Magebane - Feel the Burn!

[Shixax]

Version Upgrades:
-Original (Still like dota's antimage)
-1.59 Closed Beta.
-1.66.1 Closed Beta.
-0.3.4.1 Open Beta
-1.02 Release
-2.0.10 HoN 2.0

Background

A keeper of lost lore and a priest to forgotten gods, Magebane invokes unholy rituals to drain the energy of his enemies and turn it back against them. In less desperate times, heretics such as Magebane would have been burned at the stake, but this is not the first unexpected clemency brought about by the war against the Hellbourne.

Starting Attributes

Damage: 46-50
Armor: 3.08
Move speed: 320
Attack type: Melee (100)
Attack rate: 0.69

Strength 20 (+1.6)
Agility 22 (+2.8)
Intelligence 15 (+1.5)

Roles:
Early - Babysitted
Mid - Farmer/Ganker
Late - Carry

Pros

-Mana Combustion is good against mages in mid and low mana pool heroes in late.
-Ult is devastating if used right because it has ministun and AoE.
-Fastest Attack Speed in the whole game.
-Very good carry with escape mechanism.


Cons

-Low Health in early and regular in late with items.
-Low mana in early if played incorrectly.
-Extremely item dependent hero and Most suited for a pub, although IMO could go to competitive with a good game play style.

Skills

Mana Combustion



On each attack, Magebane drains some of the target's Mana. The drained Mana combusts, dealing additional damage back to the target.

Exclusive Modifier (Stacks with everything except with Other mana burning modifiers)
Manacost Passive
Targeting Passive
Cooldown None
Detailed Effect Takes 16/32/48/64 of the targets Mana and deals Physical damage equal to 60% of the Mana taken. (By taking, it means draining but not stealing for yourself, aka burning)


Flash


In a flash of light, Magebane is able to teleport a short distance to a target location.

Manacost 60 mana.
Targeting Ground, Min. range 200, max range 1000/1075/1150
Cooldown 12/9/7/5 seconds
Detailed Effect Teleport self to target position. Applies Flash Armor (Self) to self for 10 seconds and applies Flash Armor to allies within 500 units of target position for 7 seconds.

Flash Effects:

-Self: +3/+6/+12/+15 Magic Armor
-Others: +2/+3/+4/+5


Master of the Mantra



Magebane proves he is the master of the flow of Magic around him, limiting the speed enemies can control it while damaging them if they cast.

Manacost Passive
Targeting Passive
Cooldown None
AoE 600
Detailed Effect -15/-20/-25/-30 Cast Speed. Damaged for 35%/50%/65%/80% of abilities and items manacost when cast.

Mana Rift (Ultimate)


Magebane tears a rift in a target unit's mind, stunning it briefly. He then detonates the rift, dealing damage in an area around the target based on how much Mana the target has missing. The more Mana the target is missing, the higher the damage dealt.

Manacost 125/200/275
Targeting Enemy Hero
Cooldown 120/100/80 seconds
Detailed Effect Deals 0.6/0.85/1.10 Magic damage per Mana point missing from primary target to 250 AOE around it and stuns primary target for 0.1/0.2/0.3 seconds.

Skill Build

1.- Flash
2.- Mana Combustion
3.- Mana Combustion
4.- Flash
5.- Mana Combustion
6.- Mana Rift
7.- Mana Combustion
8.- Flash
9.- Flash
10.- Master of the Mantra
11.- Mana Rift
12.- Master of the Mantra
13.- Master of the Mantra
14.- Master of the Mantra
15.- Stat Points
16.- Mana Rift
17-25.- Stat Points

Skill explanation:

You need the first level of Flash for mobility. The extra skill point at lv 4 that can't be used for mana combustion would have a much better use if you get Flash instead of another level of Master of the Mantra, maybe even stats for laning, but the few seconds off the cooldown on Flash are really worth it.

Item Build

Runes of the Blight

X 1

Health Potion
X 1

Get two of these:

Minor Totems
X 2

This should be enough to let you stay in peace in your lane for a while. And for last hitting (although that's easy with mage due to his awesome animation), get a logger's hatchet!

TIMBEEEER!
X 1

Alternatively, you can also get an...

Iron Buckler
X 1

Get this when you know you are gonna get harassed a lot. The stats are better for last hitting, but the stout is really helpful against the auto attacks of ranged heroes. You will be getting this next if you rather get Minor Totems and two healing items, since this can be turned into an Iron Shield or Helmet of the Black Legion later on. If you do decide to get it first, I prefer the health pot over the Runes of Blight with whatever gold you have left. For this part of the guide, I'm going to stick with my personal build, so next up you are going to get:

Marchers
X 1

Then you can either finish off your steamboots, you wanna make em strength first cause you will need it for survivability, or get a Helmet of the Black Legion. If you are gonna be farming some more, Helmet might just be the way to go, due to the 5 health regen from the Life Tube. However, take into account that helmet is somewhat situational. It always helps, but the other team might deal a huge amount of magical damage rather than physical damage, so for the sake of this guide, let's say you get steamboots first, since it still gives 190 hp and the extra movement speed is ALWAYS good.

Steamboots
Str Steamboots

Now here is up to you. You got 2 choices, choose wisely as it varies from situation to situation. This items are important for magebane's survivability and shouldn't be skipped.

Helm of the Black Legion
X 1 If they lack mages

After getting this you can turn your steamboots to Agi, I personally just keep em on strength.

Null Stone
X 1 If they got Deadly targeting skills.

As far as I know, any targeting skill can be blocked and this is lifesaving against heroes as blood, lego, pyro, witch slayer, [Insert 1-Shot 1-Kill skill here] Also the regen and stats are pretty nice. However the cost is extremely high, should only go for it if your gpm is real high, and even then you might wanna get a Shrunken Head first. Which reminds me:

Shrunken Head
X 1

Now you wanna get your damage item, personally, I would go:

Savage Mace
X 1

It was actually Shield Breaker, but with the change that made lifesteal an exclusive attack modifier, well it doesn't work as well as it did (sure you can manually change between attack modifiers but 1. It is a pain and 2. By doing so you really have to work that micro and that can be distracting, especially since the shield breaker debuff doesn't really last long). Still, Savage Mace gives a little attack speed buff, which goes well with Magebane, 88 physical damage and 35% chance to deal 100 physical damage, which I personally believe it's cool. Also, in case it's needed, it gives True Strike, which means you DON'T MISS.

Now, remember I mentioned lifesteal? Yes, you will wanna get this little guy now, or maybe before savage mace, depends on your survivability item and pace of the game:

Whispering Helm
X 1

Now, for my favorite:

Wing Bow
X 1

I already said magebane is the fastest hero in the game. Not because he can increase his attack speed more than everyone, but because his base attack speed is faster and that allows him to have the fastest att speed in the game without having more att speed items. Get him one of this babies and he's ready to roll.

Symbol of Rage
X 1

This is just what you needed, the item that will make you immortal and also pretty hard to get except if you are farming noobs. Btw, with immortal I mean you will be pretty hard to kill unless they got some nasty disables or they outcarry you, which, if you got this far, it's very unlikely.

And the last item is...

Homecoming stones!
X 1 - 2

And it's no joke, from your first time back to base you should always carry one or two of these around just in case you need to tp to base. A good Idea with magebane is to blink to somewhere unreachable and tp base to escape annihilation. This is just a general reminder though, it's common knowledge to ALWAYS carry homecoming stones.

Now I'm gonna post a summary of what items to buy, in what order, and your final item build.

Summary

Build 1 (Preferred and tested Build)

Early
x1 Health Potion
x1 Iron Buckler
x1 Logger's hatchet
x1 Marchers
x1 Helmet of the Black Legion
x1 Str Steamboots

Sometimes farm is bad, which means you might end up finishing your Helmet or Steamboots by the start of midgame.

Mid
x1 Whispering Helm/Shrunken Head
x1 Savage Mace

Late
x1 Shrunken Head/Whispering Helm
x1 Wingbow
x1 Symbol of Rage

*Carry Homecoming stones since your first time back to base.

Final Build

Shrunken Head
Steamboots
Symbol Of Rage
Wingbow
Savage Mace

The final item can be anything you want. You can carry Homecoming Stones in case you fear backdoor, or another damage item. The thing is, your best damage item choice at this point will probably be Riftshards, but the last slot is very situational, so just do as you see fit.

The reason I don't suggest Geometer's Bane, is because by this point in the game, all it does is 50 damage per illusion, because it only deals a percentage of your base damage, plus a little from the mana burn. While that is +130 or so with illusions, plus the extra speed, but by this point of the game, Riftshards would scale better.

Build 2

Early
x1 Runes of the Blight
x1 Health Potion
x2 Minor Totems
x1 Logger's Hatchet
x1 Iron Shield (Buy in the store next to you)
x1 Steamboots Str/Agi
x1 Lifetube

Mid
x1 Runed Axe
x1 Shrunken Head

Late
x1 Abyssal Skull
x1 Frostburn
Trade Iron Shield for:
x1 Wingbow

*Carry Homecoming stones since your first time back to base.

Final Build

Shrunken Head
Steamboots
Abyssal SKull
Wingbow
Frostburn
Runed Axe

Note: Only build 1 is tested and IT WORKS. Build two might be good but remains untested.

Gameplay

General Tips

This are discussed much more In-Depth later on, but it's just so you can take them into account or if you are in a hurry just so you get an idea.

- Blink in front of the target when pursuing to get extra hits.
- Farm as much as you can, as fast as you can. During mid-game, if your lane is getting ganked much, you can go around the map picking off anyone that's left alone. At this point of the game, your burn hurts like hell and your Aoe Ult is hated by your enemies.
- Do not be afraid to keep pursuing the enemy. Try to avoid towers by blinking. If you have to back before he is dead, he either got backup or you blinked in at a wrong time. KEEP MAP AWARENESS.
- When escaping, run in one direction and discretely flash to another.
- When escaping, blink to a hill or behind the woods in the edges of the map and then Tp base for a sure escape.

Early Game

When starting the game get your items and go to your lane, it's always good to creep block a little. You cannot really gank at runes, but you can scout it and pick it off and then blink away before you get ganked. About creep blocking, in your case you wanna be just outside of tower's range at all times so you can rush back to it and the tower won't push your lane, which is bad at early in most cases.

Take it easy on early, you cannot make any kill until you get your ult or unless you are coupled with a disabler (which rocks since if he can stun/freeze/slow/silence him you can blink in and try to go for the kill). Your main focus should be to farm your survivability item, at this point.

When blinking, try to blink in front of the hero, almost on top of him. If done right, you can get from one to a couple of extra hits in, if done wrong, at most you can get one extra hit. Here's a bit of advice, when blinking, take into account your opponent's level of gameplay. If he turns around when you blink in front on him, then, when blinking, blink just behind him instead of in front of him and watch him walk to you.

Things to take into consideration: If you have to back after you blink into combat, then you didn't blink right and have no escape mechanism available. When you are sure you can get the kill, or think he will start backing when you blink in instead of fighting, then go ahead. The thing about magebane is that you shouldn't back until you get the kill. You gotta be a little stubborn but also know your limit. What I'm saying is that if his skill are on cooldown or has little mana and life then blink in and you can try and tower dive and then blink away, you gotta be careful though.

Mid Game

Keep farming! That's right, Magebane has no nukes or disables other than his ult, so you really need your items, however, he hits like a truck once he has a couple of items and his ult can land you some nice kills. If your lane is getting some pressure, DO NOT PANIC: It's your time to SHINE! Go around the map ganking the hell out of 'em. You already should have steamboots and your ult around lv 2. You are in your prime and if you have done well you should already have at least a couple of kills. This is the time when you gotta be the most careful though.

Remember, your role right now is that of a farmer, whenever the lane is free, go back to it and squeeze out any rice you can get. Your goal is to get your survivability item, if you haven't already, and if you can your damage item.


Late Game

You are either 4 things. Immortal due to your superb blinks, great damage and competent team, a decent carry that can manage in a team fight but ends up backing before it's finished, one of the firsts to die in battle as you are targeted before you can run away and your team does nothing to help you or worse, you are the one screwing up the whole game for your team and feeding the other team.

Whoever you are, try to remember this things. When in battle, work together with your team and aim at a single target. If the target is a mana dependent hero then ult away because if you targeted him first, he's gotta be the one holding the other team together. If he is not mana dependent, try to save your ult for killing 1-3 heroes that are mana dependent, beware of the temptation to ks, beware.

The best way to go is to attack the one disabled or the one left behind or the mage that cancels your team lineup but for some reason no one is paying attention to him. The target is always defined in-game with your team, when I say all this, this are just some basic pointers of what a magebane can do, it all comes down to your item build in the end.


Good Teamates

Any disabler. Be it Glacius, Pollywog, lego, devourer, any1. The best mate is the one whose disable last longer. Also allies that will keep you alive, such as Jera and Nymph are good.

For laning you will DEFINITELY need a babysitter that can harass, creep pull and stack for you and counter ward... this means a good player, not any specific hero. Demented Shaman is a good example, due to it's heal. Demented Shaman is incredibly good, although everything is rapefest when it includes Dazzle.

As your role is to be the carry and have no effective way of slowing anyone down the best mates are those who can keep the enemy pinned down for you or those who can help you become invincible in combat.


Worst Enemies and Lane's Lineups

TB: I don't care if you think that just because you are magebane you can kill this one easily. A skilled TB will kill you with 2-3 nukes in early b4 you can burn away half of his life. A skilled TB, will try and juke you through the jungle while nuking you with his lightning bolt that doesn't reveal position. Just terrifying. In late however, you got the upper hand, not in early to mid though. When fighting this guy, get em out in the open and just go headfirst into him. You gotta be quick, for every seven seconds you delay, he will nuke away a big chunk of your HP, so take advantage of his slow MS and get him when you can get a clear vision of him, since his nuke doesn't reveal him.

Defiler: Let's see, a low cooldown damaging wave. Silence so you can't blink away nor use your ult and his ult is devastating when trying to pursue him or in any other occasion except with a tank. This one is really hard to kill especially if equipped tank-like in late when his ghost will come back to him and heal him his lost life, extra care recommended.

Succubus: A correctly played succubus is deadly 1-1 or in team fights if he targets you. He can sleep you so you will be around when the fight is over and they will focus on you, he can ult you so you won't have anyway to run, he can take away your damage so you have to entirely rely on mana burn or won't be able to fight at all. Null Stone recommended for this. Pay close attention to his mana, he has a high mana cost for his spells, so abuse that.

Puppet Master: High DPS, cancels your blink or forces you to attack your own team. Doesn't need to be explained more. Wait till team fights to get him since he might not focus on you. When grabbed, try to get him till you can blink away, or get someone else. When ulted, blink away and then come back.

Blood Hunter: He can silence you indefinitely, period. Even if he increases your damage, you won't probably be able to get to him. His ult also cuts your chase off. Have a null stone with you to fight him and wait till he silences himself or someone else to go in, unless you trust your teammates to get him when you can't.

Credits

That's it, credit goes to myself and pie's guide to magina in dota-allstars forums from which I gained part of the knowledge a year or so back. The metagame, skill and my knowledge has changed much, and I'm a better player now, so I hope this guide proves useful. Look forward to updates on this guide and I value your feedback! Thanks.

Special Thanks to: The people on this thread for their feedbacks.
-Killda (Man haven't seen you in a while)
-Skull4er (Added the worst enemies lineups)

[exnx]

you should type out the item names because the pictures won't load

[brn4meplz]

Think he means Homecoming stones.


My build is pretty similar from the Steam Boots to the helm for Melee dps classes or the Headress for high dmg casters(neither if a balanced team) I very rarely get the brutalizer. Typically i go for Elder Parasite/Hack the increased attack speed and increased movement on parasites active ability is good for chasing and hack allows you to stay close by. i usually choose hack cause it's dirst cheap for him

If your pubbing it up a shield breaker is pretty decent as his mana burn deals physical dmg

[Utred]

Is helm of the black legion worth the cost?

[[SRG]Paragon]

Magebane is very squishy. You need a strong survivability item, which will usually be Helm of the Black Legion if you're up against several strong physical heroes, and Shaman's Headress if you're up against nukers.

[[NGGR]cremson]

Good guide, a few sugestions thow. After u get a helm of the black legion and steamboots u should aim for abyssal skull if the are a lot of melle players in your team, or whispering helm if there are few melle or some1 allready has abyssal skull. The big life steal helps a lot mid game as u will have to survive in team aoe fights w/o ur expensive items. A good adition to ur guide would be pics of the blink distances and how to blink in order to dodge enemys ( i dont know if u can dodge stuns in hon like u could in dota). Some gameplay tactics will also help and will make ppl play him better early game.

[[SRG]Paragon]

i dont know if u can dodge stuns in hon like u could in dota

Most of the projectiles in HoN move much faster and are therefore much more difficult to dodge.

I have, if you're curious, Blinked out right as Pebbles landed Toss on me, and I ended up zooming all the way back from where I blinked to where the Toss would have placed me. It was weird. I'm not entirely sure I took damage.

[[NGGR]cremson]

yes i know they move a lot faster, i was talking about stuns like hammerstorms stun , and other similar skills.

[[S2]ElementUser]

4.- Stat Points

That Blink cooldown is more important than +2 stats, believe me

Headdress is overkill if you have your Spell Resistance. Spend the money on HP items instead.

[rhodric1]

sweet guide.
i usually start out with 2x runes, 2x crowns, and 1x minor totem.
also I almost never get bashers on him unless I'm super rich. it's just not useful enough to justify the price.

[a_cloth]

That Blink cooldown is more important than +2 stats, believe me

Headdress is overkill if you have your Spell Resistance. Spend the money on HP items instead.

Agreed I believe you never need headdress on magebane. You already have magic resistance. The problem isnt the damage the spells do but the disables like stunning nukes. The money for headress would be much better spent on shrunken head for damage/ health/ survivability.

Also remember you can get elder parasite on magebane for lifesteal and more attack speed, since your mana burn scales with attack speed. This can be used to replace your helm of the black legion

[[SRG]Paragon]

Elder Parasite makes him squishier. I don't think that it's ever a good item on Magebane. It works on Chronos because he gets six seconds to attack you for free.

[Shixax]

Just so you all know, as I said most of the survivability items are situational, I usually get null for the mana regen + spell negation and as you said shaman headdress isn't most cases the best choices, BUT you might need it agains tons of nukers or aoe damagers, that's why it is SITUATIONAL, thx for the feedback.

[EnragedCamel]

Is the damage done by mana burn added to life steal, or does lifesteal only works on the base damage?

[Shixax]

As far as I know, only your own damage. Mana burn is dealt as an additional damage which in lv 4 would be equivalent to 3/4 of 51. Some say it does, haven't really payed attention.

[Farow]

i would reccomend something like Sange and Yasha ( im too lazy to learn HoN names ) instead of the flayer for more atk speed and movement, also the ability to main the target, that plus blink is basically giving the enemy no escape, and the blink cooldown is probably more important than stats early game.

[Shixax]

Again listen for a second. You all don't appreciate the value of stats. Early on is when they have the biggest value. Flash does the same at all lvs but increses distance by 50 and reduces cooldown by 3 seconds, compare that to having extra dmg, armor, health, regen, att speed, an overall boost. Noting you can't get from 2 minor totems of course but it's free and it's just to give you more survivability. You might say, just get 2 minor totems then, but it doesn't require you to go back to base and if you have been following my build then your inventory is already full of minor totems. When you escape with 30 hp or so from a gank, you don't think about it, but if you had those 2 extra points, those just saved you and that has happened to me many times.

[Noivern]

mmm the skill build imo depends on your enemies: if there a lot of nukers, max up spell resistant first and thunderbringer/pyromancer will be a joke

[Kirbyski]

I have to admit this is one of the heroes I am worst with and I dont know many players who are solid with him but I do know that he has the potential to be quite deadly - This guide looks like it is what I need to take him the full length thanks

[SuperStanos]

Null Stone really isn't a good item for the cost.