Legokiller
04-26-2010, 01:35 AM
:blac:Note: This might not be the best, feel free to CONSTRUCTIVELY critique it. Please don't just flame and troll this. (this is going to be like attracting moths to a light..... )
Blacksmith Guide
Note: I have made this guide fairly noob-friendly, requiring you to farm less gold than average players to build your core item build. For those better players out there, I recommend you go for the harder builds (sheepstick instead of nomes, etc) and also to get all of the luxury items, as you would be much less better off than if you didn't. Also, for the luxury item list, you don't necessarily need to build the items in that specific order.
Blacksmith is a hero that is basically based on how lucky your are. It can be an Ganker, Support, Stunner, Initiator or, if no one else on your team is a carry, a semi-hard carry or tank, if really necessary. For the Carry Guide, Consult the one by Padwanabee. I will be focusing on the Support/Stunner/Initiator/Tank Part.
Pros of Blacksmith.
Has a huge Strength gain for an intelligence Hero.
Has a lot of armor. (for an int hero)
Has a lot of hp
Has potential to do a lot of damage.
VERY noob-friendly
Cons of Blacksmith
Has a Ridiculously small mana pool
Is based completely on chance, so it all really depends on how lucky your are
Only Int Hero with a Melee attack (couldn't he just throw his hammers?)
Not the best farmer, forces you to gain most of your exp through creeping/hero kills instead of jungling
Skills
Fireball – Your Stun Move. At level 4, with a 4x multi cast, you can be hitting up to 1100 damage. Downside is that, unlike Ogre Magi from DotA, the Stun does not stack when you multicast.. With Chaotic Flames, this really drains your mana pool, especially because you start to use it quite a bit mid-late game.
Flaming Hammer – Your slow move, and a good initiator. Especially when your starting a gank. At level 3 chaotic flames, this thing has a pretty good AoE, so if you can cast this right, you can hit the entire enemy team with it. Also slows for 25% for 7.5 seconds at level 4, which is quite a bit.
Frenzy – A terrific support move. Has a very small mana cost, and at level 3+ makes you go faster than if you had ghost marchers activated. (at level 4, +15% movespeed, compared to ghost marchers +10%)
Nearly gives you a warpcleft (+50 attack speed at level 4 compared to warpclefts +55) And gives you a +27% casting speed at level 4. All for the Relatively low cost of 75 mana.
Chaotic Flames – The reason why your other skills are so good. The downside is that fireball costs more mana. However, you get the multicast, which is worth it, as at level 3, your consistently pulling off 2 and 3x multicasts. Also the radius of flaming hammer goes up with this skill, not with the level of flaming hammer, and the radius is fixed, which is good. Also gives you the chance to cast frenzy on multiple people, and decreases the cooldown time of Fireball and Frenzy.
Gameplay
Early Game: Levels 1-6
Lane as much as possible, try to get to 6 quickly, as without chaotic flames, your potential damage is lower than it could be. You also have pitiful stats at low levels. Once you reach level 5 ish, they're better, because of your str gain is bigger than most int heroes (probably all).However, Do Not Solo! Your not that good of a solo hero, after you stun and slow, you most likely won't kill, and you'll just waste mana (which you CANNOT afford to do at this point).
Mid Game: Levels 7-14
This is when you will get a good bit of kills. Keep good map awareness, as all the Hp and Armor in the world won't help you if you get caught in a gank. If you notice all the enemy heroes pushing a lane, run there asap, and wait for the rest of the team if they aren't there already. Place your flaming hammer so that you can hit everybody, then the farthest one. If you're lucky, you'll multicast and get a kill. If not, you'll get quite a few assists (assuming that the gank you initiated goes well). Most of all, DON'T run in, at this point your HP is too low to support that (unless you're going for the tank build) Also, let your carries get the kills, because you aren't one, and it'll serve you well to have fed carries in the endgame. However, you should at least get a few kills to start building your items. If you're with a hard carry/carry, then focus on denying, and let the carry last hit (try to get a few, but leave most of the last hitting to your carry. They need the gold more than you do)
Late Game: Levels 15-25
At this point, you should no longer be an initiator, and more of a finisher. In the beginning, wait for a big teamfight to start, Once its started, cast frenzy on yourself, run over, and stun the lowest hp hero you can find, or stun/slow whoever is running away. If you can't see any of them, then slow/stun another int hero, or a go straight for the non str carries. After you've done this, go to a likely escape point and wait (out of sight). Once the other team starts to run, cast frenzy on yourself again hopefully you've placed yourself well, because then fireball and flaming hammer him. So he'll be stunned, then significantly slowed down. You can catch up and kill him, or let the rest of your team kill him. Or if he's low enough HP, the flaming hammer DPS will kill him. If you're losing and have less than ? hp, Stun the hero closest to you and run. If you still have max hp, attempt to kill the lowest hp hero, then run. Don't stay and fight. You won't do your team any good if your dead. (unless you know for sure that you can kill them all i.e. theyre are all low hp and in a tight-knit group, then flaming hammer stay if you think you can survive)In the Endgame, when youre pushing for rax, spam frenzy as much as you can, especially on your agi carries. You can keep frenzy on your entire team, including yourself, at level 3 chaotic flames. If you multicast, then even better, because you can cover your team much faster. I dunno if you can stack frenzy though. However, you get ridiculously fast attack speeds on pretty much your entire team, which helps take down the rax much faster, and get away without dying.
Skill Build
Get Fireball first, then flaming Hammer. Max Fireball ASAP as it will be your main nuke, and Then Max Flaming Hammer. Get Chaotic Flames whenever possible, and take Frenzy only after theres nothing else left, as it won't be of much use until endgame. Take stats when everything else is maxed
Item Build For Ganker/Initiator/Stunner
Game Start:
2x Pretenders Crown – 370g
2x Runes of Blight – 180g
Mana Potion – 50g
Total - 600g
Early Game: Levels 1-6
2x Mark of the Novice -300g (to build your Talisman of Exile)
1x Ghost Marchers -1500g (a must. Post-Haste isn't really necessary,)
Total -1800g
Mid Game: Levels 7-14
Finish up your Talisman of Exile – 300g (150g for each recipe)
If you haven't already, finish up your Ghost Marchers - 1500g
Start working on a Nomes Wisdom - 2640g
So by Level 14 you should have:
2x Talisman of Exile - 970g
1x Ghost Marchers - 1500g
1x Ring of the Teacher - 500g(for Nomes)
1x Major Totem/Neophytes Book - 540g/1000g (For Nomes)
1x Nomes Wisdom – 2640 g (if you've done well and gotten enough gold)
Total Money Spent (Min/Max) - 3510g/5110g
Endgame: Levels 15-25
Finish Up your Nome's if you haven't already – 2640g
Total Money Spent: 5110g
Luxury Items:
Manatube – 875g: the extra mana regen is always nice to have) Note: Get this only if you seriously have money to spare
Sustaine - 1750g: Building off your mana tube.
Frostfield Plate 4700g: For bonus slow (replace with frostwolfs skull if you prefer that)
Don't have much else to put here. Feel free to recommend something.
Total Cost of all Luxury Items - 6450g
Total Money Spent (If you bought all in the core build+luxury items) - 11560g
Situational Items:
Courier/Flying Courier – 200/400g: if you find that trips to the fountain become unnecessary, then you would be better off buying this, as you'll probably farm it back quickly anyways
Sheepstick – 5675g: If you find yourself using a lot of mana, and you don't think the Nome's will cut it, then get this instead of nomes. However, Takes much more farming than nomes to acquire.
Loggers Hatchet -225g If you aren't last hitting enough
Astrolabe - 2306g (If you find yourself and your lane partner constantly having approx half health, which isn't enough to go back to the fountain for, but also wouldn't let you survive for long in a teamfight, the bonus healing and extra armor can help. Also, its not that expensive, so a viable choice.)
Power Supply – 606g (If you know how to use it, then get it. If you don't, then don't.)
Total Cost if you brought Courier/Winged Courier with 1)Core Build or 2)Luxury Build – 1) 5310/5510g 2)11760g/11960g
Total Cost if Replaced Nomes with Sheepstick with/without winged courier in the 1)Core build or 2) Luxury Build – 1) 8145/8545g 2) 14595/14995g
Total Cost of all of the Above except for Courier and Sheepstick: 3137g
Items To Never Get
Most attack modifiers – Not really necessary, if you prefer frostwolfs skull over frostfield plate, then go for it. Everything else you don't really need, with the possible exception of harkons blade.
Mock of Brilliance – You shouldn't be close enough to use effectively. If you are, then you're going to be dead very, very soon.
+Attack Speed Items – you shouldn't need this, usually you don't get close enough to auto-attack anyways, and besides, if you really want bonus attack speed, just cast frenzy on yourself.
+Damage items – you shouldn't need much of these, maybe only for creeping, and you have loggers hatchet for that. If you really, really want one, then go ahead, but I don't recommend buying one.
Explanation for all of the Above:
Talisman of Exiles- Why do you think you need this? Its because your int. gain is so low its depressing, so you need to boost it. You also have incredibly low in in the beginning of the game.
Ghost Marchers – You should never need Post-Haste, because you don't need to teleport around. However, DO NOT BUY THESE FIRST. IF YOU DO YOU'RE A COMPLETE IDIOT. (your money would be much better spent on something that is more helpful. Get these later, like early to mid game) If you don't know why you should get any boots in the first place, you shouldn't be playing the game.
Nomes/Sheepstick – You eat mana at an incredibly fast rate. You need mana regen to compensate for that, and the +armor helps your survivability a bit too.
The Rest of the items are already explained above.
If your going for the Nuke build:
Game Start:
2x Pretenders Crown – 370g
2x Runes of Blight – 180g
Mana Potion – 50g
Total - 600g
Early Game: Levels 1-6
2x Mark of the Novice -300g (to build your Talisman of Exile)
1x Ghost Marchers -1500g (a must. Post-Haste isn't really necessary,)
Total -1800g
Mid Game: Levels 7-14
Finish up your Talisman of Exiles – 300 g (150g for each recipe)
If you haven't already, finish up your Ghost Marchers - 1500g
Start working on a Sacrificial Stone. - 5050g
So by Level 14 you should have:
2x Talisman of Exile - 970g
1x Ghost Marchers - 1500g
1x Sustainer – 1750g (For Sacrificial Stone)
1x Pickled Brain – 1000g (For Sacrificial)
And Maybe
1x Glowstone - 1200g (If you've farmed really well)
Total Min/Max – 3050/4250g
Total Spent So Far, Min/Max - 5450/6650
Endgame: Levels 15-25
Finish Up your Sacrificial Stone - 5050 if you haven't already
Luxury Items:
Kuldra's Sheepstick – 5675g The int and mana regen bonus is great, and the transformation is an added bonus
Situational Items
Courier/Flying Courier - 200/400g if you find that trips to the fountain become unnecessary, then you would be better off buying this)
Loggers Hatchet - 225g (If you aren't last hitting enough
Astrolabe – 2306g If you find yourself and your lane partner constantly having approx half health, which isn't enough to go back to the fountain for, but also wouldn't let you survive for long in a teamfight, the bonus healing and extra armor can help. Also, its not that expensive, so a viable choice.
Ring Of Sorcery - 1700g If you find yourself spamming your skills a lot, or just eating lots of mana in general, get this, the extra mana and the regen helps
Power Supply - 606g In the beginning of the game, if enemies are spamming spells in your vicinity, or you just need some health and mana regen in general, get this, but ONLY if you know how to use it.
Total Cost of all the Situational Items Courier/Winged Courier: 5037/5237g
Note: Some of the situational items may be bad for you, it just depends on how you use them and if you even remember to use them at all
Tanking Build: Note: I don't do this build much, so I haven't had much time to refine it. It probably isn't that good, so I wouldn't recommend following this build unless nobody else on your team chose a tank.
Skill-Build is the same as before, with one exception. Take fireball first, then max out flaming hammer. Then max out fireball, then frenzy. Take chaotic flames whenever possible. Reason for this being that once you get chaotic flames, you can slow multiple people at once, as opposed to just stunning one. But you still get fireball first as theres unlikely to be major fights until youve maxed out flaming hammer.
Gameplay: Rune-whore as much as possible. Especially go for those tablets of illusion and regeneration. They help a lot.
Early-game: Levels 1-6
Spend a lot of time laning, especially with a partner, die as little as possible. If hes a carry, feed him well. If hes anything else, last hit as much as possible.
Midgame: Levels 7-14
Spend most of your time laning, but be prepared to initiate pushes and teamfights. If its a teamfight, Frenzy as much as your team as possible, agi carries take priority, then flaming hammer the opposing team, run in, and stun the farthest hero. Hope that the rest of the team can kill the other team before you die. Get as many kills as possible, but don't ks your carries.
Lategame: Levels 15-25: Flaming Hammer, Run in there, and if you have the right build, tank to your hearts content. Stun all the enemys running away, keep frenzy on all your allies, and you should be fine. However, if you don't have all the items necessary, you're screwed over. Get as many kills as possible.
Item Build:
Game Start:
2x Crushing Claws
1x Pretenders Crown
1x Runes of Blight
If you randomed, go for another Pretenders Crown
Or
Bottle – For your runes.
Early Game: Levels 1-6
Get Either the bottle +1x pretenders crown
Or if you got the bottle first,
2x Crushing Claws
2x Pretenders Crown
Then go,
2x Trinket of Restoration, for that shamans headdress.
Finish the Fortified bracelets.
Mid Game: Levels 7-14
Finish up your fortified bracelets if you haven't decided to already
1x Mystic Vestments, for that shamans headdress
1x Sustainer, Cause you need the mana and Hp regen.
1x Plated Greaves, the bonus armor is needed at this point.
If you have enough money left over, because you've done well
1x Helm of the Victim, to finish up that Shamans Headdress.
Late Game: Levels 15-25
Finish Up Shamans Headdress, if you haven't already
If nobody else on your team got it, Make a barrier idol from your headdress
Luxury Items:
Behemoth's Heart: If you really have enough money, go for it.
Sacrificial Stone: Read above statement.
Situational Items:
Helm of the Black Legion: If the enemy team had a lot of nukers, the get this. It helps your survivability. A lot.
Shrunken Head: Same as the Above. If the team really has that many nukers, than don't go for the fortified bracelets, build the above items instead.
Nomes Wisdom: If you're having mana issues, get this, The armor helps too.
Astrolabe: If you need healing but not enough to justify a trip to the pool.
Frostfield Plate: If youre taking quite a bit of damage, and would like the added slow so you could get attacked less, then buy it. Its not necessary, but if you find yourself dying more than you think you should, this helps your survivability.
Items to NEVER go for:
Portal Key – You can't tank THAT much damage, your goal is just to grab the other teams attention, so they don't notice the rest of your team sneaking up on them until too late, and hopefully as a result, youre heavily armored enough that you don't take that much damage, and you can quickly regen because of youre rune-whoring and hp regen items.
Mock of Brilliance – Unlike Legionnaire and some other heroes, the enemy heroes shouldn't be close enough to you that you can actually use this effectively.
Restoration Stone – Your mana can't support it.
Good Allies:
Swiftblade: Swiftblade spinning around while enemys are stunned/slowed, with frenzy on him = allot of kills and assists (similar to electrician-swiftblade combo)
Combo: Flaming Hammer, Blade Frenzy, Fireball, Swift Slashes.
Hellbringer: The best initiator team. Flaming Hammer, lowers magic armor and slows, then summon malphas and EVERYBODY is caught in the blast. By then, pretty much the entire team is half health, and you can stun, he uses death boils, unholy shackles, and the like. Pretty good Synergy. It works even better if he can get in a life void right before he summons malphas, for that extra damage.
Combo: Flaming Hammer (in middle of group) Life Void, Summon Malphas, Fireball, Death Boil, Unholy Shackles.
Glacius: Combo: Stun, Freeze, Flaming Hammer, Frost wave, ulti. Enough to take down quite a few heroes.
Rampage: Stun and slow gives him enough time to charge, bash, and set up ulti. Even more damage if he has frenzy.
Combo: Frenzy on him, Flaming Hammer, Charge, Fireball, Favor of Sol.
Pebbles: Imagine Pebbles with 2 warpclefts (because he should have one in his inventory anyways) Now imagine that he also casts his skills faster and moves faster. Now you have an idea of how good Frenzy+Pebbles = OMFG. Even better if you can stun/slow so its easier for him to chuck.
Combo: Flaming Hammer, Fireball, Portal Key, One two punch (one two three if he can do it) = dead hero.
Pandamonium: The stun/slow/disable time is just ridiculous.
Combo: Frenzy on both of you, Flaming Hammer, Cannonball, Fireball, Flick, Face Smash. There should be some flurries thrown in there for good measure.
Andromeda: If pulled off correctly, a very good combo.
Combo: Flaming Hammer, Aurora, Void Rip, Fireball, Comet, and kill. If done right, its a very good hero-killing strategy.
Flaming hammer slows enough for andromeda to cast harder to place aurora, then void rip pulls the enemy back, and if both of you can get off your stuns, theyre either A) Dead. Or B)Nearly dead and can be finished off by auto-attack.
Pyromancer: You stun, then he stuns, the flaming hammer and phoenix wave and pyro ulti = complete and absolute raep. Even better if you both have frenzy. (Note: Not as good of an ally becayse a) he tends to hog all the kills and b) isn't played much in higher-tier games anyways.
Bad Enemies:
Pollywog Preist: Electric Jolt, Morph, and wards are very annoying, and can kill you if set up right.
Counter: Hit him before he can hit you. Gank him, do unexpected things. If he manages to morph you, RUN ASAP. If he Electric Jolts, hes setting up for a morph/ward combo. Stun him as soon as you can. Slow him in vicinity of towers. If he wards, run, because the rest of the team is most likely soon to pop up nearby.
Behemoth: Huge stun range, lots of critical strikes, more hp and damage than you. Don't try to go up against him.
Counter: Stun him before he stuns you. Stay away from big groups. Gank/nuke like a madman against him. Stay away from melee range, and just cast your spells. If you get too close, its another stun and more damage for you.
Predator: With the right build, he has waaaaay too much armor, moves waay too F*ing fast, and just raeps you.
Counter: ARMOR UP. Yes, for an int hero, you have plenty of armor, but you'll need even more if going against predator. Also, try not to get too close. If he leaps, and you're at max health, you're dead. If laning against him, constantly hover at around three-fourths to half health.
Pandamonium: In a 1 on 1, Panda is a terrifying hero, if played correctly. Will totally own you if caught alone without backup.
Counter: If he hasn't touched you yet, Stun and slow, frenzy yourself, and run like the entire team is after you. If he catches up, youre dead.
Forsaken Archer: Disable and Range ulti never lets you get close. You might have a chance with your flaming hammer and stun, but it usually isn't enough to kill. And those skeleton warriors are ANNOYING.
Counter: Attempt to get a multicast combo off. Flaming hammer before you stun. If you don't get a multicast off, run.
Sand Wraith: Ganks out of nowhere, and does bonus damage if you're by yourself.
Counter: Stun, slow, and run. Or else you're dead. If you have enough time, cast frenzy on yourself. If not, just run for it, and activate your ghost marchers asap. If you managed to get an epic multicast combo off, and he has less than ? health while you're at full, fight it out. (but only if you're sure there's no other enemys around, or you have backup coming/nearby.)
Feel free to add the Bad Enemy/ good Allies list, as I am quite sure I didn't get all of them.
Blacksmith Guide
Note: I have made this guide fairly noob-friendly, requiring you to farm less gold than average players to build your core item build. For those better players out there, I recommend you go for the harder builds (sheepstick instead of nomes, etc) and also to get all of the luxury items, as you would be much less better off than if you didn't. Also, for the luxury item list, you don't necessarily need to build the items in that specific order.
Blacksmith is a hero that is basically based on how lucky your are. It can be an Ganker, Support, Stunner, Initiator or, if no one else on your team is a carry, a semi-hard carry or tank, if really necessary. For the Carry Guide, Consult the one by Padwanabee. I will be focusing on the Support/Stunner/Initiator/Tank Part.
Pros of Blacksmith.
Has a huge Strength gain for an intelligence Hero.
Has a lot of armor. (for an int hero)
Has a lot of hp
Has potential to do a lot of damage.
VERY noob-friendly
Cons of Blacksmith
Has a Ridiculously small mana pool
Is based completely on chance, so it all really depends on how lucky your are
Only Int Hero with a Melee attack (couldn't he just throw his hammers?)
Not the best farmer, forces you to gain most of your exp through creeping/hero kills instead of jungling
Skills
Fireball – Your Stun Move. At level 4, with a 4x multi cast, you can be hitting up to 1100 damage. Downside is that, unlike Ogre Magi from DotA, the Stun does not stack when you multicast.. With Chaotic Flames, this really drains your mana pool, especially because you start to use it quite a bit mid-late game.
Flaming Hammer – Your slow move, and a good initiator. Especially when your starting a gank. At level 3 chaotic flames, this thing has a pretty good AoE, so if you can cast this right, you can hit the entire enemy team with it. Also slows for 25% for 7.5 seconds at level 4, which is quite a bit.
Frenzy – A terrific support move. Has a very small mana cost, and at level 3+ makes you go faster than if you had ghost marchers activated. (at level 4, +15% movespeed, compared to ghost marchers +10%)
Nearly gives you a warpcleft (+50 attack speed at level 4 compared to warpclefts +55) And gives you a +27% casting speed at level 4. All for the Relatively low cost of 75 mana.
Chaotic Flames – The reason why your other skills are so good. The downside is that fireball costs more mana. However, you get the multicast, which is worth it, as at level 3, your consistently pulling off 2 and 3x multicasts. Also the radius of flaming hammer goes up with this skill, not with the level of flaming hammer, and the radius is fixed, which is good. Also gives you the chance to cast frenzy on multiple people, and decreases the cooldown time of Fireball and Frenzy.
Gameplay
Early Game: Levels 1-6
Lane as much as possible, try to get to 6 quickly, as without chaotic flames, your potential damage is lower than it could be. You also have pitiful stats at low levels. Once you reach level 5 ish, they're better, because of your str gain is bigger than most int heroes (probably all).However, Do Not Solo! Your not that good of a solo hero, after you stun and slow, you most likely won't kill, and you'll just waste mana (which you CANNOT afford to do at this point).
Mid Game: Levels 7-14
This is when you will get a good bit of kills. Keep good map awareness, as all the Hp and Armor in the world won't help you if you get caught in a gank. If you notice all the enemy heroes pushing a lane, run there asap, and wait for the rest of the team if they aren't there already. Place your flaming hammer so that you can hit everybody, then the farthest one. If you're lucky, you'll multicast and get a kill. If not, you'll get quite a few assists (assuming that the gank you initiated goes well). Most of all, DON'T run in, at this point your HP is too low to support that (unless you're going for the tank build) Also, let your carries get the kills, because you aren't one, and it'll serve you well to have fed carries in the endgame. However, you should at least get a few kills to start building your items. If you're with a hard carry/carry, then focus on denying, and let the carry last hit (try to get a few, but leave most of the last hitting to your carry. They need the gold more than you do)
Late Game: Levels 15-25
At this point, you should no longer be an initiator, and more of a finisher. In the beginning, wait for a big teamfight to start, Once its started, cast frenzy on yourself, run over, and stun the lowest hp hero you can find, or stun/slow whoever is running away. If you can't see any of them, then slow/stun another int hero, or a go straight for the non str carries. After you've done this, go to a likely escape point and wait (out of sight). Once the other team starts to run, cast frenzy on yourself again hopefully you've placed yourself well, because then fireball and flaming hammer him. So he'll be stunned, then significantly slowed down. You can catch up and kill him, or let the rest of your team kill him. Or if he's low enough HP, the flaming hammer DPS will kill him. If you're losing and have less than ? hp, Stun the hero closest to you and run. If you still have max hp, attempt to kill the lowest hp hero, then run. Don't stay and fight. You won't do your team any good if your dead. (unless you know for sure that you can kill them all i.e. theyre are all low hp and in a tight-knit group, then flaming hammer stay if you think you can survive)In the Endgame, when youre pushing for rax, spam frenzy as much as you can, especially on your agi carries. You can keep frenzy on your entire team, including yourself, at level 3 chaotic flames. If you multicast, then even better, because you can cover your team much faster. I dunno if you can stack frenzy though. However, you get ridiculously fast attack speeds on pretty much your entire team, which helps take down the rax much faster, and get away without dying.
Skill Build
Get Fireball first, then flaming Hammer. Max Fireball ASAP as it will be your main nuke, and Then Max Flaming Hammer. Get Chaotic Flames whenever possible, and take Frenzy only after theres nothing else left, as it won't be of much use until endgame. Take stats when everything else is maxed
Item Build For Ganker/Initiator/Stunner
Game Start:
2x Pretenders Crown – 370g
2x Runes of Blight – 180g
Mana Potion – 50g
Total - 600g
Early Game: Levels 1-6
2x Mark of the Novice -300g (to build your Talisman of Exile)
1x Ghost Marchers -1500g (a must. Post-Haste isn't really necessary,)
Total -1800g
Mid Game: Levels 7-14
Finish up your Talisman of Exile – 300g (150g for each recipe)
If you haven't already, finish up your Ghost Marchers - 1500g
Start working on a Nomes Wisdom - 2640g
So by Level 14 you should have:
2x Talisman of Exile - 970g
1x Ghost Marchers - 1500g
1x Ring of the Teacher - 500g(for Nomes)
1x Major Totem/Neophytes Book - 540g/1000g (For Nomes)
1x Nomes Wisdom – 2640 g (if you've done well and gotten enough gold)
Total Money Spent (Min/Max) - 3510g/5110g
Endgame: Levels 15-25
Finish Up your Nome's if you haven't already – 2640g
Total Money Spent: 5110g
Luxury Items:
Manatube – 875g: the extra mana regen is always nice to have) Note: Get this only if you seriously have money to spare
Sustaine - 1750g: Building off your mana tube.
Frostfield Plate 4700g: For bonus slow (replace with frostwolfs skull if you prefer that)
Don't have much else to put here. Feel free to recommend something.
Total Cost of all Luxury Items - 6450g
Total Money Spent (If you bought all in the core build+luxury items) - 11560g
Situational Items:
Courier/Flying Courier – 200/400g: if you find that trips to the fountain become unnecessary, then you would be better off buying this, as you'll probably farm it back quickly anyways
Sheepstick – 5675g: If you find yourself using a lot of mana, and you don't think the Nome's will cut it, then get this instead of nomes. However, Takes much more farming than nomes to acquire.
Loggers Hatchet -225g If you aren't last hitting enough
Astrolabe - 2306g (If you find yourself and your lane partner constantly having approx half health, which isn't enough to go back to the fountain for, but also wouldn't let you survive for long in a teamfight, the bonus healing and extra armor can help. Also, its not that expensive, so a viable choice.)
Power Supply – 606g (If you know how to use it, then get it. If you don't, then don't.)
Total Cost if you brought Courier/Winged Courier with 1)Core Build or 2)Luxury Build – 1) 5310/5510g 2)11760g/11960g
Total Cost if Replaced Nomes with Sheepstick with/without winged courier in the 1)Core build or 2) Luxury Build – 1) 8145/8545g 2) 14595/14995g
Total Cost of all of the Above except for Courier and Sheepstick: 3137g
Items To Never Get
Most attack modifiers – Not really necessary, if you prefer frostwolfs skull over frostfield plate, then go for it. Everything else you don't really need, with the possible exception of harkons blade.
Mock of Brilliance – You shouldn't be close enough to use effectively. If you are, then you're going to be dead very, very soon.
+Attack Speed Items – you shouldn't need this, usually you don't get close enough to auto-attack anyways, and besides, if you really want bonus attack speed, just cast frenzy on yourself.
+Damage items – you shouldn't need much of these, maybe only for creeping, and you have loggers hatchet for that. If you really, really want one, then go ahead, but I don't recommend buying one.
Explanation for all of the Above:
Talisman of Exiles- Why do you think you need this? Its because your int. gain is so low its depressing, so you need to boost it. You also have incredibly low in in the beginning of the game.
Ghost Marchers – You should never need Post-Haste, because you don't need to teleport around. However, DO NOT BUY THESE FIRST. IF YOU DO YOU'RE A COMPLETE IDIOT. (your money would be much better spent on something that is more helpful. Get these later, like early to mid game) If you don't know why you should get any boots in the first place, you shouldn't be playing the game.
Nomes/Sheepstick – You eat mana at an incredibly fast rate. You need mana regen to compensate for that, and the +armor helps your survivability a bit too.
The Rest of the items are already explained above.
If your going for the Nuke build:
Game Start:
2x Pretenders Crown – 370g
2x Runes of Blight – 180g
Mana Potion – 50g
Total - 600g
Early Game: Levels 1-6
2x Mark of the Novice -300g (to build your Talisman of Exile)
1x Ghost Marchers -1500g (a must. Post-Haste isn't really necessary,)
Total -1800g
Mid Game: Levels 7-14
Finish up your Talisman of Exiles – 300 g (150g for each recipe)
If you haven't already, finish up your Ghost Marchers - 1500g
Start working on a Sacrificial Stone. - 5050g
So by Level 14 you should have:
2x Talisman of Exile - 970g
1x Ghost Marchers - 1500g
1x Sustainer – 1750g (For Sacrificial Stone)
1x Pickled Brain – 1000g (For Sacrificial)
And Maybe
1x Glowstone - 1200g (If you've farmed really well)
Total Min/Max – 3050/4250g
Total Spent So Far, Min/Max - 5450/6650
Endgame: Levels 15-25
Finish Up your Sacrificial Stone - 5050 if you haven't already
Luxury Items:
Kuldra's Sheepstick – 5675g The int and mana regen bonus is great, and the transformation is an added bonus
Situational Items
Courier/Flying Courier - 200/400g if you find that trips to the fountain become unnecessary, then you would be better off buying this)
Loggers Hatchet - 225g (If you aren't last hitting enough
Astrolabe – 2306g If you find yourself and your lane partner constantly having approx half health, which isn't enough to go back to the fountain for, but also wouldn't let you survive for long in a teamfight, the bonus healing and extra armor can help. Also, its not that expensive, so a viable choice.
Ring Of Sorcery - 1700g If you find yourself spamming your skills a lot, or just eating lots of mana in general, get this, the extra mana and the regen helps
Power Supply - 606g In the beginning of the game, if enemies are spamming spells in your vicinity, or you just need some health and mana regen in general, get this, but ONLY if you know how to use it.
Total Cost of all the Situational Items Courier/Winged Courier: 5037/5237g
Note: Some of the situational items may be bad for you, it just depends on how you use them and if you even remember to use them at all
Tanking Build: Note: I don't do this build much, so I haven't had much time to refine it. It probably isn't that good, so I wouldn't recommend following this build unless nobody else on your team chose a tank.
Skill-Build is the same as before, with one exception. Take fireball first, then max out flaming hammer. Then max out fireball, then frenzy. Take chaotic flames whenever possible. Reason for this being that once you get chaotic flames, you can slow multiple people at once, as opposed to just stunning one. But you still get fireball first as theres unlikely to be major fights until youve maxed out flaming hammer.
Gameplay: Rune-whore as much as possible. Especially go for those tablets of illusion and regeneration. They help a lot.
Early-game: Levels 1-6
Spend a lot of time laning, especially with a partner, die as little as possible. If hes a carry, feed him well. If hes anything else, last hit as much as possible.
Midgame: Levels 7-14
Spend most of your time laning, but be prepared to initiate pushes and teamfights. If its a teamfight, Frenzy as much as your team as possible, agi carries take priority, then flaming hammer the opposing team, run in, and stun the farthest hero. Hope that the rest of the team can kill the other team before you die. Get as many kills as possible, but don't ks your carries.
Lategame: Levels 15-25: Flaming Hammer, Run in there, and if you have the right build, tank to your hearts content. Stun all the enemys running away, keep frenzy on all your allies, and you should be fine. However, if you don't have all the items necessary, you're screwed over. Get as many kills as possible.
Item Build:
Game Start:
2x Crushing Claws
1x Pretenders Crown
1x Runes of Blight
If you randomed, go for another Pretenders Crown
Or
Bottle – For your runes.
Early Game: Levels 1-6
Get Either the bottle +1x pretenders crown
Or if you got the bottle first,
2x Crushing Claws
2x Pretenders Crown
Then go,
2x Trinket of Restoration, for that shamans headdress.
Finish the Fortified bracelets.
Mid Game: Levels 7-14
Finish up your fortified bracelets if you haven't decided to already
1x Mystic Vestments, for that shamans headdress
1x Sustainer, Cause you need the mana and Hp regen.
1x Plated Greaves, the bonus armor is needed at this point.
If you have enough money left over, because you've done well
1x Helm of the Victim, to finish up that Shamans Headdress.
Late Game: Levels 15-25
Finish Up Shamans Headdress, if you haven't already
If nobody else on your team got it, Make a barrier idol from your headdress
Luxury Items:
Behemoth's Heart: If you really have enough money, go for it.
Sacrificial Stone: Read above statement.
Situational Items:
Helm of the Black Legion: If the enemy team had a lot of nukers, the get this. It helps your survivability. A lot.
Shrunken Head: Same as the Above. If the team really has that many nukers, than don't go for the fortified bracelets, build the above items instead.
Nomes Wisdom: If you're having mana issues, get this, The armor helps too.
Astrolabe: If you need healing but not enough to justify a trip to the pool.
Frostfield Plate: If youre taking quite a bit of damage, and would like the added slow so you could get attacked less, then buy it. Its not necessary, but if you find yourself dying more than you think you should, this helps your survivability.
Items to NEVER go for:
Portal Key – You can't tank THAT much damage, your goal is just to grab the other teams attention, so they don't notice the rest of your team sneaking up on them until too late, and hopefully as a result, youre heavily armored enough that you don't take that much damage, and you can quickly regen because of youre rune-whoring and hp regen items.
Mock of Brilliance – Unlike Legionnaire and some other heroes, the enemy heroes shouldn't be close enough to you that you can actually use this effectively.
Restoration Stone – Your mana can't support it.
Good Allies:
Swiftblade: Swiftblade spinning around while enemys are stunned/slowed, with frenzy on him = allot of kills and assists (similar to electrician-swiftblade combo)
Combo: Flaming Hammer, Blade Frenzy, Fireball, Swift Slashes.
Hellbringer: The best initiator team. Flaming Hammer, lowers magic armor and slows, then summon malphas and EVERYBODY is caught in the blast. By then, pretty much the entire team is half health, and you can stun, he uses death boils, unholy shackles, and the like. Pretty good Synergy. It works even better if he can get in a life void right before he summons malphas, for that extra damage.
Combo: Flaming Hammer (in middle of group) Life Void, Summon Malphas, Fireball, Death Boil, Unholy Shackles.
Glacius: Combo: Stun, Freeze, Flaming Hammer, Frost wave, ulti. Enough to take down quite a few heroes.
Rampage: Stun and slow gives him enough time to charge, bash, and set up ulti. Even more damage if he has frenzy.
Combo: Frenzy on him, Flaming Hammer, Charge, Fireball, Favor of Sol.
Pebbles: Imagine Pebbles with 2 warpclefts (because he should have one in his inventory anyways) Now imagine that he also casts his skills faster and moves faster. Now you have an idea of how good Frenzy+Pebbles = OMFG. Even better if you can stun/slow so its easier for him to chuck.
Combo: Flaming Hammer, Fireball, Portal Key, One two punch (one two three if he can do it) = dead hero.
Pandamonium: The stun/slow/disable time is just ridiculous.
Combo: Frenzy on both of you, Flaming Hammer, Cannonball, Fireball, Flick, Face Smash. There should be some flurries thrown in there for good measure.
Andromeda: If pulled off correctly, a very good combo.
Combo: Flaming Hammer, Aurora, Void Rip, Fireball, Comet, and kill. If done right, its a very good hero-killing strategy.
Flaming hammer slows enough for andromeda to cast harder to place aurora, then void rip pulls the enemy back, and if both of you can get off your stuns, theyre either A) Dead. Or B)Nearly dead and can be finished off by auto-attack.
Pyromancer: You stun, then he stuns, the flaming hammer and phoenix wave and pyro ulti = complete and absolute raep. Even better if you both have frenzy. (Note: Not as good of an ally becayse a) he tends to hog all the kills and b) isn't played much in higher-tier games anyways.
Bad Enemies:
Pollywog Preist: Electric Jolt, Morph, and wards are very annoying, and can kill you if set up right.
Counter: Hit him before he can hit you. Gank him, do unexpected things. If he manages to morph you, RUN ASAP. If he Electric Jolts, hes setting up for a morph/ward combo. Stun him as soon as you can. Slow him in vicinity of towers. If he wards, run, because the rest of the team is most likely soon to pop up nearby.
Behemoth: Huge stun range, lots of critical strikes, more hp and damage than you. Don't try to go up against him.
Counter: Stun him before he stuns you. Stay away from big groups. Gank/nuke like a madman against him. Stay away from melee range, and just cast your spells. If you get too close, its another stun and more damage for you.
Predator: With the right build, he has waaaaay too much armor, moves waay too F*ing fast, and just raeps you.
Counter: ARMOR UP. Yes, for an int hero, you have plenty of armor, but you'll need even more if going against predator. Also, try not to get too close. If he leaps, and you're at max health, you're dead. If laning against him, constantly hover at around three-fourths to half health.
Pandamonium: In a 1 on 1, Panda is a terrifying hero, if played correctly. Will totally own you if caught alone without backup.
Counter: If he hasn't touched you yet, Stun and slow, frenzy yourself, and run like the entire team is after you. If he catches up, youre dead.
Forsaken Archer: Disable and Range ulti never lets you get close. You might have a chance with your flaming hammer and stun, but it usually isn't enough to kill. And those skeleton warriors are ANNOYING.
Counter: Attempt to get a multicast combo off. Flaming hammer before you stun. If you don't get a multicast off, run.
Sand Wraith: Ganks out of nowhere, and does bonus damage if you're by yourself.
Counter: Stun, slow, and run. Or else you're dead. If you have enough time, cast frenzy on yourself. If not, just run for it, and activate your ghost marchers asap. If you managed to get an epic multicast combo off, and he has less than ? health while you're at full, fight it out. (but only if you're sure there's no other enemys around, or you have backup coming/nearby.)
Feel free to add the Bad Enemy/ good Allies list, as I am quite sure I didn't get all of them.