Heroes of the Storm Raynor (Renegade Commander) Builds, Tips & Strategies Guide

Raynor is an extremely versatile and good all around hero. He is good in 1v1's, Team fights and even as a laning champion. Raynor does have some weaknesses. He does not have a good escape ability such as Vault or Blink and is considered somewhat squishy to other heroes, however he has a couple abilities to help him escape and survive such as the Give Me More! + Penetrating Round combo. Depending on your build Raynor can either dish out a whole lot of hero damage or take down forts like they were nothing, this makes Raynor and extremely good hero and one of my favourites.

Raynor 's abilities are generally easy to use and I would expect such, since he is classified as an easy hero. Raynor becomes an excellent hero for beginners to use because instead of having 3 abilities you cast he has one passive ability that automatically activates by itself. This means the new player has less abilities to memorize, which in turn means he/she can spend more time analyzing what is going on around them (such as Map objectives, Merc camps, etc.). As you will see with Raynor he is a pretty all around hero and can do both laning and ganking pretty efficiently.

(Q) Penetrating Round is an extremely good ability for Raynor , although many would preferred a Blink or Vault like ability, this ability prevents enemies from getting the finishing blow and keeping enemies away while Raynor can poke away from range. This becomes your main damage dealer later in the game and is extremely useful for the finishing blow.

(W) Inspire is an extremely good ability in team fights as Raynor is really an all-around hero. He can take on enemies 1v1 as well as help out his teammates in a team fight with his (W). If you pick Revolution Overdrive , Inspire also becomes a great escape tool in case you need to escape quickly.

(E) Adrenaline Rush is an extremely good ability for beginners as well as for the hero itself. Since this ability is a passive it will automatically activate without the need of a button. It also gives Raynor extra life, which is good in case he gets ganked, since Raynor has no escape ability. In many cases Penetrating Round + Adrenaline Rush will keep you alive in cases whether you would have otherwise have died.

(R) Hyperion or Raynor's Raiders both these abilities have their own uses. One is generally used for laning since it does random AOE damage in a straight line while the other is generally used for an assassin build as it can chase down and target one enemy doing immense damage.

Advanced Optics is an extremely good trait as it increases the range of all your basic attacks. This makes it easier to kite enemies and provide support in team fights without getting killed. The increased range also helps with an auto-attack oriented assassin build as it can deal damage from range without fear of retaliation. The increased vision radius also helps Raynor in terms of survivability because he can notice enemy threats earlier. The trait also helps Raynor when laning as he has an easier escape if he gets ganked.

Seasoned Marksman is the best choice in this build because most of your damage will be coming from your auto-attacks (hence an auto-attack assassin build). This talent holds a lot of value as in the late game as you will have a significant increase in damage output (if you were farming properly). Raiders Recruitment and Scouting Drone are not worth it as it does not help Raynor increase his damage output at all. Give Me More! is the second best choice as it still holds some value and gives Raynor more survivability allowing him to stay alive longer.

For the second ability, Focused Attack as it gives you sudden burst damage and may be the difference between securing a kill and not. This ability is also useful as Raynor now has plenty of buffs to his fire rate. However the other 3 abilities are also decent and can be used as well. Most players like to deal more damage than additional heal because you already have Give Me More! from the first ability.

Revolution Overdrive is the best choice in this scenario, as Raynor has pitiful escapes. Revolution Overdrive helps with that by increasing movement speed allowing Raynor to escape more easily. An added benefit of Revolution Overdrive is that he gains even more movement speed when allies are around helping him in team fights and during the laning phase (if he is not soloing a lane) as it allows Raynor to stay behind the tanks and provide a barrage of firepower more easily by escaping enemies chasing him. This being said Revolution Overdrive also works if Raynor is alone, but the speed increase is not as large. All in all this ability helps Raynor exploit his ranged attacks as well as giving him an escape he desperately needs.

Raynor's Raiders is the better ulti for Raynor as this ulti can chase down fleeing enemy heroes and target them even after your death, countless times, you will get kills that would not have if it weren't for this ability. Hyperion can also chase down fleeing enemy heroes however it is slower and has a target circle allowing the enemy to get away before you kill him/her. The Hyperion also has another flaw as it only targets random enemies and not specific ones which is not really suitable in an assassin build. Hyperion would be better off in a laning build.

Giant Killer is a great ability for a assassin build as it provides a damage increase for 1.5% of the enemies health. This is a lot and can be the difference between a kill and your enemy getting away. The other abilities are Ok however Giant Killer is the best in this case. Swapping this ability for another in the auto-attack build is not recommended.

Berserk is by far the most important ability in the auto-attack build. This ability is required for this build as it increases your move speed and attack rate (which are the two key components in this build). This ability not only increases your move speed (which helps you catch up with your opponent) but it also increases your attack speed (on top of the bonus provided by Inspire ), which increases Raynor 's DPS significantly. With Berserk there is almost no chance of an enemy hero escaping due to increased range from Advanced Optics and slow from Hamstring Shot . However, Berserk can also be used on the defensive allowing you to escape.

Nexus Frenzy is the best ability because it gives Raynor another attack rate buff (permanently and passively) which increases his DPS even more. Nexus Frenzy also increases attack range and goes well with Advanced Optics . Normally, you would want to take Bolt of the Storm as Raynor has no escapes but since we took Hamstring Shot and Berserk , Raynor has plently of chances to escape. Not to mention that his increased range and vision from Advanced Optics also helps a lot in terms of escaping.