Agility Heroes
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[Moon Queen] .moon queen .mq .luna .moonfang (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Lunar Glow
2 - Moon Beam3 - Lunar Glow
4 - Stats5 - Lunar Glow
6 - Moon Finale7 - Lunar Glow
8 - Stats9 - Stats10 - Stats11 - Moon Finale12 - Multi Strike13 - Multi Strike
14 - Multi Strike
15 - Multi Strike
16 - Moon Finale
17 - Stats+
23 - Moon Beam+
Justification / Modifications:
Moon Finale does no longer require Moon Beam to be maxed. Thus my preferred build is to go Lunar Glow/Stats with one level of Moon Beam for last hitting and stunning. You can still go the traditional route and get Moon Beam level 4, its just a different playstyle (I recommend this if going mid and picking up a bottle. Runecontrol and the resulting mana allow for nice harass with moon beam). The playstyle described here focuses on carrying.
Starting Items:
Runes of Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
(Bottle >>) Power Supply >> Steam Boots >> 2x Soulscream Ring >> Whispering Helm >> Shrunken Head
Bottle can be gotten if you are solo mid. Get Soulscream Rings for more stats and swap Steam Boots as needed (Int if laning, Agi if creeping and Str for ganks and team fights). As soon as you get Whispering Helm start stacking Ancients. You should be able to farm them easy.
Shrunken Head with all the other stats/hp items will help you over your squishy-ness, allow you to get your full Moon Finale off and thus is definitely core.
After Core:
Wingbow >> Symbol of Rage >> Geometer's Bane
Wingbow is the DPS item of choice. After that upgrade Symbol of Rage and then fill your last slot with a Geometer's Bane.
Information
Roles: Hard Carry, Pusher
Prefered Lane: Any. Is fine on long, can solo mid
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 3 - Medium
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 3 - Medium (Very High Base damage)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Her Ultimate shines in ganks and early teamfights)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (If farmed well)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
Works best with fast creep clearers (behe, hag, ...)
+ fastest base move speed in game (320)
- short attack range (330)
- Moon Finale is weak against Heroes that control Minions
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Use Moon Beam to score last hits on creeps you would otherwise not get. Don't use it to harass (unless you actually decide to level it).
- Once level 7 go gank their long lane. Hide in the forest, go in with autoattack, if they run back finish with Moon Finale. Save Moon Beam if they try to TP or for the Killing Blow (you are allowed to KS as carry).
- Go for the Runes if you have Bottle. If you meet an enemy in the river use Moon Finale for a guaranteed kill.
- Don't use Moon Finale if your target can: go invis, go out of line of sight, go invulv (Shrunken Head and some abilities) or when multiple creeps are around.
Counters:
- Any hero with minions will significantly weaken her ultimate. E.g. Ophelia, Warbeast, etc.
- You can build a Puzzlebox or Assassin's Shroud to take away from her ultimate.
- Its is very hard to counter a Moon Queen as she has both very high magic and physical damage. You can however outcarry her pretty easy.
- Regularly check or ward their ancient spot. Gank her if she starts farming them and steal the stack.
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[Wildsoul] .sylla .wildsoul (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Summon Beardulon2 - Natural Attunement3 - Summon Beardulon
4 - Natural Attunement
5 - Summon Beardulon
6 - Natural Attunement
7 - Summon Beardulon
8 - Natural Attunement
9 - Wild10 - Bear Form
11 - Bear Form
12 - Wild
13 - Wild
14 - Wild
15 - Stats
16 - Bear Form
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
I will only cover jungeling here. A laning Wildsoul is in my eyes not an option. Dont pick him if you know you wont have two heroes capable of soloing.
You will not go into bearform until late midgame, so there is not much use in taking it before level 10. The only time i would skill Bear Form at level 6 is if i get hardcore ganked in the jungle.
Beardulon and Natural Attunement offer the best jungeling power. Once level 9 you should be able to support the Mana for Wild.
Items
I will cover the classic "Bearmock" build. However, there is another, new school approache to be seen in compeditive play going for a straight Steamboots -> Frostburn -> Warpcleft on Wildsoul, staying in human form. I will follow this development and update this guide when I see the need for it.
I've been exploring this and testing it out myself a lot. I will list below what I came up with.
Staring Items:
Wildsoul: Healing Potion
Beardulon: Iron Buckler, Logger's Hatchet
"Bearmock"-Build:
Core:
Wildsoul: Marchers, 1 slot for homecomings and possibly 4 minor totems as filler.
Beardulon: Gloves of the Swift, Mock of Brilliance, Marchers. When you send Beardulon back to heal for the first time, buy 1x Gloves of the swift on him. The next Item you buy is Sword of the high for your Beardulon. Usually you want to get Mock as fast as possible, which is attainable in 20-25 Minutes of jungling.
After core:
- Steam Boots. Use the gloves from Beardulon to create a pair of steamboots for Wildsoul.
- Ghost Marchers. Upgrade Beardulon's Marchers to Ghost marchers. He wont get benefits from Steamboots' Stats and Ghost marchers allow for good chasing and phasing.
- Warpcleft on Beardulon. He's got that +60 Sword, an entangle proc and massive base damage in general. Attack speed is the perfect stat for him; as your main source of damage is the Bear.
- Frostburn on Wildsoul. Helps you keep up with Beradulon speed wise. Adds the much needed Movement slow for when Entangle doesn't proc. At this point in the game you start to scale better than Beardulon and will soon be on par with him damage wise.
- Daemonic Breastplate or Charged Hammer. Use the Warpcleft to build either Daemonic Breastplate or Charged Hammer depending on how the game is developing. Leave the item on Beardulon for now. As soon as your enemies are capable of killing beardulon relatively easy (usually around the 45+ min mark) move everything onto wildsoul and go bear form. This is where you turn into a true Hard Carry.
- Wingbow, if the game still goes on.
"New-School"-Build:
Core:Beardulon: Marchers
Wildsoul: Steamboots >> Icebrand >> Frostburn
You can leave the jungle to gank/push but you should only leave it for good once you have your Frostburn. Aim for 17-20 min, but anything below 25 min is still ok.
After Core:
Wildsoul: Warpcleft >> Daemonic Breastplate and Charged Hammer >> Wingbow
You will basically screw your bear and carry all the gear yourself. For cluster-f..ights make sure you are in Bearform. For farming/chasing/escaping/etc you should be in human form (more movespeed).
You will have enough HP in bearform so Charged Hammer is an excellent item which gives flat damage. If they have high physical damage get Breastplate first.
And finally: Lifesteal sucks.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry, Tank, Jungler
Prefered Lane: Jungle
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (You have to control 2 units)
Farming capabilities: 4 - Good (Can jungle from level 1)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: Jungler
- Mid Game / Ganks: 2 - Weak (Reliant on entangle procs when ganking, needs time to farm up)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong
30-Seconds-Guide:- Gank your lane from the forest if the opportunity present itself or if your lane mate asks for it. You need to be level 5 for entangle tho.
- Lanepull creeps to help your Short Solo hero. It will allow him to fight at the tower and get a better farm. (You can lanepull while Beardulon is off healing)
- Carry a homecoming stone when jungling.
- Tabbing back and forth between wildsoul and beardulon to give move commands gives you better control. Practice is key.
- Once you have your Core stop jungling! Push towers and Help in Teamfights! With Mock you are better off farming lanes anyways.
- You can backdoor towers easily by standing in the forest and letting Beardulon attack the tower (TP out before they find you). In my opinion this is bad manner and you should really only do it in random publics if at all. I'm still mention it though
.
- You can run circles around your enemies with Mock-Beardulon to prevent them from initiating with a Portal Key. Especially useful versus Magmus and Behemoth.
Counters:
- Gank him in the forest. However, typically a wildsoul will be > 80% hp when jungling. So bring a mate and some stuns.
- Try to catch him in Human form. Stun him and burn him down. Don't allow him to switch to his ultimate form before the fight starts.
- All of his damage is physical, so armor is the logic counter to him. Barbed armor will NOT work very good (he has 3k+ hp with almost no items)!!__________________________________________________
[Scout] .scout (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Electric Eye2 - Vanish3 - Vanish
4 - Electric Eye
5 - Vanish
6 - Marksman Shot
7 - Vanish
8 - Disarm
9 - Disarm
10 - Disarm
11 - Marksman Shot
12 - Disarm
13 - Electric Eye
14 - Electric Eye
15 - Stats
16 - Marksman Shot
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Straightforward build. Eye is taken at level 1 to ward rune + enemy creep spot. At level 4 we take another level of Eye to initiate ganks.
Under no circumstances should you use another build for scout.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Item Build:
Power Supply >> Sustainer >> Steam Boots Strength/Agi >> Runed Axe >> Shieldbreaker >> Whispering Helm >> Savage Mace >> Symbol of Rage
Power Supply is core. Always get it; it can save your life with only 2 charges to be able to vanish. After that get lifetube against a strong lane or manatube against a weaker lane first (Manatube allows for Marksman shot harass while lifetube counters their harass). Complete Sustainer, pick up Steamboots and finish off runed axe. If your farm is really good skip boots until after runed axe (this means if you can get a <17min Axe go for it). Ghost Marchers are useless as they break vanish and runed axe lets you stay in vanish for almost no upkeep cost.
Once you get Runed axe you can clear a full wave of creeps in a matter of 2 seconds out of vanish. Make use of that to farm your luxury items.
You can get Whispering Helm before Shieldbreaker and you can replace Shieldbreaker with Frostburn (matter of taste).
Information:
Roles: Carry, (Ganker)
Prefered Lane: short
Difficulty: 1 - Very Easy (probably the easiest hero to play if you don't use eyes to silence, scales incredibly well)
Farming capabilities: 1 - Poor (goes to excellent as soon as he completes runed axe)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 1 - Very Weak (can't do **** short of silencing, gets a bit better with his ult)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Very Strong if not countered by Anti-Invis)
30-Seconds-Guide:- Get eyes. Plant them before the creeps spawn at your rune spot and if long laned in their neutral pull spot (put it into the trees next to the camp. This will still block the camp and they can't easily spot it).
- If they have a jungling hero consider putting both wards into their forest. Or get a third level of Eyes early. It really ****s up a tempest or ophelia.
- Set an Eye before Ganks and blow it up by pressing "E" one second after you break out of vanish.
- Once you get Electric Eye level 4 plant wards in their forest to check for easy gank opportunities.
Counters:
- The obvious counter to scout are Invisibility revealing items: Dust, Wards of Revelation and Bound Eye. Dust is the best choice until later in the game when you can safely buy an eye and push.
- He has high physical damage so Armor and especially Barbed Armor will work very good.__________________________________________________
[Magebane] .magebane .antimage .magina (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Flash2 - Mana Combustion3 - Mana Combustion
4 - Flash
5 - Mana Combustion
6 - Mana Rift
7 - Mana Combustion
8 - Flash
9 - Flash
10 - Master of the Mantra
11 - Mana Rift
12 - Master of the Mantra
13 - Master of the Mantra
14 - Master of the Mantra
15 - Stats
16 - Mana Rift
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Straightforward build. I can see no situation where you would go another build.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Item Build:
Iron Shield >> Lifetube >> Steam Boots >> Runed Axe >> Whispering Helm >> Shrunken Head >> Frostburn >> Symbol of Rage
Iron Shield is technically not needed, but in most lanes it is worth building. It protects you from harass and will help your farming a great deal even later on. As soon as you get Whispering Helm start stacking Ancients. You can take them out easily by that point.
Information:
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 1 - Poor
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 1 - Very Weak
- Mid Game / Ganks: 2 - Weak (Kills possible with ult against Int Heroes)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Scales incredibly well)
30-Seconds-Guide
- Farm, farm, farm but don't forget to help in team battles.
- Ancient Stacking is a nice way to get him fat fast.
- Very straightforward to play, nothing really to say here.
Counters:
- Long duration disables and silence. Heroes: Puppet Master, Succubus, Defiler, Electrician, Blood Hunter.
- Itemwise is Sheepstick and Armor a solid choice. Barbed Armor is a good pickup.__________________________________________________
[Night Hound] .night hound .nh .riki .sa .stealth assassin (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Smoke Bomb
2 - Pounce
3 - Pounce
4 - Backstab
5 - Pounce
6 - Invisibility
7 - Pounce
8 - Backstab
9 - Backstab
10 - Backstab
11 - Invisibility
12 - Smoke Bomb
13 - Smoke Bomb
14 - Smoke Bomb
15 - Stats
16 - Invisibility
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Pounce for Last Hitting (don't use it to harass). Make sure to pounce-kill all siege engines. Smoke Bomb level 1 is enough for early game ganks/escapes.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Item Build:
Power Supply >> Iron Shield >> Steam Boots >> Nullfire Blade >> Geometers Bane >> Wingbow
Nullfire in combination with Geometer's works nicely on Night Hound as they provide a lot of agility and good synergy (Manaburning images).
Information:
Roles: Carry, (Support)
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 1 - Very Weak (Some harass possible with pounce, but it is better used for last hitting)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Smoke Bomb brings a lot to teamfights, but he needs farm as most carries do)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Very Strong if not countered by Anti-Invis)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Nullfire Blade's Purge and Geometer's Bane can both remove debuffs from you. Especially Dust and Swarm (Pestilence' Ult)!
- Cut down Eyes in the Forest with your Logger's Hatchet.
- Periodically check your opponents' gear for Bound Eye, Wards of Revelation or Dust so you don't get caught by surprise.
- Use Purge on your enemies under the Smoke Bomb; this will increase the time they are silenced and trying to run turning their back to you.
Counters:
- The obvious counter to Night Hound are Invisibility revealing items: Dust, Wards of Revelation and Bound Eye. Dust is the best choice until later in the game when you can safely buy an eye and push.
- He has high physical damage so Armor and especially Barbed Armor will work very good.__________________________________________________
[Swiftblade] .swiftblade .juggernaut .yunero (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Blade Frenzy
2 - Stats
3 - Blade Frenzy
4 - Stats
5 - Blade Frenzy
6 - Swift Slashes7 - Blade Frenzy
8 - Counter Attack9 - Way of the Sword
10 - Way of the Sword
11 - Swift Slashes
12 - Way of the Sword
13 - Way of the Sword
14 - Counter Attack
15 - Counter Attack
16 - Swift Slashes
17 - Counter Attack
18 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Blade Frenzy and stats are taken for the first levels. Mainly to have enough Mana for Blade Frenzy + Swift Slashes at level 6. Also stats are more useful than Way of the Sword early on as you won't be auto attacking.
One level of Counter Attack is taken at level 8. The first level gives you a 15% chance while the fourth level only gives a 30% chance to counter attack. You get 50% of the effect for 25% of the cost. Good Deal!
If laned versus two aggressive melee heroes you can take the first level of Counter Attack on level 4.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Mana Potion, Pretender's Crown, 2x Minor Totem
Item Build:
Logger's Hatchet >> (Power Supply >>) Ghost Marchers >> Runed Axe >> Shieldbreaker >> Staff of the Master >> Symbol of Rage
Get a Logger's Hatchet from the Outpost asap. Power Supply is situational on Swiftblade, get it if you play against spamming opponents.
Ghost Marchers are better than Steamboots on Swiftblade (Activate + Spin). The rest is basic carry gear. Shieldbreaker can be replaced with Frostburn. If playing against Hammer/Hellbringer/Jera/... insert a Nullfire Blade after Ghost Marchers for Purge.
If you fancy ancient stacking you can get a Whispering Helm after Runed Axe.
Information:
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short/Long
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 3 - Medium (Strong if paired with a disabler/slower)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Good ganking power with ult, but should farm instead of gank)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Needs decent farm)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
Very Strong with disablers or slowers (Glacius deserves special mentioning as his babysitter)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Remember you can attack while spinning once you reach level 7. This will GREATLY increase your damage! It got nerfed as of 0.3.3 but it is still pretty good.
- You can spin and then use a homecoming stone to make sure they can't easily abort your TP.
- Early game you can use Blade Frenzy to force the enemy away from his creeps and then use Swift Slashes on him once is he far enough for the kill.
- Later in the game use Blade Frenzy like you would use a Shrunken Head. Thats pretty much what it is.
Counters:
- Any hero that can blink or invis is able to avoid Swift Slashes
- Thus Assassins Shroud can be a solid pickup versus him.
- The best counter-item however is Void Talisman! Very underrated item that is EXCELLENT against a few heroes, including Swiftblade.
- Other than that he is not easy to counter. Barbed Armor is useless versus him and armor stacking will only take you so far.
- Check/Wards ancient spots.
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[Moon Queen] .moon queen .mq .luna .moonfang (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Lunar Glow
2 - Moon Beam3 - Lunar Glow
4 - Stats5 - Lunar Glow
6 - Moon Finale7 - Lunar Glow
8 - Stats9 - Stats10 - Stats11 - Moon Finale12 - Multi Strike13 - Multi Strike
14 - Multi Strike
15 - Multi Strike
16 - Moon Finale
17 - Stats+
23 - Moon Beam+
Justification / Modifications:
Moon Finale does no longer require Moon Beam to be maxed. Thus my preferred build is to go Lunar Glow/Stats with one level of Moon Beam for last hitting and stunning. You can still go the traditional route and get Moon Beam level 4, its just a different playstyle (I recommend this if going mid and picking up a bottle. Runecontrol and the resulting mana allow for nice harass with moon beam). The playstyle described here focuses on carrying.
Starting Items:
Runes of Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
(Bottle >>) Power Supply >> Steam Boots >> 2x Soulscream Ring >> Whispering Helm >> Shrunken Head
Bottle can be gotten if you are solo mid. Get Soulscream Rings for more stats and swap Steam Boots as needed (Int if laning, Agi if creeping and Str for ganks and team fights). As soon as you get Whispering Helm start stacking Ancients. You should be able to farm them easy.
Shrunken Head with all the other stats/hp items will help you over your squishy-ness, allow you to get your full Moon Finale off and thus is definitely core.
After Core:
Wingbow >> Symbol of Rage >> Geometer's Bane
Wingbow is the DPS item of choice. After that upgrade Symbol of Rage and then fill your last slot with a Geometer's Bane.
Information
Roles: Hard Carry, Pusher
Prefered Lane: Any. Is fine on long, can solo mid
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 3 - Medium
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 3 - Medium (Very High Base damage)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Her Ultimate shines in ganks and early teamfights)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (If farmed well)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
Works best with fast creep clearers (behe, hag, ...)
+ fastest base move speed in game (320)
- short attack range (330)
- Moon Finale is weak against Heroes that control Minions
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Use Moon Beam to score last hits on creeps you would otherwise not get. Don't use it to harass (unless you actually decide to level it).
- Once level 7 go gank their long lane. Hide in the forest, go in with autoattack, if they run back finish with Moon Finale. Save Moon Beam if they try to TP or for the Killing Blow (you are allowed to KS as carry).
- Go for the Runes if you have Bottle. If you meet an enemy in the river use Moon Finale for a guaranteed kill.
- Don't use Moon Finale if your target can: go invis, go out of line of sight, go invulv (Shrunken Head and some abilities) or when multiple creeps are around.
Counters:
- Any hero with minions will significantly weaken her ultimate. E.g. Ophelia, Warbeast, etc.
- You can build a Puzzlebox or Assassin's Shroud to take away from her ultimate.
- Its is very hard to counter a Moon Queen as she has both very high magic and physical damage. You can however outcarry her pretty easy.
- Regularly check or ward their ancient spot. Gank her if she starts farming them and steal the stack.
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[Wildsoul] .sylla .wildsoul (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Summon Beardulon2 - Natural Attunement3 - Summon Beardulon
4 - Natural Attunement
5 - Summon Beardulon
6 - Natural Attunement
7 - Summon Beardulon
8 - Natural Attunement
9 - Wild10 - Bear Form
11 - Bear Form
12 - Wild
13 - Wild
14 - Wild
15 - Stats
16 - Bear Form
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
I will only cover jungeling here. A laning Wildsoul is in my eyes not an option. Dont pick him if you know you wont have two heroes capable of soloing.
You will not go into bearform until late midgame, so there is not much use in taking it before level 10. The only time i would skill Bear Form at level 6 is if i get hardcore ganked in the jungle.
Beardulon and Natural Attunement offer the best jungeling power. Once level 9 you should be able to support the Mana for Wild.
Items
I will cover the classic "Bearmock" build. However, there is another, new school approache to be seen in compeditive play going for a straight Steamboots -> Frostburn -> Warpcleft on Wildsoul, staying in human form. I will follow this development and update this guide when I see the need for it.
I've been exploring this and testing it out myself a lot. I will list below what I came up with.
Staring Items:
Wildsoul: Healing Potion
Beardulon: Iron Buckler, Logger's Hatchet
"Bearmock"-Build:
Core:
Wildsoul: Marchers, 1 slot for homecomings and possibly 4 minor totems as filler.
Beardulon: Gloves of the Swift, Mock of Brilliance, Marchers. When you send Beardulon back to heal for the first time, buy 1x Gloves of the swift on him. The next Item you buy is Sword of the high for your Beardulon. Usually you want to get Mock as fast as possible, which is attainable in 20-25 Minutes of jungling.
After core:
- Steam Boots. Use the gloves from Beardulon to create a pair of steamboots for Wildsoul.
- Ghost Marchers. Upgrade Beardulon's Marchers to Ghost marchers. He wont get benefits from Steamboots' Stats and Ghost marchers allow for good chasing and phasing.
- Warpcleft on Beardulon. He's got that +60 Sword, an entangle proc and massive base damage in general. Attack speed is the perfect stat for him; as your main source of damage is the Bear.
- Frostburn on Wildsoul. Helps you keep up with Beradulon speed wise. Adds the much needed Movement slow for when Entangle doesn't proc. At this point in the game you start to scale better than Beardulon and will soon be on par with him damage wise.
- Daemonic Breastplate or Charged Hammer. Use the Warpcleft to build either Daemonic Breastplate or Charged Hammer depending on how the game is developing. Leave the item on Beardulon for now. As soon as your enemies are capable of killing beardulon relatively easy (usually around the 45+ min mark) move everything onto wildsoul and go bear form. This is where you turn into a true Hard Carry.
- Wingbow, if the game still goes on.
"New-School"-Build:
Core:Beardulon: Marchers
Wildsoul: Steamboots >> Icebrand >> Frostburn
You can leave the jungle to gank/push but you should only leave it for good once you have your Frostburn. Aim for 17-20 min, but anything below 25 min is still ok.
After Core:
Wildsoul: Warpcleft >> Daemonic Breastplate and Charged Hammer >> Wingbow
You will basically screw your bear and carry all the gear yourself. For cluster-f..ights make sure you are in Bearform. For farming/chasing/escaping/etc you should be in human form (more movespeed).
You will have enough HP in bearform so Charged Hammer is an excellent item which gives flat damage. If they have high physical damage get Breastplate first.
And finally: Lifesteal sucks.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry, Tank, Jungler
Prefered Lane: Jungle
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (You have to control 2 units)
Farming capabilities: 4 - Good (Can jungle from level 1)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: Jungler
- Mid Game / Ganks: 2 - Weak (Reliant on entangle procs when ganking, needs time to farm up)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong
30-Seconds-Guide:- Gank your lane from the forest if the opportunity present itself or if your lane mate asks for it. You need to be level 5 for entangle tho.
- Lanepull creeps to help your Short Solo hero. It will allow him to fight at the tower and get a better farm. (You can lanepull while Beardulon is off healing)
- Carry a homecoming stone when jungling.
- Tabbing back and forth between wildsoul and beardulon to give move commands gives you better control. Practice is key.
- Once you have your Core stop jungling! Push towers and Help in Teamfights! With Mock you are better off farming lanes anyways.
- You can backdoor towers easily by standing in the forest and letting Beardulon attack the tower (TP out before they find you). In my opinion this is bad manner and you should really only do it in random publics if at all. I'm still mention it though
.- You can run circles around your enemies with Mock-Beardulon to prevent them from initiating with a Portal Key. Especially useful versus Magmus and Behemoth.
Counters:
- Gank him in the forest. However, typically a wildsoul will be > 80% hp when jungling. So bring a mate and some stuns.
- Try to catch him in Human form. Stun him and burn him down. Don't allow him to switch to his ultimate form before the fight starts.
- All of his damage is physical, so armor is the logic counter to him. Barbed armor will NOT work very good (he has 3k+ hp with almost no items)!!__________________________________________________
[Scout] .scout (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Electric Eye2 - Vanish3 - Vanish
4 - Electric Eye
5 - Vanish
6 - Marksman Shot
7 - Vanish
8 - Disarm
9 - Disarm
10 - Disarm
11 - Marksman Shot
12 - Disarm
13 - Electric Eye
14 - Electric Eye
15 - Stats
16 - Marksman Shot
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Straightforward build. Eye is taken at level 1 to ward rune + enemy creep spot. At level 4 we take another level of Eye to initiate ganks.
Under no circumstances should you use another build for scout.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Item Build:
Power Supply >> Sustainer >> Steam Boots Strength/Agi >> Runed Axe >> Shieldbreaker >> Whispering Helm >> Savage Mace >> Symbol of Rage
Power Supply is core. Always get it; it can save your life with only 2 charges to be able to vanish. After that get lifetube against a strong lane or manatube against a weaker lane first (Manatube allows for Marksman shot harass while lifetube counters their harass). Complete Sustainer, pick up Steamboots and finish off runed axe. If your farm is really good skip boots until after runed axe (this means if you can get a <17min Axe go for it). Ghost Marchers are useless as they break vanish and runed axe lets you stay in vanish for almost no upkeep cost.
Once you get Runed axe you can clear a full wave of creeps in a matter of 2 seconds out of vanish. Make use of that to farm your luxury items.
You can get Whispering Helm before Shieldbreaker and you can replace Shieldbreaker with Frostburn (matter of taste).
Information:
Roles: Carry, (Ganker)
Prefered Lane: short
Difficulty: 1 - Very Easy (probably the easiest hero to play if you don't use eyes to silence, scales incredibly well)
Farming capabilities: 1 - Poor (goes to excellent as soon as he completes runed axe)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 1 - Very Weak (can't do **** short of silencing, gets a bit better with his ult)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Very Strong if not countered by Anti-Invis)
30-Seconds-Guide:- Get eyes. Plant them before the creeps spawn at your rune spot and if long laned in their neutral pull spot (put it into the trees next to the camp. This will still block the camp and they can't easily spot it).
- If they have a jungling hero consider putting both wards into their forest. Or get a third level of Eyes early. It really ****s up a tempest or ophelia.
- Set an Eye before Ganks and blow it up by pressing "E" one second after you break out of vanish.
- Once you get Electric Eye level 4 plant wards in their forest to check for easy gank opportunities.
Counters:
- The obvious counter to scout are Invisibility revealing items: Dust, Wards of Revelation and Bound Eye. Dust is the best choice until later in the game when you can safely buy an eye and push.
- He has high physical damage so Armor and especially Barbed Armor will work very good.__________________________________________________
[Magebane] .magebane .antimage .magina (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Flash2 - Mana Combustion3 - Mana Combustion
4 - Flash
5 - Mana Combustion
6 - Mana Rift
7 - Mana Combustion
8 - Flash
9 - Flash
10 - Master of the Mantra
11 - Mana Rift
12 - Master of the Mantra
13 - Master of the Mantra
14 - Master of the Mantra
15 - Stats
16 - Mana Rift
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Straightforward build. I can see no situation where you would go another build.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Item Build:
Iron Shield >> Lifetube >> Steam Boots >> Runed Axe >> Whispering Helm >> Shrunken Head >> Frostburn >> Symbol of Rage
Iron Shield is technically not needed, but in most lanes it is worth building. It protects you from harass and will help your farming a great deal even later on. As soon as you get Whispering Helm start stacking Ancients. You can take them out easily by that point.
Information:
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 1 - Poor
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 1 - Very Weak
- Mid Game / Ganks: 2 - Weak (Kills possible with ult against Int Heroes)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Scales incredibly well)
30-Seconds-Guide
- Farm, farm, farm but don't forget to help in team battles.
- Ancient Stacking is a nice way to get him fat fast.
- Very straightforward to play, nothing really to say here.
Counters:
- Long duration disables and silence. Heroes: Puppet Master, Succubus, Defiler, Electrician, Blood Hunter.
- Itemwise is Sheepstick and Armor a solid choice. Barbed Armor is a good pickup.__________________________________________________
[Night Hound] .night hound .nh .riki .sa .stealth assassin (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Smoke Bomb
2 - Pounce
3 - Pounce
4 - Backstab
5 - Pounce
6 - Invisibility
7 - Pounce
8 - Backstab
9 - Backstab
10 - Backstab
11 - Invisibility
12 - Smoke Bomb
13 - Smoke Bomb
14 - Smoke Bomb
15 - Stats
16 - Invisibility
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Pounce for Last Hitting (don't use it to harass). Make sure to pounce-kill all siege engines. Smoke Bomb level 1 is enough for early game ganks/escapes.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Item Build:
Power Supply >> Iron Shield >> Steam Boots >> Nullfire Blade >> Geometers Bane >> Wingbow
Nullfire in combination with Geometer's works nicely on Night Hound as they provide a lot of agility and good synergy (Manaburning images).
Information:
Roles: Carry, (Support)
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 1 - Very Weak (Some harass possible with pounce, but it is better used for last hitting)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Smoke Bomb brings a lot to teamfights, but he needs farm as most carries do)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Very Strong if not countered by Anti-Invis)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Nullfire Blade's Purge and Geometer's Bane can both remove debuffs from you. Especially Dust and Swarm (Pestilence' Ult)!
- Cut down Eyes in the Forest with your Logger's Hatchet.
- Periodically check your opponents' gear for Bound Eye, Wards of Revelation or Dust so you don't get caught by surprise.
- Use Purge on your enemies under the Smoke Bomb; this will increase the time they are silenced and trying to run turning their back to you.
Counters:
- The obvious counter to Night Hound are Invisibility revealing items: Dust, Wards of Revelation and Bound Eye. Dust is the best choice until later in the game when you can safely buy an eye and push.
- He has high physical damage so Armor and especially Barbed Armor will work very good.__________________________________________________
[Swiftblade] .swiftblade .juggernaut .yunero (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Blade Frenzy
2 - Stats
3 - Blade Frenzy
4 - Stats
5 - Blade Frenzy
6 - Swift Slashes7 - Blade Frenzy
8 - Counter Attack9 - Way of the Sword
10 - Way of the Sword
11 - Swift Slashes
12 - Way of the Sword
13 - Way of the Sword
14 - Counter Attack
15 - Counter Attack
16 - Swift Slashes
17 - Counter Attack
18 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Blade Frenzy and stats are taken for the first levels. Mainly to have enough Mana for Blade Frenzy + Swift Slashes at level 6. Also stats are more useful than Way of the Sword early on as you won't be auto attacking.
One level of Counter Attack is taken at level 8. The first level gives you a 15% chance while the fourth level only gives a 30% chance to counter attack. You get 50% of the effect for 25% of the cost. Good Deal!
If laned versus two aggressive melee heroes you can take the first level of Counter Attack on level 4.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Mana Potion, Pretender's Crown, 2x Minor Totem
Item Build:
Logger's Hatchet >> (Power Supply >>) Ghost Marchers >> Runed Axe >> Shieldbreaker >> Staff of the Master >> Symbol of Rage
Get a Logger's Hatchet from the Outpost asap. Power Supply is situational on Swiftblade, get it if you play against spamming opponents.
Ghost Marchers are better than Steamboots on Swiftblade (Activate + Spin). The rest is basic carry gear. Shieldbreaker can be replaced with Frostburn. If playing against Hammer/Hellbringer/Jera/... insert a Nullfire Blade after Ghost Marchers for Purge.
If you fancy ancient stacking you can get a Whispering Helm after Runed Axe.
Information:
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short/Long
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 3 - Medium (Strong if paired with a disabler/slower)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Good ganking power with ult, but should farm instead of gank)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Needs decent farm)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
Very Strong with disablers or slowers (Glacius deserves special mentioning as his babysitter)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Remember you can attack while spinning once you reach level 7. This will GREATLY increase your damage! It got nerfed as of 0.3.3 but it is still pretty good.
- You can spin and then use a homecoming stone to make sure they can't easily abort your TP.
- Early game you can use Blade Frenzy to force the enemy away from his creeps and then use Swift Slashes on him once is he far enough for the kill.
- Later in the game use Blade Frenzy like you would use a Shrunken Head. Thats pretty much what it is.
Counters:
- Any hero that can blink or invis is able to avoid Swift Slashes
- Thus Assassins Shroud can be a solid pickup versus him.
- The best counter-item however is Void Talisman! Very underrated item that is EXCELLENT against a few heroes, including Swiftblade.
- Other than that he is not easy to counter. Barbed Armor is useless versus him and armor stacking will only take you so far.
- Check/Wards ancient spots.
[Slither] .venomancer .slither .hydra (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Poison Spray
2 - Toxin Ward
3 - Toxin Ward
4 - Toxicity
5 - Toxin Ward
6 - Poison Burst
7 - Toxin Ward
8 - Poison Spray
9 - Poison Spray
10 - Poison Spray
11 - Poison Burst
12 - Toxicity
13 - Toxicity
14 -Toxicity
15 - Stats
16 - Poison Burst
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Get one level of Poison Spray and Toxicity for the slow and regen debuff but max wards first as they greatly help you pushing/creeping/scouting and even ganking. The build is kinda flexible, you can change it as you like but always have all 3 spells at level 4!! Some guidelines: With a gankheavy lane (usually paired with a stunner) you can max Poison Spray for early kills. With a very push heavy team (defiler, ophelia, etc.) always max wards first and assist in tower pushing. And finally Toxicity can be maxed first if you play in middle as you most likely wont get early kills with Spray and Toxicity helps you a lot for lane control by harassing.
Starting Items:
Monkey Courier, Runes of Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Mana Potion, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Power Supply >> Wards of Sight >> Ghost Marchers >> 1-2x Soulscream Rings OR Fortified Bracelets
If someone else gets a courier, buy Wards instead. Your job is to keep the Wards up so keep buying them! This is always more important than your core items! Ghost Marchers are decent to chase poisoned enemies down. They are slowed by at least 10% so you can keep up to most heroes with Ghost Marchers. It's also good for positioning your ultimate in team fights before you get Shroud or Portal Key. Soulscream Rings can be replaced by Fortified Bracelets as you see fit.
After Core:
Optional: Nome's Wisdom. Depending on your playstyle Slither can be quite Mana Hungry. Nome's is the best solution for that as it provides a very valuable aura for the rest of your team. Only consider it if noone else builds it.
1. Staff of the Master because Poison Burst is what you bring to Teamfights.
2. Assassins Shroud or Portal Key for better Ultimate positioning and survivability. Rule of Thumb: The higher skill level your opponents have the more you want Portal Key. Get one; don't get both.
3. If you are here you most likely did something wrong. You should never reach this point in a normal game unless you "forgot" to buy wards or went farming instead of ganking.
Information
Roles: Babysitter, Initiator, Roamer, Wardhoe
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 1 - Very Easy
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Item dependancy: 2 - Low
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Good Harassing, even with auto attacks)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Very Powerful ult in ganks and teamfights)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 2 - Weak (Usually not played as a carry)
30-Second-Guide
- Gank, gank, and gank. Buy items that will help you gank, these include homecoming stones, Ghost Marchers, Power Supply and wards.
- Always have enough mana for the Poison spray+burst combo if Poison burst is not on cooldown. The combo takes 320 mana at level 6, 335 mana at level 7, 435 mana at level 11, and 535 mana at level 16.
- Set up Toxic Wards behind you and to your sides when pushing for scouting purposes. They have a 1400 Vision Range. Even at night!
- You can block paths with Toxic Wards.
Counters:
- Power Supply is an excellent Soft Counter aganist ward-spamming Slithers. Especially early game. Grab a Mana Battery ASAP if you are laning against him.
- While Geometer's Bane can no longer remove his ultimate, it still can remove Poision Spray including its slow.
- Shrunken Head will also not remove Poison Burst and you still get hit by it with activated Shrunken BUT you will take 0 damage from it while Shrunken Head lasts. Shrunken Head also removes all his other dots/slows and is thus a decent counter.
- If a Slither decides to go carry do not worry, he is EASILY outcarried. Otherwise get magic armor and/or Shrunken Head._________________________________________________
[Chronos] .chronos .faceless void (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Time Leap
2 - Rewind
3 - Time Leap
4 - Curse of Ages
5 - Time Leap
6 - Chronofield
7 - Time Leap
8 - Curse of Ages
9 - Curse of Ages
10 - Curse of Ages
11 - Chronofield
12 - Rewind
13 - Rewind
14 - Rewind
15 - Stats16 - Chronofield
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Escape, Nuke and Chase in one ability. Time Leap is superb and has to be maxed first. The first level of rewind gives you +10% chance to backtrack while each following level only gives 5%. Therefore we get that first level asap. Its much better than stats.
After that Curse of Ages is maxxed to increase your Lane presence.
Starting Items:
Runes of Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Core:
(Iron Shield >>) Lifetube >> Steamboots >> Runed Axe >> Elder Parasite
Runed Axe is a very good staple item for Chronos. To get the most out of it build it asap. Get an Iron Shield if the lane is hard and you most likely also want an early Lifetube. Then build Steamboots and finish Runed Axe. If you have 3 or more hard carries on your team I strongly suggest you skip runed axe and go straight for Elder Parasite (because you will not have enough lanes/forest to farm with so many carries thus making Runed Axe a lot less effective).
Also undisputed core is Elder Parasite, giving you the very effective attack speed to steal agility and bash under Chronofield. Some prefer to get Elder Parasite before Runed Axe; I usually don't.
After Core:
Frostburn >> Savage Mace >> Riftshards (>> Shrunken Head)
Frostburn is essential for some stats (especially HP). You *can* replace it with Shieldbreaker if your farm is really really good. Get a Heart at any time if you feel the need for it. Geometers Bane is no good on the new Chronos. Shrunken is very situational (more so than on other heroes). Usually you can eliminate the main threat in your chrono field. Should you still get CCd/Nuked to fast after Chrono field you can consider Shrunken.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (There is a huge difference between Chronofield and well placed and timed Chronofield)
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak (Good Base Damage)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 2 - Weak (Time Leap is pretty darn awesome)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 1 - Very Weak (Needs a lot of farm)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (One of the most potent Carries)
30-Seconds-Guide
- This hero needs a lot of farm, and he is not very good at it. After the laning phase go to the lane pushed the least and ask your teammates to leave so you can "static farm" (farming while counter-pushing the lane to stay safe).
- Try to place the Chronofield to trap your enemies right at the edge of the sphere. This way your melee allies can still attack them.
- Always carry a Homecoming Stone when farming so you can Time Leap into the forest and TP out when you get ganked.
Counters:- One Word: Barbed Armor. Chronos will instagib himself when he attacks you into Barbed Armor when he has Elder Parasite on.- Don't let him free-farm. It's not easy to gank him due to time leap but try to not let him solo farm a lane. Scaring him away is enough. A few coordinated ganks during the mid game will significantly hurt him. _________________________________________________
[Madman] .madman (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Stalk
2 - Barel Roll
3 - Stalk
4 - Barell Roll
5 - Barell Roll
6 - Stalk
7 - Barell Roll
8 - Stalk
9 - Berserk
10 - Gash
11 - Berserk
12 - Gash
13 - Gash
14 - Gash
15 - Stats16 - Berserk
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Stalk is nice for early Harassing and you won't be able to support the Mana for Barrel Roll early on. Thus we get Stalk 2 first. Later with Bottle and Power Supply you can Barrel Roll more often and the Mana Cost for Barrel Roll at level 1 and 4 are the same. This is why we max it first.
As of 0.3.0 you can take Berserk as soon as you maxxed out Stalk and Barell Roll.
Starting Items:
Runes of Blight, Healing Potion, Mana Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 2x Minor Totem
You can get a naked Bottle if you start solo mid. Lasthit into Harass a lot with Stalk if you do that.
Core:
Bottle >> Power Supply >> Steam Boots
You need Bottle and Power Supply. Spamming his Spells make Madman such a dominant early and midgame hero. He has low mana and manaregen as you would expect from an agi hero so consider setting steamboots on int for now. Ghost Marchers are trash as you move much faster with stalk and they do break stalk slowing you down.
After Core:
1. Runed Axe is the most popular choice, especially in pubs. It solves a lot of your mana problems and allows you to easily farm up the rest of your carry gear.
2. Shrunken Head is mandatory on Madman. In higher levels of play you will even get this before Runed Axe, but usually you will be fine to get it after.
3. Whispering Helm and later Symbol of Rage is the next Item (consider some ancient stacking in between).
4. Savage Mace is the late game dps item of choice due to synergy with your ult.
Alternative Items :
- Hellflower solves all your mana problems you will ever have while providing a very useful debuff for Madman. You will see this item a lot in higher level play as it can take out a hero like Plague Rider or Soulstealer before they get off their ultimate.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry, Ganker
Prefered Lane: Any. Solid mid.
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 4 - Good
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (His spells are excellent for harrassing...)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (... and for farming purposes)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Capable Hard-Carry if well farmed)
30-Seconds-Guide
- Stalk behind the target and auto attack for 2-3 hits until they're on the side, barrel roll, animation cancel till you're in front. Stalk should be up by then. Rinse and repeat.
- Once one of the teams initiates, you should focus on stunning their whole team with a BR to start, and then Berserk and beat on whatever INT disabler/nuker is closest to you.
- Use your ult early (before the fight/gank), it lasts very long.
Counters:
- Mana Battery/Power Supply has to be gotten early if laning against Madman.
- Early to Mid Game his damage will be mostly magical. Later Physical. Barbed Armor is good if he goes for pure damage (Runed Axe into Savage Mace)_________________________________________________
[Blood Hunter] .blood hunter .bloodseeker (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Feast
2 - Blood Crazy
3 - Feast
4 - Blood Sense
5 - Feast
6 - Hemorrhage
7 - Blood Sense
8 - Blood Sense
9 - Blood Sense
10 - Blood Crazy
11 - Hemorrhage
12 - Blood Crazy
13 - Blood Crazy
14 - Feast
15 - Stats16 - Hemorrhage
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
This build is for solo mid.
If you start on a side lane swap the first two skills to get/prevent an early kill. The build is adaptable; usually feast 3 is enough, get feast 2 or 4 before you max out Blood Sense and Blood Crazy if it feels right.
Also consider taking Blood Sense earlier against Invis Heroes.
Starting Items:
Runes of Blight, Logger's Hatchet, Iron Buckler
Core:
(Iron Shield >>) Marchers >> Mock of Brilliance >> Steam Boots
Blood Hunter is a good hero to rush Mock. It synergizes well with feast and to a lesser extent with Blood Sense (chase down invis heroes). If the game feels hard you maybe wanna get Iron Shield and/or Steamboots before Mock or even 1-2 Bracelets.
After the Core its a basic Agi Carry build.
After Core:
Frostbrun >> Shrunken Head >> Savage Mace >> Behemoth's Heart
Information
Roles: Carry
Prefered Lane: Solo Mid
Difficulty: 2 - Easy (Last Hitting is very important)
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak (Feast helps somewhat)
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Weak harassing, but excellent staying power and superior Last Hitting)
- Mid Game / Ganks:4 - Strong(Good Ganker)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 3 - Medium (Not a true Hard-Carry. But capable if farmed.)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- You have to gank with Blood Hunter. If you play mid, its the only reason you are there. Gank whenever your ult is up.
- You can take out the ancient creeps very early with Blood Crazy and you can generally go jungling pretty good from level 5 on.
- When ganking always decide wheter to use Blood Crazy as a damage amplifier or as a silence; depending on the heroes you are ganking.
- When taking out a tower or a barracks, it is always a great idea to use Blood Crazy on yourself. The increase in damage is essential in maximizing potential tower kills.
- Oh and please go gank with Blood Hunter!
Counters:
- Facing BH solo mid is one of the toughest things in HoN. Chances are you will not be able to out-cs him and fall behind quickly. Harassing won't solve the problem. There are 2 solutions:
1. Put two players mid. This will shut him down for good.
2. Call for ganks.
- Heroes that can compete with BH in mid (mostly melee heroes): Pebbles, Blacksmith, Zephyr, Legio, Predator, Chronos, Deadwood and Soulstealer (Burst Nukes).
- If he is not overfed his power will decline after the midgame.
- Don't always stand still when he ults you. Sometimes you have to run to survive!
_________________________________________________
[Arachna] .arachna .spider (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Webbed Shot
2 - Harden Carapace
3 - Webbed Shot
4 - Stats
5 - Webbed Shot
6 - Spider Sting
7 - Webbed Shot
8 - Precision
9 - Precision
10 - Precision
11 - Spider Sting
12 - Precision
13 - Harden Carapace
14 - Harden Carapace
15 - Harden Carapace
16 -Spider Sting
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
This is the "classic" offensive build for her. One level of Harden Carapace is taken early to remove debuffs. If facing heavy nukers max Harden Carapace directly after Webbed shot, taking no stats and late Precision. If laning mid versus a good last-hitter like CD you can take precision over Webbed Shot.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Marchers >> Soulscream Ring >> Soulscream Ring >> Steam Boots
Her Core is relatively small, the reason being you can divert into different builds after it.
Defensive Build:Helm of the Black Legion >> Shrunken Head >> Whispering Helm >> Shieldbreaker >> Symbol of Rage >> Wingbow
Offensive Build:
Geometer's Bane >> Shieldbreaker >> Shrunken Head >> Whispering Helm >> Wingbow >> Symbol of Rage
Alternatives:
Shieldbreaker after core provides zero survivability and is therefore not recommended; get one defensive/semi-defensive item first.
Any combination of the listed Defensive and Offensive builds is viable as long as you get a Shrunken Head. Also, you can build an Assassins Shroud at any point after the core if you really feel the need for it.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short/Mid (vulnerable on long)
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (Orb-Walking, Kinda squishy, feed warning for new players)
Farming capabilities: 2 - Low (Nice attack animation, no farming spells tho)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Good Harassing, but fragile)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Reliant on ult to get kills (unless fed ofc))
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Capable Hard-Carry)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Arachna is a very squishy hero; you will need some kind of devensive items.
- You are easy to get ganked. Make sure wards are up when farming; if not buy some yourself.
- Spider Sting is a very, very powerful ability at the moment, it has the potential to do more damage than Pyromancer's ultimate with Staff of the Master. On 0 armor the Spiderling is doing 1225 damage.
- The Spiderling is extremely hard to kill by 1 hero alone, with 2 heroes the Spiderling will probably only get 3 attacks off before it dies. Early game you should use Spider Sting to get hero kills, never use it if you think your enemy can make it to their tower.
- Also use Spider Sting to escape Ganks.
- If the enemy team has multiple slows/holds wait for them to be applied before you use Carapace. Don't use it too early.
Counters:
Homecoming Stone.
Replays:
- Match 28109455 (Solo Mid vs Blood Hunter, semi-defensive build)_________________________________________________
[The Dark Lady] .the dark lady.dark lady .dl .lady (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Charging Strikes
2 - Taint Soul
3 - Taint Soul
4 - Dark Blades
5 - Taint Soul
6 - Cover of Darkness7 - Dark Blades
8 - Charging Strikes
9 - Charging Strikes
10 - Dark Blades
11 - Cover of Darkness
12 - Dark Blades
13 -Charging Strikes
14 - Taint Soul
15 - Stats16 - Cover of Darkness
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Her build is very flexible. The one suggested is good if you have the upper hand on your lane, being able to slow and nuke.
If you dont have the upper hand I suggest only getting 1 level of Taint Soul an maxxing Dark Blades and Charging Strikes first. You can also delay the second level of Cover of Darkness to level 14.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Core:
Power Supply >> Sustainer >> Steam Boots >> Soulscream Ring >> Runed Axe
Power Supply is absolutely needed, always get it on her.
Runed axe will help your mana problems while being a great item on her in general.
After Core:Shrunken Head >> Frostburn >> Wingbow >> Riftshards
You can build Frostburn before Shrunken Head if the enemy team doesn't have too many disablers/nukers.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 4 - Hard
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak (Has some farming power in her spells, especially later)
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 2 - Weak (Some harassing possible)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 2 - Weak (Starts picking up after 1st big core item)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Still one of the best and least situational (read: as long as the timing is correct you can use it in every situation) ults in the game)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Dark Blades + Charging Strikes will silence all enemies in the line.
- If you are losing the lane and get zero farm consider leaving taint soul at 1 and use it for last hitting. Max Charging Strikes instead to get a cheap/low cd escape spell.
Counters:
- Dark Lady takes off as soon as she gets runed axe. Delay that point as long as possible. Gank her, Push her off the lane, Deny any kind of Free Farm.
- A farmed up Dark Lady is possibly the strongest hero in the game. But it is pretty easy to stop her from getting overfarmed, always keep an eye on her. She is pretty weak early and mid game.
- Nullfire Blade can purge the Dark Blades as well as the Attackspeed buff off her. Use it right after she Charges in.
- Once she is farmed only a Barbed Armor and Nullfire Blade will really help.
Skill Build1 - Poison Spray
2 - Toxin Ward
3 - Toxin Ward
4 - Toxicity
5 - Toxin Ward
6 - Poison Burst
7 - Toxin Ward
8 - Poison Spray
9 - Poison Spray
10 - Poison Spray
11 - Poison Burst
12 - Toxicity
13 - Toxicity
14 -Toxicity
15 - Stats
16 - Poison Burst
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Get one level of Poison Spray and Toxicity for the slow and regen debuff but max wards first as they greatly help you pushing/creeping/scouting and even ganking. The build is kinda flexible, you can change it as you like but always have all 3 spells at level 4!! Some guidelines: With a gankheavy lane (usually paired with a stunner) you can max Poison Spray for early kills. With a very push heavy team (defiler, ophelia, etc.) always max wards first and assist in tower pushing. And finally Toxicity can be maxed first if you play in middle as you most likely wont get early kills with Spray and Toxicity helps you a lot for lane control by harassing.
Starting Items:
Monkey Courier, Runes of Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Mana Potion, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Power Supply >> Wards of Sight >> Ghost Marchers >> 1-2x Soulscream Rings OR Fortified Bracelets
If someone else gets a courier, buy Wards instead. Your job is to keep the Wards up so keep buying them! This is always more important than your core items! Ghost Marchers are decent to chase poisoned enemies down. They are slowed by at least 10% so you can keep up to most heroes with Ghost Marchers. It's also good for positioning your ultimate in team fights before you get Shroud or Portal Key. Soulscream Rings can be replaced by Fortified Bracelets as you see fit.
After Core:
Optional: Nome's Wisdom. Depending on your playstyle Slither can be quite Mana Hungry. Nome's is the best solution for that as it provides a very valuable aura for the rest of your team. Only consider it if noone else builds it.
1. Staff of the Master because Poison Burst is what you bring to Teamfights.
2. Assassins Shroud or Portal Key for better Ultimate positioning and survivability. Rule of Thumb: The higher skill level your opponents have the more you want Portal Key. Get one; don't get both.
3. If you are here you most likely did something wrong. You should never reach this point in a normal game unless you "forgot" to buy wards or went farming instead of ganking.
Information
Roles: Babysitter, Initiator, Roamer, Wardhoe
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 1 - Very Easy
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Item dependancy: 2 - Low
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Good Harassing, even with auto attacks)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Very Powerful ult in ganks and teamfights)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 2 - Weak (Usually not played as a carry)
30-Second-Guide
- Gank, gank, and gank. Buy items that will help you gank, these include homecoming stones, Ghost Marchers, Power Supply and wards.
- Always have enough mana for the Poison spray+burst combo if Poison burst is not on cooldown. The combo takes 320 mana at level 6, 335 mana at level 7, 435 mana at level 11, and 535 mana at level 16.
- Set up Toxic Wards behind you and to your sides when pushing for scouting purposes. They have a 1400 Vision Range. Even at night!
- You can block paths with Toxic Wards.
Counters:
- Power Supply is an excellent Soft Counter aganist ward-spamming Slithers. Especially early game. Grab a Mana Battery ASAP if you are laning against him.
- While Geometer's Bane can no longer remove his ultimate, it still can remove Poision Spray including its slow.
- Shrunken Head will also not remove Poison Burst and you still get hit by it with activated Shrunken BUT you will take 0 damage from it while Shrunken Head lasts. Shrunken Head also removes all his other dots/slows and is thus a decent counter.
- If a Slither decides to go carry do not worry, he is EASILY outcarried. Otherwise get magic armor and/or Shrunken Head._________________________________________________
[Chronos] .chronos .faceless void (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Time Leap2 - Rewind
3 - Time Leap
4 - Curse of Ages
5 - Time Leap
6 - Chronofield
7 - Time Leap
8 - Curse of Ages
9 - Curse of Ages
10 - Curse of Ages
11 - Chronofield
12 - Rewind
13 - Rewind
14 - Rewind
15 - Stats16 - Chronofield
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Escape, Nuke and Chase in one ability. Time Leap is superb and has to be maxed first. The first level of rewind gives you +10% chance to backtrack while each following level only gives 5%. Therefore we get that first level asap. Its much better than stats.
After that Curse of Ages is maxxed to increase your Lane presence.
Starting Items:
Runes of Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Core:
(Iron Shield >>) Lifetube >> Steamboots >> Runed Axe >> Elder Parasite
Runed Axe is a very good staple item for Chronos. To get the most out of it build it asap. Get an Iron Shield if the lane is hard and you most likely also want an early Lifetube. Then build Steamboots and finish Runed Axe. If you have 3 or more hard carries on your team I strongly suggest you skip runed axe and go straight for Elder Parasite (because you will not have enough lanes/forest to farm with so many carries thus making Runed Axe a lot less effective).
Also undisputed core is Elder Parasite, giving you the very effective attack speed to steal agility and bash under Chronofield. Some prefer to get Elder Parasite before Runed Axe; I usually don't.
After Core:
Frostburn >> Savage Mace >> Riftshards (>> Shrunken Head)
Frostburn is essential for some stats (especially HP). You *can* replace it with Shieldbreaker if your farm is really really good. Get a Heart at any time if you feel the need for it. Geometers Bane is no good on the new Chronos. Shrunken is very situational (more so than on other heroes). Usually you can eliminate the main threat in your chrono field. Should you still get CCd/Nuked to fast after Chrono field you can consider Shrunken.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (There is a huge difference between Chronofield and well placed and timed Chronofield)
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak (Good Base Damage)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 2 - Weak (Time Leap is pretty darn awesome)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 1 - Very Weak (Needs a lot of farm)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (One of the most potent Carries)
30-Seconds-Guide
- This hero needs a lot of farm, and he is not very good at it. After the laning phase go to the lane pushed the least and ask your teammates to leave so you can "static farm" (farming while counter-pushing the lane to stay safe).
- Try to place the Chronofield to trap your enemies right at the edge of the sphere. This way your melee allies can still attack them.
- Always carry a Homecoming Stone when farming so you can Time Leap into the forest and TP out when you get ganked.
Counters:- One Word: Barbed Armor. Chronos will instagib himself when he attacks you into Barbed Armor when he has Elder Parasite on.- Don't let him free-farm. It's not easy to gank him due to time leap but try to not let him solo farm a lane. Scaring him away is enough. A few coordinated ganks during the mid game will significantly hurt him. _________________________________________________
[Madman] .madman (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Stalk2 - Barel Roll
3 - Stalk
4 - Barell Roll
5 - Barell Roll
6 - Stalk
7 - Barell Roll
8 - Stalk
9 - Berserk
10 - Gash
11 - Berserk
12 - Gash
13 - Gash
14 - Gash
15 - Stats16 - Berserk
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Stalk is nice for early Harassing and you won't be able to support the Mana for Barrel Roll early on. Thus we get Stalk 2 first. Later with Bottle and Power Supply you can Barrel Roll more often and the Mana Cost for Barrel Roll at level 1 and 4 are the same. This is why we max it first.
As of 0.3.0 you can take Berserk as soon as you maxxed out Stalk and Barell Roll.
Starting Items:
Runes of Blight, Healing Potion, Mana Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 2x Minor Totem
You can get a naked Bottle if you start solo mid. Lasthit into Harass a lot with Stalk if you do that.
Core:
Bottle >> Power Supply >> Steam Boots
You need Bottle and Power Supply. Spamming his Spells make Madman such a dominant early and midgame hero. He has low mana and manaregen as you would expect from an agi hero so consider setting steamboots on int for now. Ghost Marchers are trash as you move much faster with stalk and they do break stalk slowing you down.
After Core:
1. Runed Axe is the most popular choice, especially in pubs. It solves a lot of your mana problems and allows you to easily farm up the rest of your carry gear.
2. Shrunken Head is mandatory on Madman. In higher levels of play you will even get this before Runed Axe, but usually you will be fine to get it after.
3. Whispering Helm and later Symbol of Rage is the next Item (consider some ancient stacking in between).
4. Savage Mace is the late game dps item of choice due to synergy with your ult.
Alternative Items :
- Hellflower solves all your mana problems you will ever have while providing a very useful debuff for Madman. You will see this item a lot in higher level play as it can take out a hero like Plague Rider or Soulstealer before they get off their ultimate.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry, Ganker
Prefered Lane: Any. Solid mid.
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 4 - Good
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (His spells are excellent for harrassing...)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (... and for farming purposes)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Capable Hard-Carry if well farmed)
30-Seconds-Guide
- Stalk behind the target and auto attack for 2-3 hits until they're on the side, barrel roll, animation cancel till you're in front. Stalk should be up by then. Rinse and repeat.
- Once one of the teams initiates, you should focus on stunning their whole team with a BR to start, and then Berserk and beat on whatever INT disabler/nuker is closest to you.
- Use your ult early (before the fight/gank), it lasts very long.
Counters:
- Mana Battery/Power Supply has to be gotten early if laning against Madman.
- Early to Mid Game his damage will be mostly magical. Later Physical. Barbed Armor is good if he goes for pure damage (Runed Axe into Savage Mace)_________________________________________________
[Blood Hunter] .blood hunter .bloodseeker (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Feast
2 - Blood Crazy
3 - Feast
4 - Blood Sense
5 - Feast
6 - Hemorrhage
7 - Blood Sense
8 - Blood Sense
9 - Blood Sense
10 - Blood Crazy
11 - Hemorrhage
12 - Blood Crazy
13 - Blood Crazy
14 - Feast
15 - Stats16 - Hemorrhage
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
This build is for solo mid.
If you start on a side lane swap the first two skills to get/prevent an early kill. The build is adaptable; usually feast 3 is enough, get feast 2 or 4 before you max out Blood Sense and Blood Crazy if it feels right.
Also consider taking Blood Sense earlier against Invis Heroes.
Starting Items:
Runes of Blight, Logger's Hatchet, Iron Buckler
Core:
(Iron Shield >>) Marchers >> Mock of Brilliance >> Steam Boots
Blood Hunter is a good hero to rush Mock. It synergizes well with feast and to a lesser extent with Blood Sense (chase down invis heroes). If the game feels hard you maybe wanna get Iron Shield and/or Steamboots before Mock or even 1-2 Bracelets.
After the Core its a basic Agi Carry build.
After Core:
Frostbrun >> Shrunken Head >> Savage Mace >> Behemoth's Heart
Information
Roles: Carry
Prefered Lane: Solo Mid
Difficulty: 2 - Easy (Last Hitting is very important)
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak (Feast helps somewhat)
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Weak harassing, but excellent staying power and superior Last Hitting)
- Mid Game / Ganks:4 - Strong(Good Ganker)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 3 - Medium (Not a true Hard-Carry. But capable if farmed.)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- You have to gank with Blood Hunter. If you play mid, its the only reason you are there. Gank whenever your ult is up.
- You can take out the ancient creeps very early with Blood Crazy and you can generally go jungling pretty good from level 5 on.
- When ganking always decide wheter to use Blood Crazy as a damage amplifier or as a silence; depending on the heroes you are ganking.
- When taking out a tower or a barracks, it is always a great idea to use Blood Crazy on yourself. The increase in damage is essential in maximizing potential tower kills.
- Oh and please go gank with Blood Hunter!
Counters:
- Facing BH solo mid is one of the toughest things in HoN. Chances are you will not be able to out-cs him and fall behind quickly. Harassing won't solve the problem. There are 2 solutions:
1. Put two players mid. This will shut him down for good.
2. Call for ganks.
- Heroes that can compete with BH in mid (mostly melee heroes): Pebbles, Blacksmith, Zephyr, Legio, Predator, Chronos, Deadwood and Soulstealer (Burst Nukes).
- If he is not overfed his power will decline after the midgame.
- Don't always stand still when he ults you. Sometimes you have to run to survive!
_________________________________________________
[Arachna] .arachna .spider (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Webbed Shot
2 - Harden Carapace
3 - Webbed Shot
4 - Stats
5 - Webbed Shot
6 - Spider Sting
7 - Webbed Shot
8 - Precision
9 - Precision
10 - Precision
11 - Spider Sting
12 - Precision
13 - Harden Carapace
14 - Harden Carapace
15 - Harden Carapace
16 -Spider Sting
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
This is the "classic" offensive build for her. One level of Harden Carapace is taken early to remove debuffs. If facing heavy nukers max Harden Carapace directly after Webbed shot, taking no stats and late Precision. If laning mid versus a good last-hitter like CD you can take precision over Webbed Shot.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Marchers >> Soulscream Ring >> Soulscream Ring >> Steam Boots
Her Core is relatively small, the reason being you can divert into different builds after it.
Defensive Build:Helm of the Black Legion >> Shrunken Head >> Whispering Helm >> Shieldbreaker >> Symbol of Rage >> Wingbow
Offensive Build:
Geometer's Bane >> Shieldbreaker >> Shrunken Head >> Whispering Helm >> Wingbow >> Symbol of Rage
Alternatives:
Shieldbreaker after core provides zero survivability and is therefore not recommended; get one defensive/semi-defensive item first.
Any combination of the listed Defensive and Offensive builds is viable as long as you get a Shrunken Head. Also, you can build an Assassins Shroud at any point after the core if you really feel the need for it.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short/Mid (vulnerable on long)
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (Orb-Walking, Kinda squishy, feed warning for new players)
Farming capabilities: 2 - Low (Nice attack animation, no farming spells tho)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Good Harassing, but fragile)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Reliant on ult to get kills (unless fed ofc))
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Capable Hard-Carry)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Arachna is a very squishy hero; you will need some kind of devensive items.
- You are easy to get ganked. Make sure wards are up when farming; if not buy some yourself.
- Spider Sting is a very, very powerful ability at the moment, it has the potential to do more damage than Pyromancer's ultimate with Staff of the Master. On 0 armor the Spiderling is doing 1225 damage.
- The Spiderling is extremely hard to kill by 1 hero alone, with 2 heroes the Spiderling will probably only get 3 attacks off before it dies. Early game you should use Spider Sting to get hero kills, never use it if you think your enemy can make it to their tower.
- Also use Spider Sting to escape Ganks.
- If the enemy team has multiple slows/holds wait for them to be applied before you use Carapace. Don't use it too early.
Counters:
Homecoming Stone.
Replays:
- Match 28109455 (Solo Mid vs Blood Hunter, semi-defensive build)_________________________________________________
[The Dark Lady] .the dark lady.dark lady .dl .lady (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Charging Strikes
2 - Taint Soul
3 - Taint Soul
4 - Dark Blades
5 - Taint Soul
6 - Cover of Darkness7 - Dark Blades
8 - Charging Strikes
9 - Charging Strikes
10 - Dark Blades
11 - Cover of Darkness
12 - Dark Blades
13 -Charging Strikes
14 - Taint Soul
15 - Stats16 - Cover of Darkness
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Her build is very flexible. The one suggested is good if you have the upper hand on your lane, being able to slow and nuke.
If you dont have the upper hand I suggest only getting 1 level of Taint Soul an maxxing Dark Blades and Charging Strikes first. You can also delay the second level of Cover of Darkness to level 14.
Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem
Core:
Power Supply >> Sustainer >> Steam Boots >> Soulscream Ring >> Runed Axe
Power Supply is absolutely needed, always get it on her.
Runed axe will help your mana problems while being a great item on her in general.
After Core:Shrunken Head >> Frostburn >> Wingbow >> Riftshards
You can build Frostburn before Shrunken Head if the enemy team doesn't have too many disablers/nukers.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 4 - Hard
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak (Has some farming power in her spells, especially later)
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 2 - Weak (Some harassing possible)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 2 - Weak (Starts picking up after 1st big core item)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Still one of the best and least situational (read: as long as the timing is correct you can use it in every situation) ults in the game)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Dark Blades + Charging Strikes will silence all enemies in the line.
- If you are losing the lane and get zero farm consider leaving taint soul at 1 and use it for last hitting. Max Charging Strikes instead to get a cheap/low cd escape spell.
Counters:
- Dark Lady takes off as soon as she gets runed axe. Delay that point as long as possible. Gank her, Push her off the lane, Deny any kind of Free Farm.
- A farmed up Dark Lady is possibly the strongest hero in the game. But it is pretty easy to stop her from getting overfarmed, always keep an eye on her. She is pretty weak early and mid game.
- Nullfire Blade can purge the Dark Blades as well as the Attackspeed buff off her. Use it right after she Charges in.
- Once she is farmed only a Barbed Armor and Nullfire Blade will really help.
[Soulstealer] .ss .soulstealer .shadow fiend .sf (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Soulsteal
2 - Demon Hand
3 - Soulsteal
4 - Demon Hand
5 - Demon Hand
6 - Soulsteal
7 - Demon Hand
8 - Soulsteal
9 - Soul Burst
10 - Stats
11 - Soul Burst
12 - Stats
13 -Stats
14 - Stats
15 - Stats
16 - Soul Burst
17 - Dread
18 - Dread19 - Dread20 - Dread
21 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Soulsteal early to rack up lasthit/deny damage. Demon Hand is useful from level 5+. Ulti is gotten at 9 since you usually won't gank before that level.
Starting Items:
2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Bottle >> Steamboots >> Portal Key >> Shrunken Head
Instead of Steamboots you can also get Post Haste. I am a huge fan of rushing Post Haste on Soulstealer. You will get them as early as level 9, allowing you to teleport from lane to lane, farming it up with demon hand. Don't get them tho if you have 3 or more carries.
Portal Key can be replaced with Assassin's Shroud depending on the game situation. (If you can't reliably PK in).
In 4 out of 5 games Shrunken Head will be core. Don't be afraid to skip/delay it though if you don't need it right away.
After Core:Shield Breaker >> Wingbow >> Geometer's Bane
Shield Breaker has nice synergy with dread and is generally a very good dps item. After that it's standard luxury. In some matchups you can get Shrunken Head before Shield Breaker.
Information
Roles: Carry, Pusher, (Nuker, Initiator)
Prefered Lane: Solo mid.
Difficulty: 4 - Hard (Nukes are a bit trick and the ultimate needs perfect positioning)
Farming capabilities: 5 - Excellent (A full creep wave for 150 mana. Fully stacked neutral camps for 225 Mana. Best farmer there is for early and mid game.)
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Incredibly Strong Nukes for the low Manacost)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (THE best farmer in midgame, powerful ult)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Solid carry due to his farm, very good pusher)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
+ good pusher
+ best farmer
+ good in every game phase
30-Seconds-Guide:
- From the point you reach level 7 until minute 35 you can kill a full creep wave with two Demon Hands. Use this a LOT to farm your items.
- When using your ultimate you have to stand as close as possible to your enemy. This is imperative! For maximum damage shroud/blink right on top of them.
- In early game use Demon Hand when your enemies get too close to the creeps. Demon Hand is in general a very good harassing spell if you can aim with it (practice is key).
Counters:
- SS is a very strong mid. He has a slow start but "takes off" once he racks up some souls (last hits). Send a hero with High Base damage and/or good attack animation against him. Pebbles, Corrupted Disciple, etc.
- He is very voulnerable to ganks in mid. Low HP pool and no escape spells. Consider calling for ganks.
- Don't let him get rune control. If he can constantly refill his bottle he is very hard to deal with!
- As soon as he has Assassins Shround pick up Wards of Revelation and drop them as you push towers (this wins games).
- If you are low HP don't run away from him in a straight line._________________________________________________
[Zephyr] .zephyr .party bird (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Cyclones
2 - Gust
3 - Cyclones
4 - Gust
5 - Cyclones
6 - Typhoon
7 - Cyclones
8 - Gust
9 - Gust
10 - Wind Shield
11 - Typhoon
12 - Wind Shield
13 - Wind Shield
14 - Wind Shield
15 - Stats
16 - Typhoon
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
One level of wind shield can be taken early as it is passive and the first level provides significantly more than the following levels. Get this if you get early marchers and need to chase.
Then Max cyclones and Gust first. Generally i max Gust first if I am with a stunner. Cyclones otherwise. Typhoon is now good and taken whenever you can.
Starting Items:
1x Healing Potion, 1x Logger's Hatchet, 1x Iron Buckler
Core:
(Iron Shield >>) Life Tube >> Helm of the Black Legion >> Ghost Marchers >> Mock of Brilliance
Zephyr, being a very strong tank, is a good choice for Mock. Unlike other chars you can't rush it naked however. You will need at least Hotbl and some Boots first. Due to your excellent farming abilities you will still have your Mock pretty early tho (Min 25 Ghost Marchers, Hotbl and Mock is easy possible, check the Replays for examples). You can get Plated Greaves instead of Ghost Marchers if they feauture a lot of physical damage or armor reduction.
After Core:Barrier Idol >> Frostburn >> Behemoth's Heart
The rest is standard tank/carry build.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry, Tank, Pusher
Prefered Lane: Any (Can solo mid and can also jungel from level 1)
Difficulty: 2 - Easy (Requires last hitting skills and Gust is a bit tricky to use)
Farming capabilities: 5 - Excellent (Probably the best amongst melee carries)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (good lane staying power with cyclones, easy to farm early on, decent jungler from level 1 on)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Needs farm to become effective)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Carries hard if properly farmed)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
+ excellent pusher
30-Seconds-Guide:
- When you have cyclones up, you can use pathblocking to prevent an enemy from reaching his tower, doing more damage than just rightclicking.
- If you use a homecoming stone you will lose all cyclones, keep that in mind.
- Gust has a lot of different uses. Always think about all the possibilities before using it.
- When cyclones expire, the oldest will expire first (thats a good thing)
- If you are at max cyclones always consume one before you do a last hit. The oldest cyclone will be consumed.
Counters:
- It is very very hard to deny Zephr farm (unlike with other carries). One way to limit it, is by warding his jungle and controlling the lanes.
- Don't engange him in melee when he has all 8 cyclones up unless you are 5 vs 1.
- Get a Barbed Armor and turn it on when standing in his ulti. (If 2 or more people do this he will kill himself with his ult).
- Barrier Idol helps to counter his ult.
- Also consider Tablet of Command to jump out of Typhoon.
Replays:
Match 27855966
Match 27910477
_________________________________________________
[Andromeda] .andromeda .vengeful spirit (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Comet
2 - Stats
3 - Comet
4 - Aurora
5 - Comet
6 - Void Rip
7 - Comet
8 - Aurora
9 - Aurora
10 - Aurora
11 - Void Rip
12 - Dimensional Link
13 - Dimensional Link
14 - Dimensional Link
15 - Dimensional Link
16 - Void Rip
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Straightforward build, should almost never change.
Lane Starting Items:
Monkey Courier/Wards, 2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Mana Potion, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Marchers >> Power Supply >> 2x Fortified Bracelet >> Wards >> Steam Boots >> Wards
Two Bracelets and Power Supply for stats allow more spamming of Comet and Aurora, Steamboots for survivability. Always get wards, its your highest Item priority. You can get a Bottle if you feel the need for it or if there are few Bottles on other heroes, but don't take away the runes from your mid-laner.
After Core:Staff of the Master >> Portal Key (>> Nullfire Blade)
This stuff is luxury. You should not have much gold since you are warding and constantly roaming. It's not uncommon for an Andromeda to finish a 30+ minute game with nothing more than 2 Bracelets and Boots.
That being said, SotM and Portal Key are your two most useful items after the core. Get a Nullfire at any point if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah.
Information
Roles: Roamer, Ward Hoe, Anti-Carry, Initiator
Prefered Lane: long / short
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak
Item dependancy: 2 - Low
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Comet)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Good Initiator and Anti-Carry Hero, Very Good at ganking and roaming)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 2 - Weak (Late game her job is to single out and swap their carry)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Gank a lot! That's your primary task. Let your carries get the kills if possible.
- Once you get Portal Key you can queue it up after Void Rip to teleport right back to your allies.
- You are responsible to keep wards up at all times. Delay your items to buy wards.
Counters:
- Most Andromedas will play the roamer/supporter style described here. Gankers are best countered with vision, map- and rune control -> Wards.
- If you are facing a Carry-Andro get some armor and you should be fine. She is outcarried by almost every other carry in the game._________________________________________________
[Valkyrie] .valkyrie .potm .priestress of the moon (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Courageous Leap
2 - Javelin of Light
3 - Call of the Valkyrie
4 - Call of the Valkyrie
5 - Call of the Valkyrie
6 - Javelin of Light
7 - Call of the Valkyrie
8 -Javelin of Light
9 - Javelin of Light
10 - Valkyrie's Prism
11 - Valkyrie's Prism
12 - Courageous Leap
13 - Courageous Leap
14 - Courageous Leap
15 - Stats
16 - Valkyrie's Prism
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Get Javelin of Light first (Leap second) if you plan to rune-gank. It's probably the strongest rune-ganking skill in the game.
If you start pushing before level 10, get Valkyrie's Prism earlier.
Lane Starting Items:
2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Bottle >> Marchers >> Power Supply >> Steam Boots >> 1-2x Soulscream Ring
Ghost Marchers are viable too, as positioning is very important for her. Also you should be able to quickly close in after an arrow. Ghost Marchers favor ganking while Steam Boots favor carrying.
The easier the game the fewer Rings you will need.
After Core:(Nullfire Blade >>) Frostburn >> Charged Hammer >> Riftshards >> Symbol of Rage
Get a Nullfire ASAP if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah. Otherwise go for the listed semi-carry/carry build.
Information
Roles: (Semi-)Carry, Ganker, Initiator
Prefered Lane: Any. Can solo Mid, or side preferably paired with another disabler
Difficulty: 4 - Hard (Arrows...)
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent (Call helps a lot)
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 3 - Medium (very dangerous arrow stuns, heavy nuke)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Extremely Strong Ganker, can control the game from mid lane)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 3 - Medium (Can be 4 - Strong if she dominated the midgame, her ultimate is amongst the best initiation)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- If you have problems hitting your Javelin, wait for someone else on your team to cast a disable, then throw the Javelin at the non-moving target.
- Valkyrie's Prism is a very strong initiation, escape and counter-gank tool. But the Priority is on initiation, especially if you are lacking other good sources of it.
- Use Call of the Valkyrie (once it's level 3+) to punish enemy melee heroes if they go in melee range of the creep waves.
- Especially if you play in mid: Gank a lot!
Counters:
- Valkyrie is VERY hard to counter. 2 Escape Spells, high physical and magic damage, long range/duration disable. Hero-wise the best counters are stunners and disablers.
- Item-wise i suggest you carry Dust. Don't bother with armor or anything like that, it will not help much.
- Even when heavily farmed a Valk is still relatively squishy. The best counter is to focus her when possible._________________________________________________
[Engineer] .engineer (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Steam Turret
2 - The Keg
3 - Tinker
4 - Tinker
5 - Tinker
6 - Energy Field
7 - Tinker
8 -The Keg
9 - The Keg
10 - The Keg
11 - Energy Field
12 - Steam Turret
13 - Steam Turret
14 - Steam Turret
15 - Stats
16 - Energy Field
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Steam Turret at level one to place at the rune. Don't level it up further as you will first need some items to make it viable.
Tinker vs The Keg: As of recently i prefer Tinker for the reduced Manacost and Cooldown on Keg and for devastating early Tower Pushes. Level 1 Keg with Level 4 Tinker costs 56 Mana and has 7.9 sec Cooldown (same Pushback and Cast range, 150 less damage and 0.75 sec less stun). Level 4 Keg with Level 1 Tinker costs 130 Mana with 14 sec cooldown. More than twice the mana and 77% increased cooldown for 150 damage and 0.75 sec stun. This is not even taking in account all the other uses of Tinker. If you can set up high pressure in your lane with a very agressive lane partner max keg first. In all other cases go for Tinker first.
Lane Starting Items:
Monkey Courier, 2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Mana Potion, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Power Supply >> Soulscream Ring >> Ghost Marchers
Power Supply is pretty strong as your combo will need a lot of burst mana. Also just a few Charges will allow you to cast a Keg with 0 mana. Ghost Marchers are viable for chasing with Keg (it's an amazing chasing skill). But you can get Steam Boots if you play more Carry heavy.
After Core:(Nullfire Blade >>) Frostburn >> Charged Hammer >> Geometer's Bane >> Frostwulf Skull
Get a Nullfire ASAP if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah. Frostburn is a staple choice for most carries. Gives you pretty much all you need including a slowing turret. Charged Hammer then turns your turret into a true machine gun. With lightnings.
After that disassemble your Frostburn and create Geometers from the Firebrand as well as Frostwolf from the Icebrand.
Alternative Items:
- Portal Key: If you have no initiation. You can be a decent initiator but you need the Key for it and there are a lot of heroes who can do the job better than you. This is why Portal Key is not core.
- Barbed Armor / Shrunken Head: Get this if you need to initiate.
- Astrolabe: Especially in combination with Barbed Armor if you go for a supportive playstyle.
Information
Roles: Semi-Carry, (Initiator)
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (Not as trivial as it might seem)
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Item dependancy: 3 - Medium
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 3 - Medium (One of the best attack animations but low damage. Keg is very annoying.)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong
- Late Game / Team Fights: 3 - Medium (Can be stronger if farmed well, but is not a Hard-Carry)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Your basic combo at leevl 14+ if an enemy is in range: Throw down a turret ahead of you, use Energy Field and then cast Keg to push the enemy inside the energy field in range of the turret. If he already is inside wait for him to run out, then Keg him back in. If he fights, Keg him out at ~30% hp.
- Energy Field has a low cooldown, use it every fight!
- Throw down a turret (if maxed) before casting Keg if the Mana allows it.
- Use turrets in the forest to see incoming ganks (level 1 turrets are fine).
- Having Tinker maxed over Keg makes Keg very spammable.
Counters:
- With Shrunken Head on you can ignore Energy Field. If you play a carry get Shrunken Head versus Engi. (Not that it is only good against him...)
- Don't let yourself get kegged into an enemy tower. This is very dangerous early game!
- Level 1 Turret only has 500 attack range (increasing by 50 every level). Quite a few heroes have 550 or 600 attack range and thus can take out level 1-2 turrets without getting hit. Easy Money._________________________________________________
[Corrupted Disciple] .corrupted disciple .cd .razor (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Electric Tide
2 - Static Discharge
3 - Electric Tide
4 - Static Discharge
5 - Electric Tide
6 - Overload
7 - Electric Tide
8 -Corrupted Conduit
9 - Static Discharge
10 - Static Discharge
11 - Overload
12 - Corrupted Conduit
13 - Corrupted Conduit
14 - Corrupted Conduit
15 - Stats
16 - Overload
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Swap Static Discharge with Corrupted conduit if you go mid and fight a melee hero or an auto-attack reliant ranged hero such as Arachna, Engineer, Blood Hunter, ...
I suggest to always get one level of Conduit, latest at level 8 for the vision bufff.
Lane Starting Items:
2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Mana Potion, Duck Boots, 3x Minor Totem
Oldschool "Tank" build:
Core:
Bottle >> Power Supply >> Steam Boots >> Helm of the Black Legion
Bottle is especially important if playing mid, you can skip it on the sidelanes. Get Power Supply in any case however.
Arguments can be made in favor of Ghost Marchers, but usually the speed from Static Discharge is enough to outrun most heroes. 10 Strength adds more much needed survivability. Plated Greaves are fine too, it really depends what kind of heroes you are facing.
After Core:(Shaman's Headdress >>) Icebrand >> Frostburn >> Geometer's Bane >> Shrunken head
Some consider Headdress core, I say its situational. If you get it, upgrade it to Barrier Idol later. Frostburn is a soild all-round choice on him giving you a bit of everything. Then Geometer's Bane for big dps bursts.
Consider Nullfire Blade after the Core if you need to Counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah.
Alternative Items:
- Mock of Brilliance: He is a decent Mock Hero, but needs Hotbl first. I consider this build inferior tho and only recommend it in pubs where you get a lot of freefarm.
Newschool "Carry" build:
Core:
Bottle >> Ghost Marchers >> Power Supply >> Mystic Vestments >> Frostburn
Bottle if mid, then rush Ghost Marchers for insane chasing power. Usually this build is combined with Corrupted Conduit > Static Overload. Cast conduit and chase down your enemy.
You can squeeze in a Soulscream Ring if you want to. Also don't underestimate those Mystic Vestments!
Frostburn is the dps item of choice because of Slow, movespeed, etc.
After Core:Whispering Helm >> Wingbow >> Symbol of Rage
Consider Nullfire Blade after the Core if you need to Counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah.
A lot of different builds have been seen lately. They tend to branch off in either a tank or dps heavy build.
Combinations of the two builds are possible but don't get lifeleech with a tank build.
Information
Roles: Carry, Tank
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (Know when to tower dive and chase)
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Item dependancy: 3 - Medium
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Tide is a very strong harass)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 5 - Very Strong (Excellent Chaser and Tower diver, one of the best Midgame Carries)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Can carry. Good Tank and Damage Dealer)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
+ Strong throughout the whole game
+ Doesn't require a lot of farm to carry, one of the few carries who rely heavily on their skills instead of auto attacks
30-Seconds-Guide:- Tide is an exceptionally strong harass if properly used (Try to catch the enemy Hero on the outer edge of the circle). On Corrupted Disciple it's worth it to whore the Bottle with a courier (send the courier to refill it) if you don't have rune control.
- Corrupted Disciple is one of the best tower divers. He will complete Hotbl very fast and should then lead assaults/ganks beyond the enemy lines, drawing the tower fire on him.
- Gank a lot, especially when playing mid and picking up runes. Your level 7 Wave + Overload is devastating and will not rarely net you a double kill when ganking from mid.
Counters:
- Very, Very hard to counter. High physical and magic damage so neither armor nor magic armor will really help.
- Ghost Marchers can help to not get chased down so easily but don't get Ghost Marchers just because they have CD.
- Homecoming Stones are a solid counter when he casts Conduit on you (similar to arachna) as he cannot stun.
- Deny him Runecontrol.
Skill Build1 - Soulsteal
2 - Demon Hand
3 - Soulsteal
4 - Demon Hand
5 - Demon Hand
6 - Soulsteal
7 - Demon Hand
8 - Soulsteal
9 - Soul Burst
10 - Stats
11 - Soul Burst
12 - Stats
13 -Stats
14 - Stats
15 - Stats
16 - Soul Burst
17 - Dread
18 - Dread19 - Dread20 - Dread
21 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Soulsteal early to rack up lasthit/deny damage. Demon Hand is useful from level 5+. Ulti is gotten at 9 since you usually won't gank before that level.
Starting Items:
2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Bottle >> Steamboots >> Portal Key >> Shrunken Head
Instead of Steamboots you can also get Post Haste. I am a huge fan of rushing Post Haste on Soulstealer. You will get them as early as level 9, allowing you to teleport from lane to lane, farming it up with demon hand. Don't get them tho if you have 3 or more carries.
Portal Key can be replaced with Assassin's Shroud depending on the game situation. (If you can't reliably PK in).
In 4 out of 5 games Shrunken Head will be core. Don't be afraid to skip/delay it though if you don't need it right away.
After Core:Shield Breaker >> Wingbow >> Geometer's Bane
Shield Breaker has nice synergy with dread and is generally a very good dps item. After that it's standard luxury. In some matchups you can get Shrunken Head before Shield Breaker.
Information
Roles: Carry, Pusher, (Nuker, Initiator)
Prefered Lane: Solo mid.
Difficulty: 4 - Hard (Nukes are a bit trick and the ultimate needs perfect positioning)
Farming capabilities: 5 - Excellent (A full creep wave for 150 mana. Fully stacked neutral camps for 225 Mana. Best farmer there is for early and mid game.)
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Incredibly Strong Nukes for the low Manacost)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (THE best farmer in midgame, powerful ult)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Solid carry due to his farm, very good pusher)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
+ good pusher
+ best farmer
+ good in every game phase
30-Seconds-Guide:
- From the point you reach level 7 until minute 35 you can kill a full creep wave with two Demon Hands. Use this a LOT to farm your items.
- When using your ultimate you have to stand as close as possible to your enemy. This is imperative! For maximum damage shroud/blink right on top of them.
- In early game use Demon Hand when your enemies get too close to the creeps. Demon Hand is in general a very good harassing spell if you can aim with it (practice is key).
Counters:
- SS is a very strong mid. He has a slow start but "takes off" once he racks up some souls (last hits). Send a hero with High Base damage and/or good attack animation against him. Pebbles, Corrupted Disciple, etc.
- He is very voulnerable to ganks in mid. Low HP pool and no escape spells. Consider calling for ganks.
- Don't let him get rune control. If he can constantly refill his bottle he is very hard to deal with!
- As soon as he has Assassins Shround pick up Wards of Revelation and drop them as you push towers (this wins games).
- If you are low HP don't run away from him in a straight line._________________________________________________
[Zephyr] .zephyr .party bird (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Cyclones
2 - Gust
3 - Cyclones
4 - Gust
5 - Cyclones
6 - Typhoon
7 - Cyclones
8 - Gust
9 - Gust
10 - Wind Shield
11 - Typhoon
12 - Wind Shield
13 - Wind Shield
14 - Wind Shield
15 - Stats
16 - Typhoon
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
One level of wind shield can be taken early as it is passive and the first level provides significantly more than the following levels. Get this if you get early marchers and need to chase.
Then Max cyclones and Gust first. Generally i max Gust first if I am with a stunner. Cyclones otherwise. Typhoon is now good and taken whenever you can.
Starting Items:
1x Healing Potion, 1x Logger's Hatchet, 1x Iron Buckler
Core:
(Iron Shield >>) Life Tube >> Helm of the Black Legion >> Ghost Marchers >> Mock of Brilliance
Zephyr, being a very strong tank, is a good choice for Mock. Unlike other chars you can't rush it naked however. You will need at least Hotbl and some Boots first. Due to your excellent farming abilities you will still have your Mock pretty early tho (Min 25 Ghost Marchers, Hotbl and Mock is easy possible, check the Replays for examples). You can get Plated Greaves instead of Ghost Marchers if they feauture a lot of physical damage or armor reduction.
After Core:Barrier Idol >> Frostburn >> Behemoth's Heart
The rest is standard tank/carry build.
Information
Roles: Hard-Carry, Tank, Pusher
Prefered Lane: Any (Can solo mid and can also jungel from level 1)
Difficulty: 2 - Easy (Requires last hitting skills and Gust is a bit tricky to use)
Farming capabilities: 5 - Excellent (Probably the best amongst melee carries)
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (good lane staying power with cyclones, easy to farm early on, decent jungler from level 1 on)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Needs farm to become effective)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Carries hard if properly farmed)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
+ excellent pusher
30-Seconds-Guide:
- When you have cyclones up, you can use pathblocking to prevent an enemy from reaching his tower, doing more damage than just rightclicking.
- If you use a homecoming stone you will lose all cyclones, keep that in mind.
- Gust has a lot of different uses. Always think about all the possibilities before using it.
- When cyclones expire, the oldest will expire first (thats a good thing)
- If you are at max cyclones always consume one before you do a last hit. The oldest cyclone will be consumed.
Counters:
- It is very very hard to deny Zephr farm (unlike with other carries). One way to limit it, is by warding his jungle and controlling the lanes.
- Don't engange him in melee when he has all 8 cyclones up unless you are 5 vs 1.
- Get a Barbed Armor and turn it on when standing in his ulti. (If 2 or more people do this he will kill himself with his ult).
- Barrier Idol helps to counter his ult.
- Also consider Tablet of Command to jump out of Typhoon.
Replays:
Match 27855966
Match 27910477
_________________________________________________
[Andromeda] .andromeda .vengeful spirit (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Comet
2 - Stats
3 - Comet
4 - Aurora
5 - Comet
6 - Void Rip
7 - Comet
8 - Aurora
9 - Aurora
10 - Aurora
11 - Void Rip
12 - Dimensional Link
13 - Dimensional Link
14 - Dimensional Link
15 - Dimensional Link
16 - Void Rip
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Straightforward build, should almost never change.
Lane Starting Items:
Monkey Courier/Wards, 2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Mana Potion, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Marchers >> Power Supply >> 2x Fortified Bracelet >> Wards >> Steam Boots >> Wards
Two Bracelets and Power Supply for stats allow more spamming of Comet and Aurora, Steamboots for survivability. Always get wards, its your highest Item priority. You can get a Bottle if you feel the need for it or if there are few Bottles on other heroes, but don't take away the runes from your mid-laner.
After Core:Staff of the Master >> Portal Key (>> Nullfire Blade)
This stuff is luxury. You should not have much gold since you are warding and constantly roaming. It's not uncommon for an Andromeda to finish a 30+ minute game with nothing more than 2 Bracelets and Boots.
That being said, SotM and Portal Key are your two most useful items after the core. Get a Nullfire at any point if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah.
Information
Roles: Roamer, Ward Hoe, Anti-Carry, Initiator
Prefered Lane: long / short
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak
Item dependancy: 2 - Low
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Comet)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Good Initiator and Anti-Carry Hero, Very Good at ganking and roaming)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 2 - Weak (Late game her job is to single out and swap their carry)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Gank a lot! That's your primary task. Let your carries get the kills if possible.
- Once you get Portal Key you can queue it up after Void Rip to teleport right back to your allies.
- You are responsible to keep wards up at all times. Delay your items to buy wards.
Counters:
- Most Andromedas will play the roamer/supporter style described here. Gankers are best countered with vision, map- and rune control -> Wards.
- If you are facing a Carry-Andro get some armor and you should be fine. She is outcarried by almost every other carry in the game._________________________________________________
[Valkyrie] .valkyrie .potm .priestress of the moon (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Courageous Leap
2 - Javelin of Light
3 - Call of the Valkyrie
4 - Call of the Valkyrie
5 - Call of the Valkyrie
6 - Javelin of Light
7 - Call of the Valkyrie
8 -Javelin of Light
9 - Javelin of Light
10 - Valkyrie's Prism
11 - Valkyrie's Prism
12 - Courageous Leap
13 - Courageous Leap
14 - Courageous Leap
15 - Stats
16 - Valkyrie's Prism
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Get Javelin of Light first (Leap second) if you plan to rune-gank. It's probably the strongest rune-ganking skill in the game.
If you start pushing before level 10, get Valkyrie's Prism earlier.
Lane Starting Items:
2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Bottle >> Marchers >> Power Supply >> Steam Boots >> 1-2x Soulscream Ring
Ghost Marchers are viable too, as positioning is very important for her. Also you should be able to quickly close in after an arrow. Ghost Marchers favor ganking while Steam Boots favor carrying.
The easier the game the fewer Rings you will need.
After Core:(Nullfire Blade >>) Frostburn >> Charged Hammer >> Riftshards >> Symbol of Rage
Get a Nullfire ASAP if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah. Otherwise go for the listed semi-carry/carry build.
Information
Roles: (Semi-)Carry, Ganker, Initiator
Prefered Lane: Any. Can solo Mid, or side preferably paired with another disabler
Difficulty: 4 - Hard (Arrows...)
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent (Call helps a lot)
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 3 - Medium (very dangerous arrow stuns, heavy nuke)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Extremely Strong Ganker, can control the game from mid lane)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 3 - Medium (Can be 4 - Strong if she dominated the midgame, her ultimate is amongst the best initiation)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- If you have problems hitting your Javelin, wait for someone else on your team to cast a disable, then throw the Javelin at the non-moving target.
- Valkyrie's Prism is a very strong initiation, escape and counter-gank tool. But the Priority is on initiation, especially if you are lacking other good sources of it.
- Use Call of the Valkyrie (once it's level 3+) to punish enemy melee heroes if they go in melee range of the creep waves.
- Especially if you play in mid: Gank a lot!
Counters:
- Valkyrie is VERY hard to counter. 2 Escape Spells, high physical and magic damage, long range/duration disable. Hero-wise the best counters are stunners and disablers.
- Item-wise i suggest you carry Dust. Don't bother with armor or anything like that, it will not help much.
- Even when heavily farmed a Valk is still relatively squishy. The best counter is to focus her when possible._________________________________________________
[Engineer] .engineer (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Steam Turret
2 - The Keg
3 - Tinker
4 - Tinker
5 - Tinker
6 - Energy Field
7 - Tinker
8 -The Keg
9 - The Keg
10 - The Keg
11 - Energy Field
12 - Steam Turret
13 - Steam Turret
14 - Steam Turret
15 - Stats
16 - Energy Field
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Steam Turret at level one to place at the rune. Don't level it up further as you will first need some items to make it viable.
Tinker vs The Keg: As of recently i prefer Tinker for the reduced Manacost and Cooldown on Keg and for devastating early Tower Pushes. Level 1 Keg with Level 4 Tinker costs 56 Mana and has 7.9 sec Cooldown (same Pushback and Cast range, 150 less damage and 0.75 sec less stun). Level 4 Keg with Level 1 Tinker costs 130 Mana with 14 sec cooldown. More than twice the mana and 77% increased cooldown for 150 damage and 0.75 sec stun. This is not even taking in account all the other uses of Tinker. If you can set up high pressure in your lane with a very agressive lane partner max keg first. In all other cases go for Tinker first.
Lane Starting Items:
Monkey Courier, 2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Mana Potion, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Power Supply >> Soulscream Ring >> Ghost Marchers
Power Supply is pretty strong as your combo will need a lot of burst mana. Also just a few Charges will allow you to cast a Keg with 0 mana. Ghost Marchers are viable for chasing with Keg (it's an amazing chasing skill). But you can get Steam Boots if you play more Carry heavy.
After Core:(Nullfire Blade >>) Frostburn >> Charged Hammer >> Geometer's Bane >> Frostwulf Skull
Get a Nullfire ASAP if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah. Frostburn is a staple choice for most carries. Gives you pretty much all you need including a slowing turret. Charged Hammer then turns your turret into a true machine gun. With lightnings.
After that disassemble your Frostburn and create Geometers from the Firebrand as well as Frostwolf from the Icebrand.
Alternative Items:
- Portal Key: If you have no initiation. You can be a decent initiator but you need the Key for it and there are a lot of heroes who can do the job better than you. This is why Portal Key is not core.
- Barbed Armor / Shrunken Head: Get this if you need to initiate.
- Astrolabe: Especially in combination with Barbed Armor if you go for a supportive playstyle.
Information
Roles: Semi-Carry, (Initiator)
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (Not as trivial as it might seem)
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Item dependancy: 3 - Medium
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 3 - Medium (One of the best attack animations but low damage. Keg is very annoying.)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong
- Late Game / Team Fights: 3 - Medium (Can be stronger if farmed well, but is not a Hard-Carry)
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Your basic combo at leevl 14+ if an enemy is in range: Throw down a turret ahead of you, use Energy Field and then cast Keg to push the enemy inside the energy field in range of the turret. If he already is inside wait for him to run out, then Keg him back in. If he fights, Keg him out at ~30% hp.
- Energy Field has a low cooldown, use it every fight!
- Throw down a turret (if maxed) before casting Keg if the Mana allows it.
- Use turrets in the forest to see incoming ganks (level 1 turrets are fine).
- Having Tinker maxed over Keg makes Keg very spammable.
Counters:
- With Shrunken Head on you can ignore Energy Field. If you play a carry get Shrunken Head versus Engi. (Not that it is only good against him...)
- Don't let yourself get kegged into an enemy tower. This is very dangerous early game!
- Level 1 Turret only has 500 attack range (increasing by 50 every level). Quite a few heroes have 550 or 600 attack range and thus can take out level 1-2 turrets without getting hit. Easy Money._________________________________________________
[Corrupted Disciple] .corrupted disciple .cd .razor (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Electric Tide
2 - Static Discharge
3 - Electric Tide
4 - Static Discharge
5 - Electric Tide
6 - Overload
7 - Electric Tide
8 -Corrupted Conduit
9 - Static Discharge
10 - Static Discharge
11 - Overload
12 - Corrupted Conduit
13 - Corrupted Conduit
14 - Corrupted Conduit
15 - Stats
16 - Overload
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Swap Static Discharge with Corrupted conduit if you go mid and fight a melee hero or an auto-attack reliant ranged hero such as Arachna, Engineer, Blood Hunter, ...
I suggest to always get one level of Conduit, latest at level 8 for the vision bufff.
Lane Starting Items:
2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Mana Potion, Duck Boots, 3x Minor Totem
Oldschool "Tank" build:
Core:
Bottle >> Power Supply >> Steam Boots >> Helm of the Black Legion
Bottle is especially important if playing mid, you can skip it on the sidelanes. Get Power Supply in any case however.
Arguments can be made in favor of Ghost Marchers, but usually the speed from Static Discharge is enough to outrun most heroes. 10 Strength adds more much needed survivability. Plated Greaves are fine too, it really depends what kind of heroes you are facing.
After Core:(Shaman's Headdress >>) Icebrand >> Frostburn >> Geometer's Bane >> Shrunken head
Some consider Headdress core, I say its situational. If you get it, upgrade it to Barrier Idol later. Frostburn is a soild all-round choice on him giving you a bit of everything. Then Geometer's Bane for big dps bursts.
Consider Nullfire Blade after the Core if you need to Counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah.
Alternative Items:
- Mock of Brilliance: He is a decent Mock Hero, but needs Hotbl first. I consider this build inferior tho and only recommend it in pubs where you get a lot of freefarm.
Newschool "Carry" build:
Core:
Bottle >> Ghost Marchers >> Power Supply >> Mystic Vestments >> Frostburn
Bottle if mid, then rush Ghost Marchers for insane chasing power. Usually this build is combined with Corrupted Conduit > Static Overload. Cast conduit and chase down your enemy.
You can squeeze in a Soulscream Ring if you want to. Also don't underestimate those Mystic Vestments!
Frostburn is the dps item of choice because of Slow, movespeed, etc.
After Core:Whispering Helm >> Wingbow >> Symbol of Rage
Consider Nullfire Blade after the Core if you need to Counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah.
A lot of different builds have been seen lately. They tend to branch off in either a tank or dps heavy build.
Combinations of the two builds are possible but don't get lifeleech with a tank build.
Information
Roles: Carry, Tank
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 3 - Medium (Know when to tower dive and chase)
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Item dependancy: 3 - Medium
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Tide is a very strong harass)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 5 - Very Strong (Excellent Chaser and Tower diver, one of the best Midgame Carries)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Can carry. Good Tank and Damage Dealer)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
+ Strong throughout the whole game
+ Doesn't require a lot of farm to carry, one of the few carries who rely heavily on their skills instead of auto attacks
30-Seconds-Guide:- Tide is an exceptionally strong harass if properly used (Try to catch the enemy Hero on the outer edge of the circle). On Corrupted Disciple it's worth it to whore the Bottle with a courier (send the courier to refill it) if you don't have rune control.
- Corrupted Disciple is one of the best tower divers. He will complete Hotbl very fast and should then lead assaults/ganks beyond the enemy lines, drawing the tower fire on him.
- Gank a lot, especially when playing mid and picking up runes. Your level 7 Wave + Overload is devastating and will not rarely net you a double kill when ganking from mid.
Counters:
- Very, Very hard to counter. High physical and magic damage so neither armor nor magic armor will really help.
- Ghost Marchers can help to not get chased down so easily but don't get Ghost Marchers just because they have CD.
- Homecoming Stones are a solid counter when he casts Conduit on you (similar to arachna) as he cannot stun.
- Deny him Runecontrol.
[Sand Wraith] .sand wraith .sw .spectre (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Desert's Curse
2 - Deserted
3 - Desert's Curse
4 - Deserted
5 - Desert's Curse
6 - Mirage
7 - Desert's Curse
8 -Deserted
9 - Deserted
10 - Dissipate
11 - Mirage
12 - Dissipate
13 - Dissipate
14 - Dissipate
15 - Stats
16 - Mirage
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
This skillbuild is if you lane with a competent babysitter. You can set higher priority on Dissipate if you get harassed and/or ganked hardcore.
Lane Starting Items:
1x Runes of the Blight, 1x Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, Duck Boots
Core:
(Iron Shield >>) Lifetube >> Steam Boots >> Helm of the Black Legion
Iron Shield can be skipped if the game goes easy.
After Core:(Nullfire Blade >>) Mock of Brilliance >> Behemoth's Heart >> Frostburn >> Barbed Armor >> Riftshards
Get a Nullfire after core if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah. Otherwise farm your Mock. Heart and Barbed Armor to make sure no one can kill you without dying first.
You can also Skip Mock, get Nullfire and then work for a Frostburn as an alternative route. <- This is seen more and more recently. But SW has almost disapeared from competitive play.
Alternative Items:
You can rush a naked Mock in pubs which will allow you to farm the rest much faster. In higher level games it is NOT recommended!
Information:
Roles: Hard-Carry, Initiator, Tank
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 1 - Poor
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 1 - Poor
- Mid Game / Ganks: 2 - Weak (Ulti starts to becoma a viable tool)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong
Noteable +/- and synergies:
- Requires a lot of farm, turtle strat
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Your ultimate allows you to farm ALL THE TIME. This is what separates Sand Wraith from most carries. If a teamfight is happening just activate Mirage and you are right in the middle of it.
- Always Carry a TP!! When getting ganked while farming throw out a Desert's Curse (doesn't matter if it hits anything) and walk straight into the forest where they can't follow you. Then TP to another lane and continue farming.
Counters:
- It's rather hard to deny her farm as she can almost always escape. If you gank her bring 2 or more players and some disables.
- If she is becoming a threat buy a barrier idol to counter her Dissipate (and Mock).
- If she ults on you, instantly use a Homecoming stone if you can't kill her. She can't cancel it._________________________________________________
[Forsaken "The Slut" Archer] .forsaken archer .fa (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Call of the Damned
2 - Crippling Volley
3 - Crippling Volley
4 - Call of the Damned
5 - Crippling Volley
6 - Piercing Arrows
7 - Crippling Volley
8 - Call of the Damned
9 - Call of the Damned
10 - Stats
11 - Piercing Arrows
12 - Stats
13 - Stats
14 - Stats
15 - Stats
16 - Piercing Arrows
17 - Split Fire18 - Split Fire19 - Split Fire20 - Split Fire
21 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Get Crippling Volley first if you feel confident in Rune Ganking, but Call allows for lane domination from level 1. Three seconds rape skeletons! (I know you were waiting for this!)
Lane Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Power Supply >> Steamboots >> 1-2x Soulscream Ring
Post Haste is a viable alternative to Steamboots.
After Core:(Nullfire Blade >>) Frostburn >> Shrunken Head >> Whispering Helm >> Wingbow >> Symbol of Rage
Get a Nullfire after core if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah.
Frostburn adds AoE slow with split fire, survival and damage. The rest is basic carry stuff (feel free to ancient stack). You can replace wingbow with charged hammer if you need a better buildup. In some games you can skip Shrunken Head but this will leave you pretty squishy.
Sidenote: You can rush Whispering Helm directly after core and start ancient stacking. By the time you hit level 11 you should have a decent stack which you can farm VERY EASY with your level 2 ultimate. I had some good results using this strategy, feel free to try it.
Alternative Items:
- Assassin's Shroud is good on her as she has no real means of escaping while being squishy. Get it if you can reliably escape with it. NOTE: Enemies will see where you are running as long as you have skellies following you.
- Shieldbreaker can be good to apply the armor debuff to all enemies with Split Fire. DO NOT GET THIS WITH FROSTBURN. They don't stack. Get it if they have squshies and you can farm it before 25 minutes.
- Savage Mace adds the 100 damage mini stun to ALL arrows when split firing.
Note that both items offer no Survivabilty!
- Alchemist's Bones can be gotten as early as Minute 6 and will pay for them relatively quickly. Can be sold later to make room.
Information:
Roles: Semi-Carry, Pusher, Ganker, Roamer
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 5 - Excellent
Item dependancy: 3 - Medium
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 5 - Very Strong (Skellies and long duration disable)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Very powerful ult in midgame)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Stays strong if you keep the farm and level advantage, otherwise becomes sub-par to other carries)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
+ Excellent Farmer / Pusher
- No Escape ability
30-Seconds-Guide:
- A gank at level 7 With crippling Volley and Piercing Arrows will often get you a kill.
- Use Piercing Arrows together with an AoE disable (Tempest Ult, Keeper of the Forest Ult, ...) and/or when the enemy is trapped in a choke and can't avoid it by sidestepping.
- Due to Piercing Arrows incredible range 1300) you can use it to finish off low hp runners if 1-2 ticks are enough.
- Piercing Arrow deals 600/1200/1800 physical damage and is thus one of the most devastating abilities in the game.
- Be careful with Piercing Arrows when the enemy team has one or more Barbed Armors.
Counters:
- The best mid vs. FA is Soul Stealer. He will get souls from her Minions and quickly outgrow her in base damage.
- She is very squishy with no escape spells and thus very vulnerable to ganks.
- Activating a Barbed Armor while standing in her ult will deal significant damage to her (if two people do it, she is pretty much dead).
- During the laning phase keep killing her skeletons (if you have a ranged attack). Easy gold and less farm for her.
Skill Build1 - Desert's Curse
2 - Deserted
3 - Desert's Curse
4 - Deserted
5 - Desert's Curse
6 - Mirage
7 - Desert's Curse
8 -Deserted
9 - Deserted
10 - Dissipate
11 - Mirage
12 - Dissipate
13 - Dissipate
14 - Dissipate
15 - Stats
16 - Mirage
17 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
This skillbuild is if you lane with a competent babysitter. You can set higher priority on Dissipate if you get harassed and/or ganked hardcore.
Lane Starting Items:
1x Runes of the Blight, 1x Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, Duck Boots
Core:
(Iron Shield >>) Lifetube >> Steam Boots >> Helm of the Black Legion
Iron Shield can be skipped if the game goes easy.
After Core:(Nullfire Blade >>) Mock of Brilliance >> Behemoth's Heart >> Frostburn >> Barbed Armor >> Riftshards
Get a Nullfire after core if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah. Otherwise farm your Mock. Heart and Barbed Armor to make sure no one can kill you without dying first.
You can also Skip Mock, get Nullfire and then work for a Frostburn as an alternative route. <- This is seen more and more recently. But SW has almost disapeared from competitive play.
Alternative Items:
You can rush a naked Mock in pubs which will allow you to farm the rest much faster. In higher level games it is NOT recommended!
Information:
Roles: Hard-Carry, Initiator, Tank
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 1 - Poor
Item dependancy: 5 - Very Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 1 - Poor
- Mid Game / Ganks: 2 - Weak (Ulti starts to becoma a viable tool)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong
Noteable +/- and synergies:
- Requires a lot of farm, turtle strat
30-Seconds-Guide:
- Your ultimate allows you to farm ALL THE TIME. This is what separates Sand Wraith from most carries. If a teamfight is happening just activate Mirage and you are right in the middle of it.
- Always Carry a TP!! When getting ganked while farming throw out a Desert's Curse (doesn't matter if it hits anything) and walk straight into the forest where they can't follow you. Then TP to another lane and continue farming.
Counters:
- It's rather hard to deny her farm as she can almost always escape. If you gank her bring 2 or more players and some disables.
- If she is becoming a threat buy a barrier idol to counter her Dissipate (and Mock).
- If she ults on you, instantly use a Homecoming stone if you can't kill her. She can't cancel it._________________________________________________
[Forsaken "The Slut" Archer] .forsaken archer .fa (0.3.3)
Skill Build1 - Call of the Damned
2 - Crippling Volley
3 - Crippling Volley
4 - Call of the Damned
5 - Crippling Volley
6 - Piercing Arrows
7 - Crippling Volley
8 - Call of the Damned
9 - Call of the Damned
10 - Stats
11 - Piercing Arrows
12 - Stats
13 - Stats
14 - Stats
15 - Stats
16 - Piercing Arrows
17 - Split Fire18 - Split Fire19 - Split Fire20 - Split Fire
21 - Stats+
Justification / Modifications:
Get Crippling Volley first if you feel confident in Rune Ganking, but Call allows for lane domination from level 1. Three seconds rape skeletons! (I know you were waiting for this!)
Lane Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Duck Boots, 2x Minor Totem
Core:
Power Supply >> Steamboots >> 1-2x Soulscream Ring
Post Haste is a viable alternative to Steamboots.
After Core:(Nullfire Blade >>) Frostburn >> Shrunken Head >> Whispering Helm >> Wingbow >> Symbol of Rage
Get a Nullfire after core if your team needs to counter Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Jeraziah.
Frostburn adds AoE slow with split fire, survival and damage. The rest is basic carry stuff (feel free to ancient stack). You can replace wingbow with charged hammer if you need a better buildup. In some games you can skip Shrunken Head but this will leave you pretty squishy.
Sidenote: You can rush Whispering Helm directly after core and start ancient stacking. By the time you hit level 11 you should have a decent stack which you can farm VERY EASY with your level 2 ultimate. I had some good results using this strategy, feel free to try it.
Alternative Items:
- Assassin's Shroud is good on her as she has no real means of escaping while being squishy. Get it if you can reliably escape with it. NOTE: Enemies will see where you are running as long as you have skellies following you.
- Shieldbreaker can be good to apply the armor debuff to all enemies with Split Fire. DO NOT GET THIS WITH FROSTBURN. They don't stack. Get it if they have squshies and you can farm it before 25 minutes.
- Savage Mace adds the 100 damage mini stun to ALL arrows when split firing.
Note that both items offer no Survivabilty!
- Alchemist's Bones can be gotten as early as Minute 6 and will pay for them relatively quickly. Can be sold later to make room.
Information:
Roles: Semi-Carry, Pusher, Ganker, Roamer
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 2 - Easy
Farming capabilities: 5 - Excellent
Item dependancy: 3 - Medium
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 5 - Very Strong (Skellies and long duration disable)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Very powerful ult in midgame)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Stays strong if you keep the farm and level advantage, otherwise becomes sub-par to other carries)
Noteable +/- and synergies:
+ Excellent Farmer / Pusher
- No Escape ability
30-Seconds-Guide:
- A gank at level 7 With crippling Volley and Piercing Arrows will often get you a kill.
- Use Piercing Arrows together with an AoE disable (Tempest Ult, Keeper of the Forest Ult, ...) and/or when the enemy is trapped in a choke and can't avoid it by sidestepping.
- Due to Piercing Arrows incredible range 1300) you can use it to finish off low hp runners if 1-2 ticks are enough.
- Piercing Arrow deals 600/1200/1800 physical damage and is thus one of the most devastating abilities in the game.
- Be careful with Piercing Arrows when the enemy team has one or more Barbed Armors.
Counters:
- The best mid vs. FA is Soul Stealer. He will get souls from her Minions and quickly outgrow her in base damage.
- She is very squishy with no escape spells and thus very vulnerable to ganks.
- Activating a Barbed Armor while standing in her ult will deal significant damage to her (if two people do it, she is pretty much dead).
- During the laning phase keep killing her skeletons (if you have a ranged attack). Easy gold and less farm for her.
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