Last updated 1/15/2016 for patch 1.13.
You’ll find the best and most popular builds for Adagio on this page!
The Two-Headed Dragon
Adagio is mostly used as a roam hero that uses his kit to heal and buff allies. There’s usually only one viable build with situational replacements for support heroes.
Skill Path
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Most Adagio players max out their B, Agent of Wrath, first. They put a point into their ultimate, Verse of Judgment, at level 6, but don’t level it up again until level 12, after their A, Gift of Fire, is also fully leveled. Alternate skill paths include maxing A first to prioritize the heal, or leaving Gift of Fire at 4 points in order to max the ultimate.
Core Items
Obviously, every hero should get Tier 1 Boots early to avoid being a snail throughout the game. On Adagio, this is especially important, because of how strong sprinting into an enemy to slow them is. Supports should always start out with an Ironguard Contract, and it is often useful to grab an early Stormguard Banner. Typically, supports will rush Fountain of Renewal for the amazing mid-fight heal that it provides. However, it is sometimes better to rush a Crucible against an opposing Adagio to counter Verse of Judgment or additional survivability.
As Needed
Warhorn is a good item for Adagio because it allows Adagio to rush into the midst of the enemy team and set up a Verse of Judgment. Situational items include Shiversteel to help peel for your allies or prevent enemies from escaping. Atlas Pauldron is good for countering high attack speed heroes such as Glaive, Krul, Rona, Ringo, and Blackfeather. Adagio is unique as a support hero because he has abilities that benefit a lot from building Crystal Power. Good options include Shatterglass for raw CP, Frostburn so healing an ally also slows nearby enemies (as opposed to only when you heal yourself), and Broken Myth to amplify damage of the AoE nuke that is Verse of Judgment.
The Arcane Pain Train
This is a build that is sometimes played in lane or jungle. Early-game, Adagio has great damage as a carry (especially with that huge auto-attack range!), but late-game, he should be focused on buffing and healing his allies from the backline.
Skill Path
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This build heavily prioritizes the buff that comes out of Agent of Wrath. Accordingly, it’s usually the skill that is maxed out first to maximize damage output from the buff, with Gift of Fire being maxed second, over Verse of Judgment.
Core Items
Starting Adagio off with attack speed is great because of its synergy with his B, Agent of Wrath. Adagio should build straight up Crystal Power after that to increase the strength of his skills, and then build a Chronograph or Clockwork for the Cooldown Speed.
As Needed
Obviously, boots. There are a number of situational supplementary CP items that Adagio can build. Broken Myth is good for amplifying the damage on Agent of Wrath and Verse of Judgment, Frostburn is good for slowing enemies while healing allies (sometimes replacing Shatterglass as the first T3 item), and Shatterglass is good for additional raw CP. Alternating Current is sometimes built to increase Adagio’s own damage, but isn’t too effective in a buff-your-ally team composition. Of course, you should build defense when necessary.
ARDAN
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Having Vanguard at level 1 is definitely the way to go; the barrier, speed-up, and slow can make or break those early-game fights. Because of the relatively low health ratio on Vanguard’s barrier, leveling up Vanguard to increase its base barrier is integral in properly protecting your allies. Maxing out his Gauntlet allows Ardan to trap enemies in the enclosure for an extra 2 seconds, which may not seem like much, but adds up to an eternity. Alternatively, some players prefer to dump points into Blood for Blood (but not max it) until level 8 for extra damage, but this is not recommended, since this build should be focused on protecting your allies.
Blackfeather
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Both lane and jungle Blackfeather benefit from taking their B, On Point, overdrives first. This gives Blackfeather more frequent and larger barriers, more slows for engaging and disengaging, as well as a decent amount of poke with the base damage on On Point. After that, most players max out Rose Offensive for the shorter cooldowns on the charges. An alternative distribution take the overdrive on Blackfeather’s A, Feint of Heart, after he has his B overdriven; another distribution maxes A first, then B. All of these are viable and vary due to personal preference, though the distribution shown above seems to be most effective.
Catherine
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Catherine usually starts her A, Merciless Pursuit. At low levels, Stormguard does not reflect any significant amount of damage, so the stun from Merciless Pursuit is more useful for early-game fights. However, you will usually want to take Catherine’s B, Stormguard, to overdrive first because it grants a 25% increase on all reflected damage, which can cause the enemy team to literally kill themselves on your bubble. Catherine tends to finish her levels out by maxing out her ultimate, Blast Tremor, to take full advantage of its silence and cooldown.
Celeste
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Celeste’s main source of damage is her A, Heliogenesis. On overdrive, this ability’s range is increased by 2 meters, and the cooldown on Heliogenesis is lowered by 0.4s per level, so you will definitely want to max out her A first. In almost all games, you’ll want to max Solar Storm for the extra stars and the damage they provide; however, in rare cases, such as against triple melee team compositions, maxing Core Collapse to drastically reduce its cooldown is not a bad idea.
Fortress
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The burst damage on Fortress’ B, Law of the Claw, is instrumental in securing an early-game lead and maintaining it, so you should max that out first. The slow on its overdrive is also extremely useful. Fortress should max his ultimate, Attack of the Pack, because of the utility it provides as well as its shorter cooldown; it gives Fortress 300 extra health per level on the ability on activation and the wolves can be used to finish off fleeing enemies, as a distracting initiation tactic, or even to track down enemies while taking objectives.
Glaive
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Glaive’s A, Afterburn, loses one second off of its cooldown with each rank until overdriven, where it drops an entire 10 seconds, an incredibly potent power spike. The utility from Afterburn is too great to ignore; it can be used as an initiation tactic, as a disengage tactic, as a peel, or for its burst damage. Most Glaive players will take his ultimate, Bloodsong, at level 6, but will take the increased passive critical hit chance and cleave damage from the overdrive for Glaive’s B, Twisted Stroke, over further increases in his ultimate’s base damage. Much of the utility from Bloodsong comes from the passive lifesteal it provides.
The skill distribution and reasoning are the same as they are in the build above.
Earthsplitter
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This build focuses heavily on critical strikes from Joule’s B, Thunder Strike, which cannot critically strike until overdriven. Obviously, you should max Thunder Strike first. Most follow up by maxing out her ultimate to pick off kills from extreme range with her Big Red Button, though some players prefer to take the overdrive on Rocket Leap to reduce its cooldown.
Jagerbomb
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Whether Lane or Jungle, Joule will need her B, Thunder Strike, at Level 1 to farm and damage enemies, but her Rocket Leap is the real source of The Jagerbomb’s burst. Additionally, Rocket Leap is a fantastic way to reposition to line up a huge Big Red Button, so the cooldown reduction on the overdrive is too large to pass up. Joule’s ultimate, Big Red Button, should be maxed out on this build to reduce its cooldown and for increases in base damage!
Kestrel
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Anyone who has played with or against Kestrel knows that her arrows from A, Glimmershot, are a real pain. Take the Glimmershot overdrive first, then max out Kestrel’s ultimate, One Shot One Kill, for some sweet highlight reel snipes!
Koshka
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Koshka’s B, Twirly Death, is very useful for making things dead. The base damage on this skill is what makes Koshka so strong, so max it out first. Taking the overdrive on her A, Pouncy Fun, almost doubles Koshka’s base damage on the ability, and this build focuses on leveraging that base damage to good effect. Some players do prefer maxing out Koshka’s ultimate, but it isn’t necessary in most cases.
Krul (Dead Man’s Revenge; Juggernaut will be deleted)
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When running this build, Kruls will want to start their B, Spectral Smite, for the passive effects of the Weakness debuff. However, this build is fairly focused on upfront damage, so from level 2 on, you’ll want to rush the overdrive on his A, Dead Man’s Rush. It’s important to take the first point in his ultimate, From Hell’s Heart, but it isn’t necessary to upgrade again until Krul has secured his second overdrive with Spectral Smite. An alternate build bath is simply maxing Spectral Smite first, instead of Dead Man’s Rush; some players prefer the extra burst damage form Spectral Smite.
Ozo
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Three-Ring Circus is the main source of Ozo’s damage, so it’s important to max it out first to lower its cooldown as well as increase the healing and base damage on it. After that, you’ll want to max Bangarang for the shorter cooldown. If you find that two points are enough to always have Bangarang up when you need it, then maxing Acrobounce over Bangarang is also an option.
Petal
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Petal has to start her A, Brambleboom Seeds, at level. Tough luck. Her B, Trampoline, is very useful, but as it is a pure utility ability, it’s better to skip putting a point in it at Level 5 in order to level up both Petal’s A and ultimate, Spontaneous Combustion, at Level 6. Petal players continue to overdrive her Munions and max out Spontaneous Combustion to achieve maximum damage potential.
Phinn
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This river troll bites hard. Starting his A, Quibble, gives him fantastic base damage in the early levels. Because its overdrive effective is so useful, you’ll want to max Quibble out first to turn its slow into a stun. Max out his ultimate, Forced Accord, for more pulls than ever. Some players prefer maxing Polite Company instead of Forced Accord; this is up to personal preference.
Reim
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Reim’s A, Winter Spire, is his main source of damage, so overdriving this ability is a must, as every point in the ability increases its range and damage while reducing its cooldown. Take points in his B, Chill Winds, whenever Winter Spire or Reim’s ultimate, Valkyrie, are unavailable for upgrade.
Ringo
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Ringo has one of the strongest early games because of his B ability, Twirling Silver. This skill gives him massively increased attack speed and a boost in movement speed, allowing him to output massive sustained damage throughout the game. Most players prefer maxing Achilles Shot first to increase Ringo’s burst damage as well as improve the slow on the ability. After that, most players max out Hellfire Brew to use as an initiation or finisher. However, some players prefer maxing B first for the increase in attack speed, and some players will max A and B or B and C instead of A and C. This is up to personal preference; all of these skill distributions are viable.
Rona
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Starting with Rona’s B, Foesplitter, helps with her level 1 clear through the jungle, and it adds some burst damage in early fights. However, she should upgrade her A ability, Into the Fray, and take its overdrive for the cooldown reduction and extra tankiness for engages. Maxing out Rona’s Red Mist ultimate gives Rona more tankiness mid-fight and massive AoE damage.
Shredder SAW
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Weapon Power SAW will usually max out Suppressing Fire to increase its base damage. This allows the slow-moving SAW to finish off fleeing enemies with a long-ranged ability. Mad Cannon is usually maxed over Roadie Run because it gives SAW more missing health % ratios without compromising his spin-up stacks.
Executioner SAW
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This build takes advantage of SAW’s large CP ratios and missing health % ratios. The missing health % ratios increase with each level on Roadie Run and Mad Cannon, so these should be maxed. Suppressing Fire really only gets increases in base damage, which are overshadowed by the CP ratio on it and benefits in the other skills.
Skaarf
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Like other Mages, Skaarf needs the overdrive on his A skillshot, Spitfire. For Skaarf, this increases the projectile speed, damage, and decreases the cooldown with each rank up. Skaarf’s ultimate is often unused, so while you can take it at level 6, most players forfeit this in lieu of extra damage and overdrive on his B ability, Goop. Once Skaarf has both overdrives at Level 10, there’s no reason to not put points into his ultimate, Dragon Breath. In certain situations, it’s sometimes better to take all 3 levels in the ultimate over the Goop overdrive – one such situation would be against enemies with large amounts of shield built, because each level of Skaarf’s ultimate gives it 15% shield pierce.
Red Skye
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This build is entirely focused on huge crits, and Skye’s A overdrive in critical in achieving this end. Points in Suri Strike are great for its cooldown and repositioning, but Red Skye should max out her ultimate to be able to spam it as much as possible (often two times during fights) and disrupt enemy paths or potentially stun them!
Blue Skye
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Blue Skye starts at Level 1 with her A, Forward Barrage, to help her initial clears in Jungle. Her quadratic scaling on her Forward Barrage doesn’t necessitate the ability being overdriven, while overdriving her Suri Strike grants Blue Skye a 100% cooldown reset on Forward Barrage and a large cooldown reduction on Suri Strike. Maxing out her ultimate gives Skye the ability to use it multiple times in a fight, taking over the battlefield in lethal style.
Taka
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Taka always benefits more from his overdriven A, Kaiten, than anything else, as the zero-energy cost works wonders with the cooldown acceleartion from his Heroic Perk, House Kamuha. Taka typically does not need a second point in his B, Kaku, at Level 5 as it doesn’t do a whole lot. Max Taka’s ultimate, X-Retsu, and Kaiten for maximum damage potential.
Sound and Fury
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Vox will need his B, Pulse, overdriven ASAP to be able to bounce sound waves hard enough to make an impact in his games. Max out his ultimate, Wait for It…, to turn your teamfights up to 11 with massive shockwaves. An alternative to this build is to max Sonic Zoom over Pulse – this gives it a lower cooldown and allows Vox to kite more easily and provide more sudden bursts in fights.
Sonic Tremor
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This build focuses on Aftershock procs dealing immense damage alongside bounces. Start with Vox’s B, Pulse, so that he can deal damage, but take his A, Sonic Zoom, overdrive by Level 8 to get the most out of its cooldown. Max out Vox’s ultimate, Wait for It…, to bring a strong ranged initiation or finishing move to this more up-close-and-personal build’s attack.