Hack and Slash

[Agitator5]

Ive heard a lot of mixed things about this item, mostly thats its not cost efficient; but then I see people build it all the time. Im not a pro by any means so I was wondering if anyone with a good amount of experience could tell me when it is and when it is not a good idea to build this.

[Azurech]

In public, I buy this item with heroes which have no spells to stick by an enemy or cant hunt them efficiently.

[dreamex]

H/S Provides for 4500g:

16 Str - 304 HP
16 Agi - 16% Attack Speed, 2.24 Armor
12 Damage
12% Move Speed
15% Attack Speed
15% Chance to Maim (Slows target's movement by 30% and attack by 15% for 4 Seconds)

If you're a Strength hero the 16 Strength also adds 16 Damage, if you're an Agi hero, the 16 Agi also adds 16 Damage.

For a Str/Agi hero you have:

304 HP
28 Damage
2.24 Armor
12% Movespeed
31% Attack Speed
15% Chance to Maim

The problem with H/S is that the bonuses are spread extremely thin, making it a good weapon for a versatile hero to cover all their bases, but sadly, heroes in HoN are not generally designed with this in mind and would prefer specific items to either bolster their strengths or cover their weaknesses. This doesn't necessarily make H/S a bad item, only that it's not a specialized item and most heroes benefit more from specialization.

Almost every single Damage Dealing hero would prefer to blow 4.5k on something that gives more damage then 28 and more attack speed then 31. For instance, to an Agility Hero, Geometer's Bane for 4850g provides:

190 HP
30 Damage
4.2 Armor
30% Attack Speed
10% Move Speed
Mirror Images.

Mirror Images giving you a 20 Second 66% Increased Damage Output while also dispelling all negative buffs.

Or how about for High DPS heroes a Shieldbreaker for 4400g provides 60 Damage and -6 Armor Reduction (which if gotten early can result in increases of 20-30% Damage) etc.

Sure you lose out on the attack speed and HP in this example, but you'll do much more damage, and you can play to your heroes strengths.

One other annoyance is that Slash is generally considered more useful than Hack, it provides a decent amount of Attack Speed and Damage to an agility hero at a reasonable cost and throws in free Move Speed. While Hack provides an HP boost that is valuable to every hero but a subpar Maim skill that is based on random proc and often is unnecessary for the great number of heroes that can use H/S.

Hack / Slash has one distinct advantage in that none of its components cost more than 1000g to purchase, in games where you are getting completely dominated it may be valuable to your hero to acquire as it improves you across the board, allowing you to get back to equal footing if you've fallen a little behind in experience/gold.

[Agitator5]

Wow that was very helpful, thanks dreamex

[liquorice]

/\
That.

Give us HoN Morphling and it's usable again.

[dreamex]

btw Steam Boots set to Strength (1850g) + Whispering Helm (1850g) + 2x Soulscream Rings (920g) comes out to 4620g and provides to an Agility Hero:

304 HP
78 MP
32 Damage
42% Attack Speed
6.68 Armor
15% Life Steal
Dominate Creeps

A dominated Minotaur gives a 2 second stun and 15% Attack Speed, a dominated wolf gives 30% damage, a dominated snotter gives 12% move speed etc etc.

These are all first tier items (none of which components cost more than 950g to purchase), for the cost of a Hack and Slash you are getting something that is almost equivalent in value to first tier item stacking (granted you do save inventory slots)

In this example you gain across the board, except you trade Maim for Lifesteal and you trade Move Speed for a Creep Buff. Downside is you can't chase as well without Maim and that your creep may get killed if you're not careful costing you your buff until you can find another one... upside is that you can change creeps to suit your need and you have better survivability thanks to Life Steal.