Dul’Mephistos who’s also known as the Lord of Hatred, is a ranged Assassin in Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm. Mephistos was first released back in August 2018 and has reigned ever since spreading his hatred. However, if you’re feeling weak or unable to play him well, here’s a guide to using Mephisto to its fullest capabilities.

Pros and Cons

Mephisto has a couple of good skills in his kit but like in all things, there’s balance. The good thing about Mephisto is that he’s an Assassin class. He has good initiation with Shade of Mephisto (E) and Consume Souls (R). Those skills allow him to initiate a fight or follow up if you’re running a dive comp.

With Shade of Mephisto, he’s able to go into battle to bait some skills on him like stuns and return to his original position which allows your team mates to finish the enemy off as their skills are on cooldown. And as long as you can hit your spells, you will be able to deal a lot of damage consistently as his Trait: Lord of Hatred decreases his skill cooldowns depending on how many enemy heroes the skills hit.

However, do note that Shade of Mephisto (E) is not an escape skill as some might dive too deep with the skill. With a low health pool, Mephisto can still be focused down if one is not careful and using it untimely. Though he’s said to be good with a dive comp, he’s also pretty vulnerable to dive comps as well due to the lack of escape skills.

Suggested Builds:

Talent Route 1 (Auto Attack Build)

Level 1: Anger

Level 4: Static Barrier (so that after you go in with E, you will gain a shield to survive)

Level 7: Trickery/ Ghastly Armor (depending on opponent lineup, pick the armor if you keep dying after E in)

Level 10: Consume Souls (easier to execute, good initiation tool to start a teamfight, not only does it damage, there is a 40% slow for 2.5 seconds after R is used. Good for your team to follow up)

Level 13: Shard of Hate (Sync with Level 1, speeds up your cooldown for your skills)

Level 16: Animosity (Allow you to merc better with extended W, allows you to churn out more cooldown for Q,W,E, stacking damage still continues means a lot more damage output)

Level 20: Consumed by Hatred (Use it to finish off a hero, get reset, deals heavy damage to the whole opponent team. Currently overtuned ulti. Probably will get nerfed)

Talent Route 2 (if you are not someone who auto attacks very frequently)

Level 1: Malicious Intent (20% spell power when E, even higher burst damage)

Level 4: Static Barrier (so that after you go in with E, you will gain a shield to survive)

Level 7:Trickery/ Ghastly Armor (depending on opponent lineup, pick the armor if you keep dying after E in)

Level 10: Consume Souls (easier to execute, good initiation tool to start a teamfight, not only does it damage, there is a 40% slow for 2.5 seconds after R is used. Good for your team to follow up)

Level 13: Hysteria (cooldown for R so that you can spam it more often)

Level 16: Animosity (Allow you to merc better with extended W, allows you to churn out more cooldown for Q,W,E, stacking damage still continues means a lot more damage output)

Level 20: Consumed by Hatred (Use it to finish off a hero, get reset, deals heavy damage to the whole opponent team. Currently overtuned ulti. Probably will get nerfed)

What if I want to use the other heroic?

At level 10 where you have a choice to get Durance of Hate, it’s highly depended on skillshots and needs to be coordinated with the team. However, if you are coordinated with the team, then the giant malfurion root could hit the first target which leaves the opponent with 2 choices; to leave his ally to die alone or to get rooted together to save the other.

If you’ve gone for Durance of Hate, then it only makes sense to select the level 20 Unspeakable Horror talent where you will have 3 additional seconds of silence after the root upon the enemy, leaving you with a higher win rate on any teamfights; considering if you hit the priority targets with Durance of Hate.

Tips and Tricks

• Always use your E to initiate
• Initiating with E does not mean you will not die, do not go in with low health
• Switch on W before going in with E; it makes you more intimidating and cause opponent to think before fighting you. It also triggers the shield earlier at level 4, allowing you to have some protection towards the end of the shade
• R before fights because you will need to channel and provide vision for your allies. If not, R to finish off low health opponents. After level 20, R after fighting to deal maximum damage
• Sometimes if you are caught by opponent and you know you are most likely dead, make the last stand, E in and hit them as if its Li-Ming’s Calamity, force reset your abilities, and dish out as much damage as possible; you will be surprised that you can survive the attack.

Who to Combo and Who Not to Combo with:

Any hero that has CC (Crowd Control) skills are always welcome to combo with. Since Mephisto is great with dive comps, he’s especially good with Genji and Zeratul. He can also help reset the fight with Genji and Li-Ming and later re-initiate again with a dive. With the wide AOE of Lightning Nova and slow from Skull Missile, Mephisto can help dish out tons of damage with the team, provided if your skills hit multiple enemies.

However, if you’re teamed up with Ana or Lt Morales that are supporting you, you might not be able to get the support you need when you’re using your Shade of Mephisto. As Ana is required to get in range to heal which will be difficult as you’re teleporting around. Same goes for Lt. Morales as she will have to follow wherever Mephisto goes which could put her in a bad position.

As mentioned earlier, Mephisto is also vulnerable to dive comps as well. Quick burst heroes like Genji will be able to kill you off either before you return to your Shade or after, especially against Nazeebo’s Zombie Wall or Anub’arak’s Burrow Charge.

What if you’re against Mephisto?

Well as mentioned above, you can always counter Mephisto with a dive comp of your own. The best way is to force Mephisto to use his E, but you could already anticipate where he would backtrack so it’s only delaying his death. If Mephisto uses E to initiate, it’s best to have your team focus him down first. Even with the shield talent, he could die within 2.5 seconds, before he backtracks to his shade.

As long as you are able to dodge his Q and hug him closely when he uses his W, you will be able to force him to reset as he needs to wait for his cooldowns. While his skills are on cooldown, he won’t have much damage to kill anyone off as his auto attacks are pretty low.

So if you’re looking to play Mephisto in your matches, you can follow this guide and see if it fits your playstyle. Since there are plenty of other heroes to master, Mephisto is still one of the latest heroes that was released last month and it’s only a matter of time someone has mastered it. With Mephisto’s mobility and somewhat burst damage, he’s able to assassinate supports easily and get out unscathed.

Also, a shoutout to Fieryboy for this amazing guide complete with tips and tricks!