Heroes of the Storm: Zagara Walkthrough [Guide]

The Swarm is certainly something that you should not take lightly, and Zagara is no exception. Left to herself, Zagara can take down any team with her abilities to siege and take over the field of battle within mere moments. It takes quite some skill to master this specialist hero from the Starcraft universe, but in the hands of a skilled player, Zagara can do some real damage that enemies will have a hard time recovering from. This is the complete guide on how to use the Broodmother of the Swarm to her full potential in Heroes of the Storm.

Introduction
Zagara is one of the deadliest creations made by Kerrigan, The Queen of Blades. Much smarter and cunning as compared to her other kin, Zagara is capable of complex thinking and can also summon other zergs to do her bidding. Through her leadership, the Swarm has become more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Now, despite an earlier attempt to resist her creator’s influence, Zagara, the Broodmother of the Swarm, now fully serves Kerrigan with the Swarm under their control, and the potential of using the zerg to conquer the universe lies fully in their hands.

Items
Zagara can use her razor sharp claws and tail to do some extensive damage to enemies. How main course of attack does not directly come from her. Rather, the Broodmother has the ability to call upon different species of the Swarm to do her bidding. These include hydralisks, worms, and banelings that can come from her body or even from the sky or underground. She can also excrete ooze that allows her and her children to move faster, making them much more effective killing machines and increasing their mobility greatly.

Build Guide
Creep Tumor, Zagara’s trait, allows her to place tumors that will spread creep in an expanding area. Areas with creep will allow Zagara and her minions to move faster as well as provide health regeneration abilities for them. Thus, it is recommended to use this ability frequently so that you will have more advantageous spots to go to.

Zagara’s starting abilities are Baneling Barrage, Hunter Killer, and Infested Drop. Baneling Barrage (50 mana cost, 10 seconds cooldown) will allow Zagara to launch banelings that will cause splash damage upon impact. Hunter Killer (60 mana cost, 14 seconds cooldown) gives Zagara the ability to call upon a Hydralisk which would then deal damage over time to a single target for eight seconds. Lastly, Infested Drop (50 mana cost, 12 seconds cooldown) will cause a pod to drop from the sky, dealing damage to those in the area. Additionally, roaches would then appear and also deal damage to enemies. These abilities can be enhanced and more abilities can be added by choosing the right talents upon leveling up.

Lastly, players can also choose between two heroic abilities, namely Nydus Network and Devouring Maw. Nydus Network (50 mana cost, 60 seconds cooldown) allows Zagara to travel between Nydus worms that she can place in different locations, while Devouring Maw (100 mana cost, 100 seconds cooldown) deals devastating damage to enemies caught in the attack as well as roots and incapacitates them for four seconds.

Zagara can be built as either a siege character or as someone that can deal tremendous damage to enemies in single or team battles. This flexibility is one of the main advantages of the Broodmother as you can switch builds depending on the situation and on the needs of your team.

In order to build Zagara that can push fights effectively, the following build is recommended.

Demolitionist – basic attacks on structures will cause 10% more damage and destroy 1 ammo

Infest – increases minion damage by 400%, can be called twice each time it is activated

Corpse Feeders – increases the duration of Roachlings in the field by 10 seconds each time they make a kill

Nydus Network – allows for instantaneous travel by using up to four Nydus worms

Giant Killer – deal additional damage caused by basic attacks equal to 1.5 percent of Zagara’s max health

Baneline Massacre – spawn 8 banelings when using Baneling Barrage

Broodling Nest – allows six broodlings to appear that will help in the attack once Zagara exists from a Nydus worm. This effect lasts for 20 seconds

This build is best if you have a good supporting cast that will help take much of the enemy’s offense away from you. However, should you feel that you need to bulk up on your defenses to increase your survivability, then feel free to choose talents such as Reconstitution, Rapid Incubation, Spell Shield, and Stone Skin.

The next build will take advantage of Zagara’s abilities and attacks in order to maximize damage. This can be effective for structures and camps but can also be helpful when it comes to fights. The talents that you should choose for heavy damage dealing is as follows:

Ventral Sacs – Infested Drop spawns 3 Roachlings instead of 4

Envenomed Spines or Medusa Blades – Envenomed Spines increases basic attack range by 20% as well as deals additional damage over time while Medusa Blades additional 25% damage to basic attacks

Battle Momentum – reduces ability cooldowns when using basic attacks

Devouring Maw – deals heavy damage plus additional damage over time to enemies caught in the maw and makes them unable to fight for 4 seconds

Mutalisk, Grooved Spines, or Bile Drop – enhances starting abilities, choose depending on your preference

Baneling Massacre or Brood Expansion – Brood Expansion lets Zagara hold two charges of Hunter Killer

Tyrant Maw – increases Devouring Maw’s damage by 50% and decreases cooldown of the ability should it be able to kill a hero

Players can of course mix and match talents depending on their liking to suit their needs and playing styles. The above are builds if you want to maximize just one end of Zagara’s abilities, but never compromise other factors just to max out on one area of the character.

Strategy
Zagara is the hero to play if you have an aggressive style. Regardless of whether you want to go at it alone or with a team, Zagara can be a great offensive force that can take down mercenary camps all by her lonesome. Of course, it would be a good idea to summon broodlings that will take the brunt of the damage for you as well as deal some additional offense.

Creep tumor is also one of your biggest advantages, as moving within them will make you much stronger in a fight. Your broodlings would also be able to benefit from these even without talents that will enhance the trait. Of course, this would still be recommended. Pair that off with Nydus Worms and you’ve got a system that will help you quickly move in and out of danger quickly and effectively.

Pros and Cons
Zagara has well rounded stats with decent damage and health. She also has the advantage of being able to summon broodlings that will help in the attack. They can also serve as diversions for when you would need to escape of if enemies have powerful single target abilities that your minions can absorb for you. Zagara also has amazing mobility with her creep and Nydus Network abilities, making her the perfect siege character no matter how you build her up.

Her one weakness most probably would be that enemies that have the capability to enhance their abilities or stats temporarily with each kill will feast upon Zagara’s units. If this is the case, then Zagara would be handicapped as her Roachlings are her most valuable assets and players would have to rely on other methods of attacks which, unfortunately, may not be built up as well depending on the way that you have built your character.

Tips and Tricks
Keep your distance from targets and let your units do the fighting for you. Zagara is also classified as a ranged hero, so getting up close and personal is really not a requirement. Make sure also that you have creep ready so that you can quickly lay one down or go to where one is already present for both mobility and health generation. Throughout it all, don’t forget that you are the one that will lead your team in pushing, and the support of your allies is also very important especially if you are still at lower levels or if you are getting targeted by multiple enemies at once.

Ultimately, it’s your choice as to which heroic ability you would like to choose. Choosing Nydus Network would greatly increase your mobility and can instantly let you go where you need to be. However, you lack the ability to take others with you, so there’s really no point for you to have this ability as a siege character unless you are closely coordinated with your team. With that, Devouring Maw can be your best bet as not only does it deal lots of damage, but it takes enemy heroes out of the game at least temporarily, giving you ample time to take advantage of their advantage to push ahead further or to gang up on other opponents.