Mal'damba has quite high DPS for a support and can hold his own/switch to an aggressive push when needed, but since the projectile drops quickly, his effective DPS is not high as it is hard to land his shots while healing at the same time. He has no long-range options as a result. When playing Mal'damba, you won't find yourself getting kills so make sure not to go looking for fights. Nevertheless, make sure you are holding that left-mouse-button in the general direction of the enemy in-between heals as every damage counts. Since he has high close-range DPS and sustain, he can hold his own against flankers as they generally need to get close to initiate fights. Remember that it is his only ability that has significant mid-air inaccuracy.

The main thing which allows him to confirm kills, is his reload stun "Reloading throws the cobra dealing 200 damage and stunning enemies for 1s." (The projectile begins to fly out from your hand at around 90% completion of the reload). After landing it, you can pull off around 2 guaranteed shots on the stunned enemy or a Gourd and 1 shot. DO NOT reload during a fight as you have lower DPS and may not even hit your stun. Only reload during a fight when you have around 50% increased reload speed, or you have cover that you can do the reload animation behind. Practice reloading around corners and jumping out right as you throw it on the enemy who is chasing you. You can also use it to confirm kills by stunning a retreating enemy, or interrupt channeled abilities such as Torvald's ultimate, Sha Lin's Planted and Makoa shielding. The reload projectile travels a tad slower than your in-hand and drops off faster, so make sure to account for that. In rare cases such as Khan's shield, you can throw the snake above the shield and stun him. The stun also has a 3 second cooldown where you cannot stun the same person so don't spam it, or attempt to stun-lock.

In a lot of gameplays, I see Mal'dambas spamming the reload projectiles while they are not healing and hoping to land them on far away targets. When I used to do that, I found that I was too focused on landing them and waiting for the full reload animation to go off. This caused me to neglect my healing and awareness for my team. Only try stunning enemy non-flankers when you are sure you or your team can follow-up effectively. Otherwise, landing 400 damages are much more reliable and helpful in the long run. Even just shooting a shield/deployable is contributing to the fight. Nevertheless, you are able to cancel your reload by interrupting it with any ability.

A very basic healing ability, but since it is on such a low cooldown (3 seconds), you are hard-pressed to make sure it is always on cooldown while also landing it, to get its full potential. Landing it is the difference between saving a squishy, or increasing the up time of your frontline by a few seconds, so imagine having the potential to save a teammate every 3 seconds. It is hitscan, but has a "remote proximity distance of 1.5" according to the Paladins Wiki and so is a little forgiving. I generally do not save it and make sure I am healing two allies at all times. Doubling up on an ally stacks and applies the 300 burst heal so it is viable to sustain one ally, but most of the time not advisable due to Cauterize and tunnel vision.

Although it has infinite range, Mending Spirits requires LoS (Line of Sight) and so positioning is key. Sometimes, an ally can block another ally you are trying to heal so avoid that. You can heal through enemy shields though.

Mal'damba has to be quite close to the team to get good angles if he wants to heal the whole team. It is essential to know where cover/high-ground is so you can stay out of view from the enemy team while also healing and providing any damage/utility for your team.

In my opinion, the strongest part of Mal'Damba's kit. Although it is on a 10 second cooldown, I find that many players are using it as an extra Mending Spirits charge that may only come into contact with the ally for 2 seconds until they walk off. Don't exactly save this ability, but make sure it obtains its full value. The Gourd is best for choke-points, the capture point and areas where the frontline can aggressively push up and zone. It is best when it can heal and DAMAGE at the same time. I generally use it for allies in combat, like the main tank on the point, or anyone who has pushed up. When an ally is out of combat and hiding behind a wall, use your Mending Spirits to top them off instead and save your Gourd.

Gourd positioning is very important. The projectile follows basic physics but make sure you don't hit edges of the point or some stairs as it may bounce up and delay/misdirect the heal. Since the AOE of the Gourd is always a circle, it doesn't spread like Tyra's Firebomb. Resultantly, it can appear through walls and heal teammates. The best way to use it is by throwing it on a corner, so allies can hide, peek and push all while healing for 300 per second.

When Cauterize 3 is up for the enemy team, Gourd loses its healing value on in-combat allies, who are generally Cauterized. This is when I begin to either use it more to damage enemies or as an out of combat heal. It is no Firebomb so most enemies do not think of the Gourd as a threat, but it still does significant damage. It goes through shields so is great against Fernandos and Khans who are slowed by their shields. Remember that the Gourd explodes upon contact of enemies and their shields. Gourd displays the ticks of damage on enemies, even through walls, which is useful for intel.

You will also have to pay attention to the flow of the game in order to maximize the effectiveness of your Gourd. If you feel your team is losing the fight, Gourd more passively or Gourd further back where there is cover, so your team can retreat. If your team is winning the fight, you can choose to Gourd more aggressively, or Gourd the enemy so your frontlines can push up and dive on them.

Gourd is used on yourself on low health when you desperately need to peek the enemy, or you sense a flank nearby. Gourd can also be used on you when you fight flankers. Ideally it is touching both you and the flanker so the Gourd is doing 500 per second of damage and healing (unless they can fly). Most flankers have Cauterize, so late-game I prioritize throwing the Gourd at their feet rather than mine. Only if I stun them, do I try to heal myself.

The distance is not great and it is on a 8 second cooldown which is much longer than the time it takes a flank to kill you. It is not advisable to use it to re-position and heal an ally unless it is desperate. Save it for when a flank engages you, when you need to retreat or you need to dodge something. The invincibility is definitely the selling point of Slither, along with its speed. The invincibility basically means everything goes through you and you don't take damage. It also cleanses all debuffs like slows, Cauterize and DoT (damage over time). The invincibility lasts the whole dash so if you want the invincibility but don't want to move, say out of your Gourd for example, then you can dash into a wall to stay in place. The Gourd will heal you during it. The speed can catch people off guard, especially when you dash through them (Slither goes through enemies). A combo I like to do is stun, Gourd/shoot shoot shoot, then dash through to avoid an ability and turn around to finish them.

All support ultimates are strong but WOW.

Dread Serpent basically acts as a 2 second AOE stun, but with a few added bonuses.

The vessel projectile moves in a straight line at a relatively fast speed, and so theoretically has infinite range. Nevertheless, it is better to ult closer targets as the ultimate line plays when you throw it out, so closer targets have less time to react.

The enemies are feared and so "run" (very slowly) outwards away from the center of the AOE for 2 seconds (the fear DOES NOT end when they exit the AOE). Thus, you can displace enemies in any direction depending on where you aim the center of the explosion. Be warned that the distance they travel is quite short, and is also lessened by Resilience.

The AOE explosion also lingers for around 3.5-4 seconds (not certain).

As a result, Dread Serpent has so many uses I cannot be bothered to go in-depth so I'll just list ways it can be used:

Against groups of enemies so your team can dive.

Save a teammate.

Fearing a long-range target (like a sniper) so they are out of the fight for a duration.

Fearing a flank/fearing a single target to confirm a kill on them. Most of the time you can solo them if they are not a frontline.

Fearing people off the map/into hazards.

Fearing the point so you can cap it. E.g Ulting the point at around 85% cap while you are on it. Also can fear the point/payload so enemies walk off point and overtime ticks away to zero.

Area denial since it activates upon people entering it.

Interrupting an ability/ult.

Most importantly, you can reactivate the ult or left-click to explode the vessel midair to detonate it earlier, or cover a bigger area. With this, you can also spam it so it explodes instantly around you for any enemies in your face.

Due it being AOE, it is very good at dealing with more mobile champions.

The projectile can be blocked/sucked up by various abilities. Both the projectile and the AOE passes through enemies.

The AOE also goes through shields so make sure to ult low frontlines who have their shields up like Makoa, Fernando and Khan.

It can be good to save ults, but make sure not to save it too much as it can easily win fights, even when not used to its full potential.

I BELIEVE EVERY MAL'DAMBA MAIN SHOULD READ EVERYTHING BELOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mal'damba's ult is known to be very confusing and 'inconsistent', so I am here to clear up exactly how it works.

Basically the ult follows a few confusing rules:

An enemy will have a variable of having "touched" the AOE or not. Touching the AOE can either be that the vessel explodes when the enemy is within the range, or an enemy enters the lingering ultimate. The AOE is the big sphere.

An enemy can only have "touched" the same Dread Serpent AOE ONCE.

On the INSTANCE of when the enemy "touches" the AOE for the first time, if the enemy has LoS to the center of the AOE, they will be feared. If not, they are not feared.

While a target is feared, they cannot be feared again by a separate Dread Serpent. (So when they are in the fear animation, if you miraculously have another ultimate, you cannot fear them).

Here is a list of all possible scenarios for the enemy:

Vessel explodes and in range of AOE -> LoS to center of AOE = feared

Vessel explodes and in range of AOE -> no LoS to center of AOE = not feared, can't be feared again

Entering lingering AOE -> previously touched the same AOE = not feared, can't be feared again

Entering lingering AOE -> haven't touched same AOE before -> LoS to center of AOE = feared

Entering lingering AOE -> haven't touched same AOE before -> no LoS to center of AOE = not feared, can't be feared again

If this is all too confusing, just remember that the explosion of the ult originates from the center of the AOE sphere and so the center of the AOE requires LoS to the enemy WHEN THE VESSEL EXPLODES AND WHEN THEY ENTER IT FOR THE FIRST TIME.

So if you ult a wall with an enemy behind it, the AOE is technically touching them, but they do not have LoS to the center of the explosion and so aren't feared. If they peek the center of the AOE, they are still not feared since they have already touched the AOE before. Same for if they walk into the AOE for the first time, they need LoS to the center; and if not, they can't be feared ever again, even if they peek the center of the AOE.

This is also why ulting a CC immune or untargetable target will not fear them, even after their immunity wears off, since when their immunity wears off, they have already touched the ultimate before and cannot be feared.

Chronos 1 is ALWAYS your number one item as it just helps Mal'damba so much. I would even argue Chronos 2 to be immediately next, but it really depends on how the match goes.

Morale Boost is very good since his ult is game-changing, but if they get resilience it may not be worth buying. I buy this if I am not in desperate need of anything else, or if I need to build up the ult soon. I also buy this if a very mobile flanker is bothering me and I have to solo ult them.

Nimble is nice as it helps you save Slither for more important situations on larger maps.

Haven and Blast Shields are good if you feel you are taking a lot of damage but since I believe it receives diminishing returns with the loadout card Possession, you may not get its full value.

Resilience if you are being hit with lots of CC as usual but rare.

Deft hands I feel is more defensive than offensive but it definitely has its moments. It is more to help you fend off flankers/confirm stuns and let your teammates help deal with them easier.

Kill to Heal is great all-round sustain as you get many elims, but it is not a priority as it is countered by Cauterize and you can already heal yourself if needed. Instead, I tend to buy it so I can switch to an aggressive playstyle if needed. Pulling off your ult will definitely get you a kill while you are not Cauterized so it goes well with an aggressive ult.

Illuminate for the rare Skye, but you can already deal with her relatively easily due to the invincibility of Slither to counter Poison Bolts, and the AOE Gourd.

I rarely buy these and never upgrade them to full, unless my team has absolutely no Cauterize.

Cauterize may help against more sustainy flankers like Buck.

Wrecker only when you are able to free fire shields and Bulldozer for cripple Inara/Barik if needed.

Many Gourds is very good, since Gourd is just such a strong ability to have up for all situations. Getting a 2 second cooldown decrease means the Gourd has only around 2.5 seconds down time! Anything above level 1 is great but I generally like level 4. Allows you to use your Gourds more liberally and spam the point.

No loadout cards decrease the cooldown of Mal'damba's 3 second heal, but Eerie Presence instead helps you land it more frequently. No matter how good you are, you are definitely going to miss a few right-clicks, so don't feel bad including it in your deck as even pro players use it. If you are not confident, run it max on level 4, but I go with level 3 generally. Don't run it if you are a god or want to high-roll a game with a loadout that puts points elsewhere. Run it if you have a Drogoz or any mobile champion on your team!!!

Synergizes well with Possession, Ritual Magic and Swift Spirits.

Swift Spirits isn't exactly healing, but is amazing for many situations. It helps teammates traverse large maps. It enhances frontlines that are able to dive or zone, or frontlines that have no movement abilities. It enables mobile DPS's to make big plays. Make sure to let people know that you are using this card though as the sudden speed boost may catch your mates off guard. Level 4-5 is good.

This is prioritized in higher levels of play. In casuals/ranked, if you think you have good frontliner players, pick it since it benefits them the most.

Eerie Presence is a must when using this.

Feed the Spirits really only reduces the cooldown of Gourd and Slither so promotes a more aggressive playstyle. It is definitely snowbally, but you can easily get elims from Gourds and healing when playing passively. Effect is really only noticeable at levels 3-4. Not so good for high-level play and against comps with many frontlines.

The effect does not stack well with Many Gourds and Fleeting, so should generally replace them.

Once again, Many Gourds is very good since Gourd is your best self-sustain tool.

Possession is OP. I command you to run it at levels 4-5. Increases Mal'damba's effective HP by a metric ton and fights burst. May as-well say "Gain 20% damage reduction", since you are always healing someone with Mending Spirits if you are playing Mal'damba correctly.

Incorporeal is nice filler and good against flankers or snipers. Level 1-2.

Synergizes with Possession.

Ritual Magic definitely does not sound like a lot at 15 HPS per level, but trust me it adds up if you find yourself in-combat all the time. Good against Grohk's shock pulse. Good at level 1, but don't bother to put in anymore as there are more important options and you are still mainly going to heal with Gourd. Bad against burst.

Snake Pit may sound like an offensive card but it helps you have options against good flankers in the early game, and saves the 500 you would've spent on Deft Hands 2, since Deft Hands 1 + Snake Pit is already good enough if Snake Pit is at level 3 or higher. Lets you buy Chronos 1 at the beginning of the game without losing to flankers. Only use it if you predict a really tough battle against multiple flankers but you still need to heal teammates. Snake Pit level 4 definitely lets you feel the difference. Levels 1-2 are pointless in my opinion and also do not help you remember the reload speeds of Mal'damba. Do NOT use this to play Stundamba as a solo healer.

Stacks well with Deft Hands until around 40% reload speed increase.

I rarely see people use Otherworldly but I find it amazing at level 3. It helps you duel, position faster, retreat faster and lets you aggress faster. Feels great to play with and I never turned back after I tried it. Basically free Nimble 3 when you need it most. I feel it is more of an aggressive card so if it doesn't suit your playstyle, just ignore it.

Liminal Passage increases the distance of the Slither, but DOES NOT increase the duration of Slither. As a result, Mal'damba travels faster during the Slither. This could be useful in certain situations where you desperately need the invincibility across a longer distance, but Otherworldly is just more flexible and more value if you want to travel to a certain point faster. The Slither distance is already quite short, and adding 10-30% is not much.

Fleeting is useful when you are being targeted and require the invincibility constantly. Nevertheless, it loses value every second Slither is not on cooldown, but it is unwise to spam Slither as it may be down when you need it most. It also does not synergize with Chronos. With Chronos 3 and Fleeting level 2, the cooldown on Slither is (8-1)*(1-0.3) = 4.9 seconds, but with just Chronos 3, it is 8*(1-0.3) = 5.6 seconds. So rather than a 1 second cooldown reduction, Fleeting level 2 gives a 0.7 second reduction. The reason Many Gourds is still very good is that Gourd is pretty much always on cooldown as it has many uses.

Needs Otherworldly or Liminal Passage to be good.

Pungent Gourd adds a little burst self-healing to your Gourd ability. But if you are healing yourself with Gourd, a burst of 75 HP is insignificant compared to the 300 HPS heal of Gourd. Also, Gourd is realistically on a 7~ second cooldown, so level 1 Pungent Gourd is like an 75/7 = 11~ HPS, which is inferior to Ritual Magic's 15 HPS. Sometimes, you may be at full HP and the effect doesn't activate, while Ritual Magic's effect is relevant every second you are damaged. You can argue that Pungent Gourd is burst healing, which counters Cauterize, but a burst of 75-150 rarely does much.

Needs Many Gourds to be good.

Sustenance requires high levels to be good, but there aren't many points to spare. The effect also only really occurs when Mal'damba is in a fight at below 50% HP. But below 50% HP, Mal'damba can easily be burst down. Since Mal'damba does not have any burst self-healing, Sustenance realistically only helps him get to 50% HP. The reason why Moxie is so good on Pip is that Pip can burst self-heal, and the healing increase applies to the whole 1200 heal from his potion, which can subsequently instantly heal himself to full. Mal'damba's Gourd is a 60 HP heal per 0.2 second tick, meaning the increased healing buff will stop almost exactly at 50% HP. Sustenance was only really good for Ripened Gourd, but the talent was removed.

Needs cards like Many Gourds, Ritual Magic, Incorporeal and Possession to be good.

Gourd is good. Makes sure it is always up for the team and you. Good for strong point tanks like Inara.

Speed boost your frontlines and you can push up with them for a dive. No Gourd card since no-one is going to be staying in one place for very long.

Feed the Spirits basically replaces Many Gourds and lets you play more aggressively to snowball. Only really good against solo tank comps.

Helps against flankers. Chronos first buy still. Ritual Magic doesn't help against flanks.

Safe build. What you'd expect most Mal'dambas to run.