Dehaka

Title
 Role
 Franchise

**Dehaka**, the Primal Pack Leader, is a melee Bruiser Hero from the *StarCraft* universe. On Zerus, the Zerg pack leader Dehaka was a constantly evolving apex predator. His drive to slay the strongest prey and consume their Essence has now led him to the Nexus, where Dehaka stalks his opponents across the battlefield. Able to regenerate through massive damage and swiftly move into and out of combat, Dehaka uses the primal Zerg’s mutability to deadly effect.

Dehaka is a Bruiser with a strong, global presence who can effectively clear groups of Minions.

## Background

 This section concerns content exclusive to the *StarCraft* universe.

Dehaka is a primal Zerg pack leader from Zerus, the birthworld of the zerg. He is fixated on collecting essence, believing that change is necessary for survival.

After Kerrigan came to Zerus and became the Primal Queen of Blades, Dehaka realized she was the most powerful of the Zerg. He allied his pack with her Swarm, believing she would lead them to new essence.

When Kerrigan took the Swarm to Korhal, Emperor Mengsk deployed a Psi Destroyer that could harm the Zerg by attacking their hive mind. Since Dehaka and his pack lacked the psionic connection the Swarm Zerg shared, they were able to approach and sabotage it, allowing Kerrigan's Zerg to advance. Soon afterward, Dehaka and his pack participated in the assault on Augustgrad, slaying Arcturus Mengsk. In the aftermath, Dehaka swore to aid Kerrigan in her war against the fallen Xel'Naga Amon.

## Gameplay

Dehaka is an aggressive Warrior with a strong map presence. Powerful self-sustain from Essence Collection makes him very hard to kill. Dark Swarm enables him to break apart enemy formations during fights, while his brutal single target crowd control can incapacitate key targets.

Dehaka gains 2 Essence per near Minion death (ally or enemy) and 10 Essence per Hero takeodwn. He can store up to 50 Essence, but any time he activates his Trait he consumes all stored Essence to heal proportionally to the amount of Essence consumed over 5 seconds.

At Level 1 there are two Repeatable Quests he can choose which trigger every time he collects 50 Essence (quest progress is granted for Essence collected even if he is at the stored Essence cap). *Tissue Regeneration* increases his regeneration rate (allowing him to tank better) while *Enhanced Agility* increases his Movement Speed bonus from his Mount. This makes him a flexible Bruiser.

Aside from quest rewards, those talents also give him immediate passive benefits: Tissue Regeneration gives Essence rewards from Regeneration Globes (allowing him to complete the quest faster and heal more often) while Enhanced Agility modifies his *Brushstalker* (viewable under Loadout:Mount) passive effect so the 20% Movement Speed bonus is extended from 2 seconds to 5 seconds. This is useful both when passing through bushes when rotating as well as when using his *Brushstalker* Active to Teleport to a bush every 75 seconds.

*Tissue Regeneration*'s quest effect also increases his maximum Essence gradually from 50 up to 60 which can allow him to heal in larger spurts. This also increases his potential damage output if using *Primal Rage* as his 13, which gives a damage bonus based on Essence currently stored.

Dehaka's *Brushstalker* active is useful after Hearthing back to base for Health/Mana since it allows him to get back into the fray more easily. It is also useful for going back to get Mercenaries or other objectives as soon as they unlock, while being able to remain active in a lane as late as possible.

### Strength

* Powerful on demand self healing
* Can Drag enemies out of position
* Good waveclear
* Cannot be body-blocked while using Dark Swarm
* Can avoid incoming Abilities with Burrow
* High map mobility via Brushstalker

### Weaknesses

* Lacks a reliable gap-closer
* Susceptible to kiting
* Drag and Isolation are difficult skillshots
* Limited mobility when Brushstalker is on cooldown

## Abilities

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

Essence Collection
 Cooldown: 5 seconds
Heal Dehaka for 29 Health per stored essence over 5 seconds. Can be cast during Drag and Burrow.

Passive: Gain 10 Essence from Takedowns and 2 Essence from nearby Minions dying. Maximum of 50 Essence.

**Type:** Healing**Scaling:** 4.00%**Affects:** Self**Targeting:** No target**Properties:** Heal over time**Cast time:** Instant**Radius:** 12 (minion deaths)**Tickrate:** 2.0 per second (x11)

Q
Drag
75 Mana Cooldown: 15 seconds
Dehaka lashes out his tongue, dealing 160 damage to the first enemy hit, Stunning and dragging them with him for 1.75 seconds.

If Dehaka is Stunned or Silenced while using Drag, the effect ends.

**Type:** Spell Damage, Crowd control**Scaling:** 4.00%**Affects:** Enemies**Targeting:** Point target**Properties:** Clamping, Skillshot**Cast time:** 0.1875 + 0 seconds**Range:** 5.5**Hitbox:** 1.25 x 2.0**Missile speed:** 14

* Can use Basic Attacks and all other Abilities except *Burrow* without interrupting *Drag*.

W
Dark Swarm
50 Mana Cooldown: 10 seconds
Deal 52 damage every 0.5 seconds to nearby enemies for 3.5 seconds. While active, you are able to move through units. Can be cast during Drag and Burrow.

**Type:** Spell Damage**Scaling:** 4.00%**Affects:** Enemies**Targeting:** No target**Properties:** Area of Effect**Cast time:** Instant**Area of Effect:** Circle**Radius:** 3.5**Tickrate:** 2.0 per second (x6)

E
Burrow
65 Mana Cooldown: 20 / 0.5 seconds
Burrow into the ground, entering Stasis and becoming Invulnerable for 2 seconds. While Burrowed Dehaka can move at 50% Movement Speed.

**Type:** Status effect**Affects:** Self**Targeting:** No target**Properties:** Pseudo-Stasis**Cast time:** Instant

* *Burrow* can be reactivated after 0.5 seconds to end its effect early.
* Temporarily disables all Movement Speed buffs while active, causing Dehaka to always move at 50% speed while Burrowed.
* Will not remove Revealed status.

R
Isolation
70 Mana Cooldown: 60 seconds
Launch biomass that hits the first enemy Hero dealing 200 damage, Revealing, Silencing and Slowing them 30% for 3 seconds. Additionally, their vision radius is greatly reduced for 6 seconds.

**Type:** Spell Damage, Crows control, Status effect, Vision reduction**Scaling:** 4.00%**Affects:** Enemy Heroes**Targeting:** Point target**Properties:** Channeled cast (stationary), Revealed, Silence, Skillshot, Slow**Cast time:** 0.375 (ch) + 0.1875 seconds**Range:** 8.0**Hitbox:** 1.75 x 0.65**Missile speed:** 18**Reduced vision radius:** 3.5

* Interrupting the ability during its windup puts it on a 10 second cooldown.
* Enemy Heroes hit by *Isolation* are Revealed for 3 seconds.
* Vision reduction cannot be removed, while other effects can be removed by certain effects.

R
Adaptation
70 Mana Cooldown: 60 seconds
After 4 seconds, heal for 100% of the damage Dehaka took over this period.

**Type:** Healing**Scaling:** -**Affects:** Self**Targeting:** No target**Cast time:** Instant

* Healing is calculated from final damage taken, after damage modifications.
* Amount healed can further be affected by healing modifiers affecting either Dehaka's healing output (e.g. Spell Power) or healing received.

Z
Brushstalker
 Cooldown: 75 seconds
Activate to burrow to a bush on the Battleground.

Passive: Gain 20% Movement Speed while in a bush and for 2 seconds after leaving.

**Type:** Movement: Teleport, Status effect**Affects:** Self**Targeting:** Point target**Properties:** Channeled cast (stationary), Movement Speed, Stasis**Cast time:** 2.0 (ch) + 0 seconds**Range:** Global

* Interrupting *Brushstalker* during its cast puts it on a 10 second cooldown.
* While traveling, Dehaka is removed from battleground and put in Stasis for 1.5 seconds, removing most debuffs.
* Targeting *Brushstalker* inside of Dehaka's unit radius (or self-casting it) causes Dehaka to use it in place and its cooldown to be reset when he emerges.

## Talents

1

Enduring Swarm
Dark Swarm's duration is increased by 0.5 seconds and grants 50 Spell Armor while active.

**Type:** Defensive damage modifier**Affects:** Self**Properties:** Spell Armor

* Does not stack with other positive Spell Armor effects. Other defensive damage modifiers may stack.

Tissue Regeneration
Regneration Globes grant 10 Essence.

❢ Repeatable Quest: Every 50 Essence collected permanently increases Health Regeneration by 4, up to 40, and maximum Essence by 1, up to 10.

**Type:** Bonus Health Regeneration**Scaling:** -**Affects:** Self

* Essence collected while at maximum Essence still counts toward quest progress.

Enhanced Agility
Brushstalker's Movement Speed bonus now lasts for 5 seconds after leaving a brush.

❢ Repeatable Quest: Every 50 Essence collected permanently increases the Movement Speed Bonus of Brushstalker by 2%, up to 20%.

* Stacks additively with itself and *Brushstalker*'s passive Movement Speed bonus.
* Essence collected while at maximum Essence still counts toward quest progress.

4

Lurker Strain
Emerging from Burrow grants Dehaka Stealth for 3 seconds and also knocks nearby enemies back, dealing 125 damage and Slowing them by 30% for 3 seconds.

Passive: Reduce the cooldown of Burrow by 3 seconds.

**Type:** Spell Damage, Crowd control / Status effect**Affects:** Enemies / Self**Properties:** Area of Effect, Knockback, Slow, Stealth**Area of Effect:** Circle**Radius:** 3.0**Knockback duration:** 0.25 seconds**Knockback speed:** 10

One-Who-Collects
Increases Essence collected from Minions by 50%. Dark Swarm deals 40% more damage to Mercenaries.

**Type:** Offensive damage modifier**Affects:** Ability

* Damage bonus stacks additively with other offensive damage modifiers that can affect *Dark Swarm*'s damage against Mercenaries.

Hero Stalker
Increases Essence gained from Takedowns by 100% and gain 1 Essence each time an enemy Hero is hit by Dark Swarm.

7

Feeding Frenzy
Basic Attacks reduce Drag's cooldown by 1.5 seconds.

Passive: Increase Drag's duration by 0.5 seconds.

**Properties:** Attack Modifier

Paralyzing Enzymes
Drag Slows enemies by 40% for 2 seconds after it ends.

❢ Gambit: When Drag ends deal an additional 280 damage to the target over 2 seconds. Each death reduces this damage by 40, up to 5 times.

**Type:** Spell Damage, Crowd control**Affects:** Non-Structure Enemies**Properties:** Damage over time, Slow**Tickrate:** 2.0 per second (x4)**Damage per tick:** 70

Symbiosis
Every time Dark Swarm damages an enemy Hero, reduce its cooldown by 0.4 seconds.

10

Isolation
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Launch biomass that hits the first enemy Hero dealing 200 damage, Revealing, Silencing and Slowing them 30% for 3 seconds. Additionally, their vision radius is greatly reduced for 6 seconds.

Adaptation
Cooldown: 60 seconds
After 4 seconds, heal for 100% of the damage Dehaka took over this period.

13

Ferocious Stalker
Dark Swarm Slows enemy Heroes by 15% for 0.75 seconds and deals 60% more damage while Brushstalker's Movement Speed bonus is active.

**Type:** Crowd control / Offensive damage modifier**Affects:** Enemy Heroes / Ability**Properties:** Slow

* Damage bonus stacks additively with other offensive damage modifiers that can affect *Dark Swarm*'s damage.

Primal Swarm
Dark Swarm causes enemies hit to lose 10 Armor for 0.75 seconds, causing them to take 10% extra damage.

**Type:** Defensive damage modifier**Affects:** Enemy Heroes

* Does not stack with itself or other negative Armor effects. Other defensive damage modifiers may stack.

Primal Rage
Gain 1.25% increased Basic Attack damage per Essence stored.

**Type:** Offensive damage modifier**Affects:** Self

* Stacks additively with itself and other offensive damage modifiers that can affect Dehaka's Basic Attack damage.

16

Elongated Tongue
Increase Drag range by 20%.

**Bonus range:** 1.1

Tunneling Claws
Increase the Movement Speed while Burrowing to 125%.

Pack Leader
Dehaka gains 20 Armor and 15% increased Attack Speed while in a bush and for 5 seconds after leaving.

**Type:** Defensive damage modifier, Status effect**Affects:** Self**Properties:** Armor, Attack Speed

* Attack Speed from *Pack Leader* stacks additively with other effects affecting Dehaka's Attack Speed.
* Does not stack with itself or other positive Armor effects. Other defensive damage modifiers may stack.

20

Contagion
Isolation hits all Heroes near the first target.

**Properties:** Splash**Area of Effect:** Circle**Radius:** 3.5

Change Is Survival
Increases Adaptation healing to 200% of the damage received and reduces the cooldown by 40 seconds.

**Type:** Bonus healing**Scaling:** -**Affects:** Ability

* Increases the amount of healing stored, causing the bonus to stack multiplicatively with healing modifiers.

Essence Claws
Dehaka's Basic Attacks Slow the target by 20% for 1 second. If the target is a Hero, Dehaka gains 5 Essence.

**Type:** Crowd control**Affects:** Enemies**Properties:** Attack Modifier, Slow

Apex Predator
Reduces Brushstalker's cooldown by 50 seconds and the cast time by 0.5 seconds.

## Builds and guides

**Icy Veins Dehaka Guide**

**Dehaka Community Build Guides @ HeroesFire**

**Dehaka Community Build Guides @ Heroes Hearth**

## Trivia

* Dehaka first appeared in *StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm* (March 2013).
* The reveal of Dehaka as a new Hero was teased on several occasions. First, in Arena image (which also teased Xul and Li-Ming), a monstrous arm laid in the dirt far in the background — an arm which matches the one Dehaka lost, but the player can find during the events of Heart of the Swarm. Later on Twitter some screenshots were posted. The first picture on twitter showed some dead minions and footprints leading to a bush. The next picture on Twitter showed some creature underground. The last one showed some News Report of missing pigs and farmers spotting a strange creature.
* Dehaka is voiced by Steve Blum.
* Dehaka's dance is a reference to the song *Hotline Bling*.
* Dehaka is missing two of his four arms, but they regrow when he picks his heroic ability. Half of his right tusk will regenerate when he selects his heroic ability.
* Dehaka's appearance has changed since *Heart of the Swarm*; his dialogue attributes the change to the essence he collected while following the Queen of Blades.
	+ His *Heroes of the Storm* appearance was later used as his model in *StarCraft II's* Co-op Missions mode.
* The Drag ability based off of his Drag ability Dehaka has in *Heart of the Swarm.*
* The Dark Swarm ability is based off of the ability of the defiler in *StarCraft*. In *StarCraft*, Dark Swarm did not do damage, but created a cloud that would cause ranged attacks to miss.
* Burrow is based off of the Burrow ability many zerg ground units have in *StarCraft* and *StarCraft II,* which cloaks them.
* Essence Collection is a callback to Dehaka's ability to consume the genetic information of others in order to evolve himself, which serves as the core of his character.
* The Bushstalker references Dehaka's appearances in the Zerus arc of *Heart of the Swarm,* where he can be found in bushes scattered around the map of the first two missions, spying on Kerrigan and her forces.
* The level 4 talent Lurker Strain is a reference to the lurker unit from *StarCraft: Brood War* and *StarCraft II.*
* The level 4 talent One-Who-Collects is a reference to the title Dehaka's introduces himself with, One-Who-Collects.
* The level 16 talent Tunneling Claws is a reference to the roach upgrade from *StarCraft II,* which allows the roach to move and burrow, much like the talent.

## Gallery

### General

* Dehaka's artwork
* Dehaka home screen
* Dehaka menu
* Mecha Dehaka
* Mecha Dehaka concept
* Dehaka teaser image

### Abilities

* Z: Brushstalker
* Q: Drag
* W: Dark Swarm
* E: Burrow
* R1: Isolation
* R2: Adaptation

### Gameplay

* Brushstalker in game
* Dehaka fighting Falstad
* Dehaka fighting Raynor
* Dehaka fighting Tyrande
* Dehaka in a team fight
* Dehaka taking a mercenary camp
* Dehaka taking a shrine
* Dehaka taking a temple

## References

1. ↑ Technobubble: Dehaka abilities, tips and model art for Heroes of the Storm
2. ↑ Destructoid: Zerg terror Dehaka confirmed for Heroes of the Storm
3. ↑ Dehaka Hero Page
4. ↑ Heroes of the Storm: Something strange is afoot in the Nexus...
5. ↑ Heroes of the Storm: This mystery just got a hole lot deeper!
6. ↑ Heroes of the Storm: Nothing to see here. Move along.
7. ↑ Twitter: John Hodgson

## External links

* Dehaka Hero Week
* Dehaka - Heroes of the Storm
* Dehaka - StarCraft Wiki
* Dehaka Balance Changelog - Heroes Patch Notes
* Dehaka Sound Files - Sounds of the Storm

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