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I'm trying to learn how to use Night Hound. Sadly, I'm quite aware he pales in comparison with Scout so instead of bellyflopping on the bandwagon, I wanted a breath of fresh night-light air. (BAD PUNHOLYSHI-)
Obviously, I first get a rank one cloud and go with the Blink/Backstab build until level 8/9(?). I'm quite confused with his item build, since I don't really know the best competitive build (not pubstomper, y'all Codex users). I tend to get a Poor Man's Shield [whatever HoN name it is], Steamboots, then I quickly rush for the Purgestick. After that, I'm lost with the item build.
TLDR: I don't want to use Scout. I get a Purgestick, is it correct? What is the correct item build? What is the correct competitive skill build, not the pub-stomping build?
items (in order):
agility steam boots
2 soul scream rings
nullfire blade
shrunken head/life steal
shrunken head/life steal
wingbow
after that luxury items are:
behemoths heart
shieldbreaker
savage mace
the frosty weapon that slows the enemy (lol sorry)
also, if the enemy has a lot of nukers, or your having a hard time in a lane, u might want to get a shamans headdress to prevent being nuked down.
Skillwise, I usually go:
1-Cloud
2-Blink Strike
3-Blink Strike
4-Backstab
5-Blink Strike
6-Ult
then I max in the following order:
Blink strike, backstab, ult, cloud, stats
I always max cloud before stats because its much more team winning and gank oriented than some extra dmg or hp.
I dunno if he'd be considered a hard carry, but he definitely needs to farm a lot of the game to be useful. If you can farm a wingbow fast, which is pretty easy with his ult, you can kill a hero in seconds if you crit them from behind. You use nullfire blade to keep them in the cloud as long as possible. It's also useful in removing mana from enemy casters like magmus or behemoth, and purging jerezahs magic shield and ult.
I like NH, it saddens me that S2 implemented a way better stealthy character a la scout to overshadow him.
Last edited by masterofping; 09-30-2009 at 10:28 AM.
u shoudn't get steamboots . buy phase boots !
seems unecessary with blink strike, and steam boots offer a better average speed boost, and some added tankiness. Doesn't phasing turn off his cloak? Also with night hound, every point in agility is a lot more than one point on any other agility hero because backstab adds damage based on how much agility you have.
Runed axe also seems like a good weapon once you have nullfire blade, crits everyone in cloud with backstab damage :d
Steamboots are obsolete for NH with the -nerf- CHANGE.
But if you play any sort of pubs it's so easy to absolutely rape face with NH.
Originally Posted by uhhhahhhohah
NIght hound is a bad hero, dont hurt your team like this
Thanks for the replies everyone, played another NH game following your advice. Yes, I'd have to agree that NH is a hard carry but he's quite the pubstomper with a bit of luck and a major amount of farming. Besides, like I'll ever take part in a competition in HoN/DotA.
As for Evotech, please stop wasting bandwidth in this forum and post something mindfully next time.
SA > Scout
10/10. Steamboots are ftw on night hound. He's a ridiculously shifty hero and very hard to pin down once nullfire is brought into the picture (can remove dust debuff as well as slow pursuers).
This man speaks the truth.
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He isn't top tier, but he is by no means a bad hero.
also remember that since you are invis.. you can farm VERY easily.
i see this is the biggest mistake for all SA/NH players. you dont even have to attack teh creeps... you can just stand there while they die and soak up lots of exp.
this can be combined with waiting for an enemy who is farming (or free-farming) to get a little low on health, then jump in and finish them off and keep farming happily
SA's levels early game are what make him strong.. rushing to 6 is really important.. and if you can get to 11 you're even better off (much less fade time).. and of course since the point of SA is to stack agility you're gonna need to get levels into back stab.
the skill choices i've seen here are the same ones i go.. so it makes a huge difference once you get up into higher levels and start rackign up backstab damage
just.. make sure you dont pop out of invis at the wrong times in big fights.. tahts why people call sa nub or a nub hero.. cause people lurk around when they shouldnt and get dusted / come out and get stunned
Things to note if you're night hound and free-farming a lane. If the opposing team has a behemoth or magmus, be very careful. They can easily blink in on you and instakill if you're consistently free-farming one lane (showing up to last hit creeps every 3-4 seconds). Try to mix it up.
Rush Nullfire/steamboots/2 soulscreams and immediately call for a gank with one or two of your more mobile teammates. Sweep the enemy forest while invis and find yourself some free gold
In team fights you will often be the initiator due to cloud and your natural invis...make sure you have a trusted teammate or two that have heals / stuns ready to take some heat off once you initiate otherwise it's going to go sour real fast.
New to Heroes of Newerth? Find help in the Training Grounds.
TreeHorse is not an employee of S2 Games. Be warned: He will rage at you.
I find this funny about myself, after i get nullfire blade, i tend to start playing like magebane and be invincible, its quite funny thought i did get a geometer's bane with him after the nullfire and it is quite good damage, if you have time you can try to build him that ways because you do have blink so your images can go anywhere with you =P, and with frostwolf's skull its just retarded.
night hound is one of the only heroes i build with absolutely no concern for health. focus agility and stack it out the ass. instead of fortified bracers(which i buy for just about every hero), i grab soulscream. get steam boots and switch them to agility. while strength is generally better for most heroes early game, each point in agility it +2 damage for nighthound. this is a huge boon. dont get phase boots because night hound doesnt need the attack speed
build wise, i usually go:
backstab
cloud
backstab
blink
backstab
invis
backstab
blink
blink
blink
invis
cloud
cloud
cloud
stats...
That's a super bad build. I want to play you so I can laugh at you! How's life been after the fall of Darkfail?
meh, i wouldnt be caught dead playing night hound in a serious game, so the build works for how i use it.
oh, and my life has been terribly empty, as if there is a whole in my heart. i cry myself to sleep more often than not
Lifesteal is optional on nighthound.
It's generally better to get all your basic agility items before going lifesteal.
getting tank items may make it so that night hound doesn't die in 2 nukes, but it also makes him hit like a girl... so just live by your invisibility.
Uberfail.
maxing out blinkstrike/pounce is a must.
And backstab at lvl1 is uberuberuberfail.... Never get a passive at lvl1, it doesnt help with escaping or ganking (yes against halfdecent players, there will be a lot of action during the first few levels).
E8400, 4850, 4gig, windows xp.
decent rig + great engine = awesome performance!
I am new to the game (only played about 150 games so far, only pubs) and I still suck, but I've gotten pretty decent with NH with the following build:
1: Cloud/Pounce (this depends on if the opponents on my lane are carebearing it up or aggressive... cloud the aggressive guys, and pounce-n-run the carebears)
2: Pounce/Cloud (whichever one I didn't do at level 1)
3: BS
4: Pounce
5: BS
6: Stealth
7: Pounce
8: BS
9: Pounce (max)
10: BS (max)
11: Stealth
12+ usually alternates between cloud and stats until max
For items, 603 creds = soulscream + runes of the blight + mana pot.
Next, work towards Steamboots (for agility boost), Nullfire blades, and if the cash flow is really disgusting, go for any and all agility boosts I can find. 500+ damage pounces FTW. For team battles, I can scout ahead and open up the battle with a cloud which totally throws them off their game and I am basically spamming pounces on the weakest/target as soon as it's off cooldown and hitting them while they're trying to run (backstabbing FTW) and bye-bye enemy heroes.
Last edited by Crimsson; 10-05-2009 at 10:43 AM.
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