plague rider

[sHoWTiMe]

Any good builds that you guys might know?

[dune]

Astrolabe and wards. Plague Rider is a good support hero. If you happen to get a particularly nice farm you can go to other standard Int-items like Kuldra, Sacrificial Stone or Staff of the Master.

[THE_SPOOKY]

I've had luck getting Steamboots, one Exile Talisman and one Bracer, and then rushing Staff of the Master. Even with 0 mana regen items, he will rarely (if ever) have mana problems. For skills, I take one of his shield, then max his nuke, then his mana gain. The +AC from the shield doesn't become really useful until later, and but the effect it causes is static and can save a lot of ass.

[Loosance]

amazing babysit, amazing ganker, get some str bracers boots and go gank!
Build is nearly always the same, bracers boots astrolab; why?
Well this hero got unlimited mana pool so you can astroblade and nuke and astroblade and nuke, and shield and nuke ...
Items depend on what you want to do, if you want to play selfish, you will have to get staff of the master and post haste, trying to be evrywhere.
If you want to play like a team, you will have to buy wards and chicken, as you are a good farmer (unlimited mana mean unlimited nukes on creep and heroes). You can go for kundra or barrier, just buy what your team need.

[Testknight]

PR is a support hero, and there have been some very good suggestions about what he should buy as support. If you're pubstomping though, Codex 1 -> SotM is a personal favorite.

[sHoWTiMe]

What is SotM?

[Jive]

Staff of the master duh

[sHoWTiMe]

well it's not that hard to just type it out instead of using abbrivations that most people don't know.

[KSteal4Lols]

well it's not that hard to just type it out instead of using abbrivations that most people don't know.

It's not that hard to figure out though if you've played the game for more than a few days.

Everything will get common abbreviations, just be happy they're not using dota terms.

[sHoWTiMe]

It's not that hard to figure out though if you've played the game for more than a few days.

Everything will get common abbreviations, just be happy they're not using dota terms.

I just didn't make the link.

[ydraliskos]

staff of the master should have been called pendant of the master, just to mess with the minds of the dota crew when everyone abbreviates

[Jive]

staff of the master should have been called pendant of the master, just to mess with the minds of the dota crew when everyone abbreviates

That would be just general mean :(

[Makaku`]

What's the most effective skill build order for general gameplay in pubs?

[sneakysob]

- 2x Bracers
- Astrolabe
- Post Haste
- Wards

90% of the time I will get courier, wards, and some tangoes.

Mana regen items aren't too valuable, so no bottle or clarities obviously.

My games have been ending around this point in item progression, I would likely build Staff of the Masters after this. Totem of Kuldra is also viable.

Skilld Build:

1 Contagion (or swap level 1 and 2, situational, usually take Extinguish first for mana regen and ez-deny)
2 Extinguish
3 Extinguish
4 Contagion
5 Extinguish
6 Plague Carrier
7 Contagion
8 Extinguish
9 Contagion
10 Cursed Shield

Rest is pretty self explanatory, max ult, max shield, max stats. Sometimes I will opt for an earlier Rank 1 Cursed Shield. It's especially helpful for countering someone like Pesti if you are laning against him.

[SHJordan]

Never understand why should i get wards... is it just for runes or do it have another propose?

[Isin]

Never understand why should i get wards... is it just for runes or do it have another propose?

It's for knowing where the other team is... d'oh.

[Melchizedek]

It's for knowing where the other team is... d'oh.
I feel like you could have explained that a lot better, elaborating on escaping ganks, setting up ganks, rune hogging, knowing when/where to push, where to counterpush, etc. It's obvious to a large degree, agreed, but still...

[Happyfish]

if wards really need to be explained and justified, all is lost

[PAULNEWMAN]

Wards and Astrobele is what I've seen work the best (mix in steamboots bracers power supply ect.) and from there working towards a staff of the master.

[sHoWTiMe]

Any late items after staff of the master? Barrier idol? Sacrificial stone? The barrier idol seems to be very helpfull for the team after the astrolabe.

[KingDavid]

map control ya duff. umm for plague rider, he doesn't need that much items becuz hes not an item dependent hero. He basically can survive on his own with all his spells but heres the best build for plague. Ive seen this used in competitive for lich in dota. Boots(upgrade to steamboots STR if needed), wards(both types), 2 bracers, Astrolabe, TP scroll

[KingDavid]

and for late game u either get one of these 3:

Totem of Kuldra
staff of the master
puzzlebox

I would recommended Totem becuz its very effective in teamfights.

[KingDavid]

from my experience, wards help u gank, it helps u to know if you're being ganked, you can use it for runes! Simply put it this way, you get wards for 1 thing MAP CONTROL!

[Melchizedek]

if wards really need to be explained and justified, all is lost
Man, I dunno. For a while as a noob I know I felt like getting +3 str was better than buying those wards that expire after 6 minutes anyway.

[Lim_Dul]

I played PR for the first time in a mid-skilled pub today and I'm not a DotA player, so I went with my guts.

The game dragged on for a while and I went 2xBracers, Steamboots, Staff of the Master, Totem of Kouldra.

Skill build was maxing nuke and Extinguish first (nuke is quite awful later but very useful for early game harassment), taking the Ult when possible - if the ganks/teamfights were taking place among the creeps I waited till they died from all the nukes and whatnot and then ROFLUltimated and if they were taking place away from the creeps, then, well, you get the picture. ;-)

We also had Legionnaire on our team, so casting Shield on him lead to many ROFLtastic results too. Generally late game I concentrated on keeping shield of everyone and totemizing vital targets as I saw fit.

It's nice to have a support/ganker hero - quite the change of pace. And his lack of mana problems is outright amazing.

[Q_efx]

Eh? Casting shield, on lego with its whirling wind is contra productive. Cause it slow the enemy. So you shouldn't cast it when there are many creeps. They trigger this skill :)

[Archemorus]

when i pick plague dude, i usually get boots, tangos and go all the way till staff of the master and start raping, if you catch 2 hero on the wil its GG for them, ya know, ulti bouncing between them, this happened to be this morning, i was against 4 defilers ( + options duplicate hero), and me with staff of the master, threw the first skill, and then the ulti and i got a hat trick :3, ended that match with 15/0/4

[KingDavid]

must be playing with noobs then, best build

steamboots, astrolabe, 2 bracers, wards(both types), TP scroll

after get one of the BIG 3:
Totem of Kuldra
Staff of the Master
PuzzleBox

BEST build for plague rider. Nothing more nothing less.

for skills, 1-9 get nova and DR and ult. get lvl 1 stats at 10, 11 ult 12-14 get armor, 15 stats 16 ult etc.

YOULL OWN FO SHO!

[Makaku`]

I have a question about the Plague Rider's shield spell. How long does it last? I couldn't find any info about it in-game.

Also, I always purchase Steamboots for him but which attribute of it do you guys use? STR or INT?

[Lim_Dul]

Eh? Casting shield, on lego with its whirling wind is contra productive. Cause it slow the enemy. So you shouldn't cast it when there are many creeps. They trigger this skill :)
I wasn't casting it while there were creeps around - you must have misunderstood me. I cast it during team fights.
Lego uses taunt = whole enemy team under the effect of the plague. ;-)

[kazetenshu]

Late items=staff of the master and (dota's refresher!) for lols

[Tempered]

Sac stone for survivability, kuldra for disable, hellflower for a bit of extra punch and a silence.

[Latentsage]

Sac stone doesn't give health regen anymore.

[Padawanabee]

I have a question about the Plague Rider's shield spell. How long does it last? I couldn't find any info about it in-game.

Also, I always purchase Steamboots for him but which attribute of it do you guys use? STR or INT?


His shield lasts 40 seconds. The int bonus is 16 damage for Plague Rider, seeing as he has unlimited mana. The 10 to strength is a nice boost in survivability, something the hero lacks. I prefer Post Haste myself, though.

Also, Sacrificial stone is about the worst item you can buy on Plague Rider. Even when it was good, the mana regen was completely wasted on us. Now that the health regen is gone there's no reason to ever get it.

Staff of the Master really isn't worth it on Plague Rider. Your ult is devastating before you buy it, and the 90 damage increase per bounce is hardly worth 4400 gold. It's like paying 4400 gold for the hp bonus.

Marchers->Fortified Bracelet->Astrolabe->Wards->Post Haste->Puzzlebox->Totem of Kuldra IMO