The Reviews

Guide to Lucifer - The Doom Bringer

2007-02-18T20:27:00.000+08:00

Quick Reference Section

Skill Build:

1. Devour
2. LVL Death
3. Devour
4. LVL Death
5. Devour
6. Doom
7. LVL Death
8. LVL Death
9. Devour
10. Scorched Earth
11. Doom
12. Scorched Earth
13. Scorched Earth
14. Scorched Earth
15. Attribute Bonus
16. Doom
17 - 25. Attribute Bonus

Item Build:

================================================================================

Table of contents:

A. Introduction: Doom’s Basic Information
B. Skill Build
C. Item Build
D. Strategy
D1. Skill Analysis
D2. Walkthrough by game stages:
D2a. Early game
D2b. Mid game
D2c. Late game
E. Conclusion

A. Introduction: Doom’s Basic Information

Initial Stats:
HP/ MP: 644 / 208
Damage: 53 -69
Armor: 3.5
Strength/ Agility/ Intelligence: 26 + 3.2/ 11+ 0.9/ 16+2.1
Range: 150
MoveSpeed: 300

Doom 's Strength:

1. High str stats growth (which translate to high hp + base damage)
2. Hero Killer
3. Great Farmer
4. Great silencing spell (12 seconds)

Doom’s Weaknesses:

1. No Disabling skill from stopping hero escaping.

B. Skill build:

1- Devour

Swallows an enemy unit for a short period of time, digesting it and dealing 20 damage per second. Each level decreases the cooldown and mana cost and gives bonus gold when the devoured unit is killed.

Level 1 - Gives 10 bonus gold, can only devour enemy creeps or non-ancient neutral creeps that are no higher than level 1.
Level 2 - Gives 20 bonus gold, can only devour enemy creeps or non-ancient neutral creeps that are no higher than level 2.
Level 3 - Gives 30 bonus gold, and can only devour enemy creeps or non-ancient neutral creeps that are no higher than level 4.
Level 4 - Gives 40 bonus gold, and can only devour enemy creeps or non-ancient neutral creeps that are no higher than level 6.

Mana Cost: 50/ 45/ 40/ 35
Cooldown: 30/ 25/ 20/ 15

2 – Scorched Earth

Blankets the ground in flames, damaging enemies and healing the Doombringer. Also increases Lucy's attack and movement speed.
Lasts 20 seconds

Level 1 - 1 damage/health a second, 10% increased speed.
Level 2 - 2 damage/health a second, 15% increased speed.
Level 3 - 3 damage/health a second, 20% increased speed.
Level 4 - 4 damage/health a second, 30% increased speed.

Mana Cost: 60
Cooldown: 10

3- LVL Death

Dissipates a piece of a target's soul. Deals 250 bonus damage if the target's level is a multiple of a specific number. Can only cast on enemy heroes.

Level 1 - Deals 50 damage, 6 multiplier.
Level 2 - Deals 100 damage, 5 multiplier.
Level 3 - Deals 200 damage, 4 multiplier.
Level 4 - Deals 250 damage, 3 multiplier.

Mana Cost: 85/ 105/ 125/ 145
Cooldown: 8

4- Doom

The target unit becomes inflicted with Doom. The afflicted unit cannot cast spells (including item spells) and will take damage per second.
Lasts 12 seconds.

Level 1 - Deals 40 damage per second.
Level 2 - Deals 60 damage per second.
Level 3 - Deals 80 damage per second.

Mana Cost: 150/ 200/ 250
Cooldown: 180/ 150/ 120

Here is the suggested skill build:

C. Skill Build

1. Devour
2. LVL Death
3. Devour
4. LVL Death
5. Devour
6. Doom
7. LVL Death
8. LVL Death
9. Devour
10. Scorched Earth
11. Doom
12. Scorched Earth
13. Scorched Earth
14. Attribute Bonus
15. Attribute Bonus
16. Doom
17 - 25. Attribute Bonus

Brief explanation to skill builds:

1. Devour for easy farming during early stages, so that you can get your early items fast.
2. LVL Death early-mid games for killing heroes.
3. Scorched Earth is only taken in mid game because in early game, we don’t need the fast move speed for chasing to kill. We kill by using spells.
4. Doom is taken whenever it is available.

Why Devour ???

Devour is a vary good farming skill. It’s a skill that everyone should get it regardless of how good you are in farming, IMHO.
Let’s say you are very good at farming at is capable of getting all last hit on all creeps, it is still a very good skill to invest in. An average creep gives you 40 gold. An additional 40 gold on top of all the 4 creeps during early game is actually a 25% increase in gold collected. Anyway, it is just my humble opinion that it is a skill way to good to be neglected. If you really feel that you don’t need it, it is still up to your personal preference. J Just some thing to take note, do not devour enemy creeps whenever you are planning to backstab. Enemy creep which is still being “digested” will give all the enemies true sight on your location.

Why LVL-Death???

LVL Death should be invested gradually together with the level growth of the opponent in your lane, thus, the reasoning of getting it at level 2/4/7/8. When Doom is at level 4, LVL Death will inflict extra damage on level 5 hero; At level 7, Doom will inflict extra damage to hero at level 8; at level 8, LVL Death will inflict extra damage on heroes at level 9. With this on mind, you should be always staying ahead of your opponent regardless of whichever situation. This is your signature skill to shine during early/mid game. There is no reason to pull back this skill to just at level 2 just because the maximum level for all heroes is level 25. What is 100+250 damage to heroes when they are at level 25? It will be just like a sniff on them.

Why no Scotched Earth in early games ???

We don’t need the moving speed in that early game. We aren’t inflicting damage thru our physical hit during this time. Furthermore, with Devour, you will be able to get your Ring Of Health around …. Say level 3, or the worse, level 5. Don’t forget that you still have a sapphire flask that you’ve brought with you before you leave your lane? That should be able to last you until you get your ring under any circumstances.

C. Item Build

Recommended Item Build:

Starting items:
1 sapphire water + 2 clarity potion + 2 mantle Of Intelligent

1. Ring Of Health + Void Stone
2. Boots
3. Orge Axe / Belt / Mitril / Claymore
4. Crystalys + Demon edge
5. Start Combining Item(Buriza/ Sange)
6. Reaver + Vitality
7. Heart of Tarrasque
9. Aegis

Brief explanation to item builds:

1. Start off with a Saphirre + 2 clarity + 2 mantle of Intelligent. Saphirre for unforeseen situation, and clarity so that you can devour and have enough mana for kills early.
2. Orge Axe / Belt / Mitril / Claymore are gotten in any order base on your own judgement on the situation. Do not combine those items, yet. Just get them.
3. Mitril / Claymore / Axe / Belt can be gotten in any sequence based on the situation. If u face spammers who gave u a really hard time, then I would go for axe/belt first for the extra strength stats. If you are doing fine, then I would suggest that you invest your gold on extra damage items. Mitril / Claymore would be it.
4. The reason why we combine our items so late is because we do not need the extra gold spent for the additional maim. We would be better of investing the gold on other items, and combine the sange when the need of additional slot arrises.
5. Buriza because your spells alone at this stage can no longer kill heroes. You need to rely on your physical damage.
6. Heart for helping in tanking.

Why Perseverence ??? Battlefury ???

Perseverence gives you the regen on hp/mana that you both need. I would suggest getting void stone first, but if you have trouble with your hp early on facing heavy nukers, then I would suggest we go for Ring first. Battlefury is that for the damage. +10 extra damage and cleave attack without even needed to spend extra on any scroll is really sweet, don't you think so?

Why Sange??? Why not S&Y???

Sange is chosen not because of the maim. It is taken as a stepping stone before you get your Heart. That is also the reason why we do not want to combine it so early. The scroll to combine it is because that we want to save slot.

Let's see. Sange is 2050. S&Y is 5000. A difference of 3k. What does the 3k give? 10% increase move/attack speed, and a few armour. That's all. Do you think it is worth it? In my humble opinion, the 3k can be used in other more benificial items, e.g.:- Reaver / Demon Edge .

Why Buriza over MKB???

Because Doom already has a high base damage. And with battlefury, the criticle will do easy job on creep waves. We do not need to rely on the mini stun on MKB to cancel channeling spell. LVL Death will be sufficient. (Thanks alanrulez for this)

Why Heart over Satanic???

Doom's attackspeed is not very fast, so Satanic is not a very good item on him.
Heart gives 35 strength, while satanic only 25.
Satanic is orb. Sange is also Orb.

Why Aegis???

To be a ultimate tanker. With high hp and higher armour, you will do the role well.

Why no Guinsoo??? Doom needs mana !!!

I acknowledge the fact that Doom needs mana, but Guinsoo/Eul is really overkill for him. We really do not need that additional mana if we are capable of managing the mana pool properly. Get 2 Mantle if you really need the addition mana.

Why no Refresher???

A refresher can never stand alone. It needs some mana boosting item to be coupled with in order for a Double-Doom. If you were to do that, you won't be able to tank so well for you teams. I personally still do believe that with the insane strength stat growth of doom, he should be able to serve his team as a great tanker, but well, if you prefer to play it as a caster type hero, then this is not a bad choice

D1. Skill Analysis

1. How to use Devour
Whenever a creep wave arrives, just devour one of the melee creep, as it gives more gold compared to the range creep.
Just keep in mind that, when you are planning to backstab/ambush, do not devour enemy creeps, as devour will reveal your location to the enemies.

2. How to use LVL Death
a. This is the skill that let you kill heroes during early/mid stage. Using this skill requires a little bit of your planning as well as timing.

b. If you play well, you should be able to get kills by only using this skill during early/mid game. A spell that deals 250+250 damage isn’t some joke.

c. This spell has a mini-stun. Use this to cancel channeling spell. e.g:- Sand King's Epicenter, CM's Ultimate, etc ...

3. How to use Scotched Earth

When you have level 4 of this skill, just use it whenever you are in a battle, and whenever the cooldown is down.

More details on how to use it from [http://www.dotaportal.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7877]

4. Doom

a. Use it as a finisher during early / mid games.

b. During team clashes in mid/later stage, do not use it as a finisher. Instead, you should use it to silence spell caster from the opposite team so as to wear down their team disabling power. Examples of heroes that you should be targeting are lion/rhasta/Death Prophet/etc.

c. If it is a wind walker, use doom to silence him first from escaping, then finish him off with LVL-Death.

D2. Walkthrough by game stages:

D2a. Early game:

Pick a side lane. If you can have a solo, it would be best. But if you couldn’t you can still live with it.

At level 4, you should have already got your LVL Death 2nd level. Wait patiently for your opponent to reach his level 5. Once he is at level 5, immediately cast LVL Death on him. Just do it once enough.

Keep leveling up. Just right before you were to reach your level 6, consume your clarity potion.

Once you hit level 6, if the enemy still lingers around, immediately cast DOOM, then LVL Death. This should pocket you a kill.

If you are not confident in the above mention method, you may want to cast twice LVL Death when the enemy is at his level 5, and then cast DOOM as your finisher when you reach your level 6.

D2b. Mid game:

Once you have your perseverance, you should be able to semi-spam your LVL-Death. This is the stage where you shine most. A nuke with 500 damage is really painful.

You should plan well ahead for your mana usage. If you see a hero which matches the level with your LVL Death spell, you should be running towards him. Normally, a LVL Death + DOOM would be suffice for most agility/intelligent heroes.

Carry clarity potions with you at all times so that when the opportunity arises, you will be able to take it (have efficient mana for a LVL-Death + DOOM)

Once you have your Scotched Earth level 4 together with your Battle Fury, there is no need for you to spam Devour any longer. You should be conserving your mana for Scotched Earth + Doom + LVL Death in team clashes.

D2c. Late game:

Your role right now is to tank for your team. You should be able to do the job well with your great strength stats growth coupled with your Hearts. Just silence the disabler from the opposite team, cast Scotched Earth in front of you, and march in. The rest should be handled by your team mates.

Once you doom(silenced) the opposite team's disabler, and cast Scortched Earth, you should march in and target on the highest DPS(damage per second) damage dealer of the opposing team, e.g.:- PA, Razor, Troll, etc.

E. Conclusion

Doom Bringer is a fun hero to use. With good farming skills to get great items, and wonderful nuke that does insane damage, everyone will be able to enjoy playing him with a little bit of practice, and timing too.

Comments and feedback are most welcome.

Anyway, here's how a fully equipped Doom looks like:-

Ghost Rider (2007) - Reviewed

2007-02-18T20:16:00.000+08:00

I first encountered Ghost Rider back in the early 90’s at, oh, age 8 or 9. What drew me to the character was pretty much what draws everyone to the character, at least at first. Ghost Rider looks really, really cool. Flaming motorcycles, blazing skulls, black leather, chains…visually, Ghost Rider is like an awesomeness overload. So, of course, Ghost Rider on the big screen, in live action, is a sight to behold. Visually-speaking, that is. As we all know, a movie can’t survive on visuals alone, and while I still enjoyed the heck out of this flick, I won’t deny it had some troubles.

At a young age, stunt cyclist Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) sold his soul to Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) to save the life of his ailing father. Mephistopheles betrayed him and vowed to one day return to take what is his. Years later, Johnny Blaze has become America’s top stunt cyclist, yet he feels something is missing. His old flame, Roxanne Simpson (Eva Mendez), walks back into his life and Johnny suddenly believes he has gotten his second chance. Not quite. Someone else has come back into his life, Mephistopheles, who forces Johnny to fulfill his end of the bargain. Johnny is suddenly and painfully transformed into the skull-faced Spirit of Vengeance: Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider is charged with the task of hunting down and destroying Mephistopheles’ rebel son, Blackheart, and his trio of elemental demons. At stake are the souls of a thousand evil men, enough to tip the balance of power. Johnny is joined by the Caretaker (Sam Elliot), a mysterious guide who knows more than he lets on.

Hannibal Rising - Reviewed

2007-02-18T20:14:00.000+08:00

To me, I find that Hannibal Lecter is a character best used sparingly. Of the three films within the original “Hannibal Trilogy” (though I’m loathed to call it that), “Red Dragon” and “Silence of the Lambs” are my two favorite installments, both of which only feature Hannibal as a supporting player with limited screen time. I found the third installment, aptly named “Hannibal”, to be the least appealing. Well, “Hannibal Rising” is a prequel to that series, focusing completely on the title character. While that didn’t exactly appeal to my pallet, those of you who want Hannibal, Hannibal and more Hannibal will most likely enjoy this offering.

The story begins in Germany, 1941, at Castle Lecter. Young Hannibal (Aaron Thomas) and his family are forced to flee to a secluded shack in the wilderness to hide from bombarding Nazi forces. Hannibal’s parents are killed by enemy fire and he and his infant sister, Mischa (Helena Lia Tachovska) are left alone in a horrible blizzard. They are soon taken prisoner by a group of Nazi war profiteers, who go mad with hunger and eat Mischa. Fast forward 8 years, and Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) is now a disturbed young orphan who goes to live with his Aunt, Lady Murasaki (Li Gong). She trains him in the ways of the Samurai and Hannibal uses these skills to hunt down the men who killed his sister, gradually losing his grip on reality in the process.

Top 10 classic decklist - Magic the Gathering

2007-02-15T23:51:00.000+08:00

10. Big Beef Land Destruction

Artifacts
1x Black Lotus
2x Jayemdae Tome
4x Juggernaut
5 Moxen
1x Sol Ring

Black
4x Dark Ritual
2x Demonic Hordes
1x Demonic Tutor
2x Drain Life
4x Hypnotic Specter
4x Juzam Djinn
4x Sinkhole
2x Terror

Green
1x Berserk
4x Ice Storm
2x Instill Energy
1x Regrowth

Land
4x Bayou
4x Forest
1x Library of Alexandria
7x Swamp

9. ProsBloom

4 x Infernal Contract
2 x Vampiric Tutor
1 x Drain Life
4 x Natural Balance
4 x Squandered Resources
4 x Cadaverous Bloom
3 x Abeyance
3 x Prosperity
4 x Memory Lapse
4 x Impulse
4 x Meditate
4 x City of Brass
4 x Gemstone Mine
5 x Swamp
4 x Forest
1 x Plains
5 x Island

8. Bazaar Reanimator

Black
4x Animate Dead
4x Ashen Ghoul
4x Dark Ritual
1x Demonic Consulation
4x Krovikan Horror
4x Nether Shadow
4x Shallow Grave
4x Vampiric Tutor

Blue
4x Deep Spawn

Gold
4x Nicol Bolas

Red
2x Crimson Hellkite

Land
4x Bazaar of Baghdad
4x Badlands
1x Diamond Valley
8x Swamp
4x Underground Sea

7. Vise Age

Artifacts
4x Black Vise
4x Howling Mine

Gold
3x Stormbind

Green
4x Ernham Djinn
4x Tinder Wall

Red
2x Fireball
4x Incinerate
2x Jokulhaups
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Orcish Lumberjack
2x Orgg
1x Shatter

Land
8x Forest
4x Karplusan Forest
8x Mountain
4x Strip Mine

6. The Rack / Balance Deck

Artifacts
1x Black Lotus
1x Candelabra of Tawnos
1x Chaos Orb
3x Library of Leng
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Ruby
2x Relic Barrier
4x The Rack

Green
1x Regrowth
3x Sylvan Library

Red
4x Chain Lightning
3x Fireball
4x Lightning Bolt

White
4x Balance
2x Consecrate Land
3x Disenchant

Land
4x Bazaar of Baghdad
1x Maze of Ith
4x Mishra’s Factory
4x Plateau
4x Savannah
4x Taiga

5. Erhnamgeddon

Artifacts
1x Feldon’s Cane
2x Fellwar Stone
1x Zuran Orb

Green
1x Autumn Willow
4x Ernham Djinn
1x Hurrican
4x Llanowar Elf
2x Sylvan Library
2x Whirling Dervish

White
3x Armageddon
1x Balance
3x Disenchant
2x Land Tax
2x Order of Leitbur
2x Serra Angel
4x Swords to Plowshares
2x Wrath of God

Lands
4x Brushland
8x Forest
7x Plains
4x Strip Mine

4. Kird Ape / Channelball

Artifacts
1x Black Lotus
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Emerald
1x Sol Ring

Blue
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Counterspell
1x Time Walk
1x Timetwister

Green
1x Berserk
1x Channel
4x Elvish Archers
4x Giant Growth
4x Llanowar Elves
1x Regrowth

Red
4x Disintegrate
4x Fireball
4x Kird Ape
4x Lightning Bolt

Land
2x Forest
1x Library of Alexandria
1x Mountain
4x Strip Mine
4x Taiga
4x Tropical Island
4x Volcanic Island

3. Titania / Balance Deck

Artifacts
1x Black Lotus
1x Chaos Orb
4x Fellwar Stone
3x Howling Mine
4x Icy Manipulator
1x Ivory Tower
2x Jade Statue
5 Moxen
4x Relic Barrier
3x Winter Orb

Green
1x Regrowth
3x Titania’s Song

White
4x Balance
4x Disenchant
4x Swords to Plowshares

Lands
1x Forest
4x Mishra’s Factory
1x Mishra’s Workshop
2x Plains
4x Savannah
4x Strip Mine

2. The Deck

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
2 Disrupting Scepter
1 Jayemdae Tome
1 Mirror Universe
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Amnesia
1 Braingeyser
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
1 Recall
1 Regrowth

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Counterspell
4 Mana Drain
2 Red Elemental Blast
4 Disenchant
4 Swords to Plowshares Enchantments
2 Moat

Creatures
2 Serra Angel

Lands
4 City of Brass
4 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
3 Plains
3 Strip Mine
4 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island

Sideboard
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Dust to Dust
1 Zuran Orb
1 Balance
2 Blood Moon
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Mana Short
1 Amnesia
1 Feldon's Cane

1. The Necrodeck

Artifacts
2x Icy Manipulator
1x Ivory Tower
2x Nevinyrral’s Disk
1x Zuran Orb

Black
4x Black Knight
4x Dark Ritual
3x Drain life
4x Hymn to Tourach
4x Hypnotic Specter
2x Icequake
1x Ihsan’s Shade
4x Necropotence
4x Order of the Ebon Hand
2x Sengir Vampire

Land
4x Strip Mine
18x Swamp

Guide to King Leoric - The Skeleton King

2007-02-14T12:23:00.000+08:00

BACKGROUND STORY

Legend has it Leoric was a King of a kingdom of a forgotten past. He is valiant and noble in life only to die suddenly of a illness at his prime. As part of the Lich King’s evil plans to booster the Scourge forces, he had studied and looked for the tomes of ancient warriors in hope that the evil necromancer magics might bring them back to “life” again. Lying dead and with flesh long turned into dust in his crypt till the evil necromancers of Scourge revived him.

During the revival process, the necromancers discovered that this is no ordinary zombie they had created but one of extraordinary powers as suspected by Lich King. The process has granted Leoric the powers of life leech, without normal methods of nourishment, he is able to regain his energies by feasting on the living’s flesh and inhaling their souls. Such was the aura of the great warrior, fellow allies in his vicinity also gains this benefit. Being a great warrior, he can kill the most powerful of Sentinel warriors in a few blows, the ability to inflict horrendous and critical damage to his enemies when opportunity arises. Slung to his waist, are war-hammers, which he hurls with great effect that could stun even the largest foes. The most surprise discovery after he was revived was that of reincarnation. With a burning desire to survive, he is able to reincarnate himself when he has enough mana energies.

He is in constant pain, he fights bitterly and can only gain a brief respite from his agonies each time he maims or kills. With sheer determination for his master hoping that one day he might be granted eternal rest.

CONTENTS
1. General Hero Analysis (Pros / Cons)
2. Skills / Abilities Analysis
3. Skill Build
- Classic Build
- Survival Build
- Kamikaze Build
3. Item Build
- Start Game Items
- Core Items
- Bonus Items
- Recommended Items Packages
- Classic Items Package
- Survival Items Package
- Kamikaze Items Package
- Andoy's Ownage Package
4. Classic Tactics Guide
- Lane
- Items
- Creeping
- Combat
5. Allies / Opponents Analysis
- Good Allies
- Bad Allies
- Good Enemies
- Bad Enemies

1. GENERAL HERO ANALYSIS - (Pros / Cons)

Skeleton King / SK offers a lot with his skills package. He has a Stormbolt / Vampiric aura / Critical Strike / Reincarnation all in one neat package. There’s disable, aura, high damage output and revival! His skills all work well with one and another and gives good synergy and is good teamwork hero to allies.

He isn’t the fastest runner or mad speed attack but he has good damage and good health. He is great against most heroes-matchup except if opponent team has one or more of guys like Silencer/Death Prophet/Drow/Mana burners who has the abilites to destroy his low mana pool and Reincarnation skill.

2. SKILLS / ABILITIES ANALYSIS

Stormbolt – Any form of disable is great and it is of good duration at all levels, i.e. 2 seconds. Its damage isn’t fantastic to be used as a regular nuke but it will serve decent damage at enemies when early games especially. It is also a great tool to finish off a running opponent and kill-steal.

Vampirc Aura – A form of life leech that benefits all allies and spawns in a decent AOE range. This skill gives SK long lasting power in the battlefield and also gives him to possibility to creep at neutral creeps. This skill will benefit you greatly through all stages of the game. It allows you to stay in lane longer in early game, creep neutrals at mid games and become a healing monster when the criticals kicks in at late games.

Critical Strike – The percentage of chance activating it is at relatively low constant of 15% and it is structured in a way at various level that the amount of critical damage only become significant at higher levels. 1.25 and 1.75 times damage at level 1 and 2 of the skill especially when SK still deals only lowish base damage and IAS and likelihood of not having good items yet is pretty useless. This skill shines at high levels when SK has decent IAS and good damage.

Reincarnation – When you are able to get this ability at level 6, it is time to watch especially closely to mana reserves. You would need it to revive yourself. Of course, if the skill is cooling down (you are killed recently), you may spam the last droplets of mana for your Stormbolt. This skill gives a negative psychological effect upon your enemies, some players tend to ignore SK because they might be able to kill SK but he could revive again. Also this will save you from sneak attacks by one or two enemies, as the likelihood of one or two players killing you two times in a row is low. With this skill, you will only be truly killed in massive battles or gangbangs.

3. SKILLS BUILD

Classic Skills Build

Hero lvl 1 - Stormbolt lvl 1,
Hero lvl 2 - Vampiric Aura lvl 1
Hero lvl 3 - Stormbolt lvl 2
Hero lvl 4 - Vampiric Aura lvl 2
Hero lvl 5 - Stormbolt lvl 3
Hero lvl 6 - Reincarnation lvl 1
Hero lvl 7 - Stormbolt lvl 4
Hero lvl 8 – Vampiric Aura lvl 3
Hero lvl 9 – Critical Damage lvl 1
Hero lvl 10 – Vampiric Aura lvl 4
Hero lvl 11 – Reincarnation lvl 2
Hero lvl 12 – Critical Damage lvl 2
Hero lvl 13 – Critical Damage lvl 3
Hero lvl 14 - Stats
Hero lvl 15 – Critical Damage lvl 4
Hero lvl 16 – Reincarnation lvl 3
Hero lvl 17 - Stats
Hero lvl 18 - Stats
Hero lvl 19 - Stats
Hero lvl 20 - Stats
Hero lvl 21 - Stats
Hero lvl 22 - Stats
Hero lvl 23 - Stats
Hero lvl 24 - Stats
Hero lvl 25 - Stats

This skill builds places emphasis on Stormbolt as a disable and killing tool from early game and Vampiric aura to help with staying power in early and creeping neutral potential in mid game. Critical Strike is only max out at mid game when the SK can finally deal decent damage. And of course, Reincarnation skill is taken up whenever possible.

This skill build also places emphasis on the very useful all around skills of SK, maxing them as early as possible.

Survival Skills Build

Hero lvl 1 - Stormbolt lvl 1,
Hero lvl 2 - Stats
Hero lvl 3 – Vampiric Aura lvl 1
Hero lvl 4 - Stats
Hero lvl 5 – Vampiric Aura lvl 2
Hero lvl 6 - Reincarnation lvl 1
Hero lvl 7 - Stats
Hero lvl 8 – Vampiric Aura lvl 3
Hero lvl 9 – Stats
Hero lvl 10 – Vampiric Aura lvl 4
Hero lvl 11 – Reincarnation lvl 2
Hero lvl 12 – Stats
Hero lvl 13 – Stats
Hero lvl 14 – Critical Damage lvl 1
Hero lvl 15 – Stats
Hero lvl 16 – Reincarnation lvl 3
Hero lvl 17 – Critical Damage lvl 2
Hero lvl 18 - Stats
Hero lvl 19 – Critical Damage lvl 3
Hero lvl 20 - Stats
Hero lvl 21 – Critical Damage lvl 4
Hero lvl 22 - Stats
Hero lvl 23 - Stormbolt
Hero lvl 24 - Stormbolt
Hero lvl 25 - Stormbolt

Strange and unusual build isn’t it? Before you start screaming, let me explain the rationale of this build. A single point in Stormbolt gives you survivability in using your bolt to escape and the other 3 points are not awarded till much later at lvl 23 to 25. Also, the single point of Stormbolt is mainly for defensive purposes. However, offensive-wise it is useful too and you only use it to stun enemies in hope of bringing other skills in to kill.

Stats are incorporated often to boost survivability, strength for hp, agility for armor, intelligence for more escaping Stormbolts and Reincarnation.Vampiric Aura gives good staying power and heals yourself especially during creeping. Critical Strike is added earlier than completing Stormbolt as it gives you better creeping capabilities than Stormbolt.

Finally, choosing this build means you aren’t a confident SK player and / or believes in tanking and a good defense is the best weapon. This build also works well when the enemies have extremely potent nukers / harassers and the stats bonus will go a long way in helping especially survival in early game.

Kamikaze Skills Build

Hero lvl 1 - Stormbolt lvl 1,
Hero lvl 2 – Critical Strike lvl 1
Hero lvl 3 – Stormbolt lvl 2
Hero lvl 4 - Critical Strike lvl 2
Hero lvl 5 – Stormbolt lvl 3
Hero lvl 6 - Reincarnation lvl 1
Hero lvl 7 – Critical Strike lvl 3
Hero lvl 8 – Stormbolt lvl 4
Hero lvl 9 – Critical Strike lvl 4
Hero lvl 10 – Vampiric Aura lvl 1
Hero lvl 11 – Reincarnation lvl 2
Hero lvl 12 – Vampiric Aura lvl 2
Hero lvl 13 – Vampiric Aura lvl 3
Hero lvl 14 – Vampiric Aura lvl 4
Hero lvl 15 – Stats
Hero lvl 16 – Reincarnation lvl 3
Hero lvl 17 to lvl 25 – Stats

Without a care in the world, this build places hope on earliest possible killing. Stormbolt is maxed ASAP as both a disable and damager skill while Vampiric Aura and Stats are sacrificed for earliest possible Critical Strike. Build is recommended for very advanced players, low skilled opponents, facing favorable enemies early in your lane, i.e Weaver/PA/SA, etc.

4. ITEM BUILD

Start Game Items

You may choose one of the following
1) 1 x Ring of Regeneration, 1 x Flask of Sapphire Water and 1 x Lesser Clarity Potion.
2) A mix of Flasks of Sapphire Water and Lesser Clarity potions for starting gold.
3) 1 x Bracer / Null Talisman
4) Boots of Speed
5) Nothing

The packages (1) and (2) are often used, with respect to opponent standards and it is the most common too. When things aren’t too heated, (1) is good, it gives you a little of everything, slow hp regeneration, emergency rapid 400hp regeneration and a single mana boost for a single bolt and reincarnation in early game. (2) is for use when you know your opponents are of the nukers variety and you would need hp regeneration in a hurry.

A single bracer and null talisman gives you a little boost in stats and thus a bit of everything nice and sweet. However this is not really needed in the long scheme of things unless you are relatively new and like to boost yourself up since SK is a melee hero weak in early stages of the game. This also meant you will run back to fountain soon.

Boots of Speed is generally a bad investment considering what the other packages can do for you in the start but there are arguments here since SK is very slow and the speed boost might help to avoid deaths and get the last hit easier.

Buying nothing at early stages in not advisable though early Ring of Health and Void Stone, etc is nice. You are leaving things to the in-competency of the opponents and generally this will be a disaster. Low on health and the need to run back to fountain early and experience and gold is denied.

Core Items

Here are some items that you should strive for in most circumstances, they are mostly survival & “multi-beneficial” items:

1) Bracer / Null talisman(s)
2) Boots of Speed / Power Threads
3) Perseverance
4) Battlefury
5) Helm of Dominator
6) Satanic
7) Sange & Yasha
8) Heart of Tarrasque
9) Black King Bar
10) Hyperstone
11) Consumables - Scroll of Town Portal / Clarity / Flasks of Sapphire / Wards / Gems

As said earlier, Bracer / Null talisman both gives you the benefit of more hp and more mana depending on selection. Choose according to your need i.e. do you need more hitpoints to counter nukers or do you need more mana because of heavy Stormbolt usage and manaburned by enemy?

Boots of Speed is a no brainer. The +50 movement speed is essential for SK since he is so slow. However, the decision to upgrade it for all heroes’ Boots of Speed to Power Threads is open to debate. In my opinion for SK, you are doing most of your damage via melee combat and it gives you a wee bit of movement speed. This is a great item for SK so grab it.

Perseverance gives the ability to transform it to Battlefury and it gives +4 hp and mana regeneration for one slot. This item is required for extended combat without returning to the fountain, the mana regeneration is good enough through the game for your Stormbolt and Reincarnation. I aim for completion of this item around the same time as my Power Threads depending on circumstances.

Cleaving attack helps farming, Battlefury is awesome for melee heroes like SK. He is slow no matter how good your last hit is, consider this Battlefury helps a lot in creeping against spawns (mainly less stress) and neutral spawns in mid and end games. Also it is awesome when you get a lot more enemy spawns as the game goes on. It also saves you a slot (Perseverance). This is a great item, I always aim to complete this ASAP after I had my Power Threads and Perseverance under most circumstances.

Satanic, this awesome item goes a long way to you give abilities like +hp, +damage, life steal stacking with your Vampiric Aura, self-healing and helps greatly in farming at neutrals especially the big spawns like Dragons, Golems etc. Helm of Iron Will gives +2hp regeneration and +2 armor, which is rather nice, but at similar price and cash for only one I would purchase it after I gotten my Mask of Madness. Life-steal owns all! Hp bonus is significant at 465 hp.

I often regarded Sange & Yasha as a survival or “game isn’t going so well” item. Its bonus helps a lot of in surviving and its components are cheapish (400 to 1000) making it easy to purchase. Often I would get this if I am sharing a lane, gold is hard to come by or I am making frequent fountain trips. I prefer getting Sange first for obvious reason that is a strength component of this item. And sometimes I just purchase this instead of completing the whole thing. The orb effect of Maim, is nice when it HAPPENS but for a slowish hitter like SK, don’t bet on it happening often. Remember Maim is overridden by life steal of Satanic so you are warned.

Heart of Tarraque is popular and gives plenty of hp boost and regeneration. Always good with heroes that needed a hitpoint boost and gives SK a lot more tanking ability. However this is recommended only after you gotten Satanic first, even though this is cheaper. It gives 965 hp which is alot, effectively turning user into a tank.

There is something that a lot of intelligence hero dread and that is Black King Bar. This is a strength based item and gives plenty of stuffs a SK would dream of. If money is a consideration, try buying Ogre Axe followed by Broadsword then recipe for simple fact that Ogre Axe gives you strength. A thing to note is that of mana cost. 150 mana cost is a big deal for SK so watch out to see if you have enough for Stormbolt and most importantly the 100 / 140 mana for Reincarnation. Lastly 10 seconds of immunity is plenty of time to kill the pesky Lion/Rhasta/Zeus/etc.

Normally once I gotten a damage item after my usual Battlefury + Satanic core item I would like to look at this, a Hyperstone. I am split between placing this in core or bonus item category. My rationale is SK is a slow melee hitter and he has innate Critical Strike ability, this investment will make the time when you get up close and personal counts. Good for destroying waves of spawns too if I may add. Lastly one is enough, two is not advisable due to gold, space, giving up other items consideration.

Scroll of Town Portal are mentioned here specially because it grants you the power to rush back saving a base, rapid tactical movement around the battlefield to hunt heros or kill creeps. Could be used to escape gangbangs too. Other consumables like Flasks of Sapphire Water and Clarity are good to have especially Clarity to prevent mana from dropping too low resulting in Reincarnation not kicking in. Wards and Gems are to be purchased whenever possible to counter stealthy enemies and preventing ambushes / backstabs.

Bonus Items

Nice to have but some of which aren't too affordable. All of them depending on unique circumstances, etc:

1) Aegis Shield of Immortal
2) Divine Rapier
3) Boots of Travel
4) Diffusal Blade & Manta Style
6) Monkey King Bar
7) Cranium Bashers
8) Butterfly
9) Linken Sphere
10) Eul & Guinsoo
11) Mekansm
12) Ring of Basilius
13) Helm of Rejuvenation
14) Radiance
15) Refresher Orb
16) Blink Dagger
17) Lothar Edge
18) Blademail
19) Hand of Midas
20) Mask of Madness
21) Stygian Desolator
22) Chicken

Aegis Shield of Immortal and Divine Rapier are often seen in a pair and hopefully you still have Aegis charges prior to purchasing a Rapier. Aegis is a unique item to SK as it gives Reincarnation too. Having this means you can die 4 times in a row. Its secondary bonus of reduced spell damage and chance to block 60 damage is nice but nothing spectacular. For reduced spell damage, it is justifiable if you have massive nukers like Lina or Lion for example and the 30% chance to block 60 damage is quite laughable at late game when things are especially fast and furious. If there is a Phantom Assasin will laugh at you with her 1000 critical damage.

Rapier gives you the highest constant damage for its cost. Best bang for the buck. And I have seen a brave SK attempting this as his core item after his threads and some low level items. I asked him what is his rationale? He said there are no mana burners or silencing in enemy team and he felt very confident that he is able to escaped unscathed even in gangbangs. He didn’t die and he raped hard that game but in second game even in absence of natural SK nemesis he died when heavily ganged. So this tactic is interesting but really risky. I would recommend this as a game-ending item only paired with Aegis charges of course.

Boots of Travel are especially good if your team is being outnumbered, outpushed or a low number of players game with plenty of spawns to get rid off. Works brilliantly with Battlefury. Only consideration is its high cost. The added speed is great for a couple of more hits and chasing too. It’s nice but not critical in most circumstances. Remember the Scrolls of Town Portal are cheap and movement speed aside, you need to use this boots for 20 times to justify its cost.

Very uncommon are the Diffusal Blade and Manta Style. Diffusal gives nothing of damage and strength to SK though the manaburn is nice mini bonus but the purge is great if you have problem killing. Most of the time, Manta Style is my choice if my team is outnumbered and if enemy team comprises mostly of melee heroes. Manta Style teamed with Blademail is ownage. Consider this, 20% damage returned from the 300% damage they inflicted on your images. Once again, this item(s) depend a lot on circumstances and for the gold there is, this is only a bonus. More often than not, this is a late game item.

Monkey King bar isn’t bad and isn’t too expensive. It is not a orb, it gives constant damage, attack speed and the ability to spot enemy heroes channeling and stunning them for a while. Good usage against channellers like CM/Sniper/etc. You might consider this after you have satisfied other needs like hp and lifesteal.

Cranium Bashers are excellent if your hadn’t invested in orbs like life steal and have good attack speed with hyperstone. Well, bash is always good but if you want to play a bash based hero SK isn’t tailored for it. There are better choices of heroes out there.

I actually love this item, Butterfly but for its high cost I hadn’t been able to buy one often. In a ideal SK build, butterfly would be 1 of my 6 items. Evasion and IAS is awesome in a package. However once again due to its cost it is often a bonus item for late game. You might like to get it after Power Threads, Battlefury, Satanic, any damage item then butterfly.

I have bad experiences with this item, frost arrows set off Linken Sphere! However in the absence of such spells, this item may be considered in early game though the agility and intelligence game isn’t that important. I would prefer the BKB over this as a matter of choice and BKB I say once again is tailored made for heroes like SK.

EUL and Guinsoo are awesome items for all intelligent heroes and some agility heroes. SK is a strength based hero I repeat myself again and the intelligence and mana regeneration boost isn’t required that much. Used sparingly EUL will save you a maximum of 10 times (you have 2 escaping mechanisms already in Stormbolt and Reincarnation) and it can prepare your team for a gangbang. There have been instances of team strategies of mass disabling and Guinsoo plays an important part but these instances are few. Yes there is a combo using the hex effects of Guinsoo to kill but i would only buy this once in a blue moon only. Conclusion, this is a very tactical item(s).

Mekansm, Ring of Basilius and Helm of Rejuvenation are classified by me as AOE or Aura or teamwork items. They are awesome if your team has plenty of such assets but sacrificing gold and slots on a SK is rarely done.

Radiance is almost never seen now. Awkward blend of abilities and high cost make this prohibitive. This is almost a final slot item if any. However you might like to consider this since SK is a melee hero and it isn’t too bad for a tanking build.

Reincarnation refreshed? Quite nice but the cost is terrible. Gold is limited. And you might like to use your 1 Perseverance for a Battlefury instead. Lastly, if you are able to plan your Reincarnation @ level 3 especially, you do not need this item. Also, this investment might backfire badly when your Reincarnation is often stopped by mana-burn or silence.

Blink dagger for SK isn’t important as compared to other melee heroes Centaur / Slardar due to their close range stun. Though blink in to attack and using it to escape can be nice but there are better considerations out there.

Very ridiculous some might say, Lothar Edge for SK, its almost never seen. Only in certain very unique circumstances like your entire team do not have invisible abilities that this item is viable. Also there is not much point in buying this for escaping (Stormbolt and Reincarnation). Chances are the enemies would not buy a gem or wards to counter you unless you are absolutely raping them. A major surprise for the enemy I might say if this is used but do make other considerations too.

Blademail are especially good in a slugfest with melee heroes with PA / Naix dealing rapid and insane damage. Works great with Manta Style’s images as said earlier. Only problem is the slots restrictions. Never get this if they are ranged or nukers. Consider this when they have 3 or more melee heroes.

Lastly, Hand of Midas is crap when you get Battlefury as strongly recommended by me. IAS is nice but transmuting creeps require mana and you might not have enough to spam it due to Stormbolt and Reincarnation.

Mask of Madness adds plenty of IAS but gives the possibility of increased damage. I often overlooked this item due to my fondness for Satanic. This item is for a aggressive player and isn’t tailored made for SK in mind. Sven is a much better candidate for this.

Stygian Desolator was nerfed in recent versions but it is still a viable item against opponents of low armor and it need not have high IAS to be effective. Works alright with SK as he already has innate Critical Strike abilities.

Chicken is best purchased by a friendly teammate and shared with you. Due to possibility of heavy damage and low mana, there are often fountain visits. Good chicken allies are KOTL/Lich/etc for their extreme long staying power if they are equipped with Flasks of Sapphire Water.

Recommended Item Packages

Here are some basic packages I used and they each work properly, feel free to tweak them to suit your needs. However they are well tested and it should serve the newbie SK users especially well. Feel free to subsitute any items depending on circumstances. Lastly, feel free to purchase sentry/observer wards, gem, scrolls of town portal and any consumables when needed.

Classic Items Package

1. Flask of Sapphire Water
2. Ring of Regeneration
3. Lesser Clarity Potion
4. Ring of Health
5. Void Stone = Perseverance
6. Boots of Speed
7. Claymore
8. Gloves of Haste
9. Power Threads Recipe = Power Threads
10. Mitril Hammer
11. Battlefury Recipe = Battlefury
12. Mask of Death
13. Helm of Iron Will = Helm of Dominator
14, M. Reaver
15. Satanic Recipe = Satanic
16. Hyperstone
17. Plate Mail
18. Planewalker’s Cloak
19. Stout Shield
20. Aegis of the Immortal Recipe = Aegis of the Immortal
21. Claymore + Sacred Relic + Demon Edge = Divine Rapier

The build I uses 70% of the time. Take note items purchase may be in different order subjected to circumstances. You aren’t capable of dealing good damage till purchase of hyperstone (with level 4 criticals) but everything is downhill from there. You should be the King of the Battlefield from then on and when the Aegis + Rapier combo is done, its GG.

Survival Items Package

1. Flask of Sapphire Water x 2
2. Ring of Regeneration
3. Ring of Health
4. Bracers (one or two or even three)
4. Belt of Giant Strength
6. Boot of Speed
7. Ogre Axe
8. Sange Recipe = Sange
9. Glove of Haste
10. Power Threads Recipe = Power Threads
11. Ogre Axe
12. Broad Sword
13. Black King Bar Recipe = Black King Bar
14. Elvish Boots
15. Blade of Alacrity
16. Yasha Recipe = Yasha
17. Sange & Yasha Recipe = Sange & Yasha
18. and beyond. Heart of Tarrasque / Satanic / Linken Sphere / Blink Dagger / Lothar Edge / Aegis of Immortal / Divine Rapier

This build as the name suggests maximum survivability and ease of farming for the items. Idea is to buff the SK up slowly but gradually despite the possibility of heavy pressure, bad farming and gold lost from deaths. Bracer(s) will pump the SK very significantly if Survival Skill / Ability build is used. The purchase of Black King Bar may be swap with Sange & Yasha depending on the presence of nukers. Also the Black King Bar allows the SK to engage an disable / nuker hero.

Sange & Yasha is selected to be the primary damage orb effect item due to its low cost and easy to purchase components with the bonus of adding much needed strength and armor to SK. For item(s) 17 and beyond, the items listed above are subject to various tactical requirements. However a Heart of Tarrasque is one of the more popular choices here. Linken Sphere adds further invulnerability to SK.

Kamikaze Items Package

1. Flask of Sapphire Water x 1
2. Lesser Potion of Clarity
3. Ring of Regeneration
4. Boots of Speed
5. Glove of Haste
6. Power Threads Recipe = Power Threads
7. Mask of Death
8. Mask of Madness Recipe = Mask of Madness
9. Quarterstaff
10. Demon Edge
11. Monkey King Bar Recipe = Monkey King Bar
12. Hyperstone
13. Plate Mail
14. Planewalker’s Cloak
15. Stout Shield
16. Aegis of the Immortal Recipe = Aegis of the Immortal
17. Claymore + Sacred Relic + Demon Edge = Divine Rapier

This is a totally offensive build, for users who believe in offense > defense. Power Threads and Mask of Madness provide early killing capabilities. MKB is rather affortable and it gives good constant damage, alittle attack speed and even a tiny stun. Hyperstone to increase the IAS especially for the Critical Strike ability and Aegis of the Immortal + Divine Rapier combo later for obvious reasons.

Andoy's Ownage Items Package

1. Flask of Sapphire Water
2. Ring of Regeneration
3. Lesser Clarity Potion
4. Ring of Health
5. Void Stone = Perseverance
6. Boots of Speed
7. Claymore
8. Gloves of Haste
9. Power Threads Recipe = Power Threads
10. Mitril Hammer
11. Battlefury Recipe = Battlefury
12. Belt of Giant Strength
13. Ogre Axe
14. Sange Recipe = Sange
15. Elvish Boots
16. Blade of Alacrity
17. Yasha Recipe = Yasha
18. Sange & Yasha Recipe = Sange & Yasha
19. Vitality Booster
20. M. Reaver
21. Heart of Tarrasque Recipe = Heart of Tarrasque
22. Plate Mail
23. Planewalker’s Cloak
24. Stout Shield
25. Aegis of the Immortal Recipe = Aegis of the Immortal
26. Claymore + Sacred Relic + Demon Edge = Divine Rapier

This is a build similar to Classic Items Package but with a twist. The battlefury rationale stays the same but Sange&Yasha is purchased to give a orb effect and damager item with nice stats boost of course. Heart of Tarrasque is chosen to make SK a better tanker thus he can participate or stay in the battlefield longer for allies to enjoy especially the Vampiric Aura. Aegis + Rapier is self-explanatory. Full credit given to a fellow DP mod, Andoy for this contribution.

4. CLASSIC TACTIC GUIDE
(Sentinel side PPV)

Lane

1) Top lane is best for a SK to avoid pesky stunners who are often in mid-lane and minimize walking distance and increase ambush danger at the bottom lane.

2) Aim for solo if possible, if not a ally like a nuker is cool too. Avoid sharing lanes with allies that have no disables or possessing very good creeping capabilities like Sniper/Clinz/etc.

Items

1) Purchase your items whenever you could afford it with or without a chicken. For instance when you could afford your first purchase after start game shopping like a Ring of Health, buy it immediately. You will need it and you do not want to risk losing gold from dying.

2) As a general rule regarding items, you are doing OK if you are able to purchase a Battlefury at level 11/12. Things are especially bright if Satanic can be completed at level 15/16.

3) Flasks of Sapphire Water are especially good for SK when his hitpoints is 1200 and below and the absence of life leech items, a emergency boost of 400 is always welcomed.
Potions of Clarity are great to boost your mana to prevent it dropping below 100 / 140. Scrolls of Town Portal saves your base / life / farm a big wave of creeps for such a low cost.

Creeping

1) Last hits are your best bet before Battlefury. This skill greatly determines who is going to win. XP denying is hard to master and it should not take priority before Last Hits and Harassment.

2) Learn placement on which creeps to attack to maximise the cleaving effect when possessing Battlefury to get the most out of it. Normally, now we do not attack the usual ranged spawn first, instead start with the melee spawns.

3) Mask of Madness / Helm of Dominator / Satanic allows creeping of neutrals very effectively. Go for spawns in the forest instead of pushing too deep into enemies territories. Satanic means the possibility of farming at big neutral creeps, the dragons and golems, etc. Very good money.

Combat

1) Single Enemy Combat
- Check SK's hp / mana
- Check Enemy's hp / mana
- Situation awareness of friendly / enemy creeps, friendly / enemy towers and minimap of enemy heros

Charge in and land a couple of hits first. If enemy stays, stun him if he has a disable if not hack at him more. If he runs, stun him and hit him and chase with your Stormbolt again. Generally 3 Stormbolts are more than enough and if it isn’t, the ambush had failed. Activation of BKB should be done during the charging in to save precious seconds and you might like to drink a single clarity potion at the same time to replenish mana for Stormbolt and Reincarnation.

2) In group battles, chances are you are one of the couple of tankers in your team. Stay at the forefront. Start your engagement by moving forward and not stunning first. Only stun when enemy runs.

3. Plan your death. Reincarnation gives a special tactical possibility. You are revived with full hp and mana. Bear this in mind. You are generally safe when you are dead and surrounded by 1 or 2 enemy heroes only. And sometimes getting killed allows you to kill when revived.

4. You need 100/150/200 mana depending on your Reincarnation cool-down and level. Try not to go below it when possible. This is your most special skill and not having enough mana for it is a great sin.

5. ALLIES / OPPONENTS ANALYSIS

Good Allies

1.Any disables / stunners type of heroes of course. Double tagging with Crystal Maiden / Sven / Rhasta / etc is always deadly and a assured death for any enemy with no escaping mechanism.
2. Vengeful Spirit is one of your best friends ever with her stun / command aura / swap abilities.
3. Ogre Magi/Magnataur / etc are able to cast spells that great increases your damage output. While Treant/Sven gives you toughness in form of additional armor.

Bad Allies

1. Sniper/Clinz/Drow etc. These guys are to be avoided sharing lane with as they farm much better than you and have not much to offer when things are dicey. Chances are they will windwalk in times of danger leaving you to certain death even if they could have made a difference. And yes Sniper is a great Kser too.
2. Drow has the insane ability even to silence a friendly SK from Reincarnation. This strange occurance had happened to me twice in a recent game. Subject to further confirmation.

Good Opponents

1. Sniper/Drow/etc, generally enemies with no disables or escaping mechanism. Which is common sense actually.

Bad Opponents / Counter

1. Basic Counters = Manaburn / Silence / Blademail
2. Silencer gives a bad time especially earlier on when SK has insufficient mana to cast Stormbolt to break his curse often. Yes he silence his Reincarnation too. Very evil.
3. Drow / Death Prophet have them silencing abilities that work against his Reincarnation but they will need allies help to bring him down first.
4. Regarding manaburners, Antimage can kill, Nerubian Assassin sometimes may kill, KOTL can harass badly (manaleak = 1 Stormbolt and little mana left).
5. A especially nasty enemy is AntiMage with his ability as mentioned above to manaburn and most Antimage are perma bashers type and this is also very effective.
6. Tiny by virtue of his stun armour ability coupled with chainmail is a major threat.
7. Hex (Lion) prevents Reincarnation if SK dies while being hexed.

Guide to Balanar - The Night Stalker

2007-02-08T12:22:00.000+08:00

Table of Contents

- Introduction
- Abilities
- Skill order
- Item build
- Strategies
- Replays
- FAQ

Introduction

The Night Stalker. Feared at night, ignored during the day. This hero will let you own without too much effort, at the same time as he's not to be regarded as a newbie hero. You must be proficent with the many aspects of DotA to be an expert Balanar player, not to mention you must have studied this guide thoroughly!

A short breakdown on Balanars pros and cons.

(All his pros are during night)
+ One of the fastest movement speeds in the game. (Outrun by Banehallow in wolfform, Nerubian Weaver Windwalking, Bloodseeker using Strygwyr's Thirst and Bone Clinkz Windwalking)
+ Attack speed is supreme.
+ One of the best nukes in the game.
+ Can silence enemies, and make them miss on 40% of their attacks for 8 seconds!
+ Very good vision.
+ Awesome HP regeneration rate. (3.68 at level 1)
- Only crazy good during night.
- Lousy farmer.
- Very itemdependant

Balanar got normal regeneration rate during day. (About 30% of his regen rate during night) I've seen posts claiming he doesn't get any regeneration rate during day at all, but this is not true. He got the same regeneration rate as any hero would, based on his strength. This gives him 0.81 HP/second at level 1. (Daytime)

All in all, I think its great fun to play this hero. He�s not one of those insanely imbalanced heroes, at the same time as he's a killer machine. He's one of those who make a living out of heroes instead of creeps.

Balanar, the Night Stalker

Biography and stats
Balanar was one of the elite Dreadlords before the Burning Legion fell. Now with the Burning Legion gone, he lives his new life attacking villages and ambushing his most hated enemy - the Night Elves. He draws upon his power from the moon, thus he is much stronger at night. Balanar can also use his control over time to change the time to night that further strengthens his power. His presence inspires fear into the heart of many.

Range: 100 (Melee)
Hit points: 549 (+53/level)
Mana: 182 (+18.2/level)
Armor: 3 (+0.32/level)

Strength (primary): 21 (+2.8/level)
Agility: 18 (+2.25/level)
Intelligence: 14 (+1.25/level)

Note: Increase is in average numbers.

Skill Overview

Void (V)
Creates a damaging void. If cast at night, slows the target for 4 seconds.

Level 1: Deals 90 damage. (67,5)
Level 2: Deals 160 damage. (120)
Level 3: Deals 255 damage. (191,25)
Level 4: Deals 335 damage. (251,25)

Numbers in ( ) are the actual damage you will do to a hero. (25% spell resistance included)

Crippling Fear (F)
In the night, the Night Stalker can cause intense fear in enemy units, causing them to miss attacks and be unable to cast spells. 125 mana cost at all levels.

Level 1: Miss on 10% of attacks. Last 5 seconds.
Level 2: Miss on 20% of attacks. Last 6 seconds.
Level 3: Miss on 30% of attacks. Last 7 seconds.
Level 4: Miss on 40% of attacks. Last 8 seconds.

This is an excellent spell which should always be cast at enemies as you approach them. 8 seconds of silence and major miss will greatly increase your chances of killing heroes such as Centaur and Sven 1on1 late game.

Hunter in the Night
The Night Stalker is at home at night. He attacks and moves more swiftly.

Level 1: 15% movement speed, 20% attack speed.
Level 2: 20% movement speed, 35% attack speed.
Level 3: 30% movement speed, 55% attack speed.
Level 4: 35% movement speed, 75% attack speed.

Few notes on the speed:
Balanars speed at day without boots is 295
Balanars speed at day with Power Treads is 355
Balanars speed at night with Power Treads is 479,25 (Level 4)
Balanars movement speed at night with Mask of Madness is MAXED

Darkness (R )
Creates a period of darkness for the Night Stalker to thrive in.

Level 1: Turns day into a 25 second night.
Level 2: Turns day into a 50 second night.
Level 3: Turns day into an 80 second night.

Important to note about Darkness! Your ultimate FREEZE the time cycle. This means you can use Darkness at night to extend the night. You should use it whenever it's ready. I believe you can use it 3 times at level 3 each day and night. This means 240 seconds extension of every night if used correctly.

Skill Order
Level 1: Void
Level 2: Hunter in the Night
Level 3: Void
Level 4: Hunter in the Night
Level 5: Void
Level 6: Hunter in the Night
Level 7: Void
Level 8: Hunter in the Night
Level 9: Darkness (Ultimate)
Level 10: Crippling Fear
Level 11: Darkness (Ultimate)
Level 12: Crippling Fear
Level 13: Crippling Fear
Level 14: Crippling Fear
Level 15: Stats
Level 16: Darkness (Ultimate)
Level 17: Stats
Level 18: Stats
Level 19: Stats
Level 20: Stats
Level 21: Stats
Level 22: Stats
Level 23: Stats
Level 24: Stats
Level 25: Stats

OBS! This build is the most effective build for a solo lane / or if you to get enough hero kills during the night, to reach level 9 short time after the first night. If you level up slowly, maybe because you are being heavily harassed or are just having a bad time, get level 1 of your ultimate as soon as possible after the first night!

Also, if you feel you need the silence from the Crippling Fear spell earlier, don't hesitate to switch 1 point of it with Void.

Item Builds

When you start out; always buy item 1 and 2. It doesn't matter if it's pick or random, you WILL get enough cash to buy both without losing out on much XP. (In a 5on5 pick/-allpick situation you will have 554 gold when the creeps spawn)

Item 1: Ring of Regeneration (375) (+2 HP regen/sec)
Item 2: Gauntlets of Strength (150) (+3 strength)

Right before the first day turns into night, return to base and purchase AT LEAST Boots of Speed. If you want, pick up a few Clarity Potions (45 gold each charge). They help a lot the first night of hunting.

Item 3: Boots of Speed (500) (+50 movement speed)
Item 4: Gloves of Haste (610) (+15% attack speed)
Item 5: Forming Power Treads (420) (+60 movement speed, +30% attack speed)

Item 6: Voidstone (900) (+100% mana regeneration)
Item 7: Ring of Health [Optional] (900) (+4 hp regen/sec)
Free: Forming Perseverance [Optional] (+100% mana regen, +4 hp regen/sec, +7 damage)

Item 8: Mithril Hammer (1610) (+24 damage)
Item 9: Forming Cranium Basher (1460) (+30 damage, +3 strength, 10% chance to bash for 25 extra damage and 1.1 sec stun)

Total item cost so far: 6,925 gold

Alright, now the basic "must-have" build for Balanar is completed. However, as the game proceeds, you will be in need of more damage to be able to continue your domination. I know a lot of players usually go for Satanic or even worse; Heart, but I find this to be way too defensive. What you need is powers of DESTRUCTION, not some damn healing. My suggestion;

Item 10: Blades of Attack (650) (+9 damage)
Item 11: Broadsword (1200) (+18 damage)
Item 12: Forming Crystalys (1000) (+35 damage, 10% 1.75x critical strike)
Item 13: Demon Edge (2600) (+36 damage)
Item 14: Forming Burize do-Kyanon (750)(+75 damage, 20% 2.20x critical strike)

Total item cost: 13,125 gold

Why go Burize instead of Monkey King Bar? Well, one of the best reasons would be that MKB will cancel the stun effect from the Cranium Basher. (Because MKB has a 30% chance to stun target for 0.1 seconds, something which will override any existing stun). Another reason is the fact that the path to Burize gives you many small buffs for a small amount of gold, (also easier to save up to) while MKB consists of few expencive items, and therefore takes some time before you get any buff at all!

Alternate "after-basic" build #2
Item 10: Ogre Axe (1000) (+10 strength)
Item 11: Broad Sword (1200) (+18 damage)
Item 12: Forming Black King Bar (1600) (+10 strength, 18 damage, 10 sec Avatar)
Item 13: Blades of Attack (650) (+9 damage)
Item 14: Broadsword (1200) (+18 damage)
Item 15: Forming Crystalys (1000) (+35 damage, 10% 1.75x critical strike)
Item 16: Demon Edge (2600) (+36 damage)
Item 17: Forming Burize do-Kyanon (750) (+75 damage, 20% 2.20x critical strike)

Total item cost: 16,825 gold

A powerful build which will make the Night Stalker even more lethal and unstoppable. Use this build only if it's going well for you and you manage to get the BKB before it's too late in game. Remember, if the other heroes get way better items than you, you just won't be able to kill them, avatar or no avatar.

Alternate "after-basic" build #3
Item 10: Claymore (1400) (+21 damage)
Item 11: Blade of Alacrity (1000) (+10 agility)
Item 12: Forming Lothar's Edge (1400) (+21 damage, 10 agility, 9 sec windwalk)
Item 13: Blades of Attack (650) (+9 damage)
Item 14: Broadsword (1200) (+18 damage)
Item 15: Forming Crystalys (1000)(+35 damage, 10% 1.75x critical strike)
Item 16: Demon Edge (2600) (+36 damage)
Item 17: Forming Burize do-Kyanon (750) (+75 damage, 20% 2.25x critical strike)

Total item cost: 16,925 gold

I've got the same notes here as on build #2. However, this one gives a completely different style of play. The Windwalk will greatly increase your abilities to ambush, as well as it can more easily get you out of troubles than what BKB can. (BKB only protects you from disables and other spells, but lategame the normal attack is often more lethal). Of course windwalk can be countered by gem or wards, so consider the gamesituation before choosing between build #2 and #3. (If you got Bone Clinkz, Stealth Assassin or Bounty Hunter on your team, the opposing team will most likely have invisibillity counter-measures ready)

Strategy

The Early Game (1-9)

Ok, I'm just going to guide you through the first day/night cycle.

When you have bought both the RoR and Gauntlet of Strength, go to a lane. I suggest trying to get a lane for you only or go middle (Middle is a good lane to launch ambushes from, both to the right and left lane). Farming with the Night Stalker is no different from farming with any other strength melee character. Play safe. If you play vs. heavy harassers just stay back and leach XP the entire first day, just make sure you kill a few creeps to afford Boots of Speed by nightfall.

When there's no points left on the timewheel (right before nightfall) use up your mana and return to base. Purchase Boots of Speed and a few Clarity Potions. If you have extra cash buy Gloves of Haste and the recipe for Treads as well.

Now it�s time to choose your first victim. You are looking for agility and intelligence heroes, preferably with no stun/disable. You are also capable of killing wounded Strength heroes so these will do as well. Use the forests to your advantage, and surprise your victim. You have time, so don't rush it. Wait for the best moment to strike, and then execute the attack. Read further down for the basic hero killing tactic.

After you've got the kill, search for a new one. Use your clarity potions to regain mana and repeat the process. Keep on doing this the entire first night. Go back to fountain to heal / regain mana / purchase additional Clarity Potions whenever necessary (As I said; you have plenty of time for it). If you get 4-5 kills the first night (without dying) you�ve done well, and can probably purchase your Power Treads (And Perseverance) at dawn.

Watch Replay #1 to see this in action.

Middle Game (10-16)

Play as during Late Game.

Late Game (17-25)

Alright, no need to break this further down. The Night Stalker plays pretty much the same during the entire game. What's important to note is that your success in the early game stage is crucial for continued domination later on. When playing the Night Stalker it's easy to overvalue your abilities and run to the certain death. This is the beginning of Balanars downfall. Without items he just won�t be even a decent hunter later in the game. The Cranium Basher is a must to get during midgame, and the Burize is as important to have acquired during the later stages of the game.

Also, use your Darkness skill whenever it�s ready. At Level 2 and 3 it�s especially good as you can usually do more than one attack before the duration runs out. Use only level 1 when you are certain to get 1 kill (or more), or to get away from death.

Hero killing basics, tips and tricks

The basics
Killing with the Night Stalker is easy, and takes very little practice to become proficient with it. You strike during night, hit, hunt and then escape. The best way to do this is to hide, and get between the hero and his/her base. When your target is far enough away from safety (like a tower) attack (from behind) and hit the hero normally until he/she starts running. Cast Void and continue attacking the hero. That�s it. Finish the hero with another Void if necessary. Later in the game include Crippling Fear if you must. This should always be cast on heroes with disablers, or heroes who will otherwise defeat you 1on1.

DO NOT charge heroes 1v2.
DO NOT chase a hero into your certain death, even if you are confident to get the kill. (You need gold)
DO NOT attack a hero if you don't have enough mana to cast Void. Preferably 2 Voids.
DO NOT waste Darkness during the day. Use it only when you have located your target and are ready to strike.

Tips and tricks
- Farm during the day, hunt during the night. (Don�t use Darkness to farm better though)
- Use the forests to your advantage. You do best when you surprise your enemies.
- Keep in mind that Balanar got excellent nightvision. (Better than during the day?) This is important when you move about at night. You can see the enemies long before they spot you, which allows you to hide and wait for them. However, don�t push it; always keep safe margins from them, to avoid being accidentially seen because of miscalculation.
- Seek out heroes whom farm alone. Find a good spot to launch an ambush from, and strike when you judge the time to be right. Be careful to not be spotted on your way. Stay clear of enemy creeps! Most heroes DO run when they see the Night Stalker approaches.
- If you did not read the skills section, I will repeat it here. During night, use Darkness whenever it�s ready. It will extend the night. (To get maximum effect out of your ultimate)

How to counter Night Stalker? (And maybe counter the counters?)

Strength heroes
Balanar gets in troubles when he faces heroes with large amounts of hit points. Not necessarily because he won�t be able to defeat them, but because it takes long time to kill them if they flee. This will usually end up with them receiving backup or getting into safety. The best way to counter this is to only attack/ambush them when they are low on HP.

Magina, the Anti-Mage
What a pain in the ass. This guy will deplete Balanars mana pool in seconds, not to mention the health pool. I would avoid him in games, unless you got ideal conditions for defeating him. (Night, he got low HP and he doesn�t know where you are) If he blinks in to kill you on the other hand, the best thing you can do is either flee, or if its night cast Crippling Fear and immediately follow up with Void. If you got Cranium Basher as well, you should be able to kill him fairly easy. During day, just flee.

Replays
Alright, here I will post replays as I get them. There's currently none, as all of my previous replays were for v1.17 of TFT.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question:
How do u kill medusa in de lategame when she got her mana shield up? me friend got dis sick obsession wif her n kept pwning all de games...need sum real strats...

Answer:
The key here is to catch her alone and far away from safety (taking out 2000hp and 1000 mana may take some time:))

Also it's important she does not outlevel you too much or have way better items than you (That shouldn't be a problem if you pick on her alot during early game as well). You should at least have basher, and preferably Crystalys as well. Here's what you do:

Attack her from behind, and do it right after a wave of creeps have passed (So they won't help her) Attack her normally, you should outdamage her as you have the occasional stun from the Basher and hopefully criticals from Crystalys. Your attackspeed is way better than hers. If she tries to run away, just hunt her as usual. (Void when ready and attack normally)

Anyway, I'm not saying you are guaranteed a kill, as she might get away. However she should in no way kill you in a 1on1 situation.

Tips:
- Attack her when she's low on health and has the Mana Shield off. Surprise her from behind and throw Crippling Fear. Now she won't be able to use her manashield before you kill her.
- If she use Purge, follow it up with Void. This will neutralize the effect.
- If she doesn't flee (but attack you) cast Crippling Fear. She'll miss on 40% of her attacks and wont be able to use Lightning or Purge on you.
- If she recieve backup during the fight, or manage to overpower you, cast Crippling Fear on her and run away. She won't be able to purge you, and you'll get away easily.

Question:
Lets say if my cousin used Rhasta's ultimate(That Serpent Ward thingy) At lvl 3 of his ultimate he can cast out a chunk of 8 Wards. What if he casts that spell directly on me? Wouldnt that trap me and it would ensure certain death. Need your idea to counter that trap if i was the night stalker. Thx.

Answer:
In fact, Rhasta can trap any hero at all 3 levels of his ultimate. The trick is to stand close to you and then target you directly with the wards. Usually, to make this work, he has to hex you first, to be able to get close enough, and then throw the wards. To counter this, you should never let him get that close to you. If you got silence, silence him and go for the kill / flee. Lategame you will have 8 seconds of silence, and that's usually enough to kill him.

Also, if you use Alternative Item Build #1 with Black King Bar, activate it when he approaches and he won't be able to hex you or trap you in his wards.

If he DO manage to trap you, you're in an awful mess. The only thing you can do to avoid heavy damage/being killed, is:
1) Try to kill enough wards to be able to escape from the prison. (very hard)
2) Use the Item Build alternative #2 (With Lothar's Edge) This will give you 9 seconds of invisibillity which gives you allies 9 seconds more to save you.

Guide to Medusa - The Gorgon

2007-02-06T09:40:00.000+08:00

Table of Contents

[01] Introduction
[02] Hero Stat and Overview
[03] Skill Description
[04] Gameplay Walkthrough
[05] Skill Build Analysis
[06] Split Shot Skill Analysis
[07] Purge Skill Analysis
[08] Item Build Analysis
[09] Alternate Builds
[10] Optional Items
[11] Best Allies
[12] Worst Enemies
[13] Conclusion

[01] Introduction

Welcome to my guide on how to play Medusa. I like playing her because of her flexible character. The guide I am presenting below is one of the most effective builds I know for her. She basically starts out as a tower defender, she will hold off creeps through her Split Shot and stay alive with Mana Shield. She will do short pushes but will not stray too far into her lane. Then she will transform into a support hero, early mid game, she will be helping her allies to get a few hero kills with her Purge and critical strikes. By late mid game, she will become a pusher, tanking creep waves and destroying towers, at the same time farming for gold so she can finish her final items and become the hero killer she ought to be late game.

[02] Hero Stat and Overview

This Naga princess was named after the legendary gorgon who turned her foes into stone. Though she hasn’t developed a stoney glare, her combat skills will freeze even the strongest of fighters in submission. Her years of archery have allowed her to fire multiple arrows with keen accuracy. Manipulation of magic grants her a shield of mana to absorb physical impact. Channeling electrons within the air, she can ignite an electric spark that will jump from foe to foe. Her legendary name is well earned.

Medusa - The Gorgon
Range: 600 | Move Speed: 300 | Primary: AGI
Str: 14 + 1.85 | Agi: 20 + 2.5 | Int: 19 + 1.85
Damage: 44 - 50 | HP: 416 | Mana: 247
HP Regen: 0.67 | Mana Regen: 0.77
Attack Speed: 1.36 (+ 20% IAS) | Armor: 1.9

Pros
1. Versatile hero. Can be built to play different roles in the game (pusher, killer, support)
2. Very good farming capabilities because of Split Shot
3. Hard to kill mid to late game because of Mana Shield
4. Has Purge, which slows and removes buffs from enemies or dispells bad buffs from allies

Cons
1. Hard to use for beginners because her strengths are not obvious to an amateur player
2. Can easily be harrassed and very susceptible to death early game
3. Will require patience to play because her potentials come at late mid game onwards
4. Can use a wide variety of items, making it necessary to do constant decision making on what items to buy depending on the game status and hero allies and enemies.

[03] Skill Description

Split Shot ( T )
Medusa magically splits her shot into three arrows. These arrows deal a lower percent of her normal damage.
Level 1 - 45% damage
Level 2 - 55% damage
Level 3 - 65% damage
Level 4 - 75% damage

Chain Lightning ( C )
Hurls a bolt of damaging lightning at a target enemy that jumps to nearby enemies. Each jump deals less damage.

Level 1 - 75 damage, jumps 3 times.
Level 2 - 150 damage, jumps 5 times.
Level 3 - 225 damage, jumps 7 times.
Level 4 - 290 damage, jumps 9 times.

Mana Shield ( E )
Creates a shield that absorbs 50% of the incoming damage by using Medusa's mana.
Level 1 - .75 damage per point of mana.
Level 2 - 1.25 damage per point of mana.
Level 3 - 1.5 damage per point of mana.
Level 4 - 2 damage per point of mana.

Purge ( G )
Casts a powerful anti-magic buff at a target enemy unit. Slows movement and attack speeds for 5 seconds.
Level 1 - Slows speed by a factor of 2.
Level 2 - Slows speed by a factor of 3.
Level 3 - Slows speed by a factor of 5.
Deals 1000 damage to summoned units.

[04] Gameplay Walkthrough

Game Phases and your Primary Roles:
Levels 1 – 5 : Early Game – Tower Defender
Levels 6 – 11 : Early Mid Game – Hero Kill Support / Tower Defender
Levels 12 – 16 : Late Mid Game – Pusher / Hero Kill Support
Level 17 – 25 : Late Game – Hero Killer / Pusher

Level 1 – Mana Shield (lvl 1)
Remember to immediately activate it, while your mana regenerates, buy the following items:

Sobi Mask (325)
50% mana regen

Ring of Protection (175)
+2 armor

which forms

Ring of Basilus
+ 3 damage
Brilliance Aura
900 radius +65% mana regen
Devotion Aura
900 radius +2 armor

The increased mana regen and armor will work hand in hand with Mana Shield so you can stay in your lane longer. If you have extra gold left with you, buy a Ring of Regeneration. If not, go out to your lane and start levelling. On a side note, I advise that you also try to buy and carry some Lesser Clarity Potions, two or more pieces would do, this would easily replenish lost mana which is your main defense early game. Purchasing a Flask of Sapphire Water wouldn’t hurt too.

Ring of Regeneration (375)
+2 hp/sec regen

Flask of Sapphire Water (100)
400 hp over 20 sec

Lesser Clarity Potion (50)
100 mana over 30 sec

At this point, you should take the top or mid lanes (if Scourge side) or the bottom or mid lanes (if Sentinel side). You are a tower defender early game, so it is better that you go to these lanes because the creeps meet near your tower. You are aided and protected by it in killing creep waves.

Level 2 – Split Shot (lvl 1)
You’re arrows split into 3, dealing 45% of your damage to each. You have to be aware of how many targets Medusa is attacking, at level 1, you have to be hitting 3 targets to be more efficient, this is the reason why I don’t recommend using this at level 1. You’ll be able to farm gold more effectively with your normal shot.

Why not put skill points in Chain Lightning? My primary reason here is because I’d rather use the mana to protect me rather than to harass enemy heroes or kill creeps. Split shot doesn’t use any mana and is a more efficient farming skill in mid game.

Why not put skill points in Stats? This is a viable alternative to help her survivabilty early game but if you play with care and just stay close to your tower, you won’t have to worry much. Playing Medusa means being patient and overcoming early game temptations to push with your creeps. Split shot will be more useful because you can defend your tower, kill creeps and deny exp and gold from your opponents all at the same time.

Level 3 – Mana Shield (lvl 2)
Level 4 – Split Shot (lvl 2)
Now you’re arrows deal 55% of your damage. Even if you have only two targets, you’re still more efficient (110% of your damage being dealt distributively) than using your normal shot. It’s now time to activate it when facing creep waves. Remember to watch how many arrows you are shooting, reposition her so she can reach more targets and shoot more arrows. Deactivate it when there is one enemy creep left but keep it activated when you see the next wave coming. When you see a dying creep, deactivate the Split Arrow and attack that creep. Good timing will ensure that you will get the last hit. After which, reactivate Split Arrow for maximum damage dealing. Don’t be stubborn and use the hot keys to be more efficient. Your left hand thumb on Alt, pinky finger on A and your middle finger on T. This is how I usually do it.

Don’t bother harrassing enemy heroes, your split arrow will automatically do this for you. Just be sure to stay close to your tower so they cannot harrass you much. If they do manage to hit you a few times and go low in mana and hp, just calmly regen beside your tower, and see what’s happening elsewhere in the map so you can get a good feel on how your team is doing.

A trick you can do during this time is to kill your own creeps when they are about to die. Press the hotkey A and click to your dying creep, even if split shot is activated, the “middle” arrow will hit your creep while the other two will still hit enemy creeps. Hopefully, you can deny your opponent exp and gold.

Level 5 – Mana Shield (lvl 3)
Level 6 – Purge (lvl 1)
Early mid game is starting and with Purge learned, you can confidently go down further your lane. Push with your creeps until they reach the first enemy tower, in which you should back down a little and wait for your next creep wave. Also be aware of possible backstab situations. If you have an eerie feeling, better go back to your tower and wait patiently for your next creep wave.

Be ready to use Purge on enemy heroes who try to harass you, or worse, back stab you. Remain defensive. This is not the moment to be brave yet. When you sense that no enemy heroes are near and your creeps are busy attacking the enemy tower, you can try farming with the neutral creeps. Turn on Split Shot and farm for more gold.

I follow one general rule when buying items from early to mid game. Shop only when I respawn from death (which should not happen) or when I really need to go back to the fountain and regen (no mana, less than 300 hp). I concentrate more on levelling and let the gold stack until I get the opportunity to shop. Your initial shopping list should be:

Boots of Speed (500)
+50 increase in movement speed

Robe of The Magi (450)
+6 intelligence

Void Stone (900)
+100% mana regen

Staff of Wizardry (1000)
+10 intelligence

which forms

Eul’s Scepter of Divinity
+100% mana regen
+18 intelligence
Cyclone: 6 charges 5.6 duration 600 range

Not only does this item “strengthen” your Mana Shield, but it will also give you a disabling skill - essential for surviving gangbang situations. Don’t bother buying the Ring of Regeneration if you weren’t able to buy it initially. Do buy the above items if you can still afford it during the start of the game (after buying RoR). Focus more on getting these four items. The order doesn’t really matter, as long as you buy the most items with the most gold you have. For example, if I have 500 gold, I can buy the BoS or the Robe of the Magi. If I have 1000 gold, I’ll buy both, but if I have 1400 gold, I’ll buy the Void Stone and either the boots or the robe. I hope you get my drift.

Level 7 – Arrow Split (lvl 3)
Level 8 – Mana Shield (lvl 4)
Level 9 – Arrow Split (lvl 4)
It’s now time to work with your teammates. Communication is essential. Backstab, gangbang and kill the weakest enemy hero. If this happens to be in your lane, hide (maybe farm some neutral creeps) and let the enemy creeps push to your tower. He’ll probably sign his teammates that you’re missing. Little does he know that you and another teammate will be ambushing him in a few seconds. If the weakest link is in another lane, then push your lane towards the enemy tower and then leave to support your teammate in getting that kill in his lane. Keep in mind that getting the hero kill is not important, at this point, you are after the exp and being present during these kills is your goal so you can level up faster.

A typical teamplay starts out by you casting Purge on the enemy. Just before Purge wears off, your teammate should then disable or stun the opponent. This will allow Purge to finish its cooldown so you can possibly cast it again before the hero gets a chance to run and escape. However, if your ally doesn’t have a disabling skill, just do the most damage that you can and send the hero running back to their fountain. At this point of the game, reserve your cyclones for defensive or evasion purposes such as when other enemy heroes come to the rescue and your team finds itself on the losing end of the battle.

Level 10 – Stats (lvl 1)
Level 11 – Purge (lvl 2)
It’s now time to pump up your stats to boost your HP and MP so you can stay longer in team battles and input more damage. You are slowly getting stronger. Here’s your next set of items:

Blades of Attack (650)
+9 damage

Quarterstaff (1150)
+10 damage
+10% attack speed

Broadsword (1200)
+18 damage

Crystalis (1000)
+35 Damage
Critical Strike: 10% Chance 1.75x damage multiplier

As always, buy only when you have the “opportunity” and buy whatever will give you the most efficient use of your available gold. Just be conscious of your available item slots. Sell your Ring of Regeneration if you really need to accommodate an item. You’re pumping your stats now so the HP regen the ring gives will be compensated.

Level 12-15 – Stats (lvl 2-5)
It is now late mid game and your team should be pushing consistently by now. You should also be getting most if not all of the gold from creep waves and is able to destroy one or two towers. At this point, Split Shot should be more than enough to tank and stop at most two creep waves with ease.

Be aware of what’s happening around the map. Go to lanes where enemy creeps are amassing, this is easy gold for you. Be a little more aggressive in pushing, get an ally to come with you if possible. However, when 1v1 situations occur, cast Purge first and then shoot with your normal arrows. If it looks like that you’re losing the battle or when other enemy heroes have come to his aid, simply cast cyclone and/or Purge on them and run.

During team battles, continue playing support although most of the time, your critical strikes will be the one that will give the finishing blow. Be ready to cast Purge not solely to slow enemy heroes but to dispell buffs such as Sven’s Godstrength or dispell magic on allies such as Crystal Maiden’s Frostbite. Use your cyclone to disable enemy heroes specially those with stun or channeling spells. With its relatively low cooldown, be ready to cast Purge multiple times to disrupt the enemies’ movement and attack speeds and possibly kill escaping heroes.

Level 16 – Purge (lvl 3)
This is your next shopping list. This time, go back and shop when you have enough gold.

Gloves of Haste (610)
+15% increase attack speed

Power Treads (420)
+60 Run Speed
+30% increase attack speed

Demon Edge (2600)
+36 damage

Monkey King Bar (1650)
+75 damage
+15% attack speed

Level 17-21 – Stats (lvl 6-10)
Level 22-25 – Chain Lightning (lvl 1-4)
Welcome to the end game. These will be your final items:

Set A (3025)
Quarterstaff (1150)
Sobi Mask (325)
Robe of the Magi (650)

which forms

Oblivion Staff
+50% mana regen
+6 intelligence
+15 damage
+10% attack speed

Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vise (900)
+150% mana regen
+25 intelligence
+35 damage
Activate:
Polymorph 600 range 3.25 duration

Set B (3350)
Demon Edge (2600)

Burize-do Kyanon (750)
+75 damage
Critical Strike: 20% Chance 2.2x damage multiplier

Set C (5950)
Quarterstaff (1150)

Eaglehorn (3400)
+25 agility

Butterfly (1400)
+25% chance to evade
+20 damage
+25% attack speed
+25 agility

I’ve grouped the items into sets and showed how much each set would cost. Which set to buy first would depend on the game situation. I usually complete Set A first not only because it is the cheapest but also, at this point of the game, the cyclone charges in my scepter is almost used up if not gone already. If the scepter really came in handy during mid game then it would be a good idea to upgrade it to a scythe. I also advise going for Set A if you lack disablers in your team. Don’t forget to sell the Ring of Basilus if you’re short in gold. You’re bound to get rid of it anyway to make way for the next set that you will be completing.

Buy Set B first if you have enough disablers in your team and your opponents are pushing aggressively. The technique here is to first disable enemy heroes. Select a target hero which your team will kill. It would be a good idea to choose their disabler. Purge that hero and if possible, cast cyclone on the others. Do damage with your normal shots. The critical strikes should activate once or twice, then cast Chain Lightning for the kill. Once you see your enemies running, cast Purge again so that your team can pawn one or two heroes. Activate Split Shot to wipe out the creep wave.

I go for Set C first if my team have the upper hand during late game. This means that most if not all enemy lane towers are down and your opponents are playing defense. Farming for a Butterfly will take some time and you need this situational advantage to go around and kill the neutral creeps around. Once you’ve completed these three sets, then I congratulate you. You are now a fearsome hero.

Go ahead and solo Roshan!

[05] Skill Build Analysis

Now that you’ve seen how I play her, let’s take some time and discuss her skill build further.

Skill Build Summary
Level 1 – Mana Shield
Level 2 – Split Shot
Level 3 – Mana Shield
Level 4 – Split Shot
Level 5 – Mana Shield
Level 6 – Purge
Level 7 – Split Shot
Level 8 – Mana Shield
Level 9 – Split Shot
Level 10 – Stats
Level 11 – Purge
Level 12–15 – Stats
Level 16 – Purge
Level 17–21 – Stats
Level 22-25 – Chain Lightning

As I’ve said in the gameplay walkthrough, Mana Shield and Split Shot will ensure early game survivability and effective creep control. Often, I get criticized by teammates (specially in Battle.Net) early game because they expect Medusa to play like a Lightning Revenant and use Chain Lightning for some early hero kills. Politely tell them that you don’t have that much mana and besides, you need it for your shield.

Purge should be used as a defensive skill during early game. Use it to buy you time so you can safely run towards your tower or creeps. Come mid game, it can now be used aggressively so your team can get some hero kills. This skill only uses 60 mana. Keep this in mind because when you’re shield is depleting your mana, you should remember to turn it off so you’ll have enough for a Purge.

Furthermore, when your mana drops to zero. Your Mana Shield will deactivate. Since activating the shield will cost 50 mana, I usually wait until I regen around 110 mana to reactivate it so that I will still have enough for Purge. Also, when your shield is up and you level up and put a skill point on Mana Shield, you have to reactivate (off then on again) the shield so that the new "mana per damage" ratio will take effect. Lastly, keep in mind that even if you see the active icon for Mana Shield in your skills slot, check your Status window to ensure that your shield is really up.

Chain Lightning should mainly be used as direct damage for heroes. I consider it as a junior Dagon skill. Maybe one exception to this is when you have a lot of mana, enemy heroes are far and you’re killing a creep wave. Be conservative but don’t hesitate to use if it means being able to push with your creeps further or immediately stopping a wave attack.

[06] Split Shot Skill Analysis

When you use this skill, you will have a main arrow which you can "control" (usually the middle one), while the other two arrows randomly choose their targets. That's why you can target to shoot your own creep to deny exp and gold to your opponents while the other two arrows continue to hit enemy creeps. Really annoying for opponents to see.

Furthermore, one neat trick you can do for Split Shot is to use it against images. Simply turn it on and press Alt to see how your targets take damage. Since illusions are weaker than their “original”. You can wisely determine which among them is the real hero. At that point, specially during team battles, you can Purge the real one, thus slowing him but also more importantly, giving your allies a “signal” that that one is the real hero and the others are images.

Lastly, here is a short list of items / orb effects and how it works with Split Shot:

A. Crystalis / Burize-do Kyanon
SS works but you will shoot only one arrow (which goes to your main target) when criticals activate.

B. Maelstrom
SS works but you will shoot only one arrow when Chain Lightning occurs.

C. Eye of Skadi
SS works but only the main target will be slowed.

D. Monkey King Bar
SS works but you will shoot only one arrow when the stun occurs.

E. Sange / Sange and Yasha
SS works but you will shoot only one arrow when maim occurs.

F. Lifesteal
SS works but only the main arrow will steal life.

G. Diffusal Blade / Manta Style
SS works but you will not burn mana. Will only work if SS is turned off.

H. Desolator
SS will not work. You can't even toggle it on.

[07] Purge Skill Analysis

Purge is probably one of the most misunderstood skill in the game. Most players know it only as a pseudo disabling skill. I say "pseudo" because it does not completely disable but simply slow the opponent down, allowing the team to bombard the enemy with other skills and normal shots that will eventually own the hero. Let's take a look at the skill description again:

Purge ( G )
Casts a powerful anti-magic buff at a target enemy unit. Slows movement and attack speeds for 5 seconds.
Level 1 - Slows speed by a factor of 2.
Level 2 - Slows speed by a factor of 3.
Level 3 - Slows speed by a factor of 5.
Deals 1000 damage to summoned units.

This skill uses only 60 mana and has a cooldown of 12 seconds. The slow speed factor means that the target's movement and attack speed is reduced to 50%, 33% and 20% of its original speed at skill level 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Meaning an opponent with movespeed of 300 will have a movespeed of 150, 100 and 60 at each level of Purge cast, respectively. Because of this, a lot of people argue that getting Purge level 1 is enough since the mana requirements and cooldown are the same for all levels and the 50% reduction is all you need. I somewhat agree to this line of thought but I also believe that during battles, the outcome could sometimes be determined by split seconds. Imagine an enemy hero attacking once every 1 second. A level 1 Purge will make him attack once every 2 seconds but a level 3 Purge will make him attack once every 5 seconds - making Purge almost like a stun.

Purge also removes the buffs in a target enemy unit. Any buff removed will remain removed even if the duration of Purge is over, unless the enemy unit casts it again. Among the list of buffs which can be dispelled are Sven’s God Strength and Syllabear’s Synergy. And yes, you can cast Purge on an avatared unit, removing the bonus stats and damage, but it will not remove spell immunity.

It is not known to everyone that Purge can also be used on yourself and your allies. When you cast this on a friendly unit, your target will not slow down, but instead, it will remove negative effects on him such as the Troll Warlord’s Blind.

Lastly, this skill deals 1000 damage to summoned units. This means you can cast it to "kill" images, illusions and summons such as Banehallow’s Wolves. The relatively low mana requirement and fast cooldown of this spell makes it acceptable to use for such a purpose.

I will end this section with a short quiz about Purge and its many uses. Determine which statements are True and which ones are False. Answers are given after the last question.

Pop Quiz Hot Shot
1. If Bone Clinkz has Strafe on, casting Purge will slow down his attack speed.
2. Casting Purge will take an ally out of Crystal Maiden’s Frostbite.
3. You can cast Purge on yourself while you are in a cyclone (from Eul’s), taking you out of it.
4. You can instanly kill one of Enigma’s Eidolons (from Conversion) but casting Purge on it.
5. Purge can remove Treant Protector’s Eyes in the Forest.
6. Purge can go through Yunero’s Bladestorm.
7. When you cast Purge on Ezalor’s Ignis Fatus, it will instantly destroy it and all the souls.
8. Purge can dispell Lucifer’s Doom.
9. You can take out an ally inside Naga Siren’s Ensnare by casting Purge on your ally.
10. You can Purge one of Rhasta’s Serpent Wards, slowing its attack but not killing it.

Answers:
All of these statements are true except numbers 8 and 9. I think I have mentioned most of the important spells which Purge can or cannot remove. If during a game, you are unsure if a certain effect or summon can be dispelled by Purge, I suggest that you go ahead and try and tell here what happened. Thank you.

[08] Item Build Analysis

I will now discuss the item build further.

Item Build Summary
1.1 Sobi Mask
1.1 Ring of Protection
1.1 Ring of Basilus
1.2 Ring of Regeneration (optional)
1.3 Flask of Sapphire Water (optional)
1.4 Lesser Clarity Potion (optional)
2.1 Boots of Speed
2.1 Robe of the Magi
2.1 Void Stone
2.1 Staff of Wizardry
2.2 Eul’s Scepter of Divinity
3.1 Blades of Attack
3.1 Quarterstaff
3.1 Broadsword
3.2 Crystalis
4.1 Gloves of Haste
4.2 Power Treads
4.3 Demon Edge
4.4 Monkey King Bar
5.1 Quarterstaff
5.1 Sobi Mask
5.1 Robe of the Magi
5.1 Oblivion Staff
5.1 Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vise
5.2 Demon Edge
5.2 Burize-do Kyanon
5.3 Quarterstaff
5.3 Eaglehorn
5.3 Butterfly

This item build is mainly focused on increasing your damage output and increasing your attack speed. The Eul’s / Guinsoo will compliment your Mana Shield and at the same time give you a defensive and disabling skill to use hand in hand with Purge. The critical strikes from Crystalis / Burize will help you take down heroes and towers faster. The Monkey King Bar and Butterfly will greatly increase your damage output, not to mention your attack speed, making the criticals trigger often and your Split Shots stronger. During team battles, it’s not a bad idea to turn Split Shots on so you can damage multiple heroes simultaneously and watch them go low on life while your allies deliver their finishing blows. If you choose to do this, I suggest that you focus your main arrow on enemy heroes with channeling spells so that if MKB triggers, the stun will cancel their nuke.

Items not suited for her

There are items which are obviously bad for her but these items are not so obvious and are the most common mistakes Medusa players make. The common reason why these two items are not suited for her is because it severely limits the use or completely disables your Split Shot, your primary farming and pushing skill. Manta Style (and consequently Diffusal Blade) won't burn mana with SS on. Furthermore, your images will NOT duplicate your SS (I wish it did, but that would make her imba). Stygian Desolator will completely shut down your SS, what good is it to have higher damage if your can't maximize it with SS, right?

[09] Alternate Builds

With the versatility of Medusa, it is inevitable that there will be more than one effective way to play her. The one presented above is the all-around build. Playing her this way will give you a good feel of her skills and power. But at the end of the day, DotA is still and will always be a team game. This means that one should constantly analyze the actual game and adapt.

Presented herein are alternate builds which will make her a more focused hero depending on the role you choose for her – a Hero Killer or a Pusher. The decision to make this build is roughly discussed along with a brief description of skill and item builds. As you gain more experience playing her, you will have more insight on how to adapt to different game situations and innovate within these builds.

Hero Killer
Choose this build if your team already has a lot of pushers, or in another view, if your team lacks hero killers. This will also be helpful if you are mostly against intelligence heroes because you can easily harass them early game and hopefully get ahead in level.

You skill build will basically start with Chain Lightning. Get Stats alternately with it but learn Purge during its levels. Once you max out Chain Lightning, it’s time to max out Mana Shield, after which you should get Stats all the way until Split Shot is left.

Harass often with your Chain Lightning but always keep some mana for Purge. This will also be your main farming skill. What I usually do is wait until a melee creep life turns red and then cast Chain Lighting on the ranged creep which will hopefully kill the melee creep while you finish off the ranged creep with your normal shots.

The item build is basically the same as above but I suggest getting a Point Booster early game in addition to completing the Eul’s to add survivabilty because you’re getting Mana Shield at early mid game. Instead of getting MKB, farm to complete an Eye of Skadi. Follow it through with a Crystalis / Burize, Butterfly and a Guinsoo, and I’m sure you’ll be pawning heroes left and right.

As a final note, of course you can go for the Aegis of the Immortal and Divine Rapier combo. But this means sacrificing two item slots for it. Although this is also a formidable item for her, I discourage it because doing so will only paint a big bullseye behind your back.

Pusher / Support
Choose this build if your team lacks pushers, which will normally be the case because everyone usually wants to pawn heroes these days. This will also be helpful if you are mostly against strength and late-game agility heroes because you can outfarm and outlevel them early game.

The skill sequence will exactly be the same as I’ve presented in the main build but your item build will be different. Your main items should be Power Treads, Mekanism, Radiance and Butterfly. Try to farm for a Perseverance mid game, so you can later upgrade this to a Linken's Sphere late game and add some protection to yourself. It will not hurt if you can farm for a Maelstrom to add more firepower.

Lastly, remember that you are not a hero killer but a pusher and support hero. So always stay safe and be cautious when pushing alone. Support your team during battles with Mekanism and Purge. Take advantage of Split Shot and Radiance to wipe out creep waves and damage enemies during battles.

[10] Optional Items

Here are some ultimate items which you can buy.

Linken’s Sphere
+15 all stats
+6 hp/sec regen
+150% mana regen
Effect: 60 second cooldown, Disentangle (negate a targetted spell)

Maelstrom
+6 agility
+25 damage
Orb Effect: Chain Lightning (20% chance to cast on target, 150 damage, hit 3 targets)

Mekanism
+5 all attributes
+5 armor
Passive: +3 hp/sec regen
Active: Revitalize, +2 bonus armor and heals 250 hp to nearby friendly units.

Eye of Skadi
+150 Hit Points, +200 Mana
+25 to All Attributes
Passive: Frost Attack, -20% Attack Speed, -30% Run Speed, 2 sec duration

Radiance
+8% chance to evade
+70 damage
Passive: Immolation
400 AOE
+40 damage / sec

[11] Best Allies

Rhasta - The Shadow Shaman
In general, any hero with a disabling skill would be a good ally for her but Rhasta stands out with his many disabling skills, not to mention his cyclones which has become a standard item for him. Your high damage output and his multiple ways to disable opponents will certainly own in team battles.

Ezalor - The Keeper of the Light
She loves his Chakra Magic. More mana, better survivability, faster levelling, 'nuff said.

[12] Worst Enemies

Magina - The Anti-Mage
Mana Break totally cancels out the benefits of your Mana Shield. Furthermore, his Blink will make it almost impossible to escape from an ambush as Purge won't be able to do much to buy you time to escape. It is best that you avoid him at all times and build your Eul's as early as possible.

NePhri'thos - The Nerubian Assassin
Mana Burn can totally screw up your early game survivability. And a well placed Vendetta, Mana Burn, Impale combo, and you're dead. It is recommended that you build a Linken's Sphere if you are against this hero.

[13] Conclusion

I hope you have enjoyed reading through my guide. I will be revising and improving its contents as the days and weeks go by. Do input your thoughts and suggestions. More informative details including a replay will be added soon. I leave you with a screenshot of Medusa's amazing Split Shot. Notice that critical strikes activate. The maim orb effect can also activate during Split Shot. That's it and good day!

Guide to Mirana Nightshade - The Priestess of the Moon

2007-02-05T13:56:00.000+08:00

Contents:

Meet the Author
Meet the PotM
Know the PotM
Build the PotM
BE the PotM
Friends of the PotM
Enemies of the PotM
Replay
Final Words/Thanks

Changelog:

11/1: Changed damage info on 2nd starfall
11/1: Added "why not" section for 2 bracers
11/3: Added images for the "why not" items
11/3: Added a couple heroes to the "bad enemies" section
11/7: Added a leap-dodge section
11/7: Added "why not" section for Dagon and Mjollnir
11/9: Made the screenshots smaller so people can load them faster. Also added some more leap spots (thx to omgroflcopter)
11/19: Changed my item build, changed explanations to reflect this, added a "why not" section for hand of midas.
11/19: Got a replay up finally. Check it out, tell me what you think of it as far as strategy (just don't say OMG U CNAT AIM ARROW!!!!111 that doesn't help. This guide is about strategy, not how good I am as a player)
11/20: Added an explanation of why I don't max arrow before starfall and a "why not" section for soul booster. I also clarify that the reason i prefer skadi over sange and yasha has nothing to do with whether or not maim and frost stack (they do)
11/25: Added blinkers and butcher to the list of good allies. Also, changed the top of the guide because going directly to the table of contents without a title didn't seem right.

Upcoming changes:
Screenshots of ambushes using moonlight shadow to set up crystal maiden, luna, etc.

Meet the Author:

Hey, SirDingus here. This is the first guide I’ve written. When I first saw the Priestess of the Moon, I really wanted to get to know how to play her. Priestess is my favorite hero in the ladder game so I adopted her as my new standard hero. After analyzing what items would compliment her the best, and seeing how other people build her, it seemed like everybody else wasn’t building priestess to her fullest potential. So this guide was born. I hope you appreciate the information I present here and I look forward to any constructive criticism you can provide. I'm also MasterDingus over at Dota-Allstars and I'll try to get this guide up over there before too long.

Now, onto the guide!

Meet the Priestess of the Moon:

Name: Mirana Nightshade

Title: Priestess of the Moon

Stats:

HP: 473
Mana: 221

Base Damage: 38-49

Strength: 17 + 1.85
Agility(Primary): 20 + 2.75
Intelligence: 17 + 1.65

Base move speed: 300

Attack Range: 600

HP Regen: 0.76
Mana Regen: 0.69
Attack Speed: 1.14 (+20% IAS)
Armor: 1.8

Pros:
She has two abilities that allow her to get into and out of battle quickly making her good at killing and hard to kill.
She has two abilities that allow her to chase (one ability overlaps these two)
She’s a good teamplayer who is adept at getting her friends out of trouble.
She can farm up a storm using starfall

Cons:
HUGE MANA PROBLEM 4 active abilities that you will want to use early and often make Mirana thirst for mana (not like the silencer but you know what I mean)
Low HP: despite the fact that she can escape really well, if your two move into/out of battle skills are on cooldown you’re pretty much toast if you get slowed/disabled.
Mirana has no good in-battle disable as her arrow stuns longer when she’s father away from the enemy.

Know the Priestess of the Moon:

Abilities:

Starfall:

Calls down a wave of meteors that hits all enemies within 600 range. Units between 600 and 900 range have a 60% chance to get hit. A random enemy within 200 range will get hit twice.

Lvl 1: 75 Damage / 100 Manacost
Lvl 2: 150 Damage / 120 Manacost
Lvl 3: 225 Damage / 140 Manacost
Lvl 4: 300 Damage / 160 Manacost

Mechanics:
This move’s power changes based on how far you are from the enemy. At 200 range you have a chance to hit with two starfalls for 450 total damage at level 4. Units closer than 600 will always get hit once for 300 damage. And units from 600 to 900 will have 60% chance to get hit.

Elune's Arrow:

Fires an arrow in a direction and will stun an enemy unit for 0.5 to 5 seconds depending on the distance the arrow travels.

Manacost: 100 at all levels

Lvl 1: 90 Damage
Lvl 2: 180 Damage
Lvl 3: 270 Damage
Lvl 4: 360 Damage

Mechanics:
This move is much like Pudge's meathook in that it will travel in a straight line and hit whatever it encounters first. There are some rules for this though.

It can only hit enemy units, so if you see somebody farming a creep wave without their own creeps nearby because they think nobody's watching, prove them wrong! Shoot off your arrow and chase them down. It will go through the friendly creeps and hit the enemy hero, opening them up for punishment from you and the creeps.
It will hit invisible heroes but will not stun them. I have tested this but I do not know whether it is a bug or intentional. The arrow will hit the invisible unit and disappear. It will deal damage but it will not stun. Therefore this move is still useful as a finisher on that clinkz that wind walks with 50 hp and thinks he's really smart to have gotten away. However, it will not stun them to allow you to chase so the arrow has to be the finishing blow.
The arrow WILL however, stun an invisible unit if you can see it. This makes wards all the more usefull for priestess if those invisible heroes are bugging you.
The stun is based on the distance between you and the enemy. Therefore if you are in a one on one battle with a melee hero, don't fire off the arrow and expect much of a stun.
The casting range and the maximum range on this spell are about 3000. That's farther than meathook and assassinate! If you cast it from farther than that Mirana will run to a point that is about 3000 from the target and then shoot.

Leap:

Mirana's tiger leaps into battle giving nearby heroes a move and attack speed boost. (boost last 10 seconds)

Lvl 1: 400 range 4% MS/AS increase / 60 Manacost
Lvl 2: 450 range 8% MS/AS increase / 55 Manacost
Lvl 3: 500 range 12% MS/AS increase / 50 Manacost
Lvl 4: 550 range 16% MS/AS increase / 45 manacost

Mechanics:
This move is like a shorter blink with a movespeed/attackspeed boost to boot. However this move is not targetable and will just cause Mirana to jump the leap distance straight ahead.

Moonlight Shadow:

Gives all allied heroes including the priestess invisibility for a short duration. If the invisibility is broken it will be restored after a fade time.

Lvl 1: 7 Seconds Invis 2.5 Second Fade Time / 200 Manacost
Lvl 2: 9 Seconds Invis 2 Second Fade Time / 250 Manacost
Lvl 3: 11 Seconds Invis 1.5 Second Fade Time / 300 Manacost

Mechanics:
This will give every hero on your team a short invisibility much like stealth assassin’s ultimate. If any hero on your team attacks or casts a spell they will be revealed for a short time then disappear after the fade time assuming the effect has not worn off. This invisibility does NOT stay on when a hero such as sand king channels a spell like epicenter.

So those are the moves. Now when do we get them?

Build the Priestess of the Moon:

Skill Build:

Starfall
Leap
Starfall
Elune's Arrow
Starfall
Moonlight Shadow
Starfall
Elune's Arrow
Elune's Arrow
Elune's Arrow
Leap
Leap
Leap
Stats
Moonlight Shadow
Moonlight Shadow
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats

Reasons for skill build:

1. Why level starfall early?

Starfall is Mirana's best nuking ability and therefore should be leveled early in order to maximize its effectiveness against enemy heroes early-game. Some people treat this as a farming spell but it is very useful for attacking heroes if you place yourself properly. At level 4 if you get a double starfall you will do 338 damage (after magic resistance) to an enemy hero. Given that most heroes have pretty low HP at that point, a double starfall can be devastating. Ad in several shots from your normal attack and an arrow as they run and you can take down a low HP hero from full health to 0 very quickly by yourself. It can also be very effective against fleeing heroes with low HP. It will always hit anything within 600 range of you. If you add in leap's 550 range, you can hit a hero at 1150 range from you every time if you aim your leap right. And it gets better, it will hit anybody 600-900 away 60% of the time. That's 1450 range, almost as much as level 1 assassinate!

2. Why not get arrow early?

A lot of people like to max arrow first instead of starfall because it does a lot of damage. There's one problem with this; arrow is not a great early-game move. When there are creep waves surrounding you and your enemies, it's very hard to get off a well-aimed arrow that won't hit any creeps on its way to the target. You're much better off using starfall as your primary nuking ability.

Still, people argue for arrow drawing the analogy that arrow is a lot like meathook, and a pudge player would have to be crazy not to level meathook early. But this is a false analogy for several reasons:

Meathook increases in range as you level it
Putting one point in meathook is no good for pudge because nobody will be afraid of you walking around with a 400-range hook. You need the full 1000 range to use meathook to its full pottential. But with arrow you have the full 3000 range from the start so leveling does not help you in this reguard. Levels don't increase the speed either so levels do nothing to make it easier to surprise enemies with arrow, like the extra range on hook does.
Meathook draws the enemy towards you
One of the great things about meathook early is that it pulls the enemy right to you, opening them up for punishment from an ally or a tower. When the enemy doesn't have much health this is devastating. But arrow does not draw the enemy towards you meaning that unless the enemy is moron, you will be fighting them near their creeps and their tower. This is not good news for a low-hp hero like Mirana. Getting hammered by creeps and the tower means that even if you get the kill you'll be headed for your fountain meaning you can't take advantage of the farming time, which is in some ways even more important than the kill early-game.
Mirana has another nuking spell
The only damage spell Pudge has is rot, which isn't very good for early in the game. He has no good alternative to meathook and therefore levels it first. Mirana however, DOES have a good alternative and it is imperative that you take advantage of it. Starfall, especially a double starfall, is an extremely powerful early-game nuke, even more so than arrow. It is also better for laning purposes as it doesn't require a clear shot to use. Because it does more damage and always hits starfall is preferred to arrow

3. Why get a point in both leap and arrow early?

Getting a point in all your abilities early is necessary in order to make Mirana as powerful an early game hero as she can be. Having leap means you can jump in and ambush an enemy with starfall when they don't think they're in any danger. Getting one point in arrow early means that any hero that thinks they can run from you in a straight line is toast. Just fire off your arrow and laugh as they take damage and are stunned for 4-5 seconds. Arrow is also extremely useful if you and your lane-buddy are attacked early and your ally is being chased down but you're in the clear. Just turn and fire an arrow and the nice long stun will allow your ally to run to safety (or even turn the tables on the enemy if they were somewhat low on health to begin with) Both of these skills are necessary to have early in the game.

4. Why get Leap first then arrow?

Getting leap first allows you to pull of the very powerful early combo of leap and starfall. At level 3, if you have a weak hero in your lane you can jump behind them and get off a level 2 starfall for the first-blood. This strategy works best paired with a heavy nuker (more on this later)

5. Arrow's stun doesn't increase with level! You should skip it for stats.

Wrong, in addition to proving a long range stun, arrow does very good damage. If you're in a heated battle early in the game, the extra 67.5 (after resistance) damage you get from each level of arrow is worth more than the 38 hp or +2 damage from stats. Combine that with a .5 second stun and you can turn a death for you into a kill. Also, at level 4 270 damage (again, after resistance) is nothing to sneeze at. A wimpy 67.5 damage arrow won't scare anybody, but if you're doing 270 damage any hero running away with about 250 hp thinking they're safe is toast.

6. Leap's move speed buff is crap, and the range increase isn't that good. Skip it for stats!

Wrong again. The extra distance on level 4 leap can make a huge difference. At level one you can't leap from behind the trees into any of the lanes. Your ambush turns into everybody laughing at you when you're stuck inside the trees. Even at level 3 it isn't possible to make the jump from either of the secret shops into the lane. However level 4 leap makes this possible. Also the move speed boost is not to be ignored. Let's look at the move speeds with each level of leap assuming you have treads:

No leap: 365
Lvl 1 Leap: 379 (+14)
Lvl 2 Leap: 394 (+15)
Lvl 3 Leap: 408 (+14)
Lvl 4 Leap: 423 (+15)

So in total you get a 58 move speed bonus from having leap, and 44 more than at level 1. That's almost a free boots of speed for leveling leap. It will make a big difference when you're trying to chase down that base 320 hero who has treads. If you have lvl 1 leap they still outrun you by 6, if you have level 4 leap, they are slower than you by 38, big difference when you're trying to get that last hit in on them.

7. Why level Moonlight Shadow at level 6?

I've given you all these reasons why getting extra levels of Mirana's abilities is worth your time, so why should you skip those awesome levels for her ultimate at level 6? Well not only does it give you a second ambush/escape move to use when attacking enemies, it instantly makes your entire team much harder to kill. Chen has 3 great abilities that you would have to be crazy not to level to their fullest, but his allies would hate him to no end if he didn't get his global heal at level 6. The same goes for Mirana's ult. You know that awful feeling when you're about to finish an enemy off only to see the yellow beam come down from the sky and heal them because their team has a darn chen? Well take that feeling and multiply it by 10 for how you'd feel if you're about to kill that darn skeleton king while his resurrection is on cooldown then WHOOSH, where'd he go? Mirana's ult helps a dying hero even more than chen's ult because a heal won't do you any good when you still have that viper strike, slow arrow, or degen aura on you. Mirana's ult allows you to become invisible and run to safety without the danger of being slowed or disabled.

Also, it can be used as an offensive ability unlike Chen’s ult. Say you have a crystal maiden or Luna on your team that is having trouble getting in position for their ult. They can't seem to get their powerful spell off in the right place because they haven't farmed up their lothar's or blink dagger yet. So you let them know what you're going to do, then when they're ready, you give them invisibility and they charge in for the perfectly placed eclipse or freezing field. You can even help with your starfall and stun (especially with luna since clearing the creeps and scaring the hero away from them is so key for her) You appear out of nowhere and drop a starfall which kills most of the creeps and runs the enemy hero towards the waiting luna for the easy kill. (you even get experience out of the deal!)

So I think my skill build has been reasonably justified, let's move on to the item build.

Item Build:

Starting Items:
Chicken (225)
Ironwood Branch x2 (57 each)
Ring of Protection (175)

Ring of Regeneration (375)
Sobi Mask (325)
Ring of Basilius (0)
Boots of Speed (500)
Point Booster (1200)
Gloves of Haste (610) (ironwood branch on chicken)
Power Treads Recipe (420)
Broadsword (1200) (sell ironwood branch)
Blades of Attack (650) (branch on chicken)
Crsytalys (500)
Ultimate Orb (2300) (Branch on chicken)
Ultimate Orb (2300) (RoR on chicken)
Eye of Skadi Recipe (1250)
Demon Edge (2600) (Branch on chicken)
Buriza-Do-Kyanon Recipe (1250)

Final Items:

Power Treads
Ring of Basilius
Ring of Regeneration
Buriza-Do-Kyanon
Eye of Skadi

Total Cost: 15994

End Game Considerations:
Butterfly
Aegis+Devine
Radiance+Hyperstone

So let’s look at what this build gives us. +25 all stats, +200 HP, +150 Mana, +106 Damage (including +agi damage). This solves Mirana’s inherent health and mana problems as well as giving her lots of damage and a crit-strike to boot, all in a package costing less than 16000. Once these items are complete I like to move on to The Butterfly for the extra attack speed as well as the added armor and evasion giving an EHP boost. After that it becomes pretty situational but Aegis+Divine or if that’s not possible Radiance+Hyperstone are always good options.

But why these items and not others? I’ll try to respond to all the main issues I expect people to have with my build.

Item Explanation

1. Why get ring of basilius and then rush to Point Booster early?

This one is fairly obvious, Mirana has 3 active spells and an active ult. Being an agility hero without huge intelligence gain, she has a bit of a mana problem early in the game. We need to solve this somehow. Ring of basilius is the best early item for mana regen as well as being useful to your ally (especially if he is a heavy nuker, which is who we want to pair up with as we'll see later) The +3 armor is also good for your EHP. But Mirana uses mana in short bursts which means that having a larger mana pool is also important. We could add on another item here, but that would add money to our build which is no fun, so what do we do? Well looking ahead in our build we see that we'll need a point booster for the eye of skadi so why not stick it in early to keep mirana from being so weak? It may put you behind by 700 gold early, but you make up gold later vs. any other HP/Mana boosting item.

Alternatives and why they aren't used:

Arcane Ring:

A lot of people love this item on Mirana. I don't and here's why. The ring recipe alone costs 525 gold, which is 25 more than the entirety of ring of basilius. In addition you need an energy booster (not exactly a cheap early game item) and the original ring of protection. That's 1200 more gold than basilius alone. You need to buy the point booster anyway, so in the end you're behind by a broadsword or the power treads upgrade + 170 (gloves of haste + recipe = 1030 gold). If you count the point booster towards your total cost you're even with the arcane ring for cost however you don't get any extra hp which means you won't be in your lane long enough to use the mana. Stick with the cheaper early item plus an item that is necessary for your build.
Perseverance/Other Void-Stone Items:
etc.
Again, too darn expensive. Void stone alone costs 400 more than basilius alone and all it gives you is regen. Which isn't as good as a larger mana pool. Why? I'll explain

Mirana's mana usage is not constant but rather based on short spurts of mana usage when she does her combo, an increased mana pool is necessary in addition to some regen increase. 100% mana regen does you no good when you're using a 320 mana combo and your base mana pool at level 7 is only 338. The point booster improves your mana pool by 150, giving you enough for the entire combo plus another starfall by the time it's over. You could set yourself up with a starfall, then go for the combo when starfall has cooled down. Point Booster + Basilius is 800 more than void stone alone (less than a RoH to go with it and 200 less than a staff of wizardry) and it gives you 200 HP and armor in addition to the mana regen.

In addition, void stone doesn't really feed into any items Mirana wants. Euls is just too much money and much more mana than we want, and perseverance gives extra health regen but we don't need more than the +2 from our RoR. And to compound things, Perseverance, like void stone, doesn't feed into anything Mirana wants. Refresher orb? You don't have the mana for it and her gold and mana are better spend elsewhere as you don't have any spells that benefit from a double cast or have very long cooldowns. And battlefury? don’t make me laugh.
Clarity Potions:

An interesting alternative as it would give Mirana the extra mana she needs at a low price. However, clarity potions are best used for early game laning purposes when you have a spell you want to spam as much as possible like Zeus' arc lightning. Mirana doesn't have any such abilities. She does, however have an expensive combo of leap and starfall with possibly an arrow to follow which she wants to be able to use and then have mana leftover for escape. Clarity potions don't increase your mana pool and the 150 mana from the point booster is the difference between getting that final leap or starfall in, and watching helplessly as your hero dies or as the enemy runs away. Finally, Mirana's mana problem is a general lack of mana thorughout early to mid game until you get some more levels. Ferrying clarity potions on your chicken for that long is just not economical.
2 Bracers

Another serious possibility, however getting two bracers is not as good an idea as it seems. Let's compare the EHP boosts of both items. Bracers give you 228 HP. More HP than point booster! w00t! Not so fast. In addition to point booster we get a basilius which gives us an extra 3 armor. If we add a basilius to the 2 bracers the 2 bracers win the EHP battle again, however this puts us down an extra 2 item slots and behind an extra 500 gold. Let's compare in a handy table shall we?

As you can see, the %EHP increase from point booster and basilius is about 9% more than that from 2 Bracers. It puts us behind by 690 gold on our build, but once we reach the place in the build where we would have gotten point booster, we come out ahead by 510 gold. Pretty nifty. If you throw in a basilius with the bracers, you can see that you get an extra 11% EHP boost which is really nice but makes us behind by 1020 gold, almost enough for treads and close to enough for a broadsword.
Basilus and Null Talisman

This used to be my preferred item build as it includes everything we want. Extra mana, mana regen, and a little HP at a low cost. But point booster is necessary for our build and makes mirana so much stronger early in the game that I now prefer it to the single null. As you can see from the chart from above, basilius and null falls very short on the EHP boosting front and because point booster is necessary for the build thereby cutting costs and increasing mana pool and HP as well i no longer choose the null talisman early game as point booster covers up the main reason that I preferred it to 2 bracers. So good-bye null, hello point booster.

2. HoM is teh l33t item!!! It pays for itslef!!!111one

Ah, hand of midas. One of the most overrated items out there in my opinion. People love to put it in their builds because they think it pays for itself. This is true, eventually, but at what cost. Hand of Midas costs 2000 gold, that's 2000 gold that could go towards power treads and a broadsword. Power treads gives the same attack speed so now we're debating +15 MS and 970 gold vs. transmute. For some heroes the transmute is better, but for Mirana, treads wins handily. Why?

People argue that hand of midas pays for itself, but this is not strictly true. It will cover its cost eventually, however farming it up slows down your early-game item build. Because Mirana's spells are so powerful, making her ready to fight early is extremely important to get her on the right track to farming skadi. You don't have time to hang around scrounging up 2000 gold for a hand of midas when you desperately need that point booster to allow you to cast all your spells and survive in your lane.

But that's not all, hand of midas costs mana. What was Mirana's biggest problem again? MANA! MANA MANA MANA! You can't support the mana cost of hand of midas early in the game, especially since it slows down your point booster. Every time transmute is cast, that's one less leap. If you die because you didn't have leap, you wasted the gold you earned from that transmute. And finally, Mirana has no trouble getting gold anyway, so the main argument for hand of midas is shot anyway. Stick to items that you need instead of trying to get the magical "pays for itself" item.

3. Treads? BoT is better for clearing creep waves later!

As you can see, I play Mirana as a damage dealer, hence treads is the logical upgrade for her boots of speed. She is good at clearing creep waves late game but her damage potential is too great to skip treads for BoT and there’s no reason not to upgrade her boots. We want her to attack as fast as possible to finish off enemies as quickly as possible.

Boots of travel are normally reserved for heroes who:

Need to move around the map quickly to push/counterpush with AoE farming spells:

Not Mirana as she is a late-game damage dealer. She has a nice AoE spell but that isn’t her strength at the end of the game. She wants to hit her enemies fast as possible and BoT doesn’t do anything to help that.
Need the extra move speed for chasing enemies:

Mirana already has an ability that increases her move speed and therefore doesn’t require the extra boost of speed from the boots of travel. Ursa’s and Centaur’s late-game power is not based off of their attack speed. Ursa’s overpower already gives him max attack speed and Centaur just wants to be a tank and an AoE stunner. They don’t do their job through attacking and therefore don’t need the extra attack speed. Mirana does.
Boots of Travel Synergizes well with their abilities:

Boots of travel do nothing to compliment Mirana’s abilities as I have already explained.

Finally, leap already gives you a greater increase in movespeed than the boots of travel would, so getting BoT to chase is really not that great a use of gold for you.

Therefore our boots become treads, and we leave the creep-clearing to the creep-clearing heroes.

4. Cystalys before skadi? Why don’t you rush to skadi?

I’ve tried rushing skadi before and I don’t like as much for one main reason. DAMAGE. Once Mirana’s nukes have become weaker in mid-game due to enemies’ increase in health she needs to be able to handle them some other way. Skadi will help with this once you get it because it will slow the enemy as well as increasing your damage by 25 and your attack speed. But while you’re farming up that point booster and those ultimate orbs you’re way behind other heroes on damage. Therefore, I get crystalys first in order to get a quick +35 damage (only 2350 gold, 50 more than an ulti orb and an extra 25 damage + crit strike over the ulti orb!) and then move on to skadi. Skadi is a great item and the best for Mirana in my opinion, however it doesn’t allow her to be as effective mid-game as she can and deserves to be.

5. Eye of Skadi? But that’s so expensive!

Indeed skadi is expensive but we have two things going for us in getting skadi.

Mirana is a great hero-killer with her leap, arrow and starfall so once she has crystalys she can take part in ganks and get some hero kills to help you get the parts for your skadi.
STARFALL. This ability alone makes farming skadi before late-game feasible. Whenever there is a large creep wave coming Mirana can just run over and starfall all the creeps and farm up some quick gold. Whenever I’m not busy somewhere else I’ll run to a big creep wave and starfall it, and when I’m done doing that and pushing another wave or two I’ll have 300-500 more gold depending on how large the wave is.

6. So getting skadi is feasible, but why get it?

Well skadi is a great item on Mirana for several reasons. Let’s take a look at them.

Mirana has a mana problem: As anybody who has played priestess of the moon knows, she has more than a little mana problem given her four active abilities that she wants to use whenever possible. Skadi solves this problem beautifully with its +150 mana and +25 int giving Mirana 500 additional mana.
Mirana needs more HP: Being an agility hero has its pros, good armor, great attack speed, great damage-dealing potential. However there are some drawbacks and one is a lack of HP. Once again skadi to the rescue with +200 HP in addition to +25 strength for a grand total of 675 extra health.
Slow attack works perfectly on Mirana: Mirana does a great job of ambushing heroes and dealing a lot of damage quickly, however she isn’t very good at keeping them in place. Her disable is more effective at finishing and allowing her to chase, and not very effective at giving her free hits. Therefore skadi is needed to let Mirana keep her enemies from running away from her.

Alternatives and why Skadi is better:

Sange and Yasha:

Many people get this on Mirana as well as many other agility heroes. It’s a really nice item but it isn’t that great on priestess and here’s why. Mirana’s leap already gives the user an increase in move speed, so the move speed from S+Y largely goes to waste. The bonuses do stack, but the fact that something stacks isn’t a good reason to use it. Your money is much better spent slowing your enemies down than trying to speed you up more. You don’t want to chase, you want for them not to run!

Also, S+Y does nothing to help Mirana with her mana problem, and the HP increase is 390 less than that of skadi. S+Y is cool if you don’t plan on using her spells (or killing anybody)

Finally, Maim is just not as good a slow effect for Mirana as frost. Maim only procs on 10% of attacks which is a joke to anybody who’s ever tried holding enemies in place effectively with it. It always seems to get you when you’re trying to run, but you can never seem to catch people with it. Quite a shame. Frost is a much more reliable slow than maim and skadi is a much nicer item than S+Y. Therefore skadi is taken rather than Sange and Yasha.
Guinsoo's:

Guinsoo’s in an intriguing* item on Priestess as it solves two of our three problems. It gives Mirana gobs of mana and a huge mana regen boost, and it keeps enemies from running with its hex. In addition to this it gives the same amount of damage that skadi gives. So what’s not to love a bout guinsoo's?

Ever hear that saying too much of a good thing? Well it applies here. Guinsoo’s gives Mirana way more mana than she knows what to do with. It increases her mana pool by only 490, which is 10 less than skadi. But it gives 150% mana regen which coupled with basilius means you will never run out of mana, ever. But +35 intelligence doesn’t really do that much for her otherwise, and she really doesn’t need all that mana if she doesn’t have time to use it.

Which brings me to my next point; NO EXTRA HP! Guinsoo’s does nothing to keep Mirana from being a pathetically weak tabby-cat rather than the fearsome roaring tiger that we want her to be. Being able to leap at your enemies and starfall and hex them does you know good when they can just turn around and demolish you once the disable is over. Mirana does not have a lot of health and because guinsoo’s does nothing to solve that problem you’ll finding yourself doing a lot more of the getting killed than the killing.
Diffusal Blade and Manta Style:

This is a very nice item and an interesting one for Mirana, but it falls short of skadi in terms of solving all of her problems. The +6 intelligence is nice, but Mirana will still have mana issues even with the robe of the magi that comes with diffusal blade. In addition, it does nothing to buff her HP until you get the vitality booster for manta style.

Purge is a nice disable, but once those charges are gone or you’ve upgraded it, you no longer have a disable and enemies will just run away from you leaving you no time to shoot them for massive damage. (In their weak point maybe?)

Finally, let’s take a look at what kinds of heroes normally get manta style:
- Image Heroes:
  
  These heroes have images on their own, and, in the case of naga, have their own disable. The feedback from manta will stack onto those images as well as the images from manta, meaning that these heroes get a lot more out of that feedback orb than Mirana would.
- Tank Heroes:
  
  These heroes get manta as a way to draw attention to themselves so the other team has to waste time attacking them instead of attacking the real damage dealers on the team. If a tank can’t draw fire, what good is he? Hence the manta style on tanks strategy. However, Mirana wants no part of drawing fire; she IS the damage dealer that you want to draw fire AWAY from. Therefore manta is not a good plan for Mirana.
- Morphling:
  
  Morphling is in a class of his own in that he can buff his agility stat using morph making for some extremely scary images.
Which brings me to my last point about images, the best way to buff them is with agility. And what is the most cost/item slot effective way to do that? Mass Yashas. But I already explained why S+Y isn’t great for Mirana. The Same goes for Yasha, you get more out of making your enemies run slower than you get out of moving faster. Therefore skadi is superior to manta style on Mirana.
Dagon

I've been getting a lot of replies suggesting this item and I have no idea why. I have already done this to death but I'll say it again, Mirana has a MANA PROBLEM. Dagon, if nothing else, is extremely mana intensive. Adding a 245 mana nuke to mirana's abilities just compunds the problem, despite the extra 15 int (giving only 195 mana by the way) Also, Mirana already has a high powered nuke. If you hit with a double-starfall that's a 450 base-damage nuke, 50 more base damage than dagon. And it costs 85 mana less than dagon. Dagon is also not an option as a lead in to skadi as it gives a measly +12 damage compared to crystalys' +35 and doesn't feed into anything we want, unlike crystalys.
Mjollnir:

A really nice damage boost and a chain lightning to boot, what's not to like? Well, no HP boost for one thing. No mana boost for another. As I have said before, Mirana's stats are not that great (or even that decent really) so buffing those is important to making her a viable hero later in the game. You won't have time to blast your enemy with chain lightnings when you don't have enough life to get off many attacks. You're dead before the lighning has a chance to go off. I also do not like this item as an addition to skadi, because maelstrom is 1010 gold more expensive than cyrstalys. This slows you down in getting to skadi, and I've found that the key to this build is getting to skadi quickly once you have your crystalys. Streamlining this build is key and maelstrom is just getting in the way.
Soul Booster:

More mana, more HP, what's not to like? Well for one thing it's not as much mana and HP as skadi, but that's negligable given that it costs so much less. So what's wrong with soul booster? Well the big difference is that soul booster gives you pure HP and mana boosts wheras skadi gives you ever hero's best friend, STATS. +25 in all stats is amazing. The strength gives you HP and HP regen, the intelligence gives you mana and mana regen, but here's the kicker, you get 25 agility which gives you 3.6 armor, 25 damage, and 25% IAS. As a damage hero this is a godsend. Soul booster does none of this for you and to get an equivalent effect you end up paying much more than the cost of skadi and use up more item slots. In conclusion, skadi gives mirana everything she wants, soul booster gives her some of what she wants. We're nice people so we'll give the lady everything she wants and get skadi.

7. Buriza vs. MKB

This has been done to death so I won’t go into detail on this one. Sufficient to say a ranged hero with high attack speed prefers the crits of buriza to the mini-bash of MKB. Also there is no good component of MKB to stick into our build before skadi for damage purposes.

BE the Priestess of the Moon:

Oh boy, now onto the good stuff. These strategies make the difference between being an average Priestess player and a great priestess player. So let's leap in! (har)

Laning with PotM:

Priestess is extremely effective at controlling her lane early in the game. Being ranged gives her an instant advantage in avoiding harassment early in the game, but there’s more to it than that. Starfall is a great spell for keeping your enemies back early in the game. Any heroes that try to get too close, especially melee heroes trying to creep are at the mercy of Mirana’s falling stars.

Mirana could solo a lane reasonably well, but ending up in a 1v2 lane would be bad news because despite her starfall, Mirana’s health and manapool are very weak early in the game. So let a better solo hero take the solo lane and pair up with somebody who can take advantage of your auras from basilius. So who do to pair up with? If there is somebody on your team who is playing a weak early-game hero like naix, bloodseeker, or anti-mage you can pair up with them and protect them from harassment by starfalling anybody who messes with them. If nobody needs your backup then it’s time to think about doing as much for priestess as we can (because we do like to spoil ourselves sometimes.)

So if possible, pair up with a strong early-game nuker like tinker, lich, or Zeus. They will benefit greatly from your basilius auras, and will be great for taking out enemies early in the game. Have your lane partner nuke an enemy down to about half health. Assuming the enemy doesn’t run away (and if they do that’s fine too, more time for us to last-hit) you can wait until they’re about to attack a creep, and leap behind them and cast starfall. If you’re lucky they’ll get hit twice for an easy early kill and if not you still have a chance to kill them or if your ally has a nuke left they can also take care of the enemy. Either way this should buy you plenty of time to rack-up the early game gold and get you closer to your key items.

Lane preferences:

Because we will be rushing point booster, it is necessary to pick the top or middle lane for sentinel and the bottom or middle lane for scourge. Mirana can help out a weak early-game hero in a side lane as well as fight well in 1v1 or 2v2 environments. The middle lane is fine as that is where your best friends the heavy-nukers often go and because of your range as long as you play cautiously you can handle fighting against two ranged heroes. Essentially, 2v1 and 2v2 in a side lane are ideal situations for PotM and 2v2 in the middle and 1v1 anywhere are less desirable alternatives. 1v2, bottom lane sentinel, and bottom lane scourge should be avoided if at all possible.

Last Hitting with PotM:

I don’t want to go to in-depth here because if you don’t know how to last hit, then you need to learn that ASAP and I don’t have time to teach it here. Effective last-hitting will make any hero look good and is key to increasing your level of play. Just a few quick rules of thumb:

Don’t constantly attack the creeps:
As tempting as this might be, especially with range, do not give into the temptation. If you continuously attack the creeps, you won’t score as many last-hits as you could and you’ll probably push the battle closer to your opponents’ tower. This is exactly what we don’t want to do. We want to fight as close to our own tower as possible in order to avoid getting ambushed and to allow us to attack the enemy when they’re vulnerable.
Only attack when a creep is in red health:
Whenever you see a creep (even your own) in red health, wait until you think one attack will kill it and then attack. Timing on this is key. Fortunately for us, Mirana’s attack animation is not that hard to master. Just wait until the time is right and then right-click on enemy creeps or press ‘A’ then click on a friendly creep. Which brings us to our next point.
Attack your own creeps as well!
Don’t spend all your time attacking enemy creeps, attacking friendly creeps will do almost as much for you because having lower-level enemies is key to controlling your lane and not screwing yourself over for later in the game. So don’t hesitate to kill your own creeps as pushing the lane is not our goal at this point

So I’ve said more than I probably wanted to say about this so let’s move on to some more priestess-specific strategy such as:

Farming with PotM:

Despite the common misconception farming is NOT the same as last-hitting. Farming involves clearing large groups of creeps and getting gold during mid-game and this is where Mirana excels. Starfall is the key move for this part of the game. If you see a large group of creeps pushing its way towards your base then run up to it and get ready to gain a lot of gold. I am borrowing from Rai-wK’s excellent guide on Omniknight here (http://www.dotaportal.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=35688), which gives a great description of how to get the most out of farming with purification. Here we will replace purification with starfall.

The basic strategy is to move into the middle of the creep wave, but make sure you are very close to the melee creeps. Attack a creep that your creeps are not attacking until at least two melee creeps are in the red. Then cast starfall. This should kill both melee creeps and severely damage all ranged creeps.

Guide to Razzil Darkbrew - The Alchemist

2007-01-31T20:43:00.000+08:00

Introductory Words

Yay, another imbalanced hero.

He was significantly nerfed in 6.36b, but I think he is still too strong since he can still farm like a madman.

Basic Information

Razzil Darkbrew - The Alchemist
Range: 128 | | Move Speed: 300 | Primary: STR
Str: 26 + 2.7 | Agi: 17 + 1.5 | Int: 17 + 1.5
Damage: 54 - 63 | HP: 587 | Mana: 195
HP Regen: 1.03 | Mana Regen: 0.69
Attack Speed: 1.45 (+ 17% IAS) | Armor: 3.4

Alchemists’s Strengths:

1. Very high base damage
2. One of the best farmers in the game
3. Very high damage output

Alchemist’s Weaknesses:

1. Not that good at chasing
2. Unstable Concoction is not very useful
3. He can be defeated if you put a strong combo like Lich+Leo on his lane AND put wards everywhere in the forest…

Skill build

Acid Spray

Sprays high-pressure acid across a target area. Hostile units who step across the contaminated terrain take physical damage per second and have their armor reduced. Lasts 12 seconds.

Level 1 - 8 damage per second, reduces armor by 4.
Level 2 - 16 damage per second, reduces armor by 5.
Level 3 - 24 damage per second, reduces armor by 6.
Level 4 - 32 damage per second, reduces armor by 7.

Mana cost: 120 at all levels

Very high damage over time, very large area and a very high armour reduction.
Can you say “imba”?

Unstable Concoction

Taking a few moments to shake up some chemical vials, the Alchemist lobs one at the target, stunning it based on how long he shook it up.

Level 1 - Up to 2 seconds channel.
Level 2 - Up to 3 seconds channel.
Level 3 - Up to 4 seconds channel.
Level 4 - Up to 5 seconds channel.

Mana cost: 80/95/110/125

Not a very useful ability. Only useful when killing with an ally in early-game or for interrupting channelling-spells.

Goblin’s Greed

The Goblin converts the creep's corpse into gold. You get more gold for every extra creep you killed in the last 20 seconds. Cap of 20 extra gold.

Level 1 - 2 bonus gold per enemy, 1 successive bonus gold.
Level 2 - 4 bonus gold per enemy, 2 successive bonus gold.
Level 3 - 6 bonus gold per enemy, 3 successive bonus gold.
Level 4 - 8 bonus gold per enemy, 4 successive bonus gold.

Enables him to farm better than other melee heroes in early-game and makes him a farming beast in mid- and late-game.

Chemical Rage

The Alchemist causes his Ogre to enter a chemically induced rage reducing base attack cooldown and increasing hitpoints and regeneration.
Lasts 20 seconds.

Level 1 - 1.4 Base Attack Rate and 200 Bonus HP and +9.75 HP/s Regeneration.
Level 2 - 1.3 Base Attack Rate and and 400 Bonus HP and +19.75 HP/s Regeneration.
Level 3 - 1.15 Base Attack Rate and 600 Bonus HP and +29.75 HP/s Regeneration.

The very essence of imbalance.
The BAT reduction means 21%/31%/48% increased damage which slightly better than Mortred’s Coup de Grâce while not limiting you in your choice of dps-items.
Bonus HP are always welcome for any hero, especially for a front liner like Alchemist. Due to this bonus hp you can do well without Bracers or Vanguard in early-game and go straight for your farming-items.
Extra regeneration, albeit not crucial, is also useful sometimes.

Skill Build:

1. Goblin’s Greed
2. Unstable Concoction
3-5. Acid Spray
6. Chemical Rage
7. Acid Spray
8-10. Goblin’s Greed
11. Chemical Rage
12-15. Attribute Bonus
16. Chemical Rage
17-22. Attribute Bonus
23-25. Unstable Concoction

Explanation of Skill Build

Acid Spray is a very useful ability for farming, but it is hardly effective before it is level 3, so you can start to learn it when you reach level 3 to be able to get the third level at level 5.

One level of Goblin’s Greed in early-game since there is nothing better to learn and one level of Unstable Concoction because it might aid your lane-ally in killing an opponent or save your ally from being killed. However if you are alone on your lane, it is useless in early-game, so just learn one level of Concoction at level 10.

Chemical Rage is worth learning at level 6 mainly for the regeneration (your base regeneration changes from 0.25hp/sec to 10 hp/sec, so it is pretty useful even just for the regeneration) and the small edge that 200 max-hp can give you in critical situations.

Item Build

Ring of Health
complete Perseverance
3*Circlet of Nobility (use an allies chicken if possibly, otherwise buy a chicken at your first fountain trip)
Boots of Speed
complete Battle Fury
Mask of Madness
Black King Bar(sell a Circlet)
Boots of Travel
Aegis of the Immortal (sell another Circlet)
Divine Rapier (sell the last Circlet)

Explanation of Item Build

Battle Fury is an excellent item for Razzil for the following reasons:

Due to his enormous base damage, Alchemist is a good last hitter and denier, but he can be severely limited in doing this by harassment, so you need a lot of regeneration to counter this, so RoH is a good early-game item for him.
As he wants to spam Acid Spray, he also needs mana regeneration. Because of his decent intelligence, Void Stone is an effective way of solving his mana issues.
The damage that Battlefury provides is excellent for Alchemist since its effect is amplified by Acid Spray’s armour reduction and his low BAT with Chemical Rage.
Due to Goblin’s Greed, Alchemist wants to kill a lot of creeps in a short amount of time to increase the extra bounty. Therefore he should not use common last hitting-techniques, but rather constantly attack creeps to kill as many as possible during 20 seconds. For such a way of farming, Battle Fury is an excellent item that significantly reduces the time you need for killing each wave of creeps or neutral camp.

Mask of Madness is great for increasing Razzils dps since his IAS is rather low.
Do not mix up his very good base attack time(BAT) with his pretty bad increased-attack-speed-value (IAS). The former simply evenly amplifies the effect of damage, attack-speed, critical strikes and armour reduction while the latter amplifies damage, critical strike and armour reduction.
So even though Alchemist does attack quite fast due to his low BAT, he still needs more attack-speed.
Frenzy is also a very good help for clearing creeps even faster, especially when combined with Battle Fury and Chemical Rage
Due to being a melee-hero with very high LPS(loss of target’s hp per second), Life Steal is an excellent orb effect for Razzil.
One of Razzil’s greatest weaknesses is being bad at chasing his prey, but Mask of Madness helps you in this aspect by giving you 15% increased movement-speed
Razzil has a very high starting strength and relatively high strength-gain, so he should not have any problems to take 20% increased damage during Frenzy

With activated Frenzy and Chemical Rage you will deal so much damage that you will almost always be disabled in team-battles, so you need BKB to counter this. In case the opposing team has very few stuns at its command or consists of retards, you can skip BKB for now and buy it after you complete Rapier.

Due to being a high-hp hero with low armour, Aegis is an excellent way of increasing Razzil’s EHP (effective hit-points). Apart from that, Aegis is so overpowered that it must be purchased by next to every hero in late-game.

Since you now already have Aegis, Divine is of course the best choice for your last slot since its damage/cost ratio clearly outshines any other item.

Those final items have incredibly high synergy with each other, they are the dream of every damage-dealer. The only reason why not every damage-dealer goes for MoM, BKB, BoT, Aegis and Rapier is that this build is very expensive and most heroes are not able to complete it withing an average game.
However, due to how fast Alchemist farms, he would be able to finish this item-build within an hour in a normal game or even 50 minutes or less if he is owning.

Some examples for the synergy of those items:

You can escape most ganks simply by activating avatar and teleporting away with BoT.
In case you die, you will be revived by Aegis and be back at the scene of battle within a few seconds due to BoT.
MoM gives you enough attack-speed to make good use of Divine Rapier's damage
BKB and Aegis protect you so that you can survive being focused after using Frenzy
BoT gives you a high movement-speed which is then amplified by Frenzy
Since you have Divine Rapier, your opponents will try to disable you, but Avatar protects you from most disables
Due to your crazily high damage and attack-speed, you will leech a lot of life with Frenzy and Aegis makes every hit-point more effective, so you make better use of the life you steal than if you had went for HoT instead of Aegis.

Why certain Items are not recommended

There simply is no place for Midas since you need Battle Fury and Mask of Madness as soon as possible for farming. Getting a Hand of Midas in early-game would actually slow down your farming since Transmute only earns you about 1 gold per second while having your Battle Fury and Mask of Madness earlier would earn you much more gold.

There simply is no place for a Buriza since the final items already take six slots.
Throwing away BKB is not possible since you need to protect yourself from disables and throwing away MoM is not possible either as you need its attack- and movement-speed.

Battle Fury and MoM is already enough to get next to every creep, Radiance is not needed.
Replacing Battle Fury with Radiance is a bad idea since Immolation does not take advantage of the Alchemists crazily high dps whereas Cleaving Attack does.

Aegis is much more effective at increasing your EHP.

To prove this, let's regard a level 20 Alchemist with BoT, Battle Fury, MoM and BKB and Chemical Rage activated. Razzil has 10.6 armour and 2707 HP in this situation. HoT would increase his EHP by 965/2707=35.6%.

(1+0.06*20.6)/(1+0.06*10.6)=1.367, so Aegis grants 36.7% more EHP against physical attacks and 1/(1-0.35)-1=53.8% more EHP against spells.

Yes, HoT does give you 35 damage, but three Reincarnation charges are five times more valuable.
The regeneration of HoT is useless for Alchemist since he has close to 40 HP/s with level 3 Chemical Rage and he also has 17% Life Steal.

Apart from that, Aegis is also significantly cheaper than HoT.

Why would you want to bash someone for ten seconds if you can as well kill him in three seconds?

Basher is good for owning heroes 1on1, but those random 1on1 encounters are pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. What really matters is how well you do in team battles, and smaller team skirmishes (e.g. 2on2/3on3), and in those your job is to deal damage, not to partly disable a single hero.

True, the slow effect is useful, but what about the rest?
Mana is completely insignficant in late-game. HP is useful, but as proven above in the comparision between Aegis and HoT, armour is a better way to increase your EHP. Agility is also useful, but for a non-agility hero it is cheaper to get your attack-speed and armour from seperate items.

Lastly, instead of getting Skadi, you could also have paid an extra 750 gold and bought a Divine Rapier which of course helps you a lot more.

And even the frost effect is not as great as it seems since Alchemist is a melee hero. Frost Attack only helps you while you are near your prey, but most heroes have some sort of disable which allows them to run out of your attack-range and once that happens, it is very hard to catch up to your target without Mask of Madness.

While Desolator works well with Alchemist, it does not allow you to buy Mask of Madness which is a better item for Razzil mainly because he needs the extra movement-speed and attack-speed of Frenzy.

To make up for the attack-speed, you could buy Treads and Hyperstone, but this would mean that you have no chance whatsoever to catch heroes that are running away.

Even if you chose BoT and Hyperstone, you will still not have enough movement-speed and you will also not have enough inventory space for BKB which is an absolutely crucial item for a melee damage-dealer.

How to use…

…Unstable Concoction?

Use it if your lane-ally is in trouble to disable the most dangerous opponent
Use it on the most fragile opponent if your lane-ally can execute a deadly combo

…Acid Spray?

Use it on creep-waves and neutral creeps to farm whenever your have the mana
Use it on enemies in open combat

…Chemical Rage?

Use it for Farming and every direct combat
Also useful for regeneneration

Team Battles
Wait for the tanks (e.g. Centaur Warchief) to engage the enemy, then use BKB, Frenzy and Chemical Rage and attack heroes in the following order of preference:

QUOTE

1. Heroes with strong channelling ultimates(e.g. Freezing Field) or crucial ultimates that can be cancelled by the casters death(e.g. Pulse Nova); if there are several, begin with the most fragile one.

2. Damage dealers with low ehp.

3. Everything that is left

Walkthrough

Early Game

Chose any side lane, share it with an ranged ally.

Play defensively in early-game; as soon as you are able to farm neutral creeps, do so. Your aim is to farm a Perseverance and then a Battle Fury.

Mid Game:

Now you will become a beastly farmer, so don’t participate in ganks, just farm unless your presence is required in team-battles.

Farming should go extremely fast now, so you should have at least Aegis by the start of late-game.

Late Game

Now your objective is to farm for Divine Rapier and then own everything.

After you have your Divine you should immediately start to push together with your team to end the game before your opponents also farm Rapiers.

Conclusion

Abuse the imbalance as long as possible for he will sure get nerfed next version.

Guide to Jakiro - The Twin Head Dragon

2007-01-30T21:42:00.000+08:00

Table of Contents:
I. Introudction
II. Skills and Stats
III. Advantages and Disadvantages
IV. Skill Build
V. Item Build
VI. Gameplay Strategy
VII. Other People's Frequently Asked Questions
VIII. Heroes to Look Out For
IX. Best Allies
X. Other Strategies
XI. Final Words

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I. Introduction
--------------------

Jakiro the Twin Head Dragon
Originally found gnawing at the roots of the World Tree during an excavation, this magnificent Chimaera's age is impossible to determine. With his large snapping heads and agressive, unpredictable behavior, Jakiro is an intimidating creature to say the least, yet in loyal to the Sentinel for reasons on his own. Due to his strange mystical nature, he has a strange affinity with the element forces of ice and fire, allows him to devastate all he sees before him, and is more than capable of keeping a targets enemy in his line of fury. The Scourge would do best to be wary of this dragon, lest they all freeze and shatter as their precious Frozen Throne melts before their very eyes.

That's Jakiro for you. I made another guide once again for one of my favorite yet most ignored hero. Jakiro ain't that famous, not much used, and everyone is unaware of his power. This guide will take you through how Jakiro's power is revealed, and how he also mixes the power of Wind to his extent.

--------------------
II. Skills and Stats
--------------------

Jakiro - The Twin Head Dragon
Range: 400 | | Move Speed: 305 | Primary: INT
Str: 24 + 2.3 | Agi: 10 + 1.2 | Int: 28 + 2.8
Damage: 52 - 64 | HP: 606 | Mana: 364
HP Regen: 0.97 | Mana Regen: 1.13
Attack Speed: 1.4 (+ 10% IAS) | Armor: 0.4

Complete stats, click here.

Comments: The hero with an insane HP and Mana at the same time. But don't get too excited, his very low Agility will make you prone to too much ganks.

Skills:

Dual Breath (D)
Jakiro’s twin heads let loose an ice blast followed closely by a wave of fire, each dealing initial damage. Enemy units are both slowed and dealt fire damage per second for 4 seconds.
Level 1 – 35 damage per breath, 5 fire damage per second.
Level 2 – 70 damage per breath, 10 fire damage per second.
Level 3 – 105 damage per breath, 15 fire damage per second.
Level 4 – 140 damage per breath, 20 fire damage per second.
Mana Cost: 120/130/140/150
Cooldown: 10

Comments: Jakiro's core skill, early game this is one of the most effective abilities, but late game this is also effective because of the ice slowing.

Ice Path (T)
Creates a path of ice in front of Jakiro. After 1 second the path explodes and freezes nearby enemy units.
Level 1 – Freeze for 0.5 seconds.
Level 2 – Freeze for 1 seconds.
Level 3 – Freeze for 1.5 seconds.
Level 4 – Freeze for 2 seconds.
Mana Cost: 75
Cooldown: 16

Comments: Your only disable skill, this requires very accurate targeting to benefit from it.

Auto Fire (A)
While one of Jakiro’s heads attacks enemies, his other head occasionally spits a fireball at a nearby enemy in front of him, causing fire damage per second in the target area. Can trigger a maximum of once every second. Lasts 5 seconds

Level 1 – 25% chance to spit a fireball that deals 10 damage per second.
Level 2 – 30% chance to spit a fireball that deals 20 damage per second.
Level 3 – 35% chance to spit a fireball that deals 30 damage per second.
Level 4 – 40% chance to spit a fireball that deals 40 damage per second.
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A

Comments: Your main farming skill, this works utterly well with Dual Breath when it comes to clearing creep waves.

Macropyre ®
Jakiro unleasehes a line of pulsing flame strikes in front of him. Each flame strike deals damage per second for 5 seconds, and has a 200 AOE radius. Distance increased per level.
Level 1 – 75 damage per second.
Level 2 – 125 damage per second.
Level 3 – 175 damage per second.
Mana Cost: 220 / 330 / 440
Cooldown: 60 / 75 / 90

Comments: Jakiro's main killing skill. In 6.33, the speed is improved, and you could use this properly to stop heroes who are chasing you. In assaults, this is useful since you can easily get multiple heroes under this powerful spell.

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III. Advantages and Disadvantages
--------------------

Advantages:
-One of the best harassers
-Is very useful in team battles
-Has high HP for an int hero
-Has an ability that can look through trees
-High base damage compared to the other int heroes
-Mysterious balance makes him a good player pisser
-One of the best pushers in the game
-Decent attack speed considering the lack of agility

Disadvantages:
-Will suck late game
-All abilities need targeting
-Has a very bad escape mechanism
-Has very low armor

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IV. Skill Build(s)
--------------------

Waking Dragon build
1. Dual Breath
2. Auto-Fire
3. Dual Breath
4. Auto-Fire
5. Dual Breath
6. Macropyre
7. Dual Breath
8. Auto-Fire
9. Auto-Fire
10. Ice Path
11. Macropyre
12. Ice Path
13. Ice Path
14. Ice Path
15. Stats
16. Macropyre
17-25. Stats

Explanation: The most ordinary and most acceptable build for Jakiro. Early-mid game farming, early game killing, and late game pushing.

Guardian Dragon build
1. Dual Breath
2. Auto-Fire
3. Dual Breath
4. Auto-Fire
5. Dual Breath
6. Macropyre
7. Dual Breath
8. Ice Path
9. Ice Path
10. Ice Path
11. Macropyre
12. Ice Path
13. Auto-Fire
14. Auto-Fire
15. Stats
16. Macropyre
17-25. Stats

Explanation: One of the most recommended build so that Jakiro can avoid ganks, harass enemies, and safeguard team battles at a balanced rate.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Dragon
1. Dual Breath
2. Stats
3. Dual Breath
4. Stats
5. Dual Breath
6. Macropyre
7. Dual Breath
8. Stats
9. Stats
10. Auto-Fire
11. Macropyre
12. Auto-Fire
13. Stats
14. Ice Path
15. Stats
16. Macropyre
17. Stats
18. Ice Path
19. Ice Path
20 - 25. Stats

[color=#FF6666]Explanation: This is more of an easy management build. If you want a simple to play Jakiro like how simple you play Razor, use this. All the keys you need is D, A, and H.

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V. Item Build
--------------------

This took lots of experiment, and I don't think that it is very perfect, and I may have a lot of mistakes. But as of now, this is what I use to win.

Animal Courier (225 gold)

Comments: Ah yes, the essential Chicken. With Jakiro being a good harasser, it's easy to stay in your lane and level up fast, so get this.

Ring of Regneration (375 gold)

Comments: Why of course, the early game 2 HP regen/sec is very essential to prevent harassers from getting a bigger advantage of staying in the lane longer. If you want to be the last one to leave the lane early, get this.

Null Talisman (510 gold)

Comments: Of course, the essential Null Talisman for early battle purposes. With 3 Strength and 6 Intelligence, it gives a good early game boost in HP and mana.

Sobi Mask (325 gold)

Comments: Cheap item to be able to spam Dual Breath faster early game.

Power Treads (1530 gold)

Comments: Of course, this is needed by almost ANYONE. Now with Jakiro having an extra 5 MS than usual, you could use this to chase down heroes early game just in case they're able to run away from your harrasment. And the attackspeed is very much needed, too.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity (2350 gold)

Comments: If you really wanna get good kills and escape backstabs, this is the most useful item. It's Cyclone can give you 5 seconds to cast a good Macropyre, because Macropyre HURTS when it hits.

Aegis of the Immortal

Comments: This is the hero that needs the early Aegis tactic, probably because of his low defensive rating of having no good disablers and very low armor.

Hyperstone (2450 gold)

Comments: We have low agility here, but high damage. If you want a good assault, this is very much recommended.

Dagon (3000 gold)(Each upgrade costs 1350)

Comments: A very good finisher for your assault. This is actually effective late game since that is where strength heroes start to get good, and this prevents them from trying to beat you before you can beat them.

NOTE: This is one item that you could skip, but if you want it please buy it EARLY.

Eye of Skadi (7050 gold)

Comments: This is probably the most compatible item for Jakiro. With it's Frost Attack and additional status, it's a good offensive and defensive boost.

Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse (Eul's Scepter of Divinity + 2625 gold)

Comments: By this time your Cyclone should've ran out. To at least have another disable, upgrade your current Eul's Scepter of Divinity to this one.

Final Notes: Well, this build is about utilizing Jakiro's skills and specialties to be able to be used. Because of the lack of a good ult and the lack of armor, disable+defence is the best for him.

Q: What if I suddenly can’t get my Jakiro to get gold that fast?
A: If you have been rendered prone to ganks, I suggest you buy a Boots of Travel and replace your Power Treads.

WHY OTHER ITEMS ARE ALSO GOOD

Linken's Sphere (5500 gold)

Comments: Because of the mana and hp regen along with the Disentangle and status increase, why not?

Kelen's Dagger of Escape (2150 gold)

Comments: Because of being the perfect backstab and escape item, why not? You may be able to hit a good Macropyre with this one.

Stygian Desolator (4720 gold)
Comments: To kill fast? YES. And this supports the fact that you have low armor, so that you could survive in a face to face battle.

Mekansm (2434 gold)
Comments: Simply said, one of the best defensive items with the AoE heal and armor.

The Butterfly (5950 gold)
Comments: The damage and agility addition is quite good, although the money is something to be worried about.

Diffusal Blade (3000 gold)
Comments: Purge+Macropyre. Simple.

Lothar's Edge (3800 gold)
Comments: Just the same as how you'll play with Kelen's Dagger of Escape.

WHY CERTAIN ITEMS ARE BAD

Heart of Tarasssque (6200 gold)
Comments: NEVER, EVER buy expensive items if it's only for 1 reason. An example is HoT. HP gain ain't bad, but do you really think it will help you survive? NO.

Divine Rapier (7800 gold)
Comments: Jakiro is the only hero who has a bad touch with Divine Rapier, mainly because of Jakiro's low defensive ratings, and even with Aegis, the charges will be gone in no time at all.

--------------------
VI. Gameplay Strategy
--------------------

Early Game (Levels 1-8)

Main Role: Hero Driver, Major Pusher
Be QUICK, VERY QUICK. From here on you are strong early game, being one of the best harassers and pushers. Farm as fast as you can probably by spamming Dual Breath all around the battlefield while hitting enemy heroes at the same time. But if it's a 2 on 2 or 1 on 1 game, go to the lane without heroes. Preferably, you should take the easier to push lane, namely the top for Sentinel and bottom for Scourge, as you would notice that you can destroy the tower in no time. But if it's a game with more than 3 people in your team, I suggest you go with another hero, and both of you go to the lane with 2 heroes. With your Dual Breath, enemies have no chance of surviving unless they can evade it, which is most unlikely because of the fast animation of it. But you have to use Dual Breath WISELY. See the Other Strategies section for details on how to use Dual Breath.

Mid Game (Levels 9-15)

Main Role: Battle Initiation, Major Pusher, Major Farmer
Got kills? GOOD, you'll very much need the money. Advice your teammates to start assaults already, you will lost your effective harassments by this stage of the game. Start going for the heroes and disturb them with Ice Path. If you want, you could get a kill by doing my Macropyre strategy. See the Other Strategies section for details about how to use Macropyre properly. If your teammates start the assault, you should be the one to lead the assault and cast Dual Breath on the enemy heroes, and it's better if you hit many of them. Probably after casting Dual Breath stay back for a while, they may have concentrated fire on you. If you have disablers on your side then your in luck, you'll be one very good killing team. Oh, and don't forget to push! You still are the best pusher, because a level 4 Dual Breath kills the Druid of the Talon/Necromancer and can reduce the Treants/Ghouls' lives by more than a half.

Late Game (16-25)

Main Role: Damage Taker, Offensive Supporter, Major Pusher, Major Farmer
Oh look! You now are not allowed to 1 on 1 heroes. By this stage, you can't spam Dual Breath to deal that much damage. Most heroes by this time still has effectiveness in their abilities, but for this case, Jakiro's Dual Breath against heroes is only a final movement to stop them in their tracks. Be careful, and stick to your teammates all the time. Jakiro at this stage will become more of an offensive supporter. Dual Breath and Ice Path are two minor battle skills, and it could still help in team battles. And don't forget to push! By this time, the number of the creeps are many. and this is your chance to farm like crazy, especially for that expensive Eye of Skadi. Don't bother buying another Aegis; the Aegis was only meant for Armor and damage reduce. Divine Rapier ain't a good item for him, so don't even bother thinking about it. Being one of the fast creep killers, you could still take some deaths and still reach level 25. Trust me, he could level insanely, too.

--------------------
VII. Other People's Frequently Asked Questions
--------------------

Noone has asked me questions yet, and this build ain't questionable yet.

--------------------
VIII. Heroes to Look out For
--------------------

First: Disablers

If you're rendered useless before you could use skills and take a few hits, consider yourself dead. Be careful of the above abilities.

Second: Late game heroes

Of course, as I said, Jakiro is soooo weak when it comes late game. Heroes such as Sven, Lucifer and Harbringer are to look out for.
NOTE: Late game. Early game you could harass them, but harassing them ain't enough to resist their late game effectiveness.

Third: Corruption Heroes

You don't have Armor, so don't let it be reduced even more! Heroes like Slardar and Leviathan should be avoided.

Magina the Anti-Mage

With the indvidiual potential to kill Jakiro, he differs from the other categories, and is most likely an unusual weakness of Jakiro.

I don’t know anymore heroes that will be a problem for Jakiro but you could suggest some for me, and I desperately need help in making a guide. I did this guide on my own.

--------------------
IX. Best Allies
--------------------

First: Disablers

Need to place a good Macropyre? No problem, they'll make sure that you could do that at least 50% of the time.

Second: Late game heroes

You'll support each other. Early game you'll protect them, and late game they'll protect you. Simply said.

--------------------
X. Other Strategies
--------------------

LANDING A GOOD MACROPYRE PROPERLY
UPDATE GOING ON, THIS SECTION IS NOW EMPTY.

USING DUAL BREATH PROPERLY
Ever since Dual Breath's nerfing in 6.31, I have discovered something different about it.
-In 6.30, Dual Breath's end range is directly where you click it. In 6.31, it was said that the range and mana was nerfed. The mana was nerfed, but the range DID NOT. Not noticeable, right? It actually WAS NOT nerfed. Notice that when you click a location to fire Dual Breath with, the Dual Breath goes even farther? That means that the casting range is shorter, but the AoE is the same.
-With this stated, you should cast Dual Breath somewhere in front of the target. If it's a moving hero, click it directly where the hero was, and Dual Breath should still hit.

--------------------
XI. Final Words
--------------------

Being one of the dragons, I love this guy. I thought up of using the new guys one time, and I was tense when I first tried Jakiro. And team game I started with! And to my surprise, I was getting at least a mega kill streak! So I continued using him and finally I have gotten good with him. Jakiro is also a part of my Dragon Team, wherein I only need 2 more dragons to complete it. Jakiro, Viper, and Visage, my dragon team. Someone called me the "Dragon Master" as a joke, but I will prove him WRONG that it is a joke. I WILL make it a truth! So expect more updates!

Guide to Rexxar - The Beastmaster

2007-01-25T22:02:00.000+08:00

Table of Contents

Concerning Rexxar
- Biography
- Statistics
Driving Rexxar
- Skill Descriptions
- Item Descriptions
- Strategy | Levels 1-7
- Strategy | Levels 8-11
- Strategy | Levels 12-16
- Strategy | Levels 17-25
Supporting Rexxar
- Heroes
Countering Rexxar
- Heroes
Validating Rexxar
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Download Replay

Concerning Rexxar

Biography

A wandering vagrant of the Mok'nathal, the fabled half orc-half ogres of legend, Rexxar and his mighty blades have joined the cause of the Sentinel to better protect the natural world around him. A friend of beasts, Rexxar flails and tears at his enemies with unsettling savagery, even going as far as hurling his axes in the manner of boomerangs at his enemies to better his chance at victory. Truly a warrior of the living planet that thrives around him, the Beastmaster is an ally to be counted on when he is needed the most.

Statistics

Driving Rexxar

Skill Descriptions

Wild Axes | Rexxar hurls two axes outwards, which then intersect and return to him. Each axe can only damage a unit once. 1300 Range. Costs 120 Mana. 13 Second Cooldown.

Level 1 | Each Axe Deals 90 Damage.
Level 2 | Each Axe Deals 120 Damage.
Level 3 | Each Axe Deals 150 Damage.
Level 4 | Each Axe Deals 180 Damage.

Call of the Wild | Rexxar calls upon wild beasts to aid him. Previous summons are removed upon casting. Costs 50 Mana. 45 Second Cooldown.

Level 1 | Summons a Scout Hawk for 60 seconds.
Level 2 | Summons a Scout Hawk and a Quilbeast for 70 seconds.
Level 3 | Summons a Greater Hawk and a Quilbeast for 80 seconds.
Level 4 | Summons a Greater Hawk and a Greater Quilbeast for 90 seconds.

Scout Hawk (300 Hit Points, 0 Armor, 1600 Sight Range During the Day, 1200 Sight Range During the Night)

Quilbeast (400 Hit Points, 0 Armor, 23-29 Damage)
Passive: Quilbeast Poison (Each Attack Slows the Target’s Movement and Attack Speed by 20% for 3 Seconds)

Greater Hawk (875 Hit Points, 5 Armor, 1600 Sight Range During the Day, 1200 Sight Range During the Night)
Passive: Permanent Invisibility

Greater Quilbeast (700 Hit Points, 0 Armor, 43-49 Damage)
Passive: Quilbeast Poison (Each Attack Slows the Target’s Movement and Attack Speed by 35% for 3 Seconds)

Beast Rage | When Rexxar engages an opponent, his animalistic nature grants him even greater proficiency in single combat. With each continuous blow on the same target, Rexxar gains understanding of the prey’s defenses, and guides each strike with greater ease than the last. Maximum of 100% increased attack speed. If Rexxar changes targets, his attack speed returns to normal.

Level 1 | Every 4 Continuous Attacks Gives Rexxar 10% Bonus Attack Speed.
Level 2 | Every 3 Continuous Attacks Gives Rexxar 10% Bonus Attack Speed.
Level 3 | Every 2 Continuous Attacks Gives Rexxar 10% Bonus Attack Speed.
Level 4 | Every Continuous Attack Gives Rexxar 10% Bonus Attack Speed.

Primal Roar | The Beastmaster looses a deafening roar which deals damage and stuns its target. Enemy units near the roar wave take minor damage and have their movement and attack rate reduced. Due to the force of the roar, all units between the Beastmaster and his prey are shoved aside, creating an open path. 600 Cast Range. 180 Second Cooldown.

Level 1 | 200 Primary Damage, 2 Second Stun. 100 Side Damage, 2 Second Slow. Costs 175 Mana.
Level 2 | 250 Primary Damage, 2.75 Second Stun. 200 Side Damage, 3 Second Slow. Costs 250 Mana.
Level 3 | 300 Primary Damage, 3.5 Second Stun. 300 Side Damage, 4 Second Slow. Costs 325 Mana.

Item Descriptions

Ring of Basilius | 500 Gold
+6 Damage
Passive: Brilliance Aura (+65% Mana Regeneration to Hero and Nearby Allies)
Passive: Devotion Aura (+3 Armor to Hero and Nearby Allies)

Power Treads | 1530 Gold
+60 Movement Speed
+30% Attack Speed

Helm of the Dominator | 1850 Gold
+10 Damage
+5 Armor
Passive: 15% Life Steal (Orb)
Active: Dominate (Take Control of Target Creep for 20 Minutes. Costs 200 Mana. 5 Minute Cooldown.)

Necronomicon 1 | 2750 Gold
+6 Strength
+14 Intelligence
Active: Demonic Summoning (Summons a Necronomicon Warrior and an Necronomicon Archer for 35 seconds. Costs 50 Mana. 90 Second Cooldown.)

Necronomicon Warrior 1 (400 Hit Points, 21 Damage, 6 Armor)
Passive: Mana Break (Burns Away 25 Mana per Attack)
Passive: Last Will (Deals 200 Damage to the Unit that Kills it)

Necronomicon Archer 1 (400 Hit Points, 31 Damage, 6 Armor)
Active: Mana Burn (Burns 200 Mana from Target Unit)
Passive: Endurance Aura (Increases Nearby Allies’ Movement Speed by 3% and Attack Rate by 3%)

Necronomicon 2 | 4050 Gold
+10 Strength
+21 Intelligence
Active: Demonic Summoning (Summons a Necronomicon Warrior and an Necronomicon Archer for 35 seconds. Costs 50 Mana. 90 Second Cooldown.)

Necronomicon Warrior 2 (600 Hit Points, 41 Damage, 8 Armor)
Passive: Mana Break (Burns Away 50 Mana per Attack)
Passive: Last Will (Deals 400 Damage to the Unit that Kills it)

Necronomicon Archer 2 (600 Hit Points, 61 Damage, 8 Armor)
Active: Mana Burn (Burns 250 Mana from Target Unit)
Passive: Endurance Aura (Increases Nearby Allies’ Movement Speed by 6% and Attack Rate by 6%)

Necronomicon 3 | 5350 Gold
+14 Strength
+24 Intelligence
Active: Demonic Summoning (Summons a Necronomicon Warrior and an Necronomicon Archer for 35 seconds. Costs 50 Mana. 90 Second Cooldown.)

Necronomicon Warrior 3 (800 Hit Points, 61 Damage, 10 Armor)
Passive: Mana Break (Burns Away 75 Mana per Attack)
Passive: Last Will (Deals 600 Damage to the Unit that Kills it)
Passive: Magic Sentry (Increased Vision Range. Also Reveals Nearby Invisible Units)

Necronomicon Archer 3 (800 hit points, 91 damage, 10 armor)
Active: Mana Burn (Burns 300 Mana from Target Unit)
Passive: Endurance Aura (Increases Nearby Allies’ Movement Speed by 9% and Attack Rate by 9%)

Cranium Basher | 3200 Gold
+30 Damage
+3 Strength
Passive: 15% Chance to Bash, Dealing 25 Damage and Stunning for 1.1 Seconds

Hyperstone | 2450 Gold
+55% Attack Speed

Satanic | 6150 Gold
+25 Strength
+5 Armor
Passive: 23% Life Steal (Orb)
Active: Death Pact (Converts 85% of Target Allied Creep’s Life into Hit Points and 15% of Target Allied Creep’s Life into Mana. Costs 100 Mana. 60 Second Cooldown.)

Radiance | 5325 Gold
+70 Damage
+8% Chance to Evade
Passive: Immolation (40 Damage Per Second. 550 Radius.)

Strategy | Levels 1-7

Skill Order

Level 1 | Wild Axes
Level 2 | Attribute Bonus
Level 3 | Wild Axes
Level 4 | Call of the Wild
Level 5 | Wild Axes
Level 6 | Primal Roar
Level 7 | Wild Axes

Item Order

Sobi Mask (325)
Ring of Protection (175)
Ring of Basilius (0)

Gauntlets of Strength (150)

Belt of Giant Strength (450)

Boots of Speed (500)

Staff of Wizardry (1000)

Game Play

The first thing you should do when the game starts is buy a Ring of Basilius and learn Level 1 Wild Axes. If you have enough gold, then buy Gauntlets of Ogre Strength, otherwise buy them on your first trip back to the fountain. Though you will not be making a Cranium Basher for a while, the Gauntlets of Ogre Strength help you early game by giving your hit points and damage a tiny boost. Besides, you have the inventory space and they are inexpensive. Choose the top lane if you are on Sentinel, or the bottom lane if you are on Scourge, so you can hide in the woods and snipe enemy heroes with Wild Axes. Try to share a lane with an ally that has a Headdress of Rejuvenation, because both of you will benefit from sharing auras. Switch lanes if you are against heroes that can drain your mana pool, because you need all of your mana available to farm and harass heroes with Wild Axes.

Once the first allied creep wave arrives and engages the enemy creep wave, hold down the ALT key to monitor the health of both allied and enemy creeps. Hold position or pace back and forth behind allied creeps, staying out of the range of enemy heroes, but close enough to gain experience. You gain experience when you are close enough to an enemy creep or hero when it dies, and you also earn gold if you deliver the fatal blow. You can also deny the enemy experience by delivering the fatal blow to allied creeps. Remember that you only have to get close to battle when an enemy creep dies, and you should only run into battle when you can deliver the fatal blow to an allied or enemy creep. The less you attack enemy creeps, the closer the fight will be to your tower, and it is much easier to defend your own tower than to attack the enemy tower.

Expect to be harassed by enemy heroes whenever you run into battle, so exercise caution when you are trying to deliver the fatal blow to an allied or enemy creep. You need to stay in your lane as long as you can to take advantage of every opportunity to get creep kills and to gain experience. Always use your mini-map to monitor the locations of enemy heroes. If you do not see an enemy hero on the mini-map, then assume they are going to ambush you and retreat to your tower until you locate all enemy heroes. Only return to the fountain if you have enough gold to buy two or three items at a time in addition to needing to heal both hit points and mana. Try to use up your mana by throwing a Wild Axes at enemy heroes or creep camps on your way back. If you have any gold left over after buying items, then save time by using a Scroll of Town Portal to teleport back to your lane.

Your best early game allies are heroes that can deal damage to an area, preferably from a distance and hopefully with a stun (such as Earthshaker, Stone Giant, Slayer, and Tormented Soul). Heroes will all or some of these abilities (such as Keeper of the Light, Dwarven Sniper, and Shadow Shaman) will have greater synergy with Wild Axes, your primary method of dealing damage early game, than other heroes. You will be using Wild Axes to farm and to harass heroes from extremely far away (maximum of 1300 range). Aiming Wild Axes is similar to aiming Fissure and Hook, but keep in mind the return to you like boomerangs. Anything they (yes, you cast two at a time) do not hit on their way out, they will hit on their way back to you. There are two things to remember when throwing Wild Axes: (1) try to throw them as far as possible and (2) try to hit as many targets as possible.

You can use Wild Axes for other things besides farming and harassing/killing heroes, such as assassinating chickens and escaping/pursuing enemy heroes. Use your Scout Hawk to watch the supply route (usually in between enemy towers), then track an enemy chicken until it is close enough to hit Wild Axes. If you can intercept the supply chicken with Wild Axes before it reaches the enemy hero, then you might have enough time to pick up any items that drop. You can also cut down trees with Wild Axes (direct counter to Sprout and Eyes in the Forest), which gives you the ability to cut paths through trees when you or allies need to chase after or run from enemy heroes. Think how annoyed and frustrated the enemy team will be when they try to intercept you or a teammate by traveling down known escape routes, only to find out you cut a path and escaped in a different direction.

One reason to learn Level 1 Call of the Wild early game is to track enemy chicken movement, but other reasons include tracking enemy hero movement and scouting river runes. Though your Scout Hawk is weak with 400 hit points and 0 armor and is not invisible, you might want to keep it above the trees so enemies cannot attack it. Since you should already be using your minimap to keep track of enemy hero movement, you should only need to use your Scout Hawk when enemy heroes are missing (unless you are using it to hunt chickens or scout runes). When deciding where to position your Scout Hawk, think about where you would wait to gank you if you were on the other team. When heroes get to level 6, then tend to get hungry to use their ultimate. If you notice an enemy hero missing, or and enemy hero getting ready to gank your teammate, then warn your allies.

You have an awesome ultimate, Primal Roar, that has great synergy with Wild Axes because both skills deal damage to an area. Since it has a 3 minute cooldown, you should only use it when you will get the kill or when it will save your life or the life of an ally. Alone, Primal Roar does not deal much damage, but it does stun the target and slow nearby enemies. This skill is designed to be used in large crowds (usually a waste against one hero out in the open), as are Wild Axes, but is best utilized in combination with another ultimate (usually after) that stuns and/or slows nearby enemies (such as Epicenter, Echo Slam, Reverse Polarity, Ravage). Throw Wild Axes before Sand King, Earthshaker, Magnataur, or Tidehunter using their ultimate, then use Primal Roar immediately after. Then you can take out the hero you stunned and your team can take out the rest of the enemy heroes while they are slowed.

Strategy | Levels 8-11

Skill Order

Level 8 | Call of the Wild
Level 9 | Call of the Wild
Level 10 | Call of the Wild
Level 11 | Primal Roar

Item Order

Necronomicon 1 (1300)

Gloves of Haste (610)
Power Treads (420)

Game Play

You are ready to start spamming Wild Axes and killing heroes once you get to Level 7 with Gauntlets of Ogre Strength, Ring of Basilius, Belt of Giant Strength, Boots of Speed, and Staff of Wizardry. You should have enough mana and mana regeneration with Ring of Basilius, Staff of Wizardry, and Level 1 Attribute Bonus to cast Wild Axes enough to prime most heroes for a kill with Primal Roar. By now you should have learned enough about how the heroes in your lane move, specifically if/how they dodge your Wild Axes. Now that you have learned Level 4 Wild Axes, you should know that two axes deal enough damage to kill a ranged enemy creep (Necromancer/Druid of the Talon) if you have not lost a barracks or the creep is not affected by an armor aura (Devotion or Toughness). When harassing an enemy hero with Wild Axes, try to hit the Necromancers/Druids of the Talon with both axes.

You might have to come up with creative ways to hit your enemies with Wild Axes, since they should be expecting them by now. Try throwing them from behind trees and from elevated terrain, though it might be harder to hit a moving target with both axes. When throwing axes at a hero that is running away from you, try to predict where they will be when you axes arrive. This usually requires throwing the axes much farther ahead of a hero so they get there in time. This is similar to aiming Hook, and like good Hooks make or break a good Pudge, good Wild Axes make or break a good Rexxar. For all you new players out there, try practicing aiming Wild Axes in single player against enemy creep waves with fog of war turned off. When you get the hang of it, then turn fog of war back on and try again. Then try using your Scout/Greater Hawk to track moving targets and hit them with Wild Axes.

Eventually, with enough practice, you will hit your target almost every time with both axes. The fun starts when you can get double kills from throwing Wild Axes blindly into the fog. This stage of the game is usually where you start getting consecutive kills by using the Wild Axes and Primal Roar combination. You want to finish your Necronomicon as soon as possible so you can become a one-man-gank with Call of the Wild and Necronomicon summons. Then you should finish your Power Treads increase the number of hits you can get in before your target starts running, and to increase your chasing ability. Most heroes in Defense of the Ancients (DotA) have slower movement speed than Rexxar, which means you will be faster than most heroes with Power Treads and the Endurance Aura from Necronomicon. Now account for the 35% slow from your Quilbeast and no one should escape.

Even though, in theory, no one can escape from your Quilbeast’s 35% slow, many heroes still escape. The problem with the Quilbeast resides with his movement pathing and collision size. When he encounters obstacles, or areas of the map where he cannot fit, then he gets all retarded and runs around the long way. When your adrenaline is pumping during a hero chase, it is easy to lose track of your summons. Then, suddenly, you cannot catch up your target fast enough and you start looking for summons to blame. You find your Quilbeast is actually trying to solo Roshan instead of chasing the hero that just got away. QUILBEAST, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!? One reason you have Wild Axes and Primal Roar is to clear a path for your Quilbeast, but then you summon your Quilbeast while your target is stunned and the Quilbeast auto-targets a nearby creep while your target gets away.

This the primary reason why chasing heroes with Rexxar is harder than it seems. When you have to chase them long distances they have a higher chance of getting away. How do we fix this problem? Kill them quickly before they have a chance to escape, which is why you should get a Necronomicon so early. Having two additional summons increases your damage output, especially when considering mana break and mana burn. The Endurance Aura from Necronomicon also helps your Quilbeast keep up with your target out in the open. When you are ready to kill a hero, the first thing you want to do is cast Call of the Wild and use your Greater Hawk to scout the area to make sure there are no enemy heroes lurking nearby. Position your Quilbeast in the woods or the river where you want your target to run. Then command your Greater Hawk to guard (follow) your target.

Now you need to decide your angle of attack. You want the target to run into your Quilbeast, so your Quilbeast only has one target to focus on and no obstacles to prevent chasing. Think about if you were on the other team, and a Rexxar came out from behind you with Quilbeast and Necronomicon summons, wouldn’t you run in the opposite direction? As Rexxar, you have to think about these things and get the enemy to go where you want them to go. Pretend you are on Scourge and your target is in the bottom lane attacking your tower. Position your Quilbeast in the river and attack them from behind with your Wild Axes and Necronomicon summons (Mana Burn should be the first thing you do). They will probably run into the river if you are between them and their tower. Then they will run right into your Quilbeast, giving you and your summons enough time to catch up.

You can finish them with Primal Roar if they run past your Quilbeast. Remember that Level 4 Call of the Wild’s duration is twice as long as its cooldown, which means you will probably be able to cast it again after Primal Roar, so your new Quilbeast can continue to slow your target if necessary. Yes, it can be tricky using all of these summons together, but practice makes perfect (just like Wild Axes). Rexxar is one of the heroes in DotA that is easy to learn but hard to master (similar to Pudge, Oblivion, and Holy Knight). Since your Greater Hawk is permanently invisible, you can use it to keep track of enemies without them knowing. This makes Rexxar an important asset to any team, because you can use Greater Hawk to gank the enemy team while they are farming or waiting to gank you. Great Hawk can save your teammates lives if you use him appropriately.

Strategy | Levels 12-16

Skill Order

Level 12 | Beast Rage
Level 13 | Beast Rage
Level 14 | Beast Rage
Level 15 | Beast Rage
Level 16 | Primal Roar

Item Order

Mask of Death (900)
Helm of Iron Will (950)
Helm of the Dominator (0)

Necronomicon 2 (1300)
Necronomicon 3 (1300)

Game Play

Now that you are entering middle game, you will need to increase your survivability during team battles. This is one reason you should get a Helm of the Dominator, because it gives armor and Life Steal. Another reason to get Helm of the Dominator is so you can start dominating a Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior, Centaur Khan, or an Ogre Magi. The Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior (1100 Hit Points, 200 Mana, 49-55 Chaos Damage) has a passive Command Aura and an active War Stomp that stuns for 3 seconds and deals 25 damage. The Centaur Khan (1100 Hit Points, 200 Mana, 49-55 Chaos Damage) has a passive Endurance Aura and active War Stomp that stuns for 3 seconds and deals 25 damage. The Ogre Magi (600 Hit Points, 400 Mana, 24-27 Normal Damage) can auto-cast Frost Armor (45 Second Duration, Costs 40 Mana) on allies that gives +8 armor and slows melee units that attack it for 5 seconds.

Basically, you want to dominate allied creeps (1) based on (1) what creeps would help you the most and (2) what creeps are available to dominate. If you do not find any useful creeps while scouting the creep camps, then wipe out all the creep camps and wait for more to respawn. Usually the best two creeps to dominate are the Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior and Centaur Khan (in that order) because they both have a stun that affects multiple units and you benefit more from Command Aura (steal more life on each attack) since you already get Endurance Aura from Necronomicon (auras do not stack). Both the Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior and Centaur Khan should travel with you to help you fight any enemy heroes that you encounter. Though Ogre Magi can cast Frost Armor, which is really good in combat melee heroes, keep Ogre Magi at the fountain or a tower because he is too weak to use in battle.

Try to control your dominated creeps by assigning them to groups. Pretend you have dominated a Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior, Centaur Khan, and an Ogre Magi. Select your Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior, hold down the “Control” key, and press the number “5” to assign it to group 5. Now, you can automatically select your Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior by pressing the number 5. “T” is the hotkey for War Stomp, so just type “5 T” in battle for your Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior to activate War Stomp. Now assign your Centaur Khan to group 6. Typing “5 T” or “6 T” is much quicker (5 and 6 are right above T) than finding your Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior or Centaur Khan, clicking on him with your mouse, then clicking War Stomp. Assign Rexxar, your Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior(s), and your Centaur Khan(s) to group 1 (or other number) to use when you need to focus all firepower on one target.

You do not need to assign Ogre Magi to a group because you will usually not use him in battle since Frost Armor lasts for a whopping 45 seconds. If you only have one Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior and Centaur Khan, then you can group them together if you want. Hit the “Tab” key to switch between then two. In battle, you would hit “5 T” then “Tab T” for both of your creeps to activate War Stomp or hit the number 5 to send them back to the fountain if they get low on health or run out of mana. Sometimes you will end up dominating two Polar Furbolg Ursa Warriors and one Centaur Khan or one Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior and two Centaur Khans. In this case, you should group your Polar Furbolg Ursa Warriors together and your Centaur Khans together. This way you could hit “5 T” then “Tab T” for your Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior(s) to stomp and “6 T” then “Tab T” for your Centaur Khan(s).

Dominating creeps should be done on an as-needed basis, especially considering the variety of enemies you could be up against. If you are against Earthshaker, for example, having more creeps around you would actually hurt you more than help you. Dominated creeps will get killed quickly against heroes that can quickly deal large amounts of damage to a large area, such as Crystal Maiden, Death Prophet, or Sand King. Dominate takes 5 minutes to cool down, and dominated creeps have a timed life of 20 minutes, so you do not want your dominated creeps to die needlessly because they take a long time for you to acquire. Regardless, the main reason for getting Helm of the Dominator is to turn it into Satanic later in the game. So if you are not comfortable with micro-managing so many creeps, then just dominate as many high-hit point creeps as you can find so you can Death Pact them later.

Strategy | Levels 17-25

Skill Order

Level 17 | Attribute Bonus
Level 18 | Attribute Bonus
Level 19 | Attribute Bonus
Level 20 | Attribute Bonus
Level 21 | Attribute Bonus
Level 22 | Attribute Bonus
Level 23 | Attribute Bonus
Level 24 | Attribute Bonus
Level 25 | Attribute Bonus

Item Order

Mithril Hammer (1610)
Cranium Basher (1460)

Hyperstone (2450)

Messerschmidt’s Reaver (3200)
Satanic (1100)

Sacred Relic (3800)
Radiance (1525)

Game Play

At this point in the game, dominated creeps will be better to save for Death Pact than use in battle and Necronomicon will start to have diminishing returns against certain heroes (such as Naix, Spirit Breaker, Phantom Assassin, and Broodmother). By now you will have learned Level 4 Beast Rage, which is the reason Life Steal is the best Orb for Rexxar. In order to increase the effectiveness of the Beast Rage and Life Steal combination, you should immediately go for a Cranium Basher and Hyperstone. These items will help you fight the heroes that Necronomicon might not help so much against. If you happen to have a dominated Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior or Centaur Khan, then keep them with you when you move around the map alone. They will help if you run into a lone enemy hero, but keep them away from team battles cause they will die quickly otherwise.

Rexxar is a strength hero, which means he is stronger later in the game. However, you made him a strong early/middle game hero with the early Necronomicon and Helm of the Dominator. Some heroes spend all early/middle game focusing on one expensive item, which is not the case at all with this build. Buying smaller items along the way constantly increases Rexxar’s presence on the battlefield. This build works because some of the weaker items are upgraded to stronger items later in the game, such as Gauntlets of Ogre Strength, Helm of the Dominator and Necronomicon 1. This strategy keeps Rexxar balanced throughout the game, and increases different areas at different times: mana early game for Wild Axes, beast-ability middle game for team pushing and one-man-ganks, and finally damage/survivability/attack speed late game for hero killing.

Once you finish your Cranium Basher and Hyperstone, you will finally have a full inventory. You might or might not have noticed that you have not needed a chicken to drop your items on when making recipes so you can actually use every item you buy when you buy it. Now, however, you will either need to buy a chicken or save up more gold before buying your Satanic. If you can save up 4300 gold for your Satanic, then that is the best option so you do not have drop your Ring of Basilius. If you cannot for whatever reason, then put your Ring of Basilius on a chicken while you farm your Satanic recipe. Once you get your Satanic, you give Rexxar a huge survivability boost in battle. Not only do you get a bunch of hit points, some more damage and Life Steal, but you can Death Pact creeps. Death Pact your dominated creeps if they are about to expire, otherwise use your Greater Hawk.

Before using Death Pact, think about how it works. You must target an allied creep, and you will get 85% of its life and 15% of its mana. Obviously, you want to find the nearest creep with the most life. This is where your dominated creeps come in handy, if you have any left alive. Best case scenario is to Death Pact a dominated Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior or Centaur Khan with full hit points that is about to expire (20 minutes almost up). Since they will die anyway, why not end their misery (giving you 935 hit points and 165 mana in the process)? If you do not have a dominated creep to Death Pact, then use your Greater Hawk (giving you 743 hit points and 131 mana). Obviously your Greater Hawk is a better long-term solution because you can cast it whenever you need free hit points and mana. When you have enough gold, sell your Ring of Basilius for Sacred Relic and finish your Radiance.

Choosing Radiance as your final item really helps tie this whole build together. The primary reason to choose Radiance is boost the amount of damage you deal, not only to one single target but to multiple targets. Two of your skills deal damage to multiples targets, so getting an item that does the same (40 damage per second, not too shabby) will increase the effectiveness of those skills. The +70 damage and +8% chance to evade will help Rexxar survive longer in battles against the same heroes that you got the Cranium Basher and Hyperstone to fight. You devour creep waves of any size with Radiance/Wild Axes, and Satanic/Death Pact helps your tank more damage without fear. Radiance is the best high-damage item for Rexxar because it has great synergy with his skills. Once you finish Radiance, start buying items for your teammates with your excess gold.

Supporting Rexxar

Both Rexxar’s skills and this item build allow him to work well with most heroes. Wild Axes, Primal Roar, and Radiance deal damage to a large area, so good allies would include heroes with skills that also deal damage to a large area (such as Earthshaker and Death Prophet). Call of the Wild, Ring of Basilius, Helm of the Dominator and Necronomicon all deal with summons, so good allies would include other heroes with summons or Mekansm to heal yours (such as Holy Knight and Keeper of the Light). Call of the Wild slows, so good allies would include other heroes with slow (such as Venomancer and Omniknight). Beast Rage, Cranium Basher, and Hyperstone can keep most heroes stunned long enough to kill, so good allies would include other heroes with bash (such as Lycanthrope and Slardar). The top four heroes for team Rexxar would probably be Earthshaker, Sand King, Stone Giant, and Magnataur.

Countering Rexxar

Rexxar cannot cast anything without mana, so use heroes such as Nerubian Assassin (Mana Burn), Silencer (Curse of the Silent), Keeper of the Light (Mana Leak), Demon Witch (Mana Drain), and Anti-Mage (Mana Break) to drain his mana. Beast Rage is easily countered by Troll (Blind), Pandaren Battlemaster (Drunken Haze), Stone Giant (Craggy Exterior), Enchantress (Untouchable), and Nerubian Assassin (Spiked Carapace). Dominated creeps, Necronomicon summons, and Call of the Wild summons are easily countered by heroes such as Sand King (Epicenter, Caustic Finale, Burrowstrike, Sand Storm), Tormented Soul (Split Earth, Diabolic Edict, Lightning Storm, Pulse Nova), and Death Prophet (Carrion Swarm, Exorcism). Wild Axes can be countered to some extent by Avatar of Vengeance (Vengeance), but only if Rexxar is close enough to the creeps when they die.

Validating Rexxar

Frequently Asked Questions

How do Wild Axes work?

When you cast Wild Axes, Rexxar throws two axes at the target. Both axes travel slowly on different paths that arc outwards from Rexxar and then accelerate inwards as they reach the target. You can target a hero or land with Wild Axes, but land is recommended as the best target because heroes tend to move and you do not want to risk missing them. However, each axe travels the opposite arc path on the way back to Rexxar from the target. The axe that Rexxar threw with his right hand, he will catch with his left hand. The axe that Rexxar threw with his left hand, he will catch with his right hand. Each axe can only damage each enemy unit once, but they will hit every unit between Rexxar and the target, much like Fissure. Wild Axes deal physical damage, not magic damage, so they will go through Bladefury and Repel. However, likes Rexxar's normal attack, they will not hit invisible targets. This is crucial to remember when aiming your axes. Before casting Wild Axes, you have to predict where the target will be, much like Hook.

The following animation and graphic are examples of a basic throwing technique, showing you how to hit two stationary targets with both axes through the element of surprise. Look how, before Rexxar throws Wild Axes, you cannot see him hidden in the trees. Throwing axes while hidden behind trees can be a great way to catch the enemy off guard.

The following animation and graphic are examples of a more advanced throwing technique, showing you how to hit two targets with both axes as they move around a corner. Notice how Tiny it hit with both axes, but dies from the axe Rexxar threw with his left hand as it returns to his right hand.

If you still have questions about how to use Wild Axes, please PM me or reply to this thread.

How does Primal Roar work?

When you cast Primal Roar, you have to target an enemy unit. Since you can target any enemy unit, you should exercise care to insure you target a hero. Primal Roar has a 3 minute cooldown, so you do not want to waste it on a creep and you only want to use it when it counts (to get a kill or save an ally). Try using Primal Roar in combination with another ultimate if you can, such as Epicenter or Reverse Polarity. You will stun the target for 2-3.5 seconds and deal 200-300 damage. All other nearby units, both ally and enemy, will be pushed aside. This clears a path from Rexxar to his target. The enemy units that are pushed aside are slowed for 2-4 seconds after Rexxar casts Primal Roar. You want to cast Primal Roar in large crowds to get the maximum effect. This is illustrated in the animation below, which is a classic middle game team battle at the river.

The Scourge heroes involved are Rexxar, Chaos Knight, and Lion. The Sentinel heroes involved are Phantom Assassin, Dragon Knight, and Spiritbreaker. The following events are not shown in the animation, but help you understand what is going on before the animation begins. Rexxar instigates the battle by harassing Dragon Knight. The Sentinel heroes focus all fire on Rexxar: Dragon Knight uses Dragon Tail, Phantom Assassin uses Shadow Strike, and Spiritbreaker gets a lucky Greater Bash. Then Rexxar quickly blinks out of battle, momentarily confusing the Sentinel heroes while the Scourge heroes swoop into battle. While Lion works on disabling Phantom Assassin and Spiritbreaker, Chaos Knight focuses on Dragon Knight.

This is where the animation begins. Rexxar reengages the Sentinel heroes by opening with Primal Roar (targeting Phantom Assassin) and immediately throwing Wild Axes (finishing both Dragon Knight and Phantom Assassin for the double kill). Then the animation ends, and Rexxar moves onto finish a weakened Spiritbreaker (with help from his Quilbeast) for the triple kill. The reason I did not include all of this in the animation is because I just wanted to illustrate how to use Primal Roar in a team battle. The point is to use it when everyone is close together. Primal Roar, if timed correctly, can turn the tide in team battle. You should target the hero you intend to kill, and leave the nearby slowed enemies for your teammates to clean up.

Download Replay

noobasaurusREXxar.w3g (attached file below)

5v5 –AP -SM (v6.32b, 1.20d)

Sentinel

Blue – Phantom Assassin
Teal – Drow Ranger
Purple – Shadow Fiend
Yellow – Shadow Shaman
Orange – Earthshaker

Scourge

Pink – Necrolyte
Gray – Witch Doctor
Light Blue – Beastmaster (me)
Dark Green – Bloodseeker
Brown – Lich

Description

This game includes Beastmaster domination from the beginning to the end. Most of the concepts (including throwing Wild Axes, Greater Hawk scouting, using dominated creeps and summons) in this guide are clearly illustrated at some point in the replay. Since I got 2? kills, there are several fun battles to watch, even the ones where I die. I rather you watch the replay than just read this boring description, so below there are a few teaser screen captures to show you some in-game action on your way to downloading.

Screen Captures

Earthshaker cyclones Lich as I start to beat down on him with my Quilbeast, Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior, and Necronomicon summons. Shadow Fiend and Phantom Assassin lurk in the background, and only one of them ends up escaping from this battle alive.

Rhasta dead after a quick one-man-gank with my Quilbeast, Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior, and Necronomicon summons. In the replay you will see how I sent an illusion (rune) in first to test his reaction and how I killed him while the stun from War Stomp was wearing off.

This was a one-man gank out of invisibility (rune) on both Earthshaker and Phantom Assassin while they were focusing on Bloodseeker (who escapes). Phantom Assassin ends up dying to my summons (while I am in Earthshaker’s cyclone) because she made the fatal mistake of killing my Necronomicon Warrior (Last Will owns). When I come out of cyclone I finish off Earthshaker for the double kill.

This is not a screen capture from this replay, but rather a Rexxar family portrait included here just for kicks. The only difference between the Rexxar in this image and the Rexxar in this guide is a Mekansm instead of a Radiance. After all, he is the Beastmaster.

Eragon: Reviewed

2007-01-24T19:00:00.000+08:00

The movie reminded me of Lord of the Rings and Reign of Fire. It has the picturesque valleys, mountains, waterfalls, fjords and the like. I loved this movie because of the simplistic approach of the director but didn't lack in depth. Even toddlers will be able to understand and enjoy the movie.

This movie doesn't have an all-star ensemble but the actors were superb nonetheless. The special effects were great! From someone whose primary purpose was to kill some time, I didn't budge in my seat and watched the movie the second time around and then I realized that I just didn't like it, I LOVED IT!

The storyline isn't entirely unique but it has some depth. The battle scenes weren't that good but it's not bad either. I was moved to tears when Eragon's uncle was killed and when Bron died saving Eragon.

Can't seem to forget the catch phrase "one part brave, three parts fool" primarily because I know I am.

Overall, I think this is a movie everyone can relate to. I see a part of me in Eragon that's why I liked it so much.

Guide to Chen - The Holy Knight

2007-01-24T18:48:00.000+08:00

Table of contents:

A. Chen’s Basic Information
B1. Skill Description
B2. Skill Build
C. Item Build
D. Creeps, Creeps, and Creeps
D1. General Knowledge
D2. How to Control Your Creeps
D3. How to Push with Your Creeps
D4. What to do if you do not have Good Creeps
D5. OMG Stop Hunting Creeps and Defend!
E. Strategy Summary
E1. Early game
E1a. Levels 1-4
E1b. Levels 5-9
E2. Against n00bs: Mid game
E2a. Levels 10 - 13
E2b. Levels 14 - 18
E3. Late game
E4. How to fight against pros?
E4a. Levels 10 – 17
E4b. Levels 18 - 25
E5. Additional Strategy Tips
E6. Counters to Chen
F. FAQ
G. Replays
H. Links to Other Chen Guides
I. Conclusion

A. Chen’s basic information

Chen - The Holy Knight
Range: 600 | | Move Speed: 300 | Primary: INT
Str: 20 + 1.5 | Agi: 15 + 2.1 | Int: 21 + 2.8
Damage: 43 - 53 | HP: 530 | Mana: 273
HP Regen: 0.85 | Mana Regen: 0.85
Attack Speed: 1.44 (+ 15% IAS) | Armor: 2.1

The focus of this guide is to teach you how to properly play Chen as a supporter and a pusher. I understand not many players like to play supporter / pusher heroes, as most players enjoy the excitement of owning heroes. However, a supporter/ pusher hero is essential for a good team, and Chen is one of the best supporters. If you have read my Techies guide, I am sure that you will be convinced that a support hero is not a synonym of a bad hero. Short conclusion: from the time you start to read this guide, DON’T TAKE HERO KILLING AS YOUR TOP PRIORITY. You have many more other important things to do.

From my personal experience, I've summarized Chen’s pros and cons:

Pros:

1. One of the best pushers in the game;
2. Quite fast move speed, and long attack range;
3. Top tier creep killers throughout the game, and the BEST creep killer before level 7;
4. Do not need mana regeneration item early game, because he does not have to spam spells.

Cons:

1. Very fragile on its own;
2. Very fragile when no allies is around;
3. Very fragile when alone;
4. Will be a nightmare to players who have slow fingers.
5. Success of Chen depends on whether enough good creeps are spawn.

In short, Chen needs allies and friends to shine. He also needs to expand his HP pool a bit so that he will not die that often. With allies and good coordination, Chen will be a nightmare to the other team.

B1. Skill Description:

Penitence

Forces a unit to accept punishment for their sins, causing them to move slower and accept more damage from attacks and spells.
Lasts 7 seconds. Mana cost: 100

Level 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 : 8 / 16 / 24 / 32 % movement speed reduction, and 7 / 14 / 21 / 28 % increased damage taken.

Cooldown: 15 seconds

Test of Faith

If cast on enemy, will deal variable damage based on the units faith.

If cast on allied Hero, it will teleport him to the fountain. Allies can ignore the effect of Test of Faith by typing -disablehelp in advance, and type -enablehelp if they need it.

Instantly teleports Chen's persuaded units to the fountain.
(Note: Faith seems to mean completely random)

Mana cost: 175

Level 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 : 50-100 / 100 – 200 / 150 - 300 / 200 - 400 Damage to foes, 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 second casting time for allies.

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Holy Persuasion

Takes control of a target “unit”. Cannot persuade allied units, Ancients, enemy hero images, and Necronomicon summons. If the persuaded unit has timed life, it will die after the timer is over.

If you persuade additional units after you've persuaded the maximum number of units, one of the units, not necessarily the last one, will die.

Mana cost: 100

Level 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 - 1 / 1 / 2 / 3 Unit Max. 75 / 150 / 225 / 300 HP Bonus.

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Hand of God

Fully heals all your units, including your chicken, converted creeps, images, Necronomicon summons etc. Heals all allied heroes on the map.

Level 1 / 2 / 3 : 200 / 300 / 400 HP Healed

Mana cost: 200/ 300/ 400

Cooldown: 120 seconds

B2. Skill Build:

1. Test of Faith
2 - 3 . Holy Persuasion
4 . Test of Faith
5 . Holy Persuasion
6 . Hand of God
7 . Holy Persuasion
8 - 9. Test of Faith
10 . Penitence
11. Hand of God
12- 14. Penitence
15. Attribute Bonus
16. Hand of God
17 - 25. Attribute Bonus

Skill Build Q&A

1. Why learn Test of Faith before Penitence? Penitence looks cool!

Test of Faith is a powerful nuke, because it deals Exact Damage, meaning the damage will not be reduced by magic resistance. This means Test of Faith is 33% more powerful than other spells with same amount of damage. This makes the spell more useful than Penitence early game, since nukes and AoE spells dominate early/ mid game. The fact that learning more levels of Test of Faith can reduce the time needed to teleport allies back to safety is just a plus.

C. Item Build

Before we choose the right items for Chen, let us review his skills. In particular, take a look at global heal. This skill not only heals your persuaded units, it also heals ALL YOUR UNITS! Now you may not be aware of how serious this implication means, so let me tell you here: you should buy whatever items that can generate additional units! So you look at all the items, and spot that Helm of Dominator, Manta Style, and Necronomicon give you additional units! Good! These are the items you want. In particular, Necronomicon is a must because no matter how many times the summons are nerfed, THEY ARE STILL DAMN STRONG. At level 3, the blue beast does 135 damage to heroes (60 from attack, 75 from mana burn), and 22 damage to buildings after accounting for armor reduction. The brown beast does 135 damage (90 piercing damage), and 15 damage to buildings. More importantly, you can heal them, which means even if the enemy heroes whack them over and over again, they can still be alive. They are super annoying.

Additionally, when you check his skills, you realize that Chen does not have to spam his spells because all his spells except Penitence have considerably long cooldown. That means you can afford to buy items that consume more of your mana so that you can better support your allies. Now you immediately think of Mekansm and Ring of Basilius. Mekansm heal, coupled with your global heal, is a jewel in group battle. These two alone can completely negate Poison Nova or Echo Slam. Ring of Basilius is of course intuitive. Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse is also a good idea. It is always recommended for Intelligence support heroes. However, even if you use Mekansm and hex regularly, you will still have some mana left. What’s next? Refresher Orb! Nothing is more evil then double heal, and double Mekansm. You can literally walk away from Rupture, spamming your healing spells, and walk away with full life.

Every Chen player’s dream after obtaining all the dream items…

Here is a summary of all the items you will ever need:

Core items:

Core basic items:

Optional items:

Now note that I give you 3 options in the core advanced item build, while you can only choose 2 out of 3 (you can throw away Ring of Basilius of course) in all games. Which one do you need first, and which one do you not need? These questions will be answered in the strategy section, but here are my general guidelines:

A. Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse is always good for intelligence hero in general. In particular, if the enemy team has heroes who can cast crazy channeling spells e.g. Crystal Maiden, Enigma, you should get Eul’s Scepter of Divinity first so that you can break their channeling spells. However, if you have another teammate who buys Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse, then it’s ok to skip this.

B. Diffusal Blade is good against killer heroes. One purge on Sven/ Ursa/ Clinkz with strafe will ruin them. If there are many killer heroes, Diffusal should be the top choice.

C. Refresher Orb, as said above, simply doubles your ability to use your spells. Awesome!

If the game still goes on, you may choose to buy items for your allies.

Questions and Answer time on Item build:

1. Why not desolator? Corruption stacks with Penitence!

While corruption stacks with penitence, you are a support, intelligence based hero with low attack speed comparing with the majority of hero killers. Corruption and Penitence amplifies your damage by 60%, but if Clinkz turns on strafe and hits you, he may be hitting 150% faster than you. I have stressed many times that Chen depends on teamwork to shine, and Chen is a support hero. If you are really that into desolator, buy a desolator for your Troll teammate, and ask him to buy you a Diffusal Blade in return. Then while your Troll teammate fights, use Penitence on the victim. I think this makes more sense.

2. Why not Skadi/ Linken’s Sphere?

Eye of Skadi gives you 5 bonuses: 25 Stregnth, 25 Intelligence, 25 Agility, some additional HP and mana bonus and Frost Attack. Now let's see how Chen can benefit from Eye of Skadi. He needs more HP, so 25 strength bonus is useful. He does not need the 25 bonus agility (why does an intelligence pusher hero need agility anyway), so agility bonus is irrelevant. He also does not really need the 25 intelligence bonus, firstly because he does not spam his spells, and secondly, Chen never ever depends on his physical attack to kill heroes. (If you want to argue with me on this point, you can read my 10 reasons on why Chen can never be a hero killer in Section E5). Does Chen really need a Frost attack? My opinion is that he doesn't really need frost attack. Penitence, hex, purge are enough to paralyze the enemy team, and the additional benefit of having frost attack is minimal.

Therefore upon getting an Eye of Skadi, the only major relevant advantage is that Chen has around 700 additional HP. If you have too much money, I believe getting another Aegis + Vitality Booster is more cost-effective and relevant.

Same goes for Linken’s Sphere. For 5600 gold, the relevant bonuses are just the HP (Strength) bonus, HP regeneration, and spell blocking (Agility, intelligence, and MP regeneration are relatively not important). There are better alternatives (like Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse, Manta Style) which give you more relevant bonuses with lower costs.

3. Refresher? I thought only Zeus and Treant used it!

I find that Refresher Orb compliments very well with Chen’s skills and items, because almost all the items suggested in this build have cooldown, and being able to use global heal twice is simply too good to be forgone. Also, imagine the surprise element when you suddenly have 8 additional units and a bunch of global heals. This allows you to push buildings VERY quickly, which is definitely lethal to the enemies. In fact, when Aegis becomes a horrible item, Refresher will become a more useful item to pusher heroes. Tinker + Refresher = refresh skills twice in 2 seconds from level 16 onwards. Techies + Refresher = 3 Statis Traps + 3 Proximity Mines + 3 Remote Mines within 15 seconds, and 3 properly placed Statis Traps are good enough to stop any ambush.

D. Creeps, creeps, and creeps

What differentiates Chen from other support heroes is the fact that Chen can persuade creeps. A good Chen knows how he should help the team with his persuaded creeps, and what creeps he should get. Therefore, before I go to the strategy part, I would like to share my knowledge of the neutral creeps with you.

OK, so you’re already a gosu, you own everyone in TDA, and you think you don’t need to read this? Let’s see if you know the following:

1. Do you know how much damage a Satyr Hellcaller can deal? (Section D1)

2. Do you know that it is possible to find Satyr Soulstealers in 6 different locations in the map? (Section D1)

3. Do you know the estimated chance of getting only 1 Centaur per creep hunt is a little bit less than 10%? (Section D1)

4. Do you know how to kill a full HP Rhasta with Mass Serpent Wards with a hero who has no nuke, low HP, and low damage? (Section D2)

5. Do you know how to stomp an enemy hero twice and send 2 shockwaves to kill him in 2 seconds? (Section D2)

6. Do you know what you should do when you have no creeps? (Sections D4, D5)

D1. General Knowledge

Summary of good neutral creeps

In particular, I have highlighted the information of 3 creeps in pale orange. They are your best friends, and you need to know them inside out.

Where are your creeps?

A good Chen player should also know where different kinds of creeps are located. There are 6 places in the map that you should look out for. In the following minimap I’ve used different colors to denote different creep camps, so let’s study it!

The CYAN creep camps:

You should always check these creep camps, because there are the only points where you can get Satyr Hellcallers and Polar Fulborg Ursa Warriors.

What are available in the CYAN creep camps:

Good creeps: Satyr Hellcaller, Polar Fulborg Ursa Warrior

Other creeps: Satyr Soulstealer, Satyr Trickster, Polar Fulborg Champion, Ogre Magi, and Ogre Mauler

The YELLOW creep camps:

What are available in the YELLOW creep camps:

Good creeps: Centaur Khan

Other creeps: Forest Troll High Priest, Troll Berserker, the Wolves, the Kobold families, Stone Golems, Centaur Outrunner, Satyr Soulstealer, and Satyr trickster

Other random notes on creeps

Here are several things you should know about creeps. A good Chen player, when being waken up from his sleep, should be able to tell the following facts:

1. Whenever you see Centaur Khans, Satyr Hellcallers, and Polar Fulborg Ursa Warriors, persuade them. They give you 3 different auras, and have amazing skills that help a lot in team battles;

2. Always kill the creeps if you do not want them. New creeps will not appear if you do not kill the old ones;

3. The chance of spawning good creeps is ENTIRELY RANDOM. I had a game which I swept the spawn points 20 times and only got 1 Centaur Khan.

4. When you have reached your persuasion limit, and you persuade another creep, ONE OF YOUR OLD CREEPS WILL DIE AUTOMATICALLY. The frustrating thing is that you don’t know which one of your creeps will die. Maybe your favorite Centaur Khan, maybe the necromancer you have just got from the previous creep wave.

After reading readers’ comments I’ve decided to add a few more points here. These points may be rather subtle, but because I’m well known for writing lengthy guides, I’ll just add them here.

1. Are you sure Centaurs/ Ursas/ Satyrs are the best creeps you can get?

Centaurs and Ursas: War stomp is the single best skill from neutral creeps, and there should be no question about it. Just imagine if you’re Bradwarden. Instead of h00f stomp, you get “h00f mana burn”, or “h00f frost armor”. Nobody will fear you anymore!

Satyr: Shockwave does not look as good as War Stomp at first sight, but it is the best tower kill stealer. In fact, it is the only skill that can deal a considerable damage to building WITHOUT TIME LAG. Yes Techies’ proximity mines can deal 260 damage, but you’re never sure when that damned enemy creep is gonna walk on your mine. Pugna’s Nether Blast deals 100 damage to buildings too, but there’s a casting time for Nether Blast. For shockwave, there is zero casting time, and you can cast it at around 400 range from the tower. Properly used shockwave can earn you $500 for every tower push so don’t underestimate it.

2. How do you know whether new creeps will be spawned before you can use persuasion again?

Persuasion's cooldown is 30 seconds. Moreover, the first and second batches of creeps are spawned at 2:00 and 3:00 respectively, and after every 90 seconds, the map will "detect" the spawn points and generate new creeps. So for example, if you kill all the creeps whenever you see them, the map will spawn new creeps at 2:00, 3:00, 4:30, 6:00, and so on.

3. How exactly does the map "detect" the spawn points?

Sometimes you will see that even if you do not kill all creeps in the creep camp, some time later new creeps will still be spawned, and you have more than a batch of neutral creeps. How can this happen and when do this happen?

I guess it has something to do with the position of the surviving creeps. In each creep camp there is a very specific point, which is the spawn point. Every 90 seconds the map detects that specific point, and generates a bunch of new creeps when that point is not occupied. So if the surviving creep doesn't stand exactly on that point, it's possible that new creeps can be spawn.

Now you may wonder how this piece of information is useful at all. Let’s say early game you want to get more creeps, and at the same time you want at least some half-decent creeps. So you go to location 2 and find an Ursa. You immediately persuade it. Since you do not have a lot of good creeps, you want to persuade the Fulborg Champion because he has 40 Chaos damage and around 1k health. But then you look at the game clock and it’s 5:30, and you know the next batch of creeps spawns at 6:00. So what should you do? With all the information given above, you can go to the creep camp at 5:50. Hit the Fulborg Champion once and lure him out of his home, so that he’ll leave the spawn point. Provided the timing is correct, a new batch of creeps will be spawned at 6:00. Then you can make a choice. If you find a new Ursa/ Satyr among the new creeps, get it. If it’s an Ogre camp, you can get the Fulborg Champion, and come back to the Ogre camp 30 seconds later to persuade/ kill the Ogre. That way you will get as many half-decent creeps as possible, and at the same time you do not slow down the creep spawning process.

4. What are the chances of getting good creeps and bad creeps? I would like to approximate the time I need for creep hunting.

This is a very math-based question. All the quantitative parts are illustrated in the image below. Note that this is still a very naïve way to answer the problem. In order to be really rigorous, I will have to use knowledge that 99.9999% of the population here does not understand, so I will rather leave it as it is.

So I expect a general reader to say something like this: I hate Math, and I have no idea what you're talking about. Fine! Here's a simplified interpretation of all the math jargons up there:

For every creep hunt, there is around 25% chance that you will get no good creep, slightly more than half chance that you will get 1 good creep, slightly lower than 25% chance that you will get 2 good creeps, and almost 0 chance that you will get 3 creeps. On average, you are expected to get 1 good creep per creep hunt.

D2. How to control your creeps

Here I will only focus on how to control Centaur Khan (abbreviated as Centaur), Satyr Hellcaller (abbreviated as Satyr), and Polar Fulborg Ursa Warrior (abbreviated as Ursa), as most of the time you will just be using these creeps.

My usual practice is to set up a group that includes Satyrs and me, and another group that includes only Centaurs and Ursas. It is very important that you can control your Centaurs and Ursas as skillfully as you control your arms and legs, because in team battles, they are your arms and legs. Centaurs and Ursas can cast war stomp, and are invaluable to your team if you can stomp that annoying Clinks over and over again. To maximize your chance to stomp enemies, you should take note of a few points:

1. Always move the Centaurs and Ursa ahead of the rest of your army when pushing. Centaurs and Ursa are so large that it is rather hard for them to walk past other creeps. If you do not move them ahead in advance, they will probably lag behind the main army for the rest of the team battle. In particular, you should move your Centaurs ahead of everyone, because if you put Centaurs and Ursas into the same group, Warcraft by default sets the Centaurs as the primary unit i.e. if you use stomp, the Centaurs, rather than the Ursa, will use stomp first. Now press T (hotkey for stomp) when your Centaur has met an enemy hero.

2. Now suppose you successfully move your Centaur ahead of the team, and stun that annoying Clinks. You do not want him to escape, so the next thing to do is to use your Ursa to stomp him. Click on your group with Centaurs and Ursas, and then click tab. Now you have changed Ursa as the primary unit of your group, and you can order your Ursa to stomp the hero. The hotkey again is T. While you are ordering your Ursa to stomp the enemy, remember to gather your other creeps to attack the hero. Very often, enemy heroes have troubles running away from your creeps because your creeps block them. This further increases your chance to stomp the heroes the third time.

3. After you have used your Ursa to stomp the enemy hero, you have two choices. If you still have another Centaur/ Ursa in your team, you can use that Centaur/ Ursa to stomp the enemy hero. If you have successfully done the first two steps, there is little chance that you will fail this step. Alternatively, if you have 2 Satyrs instead, you should now use their spells. Now click on your own group, and click tab. The Satyrs will become the primary units. Click W (Hotkey for Shockwave), and click on the enemy hero. If you have 2 Satyrs, do it again. Most heroes by this time should be either dead or fleeing.

4. Since your creeps do AOE spells, there is little reason why you should flee in 1 v 1 (or 1 v 2 in early game) situation. However, you should still run when there are 3+ heroes going for you. In this case, you should quickly leave the scene, and use your Centaurs and Ursas to help you buy time. Just ask them to stomp repeatedly while you retreat. Then move back your Centaurs and Ursa as well. In team battle, you should also use your Centaurs and Ursas to protect your teammates. Let’s say you have a dying ally. The first thing you should do is to move your Centaurs and Ursa around him to protect him. Not only do they serve as a meat wall, they can also stomp the chasers. This is another reason why I think it is not necessary to get Test of Faith.

5. If you want to plan an ambush, make sure that the ambush path is wide enough for your creeps to pass through. For example, even if your Satyr looks relatively “slim”, it cannot walk past bushes. Same goes for your Ursas and Centaurs. Knowing where your creeps can walk, and where your creeps cannot, is very important.

Case Study 1: Chen vs Doombringer

Now let us study the way of controlling creeps with 2 case studies. The first case involves a Doombringer trying to ambush me when I am searching for good creeps. The first thing I do is to move myself back, and move my Ursa to the front line.

The next step is easy. Just order the Ursa to stomp him, and whack him.

The outcome should be pretty obvious. Note that I’m doomed when Doombringer dies, meaning before you are confident enough that you can kill Doombringer, you have to make sure that you can tank his combo or else all your creeps and you will still die.

Case Study 2: Chen vs Rhasta with Mass Serpent Wards

The other case study is a Rhasta trying to use Mass Serpent Wards on me. Mass serpent wards are evil in general, but let us see how the wards miserably bow in front of Chen:

Oh my god! That Rhasta has cast serpent wards on me! The first thing to do is to move the Ursa towards Rhasta.

Now move yourself back, and let your creeps hit Rhasta first. This is very important because the serpent wards will be attracted to hit your creeps, not you.

So the Rhasta barely escapes from my Ursa. But I still have a Satyr, and the Satyr casts a shockwave. Look at my HP bar after killing Rhasta.

Note that you can kill Rhasta the same way even if he uses ward trap, as long as your Ursa stomps him within your attack range.

Note that when I do these combos, I am just around level 10. Under no circumstances do I encourage you and your creeps to fight a late game Naix. Chen is a team hero, and you should always fight with your allies late game. The above illustrations just show you how to properly position your creeps when enemy heroes are around. If you see that the enemy hero is too tough for you, run immediately after you’ve stomped him!

D3 How to kill tower with your creeps

Pushing with your creeps is not that hard. First, as usual move your Centaurs and Ursas to the front line. However, before you enter the tower range, you should let the treants/ ghouls go first so that your Centaurs and Ursas will not tank the damage. Now just order everyone to hit the tower. When there is no enemy next to the tower, YOU SHOULD STAY WITHIN THE STOMP RANGE OF YOUR CREEPS SO THAT THEY CAN PROTECT YOU. However, if enemy heroes are behind their tower, you can stay back a little bit.

When you and your creeps are killing a tower, you should use your Satyrs’ shockwave generously-- each can deal 100 damage to the tower. The best way to gain tower kills is to use Satyrs to cast shockwaves when the tower is at around 150 HP. It is not surprising that Chen can gain at least 4 tower kills in a regular game.

Don’t be afraid to use global heal just to heal your creeps. As a Chen player, you should love your creeps as much as you love your teammates. If you see that your creeps are dying, heal them. If you lose more than 2 creeps in a single push, you should back off immediately. A Chen without creeps is rather vulnerable.

Another method called “Power Thrust” will be explained in the Strategy Section.

D4. What to do if you do not have good creeps

OK, so for some reasons the map hates you, and only spawns good creeps on the other side of the map. You have swept creep camps a million times and just get Kobold all the time. What should you do? I attempt to rank all the persuadable neutral creeps in terms of their usefulness. I hope this helps when you really have bad luck and cannot find any good creeps.

Always go to the cyan creep camps first. Ogre Magi is the best alternative if you cannot get the big 3. Since cyan creep camps only spawn Ogres, Satyrs, and Ursa, you should be able to get something out of the camp. Ogre Magi is useful primarily because of the Frost Armor. Ogre Magi has 400 MP, which means he can use frost armor on at least 9 units before he exhausts his mana. In a team push, always have Ogre Magi to give you allies frost armor (Hotkey is F) first, preferably those with little HP e.g. Razor. Giving armor to your good creeps is also a safe bet too. If you are too lazy to micromanage Ogres, then simply let the Ogre Magi decide. However, an Ogre is rather stupid and he usually casts frost armor on melee creeps, but on the other hand it will save you some micromanagement trouble.

The next best creep should be Troll High Priest. Troll Priests are useful not only because of the ability to heal, but because they can cast ABOLISH. Remember the good old days when Necronomicon can cast abolish and reveal? Yes it is exactly that abolish. Always activate abolish when you are pushing. So that Sven wants to cast God Strength? Just send him your Troll Priest and let it do its job. Ursa warrior coming out from nowhere with enrage and overpower? No problem, your Troll Priest will help you at least get rid of one of the buffs. Bloodseeker casts Rupture on you 1000 range away and wants to slowly torture you to death? Ya! You can abolish the effect! In certain cases, Troll High Priest is even better than Ogre Magi. One note though: it looks cool to activate heal or inner fire when pushing, but abolish is the best choice. Troll priest’s heals 25 HP every second, and is unlikely to help a lot in team battle. Inner Fire simply costs too much mana (75) for what it does. After 5 casts, your priest will run out of mana. In short, when pushing, turn on abolish. When you are resting/ hunting neutral creeps, turn on heal.

The third best creep should be Kobold Taskmaster. This seemingly innocuous minion has command aura, and has a 15% chance to bash! He is just like a mobile Cranium Basher. However, there is a large drawback for this guy. His movespeed is too slow such that he can NEVER chase an enemy. The reason I persuade him is more for his command aura than his bash.

The rest of the neutral creeps are not as good as the ranged creeps, and therefore I would end the discussion here. Note that the ranged creeps do piercing damage, and they deal 150% damage to unarmored units i.e. all the creeps. Therefore the ranged creeps may not be as bad as you think.

A note of Satyr Soulstealer and Satyr Trickster: although they have cool spells, I do not suggest you get them. Their movespeed is too slow (average, which is <>

D5. OMG Stop Hunting Creeps and Defend!

I believe most Chen players have encountered the situation which you have no / few good creeps, while your allies are asking for help because the enemies are pushing. Sometimes you will just stay in the woods and then eventually all your teammates die and they say that you’re a selfish n00b. In other situations, you may try to help them, but since you don’t have your Centaur, you come to the battlefield and die in 0.00001 second. Either case you and your teammates will start to flame each other.

My general advice is that you should help only in 2 situations: first, when all 5 enemy heroes are pushing the same lane; and second, when they are charging towards your base tower. If they are just pushing the first two towers, it’s OK. Once you have good creeps, you can get 2 towers in less than 2 minutes. But the base tower is different. Once it is pulled down, enemy heroes can then backdoor, and this is something you don’t want to see. However, COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR TEAMMATES in advance. Don’t assume all your teammates have read my guide and know that when you should help, and when you should not. A good practice is to talk to your teammates in advance when you should push, when you will help defend pushes etc. Of course, even if you are not physically available to help, you still have global heal. Heal your teammates whenever possible. You can also send 1 of your creeps to help using Test of Faith. These are the best you can do given your resources.

An Inconvenient Truth: Reviewed

2007-01-24T18:45:00.000+08:00

This film offers the greatest scare, and not because of stupid women climbing out of a well or some other curse. This movie transcends Norman Bates because it introduces to everyone the real psycho in the world-- the one staring at you in your mirror. That's right, your own self.

The damage that awaits us, our fate, is presented in this haunting film of the past and present. Our doom is well predicted with scientific proof and precision, an event of extinction that will happen in the next 50 years, well within our lifetime.

As twisted as it may seem, I'm hoping that this film will be pirated. It needs to reach a wider audience. It needs to make people understand what we are all facing as a species. It needs to inform everyone. Only then can we all start praying that the whole world will act as one.

Dear God, I really hope we do.