Strategy HoN

Ellonia Guide

2016-04-14T16:10:00.001+01:00

HoN Ellonia background story:-

Those who hail from the great Frostfields of the north live by one rule: fight or die. But now, the Hellbourne forces are rapidly advancing towards their beloved homelands and demolishing everything in their path. The powerful ruler of those harsh lands knew her lands would be next and could not sit idly by while her kingdom fell. Thus, the only sorceress deserving of the name Frost Queen fights not to defend the Legion but to bring forth the

Affiliation : Intelligence

Movement Speed: 300

Attack Range: 600

Damage: 41 - 49

Strength: 1.6

Agility: 1.6

Intelligence: 3.2

Armor: 1.24

Damage Reduction: 7%

Magic Dmg. Reduction: 25%

Attack/s: 0.68

Attack Type: Ranged

HoN Ellonia Spells:-

1. Glacial Spike

Ellonia unleashes a whirl of ice shards damaging and slowing enemies in a line.

Type: Magic
Range: 1,200
Cast Time: 0.3 Seconds
Mana Cost: 90 / 100 / 110 / 120
Cooldown: 5.0 / 4.0 / 3.0 / 2.0 Seconds
Required Level: 1 / 3 / 5 / 7

Activation
Target a location to hit enemies in a line. Deals 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 Magic Damage. Adds 5 Charges of Frosted for 4 seconds.
-Travels at 1,000 speed.
-Has a 90 touch radius.
-Has 200 clearvision while traveling.
-Grants 2 seconds of 500 AoE lingering vision around each target hit.

Frosted Effect(s)
Movespeed Slow Per Charge: 0.02

2. Frigid Field

Ellonia blankets an area with crystal shards dealing damage and slowing enemies in the area.

Type: Magic
Range: 700
Radius: 250
Cast Time: 0.3 Seconds
Mana Cost: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100
Cooldown: 5.0 / 4.0 / 3.0 / 2.0 Seconds
Required Level: 1 / 3 / 5 / 7

Activation
Target an area to deal 25 / 38 / 51 / 64 Magic Damage on cast and every 1 second for 3 seconds. Adds 2 Charges of Frosted for 4 seconds whenever damage is applied.

-Grants 300 AoE clearvision for 4 seconds.

Frosted Effect(s)
Movespeed Slow Per Charge: 0.02

3. Flash Freeze

Ellonia snaps the air around a target enemy dealing damage and stunning them.

Type: Magic
Range: 500
Cast Time: 0.3 Seconds
Mana Cost: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100
Cooldown: 15.0 Seconds
Required Level: 1 / 3 / 5 / 7

Activation
Target an enemy to deal 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 Magic Damage and apply a 1 second stun. Consumes all stacks of Frosted and deals an additional 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 Magic Damage and 0.05 second stun per Charge of Frosted.

leaves 1 corpse at target's feet.

Max stun duration is 3 seconds.

4. Absolute Zero

Ellonia releases a moving orb that freezes the air around it slowing and damage enemies.

Type: Magic
Range: 1,200
Cast Time: 0.3 Seconds
Mana Cost: 150 / 250 / 350
Cooldown: 100.0 / 80.0 / 60.0 Seconds
Required Level: 6 / 11 / 16

Activation
Target a location to launch a moving orb that pulses every 0.1 / 0.08 / 0.06 seconds dealing up to 40 Magic Damage depending on their distance from the center. Targets near the center receive roughly 300 / 400 / 500 Magic Damage. Adds 1 Charge of Frosted for 4 seconds whenever damage is applied.

-Deals damage and slows in a 400 Radius AoE.
-Travels at 500 speed.
-Grants 1,000 AoE Clearvision.

Frosted Effect(s)
Movespeed Slow Per Charge: 0.02

HoN Ellonia Item build:-

HoN Ellonia Skill Build:-

HoN Hero Spotlight Ellonia

HoN Ellonia Guide:-

Introduction:

This is an introductory guide to Ellonia; the spam heavy skillshot hero able to maintain consistent AOE damage while crippling enemy movement. Her only limitation is her mana pool.

Strategy :

Ellonia performs best as a solo mid hero but may also be partnered with a stun or disable.

When playing solo lane, try to focus primarily on getting a last hit while hitting an enemy with the same cast of Glacial Spike. Ellonia combined with a stun or disable partner will guarantee her successful spell hits.

One point in Flash Freeze will stun for the same duration at all levels. Leveling this ability early be used to burst enemies down.

Frigid Field is maxed later on in the game once Ellonia has a higher mana pool and can sustain the cost in combination with Glacial Spike.

Absolute Zero, has a high variance in damage but will always add alot of frost stacks. Anytime you can reliable hit a target with the center, go for it.

Ellonia is very fragile and survives on kiting her enemies. She can cripple enemies indefinitely with her spells making heavy mana items like Ring of Sorcery or Kuldra's Sheepstick ideal.

[Drunken Master]

2014-04-20T10:10:00.000+01:00

For the Drunken Master, there exists only a single cardinal rule: that booze shall flow, freely and indefinitely. At first apathetic to the Hellbourne threat, the Drunken Master lept to action when a wise sage explained to him that should the Hellbourne overrrun Newerth, there would be no more booze. Armed with expert combat techniques and fueled by questionable substances, the Drunken Master embodies that which is unpredictable and unyielding.

Hello everyone and welcome to my second guide, this time for Drunken Master, my favourite hero.

1. What is drunken master?
Drunken master is a physical damage carry, that can gank very well and is a very good choice for mid.

2. Pros and Cons
Pros:
-Great mobility
-Good survivability
-Good ganker
-Good mid hero
-Good laner
-Since his ultimate makes him immune to targeted spells and projectiles, many heroes can't touch him with it activated (hence the name Untouchable)

Cons:
-Requires farm to be effective
-Countered by armor
-Without your ultimate activated you are quite squishy, that is unless it's late game and you have Shrunken/Demonic/Behe Heart.
-Mana runs out fast

3. Abilities

Q - Lunge - Target an enemy to lunge at it, hitting it with an Enhanced Attack, dealing 70 / 80 / 90 / 100% of your Attack Damage + 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 and then spinning around it for up to 1.5 seconds.

At the end of the spin, or upon using the ability again, you will deal another Enhanced Attack and push the target 400 units away from you.

With 2 Drunk charges: Applies a 20 / 30 / 40 / 50% Movespeed Slow for 3 seconds

Strong ability, can be used to push enemies to your allies, or save your allies by pushing an enemy away from them. BUT, it's not a good idea to max this first, because your other two abilities are more important. Will also apply a 20/30/40/50% slow if you have 2 Drunk charges. Protip1: Always use Stagger(if you have atleast two drink charges) first and then Lunge. Why? At level 5, you Stagger onto an enemy dealing 120 damage(that's assuming it's rank 3 ofcourse) and get the 50 Attack Damage and Movement Speed buff. Throw in some auto attacks, Lunge twice and that's some insane damage. 2 Lunges = 140% Attack Damage + 70.

Range - 400

Cooldown - 14/12/10/8

W - Drink - Passively gives a Drunk charge every 4.5/4/3.5/3 seconds up to a max of 3/5/7/9 Drunk charges. On use, channels for up to 2 seconds to gain 25 health per Drunk charge. If an enemy hero within 500 distance dies, you gain 2/3/4/5 Drunk Charges.

Empowers your other abilities, heals you when you use it. There isn't really much to say.

Mana cost - 50 mana

Cooldown - 20 seconds

E - Stagger - Target a location to stagger there, following pathing, and deal 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 Physical Damage at the end of the movement. Deals 1,5x the damage to non-hero units. Disjoints on use.

With 2 Drunk charges: Grants 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 Movement Speed and Attack Damage for 4 seconds.

Your farming tool. Deals mediocre damage(to non-hero units), escape on a short cooldown that will also give MS and Attack Damage if you have 2 Drunk charges. Did I mention it also disjoints for big plays? Level 4 Stagger in combination with Ghost Marchers makes you very hard to catch. Protip2: If you missed to block the creeps in mid lane, don't be afraid to Stagger, it's only 45 mana out of 260 at level 1.Protip3: Never block the Ranged Creep, let it go first so it dies and doesn't push the lane. That way you get lane control.

Cooldown - 9/8/7/6

Range - 300

Mana cost - 45/50/55/60

R - Untouchable - On use, the Drunken Master becomes Untouchable, negating all enemy abilties targeted at him and ability projectiles that touch him and gaining 25 / 50 / 75 Attack Speed for 6 / 8 / 10 seconds.

With 2 Drunk charges: Additionally, reduces all damage taken by 20 / 30 / 40% for the duration

This ability is what makes Drunken Master counter so many heroes. It gives you Attack Speed, negates all targeted abilities and projectiles. It also reduces damage taken by a huge % if you have 2 Drunk charges.

4. Hero attributes
Main attribute: Strength

Strength 23 (+2.6)

Agility 17 (+1.6)

Intelligence 20 (+2.0)

Damage 54-59

Health 587

Mana 260

Armor 2.88

Move speed 300

Attack type: Melee (128)

5. Mid Matchups
You can play this hero in lane, but I prefer to play him in mid.

Heroes you want to face mid:
Devourer - He hooks you, Stagger away. You are in trouble? Lunge and push him away then Stagger. Stagger with + Damage from Drunk Charges and Lunge does more damage than his Rot + Hook combo. If you weren't already dominating him, get Untouchable at level 6 and there is nothing that he can do as it blocks Devour and Guttling Hook.

Pebbles - He has non existent Armor, meaning you will do alot of damage with your Stagger + Lunge combo. Also Pebbles rarely get Iron Buckler, so harass him.

Soulstealer - No escape mechanism, low armor. Prevent him from getting creep kills, and when possible always harass him with Stagger + Auto Attacks. Once you hit level 4, he is done for. But keep in mind, his Demon Hands still do quite a lot of damage, so if you see 2 or more allied creeps on low health, try to stay away.

Thunderbringer - Look Soulstealer

Wretched Hag - And yet again, low HP, low Armor. When she comes close to harass you, use Stagger and then Auto Attacks. At level 4, what I usually like to do is, Stagger > 1 or 2 Auto Attack(s), if she hasn't pussied out at this point (blinked away) Lunge her back, predict the blink and start running to infront of her, then Auto Attacks again and Stagger her for the kill. You can Disjoint her Q with Stagger too.

Heroes that you will do ok agnaist:

Bubbles - Pretty much the same as Hag, though it's more difficult since Bubbles has a better escape mechanism, can avoid damage from Stagger if Take Cover is on auto, can stun you(at level 6) and can silence you.

Nomad - Nomad is one of those annoying melee heroes, that you should get a Iron Buckler agnaist. His Harassment will be very annoying, get Ring of the Teacher and Ringmail (which builds into Sol's Buckler)

Rampage - Look Nomad. Always Ping/Write or say over Voice Chat if Rampage is missing from the lane

Magmus - Low armor, low hp and an escape mechanism. Sound similar to Hag or Bubbles? Nope. When he kills one of your creeps with E, it will do alot of damage to you, he has a invisibility ability (even though not every Mid Magmus gets it) and the escape mechanism will stun if he did it correctly.

Fayde - THE most annoying melee hero. Period. Drains your mana, stuns you, has invisibility at level 6. Again, always call missing over Voice Chat, write it or ping.

Monkey King - And yet another annoying melee hero. His combo will do alot of damage to you, but so will yours. He will almost always get the rune.

Gladiator - Gladiator's E works on denies, which is very annoying. Other than that, he can't do anything to you except annoy you with Flaggelation.

Dampeer - Ask for ganks. You may win your lane easily, but Dampeer can snowball very easily. Get Vestments

Deadwood - Quite hard to deny creeps with his Hatchet + W combo. He can also deny creeps easily. Deadwood is a tanky hero, so killing him will be a hard job, especially when he has that ultimate. Get yours at level 6

- Barely any armor, stun prevents you from killing him unless you play it big and sidestep it. Very annoying in the lane, like Chipper, get Vestments ASAP after Bottle and Boots.

Silhouette - She does alot of damage with her harrassment with E and if you go on her, Q and then E will demolish you. Other than that, squishy as ****, she DOES have an escape mechanism but keep in mind she needs a tree to use it. Level 4(or 3) you outdamage her.

Chipper- Get Vestments after Bottle and Boots ASAP. Chipper has no escape mechanism either, but has a MSpeed and ASpeed AoE Slow. He also isn't as squishy as the other Int Heroes. His harrassment will be annoying, and you can't kill him, so your best bet would be to call a gank from an ally. Get ultimate at level 6 here.

Heroes you dont want to face mid:

Kinesis - Kinesis just utterly destroys you. Trying to win mid agnaist this hero is like trying to kill Kongor at level 1 with Witch Slayer. It's not gonna happen.

Lord Salforis - Keeps you away from farming with his E, not to mention it helps him regen the harass you put on him. If that wasn't enough, he can spam W which costs very little mana and just heal it back up.

Arachna - Ask your team to gank, the harrassment Arachna dishes out is incredibly annoying and effective.

Gunblade - If you go into Stagger > Auto Attacks combo on him he will outdamage you since he has that Shield, and his E would do much more damage when you are close range.

Gauntlet - Damage Drain, his Q will deal insane amount of damage to you. Get ultimate at level 6.

Blood Hunter - Constantly casts Blood Frenzy on you, which silences you so you can't use your abilities. It may increase your base damage, but it's a DoT and he doesn't give a **** about your harrassment or Blood Frenzy increased Auto Attacks, he will just heal it back up.

Heroes I should have included but I have never faced mid:

6. Skill Build -

1 - E
2 - Q
3 - E
4 - W
5 - E
6 - W or R Depending on the situation
7 - E
8 - W
9 - If I didn't get R at level 6, I get it here. Otherwise W
10 - W
11 - R
12 - Q
13 - Q
14 - Q
15 - Stats
16 - R
17-25 - Stats

I max out Stagger for reduced cooldown, more damage, even more damage because of the buff and movement speed. You dont get ultimate early because teamfights wont be happening then. Though you might wanna get it at level 6 agnaist some heroes, such as Succubus, Deadwood or Witch Slayer so they don't kill you.

7. Item build

Start - Agnaist ranged heroes or Agnaist melee heroes. You may add like, a Health Potion or 2x Minor Totems, but I prefer not to.

Laning - (only if mid)

Core -

Luxury -

Some other items that are good - :dawn:(though I personally never get HotbL)

Troll Items -
- For complete stomp games
- Killing Heroes in the spawning pool is fun.
- Codex

8. Worst Enemies
Dark Lady - 2.5 Second Silence everytime Q is activated... ugh...
Jeraziah - SOOOOL'S BLESSING!
Legionnaire -A 3 Second Taunt makes you food for the enemy team. Not to mention increased Armor from the Taunt. Even Shrunken Head can't stop it from you being taunted.
Demonic Breastplate - Alot of Armor to the Hero who bought it and Armor Aura aswell.
Void Talisman - All of Drunken Master's damage is Physical.
Keeper of the Forest - YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY Keeper buffed his entire team with extra Armor!
Null Stone - You can't use your Lunge on heroes with Null Stone
Plague Rider - Even though he can literally do nothing with DM's ultimate activated, he buffs his team with Armor.

9. A few good matches
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[Berzerker]

2014-04-19T10:00:00.000+01:00

"When news of the war in Newerth reached the Berzerker, he hastily left his frozen homeland in the North. Though he holds no allegiance to the Legion, the chance to face hell's demons is one the Berzerker could not pass up. An incredible warrior with an indomitable will, the Berzerker's reckless disregard for his own life gives him strength and power seemingly beyond measure, albeit at a risk. Once he has steeled himself, only death will stop him from killing his foes."

Berzerker is a physical damage carry with insane amount of damage dealing potential.

1. Pros and Cons
Pros:
-Hard to escape from
-Good laning phase
-Good Mobility
-Slow and Immobilize in one skill
-Counters Invisibility Heroes
-Strength Sap makes him hard to kill
-Doesn't require a Shrunken Head because of his ultimate

Cons:
-No escape mechanism
-Item Dependant
-No Farming Mechanism (well a bad one)
-Mana problems early game
-Takes +15% damage taken with ultimate active and +30% with ultimate and Elder Parasite
-Weak without his ultimate active
-Countered by Armor and Void Talisman

2. Abilities

Q - Chain Spike - Target an enemy to attach a chain to them for 5 seconds. Deals 45 / 80 / 115 / 150 Physical Damage and applies a Tapering Movement Speed Slow. Activate again to deal another 45 / 80 / 115 / 150 Physical Damage and immobilize the target for 1.3 / 1.7 / 2.1 / 2.5 Seconds. Chain breaks at 850 distance or automatically activates for a second time after 5 seconds.

Mana Cost - 90/95/100/105

Cooldown - 14s

Range - 550

Don't waste this ability early game if you aren't sure you are gonna get the kill. Berzerker's only form(s) of CC, a Slow and Immobilize in one skill, that does decent damage aswell. Sadly, Immobilize =/= Stun so it doesn't cancel TP's.

W - Strength Sap - Activate to steal one strength and heal 10 health every 0.5 Seconds for 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 Seconds from all enemy heroes in a 600 unit radius. Buff lasts 6 seconds after sapping is finished. Deals 20 Magic Damage per 0.5 seconds to creeps in radius, up to 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 Magic Damage to creeps around you.

His "Farming Mechanism", this will keep you alive in teamfights and small skirmishes early game.

E - Mark for Death - Target an enemy hero to apply Marked for Death for 8 seconds, granting you vision of the target for the duration. When facing or moving towards the target you gain bonus 15 / 20 / 25 / 30% Movement Speed and 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 Attack Speed as well as Unitwalking with a 1.5 second linger time. Kills or assists reset the cooldown of this ability.

Gives True Vision, which means reveals Invisibilty and sights the target for 8 seconds while giving you Speed Bonuses, not much else to say.

R - Carnage - Activate to gain 40 / 60 / 80% Debuff and Stun Duration Reduction as well as grant your attacks bonus Physical Damage based on 6 / 7 / 8% of your maximum health for 12 Seconds. While under this effect, you take 15% bonus damage.

This is where all of the damage comes from, stuns don't bother you but strong nukes do.

4. Stats
Strength
24 (+2.7)
Agility
19 (+1.8)

Intelligence
16 (+1.5)

Damage
55-57

Health
606

Mana
208

Armor
3.16

Magic Armor
5.5

Move speed
300

Attack type
Melee (128)

5. Matchups
The only lane Berzerker should be sent to is short lane farming, with a support. Or in a Trilane long lane. But these matchups are vs Suicides

Easy:
Scout - Q + E on lvl 2 with the assistance of your support = dead scout
Madman- Pretty much the same as scout
Swiftblade - If you see him spin and your support is in danger, Q him and after the spin ended should result in an easy kill.
Keeper of the Forest - Even though I haven't played agnaist KotF suicide as Berz before, should be the same as Scout but keep in mind Keeper is much tankier and might need lvl 3 or 4 for a kill
Grniex - Same as scout with the exception that he can remove your Chain(both unactivated and activated) by using Q on someone, shouldn't stop you from getting a kill.

Medium:
Kraken - If your support leaves you alone vs Kraken it's gonna be hard, and he is really hard to kill.
Wretched Hag - Should be an easy kill after you get your (Steam)Boots, again if your support leaves you alone Hag will harrass you big time.
Rally - Same as Kraken except much worse harassment.

Hard:
Bubbles - Take Cover, just like Grinex's Q removes your Chain, but on top of that he can escape at will with Shell Surf.

5. Skill Build

1. Q
2. E
3. Q
4. W
5. Q
6. R
7. Q
8. W
9. W
10. W
11. R
12-14. E
15. Stats
16. R
17-25. Stats

Pretty obvious why maxing out Q, E is % based so its for last and W is a really good ability that will help you stay alive. Obviously Ultimate whenever possible.

6. Item Build
Items bought in the order they are put into, with the exception of the situational Lifetube/HotBL

Start - (or something of the sort

Laning - Into a Helm of the Black Legion as first item if you are agnaist 2 enemies, or just having trouble staying in lane. If agnaist a Suicide skip Lifetube and HotBL buy from the Sideshop and finish 4-5 mins in.

Core - - EP and Insanitarius work extremely well with Carnage, while Staff of the Master is core because it increases damage, decreases damage taken from ultimate, allows you to activate ultimate while initiated on with a stun/taunt etc. and fixes mana problems (kind of)

Luxury - If the game is still going on at this point go for and sell for

Other good items - (might be needed in a case of a Wingbow)(if you are gonna buy it sell)

[Bramble]

2014-04-18T01:37:00.000+01:00

Bramble

Bramble is a huge asset to line ups that have a melee carry, or two other initiating strength heroes. To be honest she works well in almost any lineup, but i've found she synergizes well with melee heroes. Her w is one of the most cost effective skills in the game and scales hardcore. Essentially, she is a support tank and definitely wont be doing the damage, but she allows her team to easily and effectively clean up the enemy team. Everyone of her abilities has offensive and defensive capabilities, and to me this is what makes bramble truly unique (and fun!)

Her skills:

Spore Breath
-Activate to spew out spores in front of you, dealing up to 100/175/250/325 magic damage over 2.5 seconds. For 0.5 Seconds after damage finishes, anyone within the cone will be stunned for 1.75 seconds.

Her main damage dealer, and disable, this skill is useful in many ways. Typically, you do not want to start the fight, because when you pop your q and begin to run at the enemy they should run and/or stun you to avoid your stun, therefore you should stay at the front and be ready to pop this skill the second a fight starts, or an enemy is caught out of place. When the fight does start, don't focus on the front of your enemies group. You should run towards the back with your q active so you can stun the more squishy and important heroes like Flint, EW, and Pyro. This stun can also be used defensively. If you're being chased, press q wait almost three seconds and turn around really fast, if you hit the stun it could be a great way to escape, however the timing is just a bit tricky to get down, so if you turn around and miss the stun you're likely dead.

Ensnaring Shubbery
-Target an ally or yourself to enshroud yourself with shrubbery for 3/4/5/6 seconds. Enemies around the target are slowed for 25%/30%/35%/40%. While affected by Ensnaring Shrubbery, taking hero damage heals yourself and all allies in a 400 unit radius for 40% of the damage applied.

This skill is brambles lifeblood, however I recommend maxing it last. One level in ensnaring shubbery is enough to get through the early game and sets you up perfectly for the rest of your skills. This skill is good for those pesky tower divers, it doesn't matter which team is diving either. If you have a dumb teammates whos going to tower dive that pyro you might as well try to save him. Put your w onto him and run in with your q activated. He will slow everyone around him, therefore catching pyro and keeping those enemy heroes at bay, then when the enemy team does attack/burst him he (and you if you're in a 400 unit radius) will heal for 40% of that damage. Then your stun from your q will go off stunning those enemies, and you and your ally can (hopefully) walk out alive, especially if the rest of your team isn't just standing around for all of this. The same principle works if someone is diving you or an ally, cast w on the person being dived and that diver will be slowed if hes melee most likely resulting in death esp when combined with your stun, also it will heal his damage to the person hes diving by 40%. In those late game fights, use this skill on the hero taking the most damage, he and your allies in the radius are healed for 40% if he takes 1000 damage, you have the best healing spell in the game, this is why its important to realize exactly who is at risk and who will most likely be attacked on your team, don't just shrub yourself to slow enemies, make sure you're getting that heal out of it, because its powerful. It's a win-win scenario.

Combat Vigor
-Passively grants you and nearby ally heroes and player controlled units a tapering 25/50/75/100% movement speed buff when they attack. Movement Speed bonus is halved for ranged heroes.

This skill blends in with the offensive/defensive nature. That tower diver on your team gets move speed when he attacks, and it makes kiting easier for your team, esp in the early levels. I would recommend getting at least one level in this skill before level five, but I typically get two with the second point on level five.

Entangling Vine Wall
-Click and drag the cursor in a direction to summon a Vine Wall there. Vine Wall spawns 16 plants that have 250 attack range and deal 20/30/40 damage per attack as well as slow for 30/40/50% for 1.5 seconds. The vine wall lasts 6/8/10 seconds.

This is the icing on the cake folks, walls are multifunctional as well. Have one of those pesky flints on the enemy team that like to run up and flare? Next time he does, put a wall right behind him, press q run at him, and your team gets a free kill. It takes a really good aim if the attacker is melee but you can stop your allies from being chased by putting a wall in between the attacker and them, and then likely turn it around on the attacker due to the slow and damage from the wall. Try to always place walls where they disrupt your enemy, and do the most damage at the same time. The above example with flint isn't necessarily the best way to use the wall, its best to block multiple enemies to get the most out of this ability.

Her items

I like to build bramble with massive health, and a barbed armor on top of it. I've found that bramble doesn't really need damage mitigation, because she has the built in mitigation that doesn't actually count as mitigation. Barbed armor is only a good idea if you find the enemy team is focusing you a lot, in the first place, you'll never really be the priority target for the enemy team if they're smart, so use barbed armor at your discretion. If you don't get barbed then it is a good idea to buy some armor, but i find health on bramble is more useful.

Starting items
-Mana Battery: This will help with mana issues in the early game, and could possibly save your life. Pretty much a midwars staple anyways.
-Iron Buckler: Built into helm later on, also allows you to stay near the front lines so you can land your stun with Q.
-Runes of the blight: Health regen, you'll need it.

How we build from here

I will never finish the power supply, just seems like a waste to me. Typically the first item i get after starting is red boots, and then i don't upgrade them until i have completed my core. This is another reason why i like to get bramble's e early on, it gives her the ability to delay tier 2 boots for awhile. Then build your helm of the black legion starting with lifetube, only getting mystic vestments after lifetube if necessary, i consider it necessary when the enemy team has 3-5 heroes with primarily magic damage. After the helm i build an icon of the goddess. This is because of the max health boost and the regen when an enemy hero near you dies. And once you have icon you are a tower diving machine. Just run in throw a wall behind the enemies q and w, if the enemy team focuses you and your team follows you should be able to wipe them. Don't be afraid to take that tower damage! As soon as one enemy hero dies you will automatically get a 300 health heal over 10 seconds, and it will refresh when the next one dies. This kind of play rewards a bramble that knows exactly how much damage she can take and can bait well too. With a barbed armor on top of all this you become a powerhouse if the enemies are attacking you. If you do get barbed, use it in conjunction with your W. Your enemies will have 80% of ALL true Damage they do to you reflected, however you're only taking 60% of their true damage. So...

Core items:
-Helm of the black legion: Provides more health so enemies can do more damage to you, also the 30 damage block is nice for just a little mitigation.
-Icon of the Goddess: Even more health, mana, and that heal when enemies die is perfect for taking damage. Not to mention the charge based regen.
-Barbed Armor: This is situational. If the enemy team is focusing who they should be, you'd be better off getting an armor aura.
-Whatever boots you like.

Luxury items:
-Behemoths Heart: Adds even more health to use against the enemy in conjunction with barbed, also really nice regen in conjunction with icon.

LOL items:
Elder Parasite: If you want to be cheesy and are really rolling with that barbed, you can get an elder to increase the damage they do to you, in turn making you do more damage to them, while completely negating the effects of the elder with your w and still healing 20% of that damage they do to you. not to mention it also adds more health... It's a win-win-win scenario.

[Pyromancer] - Playing with fire

2014-04-16T10:30:00.000+01:00

Introduction
____________________

Pyromancer is an extremely strong solo laner. His long range combined with having two nukes, one of which is a stun make him really hard to deal with. He is probably the best hero for getting kills without the help of allies just from the burst he has.

With the attack speed he gets from his passive, Pyromancer with no real items can output quite a bit of physical damage, which means that while anti-magic items like Shaman's Headress etc. are good against him, they aren't hard counter, which means Pyromancer can go late game against them, no problemo!
The DoT component from his passive is extremely good at killing towers and at killing Kongor.

Stats

Base Damage - 43-49
Attack Range - 600 (Ranged)
Movement Speed - 295
Armor - 1.14
Magic Armor - 5.5
Strength - 18 (1.5)
Agility - 16 (1.5)
Intelligence - 24 (3.2) Main Attribute
Cast point/backswing: 0.4/0.9
Damage point/backswing: 0.45/0.75
Missile speed: 900
Turn Rate: 0.45

Pros and Cons

+ One of the Best Solo Heroes in the Game
+ Extremely Good for Pubstomping
+ Team Independant
+ Good Farming Skills
+ High Magical and Physical Damage Output
+ Fun to Play
+ Can Fit About Any Role
- Unrealiable Stun
- Squishy and Often Focused
- Highly Level Dependant
- Not Very Mobile Without Portal Key
- Crappy Base Strength and Gain

____________________

Skill Build

Dragonfire
Fervor / Phoenix Wave
Phoenix Wave
Phoenix Wave / Fervor / Dragonfire*
Phoenix Wave
Blazing Strike
Phoenix Wave
Dragonfire / Fervor
Dragonfire / Fervor
Dragonfire / Fervor
Blazing Strike
Fervor / Dragonfire
Fervor / Dragonfire
Fervor / Dragonfire
Attribute Boost
Blazing Strike

Dragonfire is your most powerful spell at level one, so that's the first one you're getting.
The early point in Fervor for extra harassment power and tower damage is usually better than having one extra level on Dragonfire so you want to have that. Skipping it is acceptable, but I highly suggest taking one level in Fervor.
Phoenix Wave is more reliable for last hitting or harassing than Dragonfire, so it is leveled as the main nuke.
The choice between maxing Fervor or maxing Dragonfire is quite simple; Early burst is more important than more points in Fervor, unless you need the Fervor for pushing and/or Kongor.
Blazing Strike is taken on chance for damage improvement
*While playing on a sidelane, or a trilane, unless you are planning to go for early push, you should skip the Fervor and get a bit more burst.

____________________

Items
____________________

Starting Items

90g150g185g

53g53g53g
Total Cost: 584

This starting build might be slightly risky, but it is very powerful. You get a total of 5 in all stats and a bonus of 3 in Intelligence, while also fastening your Grave Locket. Runes of Blight can be replaced with a Health Potion if you wish.

I find the other starting builds inferior compared to those above, but if you have a preference on some other build, feel free to.

If for some reason you are playing as a support, you might have to buy Wards of Sight:
Cost: 100g each

Pre-Core & Core

(and/or)

()
Bottle is the first item you will buy. It solves both your health and mana problems, and makes rune-whoring much more effective. If you are not soloing middle, then you might skip it.

Marchers are an obvious choice for any hero - But Grave Locket or Marchers, which one first? The rule of thumb is; If the Marchers help you get runes (enemy doesn't have any blinking skill) then get them first. Otherwise Grave Locket first. And by the time you buy these, get the Ward of Sight if you wish to have a lane ward.

Grave Locket is awesome on Pyromancer. It allows him to play extremely aggressive, as well as farm with his spells because of the added stats. Even if you happen to die, as long as it has its charge, you spawn faster.

Steamboots are the best boot choice. They have great synergy with Bottle and Blood Chalice, and provide you some extra needed health, as well as more attack speed for DPS purposes.

Post Haste is basically the only other viable option. They provide you with EXCELLENT mobility, for the cost of no hp, no extra dps, and loss of extra 1000+ gold. Generally I don't suggest these on Pyromancer, because I find Steamboots suit me better. They are decent choice though, so feel free!

Ghost Marchers are mediocre. The added movespeed is not necessary on Pyromancer, as you will be getting a Portal Key anyways. Steamboots are much better for farming, and keep you alive. Sure Ghost Marchers give damage, but Steamboots give attack speed.

Striders are the last choice. Pyromancer is not a ganker who should be roaming all around the map, he should focus on farming and only countergank, or gank if he gets a Haste or so. If you have so poor farm that you can't afford Steamboots, simply go drop couple neutral camps, get your Steamboots, and start farming quickly.

Power Supply is a great item. The mana/health for the price is way too good to skip for most of the games. But it is not necessary for your strategy, and you run out of inventory slots soon if you pick it up. However, it is so cheap, yet so useful, that you should in most cases get them.

Blood Chalice is a good item on Pyromancer because it works so well with Bottle and Steamboots and supplies him with mana to use his skills more often. The problem is that you lack inventory slots, so personally I don't suggest this item.

Portal Key or Tablet of Command will be your first major purchase. I find Tablet of Command superior because it can be used in so many ways. Not only does it provide you stats, has easier buildup, is slightly cheaper, but it can also be used the proc the opposing Nullstone, or to save an ally - or escape yourself. Portal Key on the other hand has a much higher blink range.
As of why you need these items, Pyromancer is highly based on positioning and needs some sort of mobility in order to gank properly, as the Stun is easy to dodge if the enemy sees you beforehand.
I usually get both of them, because it also makes it possible for me to Portal Key in, instakill an enemy, and escape with the help of the Tablet of Command - Or if the enemy has a Nullstone, I can blink in and proc it without losing my ulti on the Nullstone.

Glowstone can be taken after Tablet of Command/Portal Key to boost your HP and mana in case you are going for SotM or Frostwolf's Skull later on. 1200 Gold for what it gives is quite huge at this point of the game. Personally I just go straight up for a Blessed Orb however.

Luxury Items

After your core items are finished, just look at the game and see what you need. Generally, if you have a real carry, and you are not having terrible farm, Sheepstick is the first choice to go for.

The item is just too strong to skip on Pyromancer. Pretty self-explanatory.

Hellflower should generally be built if the person you bought Sheepstick for farmed a Nullstone, or your team needs more disable, on top of adding vast amounts to your damage. Provides you with basically infinity mana on top of that. If you ONLY want to proc the Nullstone off, consider getting Tablet of Command or Stormspirit.

Frostwolf's Skull provides you with huge amounts of extra stats, especially HP. On top of that, it is a great counter to opposing Shrunken Heads, Swiftblades and Predators.

Shrunken Head is a great pickup if you need to be reckless, and the enemies have lots of magical nukes / disables. It doesn't help if the enemies are initiating on you (well, unless they don't stun you, which never happens). It allows you to blink in with Portal Key and bring down key targets uninterrupted. Even if your team has a main initiator, Shrunken Head is always a good item on Pyromancer if you're facing a cast-heavy team.

DPS

If your team is in need of a real carry, or you are simply dominating, consider getting one or more of these items.

Harkon's Blade is the best item DPS-wise on Pyromancer. However, it is countered by a Shrunken Head, and the manacost can be quite huge as it adds up. Remember to hit the enemy before casting your spells if you have this item.

Savage Mace is the second best item DPS-wise. However, if your enemy has a Wingbow or they have lots of channeling spells, you might want to buy Savage over Harkon's.

Charged Hammer is highly underrated. It provides almost as much DPS as Savage, however, it provides you with some magic damage instead of physical - meaning that Shrunken Head also counters it. The activatable part can be great as well.

Harkon's Blade + Charged Hammer can be a great combination, considering you lower the magic damage, and then the lightning procs deal even more magical damage. However, in total they cost quite a chunk, and provide you zero survivability.

In general, if you need more of defensive items, get Shrunken Head / Frostwolf's Skull, and for the more offensive part Hellflower/an item under the DPS-title

Situational Items

Nullstone is taken to counter strong single target spells. So this is the reason why would you get in on Pyromancer. Keep in mind, that if the spells are magical, you are usually better off with Shrunken Head.

Stormspirit can be in multiple ways; Save an ally / yourself by dodging a skill with it. Or, use it on an opponent to make him easy target for your stun when he lands, or to escape his wrath. Keep in mind, with Stormspirit + PK, if you don't take damage in 0.5 seconds, use Stormspirit and you can PK away after. Great for proccing an opposing Nullstone if necessary.

Items to Avoid in General

The following 4 items are bad pickups for any game.

Assasin's Shroud is not even comparable to Portal Key. Sure the invisibility might provide a decent escape mechanism, but the enemies WILL buy revelation and counter it. It is also much more expensive than Portal Key.

Sacrificial Stone is in general a bad item for basically any hero. As for Pyromancer, the mana from it is completely wasted. Need HP? Get Shrunken Head or Frostwolf's Skull. Sac. Stone is just inferior compared to other possible items.

Codex, while does increase your burst, also leaves you with no hp, and upgrading the Codex takes 7000 gold away from you. That could easily go for Hellflower AND a Blessed Orb.

Harkon's Blade, Savage Mace and Charged Hammer all give superior DPS compared to Shieldbreaker.

The following 5 items are extremely situational

Spellshards make you deal much more magic damage, for the cost of no HP. But in some games, it actually works. If you are sure that you will stay alive without extra health items, then you may get them.

Staff of the Master is the same as above, except it trades off some damage for some health, which is IMO preferable.

Behemoth's Heart is not necessarily bad on Pyromancer, just that the other items mentioned are better. But if you really want extra HP, and don't want to / already have Frostwolf's Skull, feel free to get it.

Daemonic Breastplate can be great in case your team already has heroes such as Demented Shaman or Pestilence - or the enemies have them.

Frostfield Plate is a quite mediocre item for Pyromancer. It should only be taken if you really, really, REALLY need the armor, and the enemies need to be slowed. i.e. the enemies have Deadwood + Madman + Maliken, or something similiar.

[Accursed] The tankiest of carries

2014-04-15T20:00:00.000+01:00

INTRODUCTION

Accursed is a tanky monstrosity who can become extremely annoying for the enemy and is difficult to kill.

This guide focuses on Accursed played as a nasty DPS carry. If you're looking for support Accursed, look somewhere else!

HOW TO PLAY

Accursed is best played in a side lane with a ranged hero. Use your Fire Shield to adsorb damage while you run in to last hit creeps. Grab Scarab ASAP at the outpost to build Ring of the Teacher and help solve your mana issues.

Ghost Marchers go great on Accursed. The give him excellent mobility, synergize well with your stacking slows, and will help get you out of a bad situation.

Continue building into a hard carry. Dawnbringer again boosts everything you need, and Demonic gives more attack speed and survivability. Heart for more Strength, and finally Rifthards for big damage.

Accursed is one of the hardest carries in the game once he gets fat.

START

LANING

CORE

LUXURY

Skill Build

LVL 1 - W

LVL 2 - Q

LVL 3 - W

LVL 4 - Q

LVL 5 - Q

LVL 6 - R

LVL 7 - Q

LVL 8 - W

LVL 9 - W

LVL 10 - E

LVL 11 - R

LVL 12 - E

LVL 13 - E

LVL 14 - E

LVL 15 - +

LVL 16 - R

LVL 17 - +

LVL 18 - +

LVL 19 - +

LVL 20 - +

LVL 21 - +

LVL 22 - +

LVL 23 - +

LVL 24 - +

LVL 25 - +

Arachna - the poor mans carry

2014-04-14T15:30:00.000+01:00

NTRODUCTION

Arachna is easily one of the best carries around - she can easily top 700 dps (not to be confused with dmg per attack) if built right. Add to that her easy laning phase (due to her +dmg skill and the ability to orb-walk) and her ability to easily gank most heroes throughout the game and you have yourself a can't-fail carry.

HOW TO PLAY

Go solo-mid or easy lane. Level webbed shot first so you can orb walk (attack the enemy hero by clicking on the skill then on him, instead of right-clicking the skill and auto-attacking the enemy - this doesn't attract creep or tower aggro) from the get-go, you follow up with two levels of Precision so you can out-lasthit your enemy, and get up to level 3 webbed shot before your ulti so you can auto-cast (right-click) it when you gank someone with the ulti.

Set the steamboots to STR for survivability, and (if you're solo-mid) gank (would be best if you can get a rune, but not really necessary) - getting a tp scroll is the best way to avoid the enemy calling miss on you or being spotted by their wards of sight.

Shroud is your bread and butter and you can even get it against pesti (he ulties you, you debuff with your 2nd skill, then invis), and the lifesteal is there to help against enemy carries. Savage and shards give the most damage possible. Get SH if you're getting disabled a lot

START

LANING

CORE

LUXURY

LVL 1 - Q

LVL 2 - E

LVL 3 - E

LVL 4 - Q

LVL 5 - Q

LVL 6 - R

LVL 7 - E

LVL 8 - E

LVL 9 - W

LVL 10 - Q

LVL 11 - R

LVL 12 - W

LVL 13 - W

LVL 14 - W

LVL 15 - +

LVL 16 - R

LVL 17 - +

LVL 18 - +

LVL 19 - +

LVL 20 - +

LVL 21 - +

LVL 22 - +

LVL 23 - +

LVL 24 - +

LVL 25 - +

Gemini Guide

2013-09-01T19:56:00.000+01:00

Guide brought to you by Mrhon2
http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?503545-The-Geminizier

Maliken, the fallen King

2013-01-05T16:31:00.001+00:00

Skill Build

1. Sword throw
2. Sword of the Damned
3. Sword throw
4. Sword of the Damned
5. Sword throw
6. Possession
7. Sword throw
8. Sword of the Damned
9. Sword of the Damned
10. Hellbourne Zeal
11. Possession
12-14. Hellbourne Zeal
15. Stats
16. Possession
17+ Stats

Justification

Level 1 Sword throw is a lot more useful than a Level 1 Sword of the Damned. Here are a few reasons why:
• Sword throw has a 20% slow and a blink
• Excellent for a Blood Lust attempt
• Escape a level 1 enemy gank
• The range increases by a decent difference so it increases mobility
So now we know why we level Sword throw first.

Why Hellbourne Zeal at Level 10?
By level 10, you would have already have maxed Sword throw and Sword of the Damned. Leveling it early on is a waste of a skill point, as these two skills are much more valuble at early levels. This is because your damage is not that high in early game too fully make use of it.

Possession is taken whenever possible because its crucial for your initiation with Sword throw. Its a powerful skill and scales nicely throughout the game.

Items

Starting Item

Option 1

This is a popular build that gives you health regen, hatchet for last hitting and other uses and crushing claws can be used to make a bracer or Chalice. Ofcourse crushing claws gives 45 hp and 3 damage. Thus overall, this option gives a boost in survivability early on, as well as some aid in last hitting.

Option 2

This option, you get one health regen item, which is the good old health pot, use it if your very low life due to heavy harassments. Two minor totems for some survivability and last hitting power. Mana pot is for an extra throw i guess. This build is very solid and the totems can be used to complete a power supply.

Option 3

Pretty self-explanatory. A very very common starting build for carries. However you dont need to follow these builds every game. If your confident with last hitting, you may not pick up the hatchet and get the buckler only, plus some regen and totems.

THERE IS NO PERFECT BUILD

The reason i am not making a full build for each option is because its pretty much YOUR choice. You should make items thats good for you in that situation. I mean. There are not many combinations of items that are appropriate to start with, taking into fact you only have 603 gold in your pocket at the start usually. Unless you buy boots first, Or something completely retarded. Anyway, these are possible items you may pick up.

Possible Core

Stats

+10 Strength/Agility/Intelligence
+25 Attack Speed
+60 Movement Speed

Explanation
Best boots for Maliken. This is the only boot that scales. You benefit from the attack speed and can switch the attributes of the boots. You never know you might need the bonus mana. Please dont buy ghost marchers. You dont need the extra raw damage since you have Enchanted Flames skill. Sure the active skill grants mobility but for a strength carry, i think steamboots is better. Also Maliken needs the attack speed! You cannot rely on your passive for attack speed because it requires for you to be in low or medium health.

Stats

+3 Strength
+3 Agility
+3 Intelligence

Explanation
Power Supply is just so good! I get this on every hero. Again, very effective if enemy team has alot of spammers such as Thunder Bringer, Armadon etc. People may underestimate the burst heal it may provide. To be exact, it restores 10 health and 15 mana per charge with a maximum of 15 charges. In a full on team fight, this can provide 150 hp and 225 mana at max! Very useful for clutch plays and mind games. This item has a 17 second cooldown.

Stats

+3 Strength
+3 Intelligence

Explanation
It's a feasible item for those that enjoy spamming, in other words, solves your mana problems. The regen is nice and it should be on your mind as an option. Your Life Essence in conjunction with this item has synergy. Attack creeps to restore health and then activate this for mana. Just incase you didnt know, on use, it removes 150 health and grants 100 mana. If an enemy hero within 700 AOE is killed before 15 seconds after use, you are healed back the initial 150 health you traded. This item has a 35 second cooldown so try using it everytime its avaliable unless your mana is full.

Explanation
Always carry this! You can use it to escape ganks, immediately go to defend a tower so you can deny it or prepare for a team fight, respond to teammate when enemy towerdive and so on. A must have regardless. Its good practice to carry this when you play.

Stats

+20 Damage
+5 Armor
+15% Life Steal

Explanation
The most common attack modifier on this hero. It stacks with your Life Essence so why not! Plus it can get upgraded to Symbol of Rage which is a very powerful item. Whispering Helm plus your passive synergises well. You can also control a creep with its active ability. Try getting a minotaur or ice orge for their ability. You can also get a minotaur or catman champion to stack ancients for the fact they are not so squishy. Oh, also buy the Helm of the Victim first as opposed to Hungry Spirit. The armor and hp regen is better than a 10% lifesteal. Plus this is early stage and i doubt your damage is high enough to benefit from 10%.

Dominating a creep cost 75 mana and the cooldown is 300 seconds. Funny thing is, there is no cap to how many you enslave.

Stats

+10 Strength
+24 Damage

Explanation
A very good item, if not the best item in the game. I know i said items are situational but you should just get it so you dont get permanently disabled. Maliken is famous for raping teams with just this item. Besides, there will always be a stuner or high burst nuker fag who cant wait to kill you. Cooldown is 80 seconds and thats probably enough time to use it in the next big clash.

Want to know more? The magic immunity lasts 10 seconds and dispels debuffs from self also which cannot be dispelled. Secondly, each time Shrunken Head is used, the duration of magic immunity is reduced by a second and its cooldown is reduced by 5 seconds. The duration of Magic Immunity will not go below 5 seconds, nor will the cooldown go below 55 seconds.

Stats

+12 Damage
+25 Attack Speed
+5 Armor
+3 Health Regeneration

Explanation
Get this early and it will be of use. Dont forget to turn it off just when it starts to quickly kill you and turn it back on for a sudden burst of hp. Insanitarious and lifesteal are a good combination. If your planning to buy this, get lifesteal first, and get this as soon as possible. Only reason its worth considering is because its cheap for the effects it provides when toggled.

When you activate it, you instantly replenish 475 Health and get the following: +25 strength, +31 damage and +10 Attack Speed. By the way, you actually get more health since it gives 25 strength. Yum! However, you lose 35 true damage per second. I see alot of noobs buying this item, turning it on and keeping it toggled for longer than they should. The cooldown is only applied when activating (not when toggling off), which means that one can (after the cooldown has worn off) toggle this item off and activate it right after healing yourself up to 475 health.

Possible Luxuries

Stats

+25 Strength
+20 Damage
+5 Armor
+25% Life Steal

Explanation
Symbol of Rage is so godly. Gives you passive 25% LifeSteal helps you last longer during battles and gives 45 damage. The real magic is its active ability which is just imba 150% life steal for 3.5 seconds upon activation! Sad thing is this items is quite expensive. Its nice to buy this if you bought whispering helm earlier on.

Stats

+10 Armor
+40 Attack Speed

Explanation
Contributes to team and team fights well. The two auras are really beneficial. Grants +10 armor and 40 attack speed. Works well with your Sword of the Damned and Possession skill. Also makes you tankier. I believe that this item makes a lot more impact in a team fight than a Heart on a single hero. Its more team orientated and because of that generally better to buy late game.

Stats

+35 Strength
+300 Hit Points

Explanation
Makes you tank. A very solid item on carries. Nothing more to say, just gives **** loads of hp and bonus 40 damage. Heart is great for tanking heavy damage. Massive + 0.75% of max health regeneration per second allows you to quickly recover between teamfights, pushes etc.

Stats

+45 / 55 / 65 / 75 Damage

Explanation
I guess with your extreme attack speed as your health diminishes and the splash from Possession this is a wonderful item for raw damage. This item is quite cheap for its effect since its recipe-upgradeable. I'd rather this, than save up for the entire item such as Savage Mace for its effect. After trying this out, i found i easily inflicted 500-700 critical hits at late game. I was amazed by the damage output with your skills. This is the item for pure damage.

Stats

+60 Damage

Explanation
Get this item before 20 minute mark at latest. If you are planning to build this, just buy boots and attempt to rush it. Once you get this, your farming potential will sky rocket. Its a great item espicially in mid game for harassing heroes in team fights, taking into account you are a semi-initiator. Also, if you have bad team mates and had poor farm early, Just make Shrunken or Insanitarious. Although Mock provides the auto aoe burn and helps in farming, its also great for chasing.

Stats

+10 Strength
+26 Agility
+10 Intelligence
+15 Attack Speed
+10% Movement Speed

Explanation
Most people find this as a bad item for Maliken. I have tried this out as an experiment. This is more for fast pushing and playing mind games on your enemy. I guess the invulnerability upon activation may come in handy for disjointing spells. When you activate this item while in your ult form, the illusions will be ranged. However if your ultimate duration ends, they switch to melee form. Obviously the illusions will not have the Sword of the Damned properties (it would be awesome if it did). The stats it provides isnt as that good.

According to Hon Wiki, the illusions take 3.5 times normal damage and deal 33% of your attack damage, and inherit properties from you, in this case not the Sword of the Damned skills! The Illusions have a 20 second life time. When you activate this, it dispels all Buffs and Debuffs on you.

Stats

+88 Damage
+15 Attack Speed

Explanation
True Strike and Mini bash is useful i guess. Improves dps. Im not sure about this, but i think the lifesteal works from Savage Mace procs in ultimate form. Not sure though.

Notes
When Maliken ults, he becomes a ranged hero and have the effects from items the same as any ranged hero. This is why Brutalizer, HotbL and Runed Cleaver are not picked up on him.

General Strategy

Laning

This hero is usually played in side-lanes (bot for Legion and top for Hellbourne). This is so the tower can provide shelter since tower diving is not common in early stages. If you or your partner does not push the lanes and maintain lane control; aggroing creeps, creep pulling and such. You will find yourself less pressured. Although, he can solo mid, he is countered by many other mid solo heroes.

What to do when your opposing lane is squishy?

This is a loaded question. If you have confidence in yourself and your laning partner, you may attempt to kill one of them or even a double tap. Situations might be if they have no regen items, their individual HP is 550 or lower, they have no disables, they have no strong nuking ability and so on. If they have some of these things, it's best to play abit passively, and counterattack if they screw up.

Heroes with some sort of Escape

Valk, Sill, Hag, Gemini etc... These heroes will be hard to kill since they can just pop out of battle, but there is a way to kill them with a well timed Sword Throw! Usually when these heroes activate their escape skill, there is a remnant at their destination. Such as when Hag blinks, there is a quick animation of bats at her destination spot from point A to Point B. A being the origin, and B being his/her new location.

Even if some heroes dont have this, as long as you know your opponents hero, im sure you will know what to do. Valk for example, her leap can only travel linear/straight. So as long as you can predict the range of her leap, you can take her down. Or if she is infront of you completely horizontally, and leaped towards her home base, just Sword Throw to the direction she was, problem might be timing. Reminders, your Sword Throw range is greater than her leap. I would like to add that its all prediction, reading your opponents and knowledge of their heroes, and yours.

Ganking Principals

1. You can initiate well with Sword Throw from the fog. Make sure you have Enchanted Flames turned on.

2. Attack, then activate your ult and auto attack to death. One or more team mates will probably have a stun or disable to lock them down longer.

3. Save Sword Throw for a finisher or a kill-steal. The cooldown is too long to be used twice for most ganks. Plus you need the gold more, unless a real hard carry was there.

4. Mid game, you won't have the DPS to solo gank, but you only require 1 partner with a stun to kill most heroes. Dont be afraid to use your ultimate because the cool down is pretty short.

Sword Throw Uses

Sword Throw can be used in many ways, ill show you some simple techniques.

Escaping

Countless times your going to be fleeing from enemy heroes. The solution? Use Sword Throw in a area that enemies cant pass or reach, then use a homecoming stone. Areas may be cliffs, unpassable terrain etc. This is a great way to escape and works most of the time, unless an enemy has a blink. You can also activate shrunken head to prevent getting killed by a long range nuke.

Blinking behind your Enemy

This technique is used commonly for ganking and It is very easy to use. Simply Sword Throw to an enemy and press it again so you blink behind him/her. By doing this, you will get an extra attack or two while the enemy is turning around. If the enemy is attempting to run, press 'S' and try your best to creep-block him while getting another few hits. This ensures he/she does not get to his/her tower or allies as fast. During this time, your allies can do whatever to kill.

Disjointing Spells

There is not much to say about this. When you Sword Throw, and blink in to the swords' current location, you can disjoint any projectile that was coming to you. This just requires good reaction. In this screenshot from an actual game i played, enemy voodoo throws that green stun thing at me. I used Sword Throw to disjoint it.

Killing Low Hp Runners

Like this! This is just instincts and reading the map. In the screenshot i just knew Night Hound would be there because its such a narrow passage-way. Dont ask me why the sword is green...

If that doesnt kill them and your already in iultimate form; try and hit an enemy creep or hero. The splash may be just enough to kill them! The screenshot below isnt the exact situation, but the Night Hound thinks he will leech off exp with his permanent invisibility. However little does he know that my attack does an extreme 50% splash when he is within 75 aoe.

Team Fights

Your job is to initiate a team fight by blinking in ult. You should not initiate first but, if there is other initiator or tank, its your job. Focus on disablers and carries. Remember you have your whole team behind you, as soon initiate and activate ultimate, this gives your team such a good advantage. I advise you to activate your ultimate. Dont try and save it to interrupt an enemy channel, because your disabler can do that.

If You had a Very Bad Start

In a scenario where the score is 13-28 and you can't farm very well due to ganks... Get a Gravelocket after your basic Whispering Helm and Boots. You should try to get Shrunken as soon as possible. With Whispering Helm, go jungle if most of them are miss and lane if they all go back in vision. If your team overall is under leveled and not very farmed, tell them to just play defensively and try not to separate that much unless they carry a home coming stone. Farm tank items such as Behemoth Heart or Daemonic Breastplate. If your team are complete douchebags and there is no possible way of victory like 2 heroes can annihilate all five of you, just concede. There is always that one fag who does not pass the vote. To prevent getting reported, go jungle. Hiding behind your base or selling all your items for wards is clear indication your super mad. Thats not healthy, even for a daemon king.

Your Role throughout Game

Early Game

Maliken requires safe play and precise farming. Creep-block at the start to so enemy creeps will end up near your tower for last hitting, (creep-blocking is achieved by walking in front of the units and spamming S or H) it should be pretty easy to last hit with his decent starting damage in addition with the hatchet. It gets much easier after you level Sword of the Damned. Due to your versatile nuke and decent damage, try and get a kill with your partner, but only if you feel its right to do so.

If your opponent is ranged make sure use attack enemy by pressing A near them to draw in creeps to stay away from harassment. Last-hitting and denying is primary thing you should be doing. Also, your partner should be a babysitter and helping you as much as he/she can. Whether that is healing you, harassing enemies etc.

Again, focus on last hitting/denying every thing and stick with your lane to have as much gold and experience as possible. Call miss to let your team know if someone is missing in your lane. If the enemy in your lane are missing, you can either keep farming or attempt to gank another lane and get a kill. This is because you Sword Throw has high damage, good slow and the ability to blink. However this requires atleast level 2 Sword Throw and level 2 Sword of the Damned.

The thing I am concerned is, I know you have a decent early ganking potential but Maliken is a carry, although he will reach his limit faster than any other hard carry. So farm! Make sure you don't feed, and above all else finish your base items by the time you hit level 7 to 9. Call for ganks in your lane and get the kills if possible. No, just kill steal all of them. The point is don't waste a large amount of time ganking, you need to get farmed. Shrunken Head is a must.

Mid Game

A lot of team fight are going to happen. Thats why having your shrunken and basic core items are imperative. Your role is to play initiate and hit those fools hard, how dare they mess with the boss of S2.

Before you initiate, make sure all of your teammates are in the position to back you up, because you dont want to suicide by charging into 5 people. Activate Shrunken Head after the 'Feared' ends. Attack the first disabler you see, if you don't see the disabler then attack the squishiest enemy hero. If an enemy is dying and is running away don't blindly chase him too far, you might want to check if your team can do okay if you leave them, if you chase the target too far away and even if you manage to kill him, there's a chance that your team might be wiped out due to your absence. This is a common mistake noobs do.

When there are no team fights, participate in ganks or push with your team once you finish Shrunken Head. Your going to shine most at this point of the game, make use of that. Dont forget, one attack on each creep and nuking them will wipe out a whole creep wave! Superb farming. Also you should dominate a creep if you bought whospering helm and control it to stack Ancients. Dont be afraid to use your ultimate to take down these boss monsters quickly.

Late Game

If you did really good in mid game, you will not struggle in this stage. If you have a potent initiator and tank, get luxury items to improve your damage. If not, get luxury items to increase your tankability.

I would imagine your either going to be turtling or pushing hard. In this case, you will probably be done a few towers, quite high level with one or two or more luxury items. At this stage, the next clash of the titans will most likely decide the fate of your game.

To increase the chances of winning, read the following. Dont get cocky and spend all your gold at once. Alot of people finish off a huge item thinking it will gurantee a victory. The answer is no. You must play safe therefore save about 2000 gold for a buy back just incase. Dont ever farm a lane by yourself! People with invisibility or blink will gank you. So stay with team! A team gank is common in this late stage. Kill Kongor for Token after a mild team fight or if they are turtling. If there are no heroes that are more potent carries than you, you get the aegis.

Furthermore, I would like to add that stacking ancients and wiping them out is a good source of gold. Oh, and dont be scared to die. You are not the true carry, but a semi regardless, you are very powerful.

As a summary, do NOT go 1 v 5. Play safe and seize any opportunity for victory you find. Look at the enemies respawn time and dont bite more than you can chew. Im sure you have experienced a team where they are still raxxing with low hp and the enemy team are gradually coming back. Suddenly your whole team gets annihilated. They proceed to push mid and win the game.

Allies and Enemies

Allies

Support/Disablers

These guys are a carrys' best friend. They help you throughout the game and even sacrifice themselves for you. Quite touching...

Initiators

This group of heroes are the one that excel in this role. You are a secondary initiator compared to these guys. Coupled with you, you make a fearsome duo.

Carries

The real trump card. Dont be jealous when they shine brighter than you at late game. They are meant to farm farm and farm and carry your ass to victory.

Enemies

Predator
This growling son of a dog is a pain to you. Avoid 1 v 1 with this guy, and focus someone else. This hero is an anti-tank. When you face him one on one, he will life steal harder than you.

Magebane
You have a poor mana pool. a few hits with this guy and your rendered useless. Magebane is also a stronger carry than you. Hes also got a solid escape skill.

Vindicator
His Sages's Lore is a godamn annoying spell. His Gylph of Silence passive makes you unable to blink in if you were within 800 aoe. His ult is game breaking. Well i guess if he used it after you have already activated ultimate and exhausted Sword throw, its another story.

Pandamonium
Panda is known to be an anti-tank, his disables are as deadly as His Facesmash goes through magic immunity too which can screw you big time.

[Gemini]

2012-08-24T18:07:00.000+01:00

(A)

Strength : 19 (+2.1)

Agility : 22 (+3.0)

Intelligence: 17 (+1.9)

Gemini possesses a very high total stat gain and above average gains for all attributes. His starting stats are average if not slightly above average.

Int:
Gemini has a rather high int score. This allows him to use his relatively cheap skills on a regular basis without needing items to improve his mana pool or mana regen.

Agi:
His very high agi gain should be taken into account when deciding to buy damage items or survivability items. His damage will be relatively high even without items, so survivability items are a first priority.

Str:
His Strength gain is good for an agi hero, but still won't carry him too far by itself considering the amount of enemy attention he will hopefully be receiving. It will need to be augmented relatively soon into the game if it isn't to become a problem.

Other stats

Base damage: 46-51

armor : 4.08

move speed : 300

His base damage is below average but still far better than most ranged heroes. Take this into account when laning against melee/ranged heroes and deciding whether or not a hatchet is necessary.

His armor is average. It will make him somewhat resilient to harassment but not overly so. Take this into account when deciding whether or not a buckler is needed in lane.

His movement speed is average. Be sure to compare it to whoever you are laning against and make a mental note of whether or not you can outrun them.

ameplay and item/skill builds

Now that the lengthy introductions are out of the way, on to item builds and gameplay.

Gemini should generally be played as a solo hero. He is not the greatest solo in the world, but he can get a reasonable number of creeps kills while staying alive due to Twin Fangs. He desperately needs early levels, however. As such, unless you are certain you will be destroyed in a particular mid match up or other extenuating circumstances present themselves, you should go mid. Gameplay in a dual lane is very similar to gameplay in a solo lane for Gemini the only difference being that you will be severely limited for a good portion of the early game in a dual lane.
In general, however, this guide will assume a solo mid gemini.

Starting item build:

Standard regen and a Pretenders Crown that you can build later into a bracer. I have found that a hatchet is rather necessary to lane with because of Gem's low base damage and low lane control. The ranged ability will net a lot of extra ck over the course of the lane and lets you stay much further back more often.

Here's the basic skill build:

This build focuses on Fire and Ice form. Because Fire and Ice form relies entirely on stats, leveling your other skills is not as effective as simply skilling stats. I am not implying that the other skills are useless, but that that leveling them quickly is not entirely necessary. Having a high stat score early, however, to allow you to stay in Fire and Ice form, is completely necessary.
Twin Strike is not useful until very late in the game, when you will need to stay in Gemini form more and fight more often. Twin Fang scales rather poorly with levels, so I take it last. use your judgement when tweaking this build.

Your first skill is preferably stats, but if you expect a level 1 gank or some other form of danger very early on you should skill Twin Fangs to escape. Do not decide on what to level first until the creeps spawn and you are aware of where the enemy heroes are on the map.

How to conduct yourself at mid before level 6

If you are playing against a ranged hero, try not to be too aggressive unless the opponent is out of position. If you will inevitably take four or more hits from your opponent in order to get one creep kill, you probably should just leave it. Your main goal is not to farm (although you should certainly try your best), but to get levels. If you need an extra potion, which is unlikely, then ferry it over. Don't be reluctant. You should ferry over the components to create two Bracers as soon as you can.

Do not ferry over a bottle or marchers despite what all your games of HoN have taught you. Gemini plays much differently than any other hero.

Make it difficult for your opponent to get last hits and try to get some in yourself. As I said before, you main goal is to level quickly. Because of your points in stats, don't be afraid to be slightly more liberal with yourself than you would normally playing safe, but still be very careful.

After level 6

The moment you hit level 6 you will pick up your game considerably. Immediately skill your ult and use it. If you are against a squishier hero at mid with no escapes such as flint or if you have harassed the enemy hero an adequate amount, you can kill him or her right now. If not, leave Fire in lane and send Ice to a lane that can be ganked. Focus your camera on Fire while Ice is traveling and be careful as you will be rather vulnerable to the enemy mid.
If the enemy heroes in the lane that Ice traveled to are ever out of position, move Fire to a somewhat safe spot and teleport him toIce. His channeling should end just as the enemy heroes are being initiated upon for the highest efficiency. A more in-depth discussion on how to fight with Fire and Ice is presented later in the guide.

The rest of the midgame

Item progression for mid game.

Note how I stay with the theme of pure stat items. The only stats you need are strength and Agility. As a general rule, strength should be emphasized more than agility. Buy a Mighty Blade and an Arm Band that can be built into Steam Boots and and Ice Brand later on. Carry a tp always just in case, but you should not use nearly as many tps as you would with most heroes.

Gemini does not necessarily need early boots. If other items are a priority, buy those instead. Fire and Ice have static movement speeds that are not affected by boots.

You should eventually build your Mighty Blade into a Frost Brand and get Steam Boots. Buy an Abyssal Skull after your Frost Brand for a huge dps and survivability boost followed by a firebrand to complete your Frostburn.

Gemini's gameplay and role during the midgame is relatively simple to describe but very difficult to put into practice efficiently. Using Fire and Ice at this point in the game requires experience and practice. Keep this in mind during your games and do not be afraid to experiment.

Fire andIce should never be together unless they are fighting enemy heroes. There is no reason for them to move around the map or farm together and doing so essentially cuts their mobility and general utility in half. The general form the two wolves will be taking in most circumstances is Fire farming or pushing while Ice roams. Although the two wolves are very similar,Ice is slightly better in case he is caught alone in a fight against opposing heroes because of his slow while Fire is a slightly better farmer/pusher because of the burn damage on his spray.

Trips to fountain should be few and far between and if it needs to be done, use only one wolf to take the trip. The only time both wolves should ideally be at the fountain is when you are buying items, which will seem painfully slow after such mobile gameplay but must be done at times. When things are quiet and you have 2k+ gold saved up don't be afraid to take a little shopping trip.
Note that the courier can deliver items to Fire and they will appear on Gemini when you merge again. Everything functions as if you had made a normal delivery to Gemini. The stat gain, however, will not appear on the wolves until they reform.

Try to push with one wolf whenever you have an opening. Your purpose mid game is to control the game and to ensure your team is always on superior footing. Gemini is the only hero that can completely produce an "everywhere at once" effect and this is where his strength lies.

This style of play is why Gemini should not try to build very bulky, large items until later into the game. Large periods in which you do not get any stronger create openings and chances for your opponent to catch up. Buy smaller items, such as the recommended quick blades and mighty blades to stay ahead as much and as long as possible

In essence, your goal is to be as painfully bloodily annoying as possible. Poke, prod, pester, follow, do whatever it takes to annoy the other team to no end. Mobility and constant awareness of your wolves and how quickly they can access each other is key.

You'll want to build a Brutalizer in most games. It is the perfect transition from your mid game Fire and Ice focus to your late game Gemini focus, giving stats for Fire and Ice while synergizing very well with Gemini's Twin Strike.

Late game

"Tiered out"ish items

You'll generally want a Shrunken Head first thing after you start using Gemini more toward the late game. If you don't feel you need it, go straight for a Savage Mace for ridiculous dps boost. After your Shrunken if the game still continues on you may want to consider replacing your Abyssal Skull with a DPS item for Gemini (again, generally Savage Mace).

As late game drags on, you will inevitably fall behind true hard carries especially if you remain in Fire and Ice form most of the time. You will still be a force to be reckoned with, however, especially if you transitioned well into Gemini carrying with his Twin Strike and Shrunken. You are able to push frighteningly well and still output a lot of damage and are extremely survivable. your wolves may need to be together for longer periods of time as teams will be moving as five almost always. Of course, you should always stay in ult form as you have throughout the entire game but you can be much less afraid of Gemini himself getting his hands (paws) dirty. Focus down heroes as you would normally. Highest dps and lowest hp heroes should be taken out first and then down from there. Keep your wits about you and make sure a wolf doesn't get caught. You'll have much less time to react than during early and mid game if something goes wrong.

Micro and combat methods/combos

An essential part of playing Gemini properly is, of course, microing your wolves and knowing how to fight with them. Fighting efficiently takes practice and a calm, collected head.

To begin, you should hotkey Fire, Ice, and both together. I always use 1 for Fire, 2 for Ice, and 3 for both Fire and Ice in a control group. In addition, you should hotkey Gemini himself to 4. This allows you to quickly check his cooldowns and put points into skills when he levels up. When controlling both Fire and Ice in different locations, Keep your camera on the wolf you believe is in more danger but keep your eyes constantly on the minimap looking at the other wolf. Always be sure to focus your attention according to the amount of danger a wolf is in. If Fire, for example, is run down your lane back to base when all of your towers are up, you probably don't need to pay much if any attention to him. If Ice is roaming around the enemy woods while Fire farms a lane, however, you eyes had better be very intent on making sure Fire is not ganked while your camera is on Ice.

combat

Focusing one hero
Always initiate a fight in Fire and Ice form. In almost all situations, you'll want to focus one hero. To do this, select both wolves and have one, say Fire, leap at an enemy hero and then immediately attack him during the .5 second stun. Hit tab, switching to Ice, and now have him leap right after the .5 second stun wears off and immediately attack. Now, while Fire and Ice wait in between attacks, have both quickly spray with [Q tab click Q tab click] and proceed to auto attack the hero while he or she is slowed.

At this point, if you determine it is first priority to kill the hero and he or she just left your melee range, combine into Gemini, leap at the hero, spray, and use Fire and Ice form again after which you can do the double wolf combo again. If that still doesn't kill him and you are truly desperate for the kill, you can combine again and leap/spray with Gemini. The hero will almost certainly not survive a full double ult combo.

Note that doing the full combo makes you useless for the rest of the fight and requires a very large amount of time without other enemy interference. The full combo takes upwards of 15 seconds. You will usually only need half of it or so.

Knowing How to Take Damage

It sounds weird, but a key aspect of playing Gemini is knowing how to take damage. You only want one wolf to take the majority of damage thrown at you. This allows you to recombine later with one of the wolves being at high health, essentially erasing the damage you took.

The following example demonstrates the important of taking damage and positioning your wolves properly.

You take 4000 damage over the course of a team fight. Each wolf has 1500 hp

scenario 1. One wolf takes all of the damage and dies. this is the worst scenario and demonstrates improper microing and awareness. 1500 total damage taken

scenario 2. The damage is split evenly between the two wolves. This is alright, but can still be improved upon quite a bit. 3000 total damage taken

scenario 3. Fire takes 1300 damage and merges with Ice immediately splitting again afterward. Both wolves split the remaining damage. This is generally what you'll manage to accomplish in most fights. Very efficient. 4300 damage taken and Gemini lives.

scenario 4. Fire takes 1300 damage and merges with Ice immediately splitting again afterward. After the split, Ice takes 1400 damage and merges with Fire just as he's about to die. gemini takes the remaining damage. Another variation of scenario 3. Use either in different situations depending on what is possible at the time for you to do. 4200 damage taken and Gemini lives.

Be sure to spread your wolves out as much as possible to avoid AOE damage. You should feel bad every time both wolves get hit by one skill.

Keep your wolves focused on one hero at a time but try to spread out whenever possible while staying near enough to merge at an instant's notice.

Gemini's ability in fights comes from his extremely high survivability per knowing how to minimize damage dealt to you. Be as annoying as possible and don't be afraid to tank some serious damage for your team mates. try to control the fight and get all of the enemy team's attention. Keep your wits about you and you'll live through untold amounts of aggression.

(D)
Best Friends

et al.

Any hero that can disable well and complement your disruption abilities is great. In addition, any hero that specializes in single targeting is also your favorite enemy as you can simply merge out of whatever single target nonsense they are doing to one of your wolves. Demented shaman receives a special mention because of his aoe heal and armor reduction capabilities, both of which help your wolves out a lot. Other heroes with aoe buffs work well also.

Worst Enemies

Any hero with a large AOE presence or abilities to easily get you off of someone you are trying to burst down will give you a pain. you just need to be very careful around them and keep as spread out as possible. Try to take them down early. Succubus deserves a special mention because she can sleep one of your wolves and ult or smitten the other. . . ouch!

[Dampeer] guide

2012-08-19T11:31:00.000+01:00

Vampire craziness has reached HoN too. The new addition to HoN ranks sucks big time… blood that is. As far as his skills are concerned, all of them exist in one form or another on other heroes in HoN, but the combination seems to have created a well rounded hero with an excellent presence in early mid game a very good supportive ganker with semi-carry potential (provided he makes good use of his excellent presence early on).
Skill overview
Terrorize – Dampeer instills terror within nearby foes, damaging them for 75/125/175/225 magic damage and applies ‘fear’ to enemy heroes for 1 second making them run in circles. Each Essence he possesses will increase the damage by 30 and ‘fear’ by 0.25 seconds. (Essence can be gained comes from his ultimate). Targets are slowed for 50% as long as they are under fear.

Do not think this disable skill will make you an awesome initiator. It can be used to interrupt channeling spells or to give you time to land additional auto-attacks, but that’s about it. It cannot be used like Maliken’s ultimate to jump in the middle of the enemy team, for obvious reasons.
Vampiric Flight– Dampeer moves quickly to target unit dealing 50/90/130/170 magic damage to enemies passed through (145 touch radius) and healing him for 10/20/30/40 health per enemy touched. Each Essence he possesses will increase the damage by 20 and heal by 5.

Your bread and butter early game. Because of this skill you can change your focus from your auto-attacks early game. Very useful to get back some life, and because of its range you can easily get an early kill. Another shining point of this skill is in initiating ganks. Just jump on enemies, unseen from behind trees and follow with Terrorize.
Bloodthirst – Dampeer and nearby allies gain lifesteal on attacks. Gives melee allies 15/20/25/30% life leech and ranged allies 2.5/5/7.5/10% life leech.

This skill makes and breaks Dampeer. If you do not have a good early-mid game, you will end up as a walking aura end game. Just imagine a farmed Predator with Dampeer around him.
Consume – Dampeer takes a massive bite of an enemy’s flesh, inflicting damage and healing himself for the damage dealt. Three Essence charges will be added to himself if the unit is killed with the attack. Deals 200/300/400 magic damage to the target and heals himself for the same amount. Each Essence he possesses will increase the damage and heal by 40/60/80. If Consume is used to kill an enemy, Dampeer gains 3 Essences. You may hold up to 3 Essences. Essences dissipate upon death.

Instant damage and lifesteal. Try not to start right away with it for 2 reasons: when you have full life you will not benefit from the lifesteal and if it’s not the finishing blow you will get no essences. The counters that builld up on this skill can make the difference between a successful gank and failure. Not only they improve your ultimate, but also will make your Terrorize and Vampiric Flight better! Target for your ultimate are enemy units!!! This means you can ulti on a creep to get those charges!!
Skill Build
He is to be played as a ganker/semi-tank, and by no means as a carry. If well farmed he will have semi-carry potential, but on the other hand, there are only a couple of heroes that wouldn’t. Your top priority late game will be to nuke your enemies down and last as long as possible to provide them with your aura.
1 Terrorize (1)
2 Vampiric Flight (1)
3 Vampiric Flight (2)
4 Terrorize (2)
5 Vampiric Flight (3)
6 Consume (1)
7 Vampiric Flight (4)
8 Terrorize (3)
9 Terrorize (4)
10 Bloodthirst (1)
11 Consume (2)
12 Bloodthirst (2)
13 Bloodthirst (3)
14 Bloodthirst (4)
15 Stats
16 Consume (3)
17-25 Stats
Youre best nuke early game is Vampiric Flight, so that will be maxed out first. One level in Terrorize at level 1 for survivability. Ultimate whenever available and aura should be taken later when everyone will have the damage for the lifesteal to count.
Item Build
You have nukes, life-steal,low HP and if you fly-in, no CC protection. You need mana regen, HP items, magic immunity and Spell Shards to increase the damage of your nukes.

Steamboots on str/int are the boots for you. They provide some survivability and some regen inbetween battles. Ghost Marchers are not really needed since you can fly your way in.

Blood Chalice is the best item early game to help you land more nukes. Bottle->Vampiric Flight is kind-of a combo. One gives mana an takes hp, the other takes mana and gives HP.
or
Helm of the Black Legion is a good choice to increase your survivability early on because you have some lifesteal but a low HP pool. If you face a lot of nukers Shaman’s Headdress is also a viable option instead.

You get CC locked => you’re dead! and not only that you’re dead but you will lose all the essences!! So you must! stay alive. If the enemy team lacks CC’s you can opt for a Null Stone instead.

This new item is made for Dampeer. You have a lot of nukes that will benefit from this item. Once you get it, upgrade it to the max.
or
Daemonic Breastplate and Frost Burn if you do not want to go the magic damage way.
Example of a Practical Build and Strategy
Starting Items: 1xrLoggers Hatchet 1x Mark of the novice, 1x Crushing Claws, 1x Health Potion

We will build a Blood Chalice so these should be your starting items.
Early Game: 1x Blood Chalice+ 1x Steam Boots STR

Early game is about farming and harassing. Blood Chalice is there to help you land more Vampiric Flights, keeping a constant harass on your enemies. In order to make this strategy more effective, team-up with an aggressive lane partner.
As for your behavior during this phase… Synchronize with your partner and land a flight + nuke/stun/slow followed by some auto-attacks. This should make almost any lane play more defensive, giving you more leeway to farm.
Mid game: 1 x Helm of the Black Legion + 1x Shrunken Head.

You should focus on survivability now. Try to set-up some ganks with a team mate. Surprise-jump from the cover of trees and follow with your Terrorize to give time to your teammate to catch up. Don’t forget to build up the charges on your ultimate! If you are low on life and no enemy is in sight, do not hesitate to ulti a creep to fill you up and to get the essence as-well.
In team fights you will not be initiating. Let other heroes better at it initiate and once they aggro you follow with your nukes.
Late Game: 1 x Spell Shards

Best item for Dampeer. Late game is all about damage and your physical attacks just do not keep up with your carries. Spell Shards will give a nice boost to your nukes, and remember that it is upgradeable!
All-in-all, Dampeer is another all-round, unique S2 hero, who will bring some more dynamics into the early and mid section of the game.

[Ravenor]

2012-08-17T11:25:00.000+01:00

Primary Attribute: STRENGTH
STR: 23 + 2.5x
AGI: 17 + 1.5x
INT: 21 + 2.2x

Attack Range: Melee
Movement Speed: 300
Armor: 4.38

Difficulty Rating: * * * (3)

Pros and Cons

Pros:
-Has a great Magic Damage output @ Early game
-Has a great armor
-The ulti lasts very long which can melt your enemies down

Cons:
-The skills Require LOTS OF MANA for your base mana @ Early game
-The 1st skill speed is so slow that it can be easly avoided.
-Well, he is addicted to items

Skill Build

Storm Blades > Ball Lightning > Storm Blades > Electrical Feedback > Storm Blades > Power Overwhelming > Storm Blades > Electrical Feedback > Ball Lightning > Electrical Feedback > Power Overwhelming > Electrical Feedback > Ball Lightning > Ball Lightning > Stats > Power Overwhelming > Stats+

This is the ONLY AND REQUIRED skill build for this guide. Please follow it correctly.

The strategy with this build is to get kills with your Storm Blades and get ready to farm with Electrical Feedback.

-----------------------------

The Item Build

Ravenor will farm on EVERY lane so our item build for beginning will be standard:

Well If you are mid, you are unlucky with your items because you will be far away from the secret shops. But don't worry you will get your items when you gank a lane and be successful
When you are laning bot or top you will rush for > because you need some MS for chasing and STR for tanking early game. Also enough AS bonus for farming in Jungle.

When you've just farmed your SteamBoots you gotta REALLY RUSH FOR > and then >
You will ask "WHY?" because you will get charges while farming jungle and you'll be needing life steal and in combat you'll be needing AS and LS for charges and MELTING your opponents in seconds. But be careful, your ONLY WEAKNESS IS WHEN YOU ACTIVATE THIS ITEM YOU GET VERY SQUISHY!!! And we have a solution for that

Well from jungle or combats or 1v1's collected money you will get
Because your squishness will go off from Elder Parasite and you will get MASSIVE attack damage which can melts your enemies in seconds. Also grants well farming.

After getting Insanitarius, you will be needing some Damage and Effective items as following:
you will be having MASSIVE attack speed with Elder Parasite And Storm Blades so you've got a great chance of bashing oppositing team and melt them in seconds with bonus damage and ult
You will be needing this item because you have got great AS and attack damage provided by Brutalizer and Insanitarius which will make your critical attacks effective.

And if you trust yourself, go for > You will be trolling the oppositing team 1 shot 1 kill
Otherwise you will buy a required item for your team:
or or to melt your enemies by reducing their Magic Armor or to silence enemies for 4 seconds and amplify your damage dealt will be a good choice or an item according to the game fluency!!

-----------------------------

The Playing Style

Well this is the most important part of this guide! You gotta read well and understand.
a) MID STYLE
If you are mid, you don't have to be afraid of ranged heroes because you have got lots of armor and Iron Buckler with you so you are nearly untouchable. Try not to get countered by enemy spells. Stay under tower if theres an enemy like Thunderbringer, Ellonia, RiftWalker etc. You have to get every single creep and deny nearly all of creeps. If you get countered hard, you dont have to because you will get revenge from them by using your W and Q @ lvl 5 or 6. You will play aggresive and opportunist @5 lvl. Because you got 1 Q - 2 W and 1 E which wont bring you down. If you catch an enemy on an -open for hunting- position, you will just Q towards him. My suggestion is if you get pro with Ravenor, cast W then Q towards enemy and E. You will rip them off. But we will just Q towards and W then kill them. You will get 6 lvl and start ganking. My suggestion is gank bot. Because in the jungle theres a spot between creeps and 1st enemy tower if HELLBOURNE. If you are Legion vice-versa it. You will Q an enemy, with help of your supports or without them, then teleport near him, then press E if you are tower diving, then W and slash them. Go and finish your Steam Boots and buy Hungry Spirit. This is the end of your Mid early game ganking story. Lets check the laning:

b) BOT or TOP LANING STYLE
Doesn't matter if you are bot or top, you will do the same thing. The magic touch is, take a disabler support with you so you can land you Q and W skills accurately and you will get easy kills. Try to kill your enemies @3 or 5 according to the laning foes. If you get double kill with a bloodlust just finish SteamBoots. If not try to farm, you will stay back or play aggresive according to the enemy team then finish your Steam Boots. Wish some warding from your support. Thats important. If you die Early game it will be VERY VERY hard to recover! Try to roam and GANK MID asap. Then you will gang top if succesful get Hungry Spirit and start jungling. This is the end of your Laning early game story. Lets check out HOW TO JUNGLE!

c) JUNGLING WITH RAVENOR
This is the most important phase of the whole game. When you get Hungry Spirit you will rush for jungling. Try to stack the slots or find SNOTTER slot in YOUR TEAM'S jungle. Press E and get charges. Try to move and hit creatures fast you won't be out of charges. If you face with magic immune creatures, just pass them and start collecting charges again. WATCH OUT FOR ENEMY TEAM and WARD YOUR JUNGLE IN CASE OF GANGS TO YOUR JUNGLE!!! When you have low HP just go to base and refresh. The time loss while doing this isn't important with Ravenor. When you finish your Elder Parasite its time for farming Insanitarius and helping your team. If you see a 2v1 or 1v1 fight on your team IN YOUR SIDE go and help. Never escape from them because your level will be 8 or 9 which you've got MAX W and R with midi Q or E which is enough for you to kill somebody or make them afraid and run away from your attacked mate. You will keep farming as I said above, using E, your key ability. When you get Insanitarius, tell your team that you gotta gank. Then you will go EVERYWHERE as 5! you will stay out of fight and when the most of damage is done, you will jump in with Q then W and E RIP EM OFF!!! Try to combat in jungle because more enemies, more getting hit by enemies while having E buff, more charges. Cast Elder Parasite and Insanitarius then have some tea After a combat you should be able to get Brutalizer. If not then it means you will play your role in the late game but before that when you get 11 you will be able to turn arround the Ancient Slots which will give you great bucks. Good luck with it. Lets take a look at late game!

d) LATE GAME WITH RAVENOR ( The most fun part )
This is the most fun part playing with Ravenor. You will deal massive damage and beat up some fed enemies. You gotta FARM HARD. You will take every single jungling slot and you will defend your lanes and clean them up. If you have got Steam, Insanitarius, Elder and Brutalizer stop farming and try to find some enemy support or nuker. Get one of your friend who has a VALUABLE and USEFUL stun or disable and kill that support or nuker enemy. Then go back and refill in base. Do them times and times till you get your full build or 5-slot item build in game which will take 40 or 45 minutes of game. When you kill all of your enemies go and push. When you are done with pushing, go and turn the WHOLE MAP SLOTS then go base and make sure you have got no risks with your towers and base. Go base and buy your last USEFUL item. Then you will troll the whole enemy team in their base. You will be proud of yourself Try not to die and try to KILL

-----------------------------

The Counters and Helpers

The ONLY SERIOUS COUNTER TO RAVENOR WITHOUT OR WITH ITEMS: He has got Magic Damage Invulnerability and MASSIVE LS with his passive. And if he's got Shrunken as a bonus item, sorry but you are DEAD or your work is REALLY REALLY hard.

Helpers are THE EVERY SINGLE disablers and debuffers!!!

-----------------------------

Replay

Well, I will give you a game ID that will EXACTLY SHOW YOU HOW TO PLAY RAVENOR!!! PLEASE WATCH IT AFTER YOU READ THE WHOLE POST!! Thank you.

The ID is: 92193029 and 92268775 ( Watch this one nearly an hour )

[Pestilence]

2012-08-15T09:54:00.000+01:00

Skill Build
1 - Impale
2 - Flight
3 - Impale
4 - Flight
5 - Impale
6 - Swarm
7 - Impale
8 - Flight
9 - Gore
10 - Gore
11 - Swarm
12 - Gore
13 - Gore
14 - Flight
15 - Stats
16 - Swarm
17 - Stats+

Justification / Modifications:
Usually Rank 3 Flight is enough and you can go for Gore before getting the last level of Flight. However there is nothing wrong with maxxing Flight at 9. You can also get an early point into Gore at level 2 or 4. The chance for the first level is much better than the increase in chance from the following levels.

Lane Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Crushing Claw, 2x Minor Totem

Core:
Logger's Hatchet >> Steamboots >> Portal Key >> Shrunken Head

Directly aim for Steamboots (you don't need more movespeed thanks to flight). Then get Portal Key - an insanely strong item on pestilence once you learn to use it properly. Most of the times you will build Shrunken Head after PK but don't be afraid to skip it if there is really few Disables on the opposing team.

After Core:

Shieldbreaker/Insanitarious >> Behemoth's Heart >> Daemonic Breastplate

Shieldbreaker is your item of choice. If you don't manage to farm it, get the easier-to-obtain Insanitarious. Heart and Breastplate are Luxury and can be replaced by other items.

Alternative Items:
- Abyssal Skull: The best choice if you desperately need Lifesteal.
- Helm of the Black Legion: I am not a fan of this but I see it being built in competitive games for the fact that he takes a lot of damage often being the first to go in. If you like this item, get it BEFORE Shrunken head.

Information:
Roles: Carry, Ganker, Initiator
Properties: None
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 2 - Weak
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Excellent TP- and Counterganker)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Strong and versatile carry)

30-Seconds-Guide:
- Flight makes you one of the best TP- and Counter-Gankers. Always carry a Homecoming stone and be ready to teleport-gank the other lanes.
- Focus on your farm during midgame. Your usefulness will skyrocket once you get Shrunken Head.
- Try to have a stunning/slowing babysitter with you (Demented or Witchslayer for example). This will create enormous lane domination for a carry/babysit lane!
- Always remember that your ultimate will reveal the position of the unit; also on otherwise invisible heroes. Use it on fleeing enemies to prevent them from juking you.

Counters:
- Remember that Pestilence takes an additional 10% damage when his flight is on. So it is a good idea to burn your spells on him when he comes charging in.
- Void Talisman might be a good idea as he hits like a TRUCK on squishies.
- If you want to counter him, stack armor. You need to get to at least 20 Armor. There is a huge difference between 15 and 20 Armor (0% vs 20%+ dmg reduction). Get Plated Greaves and Nome's wisdom for that if you are support /get good use of it. Then throw a Platemail on top and you will be fine.

[Warbeast] Jungle Guide

2012-08-14T10:54:00.002+01:00

Warbeast-Jungle

While there are plenty of ways to play this diverse hero, this is my way. This is the way of the jungle. Actually, this hero is not diverse and he blows if you don't play him this way. When properly played following this guide, the Warbeast can be 3-4 levels above the enemy solo, with thousands of gold in items at a very early point in the game. He is able to four-five shot a running hero in seconds.

The Jungle vs the Lane

Some people may advocate a lane build, but I don't. This is because the War Beast has absolutely no power in lane--most lane builds forgo Summon Hellhounds for Stats, but Summon Hellhounds are his only harass skill. Therefore, he becomes a dead weight that only sucks XP from his lane mate. On the other hand, if you go a Summon Hellhounds jungle build, you are effectively creating a new source of cash and XP for your team, and your team gains more money and XP on the whole.

Tell Your Team

This is important. Tell your team you're going jungle Warbeast before they pick their heroes. This is because you're going to need two solo heroes--one for middle, and one for Legion bottom or Hellbourne top. If your team all goes AGI carries, you're in trouble. Keep in mind that the Warbeast is EXPECTED to carry the team--your team should constantly be watching out for you and distracting the other team for you while you farm away. A proper Warbeast play heavily depends in team intelligence and cohesion.

Skill Build

1 Primal Rage 1
2 Summon Hellhounds 1
3 Summon Hellhounds 2
4 Primal Rage 2
5 Summon Hellhounds 3

A. I like to occasionally visit my friends, and help clean up.
6 Metamorphosis 1
7 Summon Hellhounds 4
8 Primal Rage 3
9 Primal Rage 4
10 Battle Cry 1
11 Metamorphosis 2
12 Battle Cry 2
13 Battle Cry 3
14 Battle Cry 4
15 Stats 1
16 Metamorphosis 3

B. I am an autistic social recluse and prefer solitude with my dogs.
6 Primal Rage 3
7 Summon Hellhounds 4
8 Primal Rage 4
9 Battle Cry 1
10 Battle Cry 2
11 Battle Cry 3
12 Battle Cry 4
13 Metamorphosis 1
14 Metamorphosis 2
15 Stats 1
16 Metamorphosis 3

Going option B will definitely make you a lot more money and allow you to kill Kongor faster, but Metamorphosis actually boosts your damage output by a ton, allowing you to repay your laning buddy with an assist or kill so you should strongly consider option A. On the other hand, if you are playing a mid-high level game, you should always go option A, or, if you go option B, at least get one level of Metamorphosis early on as you will be facing some ganks from a worried opposition.

Starting Items

This is more or less the only viable build for jungling if you don't have a courier.

Item Build: Creep Commando

This is an item build that focuses on your ability to command units. Primal Rage will give all units you control +25% damage and +25% AS, while Metamorphosis gives all your units 522 movement. If you are controlling a few 1100 HP Minotaurs and Catmen, you should see why this is very, very strong. Of course, this requires a decent amount of micro--if you're not good at that, go ahead and skip to Lone Wolf Rambo. However, understand that this is the far superior build in most games, though its effectiveness wears down as the game moves on, mainly because you should eventually be strong enough that you don't need creeps to help you.

Whispering Helm
Get this item as soon as possible, and start taking over Catmen and Minotaurs. Use it AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.

Abyssal Skull
This will not only give you supreme jungle power, but it will give your Hellbeasts and dominated creeps even more damage and lifeleech. This is an absolute MUST for the build.

Steam Boots
Get this next. Keep it on STR. After you get this, you can move on to the General Item Build section.

Item Build: Lone Wolf Rambo

This is the same basic build as Creep Commando, but if you don't want to bother with micro, you can forgo Whispering Helm, as Abyssal Skull gives enough lifeleech.

Abyssal Skull
This is still a good item because it makes Kongor super-easy, and gives you the mana regeneration and bonus armor needed to persevere without going back to base.

Steam Boots
Get this next. Keep it on STR. After you get this, you can move on to the General Item Build section.

General Item Build

Depending on the situation, you will want to prioritize your items differently. If they are nuke and disable heavy, and are trying to push early, get Shrunken Head first. Otherwise, go for Shieldbreaker for DPS.

Shrunken Head
Absolutely necessary item. It gives you magic immunity. You're a rambo hero, so get it.

Shieldbreaker
Most players don't tend to armor up. Your easiest targets are mages who have very little armor, so Shieldbreaker can increase your DPS by a ton.

Insanitarius
If you're not waddling in money, and have problems obtaining Shieldbreaker or the below items, get this. It's great for the price.

Symbol of Rage
If you went Whispering Helm, this is the natural progression.

Demonic Breastplate
This is the "pro" choice. It increases your survivability by a lot.

Complete Playguide: Game Start

Ask lane mate if you can hang back and soak XP until you reach LVL3. Then begin to neutral. This is risky as it leaves your laning partner slightly behind EXP compared to a solo lane, but the differences will be minute.

Complete Playguide: Early Neutralling

Summon Hellhounds to neutral. Micro them so that neither of them die by pulling them back if they take too much damage. If one is near death, and cannot be used anymore, send it to the river to check rune. Continue until you obtain Abyssal Skull or Whispering Helm, at which point you will be able to tank with your hero and not Hellhounds. You should be LVL6 or 7 when you get the first of those items--that's your target. It's easy sailing after this point. Continue to neutral until you have LVL4 Hellhounds and LVL4 Primal Rage, as well as two of the three items in the first Item Build sections. At this point, you can kill super neutral camps with ease. At LVL9, head to Kongor and kill him, microing your Hellhounds to tank damage for you. Abyssal Skull makes them last a long time if microed properly.

Complete Playguide: Teamfights

Continue to farm indefinitely until you are required for teamfights. You should now have Shrunken Head and/or Shieldbreaker--it is now about 30 minutes in, usually, and you are one or two levels above their highest hero. Position yourself so that you can run in from behind, or from another weird angle, while your team approaches from the front. This flank will force their team to turn in one direction the other, and screws up their push. Alert your team right before you initiate (and you should always initiate), then run in with Shrunken Head activated as you tear their team apart. Because of your superior damage and leveling, as well as your extra life from killing Kongor, your team should wipe them out completely. After this, you can either help your team push, or go back to farming. Continue until you can wipe them out reliably and push to win.

Suiciding to Neutrals

Early on, LVL1-4, it is better to suicide to neutrals than to return to base by foot. Spend all your money, then die--free fountain trip! Make sure you tell your allies so they don't QQ in All Chat. Keep in mind that when you do this, the enemy team will be alerted to your death. This can remind them that you've been jungling, so be prepared for more ganks.

Kongor

You can always kill Kongor at LVL8 with Abyssal Skull if you have LVL4 Hellhounds and LVL4 Primal Rage. I personally like to make sure I have Abyssal Skull and Steam Boots before I go. The earlier you do it, the better. It's a lot of XP and gold for you and your team. Make sure you ask your team to distract for you. Never let them Kongor with you--you need to XP and gold for yourself.

Whispering Helm Abuse

If you decided to go Whispering Helm, remember that all your units have 522 MS when Metamorphosis is activated. After you right-click the hero with all your units, it may be good to select your Minotaurs and Catmen and micro them specifically to stomp.

Dark Lady
Dark Lady is your best friend. If you have a Dark Lady on your team, ANY time the enemy team is at all fragmented, a Metamorphosis rambo + Darkness Falls will result in a dead team. It's ridiculous.

[Andromeda]

2012-08-13T21:25:00.000+01:00

Skill Build
1 - 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. You can leave Comet at 1 and go for Aurora + Link early for a more teamfight/teamgank oriented build (i've seen it in some high level games recently).

Lane Starting Items:
Monkey Courier/Wards, 2x Runes of the Blight, 2x Mana Potion, 2x Minor Totem

Core:
Marchers >> Power Supply >> Striders >> Fortified Bracelet >> Wards >> Wards

One or two Bracelets and Power Supply for stats allow more spamming of Comet and Aurora, Striders for imba roaming. 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 Jeraziah, Hellbringer, Hammerstorm or Dark Lady.

Information
Roles: Support, Ganker, Initiator
Properties: Roamer, Nuker, Disabler, Babysitter, Anti-Carry
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.

[Slither]

2012-08-02T14:27:00.000+01:00

Skill Build
1 - Poison Spray
2 - Toxicity
3 - Toxin Ward
4 - Toxin Ward
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 solo or heavy babysit as you most likely wont get early kills with Spray and Toxicity helps you a lot for lane control by harassing.
If you are playing Slither as a pure support hero consider putting only one point into Poison Spray and level Stats from levels 12-14. (Only damage and Range increase).

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: Support, Ganker
Properties: Roamer, Babysitter, Pusher
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.

[Swiftblade]

2012-06-13T17:36:00.000+01:00

Skill Build
1 - Blade Frenzy
2 - Stats
3 - Blade Frenzy
4 - Stats
5 - Blade Frenzy
6 - Swift Slashes
7 - Blade Frenzy
8 - Counter Attack
9 - 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 >> Whispering Helm >> Savage Mace >> Symbol of Rage >> Staff of the Master

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. If playing against Hammer/Hellbringer/DL/... consider a Nullfire Blade after Runed Axe for Purge. Alternative Items include Shieldbreaker + Abyssal Skull instead of Whispering Helm + Symbol.

Information:
Roles: Hard-Carry
Properties: None
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.

[Chronos]

2012-04-27T10:58:00.000+01:00

Skill Build
1 - 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 - Stats
16 - 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 core (altough arguably) 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:
Geometer's Bane >> Savage Mace >> Riftshards (>> Shrunken Head)

Geometer's adds much needed survivability to this build.. If you see yourself dying too early in fights get a Shrunken Head earlier or go for a Behemoth's Heart. 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.

Alternative Items:
Charged Hammer: Attackspeed and damage. A popular choice, especially in pubs.

Information
Roles: Hard-Carry
Properties: None
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.

[Soulstealer]

2012-04-16T10:26:00.000+01:00

Skill Build
1 - 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 - Dread
19 - Dread
20 - 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

//Disclaimer: With the recent changes to Soulstealer's Ultimate it is debatable if Portal Key is still the way to go. Recently we see Soulstealer skip it and go for more dps oriented Items right away. I list both builds and recommend trying the new-school approach.

Core:
Bottle >> Steamboots

Instead of Steamboots you can also get Post Haste. I am a 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.

"Old-school Build":
Portal Key >> Shrunken Head >> Geometer's Bane >> Wingbow >> Frostwulf Skull

In some games you can get Geobane before Shrunken Head.

"New-school Build":

Geometer's Bane >> Frostwulf Skull >> Shrunken Head >> Wingbow

It is possible to get Shrunken earlier but Geobane and Skull provide excellent survivability already.

Information
Roles: Carry, Initiator
Properties: Nuker, Pusher
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.

[Wildsoul]

2012-04-06T15:58:00.001+01:00

Skill Build
1 - Summon Beardulon
2 - Natural Attunement
3 - Summon Beardulon
4 - Natural Attunement
5 - Natural Attunement
6 - Summon Beardulon
7 - Summon Beardulon
8 - Natural Attunement
9 - Wild
10 - 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. level 3 Bear does nothing over level 4 Bear so we get them at 6 and 7. Once level 9 you should be able to support the Mana for Wild.

Items

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:

After the nerf to frostburn this build is a lot weaker. It is still viable but I suggest you go the bearmock 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
Properties: Jungler, Tank, Pusher
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)!!

[Soul Reaper]

2012-03-30T11:36:00.001+01:00

Skill Build
1 - Judgement
2 - Withering Presence
3 - Judgement
4 - Withering Presence
5 - Judgement
6 - Demonic Execution
7 - Judgement
8 - Withering Presence
9 - Withering Presence
10 - Stats
11 - Demonic Execution
12 - Stats
13 - Stats
14 - Stats
15 - Stats
16 - Demonic Execution
17 - Stats+
22 - Inhuman Nature+

Justification / Modifications:
This may look counter-intuitive but when you think about it, this is the best Skill Build in most cases. Inhuman Nature does help you lane early on, but it provides far little use beyond that (and thus we either take it very early or not at all). To use it properly you have to constantly push the lane, or simply not take advantage of the mana you get back. The aura harasses a bit in the lane, especially against people who completely rely on bottle or tangos, since they have absolutely nothing to counter-act the degen the aura provides. While it isn't game breaking, it does make a difference if they decide to tower dive or chase you. Stats can be taken just about any time over aura, as they provide a hitpoint boost and mana boost, in addition to regen.
Another Point is, that if you are babysitting someone you should let your carry get the last hits and thus Inhuman Nature is completely useless.

Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Health Potion, Mana Potion, 2x Minor Totem, Mana Battery

Core:
Power Supply >> Steam Boots >> Fortified Bracelet

Survivability and Mana Regen is what you need to be effective in Team fights. When laning leave the boots on int, later switch em to str for fights.

After Core:
Sacrificial Stone >> Frostfield Plate >> Kuldra's Sheepstick >> Post Haste >> Behemoth's Heart

I am listing that many items because Soul Reaper can actually be played very carry-heavy and he is a decent farmer. If you get some gear you will be a real threat to the opposing team and way more than just a good supporter. After the buff to Sac Stone it is easily the best first item if you choose the carry route.

Alternative Items:
- Nullstone: While being very good now it will stay situational. Get it to counter kill ultimates or targetet silence. (Swift, Pyro, BH, etc)
- Astrolabe: Can be gotten instead of Sac Stone if you go the full support or early push route.
- Nome's Wisdom: Subotimal choice. Consider it only if no one else is getting oneand get it right after core. Nice for early tanky-ness.

Information:
Roles: Semi-Carry, (Supporter)
Properties: Pusher, Nuker, Tank
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 4 - Good
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 5 - Very Strong (Aura + Judgement is very dominant)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium
- Late Game / Team Fights: 3 - Medium (Can semi-carry if very well farmed)

30-Seconds-Guide:
- Soul Reaper moves very slow, having a base movespeed of 290(10 under average), as such most of his ganks will be done via counter ganks by utilizing the TP scrolls
- Either offensive or defensive, you should be at every team fight. You're far too useful at this stage in the game (~7-11) to not be in team fights, as you can literally be a 2k swing in damage with a single spell.
- In mid game, with strength treads on you should be tilting around 1.1-1.2k hitpoints, making you one of the highest health heroes (especially int heroes) in the game.

Counters:
- Magic Armor is solid against him.
- Don't try to counter him too much, better focus on you / your team getting stronger than him.

[Gauntlet]

2012-03-25T10:08:00.001+01:00

Skill Build
1 - Infernal Instability
2 - Grapple
3 - Infernal Instability
4 - Cripple
5 - Infernal Instability
6 - Gauntlet Blast
7 - Infernal Instability
8 - Cripple
9 - Cripple
10 - Cripple
11 - Gauntlet Blast
12 - Stats
13 - Stats
14 - Stats
15 - Stats
16 - Gauntlet Blast
17 - Stats+
23 - Grapple+

Justification / Modifications:
Infernal Instability is what makes or breaks Gauntlet in his current state. Grapple and Cripple are both very lackluster. While Cripple serves as an Anti-Carry tool Grappe is just inferior to stats except the first level. Grapple is very situational already and 1.5 sec silence is not enough to compensate for 6 stats.

Lane Starting Items:
Logger's Hatchet, Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Minor Totem, Mana Potion

Core:
Bottle >> Marchers >> Power Supply >> Ghost Marchers >> Storm Spirit

Bottle and Power Supply for his mana hungry spells and low Mana pool. Ghost Marchers to close up once you activate Infernal Instability and finally Storm Spirit for more mana and as the ultimative ganking tool.
Throw a hero into the air, run up and hit him with everything you've got.

After Core:
Shrunken Head >> Daemonic Breastplate

Gauntlet loses efficiency as the game goes on and he is not able to truly carry. These items help him to stay alive in team fights to hopefully allow him more than one big punch.

Alternative Items:

Portal Key: You can get this in place of Storm Spirit. It serves the same purpose just without the Manareg attached to it. Its a matter of taste but I find that Storm Spirit gets the job done good enough.

Information:
Roles: Ganker
Properties: Nuker, Anti-Carry
Prefered Lane: Long/Short
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 4 - Good (Instability)
Item dependancy: 3 - Medium
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Stong (Smack 'em)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 5 - Very Strong (Smack 'em some more)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 2 - Weak (Tickle 'em. No Teamfight presence.)

30-Seconds-Guide:
- Activating Instability when you use your Ultimate is a very strong combo for 400 Magic + 400 True damage!
- After using storm spirit run up to your target and smack him with instability. Then pound him and finish off with your Ulti (can be caculated precisely since its true damage). Save Grapple to cancel chanelling spells.
- Unfortunately you can't do anything else but this.
- Btw, i don't recommend using instability with grapple, as it is very easy to miss with that, wasting 2 spells.
- You can also use Instability defensively. When you have 3 Charges and activate it, it will ignore all slow effects, allowing you to escape.

Counters:
- Any form of CC is good.
- Except for his initial burst, gauntlet won't do much. No need to worry much about him. He also loses power drasticly as the game goes to lategame.
- Try to keep him off your Carry.

[Chronos]

2012-03-18T10:23:00.000+00:00

[Accursed]

2012-03-10T11:32:00.000+00:00

Skill Build
1 - Fire Shield
2 - Cauterize
3 - Fire Shield
4 - Cauterize
5 - Fire Shield
6 - Flame Consumption
7 - Fire Shield
8 - Cauterize
9 - Cauterize
10 - Sear
11 - Flame Consumption
12 - Sear
13 - Sear
14 - Sear
15 - Stats
16 - Flame Consumption
17 - Stats+

Justification / Modifications:
Standard build for all situations. I don't think it is ever worth to delay your ultimate or to get an early level of sear.

Lane Starting Items:
2x Healing Potion, 2x Mana Potion, Guardian Ring, 2x Minor Totem

Core:
Ring of the Teacher >> (Power Supply >>) Marchers >> Nome's Wisdom OR Ring of Sorcery

Ring of the Teacher can be completed at the outpost. Then get either Nome's or Ring of Sorcery depending on your team. I prefer Nome's if no one else plans to get it. Power Supply is situational and can be skipped.
If you don't get Power Supply i recommend you get a Fortified Bracelet instead.

After Core:

Ghost Marchers OR Plated Greaves >> Astrolabe >> Barrier Idol >> Behemoth's Heart

The full support route.

Alternative Items:
- Abyssal Skull: Great item if you have other heroes on your team to profit from it. Get it after Astrolabe or Barrier Idol.

Information:
Roles: Babysitter, Supporter, Tank
Prefered Lane: Short/Long
Difficulty: 4 - Hard (Easy to learn, hard to master)
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Item dependancy: 3 - Medium
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4 - Strong (Carry-Support, Tanking)

30-Seconds-Guide:
- Your Bread and Butter in the early game is to apply Fire Shield to yourself and then cast Cauterize on your enemies. This will blow up your Fire Shield and deal very high burst damage to your opponent.
- As long as you have enough mana, keep your lane partner's health topped.
- But try to always have mana for at least one Fire Shield.
- Remember that Fire Shield removes a range of debuffs, most importantly slow effects.
- Accursed is a pretty effective tower diver. Diving into tower range with a Fire Shield while right clicking your enemy will make sure the shield blows up and your enemy takes the damage. Using this can easily net you some early game kills.
- In team fights use your skills DEFENSIVELY!! Don't nuke spam cauterize, use it to keep your most fragile carry up!! You have the best burst heal in the game.

Counters:
- There are heroes that can kill accursed without triggering his ultimate. This is achieved by dealing more damage than his remaining HP with one single spell while his ultimate is not yet activated. The following heroes can do this relatively easy: Legionnaire (Decapitate is instant kill even while his ulti is ON), Witchslayer, Pyromancer, Deadwood.
- The vast majority of Accursed you will meet will go this or a similar support route. You can't really counter that. He has no obvious weakness. Simply ignore him and kill his team mates first. He is a P.I.T.A. to kill as you need to do it twice.

[Pandamonium]

2012-03-06T17:37:00.000+00:00

Skill Build
1 - Flick
2 - Cannonball
3 - Cannonball
4 - Flurry
5 -Cannonball
6 - Face Smash
7 -Cannonball
8 -Flurry
9 - Flurry
10 - Flurry
11 - Flick
12 - Flick
13 - Flick
14 - Face Smash
15 - Stats
16 - Face Smash
17 - Stats+

Justification / Modifications:
The reason you don't get Face Smash level 2 on level 11 is, that the duration doesn't increase, while the mana cost does. Face Smash is a disable not a nuke, so same duration for less Mana is to be prefered especially since you are pretty starved on mana anyways.

Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, Logger's Hatchet, 3x Minor Totem

Core:
(Bottle >>) Ghost Marchers >> Power Supply >> Shrunken Head

I usually get a bottle but it is not always needed. Make sure you get Ghost Marchers asap, the earlier the better. Once you have them it will be very hard for your enemies to dodge your flicks and kills start happening. Power Supply is core. In most of the games you will then work for a Shrunken Head. If you don't need one get Insanitatious.
Insanitarious allows you to kill any creep wave with 3 flurries and it makes your ulti so much stronger.

After Core:
(Insanitarious >>) Behemoth's Heart >> Portal Key >> Riftshards

If your farm doesn't go well get Insanitarious. The buildup is superb! If your farm is going decent you can skip Insanitarious and go for Heart directly. Behemoth's Heart will give you a big damage boost for your skills as it greatly increases your base damage. Portal Key for initiation or for blink-ult on their carry. Riftshard crits do happen during Face Smash. If you lack initiation get Key before Heart.

Alternative Items:
- Barbed Armor: Depending on your role this is the first item after your core.

NEVER GET RUNED AXE ON PANDAMONIUM!
I see so many pub players do this but please don't! Runed axe gives you a cleave but with insanitarious you will instagib creep waves with your flurry, you do absolutely not need Cleave! The flat damage bonus on Runed Axe does not further increase the damage of your skills eihter because it does not increase base damage (again, insanitarious does increase base damage) and if you only want it for the manareg simply get a Bottle and Power Supply.
Always get Insanitarious over Runed Axe for damage and farming!

Information:
Roles: Ganker, Semi-Carry
Properties: Pusher
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 4 - Hard
Farming capabilities: 4 - Good (Flurry)
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy (Abilities scale with items)
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 3 - Medium
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Very strong midgame ganker)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 3 - Medium

30-Seconds-Guide:
- With the slow of level one flick you are not guaranteed to land your cannonball. Try to anticipate where the enemy is running or wait a second for him to start running before you cannonball.
- With level 3+ flick you are pretty much guaranteed to land cannonball if queued after flick.
- When ganking a lane use flick/cannonball on one hero then switch to the other hero and face smash him while your team mates finish off both heroes.
- Cannonball can be used as an escape skill. But don't use it to just "blink" away as you will be stunned after you land. Use it to jump up/down cliffs or into the forest where the enemy can't reach you.

Counters:
- Stack Armor. ALL his damage is physical and thus subject to mitigation by Armor. Nome's Wisdom, Plated Greaves, etc work fine.
- If he is rushing A Shrunken Head consider building a Tablet of Command to interrupt his Face Smash. This is critical if he can disable your carry with it.