Isin
02-21-2010, 11:25 PM
http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/images/heroes/39/icon_128.jpg
|Predator|
The Gamebreaker
I never see Predator being picked in 1700+ games, and when I do, he always goes into a side lane or (heaven forbid) the jungle. I rarely ever ever ever see Predator played properly, or lineups built around this game-changing carry. He's got to be one of the most underrated heroes in the game right now... so here's a little bit of propaganda for Predator.
Laning Pros (mid):
Lifesteal allows you to get life from harassing and a bit of extra damage on last hits/denies (with minimal heal)
Leap is excellent for killing your lane opponent for an early bloodlust, harassing and getting a few lifesteal hits, or ganking the side lanes. It's got a fairly low cooldown, a fairly long range and good damage.
Stone hide allows you to dodge your opponent's spells when they retaliate from harassing or try to initiate on you. It also helps you avoid retaliation when ganking.
The ult just makes ganking and killing easier for Predator.
Very good base damage makes for good last hitting.
Fairly large base HP gives Predator better survivability in lane.
Benefits more than almost any other hero from easy farming at mid; you can get ahead in xp and last hits while your opponent goes to get runes etc
Laning Cons (mid):
Poor rune control & not much use for a bottle
Melee hero
Mediocre attack animation (compared to other carries like mb/mm/nh/tdl etc)
Carry Pros:
Not too much reliance on damage items, and a STR hero, so a valid candidate for an early heart.
Good farm capability allows Predator to get a shieldbreaker by the 12-20 minute mark. Once you get a shieldbreaker (and are several levels higher than everyone else due to soloing mid) you can take down even the beefiest enemies in 5 or 6 hits, and the rest in 3 or 4.
Predator doesn't need to rice the defensive lane and the woods all game like heroes such as Sand Wraith, Warbeast, Wildsoul etc; he can gank for kills AND farm the same amount as other carries.
Extremely versatile with a built in magic immunity and armor buff, a slow that ports you to your target and does damage, built in lifesteal that's greater than anything an item will give you, and an ult that reduces armor and gives free attack speed and movespeed. All of these abilities basically give Predator the effects of Frostburn, Whispering Helm, Shieldbreaker and Shrunken Head for free (minus the stats of course).
Because of this, Predator can go for luxury items early on without a doubt.
Predator's burst of HP and enormous damage can turn a teamfight in seconds. A well-played Predator can take out several heroes at once at low health, keeping himself alive with lifesteal and spell immunity.
Predator levels up extremely quickly due to his domination in teamfights, ganks, AND lanes.
Carry Cons:
Melee hero.
Reliance on early game lane domination; if Pred is underleveled he's pretty much useless. This goes for almost any carry, but there are a few exceptions, so it's worth mentioning.
That's really just about it!!!
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|Item Builds|
http://i35.tinypic.com/30l17ia.jpghttp://i37.tinypic.com/vwz9t1.jpghttp://i38.tinypic.com/313jh2d.jpghttp://i49.tinypic.com/2d2gevk.jpghttp://i33.tinypic.com/qnsb61.jpg
These are your staple early game starter items. Logger's hatchet is necessary for almost any melee solo mid (with the exception of maybe Deadwood) because you need to be able to last hit with more versatility, otherwise you'll be too easy to harass. Iron Buckler mitigates your opponent's harassment. Due to your high starting health and damage, stat items are unnecessary, but if you're facing another melee hero mid it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some minor totems instead. If you're facing a 'spell spammer', buy a mana battery instead.
http://i36.tinypic.com/a59izo.jpghttp://i33.tinypic.com/bhf482.jpg
Ghost Marchers give you extra damage which is great for farming and killing, but more importantly they give you high move speed and a movespeed boost/unitwalking which is absolutely necessary for Predator. He is a melee carry that will be in the fray, between units and enemy heroes and allies and everything, unitwalking is a must.
And yes, I just put Shieldbreaker in the early game items; you should have it by the 20 minute mark at the very most. Rushing a Shieldbreaker is always a good choice because Predator doesn't need defensive items early on due to his free magic immunity.
http://i35.tinypic.com/2mxpi6t.jpghttp://i35.tinypic.com/2akl0dz.jpg
These are both extremely important for Predator mid game. Heart gives you health, damage and insane regeneration (the best part about being a STR carry), and you already have enormous damage from Shieldbreaker, so this defensive item will benefit you more than another damage item. Insanitarius gives you a quick health boost in the middle of a battle (great for mind games), you can mitigate the health loss with your lifesteal, and the damage boost it gives you is essential. Both Heart and Insanitarius work too well with Predator's skillset to pass them up.
http://i35.tinypic.com/1zoezx5.jpghttp://i37.tinypic.com/15jcp1.jpghttp://i38.tinypic.com/ejcyvc.jpg
These are just luxury items. The bonuses are pretty obvious. If you're facing other high physical damage heroes or high-armor agility carries, get breastplate; it also gives you an enormous attack speed boost which will help you destroy their team.
If you're not having trouble staying alive in teamfights, go for Riftshards; you might even be able to 1-shot heroes. Your damage will hit the roof with level 4 Riftshards.
If you're facing a team of casters, go for Symbol of Rage. The strength will help mitigate the damage from their nukes, and the high lifesteal effect will allow you to regain the HP you lose from spells like Pyromancer or Witch Slayer's ultimates in a matter of seconds.
(You can get a charged hammer or savage mace if you want, but they're not as good as these three items)
http://i35.tinypic.com/2usijqb.jpghttp://i37.tinypic.com/2q8ron6.jpghttp://i38.tinypic.com/iqdg7r.jpghttp://i33.tinypic.com/1z4byme.jpg
These are Predator's no-nos. Mock of Brilliance is a bad choice simply because a Shieldbreaker works SO much better.
Runed Axe is unnecessary; Predator farms pretty well already, and he operates in a teamfight by spreading out enemy heroes and taking them out one by one quickly. And you get so much more from a Shieldbreaker, and getting another damage item right after SB is not advisable.
Elder Parasite is a common but horrible choice. Predator operates on the line between living and dying in a teamfight, and Elder Parasite will tip the balance and kill you. It may look good on paper, but it hurts you more than it helps you.
Frostburn just doesn't work as well as Shieldbreaker, and they don't stack.
----------------------------------------------------------
The rest coming soon. I'm not sure if I should list out every detail of Predator's abilities like in most other guides; I kinda hate it when people do this, it just takes up space and all of the details are accessible elsewhere on the site. I think I'll just link to it. Thoughts?
|Predator|
The Gamebreaker
I never see Predator being picked in 1700+ games, and when I do, he always goes into a side lane or (heaven forbid) the jungle. I rarely ever ever ever see Predator played properly, or lineups built around this game-changing carry. He's got to be one of the most underrated heroes in the game right now... so here's a little bit of propaganda for Predator.
Laning Pros (mid):
Lifesteal allows you to get life from harassing and a bit of extra damage on last hits/denies (with minimal heal)
Leap is excellent for killing your lane opponent for an early bloodlust, harassing and getting a few lifesteal hits, or ganking the side lanes. It's got a fairly low cooldown, a fairly long range and good damage.
Stone hide allows you to dodge your opponent's spells when they retaliate from harassing or try to initiate on you. It also helps you avoid retaliation when ganking.
The ult just makes ganking and killing easier for Predator.
Very good base damage makes for good last hitting.
Fairly large base HP gives Predator better survivability in lane.
Benefits more than almost any other hero from easy farming at mid; you can get ahead in xp and last hits while your opponent goes to get runes etc
Laning Cons (mid):
Poor rune control & not much use for a bottle
Melee hero
Mediocre attack animation (compared to other carries like mb/mm/nh/tdl etc)
Carry Pros:
Not too much reliance on damage items, and a STR hero, so a valid candidate for an early heart.
Good farm capability allows Predator to get a shieldbreaker by the 12-20 minute mark. Once you get a shieldbreaker (and are several levels higher than everyone else due to soloing mid) you can take down even the beefiest enemies in 5 or 6 hits, and the rest in 3 or 4.
Predator doesn't need to rice the defensive lane and the woods all game like heroes such as Sand Wraith, Warbeast, Wildsoul etc; he can gank for kills AND farm the same amount as other carries.
Extremely versatile with a built in magic immunity and armor buff, a slow that ports you to your target and does damage, built in lifesteal that's greater than anything an item will give you, and an ult that reduces armor and gives free attack speed and movespeed. All of these abilities basically give Predator the effects of Frostburn, Whispering Helm, Shieldbreaker and Shrunken Head for free (minus the stats of course).
Because of this, Predator can go for luxury items early on without a doubt.
Predator's burst of HP and enormous damage can turn a teamfight in seconds. A well-played Predator can take out several heroes at once at low health, keeping himself alive with lifesteal and spell immunity.
Predator levels up extremely quickly due to his domination in teamfights, ganks, AND lanes.
Carry Cons:
Melee hero.
Reliance on early game lane domination; if Pred is underleveled he's pretty much useless. This goes for almost any carry, but there are a few exceptions, so it's worth mentioning.
That's really just about it!!!
----------------------------------------------------------
|Item Builds|
http://i35.tinypic.com/30l17ia.jpghttp://i37.tinypic.com/vwz9t1.jpghttp://i38.tinypic.com/313jh2d.jpghttp://i49.tinypic.com/2d2gevk.jpghttp://i33.tinypic.com/qnsb61.jpg
These are your staple early game starter items. Logger's hatchet is necessary for almost any melee solo mid (with the exception of maybe Deadwood) because you need to be able to last hit with more versatility, otherwise you'll be too easy to harass. Iron Buckler mitigates your opponent's harassment. Due to your high starting health and damage, stat items are unnecessary, but if you're facing another melee hero mid it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some minor totems instead. If you're facing a 'spell spammer', buy a mana battery instead.
http://i36.tinypic.com/a59izo.jpghttp://i33.tinypic.com/bhf482.jpg
Ghost Marchers give you extra damage which is great for farming and killing, but more importantly they give you high move speed and a movespeed boost/unitwalking which is absolutely necessary for Predator. He is a melee carry that will be in the fray, between units and enemy heroes and allies and everything, unitwalking is a must.
And yes, I just put Shieldbreaker in the early game items; you should have it by the 20 minute mark at the very most. Rushing a Shieldbreaker is always a good choice because Predator doesn't need defensive items early on due to his free magic immunity.
http://i35.tinypic.com/2mxpi6t.jpghttp://i35.tinypic.com/2akl0dz.jpg
These are both extremely important for Predator mid game. Heart gives you health, damage and insane regeneration (the best part about being a STR carry), and you already have enormous damage from Shieldbreaker, so this defensive item will benefit you more than another damage item. Insanitarius gives you a quick health boost in the middle of a battle (great for mind games), you can mitigate the health loss with your lifesteal, and the damage boost it gives you is essential. Both Heart and Insanitarius work too well with Predator's skillset to pass them up.
http://i35.tinypic.com/1zoezx5.jpghttp://i37.tinypic.com/15jcp1.jpghttp://i38.tinypic.com/ejcyvc.jpg
These are just luxury items. The bonuses are pretty obvious. If you're facing other high physical damage heroes or high-armor agility carries, get breastplate; it also gives you an enormous attack speed boost which will help you destroy their team.
If you're not having trouble staying alive in teamfights, go for Riftshards; you might even be able to 1-shot heroes. Your damage will hit the roof with level 4 Riftshards.
If you're facing a team of casters, go for Symbol of Rage. The strength will help mitigate the damage from their nukes, and the high lifesteal effect will allow you to regain the HP you lose from spells like Pyromancer or Witch Slayer's ultimates in a matter of seconds.
(You can get a charged hammer or savage mace if you want, but they're not as good as these three items)
http://i35.tinypic.com/2usijqb.jpghttp://i37.tinypic.com/2q8ron6.jpghttp://i38.tinypic.com/iqdg7r.jpghttp://i33.tinypic.com/1z4byme.jpg
These are Predator's no-nos. Mock of Brilliance is a bad choice simply because a Shieldbreaker works SO much better.
Runed Axe is unnecessary; Predator farms pretty well already, and he operates in a teamfight by spreading out enemy heroes and taking them out one by one quickly. And you get so much more from a Shieldbreaker, and getting another damage item right after SB is not advisable.
Elder Parasite is a common but horrible choice. Predator operates on the line between living and dying in a teamfight, and Elder Parasite will tip the balance and kill you. It may look good on paper, but it hurts you more than it helps you.
Frostburn just doesn't work as well as Shieldbreaker, and they don't stack.
----------------------------------------------------------
The rest coming soon. I'm not sure if I should list out every detail of Predator's abilities like in most other guides; I kinda hate it when people do this, it just takes up space and all of the details are accessible elsewhere on the site. I think I'll just link to it. Thoughts?