A SLIGHTLY new build for Gladiator

[DonkeyKong64]

I've done cookie-cutter build of going axe+shield opening of gladiator for a while. Done the whole getting ghost marchers and helm as well. Most of the time reasonable success.

Then I tried something different and so far I've seen much more beneficial results in my laning situation and early game.

Instead of going the cookie cutter build, I simply get 3 crushing claws, 1 minor totem, and then some sort of regen. The +10 strength you get from your items early game pretty much have the same effect as an axe early on for last hitting and it makes your whip more of a nuisance to enemy opponents in your lane.

I then generally try to rush turning those 3 crushing claws into 3 brachers before I get any other items. For the most part, it provides me a decent boost to my HP along with a better mana pool so I'm not relying off of one combo of pitfall+ulti to get the job done. After the 3 bracers I either get the +6 str item or boots right away depending on my laning situation. I then turn that into steamboots.

Granted, by not going helm I am not getting the 40 dmg reduction and HP regen that could be useful, and by not going ghost marchers I am not getting the additional MS. However, if you have had any decent farm -not insanely good, just decent- you can have 3 bracers and steamboots by lvl 6-7 which gives you 28 strength.

28 strength which gives you 28 dmg over the 24 dmg from marchers, so there's a slightly better dmg output. and the 28 strength gives you about 500+ HPs over the 300 from helm. The only downside is that you don't have what I mentioned in the paragraph above.

After that you go with the logical shroud+riftshards approach to give you insane burst+dps for the mid-late game but in the early game I've found this approach to be more beneficial. At least for me so far.

Also by going 3 bracers+steam boots it only costs you 2980 Gold. Meanwhile, going Helm+ghost marchers costs 3725 -excluding the 225 for the axe at lvl 1-. With that 800 gold difference you can get your steamstaff for your assassin's shroud earlier.

There are benefits and downsides to going this build, but so far, I like it. What do you people think about it?

[HadumBadum]

Can work I guess. No build is "THE ONE TRUE AND ONLY WORKING BUILD FOR THIS CHARACTER", depends on your playstyle and that particular game you're in, in wich it can, or not, be more beneficial to do that

it's all situational, but it doesn't look too bad to me I guess

[Kudryavka]

Bracers are (generally) bad. Three bracers is pretty much always bad. I don't believe the +10 dmg on your whip in lane is worth the inventory clutter and lost gold from inevitably selling Bracers. If you want to do this, don't make all three of your Crushing Claws into Bracers. Make a single Bracer, a Chalice, and just sell the third bracer. Or, better yet, don't buy the third bracer and buy some more regen.

[DonkeyKong64]

Bracers are (generally) bad. Three bracers is pretty much always bad. I don't believe the +10 dmg on your whip in lane is worth the inventory clutter and lost gold from inevitably selling Bracers. If you want to do this, don't make all three of your Crushing Claws into Bracers. Make a single Bracer, a Chalice, and just sell the third bracer. Or, better yet, don't buy the third bracer and buy some more regen.

In the early game where you have 4 slots taken for stats -including the minor totem- you still have 2 free slots. One for regen and one for the necessary TP. You could always go chalice instead of another bracer but I've just found having 3 bracers to go a lot further for me.

By having 3 bracers and steamboots you still have two item slots available to build your assassin's shroud and your riftshards to follow. if you need a free item slot for a TP then you're either close to shroud, or you're already building a riftshard, in which case, selling a bracer shouldn't be that big of an issue by mid-game.

I just see the early-mid game benefits of this build to be worth it.

[DonkeyKong64]

Also, I pointed out that by going bracers+steamboots over the usual helm+ghost marchers that you are saving around 1000G by the end of it -if you include the cost of the Axe by lvl 1-

Even by selling a bracer later on you're still doing better economically.

[Ozymandiez]

Three bracers seems overkill. 1530 gold for a decent strength boost and practically nothing else. Keep in mind you're just going to be selling these bracers in 10 minutes or so.

The alternative if using the cookie-cutter build would be a lifetube for stronger lane staying power and few hundred gold shy of your beastheart to finish off the helm. Early game to the beginning of mid-game, the 40 damage block is huge considering how low people are hitting with their auto attacks. On average you can farm a HotB in ~15 minutes and after that the opposing team won't be able to force you out of lane unless they divert players from other lanes.

Also with your starting items, you don't have a iron buckler. Glad has good starting armor but a **** agi gain. You'll be forced out of lane unless you're getting fed regen and, without the lifetube, you'll have the constantly buy regen or have a teammate babysit you for prolonged periods of time.

As for the mana issues you cited, just get a chalice. The regen from the helm/lifetube easily counteracts the health loss. Also provides regen "on-demand" rather than a slightly larger mana pool with three bracers.

Steamboots over Phase Boots seems stupid to be frank. All you're paying for is the +10 strength considering the attack speed is almost entirely worthless to you. Glad also lacks a reliable escape. Also, the speed boost helps to position yourself for your ultimate.

[ChodeSniff69]

There are some pros and cons to this..

Pros
- more hp
-cheaper
-stronger harass in lane
- more mana
- slightly more armor from agi gain
Cons
- helm will ultimately give you the 200 hp you lose back to you from reducing auto attacks
-helms regen is almost needed when farming on glad
- by building a chalice you lose mana
- loses the ranged attack from hatchet

the ideal builds would be if you look at the situation if your building a farming gladiator get a hatchet and a shield first or if not grab crushing claws + talisman of exile for chalice 2 totems and some regen , later on get a power supply and chalice

get steam boots and helm and by doing this (its going to cost a lot more) you can be usefull for literally the rest of the game the power supply will give like 150 health and mana back so its pretty good

[Octavia]

no buckler = no lane presence

you're gonna get raped hard by any hero that has a projectile with that build

[Ekamo]

Nice theorycrafting but I think in the end, it simply isn't worth it. The farming potential Helm gives you is too good to pass up. With this build, you will have to ferry hp pots.

[Leetard]

1 healh potion, 1 set of runes of blight

1 crushing claw (3 str)
1 mark of novice (3 int)
2 minor totems

[Jeffthrax]

This type of build is what used to be done in dota( 3-4 bracers +boots)... it doesn't quite work as well in HoN