Pharaoh - Full strategy guide

[elongated]

awsome guide man! im a clockwork/pharaoh fiend also
i loved the laid back funny way u chose to write it
too often all the guides are writen by the high and mighty 'pro high tiler' players u kicked them off there high and mighty horse! and although i dont think it will go premium its better imo then dunes! i say this coz most players play this game for fun in pubs and not for compeditive glory.
nice one man
i personally get tablet of comand just to be even more *****in or in your words 'pimpasaurus' considering its writen in hieroglyphics and syncs so well with all his spells (esp wall of mummies)
also i find bottle/manabattery mandatory, and loggers hatchet nice
but thats what makes this game so fun and diverse is all the ways to play it ^^
once again n1 pimpasaurus lolz

[[SALT]Gumbie]

Tablet is good if you trap someone in your wall and you want to get out without killing a mummy, so that they have to land 3 hits before they can chase you. Mana battery is excellent on most heroes, yes, especially against spammers, like Pyro, Panda and Armadon. I'll get a bottle to solo mid if I random and get Pharaoh, so that I can also ward the runes. Same with any 3v3. If there's a Scout/Keeper on the team, then Bottle works too.

I like it how you enjoyed reading the guide. I find that important too

[BarneyGumbal]

I like your item build but unfortunately I find Dune's skill build much better for the purposes of ganking. You don't really need level 4 Soul to grab extra last hits and if they get away after your Hellfire, having a lower level Hellfire with a higher level Soul probably wasn't going to kill them anyway.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

I like your item build but unfortunately I find Dune's skill build much better for the purposes of ganking. You don't really need level 4 Soul to grab extra last hits and if they get away after your Hellfire, having a lower level Hellfire with a higher level Soul probably wasn't going to kill them anyway.

In pubs though, I find that we are still laning until the level 9 mark, by which time you have your level 3 Fire and 1 Mummies. When used correctly, a 15 second cooldown scout to invaluable. Still, it's situational.


Again, this guide is for pubs, skill level <1800. If you have a PSR of 1800, then you don't really need guide, eh? Pharaoh is an exceptional pick in competative play, so watching some recorded comp. matches may be valuable in seeing what Pharaoh can do and how well he synergises with most teams.

[[SR9]BloodBone]

Nice guide ! love pharaoh, a so good hero!

[Corpselooter]

Puzzlebox?


Please?

[[SALT]Gumbie]

Puzzlebox?


Please?

Less viable in a 5v5 but extremely useful for picking off lone heroes. It might be worth purchasing, but the Daemon Plate and such are more useful for the team as a whole.

[Swaloosh]

First of all, why is an easy mode player making guides?

Pharaoh goes mid mostly so he can begin ganking much earlier in the game and so he can rune control to setup very early ganks. Also, the fact that you have frost/burn listed in your item build is the dumbest thing i have ever seen. NEVER try to build pharaoh as a carry, ever. Even if you are the highest level on your team, you should still stick to support and help your carries get kills. Everyone should look at this guide for an idea how NOT to play Pharaoh.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

I no longer play EM. Notice the number of games. The only EM I play to to help friends learnt he game, thuse the high EM percentage and low PSR. People who care about PSR care too much for the game.

NEVER try to build pharaoh as a carry, ever.

This guide is for PUBLIC GAMES. Often, your carry(ies) will not be competent and/or feeding. If this is the case, you are going to have to take the role, and in public games, this is far to often. You are likely one of those people who hosts 5v5 AP games with 4 friends, which is fine and in which case, yes, I agree, never build him as a carry.

[Corpselooter]

Less viable in a 5v5 but extremely useful for picking off lone heroes. It might be worth purchasing, but the Daemon Plate and such are more useful for the team as a whole.

You can pretty much stomp pubs with a Puzzlebox, it should atleast deserve an honorable mention don't you think?

[[SALT]Gumbie]

You can pretty much stomp pubs with a Puzzlebox, it should atleast deserve an honorable mention don't you think?

Fair enough. I shall add it in. Thing about Puzzle is that it requires micro after you kill the crap out of your first victim. A Breastplate build allows for you to be useful even after that initial kill.

Still, true sight, mana drain and those funny little Puzzlebox faces. Priceless (after the 900 gold recipe fee... And of course the items to make it...)

[Heavenlapse]

Fair enough. I shall add it in. Thing about Puzzle is that it requires micro after you kill the crap out of your first victim. A Breastplate build allows for you to be useful even after that initial kill.

Still, true sight, mana drain and those funny little Puzzlebox faces. Priceless (after the 900 gold recipe fee... And of course the items to make it...)

I always get it when there's stealth in the opposing team, or AOE raep such as FA.

Can't count the times i killed people when dead with the 600 true damage nuke.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

The 600 True Damage nuke used to actually do 700 (?) Magic Damage. I'm unsure on whether or not it's been fixed yet. That equates to around 530 True Damage on someone with no Magic Armour buffs. Just a little FYI.

Remember me saying that it was situational? Against stealth heroes, yes, Puzzlebox is rape. I also love it against Keeper, since you can do massive damage when ulti'd. I also like the use of it against FA too, since immobilised =/= Rape worthy.

Good points.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

That, I don't know. Some time since I last disassembled anything.

I recently checked this and forgot to post: You cannot disassemble a Helm of the Black Legion (/Vanguard) in HoN. You'll have to make the Heart from scrath.

[[INTL]Lombar]

You obviously put a lot of time and effort building this guide, but the skill and item builds are arguable (waste in my opinion).

Pharaoh is meant to play aggresibly, you'r not supposed to be a fag launching missiles from base, you'r supposed to roam and gank, and for that, you need hellfire maxxed asap, long before you get tormented soul. By lvl 5, if you have 3 points on hellfire, one on mummies and one on soul, and you cant kill the guy you have in front, you just suck. As soon as you get 6, you get a kill every 80 secs.

Itemwise, I dont understand how you say puzzlebox is a pub item. It increases your DPS SO much, giving you a quick kill on the enemy supporter, while your teamates rape the rest of their team. Again, if you play like a pubThunderBringer, launching missiles from base, well... good luck. After puzzle lvl 3 you can either go hood or aganim (aganim is the pub item, not puzzle).

Anyways, interesting read.

[[INTL]Lombar]

Fair enough. I shall add it in. Thing about Puzzle is that it requires micro after you kill the crap out of your first victim. A Breastplate build allows for you to be useful even after that initial kill.

Still, true sight, mana drain and those funny little Puzzlebox faces. Priceless (after the 900 gold recipe fee... And of course the items to make it...)

Lol, wut? umm.. you need to rethink your pharaoh

[[INTL]Lombar]

oh, ok then. Yeah, tbh, I was just checking out how other people build him, since I have a prettyt solid Pharaoh (or at least I like to think I do).

Got me confuzed at full strategy guide :P

[[SALT]Gumbie]

Lol, wut? umm.. you need to rethink your pharaoh

You had the micro comment in bold, so I suppose that that is the central theme of your post? How is it wrong?

This guide is designed for PUBS of PSR <1700. If you're playing a 5v5 with competent 1700+ players, then you do not need a guide. If you're playing with pubs, then you're not going to be pulling off any ganks before levels 8-10 because people simply don't listen to "Ok, I'm coming mid to gank. Get ready to stun, Witch".

I'll add a competent players' skill build to the guide, for anyone who is a decent player on a decent team who has rarely/never seen/played Pharaoh.

[[VBM]carLzkie07]

nice idea i like it........

[Engywook]

Just played my first pharaoh in an AR we lost, but I still had a blast.

Thanks for the guide. It had me laughing a few times.