Introduction

The Nihilist is a powerful, versatile class that can be played as healer, DPS or hybrid. This makes it an excellent choice for players who like to play hybrid classes with a big pool of spells to choose from.

In this class guide, we’re only covering the DPS Nihilist variant.

Terminology used in this guide

Hardcast = Spells that have a cast time and aren’t instant

CC = Crowd control

LoS = Line Of Sight

OOM = Out of mana

Pros

• Good sustainability from lifesteal abilities
• High DPS burst with Lingering Demise
• Lots of utility options for teamplay

Cons

• Can be countered with interrupts since your damage abilities are hardcasted
• Has none or little CC

Notable Spells

Lingering Demise

Your most important ability when playing as a DPS Nihilist is your Lingering Demise ability. It’s a DoT which after 7 seconds explodes and does 1800+ damage. If the enemy health is below 20% the spell is a guaranteed crit, easily exceeding 2k+ in damage.

With Demise, you want to make sure your teammates are on the same page. That could be timing a stun as the Demise is about to pop, or swapping to that target as the duration goes on, since you know there’s alot of extra damage coming in.

When using this ability, consider which defensives the enemies have left and who you want to pressure. If its early in the game, then think about who you should pressure to force one of their defensives with your damage.

Mind Leech

Mind Leech should always be up on atleast 1 target. You can spread this ability to other enemies to increase your health regeneration or provide extra HPS for your team.

Shatter Magic

Exceptional choice against Elders because you can dispel their HoTs, or any other team with shields. Since better teams will see your Demise ability ticking, try to time your Shatter Magic for any shields they might try to put up to counter you.

It’s a situational ability, so versus some teams you might not get any value from it.

Spell Breaker

Shield yourself or an ally for 5 seconds. Also heals 50% of the absorbed damage.

It’s a 20 second cooldown, so use it when you or someone on your team is getting pressured.

You should not have to trade this cooldown for standard abilities, so try to look out for when the enemy uses something like a Wizard Meteor, Scholar Armageddon, Nihilist Lingering Demise or Daze (Stun) from an assassin.

Blink

Can be used to teleport into the enemy backline with your teammate. If the enemy is unprepared, it allows you to get Lingering Demise up on a healer or a ranged DPS, setting your team up for a burst opportunity.

Also a good defensive option if you find yourself getting focused alot.

Builds

Standard build with no blink. With this variation you get fear, shatter magic and rockslide. These spells are mostly for offensive purposes, and can increase your damage output significantly.

Many Nihilists like to play Blink instead of Rockslide, Chaos Wave or Shatter Magic. With Blink you get a strong escape, but also the option to go in with your teammate if you’re chasing someone.

Rotation

Mind Leech > Karma > Lingering Demise on main target. This will also apply 3 stacks of Gloom. Follow up with Mind Leech on another target.

Keep Demise up as much as you can on the target you’re killing.

Time Rockslide or Shatter Magic with your Demise burst.

Chaos Wave (Fear) can be used to peel your teammates, or to interrupt an important cast from the healer or main target.

Nihilist Team Compositions

Nihilist / Champion / Any healer

As with any composition having a champion, use him to create space for you and your team. Call out your Lingering Demise and let him know who you’re going for. Ideally you want him to have his charge ability up when swapping to someone.

Nihilist / Lich / Any healer

Dot cleave. Spread your dots to +2 targets, follow up with Lingering Demise on the target you’re trying to kill. Swap back and forth to cause the enemy healer to go OOM´, eventually winning on sheer pressure or mana.

Nihilist / Wizard / Any healer

Use positioning to your advantage. Stand in a triangle or near a pillar and hit whoever tries to go for you. Time your Rockslide with your Wizards stuns. Keep Demise up on main target and let the wizard go to work. You can use Orb of Power to support your Wizards damage even further.

Stat Priority

Intelligence / Strength > Health Per Second > Lifesteal > Crit

Intelligence and strength provides power, effectively increasing your damage output with dots as each tick will do more damage. This also increases the health your team receives from your Mind Leech ability.

Health per second increases your sustain by alot, making you even tankier ontop of the health regeneration spells you already have.

Lifesteal is currently less effective than Health per second.

Crit is not a priority as dots cant crit, and your demise is already a guaranteed crit on a low health target.

General Gameplay Tips and Tricks

• Use Lingering Demise to swap. Call out your Demise target so your team knows who to swap to (or continue hitting).
• Use your auto-attack once you have your dots rolling for additional pressure.
• Spread your Mind Leech to as many targets as possible if getting focused to increase your sustain.