Predator - IN-DEPTH & WITH SCREENSHOTS!

[[UCI]Diffusion]

Current version: Version [0.3.0.2] This badass has a voice now.

Predator
Guide by Diffusion

Contents

1. Overview of Predator
   Introduction
   Overview
   Stats
2. In-depth Skill Analysis
   Venomous Leap
   Stone Hide
   Carnivorous
   Terror
   Skill Build
3. Items
   Early Game
   Core Build
   Misc. Items
   Combat Items
   Protective Items
   No-nos
4. In-depth Gameplay Analysis of Real Game
   In-depth Gameplay Analysis
   Helpful Heroes
   Haters
   Credits
   
   

1. Overview of Predator

Introduction
Inspired by JoeMartin's Demented Shaman and Rokman's Bloodhunter guides, I've decided to give another shot at a more non-controversial hero. I'm a big screenshot person, so expect in-game visuals from real games. This guide is based on non-em games (IF YOU PLAY EM GAMES, LEAVE THIS THREAD IMMEDIATELY. THERE IS NO REASON FOR YOU TO BE HERE) , as jungling is pretty bad compared to laning in terms of XP gain in an em game. Enjoy.


Why Play Predator?
One might consider this hero underused. Truth is, he kind of is. Predator is always a strong pick in any lineup. He provides the team with a semi-carry tank/ganker. He has hunting abilities, Magic immune, lifesteal, and armor reduction. All of Predator?s skills scale into late game, making him a very loveable hero for your team. This guide will go through in-depth on how to play Predator, what items to get, and how to make good decisions.


Predator's Stats

Damage: 52-62
Range: Melee [100]
Attack Speed: 0.69 APS

Strength: 25 + 2.4
Agility: 18 + 1.9
Intelligence: 15 + 1.75
Turn Speed: 320

Movement Speed: 300
Affiliation: Legion

In my opinion, Predator starts out with some pretty solid stats. The Strength gain could be better, but it's alright. His movespeed is average, but Venomous leap helps with chasing/slowing. His damage is fierce early game, and Logger's Hatchet makes him a strong last hitter. I'll go more in-depth about this later in the guide.
His mana pool is average to start with, and can get you through early game without a trouble. His attack can be animation canceled to get those last hits quicker.


What role do I play Predator as?
Predator is a very versatile hero. He is loosely based off of N?aix in DotA, but he has leap also. His lifesteal is based on %, which wreaks havoc on tanks. So, it's really up to you. My item build mentioned later in the guide will show you a clear build of a "Chunk-Damage-Dealer Semi-tank". Predator's attack speed doesn't make him the greatest, but his damage rips out chunks of health against opponents thanks to armor reduction from both item bonuses and skill bonuses.

Basic Skill Overview

1. Venomous Leap

The Predator leaps toward an enemy unit, and then strikes them with venomous claws. The enemy takes some damage and is slowed briefly.
Mana Cost: 90
Effect: Leaps toward target, dealing 75/125/175/225 Magic damage and applying Venomous for 2/3/4/5 seconds.
Venomous Effects: 40% movement slow, at all levels. Applies Venomous for 2/3/4/5 seconds.
Cooldown: 20/17/14/11 seconds
Range: 650

2. Stone Hide

The Predator makes his hide like stone, granting him Magic Immunity, dispelling debuffs, and increasing his armor temporarily.
Mana Cost: 75
Effects: Dispels debuffs and applies Stone Hide to self for 3/3.75/4.5/5.25 seconds.
Stone Hide Effects: +3/+6/+9/+12 armor and Magic immunity during the duration.
Cooldown: 15 seconds

3. Carnivorous

The Predator feasts on his opponents flesh with each attack, allowing him to topple the mightiest warriors. Each attack damages opponents for a percentage of their current Health, and heals the predator based on the damage dealt.
Mana Cost: None, Passive
Deals Physical damage to target equal to 4/5/6/7% of his current Health and heals you for the same amount. This ability does not work on Boss units.
Cooldown: Passive

4. Terror (Ultimate)

The Predator roars, instilling terror in nearby enemies, reducing their armor. Allies who attack enemies affected by terror will receive increased attack and movement speed.
Mana cost: 50/75/100
Effects: Applies Terror to enemy heroes in radius around self for 20 seconds. Terror Effects: ?2/-4/-6 armor. When attacked, buffs attacker's attack speed by 20/40/60 and movement speed by 15% for 4.5 seconds
Cooldown: 60 Seconds
Range: 450 AoE

[[UCI]Diffusion]

2. In-Depth Skill Analysis

1. Venomous Leap

Predator's only initiating spell that causes Predator to leap to an opponent, doing not so bad nuke damage and slowing the opponent by 40% at all levels. With this skill you receive:

• An instant nuke that throws you at opponent (Similar to Waveform from DotA, except with slow and less mana cost)

• Engagement with enemy, which helps a lot in initiating fights.

• The Damage dealt is Magic, so if they are magic immune, the damage will not be applied.

• A Jump ability that allows you to get over hills/cliffs/trees, which allows for easy initiation.

Using Venomous Leap
Venomous leap has a range of 650, roughly seen here:



Venomous leap is a great skill for use in ganks, as it will make you appear as if you were jumping out of nowhere, slowing your opponent and allowing your ally or yourself to finish them off. Now another issue is, What if your opponent is running away low health into their tower? You have to ask yourself this:

• How much HP do I have?

• How many hits from the tower can I take?

• Does my opponent have enough mana for a nuke/stun/escape spell?

• What is my cooldown at Venomous Leap at?

• Do I have enough mana do cast another Venomous Leap and finish them off?

In a split second, you must have the answer to all of these questions. You must know your cooldown, which will usually be at 5-6, depending on who your target is.

2. Stone Hide

Defensive spell that can help you finish off an opponent without getting interrupted. There are few physical stuns that can get through Magic Immunity against Predator. This is a very strong ability, considering it gives you FULL MAGIC IMMUNITY. Automatically, you don't have to waste gold on Shrunken Head. Instead, you have a magic immune that can be activated more often for a longer duration. Benefits of having Stone Hide:

• Allows you to engage opponents without worry you'll be instanuked to death.

• Great Escape ability to dispel debuffs and slows that might be slowing you down. (You can debuff Arachna's slow initially, but if she attacks you again, you'll be reslowed.)

• It works right when you click it, so there is no worry you won't be casting it instantly.

Using Stone Hide
When Stone hide is activated, you literally look like a rock, more awesome and more durable. Predator immune tanking Dragon Fire:

1. Activate Stone Hide a couple of seconds after using Venomous Leap, because usually lag, delay and cast time will delay them from stunning you/casting on you. Use it when engaging a target that can possibly stun you or deal negative magic damage on you.
   
2. Do not engage if you know for sure you can kill them.
3. If you are unsure if you can kill them or not, you probably shouldn't be jumping in for an initiation, unless your team is there.

Using Stone Hide Defensively

• When a debuff is initiated on you, such as Hellbringer's slow, you can activate Stone Hide to dispel it.

• Use it to escape. If you are being chased, as soon as you think they are in range of casting, hit "W" and you should be safe for the duration depending on where you are on the map, also giving you a nice window to escape.

3. Carnivorous

A percentage lifesteal. The amount you gain is based on your opponents remaining health, which is huge. This ability allows predator to jungle and take out high leveled creeps at low levels. This is the ability that makes Predator an anti-tank, allowing him to survive fights against stronger heroes with more health. Things to know:

• You must be aware of your opponents health, the amount of health you gain drops as your opponent's health gets lower.

• You can only gain health if you're attacking.

• This lifesteal does not work on Kong, so don't go trying anything if you're under leveled.

4. Terror (Feel free to get it at 6/11/16 if you are not jungling, it will help you get some early solo kills.)

Predator's ultimate. It lowers the armor of opponents within a 450 AoE radius, and heroes that attack targets with lowered armor will gain attack speed and movement speed. This ability is great in team fights, especially when you're initiating.



Using Terror
You must choose your timing right, allowing you to get a maximal number of hits before Terror wears off on an opponent.

• Use it straight after engaging a killable hero, and before Stone Hide. This will make you rip chunks out of the target, especially if you have Shieldbreaker.

• Use it in a clump of enemies during a team fight. This will allow your allies to do extra damage to opponents and hopefully end the battle in your team's favor.

• If terror is on cooldown, don't worry about it. Terror isn't an ability you should be reliant on as much as Stone Hide and Venomous Leap. It is simply a support ability that allows you to kill opponents faster.

Summary of Skills
All of Predator's skills are extremely balanced, even Terror can be considered a regular skill if you down its numbers a little bit. This allows you to pick from many versatile builds that work for any game you're playing.

Skill Build
I'll be showing you a skill build in sections, throughout which you might be using through the game.

Levels 1-5

1. Venomous Leap
2. Stone Hide/Carnivorous
3. Venomous Leap/Carnivorous
4. Carnivorous/Venomous Leap
5. Venomous Leap

This is a basic skillset from levels 1-5. If you are planning to jungle, I suggest you get Carnivorous instead of Stone Hide. I suggest starting to jungle at level 3; this will allow you to do weaker creep camps alone. Venomous Leap is a skill you really need early, in case you manage to find an opposing hero low on HP. With Venomous Leap, it will give you an early finisher.

Levels 6-12

6. Carnivorous/Stone Hide
7. Venomous Leap
8. Carnivorous/Stone Hide
9. Carnivorous/Stone Hide
10. Carnivorous/Stone Hide
11. Carnivorous/Stone Hide
12. Carnivorous/Stone Hide

You might be wondering why I don't build Terror early game. Well, to begin, Predator is much better off spending his mana on Venomous Leap, and armor reduction isn't really the best early game. Predator has much better skills that need building. Carnivorous keeps you in your lane, and Stone Hide keeps you alive from magic spells. Predator also isn't the best jungler in the game, so that makes Carnivorous a first priority.

Levels 13-16, 17+

13. Terror
14. Terror
15. Stats
16. Terror
Stats from 17-25

This is the end game build. It finishes Terror and then with stats. None of Predators skills are worth leveling in the late 20s, so you should be learning all of them before level 17. This skill build works really well, and benefits you to become a strong Predator when playing in your games.

[[UCI]Diffusion]

3. Items

Predator is definitely a very versatile hero. You may be wondering whether you're a tank, a DPS hero, or both? Well, Stone Hide makes you very tough in larger AoE fights where you can barely see anything and hope your team manages to surpass the other. You can optimize your chances for victory by using the correct item builds But what exactly are the correct item builds for Predator? Well, I believe these are great item builds for Predator. I'll try not to make this too controversial.

Predator has an awesome early and mid game, and doesn't have reliance for items early. So having good items is merely a bonus early game.

Early Game

• Logger's Hatchet : Every melee hero's must. It gives insane last hit ability for Predator. It's 32% makes Predator a beast last hitter, even at only level one.
  If 52 Damage is done, then 68.64 Damage is done with Logger's Hatchet.
  If 57 Damage is done, then 75.24 Damage is done with Logger's Hatchet.
  If 62 Damage is done, then 81.84 Damage is done with Logger's Hatchet.
  Now, I think you get the general idea that Predator should be last hitting nearly everything. Unless you're being harassed early game pretty badly, being forced to back off. This is the point where you should be jungling, allowing you to avoid being harassed and get XP by soloing creeps.

• Runes of the Blight : Health, in case you get into a pickle early on. You wouldn't want to get forced back and completely XP denied, would you?

• Minor Totems : Spending the rest of your gold on good stat boosters early game. These can be sold later game if you?re close to buying bigger items.

This early game build is solid for any melee hero. It provides farming ability and early survivability. Congratulations, you have now moved into a phase that will take you to mid-game?

Core Build

• Steamboots : Steamboots is a good item for stat bonus/can be toggled to save yourself (similar to Insanitarius) The HP buff will make you stronger and attack speed will scale well with his ult.
  

• Insanitarius : Your core item for Predator. The best part is that you'll be getting it in parts. And all the parts are relatively cheap, all under 1000 gold each, all of which can be bought in the side shop, except for the recipe. Depending on your gold, you can switch and swap which items you want to buy first. Personally, I suggest purchasing Steamstaff first, because it has better bonuses.

• Logger's Hatchet : You probably still have it. ;D

Direct Jungle Build

• Logger's Hatchet : A very good support item for jungling. It gives insane bonus damage for Predator, allowing you to kill neutral creeps quickly. It's 32% makes Predator a beast jungler.
  If 52 Damage is done, then 68.64 Damage is done with Logger's Hatchet.
  If 57 Damage is done, then 75.24 Damage is done with Logger's Hatchet.
  If 62 Damage is done, then 81.84 Damage is done with Logger's Hatchet.
  You can also use Logger's Hatchet to kill trees to reach creeps faster in both Legion and Hellbourne jungles.
  

• Iron Buckler : Keeps you alive so you aren't taking a crapload of damage against the neutral creeps. Your lifesteal wears down as the creeps HP does, and you'll need a shield to block some of this incoming damage to survive longer.

• Runes of the Blight : Health, in case you want to solo some larger neutrals early on. You wouldn't want to get caught low HP and be killed quickly without being able to fight back, would you?
  

Suggested Items

Misc. Items

• Homecoming Stones : Predator is a strong hero. However, Predator will still die when the entire enemy team is closing in on him. Be sure to always have Homecoming Stones in your inventory when you?re solo pushing during the ganking phase / end game phase.

• Ward of Sight : A player could always use pre-warning to see what is coming. This allows Predator to jungle safely and to avoid being killed alone in the woods. This also allows you to check for runes in case you want to gank. You should always place one in range of the rune in the river.

Combat Items

• Shieldbreaker : The best damage item for Predator. It synergizes well with Terror to inflict mass armor reduction on the opponent, and also adds damage allowing you to rip 'chunks' of health out of them. I would highly suggest farming this item after finishing Insanitarius.

• Frostburn : Gives you additional movespeed and allows you to slow on hit, which is great for chasing. Predator's movement speed issue will be fixed when getting this item, if you were having chasing issues before. Pick Shieldbreaker or Frostburn.
  

• Symbol of Rage [LUXURY] : Basic Lifesteal. Predator?s Carnivorous is based of %, and if your target is low on health, you gain less health on every hit. Symbol of rage gives you great survivability and more time in the field. The extra HP also makes Predator a tough beast to deal with.

• Riftshards (image not posted) : Predator's damage output is pretty huge with Insanitarius. Let's make it bigger by adding critical strikes on it and converting that damage into more kills for Predator.

Protective Items

• Behemoth's Heart : A good item for any hero. It's a great choice if you're planning to mass tank with Predator. I highly suggest you get Symbol of rage before this item though. Eventually, its health regeneration can help you keep Insanitarius on permanently. (not that you'd want to, just a fun fact)

• Daemonic Breast Plate : This is a great item on Predator, primarily for its attack speed boost. Predator's late game attack speed cannot compare to regular agility carries, but this item helps increase it later in the game, also providing extra armor for allies and reducing armor of enemies. This item makes Predator a fierce armor reducer, adding on to Terror and Shieldbreaker's effects.

Why No??

• Elder Parasite : Fixes your IAS problem. However, it also kills you. The damage against yourself is hugely amplified when opponents are attacking you. Predator is usually the first to 'leap' into battle, therefore the first one to be targeted. You wouldn't want to die instantly, would you?

• Shrunken Head : Simple. Waste of money. You already have a magic immune skill with a better duration and a constant time span. Your gold is better off spent on the suggested items, rather then an item that will net you more magic immune time. Using the suggested items is a better investment.

[[UCI]Diffusion]

4. In-depth Gameplay Analysis of Real Game

So, this was a public game with one friend in which I directly pick predator. -AP 1600+. Hitting F5 lags the game, so I was unable to get some real good in-battle screenshots, you tend to only see the end part. (Double kills and Hat Tricks) I tried to get some good ones, and will plan on more screenshots from live games later. Once the replay system is up, I should be able to post some good replays so you can watch me go through Predator.

1. I've utilized my Logger's Hatchet early game to nab some easy last hits against a Pestilence/Pharaoh lane. I plan to jungle at level 3.



2. I keep my gold income up to purchase Stout Shield so I am able to tank the creeps more easily. It really is optional, but helps if you get ganked by an enemy hero in the jungle. The percentage lifesteal from Predator should be enough.



3. I have begun Jungling. These creeps will be no problem thanks to the effects of Carnivorous, the bonus damage of Logger's Hatchet, and the defense from Stout shield. I should have no problem as long as I stay close to the lane.



4. I chop down the tree to give me a quick path to the Wolves. The wolves do more damage because there are three of them, forcing me to eat a tree. It's no problem, since I have a plentiful amount of Runes of Blight.



5. Another round of creeps have spawned, and I have pulled a creep wave into the creeps to prevent opponents from pushing. (creeps are dead because I stacked, but the Glaive thrower is still alive in the corner.)



6. Puppet master has come in to help us gank. We manage to pick off Pharaoh but Pestilence gets away. At this point, I have enough cash for Insanitarius, so I purchase it before I get my Enhanced Marchers.



7. I choose to TP back to base from the jungle, and I have already purchased Insanitarius, and my enchanced marchers can be completed quickly from the side shop. (2 punchdaggers needed for the recipe now)



8. Another engagement leaves me dead. My greed leads to my first death of the game. 4-1-2 isn't so bad, eh? When I revive, I use my gold to finish enhanced marchers and prepare to head out and nab more kills.



9. And that is exactly what I do. The engagement resulted me in soloing Swiftblade, hitting a slowed Sand Wraith, and leaping a Pestilence. Hellbringer was a great help in slowing and damaging. Puppet was able to get Pestilence down to about 50%, and while he was getting away, I manage to pull off a leap and activate Insanitarius for bonus damage, resulting in a hat-trick.



10. I manage to get a tower kill in the push. The heals from demented shaman allowed me to tank the tower. We planned to go all the way, but the other team manages to force us back before we are able to get the inward tower. Our team tries hard to carry the idiot panda.



11. We continue the push top. Corrupted Disciple and Swiftblade were left behind near the sideshop as we came in from the woods/river. Before we started pushing, I lept Disciple without having to activate Stone Hide because we had enough people to overpower them. Swiftblade was already 50%, and went down quickly to my teammates.



12. I nab another tower kill, and plan to proceed mid to assist orange, who is alone. At this point, the enemies were coming from the top and a run-around engagement began afterwards. During the engagement, I pop stonehide to protect myself in the frenzy, and tried not to get caught off-guard in the mess.



13. I leave the engagement with a double kill and about 50% health. I plan to stay because most of the opposing team is dead and I should be able to get enough life from Demented Shaman and Carnivorous drains.



14. A top engagement leaves me at 9 health after deactivating Insanitarius. With my Homecoming stone, I am able to quickly teleport back safely and heal up while my allies continue the massacre on the buildings up top. Always carry homecoming stones - they are all-purpose and cheap.



15. I finish shieldbreaker, and shortly the other team concedes. The game was relatively short, because of the teamwork we played in. I utilize Predator's skills well and we come out with the victory and a not-too-bad score of 13-2-6.



As you can see, Predator is pretty easy to play as long as your making the correct decisions. I plan on longer Predator games to show you a more late-game Predator item build and tougher opponents. These 1600s were relatively weak.

Helpful Heroes

Both Demented Shaman and Hellbringer are solid picks and great teammate options. Demented can provide you with greater durability and a heal, and Hellbringer can keep your opponents slowed while you whack on them. Any other hero with a disable such a pollywog/electrician also gets the job done.

Haters

Panda - permanent physical stun in a 1v1 situation with correct combos in order. He's a nice hard counter to magic immunity. Arachna is a horrible opponent to lane against and be running from. Her slow is ridiculously strong. If your not the one engaging, getting close to her could be an issue. (even if you leap in, she can just ult you, then back off a few steps.) Pestilence's gore is physical stun, so the stun will go through Stone Hide. I believe Chronos is more of an issue. Goes through stone hide.


Credits
Guide is written by Diffusion for the HoN forums only. Do not post on another forum/website without consent.

[Kinu]

/premium

Helped me a lot.

[Skull4er]

would suggest other start items (which worked pretty good for me).
you could take 2x crowns and 1 minor totem + 2x runes.
its exactly your start money, you have +5 to all stats, got basic items for bracer (or power supply, which is awesome on pred in early, because it can regenerate a huge amount of his mana).
you can buy the axe at the side shop, it is not desperatly necessary early on.

[Blessed_]

Runed Axe : I'm not saying huge no on Predator, as Runed Axe is nice on any melee hero; however, Runed Axe is definitely not for Predator. His role as a ganker is much larger then his role as a farmer. He is not the best pusher, Runed Axe may solve this, but he should really be out of the lanes at the ganking phase of the game.

wat.

Either way, you don't want to Stone Hide right after leaping your target because everyone does that, thus nobody stuns a predator right after they are leaped. Stone Hide is your mind games skill, you predict when they'll try to stun/nuke you and pop it right before.
Also Stone Hide + Homecoming Stone = win, unless they have bashing heroes.

[[UCI]Diffusion]

wat.

Either way, you don't want to Stone Hide right after leaping your target because everyone does that, thus nobody stuns a predator right after they are leaped. Stone Hide is your mind games skill, you predict when they'll try to stun/nuke you and pop it right before.
Also Stone Hide + Homecoming Stone = win, unless they have bashing heroes.

Fixed. ;D

would suggest other start items (which worked pretty good for me).
you could take 2x crowns and 1 minor totem + 2x runes.
its exactly your start money, you have +5 to all stats, got basic items for bracer (or power supply, which is awesome on pred in early, because it can regenerate a huge amount of his mana).
you can buy the axe at the side shop, it is not desperatly necessary early on.

Being able to do 80 damage per hit creeps at level 1 is pretty big. It guarantees last hits and minimizes opponent denying ability.

[Skull4er]

thats why i said you can buy the axe at the side shops :P
however you can not buy stat items there, thats why i would not suggest to start with an very cheap item which can be purchased on the lane.

[Ientile]

Nice guide, you could've mentioned something about jungling though.

[[UCI]Diffusion]

I will, in the analysis of full game.

[[UCI]Diffusion]

Added in-game analysis w/screenshots.

[Llama]

Think there are a few discrepancies here:

Demented can provide you with longer magic immunity and a heal,

while Hack gives you a cleaving ability

I must say I grab eldar parasite straight after insanatarious and shrunken head against disable heavy teams, 20+secs of magic immunity is ftw.

Would you also consider charged hammer a late game item? I can't see any real reason not to get it, and if your massing attackspeed you might as well throw a brutaliser in there too

I'm pretty sure your lifesteal does not get reduced or increased by armour (although I will check this shortly)

[[UCI]Diffusion]

Think theres a few discrepancies here:


I must say I eldar parasite after insanatarious and shrunken head against disable heavy teams, 20+secs of magic immunity is ftw.

Would you also consider charged hammer a late game item? I can't see any real reason not to get it

Fixed, I meant cleave, like "he's been cleaved = slow". Typo. Elder parasite only gets you killed faster, shrunken head isn't worth the gold when you already have a better magic immune spell for no price. I don't know why anyone would even think about getting charged hammer on Predator.

[nyxon]

Really nice guide dude! keep up the work

You make me wanna play that beast again. :-)

Btw/# Isn't it good to buy 2x250 shields insteed of one?. In my experience with example Axe/lego it worked really well. Or Im high?

[Nairebis]

Well detailed and informative guide. My starting build for pred is Logger's hatchet, stout shield and the healing potion (over the runes). it's 10 gold more but heals much more, good after those higher lvl mobs early game.

Question: What do you think about Alchemist Bones for the Predator? +30 Atk Speed, instant-kills those tough jungle leaders for 200 or so gold each and makes farmings not only much easier, but also much quicker(made even faster with the Enhanced Marchers I get prior to Alchemist Bones). Do you guys think it is an ideal item for Predator if not at least a good optional item?

[[UCI]Diffusion]

Well detailed and informative guide. My starting build for pred is Logger's hatchet, stout shield and the healing potion (over the runes). it's 10 gold more but heals much more, good after those higher lvl mobs early game.

Question: What do you think about Alchemist Bones for the Predator? +30 Atk Speed, instant-kills those tough jungle leaders for 200 or so gold each and makes farmings not only much easier, but also much quicker(made even faster with the Enhanced Marchers I get prior to Alchemist Bones). Do you guys think it is an ideal item for Predator if not at least a good optional item?

I prefer not focusing on IAS that early in the game. I personally believe Predator isn't even in the jungle that long. From my #4 post of the real game analysis, I don't believe I even did 10 camps. I think it's better to spent your gold on building Insanitarius.

Really nice guide dude! keep up the work

You make me wanna play that beast again. :-)

Btw/# Isn't it good to buy 2x250 shields insteed of one?. In my experience with example Axe/lego it worked really well. Or Im high?

Well, legionaire doesn't have lifesteal like Predator does, so your fine with one shield.

[Looi]

Do you still go for phase boots, even it doesnt give you IAS anymore? I would suggest steam boots since the last patch. More Ias = more lifesteal because of more hits. More dmg doesn't boost your life leech and more IAS is more dmg as well. So the only use of phase is the activated movement bonus. So wouldn't be steamboots the the best boots now?

[[E]FlamePhoenix]

Hi I am a HoN player and Pred is my hero. I am posting here because I believe I can help you add important information to your guide.

Stone skin:
- This ability can also be used in an offensive way. Unlike many heroes, predator CAN be stunned while jumping in mid air. This happens a lot more than you think. My combo usually is:
1 - Stone skin
2 - Leap

Stone skin allows you to make sure you will hit the target in MOST cases (not all).

As for crazed and shunken head I strongly disagree.

1 - Crazed allows you to have an extraordinary damage output in early game and it stacks with predator natural lifesteal. It is excellent to finish enemy heroes and increases the durability of pred. I always use that item as a core item.

2 - Shrunken Head can also be useful. Sometimes when you are fighting organized teams with intelligence your stone skin is not enough. I agree that buying shruken head is expeensive and should only be done as a last resource, but when fight again 3 or 4 int heroes, it is a must have because it will allow you to make a first blood and to continue the chase or to escape safely. 5.25 usually are not enough to make a good kill against an organized team.

Tactics: I am surprised you don't mention predator bomb tactic here.
Predator bomb tactic can be done with the following heroes: jereziah and Accursed.
Jereziah - Just let predator jump in and take damage, after that heal him. Further more, if you are playing against more then 2 int heroes you can shield pred and he will use his stone skin after, granting him nearly 20 seconds of immunity to spells, a wise decision that will completely replace the need to shrunken head, even if the enemy is organized.
Accursed - Just add a shield to predator. After jumping predator will take damage (on purpose) and the shield will simply explode dealing devastating damage to enemy units. If predator is taking damage you can also heal him or finish the low HP hero that is running.

I think these 2 heroes are way better friends than xaman and hellbringer (why hellbringer ? I seriously don't get it ... Pollywog and electrician are way better than he will ever be. )
Another good friend for predator is .. Blacksmith. His skills are heaven, he can slow the enemy and allow predator to have an insane bonus attack speed that combined with crazed are devastating. Even if the enemy escapes, we can also use his stun to finish him off or stop him.

Pred enemies: Panda, Aracna, electrician
-Panda his stuns and spells are all physical. You can have stone skill and be stunned for 4 seconds. If the enemy has a good panda player, you better keep away from him because you WILL get stunned and take damage. No immunity will save you.
- Arachna, another hero that has physical damage. Her slow spell and ultimate are both physical, meaning that you can not escape them. If you get too close, you will be slowed and killed unless you have proper support.
- Electrician mainly because of his 15 secs ultimate. If he reaches it your game is ruined. Electrician can remove the ultimate of pred from any enemy hero and he can also SLOW you with a slow that is magic superior. He just needs to wait until your stone skin is out to stun you and kill you.

As for starting items, I always buy boots. Boots allow me to have superior speed and to chase/run from enemies without ever getting killed.
I really disagree on some of your items but I guess that each person needs a personal tactic. You should remember people that Hack and Slash don't stack with shieldbreaker nor the symbol of rage.
Some people also use "FrostPlate" on predator. At first it sounds a stupid idea but ... think about it: it gives you armor and once you jump, it gives a mass slow to the enemy team, allowing your team to rush without letting no1 escape.
I don't like Frost Plate armor, but in case you want to make an "alternative build" section, this is a must have item. Personally i don't like it and I find it way to expensive, but in teamplay it may pay off if there is no other slower.

As for the choice of skills, I also don't like it much, but I will take it as a personal opinion as well. I just see no use for life steal at start, and as a team player stone skin fits a lot better the tactic and so I always upgrade it first before life steal (which I compensate with crazed...)


Hope it helps, I would like to see the guide updated =P

[Stillness1]

Boots at start is horrible...
Not taking lifesteal that keeps you in lane is horrible...

I'd really like to see the guide NOT updated with this.