Jungle Zephyr - Guide to a Carry/Tank Bird

[uberdabing]

Jungle Zephyr - Guide to a Carry/Tank Bird and by Carry/Tank I now mean Carry/Agi hero.


UPDATE
Video available to be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-phEPxB_Q3w
Section added with explanation of video.
UPDATE

This guide will cover how to build Zephyr into an agility carry hero. It focuses primarily upon his incredible jungle capability once he hits level 5-7.

Stats
Movespeed: 295
STR: 17+2.5/level
AGI: 18+2.7/level (Primary)
INT: 19+1.9/level

The official character page is located here:
http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/heroview.php?hid=31

Abilities
http://heroesofnewerth.com/images/heroes/31/ability1_128.jpg
Leap
Description: Zephyr Leaps toward targets. Dealing damage in a line and pushes away effected targets
Damage type: Magic
Range: 550/700/850/1000
Mana cost: 100/120/140/160
Cooldown: 20/19/18/17 seconds
Deals 75/125/175/250 Magic Damage and pushes targets back

A blink with damage. Works as an excellent escape mechanism when getting ganked in the woods and also as a good initiator mid-late game.

http://heroesofnewerth.com/images/heroes/31/ability2_128.jpg
Cyclones
Description: Zephyr spawns a small cyclone for every kill/deny he makes. Spawned cyclones patrol and damage in the area around him. activating the ability calls the tornadoes back for a health and mana.
Damage type: Magic
Range: 700/900/1100/1300
Mana cost: 75
Cooldown: 25/22.5/20/17.5 seconds
spawns cyclone which lasts 20/30/40/50
Maximum # 5/6/7/8
Deals magic damage for 15/20/25/30
Returning cyclones heal 50 health and 25 mana

The base skill that allows you to jungle efficiently. Each kill/deny you get, a cyclone will spawn and path randomly around you. The AOE of each individual cyclone is small, so even though you have a potential to do 8*30 damage per second, the cyclones are spaced evenly around you so the actual damage is less.

When you blink or teleport, your cyclones do NOT travel with you. They will path like regular units towards your character. This means that leaping over cliffs/treelines will mean no cyclones until they catch up to you.

http://heroesofnewerth.com/images/heroes/31/ability3_128.jpg
Wind Shield
Description: Zephyr creates a shield which improves evasion and has a chance to return projectiles
Mana cost: 120/110/100/90
Cooldown: 45/40/35/30 secs
Applies for 10/15/20/25 secs
15/20/25/30% Melee evasion
15/20/25/30% chance to return projectile based attacks

This ability consists of 2 separate properties. 30% evasion towards melee and 30% chance to reflect projectiles. The melee evasion does NOT stack with other evasion items. The chance to reflect DOES stack with other evasion items.

http://heroesofnewerth.com/images/heroes/31/ability4_128.jpg
Wind Control
Description: Zephyr creates an area oh high winds increasing movement and attack speed for Allies and decreasing for enemies
Range: 600/800/1000
Radius: 550
Mana cost: 150/200/250
Cooldown: 120 seconds
Allies:
+30/40/50% movement speed
+20/30/50 attack speed
Enemies:
20/30/40% reduced movement speed
-20/-30/-40 attack speed

Is cast on a particular area, similar to how you would cast Chronos' chronofield. Ideally used in team fights, in which you can catch multiple enemies/allies under the AOE. Can also be used to chase, due to the movement speed reduction.

Skill Builds
1: Cyclones
2: Leap
3: Cyclones
4: Leap
5: Cyclones
6: Leap
7: Cyclones
8: Leap
9: Wind Control
10: Wind Shield
11: Wind Control
12: Wind Shield
13: Wind Shield
14: Wind Shield
15: Stats
16: Wind Control

Explanation of Skill build – Cyclones is maxed asap to improve jungle. Leap is leveled in order to speed up your jungle with some nuke damage, while also providing you with a better escape mechanism.

You won't be leaving the jungle till 20-25 minutes in, meaning you will likely be level 14 or higher. You should not be using Wind Shield/Wind Control until you leave the jungle, so the order in which you skill them is irrelevant.

Item Build
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b118/stipe108/Item_LoggersHatchet.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Weapons/ironbuckler.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/supplies/Item1HealingPotion.jpg
Logger's Hatchet (225g) + Iron Buckler (250g) + Health Potion (100g)
These are your initial items.
Health Potion: Early, you won't have the regen to tank creeps infinitely. This allows you to tank some damage and heal without needing to return to the fountain.
Logger Hatchet: Allows you to kill creeps faster.
Iron Buckler: Great for tanking neutrals, and component to Iron Shield.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/accessories/item4duckboots.jpg + http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/accessories/item4duckboots.jpg
Duck Boots x2 (300g)
Duck Boots x2: Provide small damage boost and combines with Iron Buckler to make Iron Shield. Do not get these if you are getting a Helm of the Black Legion

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Relics/trinketofrestoration.jpg + http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Relics/trinketofrestoration.jpg + http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Weapons/helmofthevictim.jpg + http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Relics/mysticvestments.jpg => http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Protective/shamansheaddress.jpg
Trinket of Restoration x2 (700g) + Helm of the Victim (950g) + Mystic Vestaments (400g) => Shaman's Headdress (2050g)
Get this item if the enemy has spell based heroes. I would say in almost every reasonable game, this is superior to Helm of the Black Legion. It is rare to see games of 5 carry strength/agi heroes with no nukers to support them.

OR

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Secret%20Shop/lifetube.jpg + http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Secret%20Shop/item2Beastheart.jpg => http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Protective/helmoftheblacklegion.jpg
Lifetube (875g) + Beast Heart (1100g) => Helm of the Black Legion (2225g total)
Get this item if the opponent has no spell damage based heroes. I would suggest Shaman's Headdress unless the enemy team has no spell damage threats.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Relics/item11Marchers.jpg + http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Relics/item10glovesoftheswift.jpg + http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Weapons/punchdagger.jpg => http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Initiation/enhancedmarchers.jpg
Marchers (500g) + Punchdagger (500g) + Gloves of the Swift (500g) => Enhanced Marchers (1500g)
Provides a solid movespeed boost and the attack speeds helps greatly in the jungle.

Additional Items
From this point on, you have enough HP regen and damage to clear the entire jungle every minute. The remaining items are bought depending on game situations. Remember though, that attack modifiers do not stack.

You should have at least 1 of these "Additional Items" before you exit the jungle (~25 minutes) unless you were harassed significantly.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Morph%20Attacks/hackandslash.jpg
Hack and Slash (4500g total)
A safe item for any agi hero. Provides a reasonable balance of all the useful stats, including HP, damage, attack speed, move speed, and a chance ot slow. Although not the most cost effective, it is easily assembled and great for new players.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Morph%20Attacks/item13nullfireblade.jpg
Nullfire Blade (3300g total)
Definitely needed if playing against enemies that need to be purged. Purge can be used to remove Jerazhia's ult/magic immunity, kill Hellbringer's ult, dispel Blood Hunter's Ult, remove damage over time and slows, and finally slows the opponent so you can beat on them. In general, I would say this is a very solid item for almost any game.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Combative/item16wingblade.jpg
Wingbow (6000g total)
If the enemy team consists of ranged damage heroes (Arachna, Wildsoul, Valkyrie, Soulstealer, Puppetmaster, Moon Queen, etc) then this item is worth it. The evasion from Wingbow does not stack with your shield for melee attacks, but does stack with ranged, as the ranged is considered "reflection". If the enemy team has melee damage heroes, then this item is probably not worth the cost.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Combative/mockofbrilliance.jpg
Mock Brilliance (5150g total)
This used to be mandatory on Zephyr, but I no longer believe it to be so. Other agility based damage items can provide greater damage. Still not a terrible item, but not needed.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Protective/shrunkenhead.jpg
Shrunken Head (3900g total)
A good choice after one of the above damage items if the opponent is heavy on the disables.

Luxury Items
At this point, you no longer need a guide. Continue to increase your damage, attack speed, and HP in a balanced manner.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Combative/flayer.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Combative/savagemace.jpg
Flayer (5800g total) or Savage Mace (5400g total)
More damage is good.

or

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Protective/item12behemothsheart.jpg
Behemoth's Heart (5500g total)
More health is good.

Level Breakdown
Levels 1-5
Start off with your starting items and immediately go to jungle. You should be pulling the neutrals to your creep wave, killing the low level neutral camp, and stacking camps. If you have a courier, ferry items to you as soon as you get the gold.

Level 5-14
At this point, you should have enough regen to tank medium level camps without losing too much HP. If it is a convenient time, continue to pull neutrals to your creep wave. If the timing is bad, just tank and kill the camps yourself. Continue ferrying items with your courier.

Make sure you always keep mana for Leap to avoid getting ganked in the woods.

Level 14-16+
Exit the jungle and help your team. Timewise, it should be ~25 minutes, if you did things well. You may be lower level if you were harassed significantly by the enemy.

Jungle Guide
Please visit this guide and watch the video on Jungling. It will explain the basic jungling terms and how to do them.
http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=19507

Hellbourne in my opinion is much easier to jungle than Legion. The high level creep camp is more accessible, allowing you to basically run in a circle and kill every camp along the way. The Legion jungle requires you to double back after killing the high level camp, wasting some time.

Different creeps are better and worse for you. You ideally want many, low hp neutrals, as they will generate more cyclones. Here is a ranking, where 1 is the best (Dota names in []).

Rank 1: 1 Snotterboss + 4 Snottlings [Kobolds]
Rank 2: 3 Ebulas [Gnolls] or 1 Werebeast [Enchanter] + 2 Werebeasts [Trolls]
Rank 3: 2 Fire Ogres + 1 Ice Ogre [Ogres] or 1 Wolf Commander + 2 Wolves [Wolves]
Rank 4: 1 Vulture Lord + 2 Screachers [Wildkins] or 1 Skeleton King + 2 Undead Warriors [Dark Trolls]
Rank 5: 1 Minotaur + 1 Goatar [Centaurs]
Rank 6: 1 Catman Champion + 1 Catman Soldier [Ursas]
Rank 7: 2 Wild Hunters [Mud Golems]

Wild Hunters are your worst nightmare. They are magic immune, meaning your cyclones will do no damage to them. If you are unlucky and get many of these camps, then it will slow you a bit. Ideally, you want to avoid higher rank creeps in favor of lower rank creeps. Until you are ~level 7, you will not be able to clear the entire jungle before respawn occurs. Thus, kill the lower ranked and leave the high ranked.

Once you stop pulling neutrals to your creep wave, you must ensure that you keep your cyclones maxed. Start by leaping into low level camps to build your cyclones quickly, and then move to a medium level camp. Once you have full cyclones, you can clear a camp in 10-15 seconds.

Jungle Tips (Some of this is shown in the video)
Creeps spawn initially at 0:30 and then on the minute, every minute. If there is any unit inside the camp, when the minute strikes, they will not respawn. However, if you attack the camp and walk away, they will follow you. If they leave the camp and the minute strikes, a new set of creeps will spawn, meaning you now have a double stack. Doing this is extremely important, as it greatly improves your farming rate. If you approach a camp at around the 45sec mark, wait till around 50-52, attack them once, and then run as far as possible. This should stack the camp and then you can kill them all at once with leap and cyclone AOE.

The bottom most camp on the Legion side and the top most camp on the Hellbourne side can be pulled to your friendly creep wave. Stand nearby and wait for ~0:15 or ~0:45. Then aggro the neutral camp. Walk out to your lane and towards your approaching creep wave. This will trigger your friendly creeps to attack the neutrals. Stand nearby and make sure you get the last hit for gold.

A creep camp will not spawn if anything is within the camp area. This includes yourself, neutral creeps, wards, illusions, creep corpses, your courier, etc. Creep corpses take ~20-21 seconds to despawn, meaning if you kill a unit after the 39 seconds mark, there will be no spawn for on the next minute.

If you reach a camp at 30-40s mark (creep corpse will stop next spawn but too early to pull and stack the camp) attack the creeps and walk slightly outside the range of the camp. Neutral creeps are attached to an invisible leash. If you walk to far, the leash will break and they will return to the camp. However, if you pull them slightly outside the camp, it will not break the leash and the neutrals will stay and attack you. Then, their corpses will not stop the next respawn. This is shown several times in my video.

When pulling neutrals to your creep wave, there are 4 different types that can be pulled: Wolves, Ogres, Minotaurs, and Wild Hunters. If it is the wolves and you pull at 0:15 seconds, you can normally kill them all before the 0:38 second mark, ensuring a new spawn at the next minute. For the other neutrals, you must make sure to kill them outside the camp. This can be tricky because the neutrals may run back into the camp and pull your friendly creeps with them, making it impossible to drag them away.

When attacking, try to stand between creeps. Your cyclones spin around you randomly, so having creeps on all sides maximizes their effect. In addition, you can attempt to kite neutrals around in circles while letting your cyclones damage them. This is a better way to kill high stacked camps that deal too much damage to tank.

If you know your cyclonesare going to vanish soon, eat them to regain hp and mana. Typically, you can do this right before killing a low level creep camp, as your cyclone are about to be replenished. Eating cyclones consumes 75 mana, meaning as long as you have 3 cyclones you will break even manawise.

If you look at your lane and see that nobody is there, go out and try to clear out the whole wave with your cyclones. It can give you a nice extra boost while waiting for good creep respawn.

You can leap across treelines/cliffs (particularly useful in the Legion jungle) to speed things up. Be aware that your cyclones will not "leap" with you, but will path the long way around.

After the Jungle
Hero kills are simple and involve blinking past the direction the enemy will flee. This ensures if they are running, they will have to walk around you. In addition, you can drop your ult, but try to position it so that the edge is where the enemy is and he will have to walk across the entire diameter to escape. This will give you the longest period possible to attack.

If you have Nullfire and you aren't saving the purge charges for something specific (Jerazhia, Hellbringer ult, etc) then purge them. This should give you enough time to kill them or place them in the red. Follow along beside them and let your cyclones damage them. Once leap is cooldowned, finish them off.

Team fights are basically you leaping in and using your ult. Try to catch as many heroes as possible inside it's AOE. If there is a better initiator, let them drop their stun/disable first, then leap in and use your ult on top of it. From there you attack whoever is being focused, keep wind shield up, and leap if someone is going to escape.

Extra Tips
Remember that you can always eat your cyclones and heal. It took me a while to get into the habit of doing this (because I'm bad and forget).

Keep your cyclones up before engaging in team fights. It does a surprisingly large amount of AOE damage.

If you are fighting a melee at low health, you can attempt to kite them. When you run, the cyclones tend to trail behind you, meaning that if an enemy is chasing you, they will continuously be taking damage from the cyclones. When his health drops low, he will turn around and give up the chase. At this exact moment, leap back past him and attack. You can surprise a lot of people this way.

Follow along side enemies instead of attacking. As I said before, cyclones trail behind you, so if you are chasing after a hero, you do not get the full effect. It is better to stop attacking 1 hit early and make sure you are either beside or in front of the enemy hero as he is fleeing. Follow along until leap is ready, and then go in for the kill. Given that you have a blink, you can risk chasing very far (as far as past their raxes) if you know that they can't stun you.

Play aggressively with Zephyr. This includes chasing far and tower diving. With full cyclones and Wind Shield, you can most likely 1v1 any hero.

Video Guide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-phEPxB_Q3w
This section will go into detail what is going on in my video, as well as the thought process that goes through my head. Please read the jungle information above or watch the other video I linked to.

This game is done in single player practice mode. Thus, it does not represent a real game where the enemy may ward your jungle, attempt to gank you, etc. All it does is give you an idea of how to jungle effectively.

0:00-1:00
Nothing to do until 0:30, which is the first spawn. At 0:45 pull neutral to your creep wave. It is very difficult to get a new neutral spawn at 1:00, so don't worry too much about doing it.
1:00-2:00
Because you were unable to spawn a new set of neutrals to pull to your creeps, go and kill the low level creep camp. You should have enough time to kill this neutral camp and stack one camp. I also eat my cyclones to regenerate some health, because I know they will disappear.
2:00-3:00
Go back and pull the neutral camp to your creep wave at 2:15. If they are wolves, you can just kill them. If they are not wolves, make sure you fight them slightly outside the camp to ensure a new set of spawns at 3:00. After killing this camp, immediately go and stack another camp.
3:00-7:00
Same thing as 2:00-3:00 every minute.
7:00-8:00
I mess up and the pullable camp doesn't respawn. Instead, I go to kill the low level camp. I then go and kill one of the stacked camps. I run around in circles, letting my cyclones damage the creeps. This allows me to kill the whole camp without taking too much damage. Notice I kill the camp outside the camp, so there will be a new spawn at 8:00. I eat my cyclones to regen.
8:00-9:00
Pull the neutrals to my creep wave. I accidentally mess up and kill the neutrals too close to the camp, meaning no spawn for the next minute. I go to the high stacked neutral camp and try to kite them around. I take a bit too much damage so I use my health potion.
9:00-10:00
The pullable wave didn't respawn, so i kill the low level camp. I now have lots of cyclones, so I go and kill another camp. My health is a bit low, so I eat my cyclones instead of engaging and just stack the camp for the future.
10:00-11:00
At this point, I don't need to pull the neutrals to my creep camp to kill them. I am strong enough by myself. I kill the low level camp to build cyclones. I go to kill next camp but it is hunters (magic immunte). I skip them and go to the high stacked camp. I leap and kite them around, but they are still a bit too strong. I head over to the other stacked camp in time to stack them again.
11:00-12:00
I kill the low level camp. Right before killing them, I eat my torandoes to regen. I then go and kill another camp, and I have just enough time to once again stack a new camp.
12:00-13:00
I think I'm strong enough, so I leap and try to kill this stacked camp. I kite them around in circles and let my cyclones kill them. I leave the hunters because they take too long to kill. I kill the low level camp to build some cyclones then move to the next camp. They are hunters, but luckily it is right at 12:45, so I pull the camp to my creep wave to help speed up the process.
13:00-14:00
I now have Enhanced Marchers. From this point on, you can basically make a circle around the jungle. There are 5 camps total, and you should be able to kill 4 of them by around 0:45-0:50. For the 5th camp, pull them slightly far away to ensure a new spawn and then kill both at the same time. This allows you to clear the entire jungle every minute.

My video ends here. I clear the entire jungle every minute for the next 10 minutes. At the 25 minute mark I am level 16 with Logger's Hatchet, Enhanced Marchers, Iron Shield, Shaman's Headdress, and a Wingbow.

Credits
S2Cracky - Used his information and descriptions on Zephyr's abilities. Thank you.
Hunter_ and Yoo - Used their jungle video guide. Thank you.
Hucklecat - Used his item guide for images. Thank you.

Version
9/28/2009 - Added item costs, went through and rewrote a lot of text, added Helm of the Black Legion as an alternative item path.
9/27/2009 - Added video guide section
9/22/2009 - Many updates to reflect the changes to Zephyr and item changes.
9/03/2009 - Made some changes regarding jungle strat. Moved Behemoth Heart to main items.
8/04/2009 - Added details about leaping in jungle. Fixed some typos. Added some extra information.
7/31/2009 - Added images for hero and items. Edited some descriptions.
7/30/2009 - Fixed some tyos, moved some info around, and updated the jungle section.

[Nome]

If you plan to straight-up jungle, wouldn't it be better to get only one level of Leap early on for escape and focus on Tornado/Stats instead? The Leap isn't going to help you that much with the jungling after all.

[uberdabing]

I level up leap for the AOE damage, as you have trouble starting up the tornado farm. It also helps a lot when you run into catmen or minotaurs. However, I can try out a tornado/stats build one time.

[noodle0117]

leap is mostly for escaping ganks and for doing a bit of additional damage to creeps and neutrals.

[Epic_Wizard]

I've found that going the route of Enhanced Marchers -> Abyssal Skull -> Symbol of Rage lets you jungle indefinitely from whenever you get the second Whispering Helm for Symbol of Rage. I generally try to go for the Symbol because it turns Zephyr into an uber tank of unmatched potential when you grab a Hellflower or Hack and Slash for ASPD. The vamping can keep you alive solo against anyone but a big tanky Str hero and if you have 8 winds when he hits half health then he's going to run before you do.

That said I'll have to try out the helm starting build as being able to jungle at 7 and then start getting vamp items would get Zephyr out of the line of fire as people start looking for juicy low HP targets to gank. Plus putting in an appearance at various parts of the map as you sneak around keeps the enemy paranoid and more cautious.

Zephyr is a solid hero but tricky to play especially early game. One game though we lost two players in a VERY close late game and I had good enough items that I was holding off their entire team at one point.

The only things Zephyr needs is a slight buff to the evasion/reflect chance on his Wind Shield (should end at 40% for both so that it's better than the Evasion Bow) and his Ultimate should follow him around since as things stand his late game hero killing ability is SEVERLY limited by items. Oh and the cooldown on Leap should be lower. The damage is, as it stands, almost worthless since using it leaves you open for at best 17 seconds. Reducing the cooldown by 2 seconds a level would help LOADS.

I'd also add that a good hero to pair him with on a lane is Behemoth since he can keep enemies back with his line of death attack while soaking lots of damage.

Also be careful about using Leap for damage as it's your big get out of **** free card if you are ANYWHERE near a cliff.

[uberdabing]

I actually never considering getting lifesteal on him, as his tornadoes do the vast majority of the damage. I might try doing something like Lifetube/Iron Buckler + lifesteal instead and see whether that is more efficient.

I think his Ult is fine if it works correctly (aka the -ms/as worked correctly). Using it with an aoe stun/disable could help dramatically in team fights. Having it follow him around on the other hand, would most likely be imablanced though. You're implaying that his ult gives your entire team practically max MS while applying an AOE slow and a 40% Shiva's aura.

[Travakh]

I don't think 'starting at level 5' = a jungle build, just straight neutrals.

I advise renaming because jungling implies to me starting at level 1. This is just a neutral centric (though good) build.

[StealthFire]

imo you want to be getting items that keep you alive first and foremost, because you do the most by being in the middle of everything, and have about half the health you need to do that.

and zephyr is quite capable of jungling from level 1 with a shield. Tornadoes double up as a regen mechanism which works quite nicely for keeping you alive and kicking.

[Epic_Wizard]

I'll have to try the shield thing, thanks.

Okay having tried jungling with a shield I can say for certain that you are better off leaching exp for a bit before trying to jungle. The neutral creeps in HoN are by all accounts far stronger than in DotA which is why I've yet to hear of anyone except maybe Ophelia being able to jungle at level 1 (and she has her uber cheap dominate ability)

[Habile]

Is it just me, or are you getting your level 2 ult at level 10?

[Firedrop]

very interesting, ive been wanting to try jungle zephyr since i played him the first time.
might want to try blademail instead of vanguard for quicker cyclone production at start.

[uberdabing]

Is it just me, or are you getting your level 2 ult at level 10?
Fixed.



imo you want to be getting items that keep you alive first and foremost, because you do the most by being in the middle of everything, and have about half the health you need to do that.
Helm does reasonably well at this. That combined with Wind Shield makes you far more difficult to kill than most any other hero besides maybe Lego. If you go tank items before MB, then you become just a minor nuisance to the enemy team. They will just ignore you until your team is dead, and then kill you. Wheras if you get MB, you become a legitimate DPS threat and the enemy must now decide on whether to waste time attacking you, who has reasonably high HP and 30% evasion, or your weaker support/casters. A tank that is no threat is not a good tank.


and zephyr is quite capable of jungling from level 1 with a shield. Tornadoes double up as a regen mechanism which works quite nicely for keeping you alive and kicking.
I've tried out jungling at level 1, 3, 5 and 7 in single player just to see whether or not it is possible.

At 1 with just shield, there really is no way. Even with pulling 1 camp to the lane to build 2-3 tornadoes, you can still barely kill the level 1 creep camp without going into the red. Tornadoes just do not last long enough and do not do enough AOE damage. If you know a superior method, please let me know.

At 3, you pull the 1 camp and then kill the low level camp, but you will still have trouble with anything else. While you can go back and forth between these two, it is probably faster to level in you lane.

At 5, with Lifetube or Helm, you can actually begin tanking regular creep camps on your own, but you can still get screwed if you run into unlucky creeps (catman especially). It is possible however to do it efficiently provided you have good creep pulling and you eat your tornadoes correctly. It is just a little more risky, because you will probably end up at lower health, which may open you up to ganks from stealthed units.

At 7, you can comfortably farm neutrals all day without ever dropping to below half health.

[uberdabing]

very interesting, ive been wanting to try jungle zephyr since i played him the first time.
might want to try blademail instead of vanguard for quicker cyclone production at start.

I either pull the one camp to the lane or use leap on the low level camp to start cyclones off. Blademail's cooldown seems too long and creeps don't deal enough damage in the 5 sec activation time to warrant it.

[Magus1]

"Jungling" is when you enter the jungle to farm straight from level 1.

What you're doing is neutraling. Which is just killing neutrals when you're high enough level to, which every hero can do.

There are only a few heroes who can successfully jungle.

[uberdabing]

Sorry, but I'd rather say "Jungle Zephyr" than say "Lane till you are 5-7 and then kill neutrals for 15 minutes Zephyr".

I'm not going to argue about strict definition of dota terminology. The name is just a description of the play style (go into jungle and farm rather than stay in lane to farm, gank, push towers heavily, etc.).

[_Archangel_]

Against nuke-heavy teams I think you should go Shaman's Headdress instead of Helm of the Black Legion

[echo1]

Sweet guide imo.

I'm gonna try this one out, when i play zephyr I usually just get a runed axe and symbol of rage, because i find that if I go MB with tornadoes a shamans headdress is just too easy a counter. With runed axe I at least get some physical DPS, instead of 100% magic DPS. Anyways just my two cents, don't know if you have tried runed axe on him. But i'm gonna try this out cause I've wanted to try building him as a tank.

[uberdabing]

Updated.

[Feriluce]

Sweet guide imo.

I'm gonna try this one out, when i play zephyr I usually just get a runed axe and symbol of rage, because i find that if I go MB with tornadoes a shamans headdress is just too easy a counter. With runed axe I at least get some physical DPS, instead of 100% magic DPS. Anyways just my two cents, don't know if you have tried runed axe on him. But i'm gonna try this out cause I've wanted to try building him as a tank.

MB gives +60 dmg. Runed axe gives +65. Not all that much of a difference imo, and you hardly need to cleave to clear creeps.

[Feriluce]

Just tried this out, and I have to say, this build is ridicoulously strong. Once you have your core, you can literally make thousands of gold by simply pushing a lane (as you're a ***** and steal all the lasthits with leap + cyclones :p).
It might have been the other team not countering me properly, but once I had got a heart pretty much nothing could stop me from doing insane aoe dmg.

[Purpleu]

Omg, just tried this build out .. when I was lvl 25 the rest was like 16 - 18 and it freaking rocks!! other team yelled and whine of how imba the owl was, haha will definalty do this more! It was a 3vs3 btw, my favourite!

[Epic_Wizard]

I've found that the only truly hard counters to Zephyr are Thunderbringer specifically (since he can negate Leap as an escape with his Ult) and any Str hero that can get enough Regen and/or Vamping to stand up to your damage flat out.

Currently I think a good item build is:

Enhanced Marchers (build order doesn't matter to much)
Flying Currier (This is a must for jungling since for you it's about 1 big wave of creeps and saves you TONS of gold and time by ferrying stuff from the base/secret shop to your location. Try and keep it alive though and bind it to a number key)
Abyssal Skull (Grab the main vamping item first then the ring and the last bit and recipie at the same time)
Whipsering Helm (After this you've got enough vamping and damage to jungle indefinitely with no life lost. Grab the 900gp vamping item first then the helm)

Okay at this point I'm still figuring things out but I don't think that going strait for a Symbol of Rage from Whispering Helm is working. It's to big a jump at 3200 gold for any improvement. I'm thinking grab a Hellflower or Hack and Slash at this point and then go back for the Symbol of Rage. The activated ability and extra Vit should help for the final push up into their base. I say Hellflower first because it's got a very gradual build-up and gives you some VERY nice Aspd along the way in addition to its completed ability. I might also grab the Shaman's Headress before going for Hellflower since it's not that expensive and gives you a lot of survival against casters (need to try that though I generally forget to grab it).


Comment, use it, tear it to pieces, whatever just no insults please.

[Nome]

Awesome guide--haven't tried it myself, but it's in-depth and well-written. I should add that you can decrease your travel time in Legion jungle by Leaping over the cliff beside the big neutral camp (close to middle lane) to save some time.

[Travakh]

In organized games you'll want the totem of kuldra immediately after your mock of brilliance to give yourself a bit of cc. Boots of travel are also easily farmed and let you multipush lanes.

I'd also recommend blademail as a stand-in item before getting assault cuirass, you can farm the 2k in 3 or 4 minutes and against high damage agi carries it's arguably a better item in the short term.

But yes the core of this little guy is outlevelling and outfarming everyone quickly, his playstyle is near identical to pitlord.

[uberdabing]

@Epic_Wizard
Lifesteal doesn't work very well with this guy. The majority of his damage doesn't come from his autoattack, but rather from tornadoes and MB. Your attack speed isn't high enough, nor is your damage to make it worthwhile.

Also, the courier will most likely be bought by some support if you're playing a more organized game. In a pub, it isn't really necessary to buy one yourself as you get everything from either Outpost or Secret Shop up until MB recipe.


Awesome guide--haven't tried it myself, but it's in-depth and well-written. I should add that you can decrease your travel time in Legion jungle by Leaping over the cliff beside the big neutral camp (close to middle lane) to save some time.

The problem with leaping over treelines or cliffs is that your tornadoes don't follow the leap. The tornadoes have to path all the way around normally, meaning you have to tank the neutrals until they arrive. Of course, once you've farmed Sword of the High/MB, you can leap wherever you want cause you are strong enough to solo camps even without the tornadoes.

[Epic_Wizard]

@Epic_Wizard
Lifesteal doesn't work very well with this guy. The majority of his damage doesn't come from his autoattack, but rather from tornadoes and MB. Your attack speed isn't high enough, nor is your damage to make it worthwhile.

Also, the courier will most likely be bought by some support if you're playing a more organized game. In a pub, it isn't really necessary to buy one yourself as you get everything from either Outpost or Secret Shop up until MB recipe.

Honestly I've tried for Mock of Brilliance maybe twice with this guy and just didn't find it to be worth it. With a full stock of tornadoes he's got enough magic damage around him to take out even the largest creep wave in seconds as well as just about all the Neutral camps (Ancients are magic immune so MB doesn't help there any more than the tornadoes) and since it does about 22 damage to a hero with their base magic resists I've found you get more utility out of ASPD increases and vamping especially early game because with that and a Courier you can Jungle indefinitely and only pop out to kill someone or wipe a creep wave. Late game the vamping and ASPD give him quite a bit of survivability especially since his Ultimate and Wind Shield both work to slow down and break up your opponent's attacks which gives your vamping more time to work. Plus the extra attack speed from your ultimate can turn you into something truely scary indeed.

Symbol of Rage also has the added bonus of 25 extra Strength which is quite a bit more health. Honestly I've just found Mock of Brilliance to be to much gold and hassle in the form of to few items and to early in the game for me to go for it.

[Offsure]

I'll have to try the shield thing, thanks.

Okay having tried jungling with a shield I can say for certain that you are better off leaching exp for a bit before trying to jungle. The neutral creeps in HoN are by all accounts far stronger than in DotA which is why I've yet to hear of anyone except maybe Ophelia being able to jungle at level 1 (and she has her uber cheap dominate ability)
I jungled Swiftblade easily yesterday from level 1.

[Jo]

Just had a pretty fun run with this as the guide upon til mock of brilliance. was one of those pub games against dual stealthers (nighthound/scout) and had some pretty comical moments finishing em off on their way back to base.

Definitly prefer a heart though.

Question though: ingame says 0% melee evasion, what's up with that?

[LOLDUMP]

rofl, how can you forget the end-endgame item, wingbow, the dodge stacks with the 3rd skill = op

[reflexii]

I bet wingbow's evasion doesn't stack with 3rd skill evasion. It stacks with Chronos' Rewind because it isn't "evasion". So basically when there are two evasion items in play together, the higher % is counted, which in this case is 30% on both.

[Feriluce]

Just had a pretty fun run with this as the guide upon til mock of brilliance. was one of those pub games against dual stealthers (nighthound/scout) and had some pretty comical moments finishing em off on their way back to base.

Definitly prefer a heart though.

Question though: ingame says 0% melee evasion, what's up with that?

Probably a bug.


rofl, how can you forget the end-endgame item, wingbow, the dodge stacks with the 3rd skill = op

Except that dodge doesnt stack.

[uberdabing]

From what I've heard, wingbow evasion does stack. Reasoning might be because wingbow is a passive, whereas the shield is an activated ability. So it might be that they are on two separate checks.

On the otherhand, getting a wingbow doesn't seem to itemize at all with this character. A big piece of the cost lies in the +agility, which you don't use particularly well. If you're getting it solely for the evasion, you might as well just get more HP/armor tanking gear, as you'll get more return for your gold.

But on top of all this, I'm guessing that if it does stack, it is a bug and will be fixed when S2 has the time.

[Mazuli]

I tried this out and, quite honestly, by the time you can get Mock of Brilliance the other team will be strong enough to mostly ignore its damage or kill you or get away from you before you can do much with it. I think the money would be better spent on Behemoth's Heart or Frostfield Plate or even Hack. The whole point of Zephyr from what I've gathered is to have tornados out and be in melee range of other heroes. Having the hp to survive it and/or items to keep the enemies slowed so you can be next to them longer seems like a better idea.

[SolidStroke]

I jungled Swiftblade easily yesterday from level 1.

Killing a neutral spawn every 30 seconds with Blade Frenzy hardly qualifies as "easily"

[uberdabing]

I tried this out and, quite honestly, by the time you can get Mock of Brilliance the other team will be strong enough to mostly ignore its damage or kill you or get away from you before you can do much with it. I think the money would be better spent on Behemoth's Heart or Frostfield Plate or even Hack. The whole point of Zephyr from what I've gathered is to have tornados out and be in melee range of other heroes. Having the hp to survive it and/or items to keep the enemies slowed so you can be next to them longer seems like a better idea.

Getting a MB, Helm and Marchers by 24 minutes is very fast. You have to be a solo lane farming extremely well or getting tons of hero kills for most normal heroes to even get a lone MB by this time.

Consider the possible situations upon exiting the jungle:

1) Gank situation - You do not need additional tanking gear for this. You can solo anyone 1v1 and possibly 1v2 depending on heroes. MB helps you kill faster and aids in chase.
2) Team fights - What I said in my guide about building a tank. If you are stacking pure HP, you do not provide a legitimate threat to the enemy team. An intelligent team with ignore you, kill your support/nukers first, and then gang up on you. The problem with Zephyr is that his primary stat is Intel, not Strength like most tanks. This means that stacking items like Behemoth's Heart does not improve your DPS output along with your survivability, unlike traditional tanks like Axe, Centaur Warchief, etc.

When you exit the jungle, you will be probably level 14-16, with a Helm. This puts you at around 1600HP, along with 30% evasion, a chance to reflect ranged attacks, and 65% chance to reduce physical damage. Compare that to the rest of your team of intel/agi heroes, which, unless they stacked HP, will have at best 1200 HP. The enemy team must now decide to either target you, who provides two very damaging AOE auras and is very difficult to kill, or the rest of your team, which provides higher single target DPS, disables, heals, etc. If they target and kill you, then oh well. Most likely 3 of them will be dead by this time. 3 for 1 is good anyday. If you really want pure survivability, you should be going Shrunken Head, as this completely negates all magic damage, which is the easiest way for you to die.

[Epicbo]

I just started to play zephyr today and i cant wait to try your guide!

Great job!

[zp3dd4]

The guide is pretty solid. Kicks all those invis scouts, night hounds ass :p

[R1C3]

I don't think 'starting at level 5' = a jungle build, just straight neutrals.

I advise renaming because jungling implies to me starting at level 1. This is just a neutral centric (though good) build.

i dunt think any hero will be able to jungle at lvl 1

[Mazuli]

i dunt think any hero will be able to jungle at lvl 1
Wildsoul and Ophelia can.

[uberdabing]

Wildsoul and Ophelia can.
So can tempest, but who cares. This thread is not about what heroes can jungle at level 1 and please don't argue about the name of my guide. If you want to argue, argue about build order, skill order, jungling strat, etc.

[Travakh]

i dunt think any hero will be able to jungle at lvl 1

Wildsoul/Ophelia/Warbeast/Tempest/Legionnaire all can quite easily.

[R1C3]

Wildsoul/Ophelia/Warbeast/Tempest/Legionnaire all can quite easily.
i really doubt legionnaire can

[halvorg]

Personally i go phaseboots\meka\vanguard\heart + frostfield plate if I can afford it, farming is still very powerful without radiance.

I guess your build works too, but seems too vulnurable against nukes to me.

Anyways, nice guide.

[edit: phaseboots\meka\vanguard\heart = Enhanced Marchers\Astrolabe\Helm of the Black Legion\Behemoth's Heart]

[KaliKot]

nice guide, tried out owlboy after reading it and I like him. Really learned about him in your guide

[Creepychan]

The potential this hero has is tremendous; if you are allowed to neutral he really does farm well and can go on indefinitely. I have found in pub games not many know how the hero works. The only thing that can bring him down is chained spells; I have tried using astrolabe on him (since you can farm very well most items are relatively easy to afford), normally after at least getting a sword of the high.

[Bonburner]

I wholeheartedly disagree with Radience for his build. He is a melee class, which means he can greatly benefit from the cheaper weapon Runed axe, which cleaves for more than that little 35 dps on Radience. As your attacks get stronger throughout the game the cleave increases yet Radience loses its strength. Runed Axe also gives Regeneration and even more base damage than Radience.
Helm of Black Legion is too expensive and the damage being blocked is nothing later, so just buy 1 Iron Buckler and you're set. Oh how I miss you Poor Man's Shield.
I think Steam Boots would actually work better with this hero because it does have leap and he doesn't use mana too often. This lets him either take the 10 str for life, 10 agi for attack speed, or 10 int for damage - all situational.
I like to get Frostwolf's Skull on this hero because it gives a lot of HP, stats, and slows them.
Totem of Kuldra is amazing weapon even on non-Int heros, who wouldn't want such a powerful disable? Many heroes have a disable already, but adding another is simply more amazing.
Abyssal Skull from early game with the little regen and brilliance item. Works well with Frostwolf.
Demonic Breastplate is fun item but I don't see it as one of the cores.
Flayer for more damage late game to take on silly Madmen and such (Totem of Kuldra is horror to these Agi heroes).

I'd take Null Stone over Helm of Black Legion as it is useful the entire game, and good for a tank build too because only thing he is really weak to are simple nukes, taking 1 out the many nukes helps.

[Pro]

tried this guide, jungling+creeping works great for sure, but in clashes u notice with this build u do absolutely no damage.

[Uludayen]

Works fairly well.

can substitute hood+stout if they have too many nukers.

I was playing a game where i was dead tired and was feeding 0/4 early.

Got to a 27 minute MB and then started dominating their whole team.

[R1C3]

I wholeheartedly disagree with Radience for his build. He is a melee class, which means he can greatly benefit from the cheaper weapon Runed axe, which cleaves for more than that little 35 dps on Radience. As your attacks get stronger throughout the game the cleave increases yet Radience loses its strength. Runed Axe also gives Regeneration and even more base damage than Radience.
Helm of Black Legion is too expensive and the damage being blocked is nothing later, so just buy 1 Iron Buckler and you're set. Oh how I miss you Poor Man's Shield.
I think Steam Boots would actually work better with this hero because it does have leap and he doesn't use mana too often. This lets him either take the 10 str for life, 10 agi for attack speed, or 10 int for damage - all situational.
I like to get Frostwolf's Skull on this hero because it gives a lot of HP, stats, and slows them.
Totem of Kuldra is amazing weapon even on non-Int heros, who wouldn't want such a powerful disable? Many heroes have a disable already, but adding another is simply more amazing.
Abyssal Skull from early game with the little regen and brilliance item. Works well with Frostwolf.
Demonic Breastplate is fun item but I don't see it as one of the cores.
Flayer for more damage late game to take on silly Madmen and such (Totem of Kuldra is horror to these Agi heroes).

I'd take Null Stone over Helm of Black Legion as it is useful the entire game, and good for a tank build too because only thing he is really weak to are simple nukes, taking 1 out the many nukes helps.

good luck getting all those expensive items

[Deveon]

Nice ideas / well written guide!

I just did this and i had vanguard, radiance, shivas, phase boots and bloodstone after ~40 mins rdy. after 20 mins i had vanguard, radiance and boots.
very nice guide and funny tactic. got out of the game with a straight 11-0-6 hero kill ratio.

[Gabe]

Zephyr needs a nerf.
In the right hands, virtually unstoppable.

30% evasion with basically 100% uptime,
Cyclones with 230 dps potential - can also be used to heal 400 hp + mana.
Leap/blink ability
Ultimate that increases movespeed and (WILL) decrease enemies movespeed + attack speed?

Zephyr also has a 2.5 base STR gain. Massive for an int hero, probably second to Blacksmith in the int department. On par with most STR heroes (legionnaire, behemoth, predator, electrician).
Get a couple damage negating items and you can kill people with your cyclones.

[Elaeli]

OP's build works. You can basically start jungling as soon as you get a lifetube and then upgrade to helm in no time. Then it's just a matter of getting mock quick enough before your team gets overrun - going to the two adjacent lanes for a quick gank when there's an opportunity with no risk involved (3v1/no mana/low hp) helps tremendously with the gold income. After mock you can actually come out of the woods if they are pushing and be useful, after you get behe heart and maybe shamans you push yourself and basically win the game solo.

With a Zeph built like this you can roflstomp most pubs after 40 mins easily. You are simply so overfarmed thanks to the insane creepkilling-speed with mock and cyclones that noone can kill you anymore, not to mention that you are 25 in no time while they are still 16.

Build I used:
Shield, 3*Runes
Lifetube
Beastheart => Helm of the Black Legion
Mock of Brilliance
Enhanced Marchers
Behemoth Heart
Shamans Headdress (Too much cast damage in this game .. Can still eat through behe heart if you get focussed)
(Frostwolf Skull) - Completed just as the (drawn out) game ended.

Leap-Cyclone-Cyclone-Leap-Cyclone-Ult-Cyclone-Leap-Leap-Shield/Ult-Stats last

For the items, I found that even without having the slow from Frostfield, you can either kill them during disables from your team, or simply drive them off by running into them and tanking everything. They cannot prevent you from taking towers and they cannot ignore you and attack towers without getting owned by the massive AE damage. You do not have to kill them if you are invincible, but you rather drive them off since you do have just enough damage to kill them if they would stick around after you initiated - back to farming after they don't threaten your towers anymore.

Taking the Ult at 6 allows you to gank (or run) early, but does not take away from your creeping ability, as cyclone is the main skill that helps here. I didn't use leap much on creeps, but instead tried to maintain max cyclones for their massive damage. They do the same damage as a leap in like two seconds, so I feel that recalling the cyclones for mana to leap is not the best thing to do if you can maintain your hp with helm (don't attack catmen/minotaurs at early levels).

If leap had a shorter cooldown, cyclones leaped with you and there would MAYBE be a small snare component on it, Zeph would be an awesome hero to play in non-competitive games. But he is still very fun and powerful even now when he is allowed to farm.

[SentrySteve1]

I tried this and was bored. Killing creeps all day puts me to sleep.

[USD]

Great guide imo!

I play him almost like that. I start out with the same items But i rush (hand of midas) which helps out ALOT when jungling. You get a free tornado, more IAS and more gold. However it is only viable if you can farm it fast. It is also great for pushing since you can take down the siege machine with it and get 200 gold without attacking it and MB aura and cyclones dont hurt them. With this added amount of gold you will be earning you will have a very good chance of farming your items at about the same time as you stated in your guide with an additional item that provides IAS which is always nice.

My 2 cents.

[Moonsilver]

i think the mock of brillance is perfectly justified for zephyr when trying out this build.

Problem with vamping and other items is that your only hitting one target.
With mock of brillance and tornadoes your hitting lots of targets in a team fight unless they all spread out.

This means your damage is multiplied by how many enemies are standing next to you.

+65 damage or even +100 damage. is easily equaled with mock of brillance.

35 * 3 is 105 damage, easpically good if your enemies are mostly melee heroes. or just plain standing next to eachother while range hitting as alot tend to do. it also has good synergy with whirlpool from kraken who can bring them all to one spot. and good synergy with tempest.

I think the mock of brillance is well worth it. i think someone also mentioned its great for pushing since u can defend yourself and attack a tower, which is great, other than pharoah don't know anyone else who can do that, except maybe devourer.

I tend to cast my ult on top of towers or barracks when pushing this means if anyone wants to fight us, they have ot enter the wind cloud to fight us putting them at a disadvantage.

[WeaseIs]

This guide changed my view on the little owl, excellent!

[Muj1]

hey OP, do you believe zephyr is worthy of comp. play?

[Bonburner]

R1C3 - I've played over 6 games with Zephyr, that's the best item build for me.
I easily get Runed Axe and Steam Boots. Farming after those 2 are a joke.
Once Poor Man's Shield is in this game, it's going to be even easier.

[Rhainur]

I just tried the advice in this guide, and I'd like to thank the author. Evasion + Helm + Behemoth's Heart = lawltank. Add Radiance to the mix and it's just super-farming.

In one team fight, I was stunlocked and focused for most of the fight and only got 1 hit in, and I still got a hat trick and lived. Funniest thing ever.

Great guide

[Kirbynator]

evasion on brilliance doesnt stack with its passive though

[Elaeli]

I'd really like to see the OP build having behe heart listed as a core item. You simply cannot truly TANK without it, your hp is just too low, plus you have nearly no HP reg. But with heart, you can tank 3-4 people, depending on how well they are farmed, and kill them off solo on top of it. As long as you have max or near max cyclones and mock, you should have no problem killing anyone, no additional damage is needed. A slow or more attackspeed from items also isn't needed, as I found it way more effective to simply run in front of them and let the AE damage do the killing, with only 1 or 2 opportunistic melee hits thrown in when possible without them getting out of the AE (after a leap for example).

Last game I played, I obliterated the enemy team solo, inside their base, with all towers intact after I got heart and shaman's. That's how much survivability those items bring. Without heart, you'd probably have less than 2k hp, and without shaman's you'd simply die to 2-3 people unloading their nukes and disables on you.

Really, I only found that there is only ONE slot in your inventory you can fill with whatever you want. Mock - Helm - Marchers - Heart - Shaman's are core items. If you get that much, you are invincible and the game is over. And this is very much farmable before 40 minutes - you will also be lvl 22-25 by then, while your team is 14-16.

[Bonburner]

I can tank the entire team and kill them if you skip Helm and get frostwolf because the stats gives lots of hp, attack speed, and damage. Oh wait, did I forget the extra slow on the enemies? =)
Took 1v5 many many many times. Very easily.

[ma5]

This guide is outdated.

[uberdabing]

This guide is outdated.
How so? There haven't been any changes to Zephyr in recent patch.

And getting behemoth's heart is up to you. All I'm saying is you should get MB, marchers, and helm (or shaman's headdress, depending on game). After that, you can build towards whatever items the game calls for, with behemoth's heart possibly being one.

Runed axe is unnecessary. The point of MB isn't just to farm better, the point is to be more useful during team fights. Farming isn't an issue once you've got max tornadoes. Runed axe provides little value to team fights because your damage and attack speed are both relatively low.

[ma5]

You can pull creep now and creeps don't use spells anymore. Meaning you can start jungle faster and at an earlier level.

[Bonburner]

Runed Axe AOE cleave is not as bad as some may think ... if you walk up to the creep mob, the ranged guy will get hit when you strike the melee kids. That is a decent aoe when you Leap exact spot, nailing +2 people at once for more than the diminishing 35 damage on MB.

[uberdabing]

You can pull creep now and creeps don't use spells anymore. Meaning you can start jungle faster and at an earlier level.

I was pulling neutrals to the creep wave even in the original guide. It's just significantly easier to do now, and you always get all the creeps instead of just a few. Creeps not using spells is a minor advantage.

I still don't think you can jungle effectively before 5, so I don't feel there is any real change required.

And I'm not saying the cleave on Runed Axe isn't big enough. I'm saying that your attack speed and damage aren't high enough to justify the purchase. It also doesn't do AOE damage while you're disabled or while you're chasing.

[Bonburner]

I was pulling neutrals to the creep wave even in the original guide. It's just significantly easier to do now, and you always get all the creeps instead of just a few. Creeps not using spells is a minor advantage.

I still don't think you can jungle effectively before 5, so I don't feel there is any real change required.

And I'm not saying the cleave on Runed Axe isn't big enough. I'm saying that your attack speed and damage aren't high enough to justify the purchase. It also doesn't do AOE damage while you're disabled or while you're chasing.

Steam boots make up for the attack speed and when followed up with frostwolfs you can chase and tank. 35 damage is pointless late game.
MB is an early game item that costs too much. When you do get Runed Axe you top 150 damage fyi.

[ma5]

I was pulling neutrals to the creep wave even in the original guide. It's just significantly easier to do now, and you always get all the creeps instead of just a few. Creeps not using spells is a minor advantage.

I still don't think you can jungle effectively before 5, so I don't feel there is any real change required.

And I'm not saying the cleave on Runed Axe isn't big enough. I'm saying that your attack speed and damage aren't high enough to justify the purchase. It also doesn't do AOE damage while you're disabled or while you're chasing.
When I play him I jungle at lvl 3, with actively pulling creep of course.

Ignore the hate great guide. Some people are idiots.

Edit: Quite interesting style too. Never thought about jungling heavy.

[Decency]

Alrighty, a few things. I just played this twice and got ridiculously huge in both games. I've never played Zephyr before this and have played HoN for 2 weeks, no DotA. I went easily positive in both games, even after starting out 0-4 in the second thanks to Imbamagmus stun. I jungled fast as hell and came out 5 levels higher than everyone except our solo carry.

First, about the ultimate. I believe that it's not really an AoE spell. It hits or misses based on AoE, either you're in it or you're not, and after that it just lasts as a buff based on however long it is. So if you cast it on all 5 of you in an area, they'll keep that move/attack speed buff wherever they go. I also don't think the debuff on enemies is working right. I'm not positive on this, but that's how it seems to me.

Second: I highly highly recommend getting a heart, the HP regeneration means that you pretty much never need to heal, only buy. I died too much in the first game to focused nukes and debuffs without a heart (I went Slash and Runed Axe), but the second game with a heart they'd focus nukes on me in a 5v5 and I still came out with 1200 life or so, (3300 max), regenerating that quickly.

Third: Play this with a Defiler. If he uses his wave on a creep wave, you hit it with your leap and finish 5 guys, and there's your cyclones. You can roll through the rest of the creeps in literally 30 seconds and then push. The defiler's ultimate pushes right through towers, you push right through creeps, and with your ultimate's combined plus cyclones up, no one is going to bother coming in for 10-15 seconds, and by that time the tower is down and you're gone.

So yeah, I fully endorse this strategy and fully expect to see it patched shortly, I rolled over Magmus after getting Behemoth's Heart, his stun and ult combo are laughed off. On top of that, it's pretty damned boring to A-Move to creep camps for 20 minutes. After getting the helm I could program a 5-click repeating Macro that plays for me and no one would even care. Expect your teammates to ***** about you being useless, but you are pretty useless and unproductive team fighting with 3000 gold, so just stay farming until MB, then come out when you need to while getting Enhanced Marchers/Behemoth's and swing the game.

Counters: Playing against Arachna in the first game was pretty annoying, I think she definitely counters this as well as anyone can because of her Ult and slow. When you're slow, you're useless. A good Scout that will screw with you when you're jungling and possibly kill you can be very annoying, as well.

However, with a good team Arachna's ultimate is dead in about a half of a second (3 hits? Lol.) and a Scout is pretty much useless too, so I'd be willing to say the only counter to this is a tank (or two) that can match up to you and better DPS/Disabler teammates than you have.

[berk_]

Chasing down wounded heroes with Mock of Brilliance and Leap is hilarious. I chased a Swiftblade player across half of the map (the rest of his team was dead) after a team fight, doing my steady magic damage. When he finally died, I got hat trick.


Anyway, I've been playing this for maybe 4 games, and I'm starting to "get" it. I must say that this is a very powerful strategy. Having all 6 cyclones with you is a huge boon- it really ****s with melee heroes. When you leap away from a melee engagement, sometimes your cyclones chase you at the exact same speed as the enemy, damaging them the entire time. Anyway, I'll generally try to wipe out a creep wave or a jungle spawn before ganking heroes, for the DPS help and the emergency healing potential of the cyclones.


Decency- nice idea about using Defiler's wave and Zephyr's Leap to insta-kill mobs waves for cyclones. I'd try it, but sadly I don't have any teammates who are that coordinated.


I think that the item you get AFTER Helm is fairly customizable - however, I have found Helm to be completely essential. So far I've been sticking to Helm -> Mock -> Post-Haste, but if I run up against a nuke-heavy team I'll have to try Helm -> Shaman's Headdress or Helm -> B Heart.

[Jawzzz]

question about his tornado ability. Ok, so when i have some tornados around, the ability icon will say for example 3 (thats how many tornados i have at the moment) then when i click the icon, it heals me and such and such. Then after, the icon will say 125 or something in the hundreds. I can click it and use it but it just takes away mana and doesnt do anything and at this time i dont have and didnt have any tornados to start with.. what did that do?

[Decency]

I believe that there is some overflow occurring in the Zephyr's cyclone spell.

Using 7 bits, 2^7 = 128, which because of computer science actually isn't possible. So 127 comes after 0; but this is probably actually a negative 127, because you'll notice that it goes from 127, 126, etc. as you regain cyclones.

It's a pretty annoying bug and I hope that they fix it. I'm actually going to post this in bug report. =o

[Jawzzz]

^^^ how come its clickable even when i dont have any cyclones ? what does that do?

[ElementUser]

Tried Zephyr for the 2nd time with this item build and lol-owned the other team. Tanked everything :D

I wonder if I'll see the pro 12-1 Pyromancer again?

[Brif]

I wish I could eat tornadoes in real life.

who is this "lego" you are talking about? is it a hero? if so, how can you pick him lol ?
also... the creeps' bodies decay in about 15-17 seconds from what i know (similar to dota)

[AznSai]

who is this "lego" you are talking about? is it a hero? if so, how can you pick him lol ?
also... the creeps' bodies decay in about 15-17 seconds from what i know (similar to dota)

Lego is Legionnaire (aka Axe). Will try this build when i get home... looks promising. As for skeptics about the behe, argument is sound from OP. We shall see though :D

i have 105 games in hon and never heard anyone calling legionnaire as "lego" -.-

[Sufferr]

Great guide, some items seem nearly obvious but at least I am now sure that they are =P

[Nome]

Submitted to sucker for premium, GL!

[Theworstpro]

epic a ++ guide. I just went 8/1/3 in a 40 min game with about 200ish creep kills using your build, and my team went 14/66. Zephyr is powerful if left alone.

[Santoriin]

MB just got buffed with damage, range and lower cost :)

[majik]

MB just got buffed with damage, range and lower cost :)
But got it's evasion removed. Not much of a difference as everything in a team fight should be over by the time the shield dies out.

[murth]

i have 105 games in hon and never heard anyone calling legionnaire as "lego" -.-

Legionaire was one of the units in Savage2, commonly referred to as Lego. I'd say that's where the abbreviation came from.

[ma5]

My build involves getting stout shield + life tube, but not finished the Black Helm, and instead going straight for Sac Stone by getting a mana tube next.

[uberdabing]

My build involves getting stout shield + life tube, but not finished the Black Helm, and instead going straight for Sac Stone by getting a mana tube next.

Considering Zephyr doesn't really need more mana/regen, what's the point of getting a sac stone versus just getting HP?

[ma5]

Considering Zephyr doesn't really need more mana/regen, what's the point of getting a sac stone versus just getting HP?
Quicker sacstone, heart so quicker to come out of jungle.

[Rusherf4g]

I'll have to try the shield thing, thanks.

Okay having tried jungling with a shield I can say for certain that you are better off leaching exp for a bit before trying to jungle. The neutral creeps in HoN are by all accounts far stronger than in DotA which is why I've yet to hear of anyone except maybe Ophelia being able to jungle at level 1 (and she has her uber cheap dominate ability)

Tempest? Legoniare?
Ive Jungled at level 1 with both, and stayed solo level if i have a good run

[majik]

I have a question. Is it better to get behemoth's heart first or frostfield plate if the team is more melee based?

[ma5]

I have a question. Is it better to get behemoth's heart first or frostfield plate if the team is more melee based?
Heart is about 2389423905x better.

[Travakh]

Pub game of course, non-em. 668 xp/min and 403 gold/min is a personal record

[LordSkeletor]

Tried out this build when I randomed Zephyr tonight. I must say it is quite fun. The tornadoes with MB is crazy AOE. Creep waves die in seconds. And no hero could match me later in the game. Good build and a great outline of how to play Zephyr and work the jungle. Definitely deserving of premium status.

[Bonerguy]

dont understand the undecidedness on heart in the op. you don't need damage, you kill people by standing next to them with your radiance and cyclones. with heart, you can tank entire teams through long disable chains while your aoe's whittle them down, get away, and come back 30 seconds later without even going back to base because of the regen from heart. you will die horribly in teamfights late game if all you have is a vanguard and/or hod

[Gengiskan]

Stick in premium guides please!!! Great guide!!!

[Bali1]

Yea this is a great guide, it encouraged a generation of jungle zephyrs, myself included -.-

[ViciousJawa]

Holy camoly, I just played zephyr for the first time ever... didn't expect much..
what a farming beast. Absolutely crazy, I love it.

[OpT1mUs]

First time played zephyr tonight.... The Bird is my new god.

[CronoDroid]

If anything, Zephyr is excessively imba if you don't gank him repeatedly and ASAP. He'll usually be 3-5 levels ahead of everyone else when he comes out and then he's pretty much unkillable.

[zGoonBudz]

Frikin AMAZING SONG!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7SfnTpZHZo
check out his other songs too they are sooo nice

[uberdabing]

Updated slightly.

[Guldbonden]

Just played him using about this tactic, and I can say it's quite good.
However it wasn't such a serious game but it ended up with me owning their whole team because I got chased.
Kinda dependant on some decent teammates though.
He starts to get worse after you have full inventory though, so games over 60 minutes are not so funny...

[RogerDodger]

Just usesd this, and man it's OP. It's even better in EM

If the enemy team doesn't repeatedly rape your face early game you will be way ahead of them.

The problem is when they're raping your team's face... in which case you end up having to buy shamans headress.

[quantum714]

Just had a game with him, ended up 13/3/18
I was 0/3.

2x runed shield + 1runes of blight
Helm of black legion
Phase boots
Mock of brilliance
Sacrificial stone
Token of life
Divine Reaper(not sure of HoN name)

I owned after I got the stone.

Arachna and I were both lv 18(when I had my stone and MoB). I ended up being lv 25 when she was stilll 21. I could survive 5v1 ganks(ok, i did tp out of it though but stuns etc) and deal significant damage with MoB and my cyclones.

I once found a invis rune and followed 2guys tryna push, they only realised when they were half hp. There were a few creeps that were almost dead so just leaped through them and caught up to the heroes easily.

LOL! had another, 9/0/8.
Ending items:
2Rapiers
2Tokens of Life
MoB
Sacrificial Stone
Phase Boots

All the dudes in that game were alot better than I was, but once I got my rapier it was GG. I died once right at the end and lost 1 token.

pictures are broken for me, anyone else? :s

[Lim_Dul]

Ha, ha - thank you so much for this guide. This is one of the best builds for low to mid-level pubs in which you are NEVER bothered in the jungle since the other team doesn't seem to realize that Zephyr is MIA for like 20 minutes. ;-)

Anyways - I've had such a laugh playing the Jungle Zephyr, it brought some happiness to my usually stressful games. Each and every time I picked Zephyr we roflstomped the other team as soon as I got Mock Brilliance, which usually was closer to 21 minutes (Hellbourne side), again because nobody ever bothered me. ;-)
Sometimes we drew out the games a bit more since everybody could get kills easier around me. :-P

Funny stories include but are not limited to:

- Swiftblade running after me while I have MB and 8 cyclones up - of course without Blade Frenzy.

- BOTH Scout and Night Hound (OK - their team was screwed by that fact alone) sitting cloaked next to me and dying because of MB - I don't think they quite understood how it worked. ;-)

- A Magmus trying to kill me with his mighty Ultimate while I already had the Behemoth's Heart - it was a true WTF moment for him, especially after he died.

Oh man, good times.

[XQuicksilver]

Question!!!!
Does nullfire blade or stone dispell all of zephyrs hurricanes?
I just came up against a zephyr in a pub who used this build, and I was playing pyromancer so I didn't want to get it since its not part of my regular build.. however i would have done just about anything to get rid of that little *****.

[Jive]

Played a 1600+ game today and a guy randomed zephyr. Around the 70 min mark he had 3 rapiers but we still managed to kill him and he proceeded to disconnect ^^ Just purge his evasion shield and stick some carries on him and he's gg, biggest problem is that the jungle zephyrs get a bit too cocky with their 20k+ inventory loadout :P

[Lim_Dul]

Well - the Jungle Zephyr is effective mid-game and early late game, not at the very end when everybody has 20k+ items. At 70 minutes the game should have been over since Zephyr can push like no other immediately after he comes out of the jungle and there's not much the other team can do against it if they didn't stop his jungling in the first place...

I lost my first Jungle Zephyr game today for different reasons - we discussed what everybody should pick but then people ignored it anyways and we ended up having 4 AGI carries in the team. The game was over before I even came out of the jungle. ;-)

[XQuicksilver]

Yea I figured dispelling zeph would take care of his wind shield, but it doesn't get rid of the cyclones.
Also, has another noticed that the cyclone damage isn't based on the cyclone animations, its based on zephyr, so when he leaps or is pulled somewhere, that damage seems to still be occuring even though the cyclones are still far behind, trying to catch up to zephyr.

*Edit* I don't know this for a fact, just what i observed in my last game vs. zeph. He leaped and the aoe damage continued even though the cyclones were still far out of range

[Pudgeinabowl]

Ugh zephyr is probably the fattest tank spanning HoN and Dota. Fully farmed swiftblade, magebane and arachna (bfly's, mkbs, the works, 4k gold lying around with nothing to do), can barely scratch him 1v3, and he's actually engaging us, not pissbolting. To bring him down a stun and sheep from pollywog and magmus was needed. Sure he was also farmed up, but even before he got his heart (pollywog was feeding something great), it had to be 1v5 to take him out. As a TANK, he doesn't work once he's superfarmed, because you just ignore him and destroy his team, because he can soak to much damage.

For clarifaction Magebane was dropping most characters in 10 hits, jugga with less if he crit'd right. Not quite sure what was supertanking zephyr but i have a suspicion its his wind shield. Once tanked he's an awesome solo raxer, simply because he can ignore the whole team beating away on him while he destroys the tower, and the agi carries are getting smacked around by cyclones because they can't lifesteal him.

Even though we won, i sincerely doubt we would have if his team had more than 1 brain cell between the lot.

This isn't a cry of OP OP!....yet, i'm going to test him a fair bit for awhile, but first impressions are he's to damn fat.

Nice guide btw.

[Bonburner]

Ugh zephyr is probably the fattest tank spanning HoN and Dota. Fully farmed swiftblade, magebane and arachna (bfly's, mkbs, the works, 4k gold lying around with nothing to do), can barely scratch him 1v3, and he's actually engaging us, not pissbolting. To bring him down a stun and sheep from pollywog and magmus was needed. Sure he was also farmed up, but even before he got his heart (pollywog was feeding something great), it had to be 1v5 to take him out. As a TANK, he doesn't work once he's superfarmed, because you just ignore him and destroy his team, because he can soak to much damage.

For clarifaction Magebane was dropping most characters in 10 hits, jugga with less if he crit'd right. Not quite sure what was supertanking zephyr but i have a suspicion its his wind shield. Once tanked he's an awesome solo raxer, simply because he can ignore the whole team beating away on him while he destroys the tower, and the agi carries are getting smacked around by cyclones because they can't lifesteal him.

Even though we won, i sincerely doubt we would have if his team had more than 1 brain cell between the lot.

This isn't a cry of OP OP!....yet, i'm going to test him a fair bit for awhile, but first impressions are he's to damn fat.

Nice guide btw.

Diffusal Blade - like any hero with 2~3k hp.

[RogerDodger]

Yea I figured dispelling zeph would take care of his wind shield, but it doesn't get rid of the cyclones.
Also, has another noticed that the cyclone damage isn't based on the cyclone animations, its based on zephyr, so when he leaps or is pulled somewhere, that damage seems to still be occuring even though the cyclones are still far behind, trying to catch up to zephyr.

*Edit* I don't know this for a fact, just what i observed in my last game vs. zeph. He leaped and the aoe damage continued even though the cyclones were still far out of range

Probably just a Mock of Brilliance

[_swEEt]

If you plan to straight-up jungle, wouldn't it be better to get only one level of Leap early on for escape and focus on Tornado/Stats instead? The Leap isn't going to help you that much with the jungling after all.

u use leap to jungle for example say u have 8n cyclons up and no mana and u see a snotter camp u east ur cyclones and then get mana and leap and kill it in 2 seconds it makes for much faster neuting and i even use it to stack sometimes if im jsut 2 far away to run

[VeMeth]

I tried this guide yesterday and well I played horribly in the first part of the game. Went jungling too early ... died etc. I was lvl 6 or so when the mates were 10. After the helm I started to get better... on lvl 12 I catched up with the first guys, und 14 or so I was on the second place lvl wise. After the mock farming was unbelivable and no problems tanking wise. I didn't got much kills because my team did a really nice game. But anyway this hero has huge potential like this.

I mean I fugged it up pretty much the first 10mins, and still managed to get back to the game easily.

[Toyz]

I find
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Initiation/enhancedmarchers.jpg
Enhanced Marchers

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Protective/shamansheaddress.jpg
Shaman's Headdress

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Protective/helmoftheblacklegion.jpg
Helm of the Black Legion

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Protective/item12behemothsheart.jpg
Behemoth's Heart

In that order

then when you can afford it

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Combative/mockofbrilliance.jpg
Mock of Brilliance

And finally if you havnt already finished

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/snagg3r/HoNItems/Protective/item13daemonicbreastplate.jpg
Demonic Breastplate

thats only me. I like being able to tank an entire team by myself.

Cyclones are plenty as far as damage goes before late game.

[ImpBloody]

I'll have to try the shield thing, thanks.

Okay having tried jungling with a shield I can say for certain that you are better off leaching exp for a bit before trying to jungle. The neutral creeps in HoN are by all accounts far stronger than in DotA which is why I've yet to hear of anyone except maybe Ophelia being able to jungle at level 1 (and she has her uber cheap dominate ability)

Tempest can ez creep at lvl 1 with elementals...

[FuzzyWuzzy]

Learn to creep pull.

Easiest neutralling ever :P You can actually start with nothing, pull the neutrals to your creeps in the short lane -> get 150 gold -> go pawn the weak camp -> buy Helm with 5 armor and 3 hp regen -> proceed to kill all the forest ;)

[quantum714]

With the new update, is the Loggers hatchet a good choice to get? the +32% damage and you can get rid of the tree to allow stacking of 3camps at once.

[uberdabing]

With the new update, is the Loggers hatchet a good choice to get? the +32% damage and you can get rid of the tree to allow stacking of 3camps at once.

Haven't had the time to try it out. It's probably worth it, the only downside being that the majority of your damage is through tornadoes, rather than your actual attack.

[theqat]

Without having tried it, I'd still venture to say it's completely worth it. Getting the kills to generate your Cyclones can be so painful that anything making it easier is worth it! :)

[gipp2]

logging hatchets raises the threshold you can last hit with. aka its pretty much always good.

its also awesome to carve your own gank paths/ juke spots while laning

[Santoriin]

with the new update the wild hunters are the worst.

i was way behind when i jungled zephyr because i basically got wild hunters in every camp and with their new magic immunity they take no damage from whirlwinds or from MoB. :(

[jukasa]

Nice guide. Im new at dota / hon and this was my first game not doing 0-2 kills / 5-10 deaths in a noob game. Got something around 1/1 ratio and lots of gold. Will try it more.

[Pinkychen]

Do u will update this guide for the new patch (new items, Zephyr changed from int to agi Hero and so on)?

Do u will update this guide for the new patch (new items, Zephyr changed from int to agi Hero and so on)?

Yeah, I was wondering if Slash/Hack and Slash is more attractive now that we are AGI. You get incremental benefit very early and quite cheaply Also, I'm thinking the movement speed lets you run around from camp to camp (and to side lane to help with ganks?) faster.

Same question about Wingbow's relative boost in synergy via AGI. How does it compare to Mock of Brillance? http://www.hondb.com/?item=mock-of-brilliance doesn't say exactly what's going on with that aura, nor with its evasion, so I'm not sure how to evaluate it.

[V0ldemort1]

Yeah, I was wondering if Slash/Hack and Slash is more attractive now that we are AGI. You get incremental benefit very early and quite cheaply Also, I'm thinking the movement speed lets you run around from camp to camp (and to side lane to help with ganks?) faster.

Same question about Wingbow's relative boost in synergy via AGI. How does it compare to Mock of Brillance? http://www.hondb.com/?item=mock-of-brilliance doesn't say exactly what's going on with that aura, nor with its evasion, so I'm not sure how to evaluate it.

Wingbow is definitely a viable choice now that owl is agi...plus apparently the evasion stacks with his shield? o_o

OP, if possible could you give us a brief updated item build? That would be sickk :D

[Bonburner]

Wingbow is definitely a viable choice now that owl is agi...plus apparently the evasion stacks with his shield? o_o

OP, if possible could you give us a brief updated item build? That would be sickk :D

It should not stack so you should not bother getting Wingbow on Zephyr unless the other team bought Nullfire.

[uberdabing]

I've been playing around with his jungle game in 1 player mode. The change to AGI seems to have made him an even faster jungler, starting from level 1.

Item wise, you'll probably want to play him as a standard agi carry. I would compare him most to Chronos, as they share roughly the same first blink and the same evasion. The only difference is that Chronos has passive bash and arguably superior ult, whereas Zephyr has a free Mock Brilliance aura.

Items like Hack/Slash, Nullfire, pure damage seem like the best choices early to mid game. Followed possibly by BKB or more HP depending on the enemy team.

And yes, Wingbow evasion doesn't stack with your shield, so it's a no go.

[V0ldemort1]

I've been playing around with his jungle game in 1 player mode. The change to AGI seems to have made him an even faster jungler, starting from level 1.

Item wise, you'll probably want to play him as a standard agi carry. I would compare him most to Chronos, as they share roughly the same first blink and the same evasion. The only difference is that Chronos has passive bash and arguably superior ult, whereas Zephyr has a free Mock Brilliance aura.

Items like Hack/Slash, Nullfire, pure damage seem like the best choices early to mid game. Followed possibly by BKB or more HP depending on the enemy team.

And yes, Wingbow evasion doesn't stack with your shield, so it's a no go.

So now Hack and Slash or other pure damage items are better than mock of brilliance for Zephyr?

[uberdabing]

So now Hack and Slash or other pure damage items are better than mock of brilliance for Zephyr?

I wouldn't say definitively, but they are definitely close. Zephyr used to be built as a pure tank, in which he just sat around and absorbdc damage for as long as possible and let his AOE damage do the majority of his damage, while his auto-attack was terrible. Now his auto-attack is significantly better and with AGI as his primary stat, he gains damage from the agi carry items.

MB is still good, of course, because it gives more damage. However, typically people get it more for the aura to either:

1) Provide damage while chasing
2) Farm better and faster
3) They have illusions which gain the aura (Mercurial, Wildsoul's bear, etc)

Zephyr already has a built in MB, so it seems like it's unnecessary. I'm convinced you will want to build him now exactly as you would build Chronos. I'm still on the fence about lifesteal though.

[BekiLL]

Wingbow does stack, but it is only on Ranged Attacks because the ranged attack is not evasion but reflection. It is very simple to test, just go into enemy fountain without Wingbow then go with it and you can see the misses.

So yes, Wingbow is indeed a fantastic item for Zephyr now.

[theqat]

I think Mock is now optional. If Ophelia is on the other team, for instance, you'd probably want it in order to increase the hazard level for her dominated creeps when they come anywhere near you.

[uberdabing]

Updated. More stuff incoming when I have the time.

[uberdabing]

Updated with a video. More commentary to come.

[uberdabing]

Video commentary added in it's own section.

[rolle123]

What is everyones opinion of charged hammer? Tried it yesterday with good success. Charged fist + tornados eats anyone who tries to beat on zephyr alive. Also got a symbol of rage which made me immortal.

[uberdabing]

Rewrote a bunch of stuff and added item costs. Give me feedback about video (I know it is boring, but jungling in general is boring).

[Hippie]

The thing I'm worried about with that video is that you could easily get ganked, especially when they notice that you're pulling and therefore know for sure you're in the jungle. Zephyr's REEEEEAAAAAALLY squishy at low levels, so they could slow you down pretty viciously if you try to l1 jungle. I'd still say wait until 5, to be honest, since I feel that you need the extra survival power in the jungle so they can't just catch you when you're low on HP/Mana for a free kill.

[NiGHTsC]

The jungle video is great, those pulls to creeps are indeed tricky, it seems you have to keep attacking them so they will come back from running.

Wingbow (6000g total)
If the enemy team consists of ranged damage heroes (Arachna, Wildsoul, Valkyrie, Soulstealer, Puppetmaster, Moon Queen, etc) then this item is worth it. The evasion from Wingbow does not stack with your shield for melee attacks, but does stack with ranged, as the ranged is considered "reflection".
When you said "does stack", do you actually mean 60% of "reflection" with Wingbow+Shield?

[JoeMartin]

No, the windshield gives evasion for melee and reflection for ranged. A wingbow gives evasion for melee and ranged attacks.

The windshield melee evasion won't stack with a wingbow, however the ranged evasion from a wingbow is in effect given your windshield doesn't reflect it.

[uberdabing]

The thing I'm worried about with that video is that you could easily get ganked, especially when they notice that you're pulling and therefore know for sure you're in the jungle. Zephyr's REEEEEAAAAAALLY squishy at low levels, so they could slow you down pretty viciously if you try to l1 jungle. I'd still say wait until 5, to be honest, since I feel that you need the extra survival power in the jungle so they can't just catch you when you're low on HP/Mana for a free kill.

I know. That's why you should always keep mana up for leap. If you are playing against opponents that are good enough to harass the jungle, then it means your team is probably good enough to buy wards. That means you shouldn't be getting surprised, and even if you do, you have an easy escape mechanism, which is more than what most typical junglers have.


No, the windshield gives evasion for melee and reflection for ranged. A wingbow gives evasion for melee and ranged attacks.

The windshield melee evasion won't stack with a wingbow, however the ranged evasion from a wingbow is in effect given your windshield doesn't reflect it.

Yes, pretty much this. The ranged reflection will "stack" with Wingbow evasion, however NOT in a linear sense (30% + 30%). I would assume it would follow standard probability, and thus:

P(reflection) + P(evasion) - P(reflection and evasion both happening)

or

.30 + .30 - .09 = .51 - 51% evasion to ranged attacks.

[JohnnySmash]

This guide is so awesome, now I like Zephyr a lot

[NiGHTsC]

why the nerf, sigh...

[Llama]

Nerf? his cyclones now last 50(40?) secs at all levels! makes it way easier to jungle at lower levels. Im pretty sure the evasion and reflection are independent, so now it is 50% evasion, before it was 60%

[kolkoo]

So I read your guide, watched the jungle video - nothing special creep stacking/pulling same old, same old. But that can only be pulled off if the other team are brain dead or noobs. Seriously pulling that many times every person with half a brain will come to find you even if you escape you lose money experience, tornados, etc. And that's only the top lane heroes, a good mid hero with 1/4 of a brain will come to find you, god forbid they have any support that puts a nice little ward on the cliff there gg. So the viable way to do is , is have 2 top lane heroes ready to come to the rescue ( that also setups for nice 3v2 ganks) or at that awsome ward spot ( the one that also provides rune vision ). Ofc the 3v2 setup provides for a possible rape-age on the bot lane hero whoever he is or if he has some sort of skill to try and stay alive he won't farm at all. So that's just my 2c on this guide.

[Thysios]

hack and slash is a relatively bad item on any hero

[JeffEmming]

I didn't read the whole thread, so I'm sorry if it's been answered, but what did you do wrong for those creeps not to spawn at 7 minutes?

[audr3y]

loved ur guide, though i believe u spend a lot of time explaining the jungling part (which makes sense) instead of more indepth situations with Zephyr. And, u havn't looked at the HoN mechanics, since h+s DO STACK with nulffire.. the only to items that don't stack are shieldbreaker and frostwolf skull. Rest DOES :p

Anyway, somebody talked about lifesteal = **** it. Sry to say it straight out, but not worth ur time/money.. Except maybe parasite, but still, not that good an item.

Last of all, why the F*** do u want marchers? being zephyr u have major pushability, and, given ur item build, ur not the herokiller og death. And, if u are, it's damage and not ur massive attackspeed that's gonna make a difference. i ALWAYS go post haste so i can push all the lanes, all the time, and make A LOT of cash and help my team all the time. I think this is one of (if not the most) important roles zephyr plays in any given match.

[thewishkah]

yeah i usually just marchers early and then post haste eznp farm after mock.

as for those debating against mock its useful for building up cyclones before/during team fights as it kills creeps passively.

Usually i'll get loggers + 2 minor totems + tangos and lane bot with a ranged hero who can semi solo. Later i'll turn the totems into a mana battery.

At 3 i'll buy a iron buckler and head into forest and depending on other team lineup farm for HotBL or Shamans depending on opposing team, then Mock.

Really liked the reference to videos, and the guide in general, opened up a few more ideas as to builds.

[Matau32]

What happend to your old guide the one with 3 minor totems/1 hatchet/1clarity pot/tango for the beginning :/