How to win more games with Rehgar, HotS’ healing powerhouse.
Our complete Rehgar guide has everything you need to know about playing this Hero, with the latest builds, tips, map advice and counters.
There are two strengths that really define Rehgar as a Hero: his ability to zip into travel form and race around the map, and his very strong healing and protection powers. He also possesses some fantastic crowd control skills too, which can be vital for finishing off frenzied team fights. All in all, he offers a tremendous amount of versatility and, once you’ve “graduated” from learning a character like Li Li, he’s quite simply a fantastic next-step for the committed HotS healer.
The best Rehgar builds – January 2016
There are builds out there which focus more on Rehgar’s crowd-control strengths, but we have the most fun with this character when we focus on healing.
Full Healer Rehgar
Level 1 – Spiritwalker’s Grace – Reduces Chain Heal’s Mana cost from 70 to 45.
Level 4 – Chain Reaction – Chain Heals on allies with Lightning Shield active are increased by 25%.
Level 7 – Earth Shield – Lightning Shield also gives the ally a Shield that absorbs 199 damage over 3 seconds.
Level 10 – Ancestral Healing – After 1 second, heal an allied Hero for 1552 Health.
Level 13 – Healing Surge – Increases Chain Heal’s healing on the primary target by 25% and heal an additional target.
Level 16 – Tidal Waves – Reduces Chain Heal’s cooldown by 3 seconds if it heals 3 Heroes.
Level 20 – Rewind – Activate to reset the cooldowns of your Basic Abilities.
Rehgar strategy guide and overview – January 2016
In the early stages of a match, focus on using Chain Heal to keep your allies pushing the lane just that little bit harder, and always keep one eye on the mini-map to see if your support is needed urgently elsewhere. As your healing strength grows during the levelling process, it becomes increasingly important to stick with your team and provide them with your incredible support abilities.
If your team’s down and you’ve no-one to fight, consider taking out some of the more minor Mercenary Camps, but always be aware of your team’s positioning and the next course of action. Don’t forget that you can shift into Ghost Wolf form to get that first-hit crit, and you should do so to optimise your damage output once you’re comfortable with playing Rehgar.
When you’re not engaged in a full onslaught with the other team, just keep throwing Chain Heal around, and keep your eyes peeled for anyone in desperate need of Ancestral Healing (if you’re at this stage of the match, of course). In full-blown encounters, keep an eye on those who are right in the thick of battle, and prioritise them for Lightning Shield. Don’t forget about using your Earthbind Totem to pin enemy players down, and stop them from fleeing to safety.
Rehgar Abilities, Heroic Abilities and Traits – January 2016
Here’s a quick overview of all of Rehgar’s Abilities, as well as his character-defining Trait. Take a moment to wrap your head around all of these fundamental skills before taking the Hero into battle.
Abilities
Chain Heal (Q)– Heal an ally for 651 (309 + 4% per level) Health, then heal up to two other nearby allies for 325 (154 + 4% per level) Health each. Mana: 70, Cooldown: 9 seconds.
Lightning Shield (W)– Imbue an ally with lightning dealing 68 (33 + 4% per level) damage to nearby enemies and an additional 136 (65 + 4% per level) damage a second. Lasts 5 seconds. Mana: 60, Cooldown: 8 seconds.
Earthbind Totem (E)– Create a totem that slows nearby enemies by 35%. The totem has 476 (226 + 4% per level) Health and lasts for 8 seconds. Mana: 60, Cooldown: 15 seconds.
Heroic Abilities
Bloodlust (R)– Grant nearby allied Heroes 40% Attack Speed and 30% Movement Speed. Lasts for 10 seconds. Mana: 125, Cooldown: 90 seconds.
Ancestral Healing (R)– After 1 second, heal an allied Hero for 3401 (1615 + 4% per level) Health. Mana: 80, Cooldown: 70 seconds.
Trait
Ghost Wolf– Instead of using a mount, Rehgar transforms into a Ghost Wolf, increasing Movement Speed by 30%. Basic Attacks in Ghost Wolf form deal 100% more damage, but cancel Ghost Wolf form. Cooldown: 0.5 seconds.
Rehgar counters and match-ups – January 2016
Search around and you’ll find many experts with many opinions on the relative strengths and weaknesses of Rehgar in certain match-ups. Sometimes it can be useful to draw from community consensus on these things though, with many more people inputting into the process for a general consensus
For this reason, we like to use sites like HeroesCounters to get a better feel for what the current state of play is with Rehgar and other Heroes in the game. Here’s the current top five for each category – note that this information is correct and up-to-date at the time of publishing.
- Strong against- Zeratul, Nova, Thrall, Falstad, Jaina
- Weak against- Raynor, Sonya, Sylvanas, Zeratul, Kerrigan
- Teams well with- Illidan, Thrall, ETC, The Butcher, Diablo
Rehgar tips – January 2016
The fundamentals of playing Rehgar aren’t too tricky at all once you’ve mastered the targeting elements of the Hero’s playstyle. With that said, there are a few things you need to watch out for, as well as a couple of clever tricks which will really sharpen up your play. Take a look through our list of starter tips.
- Be very mindful of that one-second delay on the casting of Ancestral Healing, and don’t leave it until the very last second to keep a teammate alive. It takes a little while to master your timing with this Talent, so perservere until it’s second nature. Try to save the Ability for Warriors too, rather than lower-health allies who can be kept up with the regular Chain Heal.
- Your first attack in Ghost Form always crits, which can be great for picking off a fleeing straggler – just watch out for traps, and don’t get lured into a worse situation!
- Apart from perhaprs the very earliest stages of a match, it’s vital that you keep team members around you and work with a group. You have some survival skills, but it’s better to not be a lone wolf (no pun intended!)
- By targeting your Earthbind Totem with Lightning Shield, you can set up a sort of sentry unit for clearing out lane waves with minimal risk to Rehgar. It’s a great way to passively soak up some easy XP.
Fightin’ Cowboy’s videos helped us out a huge amount while we were learning the game. The builds have changed with balance patches and shifting metagames, but the broad principles remain the same.
