage increased from 87 to 91.
(Patch April 4, 2017) Note: Radius adjusted to better match actual model size.; Varian will now display Damage Taken stats in the Score and Stats screens.
(Patch March 28, 2017) Note: Base Health increased from 2150 to 2322; Base Health Regeneration increased from 4.48 to 4.84.
(Patch January 24, 2017) Note: Can no longer be selected through Autoselect – Support.
(Patch November 15, 2016) Note: Added.