War Beast: He likes dogs!

[Kombatted]

My first guide, its on

War Beast
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War Beast is a melee hero with a large amount of life and he summons dogs! :D

Skills
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Summon Hell Hounds:

Mana cost: 125
Cooldown: 20 seconds

Summons 2 hell hounds for 55 seconds.

Hell hounds have 400 health, deal 17-18 damage per attack, and have an attack cool down time of 1.25 seconds.

At level 4 hell hounds are invisible when not attacking.


This summon is your main spell you want to use, it helps when fighting heros, creeps, just about anything!

Battle Cry:

Global, all units under War Beast's command
Type: Magic

Mana cost: 15
Cool down: 35 seconds

Applies battle cry to self and all units under your control for 16 seconds

+11 Damage

Battle Cry is one of your most important spells to use late game, when used against heros it can be devastating.

Primal Rage:
Global, all units under War Beast's command

+10% Base damage
+10 Attack speed

This ablitiy is passive

This spell helps more than you think, The + on attack speed is huge, and it gives you an advantage. Primal Rage helps you spend less money on attack speed items and damage items, and lets you focus on health and mana regen.

Ult Metamorphosis:
Self
Mana cost: 100
Cool Down: 100 Seconds

Applies Metamorphosis to self for 14 seconds
+100 Max health
30% chance for a 2.0x critical strike
Reduces base attack time from 1.7 seconds to 1.4 seconds
Increases movement speed of self and all owned units to 522

This, paired with your hounds and Battle cry is an amazing combo. Even an inexperienced player can use this combo (such as myself) to take down an unsuspecting enemy hero.

NOTE: All skills are at level one in this guide, they do get better later on.

Item Build:
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Early game:
2 Runes of Blight
Crushing Claws/Bolstering Armband (if you can afford it)

Strength items early game are a good idea, increases damage output and health. Runes of Blight are standard healing items for the beginning of the game.

Mid Game:
Sustainer
Enhanced Marchers/Steam boots
Abyssal Skull

Sustainer for health/mana regen, Enhanced marchers i prefer. but you can go with whatever boots you like. And the Abyssal Skull for lifesteal,it helps a lot.

Late Game:
This is for you to decide, since i haven't figured it out yet :P


Skill Build Order
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1 Summon Hell Hounds
2 Battle Cry
3 Summon Hell Hounds
4 Battle Cry
5 Summon Hell Hounds
6 Metamorphosis
7 Battle Cry
8 Summon Hell Hounds
9 Battle Cry
10 Primal Rage
11 Metamorphosis
12 Primal Rage
13 Primal Rage
14 Primal Rage
15 Stats
16 Metamorphosis
17-25 Stats


Yes, there are other ways to play War Beast. I know this isn't the best or most informative guide out there. but hey! it was written by a noob! =)

[VeNuM]

Dog's are not the main spell you should level up at all, unless you are farming the neutrals with them.

[Kombatted]

And what spell is?

[Glorify1]

If you're farming neutrals you should get it to level 3, but your primary spell is howl.

Lycan should get armlet and bkb, with these two items he's unstoppable. Deso also fits nice into the build, but requires you to also buy vlads for self sustaining in team fights.

[Kombatted]

Okay, Howl = battle cry ...armlet?...bkb?...deso? vlads?
EDIT: Dogs are quite useful when paired with The Ult, i changed it around so Battle cry is fully leveled by 9. I kept the dogs primary because i play well with the dogs fully leveled.

[Euphoria]

If you're farming neutrals you should get it to level 3, but your primary spell is howl.

Lycan should get armlet and bkb, with these two items he's unstoppable. Deso also fits nice into the build, but requires you to also buy vlads for self sustaining in team fights.

Wrong game. Pretty sure lifeleech + deso stack now. You can go vlads if you start with a Ring for jungling, otherwise why bother?

[Hucklecat]

LOL dont listen to glorify, supposedly hes a dota pro, and he would know that you can solo Kongar at level 8 with warbeast if you max wolves and battlecry first. Your first item must be a vlads for you to do this.

[Kombatted]

What is a vlads? and yes, dogs pwn =)

[Euphoria]

Vlads is the 15% damage boost/life leech/armor item.

[Glorify1]

Wrong game. Pretty sure lifeleech + deso stack now. You can go vlads if you start with a Ring for jungling, otherwise why bother?

Because Lycan is a ridiculously strong jungler with basilus and wolves. Soloing rosh is pointless, any good team will catch you. And if lifesteal and deso stack, Lycan is probably the most imba hero in the game. 60% lifesteal + -6 armor? lol?

[Euphoria]

Where the hell are you getting 60% lifesteal from?

[Netukka]

Where the hell are you getting 60% lifesteal from?
Abyssal skull + heart of rage (satanic) + activation = 55%. Not quite but still.

[Glorify1]

Rounded up.

[shi]

If you're farming neutrals you should get it to level 3, but your primary spell is howl.

Lycan should get armlet and bkb, with these two items he's unstoppable. Deso also fits nice into the build, but requires you to also buy vlads for self sustaining in team fights.

omg. HoNglish please.

vlads == abyssal skull? bkb? armlet?

[Glorify1]

Let me wrack my brain for the gay Hon terms..
Abyssal Skull
Shrunken Head
Insanitarius
Steamboots

[Maliken]

Glorify - while it may irritate you that we have the same items with unique names - you realize that you are mocking our game on our forums as a private beta tester? I've played a few games with you, you're a cool cat, but can you show a little respect please?

[FuriousPeon]

The fact that Electrician can purge off his wolf form makes me not want to play this hero until Ig et bkb at all :/

[Fielding]

That was fixed in 0.1.23

[gerbercage]

electrician ulti also can clear the dark lady ulti, is this ok or bug? so far if not wrong I think electrician ulti can clear all thing except jester's curse right?

[DarkSiDE4]

Deso and lifesteal stack now? That's so cheap. put both on shadow fiend and kill some peeps hella fast.

[Eonwe1]

I've got a question. Do your enemies get gold for killing the pets?

[Justin]

I've got a question. Do your enemies get gold for killing the pets?

Yes.

[SeaBlown]

Any idea how much gold? That makes me sad, I was hoping they were on par with creeps so I could just let them die off :/

Once they've got stealth I suppose it's not that hard to pull them out of the action though.

Lvl 4 hellhounds are great for chasing down heroes trying to get back to their magic pool/tarpit. Great stuff.

[Karmashock]

the skull and symbol of rage stack. The reason being that the skull creates a life steal aura that is applied to all allied units in the area. The symbol of rage is individual.


I'm actually having a hard time justifying this stack unless it's a technical problem.

[RPZip]

the skull and symbol of rage stack. The reason being that the skull creates a life steal aura that is applied to all allied units in the area. The symbol of rage is individual.


I'm actually having a hard time justifying this stack unless it's a technical problem.

Vlad's specifically notes that as it's an aura, it stacks with other Lifesteal items.

[Karmashock]

Vlad's specifically notes that as it's an aura, it stacks with other Lifesteal items.
can we please use the HoN name so other people know what the hell you're talking about? Even the devs have started to complain about this sort of thing... please. If you know the name of the HoN item - use it.

[RPZip]

can we please use the HoN name so other people know what the hell you're talking about? Even the devs have started to complain about this sort of thing... please. If you know the name of the HoN item - use it.

Sorry - I actually never played DoTA, but I picked up the names from people talking about it. I had forgotten which one was in HoNglish and which was in DoTAese.

[Karmashock]

Sorry - I actually never played DoTA, but I picked up the names from people talking about it. I had forgotten which one was in HoNglish and which was in DoTAese.
Vlad is the skull...

[Juular]

Battlecry + elder parasite + ultimate = enemy team going "guys, what just happened".

I quickly found this out by getting this guy on random draft.

[Mudkipz1]

Abyssal Skull = Vlads.

[NiGHTsC]

Thanx for the guide

[st3vo]

since he is a melee hero it is very hard to control your lane early. Therefore hounds ARE the best skill to get right away. Get the aura ring and you able to keep harassing the other hero in the lane. If you know how to multitask then this shouldn't be a problem.

[Electrician]

tried this hero for the first time and i facerolled my way too 10:2 kd

[Nightblade1]

I tried this hero, lots of fun to play, his hounds have a very nice chasing ability too, but not as good as booboo(wildsoul pet)

I ended up being the only str hero so I would init most of the time, meaning I had to get out of the fight before it even get started a lot of the time, and the beast are just too weak to init and just gives them time to prepare. Thanks to his ult I managed to end the game with 5:2 though, used it both for chasing and escaping those 5v5 fights.

I think I would have been able to init better and stay in fights a lot longer if I went straight for the shrunken head though, so keep this in mind if your opponent is caster heavy and you're the only strength hero on your team, and hope that moon queen and whatnot waste their ult on you.

[MrKite]

So how does this sound then? Going for Ring of the Teacher (basilius) to start. Then getting Marchers, followed upgrading to Abyssal Skull (vlads). Next, upgrade to Steam Boots (treads). After this go for Shield Breaker (deso).

Then if I have extra cash go for a life steal item like either Eldar Parasite (madness), or Symbol of Rage (satanic) depending on how much gold I have.

Thoughts?

[Lethe]

So how does this sound then? Going for Ring of the Teacher (basilius) to start. Then getting Marchers, followed upgrading to Abyssal Skull (vlads). Next, upgrade to Steam Boots (treads). After this go for Shield Breaker (deso).

Then if I have extra cash go for a life steal item like either Eldar Parasite (madness), or Symbol of Rage (satanic) depending on how much gold I have.

Thoughts?

This is standard but believe me when I say alch bones is a really good item choice before abysmal skull if ure farming well (it is less likely though, since jungling in HoN is hard).

[Galvor]

i find it very hard to summon dogs+aura because of my mana. What items i should use for mana?

[Lethe]

i find it very hard to summon dogs+aura because of my mana. What items i should use for mana?

ring of the teacher and some mana pots.

[EnragedCamel]

Dogs are a great way to feed gold to the enemy heroes.

[ReconGoose]

can anyone tell me if you get last hit credit from summoned pets?

[_sh]

^ I don't believe so.

I build Warbeast and Lycanthrope with no dogs. Always done fine. I build STR and Damage items and I'm fine.

[OpT1mUs]

Can someone write a decent War Beast guide?

[Lucifinil]

Dogs are a great way to feed gold to the enemy heroes.
Yeah loves the extra gold as Leigonnaire

can anyone tell me if you get last hit credit from summoned pets?
Hell yes, as intended, same as in DoTA

[zkyjoe]

i usually start with bottle on this hero if i want to jungle in the start. Wasy to summon the dogs constantly and pick up runes and gank inbetween jungling

[EnragedCamel]

I played the watchtower map last night with this hero. I was jungling, and I never had mana issues even though I kept resummoning the dogs. However, I leveled up dogs first, and the base attack damage/speed aura skill. I didn't level battle cry until level 8-9.

I actually didn't have ring of the teacher to begin with, so my dogs kept dying really fast. I couldn't believe how big a difference it made once I got it.

[Katie2]

Ty for this guide, has helped me alot :)

[TheMackem]

As opposed to the OP's guide, this will be a short "JungleBeast" guide.

Assuming youre playing your standard, non-EM 5v5 game (Forests of Caldavar), you want to inform your team that you will be jungling before they pick their heroes. The reason for this is so that they can choose and organise the heroes so that you can have 2 solo lanes, to avoid the lane you left being pushed too hard.

Once that game starts, you want to skill Hellhounds first and buy Ring of the Teacher as well as 2 mana pots. You will then spend the first 3, 4 levels in the top lane if youre Hellbourne or bottom if youre Legion. Your skillplan is quite simple: Hellhounds and Primal Rage.

Once youve reached level 4, enter the jungle. Start off by taking on everything but the vulture spawns - the tornado screws you over big-time. Make sure your hounds tank the neutrals and pull the hound getting beat on off if hes going red so that you retain your damage output. Also keep an eye on the map, make sure your lane isnt getting pushed and watch for ganks. Often enough, people will suspect you of jungling and try to interrupt you.

Next buy the Ring of Restoration (not sure this the correct name, costs 375g) at the outpost, as well as Hungry Spirit to complete your Abyssal Skull, which allows you and your hounds to replenish HP as you farm. Continue jungling, keep skilling hounds and primal rage and use the mana potions as needed to keep your hounds going. Stacking creeps isnt suggested until youre about level 7 or 8, depending on spawn. Getting your ult also depends on the game situation. If youre able to farm freely and your lane is in good shape, dont get it until level 8 or 9. If you need to help your lane out, are getting interrupted a lot and/or need to help gank, get it sooner.

After level 9 or so, you will have no problems reaping in the gold and killing creeps faster than they spawn, so start stacking them and participating a bit more in the game. Because you spent so much time off the map, the enemy heroes often do not expect you to appear in their lane and ripping through them. Your DPS is actually rather ridiculous with hounds, battle cry and then ulti.
You can also take to the lanes and start pushing using your wolves, together you will tear down the lanes in no time.

Items you should be getting after you complete your Abyssal Skull should be/include:
- Steamboots: movespeed while not metamophed, attack speed and strength
- Helm of the Black Legion: makes jungling easier, lets you take more punishment
- Shield Breaker: +60 damage, -armor so your hounds and your team do more damage
- Brutalizer: you lack any disable at all, so this not only increases your DPS but also adds some disable - great when youre chasing in metamorph mode.
- Behemoth's Heart: for ludicrous tank, an absolute luxury item.

Things to note:
- Youre pretty much useless to your team until mid-game, so take that into account when choosing heroes.
- By jungling, you increase your teams net XP and gold gain, but not without risking a lane getting pushed.
- A lot of this depends on you being allowed to farm undisturbed for a good portion of the game.
- Your Battle Cry skill applies to all friendly heroes, so dont just use it when you need it, but see when your allies needs some +dmg as well, so be generous (+44 dmg iirc is nothing to be sniffed at).
- Your hounds are multi-purpose. Once the hounds near the end of their timer or are hurting badly, send them off to scout runes or lanes to use them for intel. Invisible hounds (level 4) are also fun for supporting allied heroes with, by sending them into your buddy's lane and adding DPS when hes going for the enemy hero (battle cry added).
- Kongor is pretty damn easy to solo with War Beast after level 11. Just get in there, have hounds tank till they die, and re-cast the hounds to have them tank for you again until Kongors dead.

Edit: Well, bit of a wall-of-text in the end, but this has been working extremely well for me the past few times i played War Beast. Hope you find it useful.

Vlad + Desolator works great at it
+
BKB late game = ownz

[Crackdot]

Steam Boots
Abyssal Skull
Hack&Slash
Stunner
Behemoth Heart
Last slot almost always contains Token of Life, if you don't go for Kongor frequently then you would either want to put Runed Axe, that Satanic like item with the 25% lifesteal, BKB or Insanitarius. Depends on the situation, but if you're facing mediocres/scrubs Insanitarius is cheap and will add to your damage/life pool quite well.

He seems to be built towards high attack speed and damage with the ability to chase well, so I try to maximize on that.

Steam boots are all that's necessary because his ult + slash make for a movement speed to be feared. They also, with slash increase his attack speed which is already high because of his passive. Hack gives a percent chance to slow target on hit making their escape harder. Stunner straight stops them. Behemoth heart adds great survivability and damage

With this you'll end up with about 3k hp and about 360 damage when Battle Cry is up depending on what you put in your last slot :/

[_Archangel_]

Midas Lycan kicks ass on DotA and sure as hell kicks ass here. (Alchemist's Bones is Midas btw.)

Item build order (For jungling, I don't lane with this hero):

* Ring of the Teacher (Regen and armor aura for spamming wolves and helping them stay alive)
* Alchemist's Bones ASAP, under 9~ minutes.
* Spam Alchemist's Bones and keep jungling, Abyssal and Steamboots come in the next ten minutes.
* Shrunken Head/Shieldbreaker for lategame, in whichever order you need them.

[MaxCheese]

Not getting any level of dogs is a bad mistake. Just don't grab them and right click on a hero and forget about it so they go off and kill it near a tower.

Apart from the obvious jungling benefits aside. You can use them to harass some heroes early in a lane so they are forced to retreat and therefore out of xp gain range, obvious case that some heroes this is not so effective on like Legionairre. You can use them to spot runes without leaving the lane. If nobody is in a lane protecting their tower, summon dogs and send them to tower to do some damage if you
can spare them, pull em back if you see someone coming so they don't get the gold kill on your dogs. This will require more micro on your behalf but it's not difficult.

[shadowii]

:\, did you ever played with warbeast to make a guide?

[JellyFishJay]

You can harass caster hero's if your 1v1 Melee vs Range with the Wolves.

Heart of Behemoth is also a nice late game item.

Runed Axe (Battle Fury) is also a nice earlier game item, as its got the mana regen and health regen you need to spam wolves and such. :]

Just what i think (:

[Ares550]

I just did somethign like this

At the end I had
abyssal skull
symbol of rage
heart
enhanced marchers
butterfly (why butterfly? shits and giggles)

About 30 min in I just started running freely all over their team, ended up like 20-3, at the end of the game i could enter their spawn at will and kill them. Just about every one on their team needed a sheep stick to slow me down, and it didnt slow me by much.

In hindsight i really should have had shrunken head, but i was doing so well it didnt matter

[Pyrate]

i use the hounds as scouts, especially early on. if mid is called mia send one in the jungle and 1 in the river, if mid is coming ur way you should see him coming

[Pharotek]

I like to go Whispering Helm then Symbol Of Rage on him cause in Metamorphasis Mode when the Rage is activated it REALLY lives up to its name!! And Frost Wolf Skull too cause well isn't he the Lord of Wolves? So give him a Wolf Item!! lol And a Null Stone helps cause once they see you coming that makes you an automatic target to most incoming spells!

[Ghidoran]

Start: 4 mana pots and Guardian Ring, courier if you dont have one.

I normally jungle at level 3, makes it easier, lvl 1 is fine too. If youre doing it at level 3 get primal rage first, then 2 hellhounds, then rage/hellhounds as you level up, with ult at all levels. Max cry last. You will have no mana to use cry since you'll need all the mana for Hellhounds, even with Basilius and mana pots.

For items get the Scarab from Outpost to complete Ring of the Teacher(Basilius), then go jungle for the next 35 minutes.

Normally I go Frostbrand > Firebrand to complete Frostburn if I have a lot of gold, otherwise Abyssal(Vlads), then Marchers/Firebrand, then Steamboots, then bkb(Shrunken Head), Heart, or Shieldbreaker. You can also go Symbol of Rage if you want.

In lower tier games I sometimes save a lot of gold, then try to Kongor. If you get the token, then get a Doombringer on him. This is assuming, of course, that youre winning.

Congrats, you are now pro with War Beast. I should mention however that to do this well you need a good team, and your teammates should defend and gank, not push, since you have to farm and the games gonna be 4v5 for a while.