DotA (DEV KONU!)

 
   
  1. Introduction and Foreword 
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  First of all, I'd like to start off the guide saying that an "Organized Guide to Kunkka" means that when you play him according to this guide, you actually will have a set team, choosing and banning specific heroes, and performing your hero's role, hence the word "organized". Also, I'd like to point out that I've written this guide with over two years of competitive DotA experience, so if you have a comment, please describe and validate your opinion respectfully and with some thought put into it. 
   
  Kunkka is an extremely versatile hero that fits into many lineups. He excels at being a strong carry and his impact throughout the whole game should not be underestimated. He is sometimes referred to as a "Glass Cannon" because of his low survivability and HP, but ability to deal huge amounts of damage in mere seconds. Because I feel that some players underestimate this hero, I've chosen to write my own guide on him. Although he is hard to master, he is very fun to play and is extremely effective. Again, this is a guide geared towards organized and competitive games, where you, your team, and your opponents know what they're doing, so the strategies in this guide will be written accordingly.  
   
   
  2. Hero Overview 
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  Kunkka has a base strength of 21 and a strength gain of 2.7.  
  This is pretty average for a strength hero; maybe just a bit low, but it can be fixed easily. 
   
   
  Kunkka has a base agility of 14 and a agility gain of 1.3. 
  This is low. That is all i have to say. For a hero like Admiral, its not so good. Fortunately, we have things to make up for it. More on that later. 
   
   
  Kunkka has a base intelligence of 16 and an int gain of 1.5.  
  Not bad, but not great. There will be some mana problems early, but later on, when you start focusing on physical damage, it won't matter that much. 
   
   
  Affiliation: Sentinel 
  Attack Animation: 0.4 / 0.3 
  Damage: 47 - 57 
  Casting Animation: 0.4 / 0.51 
  Armor: 2.6 
  Base Attack Time: 1.7 
  Movespeed: 300 
  Missile Speed: Instant 
  Attack Range: 128 (melee) 
  Sight Range: 1800 / 800 
   
   
  Pros/Cons 
  Pros:  
  + A game-changing hero once mastered 
  + Very fun to play 
  + Has 1(.5) disables 
  + Excellent initiator 
  + Excellent lane control via Tidebringer 
  + Very good farming potential 
  + Can solo or dual lane 
  + Can deal a massive amount of AOE damage 
  + Does not need a whole lot of farm to be useful 
   
  Cons: 
  - No real escape mechanism 
  - Slow attack speed 
  - Requires practice to be effective 
  - Tricky to use 
  - Needs a lot items to scale into the late game as a carry 
   
   
   
  2.1. Hero's Skills 
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   Torrent 
   
  * Ability Type: Active 
  * Targeting Type: Area 
  * Ability Hotkey: E 
   
  Using his unparalleled knowledge of the sea, Kunkka is able to summon a blast of water at a targeted area. After 2 seconds a fierce torrent of water erupts from the ground, the stream blasting enemies caught in the AoE into the sky, dealing damage and slowing movement speed by 30%. 
   
  This is your main disable, and its very effective for ganking, harassing, escaping or initiating minor battles. It has an AOE of 225, costs 120 mana, has a casting range of 1500, a disabling period of 1.53 seconds and a cooldown of 12 seconds. All of these remain the same at all levels.  
  However, the length of slow (1/2/3/4) and damage (120/180/240/300) increases. 
   
  Notes 
  • Damage type: magic 
  • The initial bubble effect is only visible to allies. 
  • Units tossed in the air will be paused and still able to be attacked. 
  • Part of the damage occurs right as the torrent erupts, the rest occurs over time as the units are in the air. 
  • Don't underestimate the casting range of 1500. It is farther than you think, so don't be afraid to use it even if the enemies seem to be out of your reach. 
   
   
   Tidebringer 
   
  * Ability Type: Passive 
  * Targeting Type: N/A 
  * Ability Hotkey: D 
   
  Daelin's legendary sword Tidebringer is infused with the very power of the sea. Akin to the ebb and flow, Tidebringer passively grants the hero increased damage and large AoE cleave for a single strike every once in awhile.  
   
  Your signature spell. Every 16/12/8/4 seconds, your sword will glow with water, which means you will gain a stronger attack (+15/30/35/60 dmg) and have a splash attack (AOE of 380/420/460/500) on the next attack that you perform. This is the spell that gives Kunkka such good lane control, farming capability, and capability to splash massive amounts of damage in one hit. Excellent for harassing enemies and for getting last hits. Be careful not to push the lane too much with this, unless you are purposely trying to. When you are using this to harass, make sure your hero is facing the enemy when you attack the creep to make sure that Tidebringer hits him. It has a very large AOE, so this shouldn't be too hard. 
   
  Notes 
  • Cleaved damage is only reduced by armor type, not by armor value. 
  • Cooldown is not activated on denies, so the damage bonus is maintained. 
  • If a hero is running away from you and there is a creep in front of you, attacking the creep will possibly splash the damage onto the enemy and maybe kill him/her. This is a slightly more advanced technique, but keep it in mind. 
   
   
   X Marks The Spot 
   
  * Ability Type: Active 
  * Targeting Type: Unit 
  * Ability Hotkey: X 
   
  In order to make an assembly for his troops, Admiral Proudmore targets a hero and marks its current position on the ground. After a few seconds, the hero will instantly return to the mark. 
   
  After you cast this on an enemy, an X will appear where they were when you casted the spell. Then, after 1/2/3/4 seconds, the enemy will return to the "X" location. Another useful spell that is extremely helpful for ganking and even escaping. Synergizes very well with your other spells, but can be tricky to use. For the basic X + Torrent combo, cast your X on the enemy, and then cast torrent right on it. After about 1 second (It will take practice), press "R" to return the enemy to the X. With practice, it is almost a guaranteed torrent. 
  Has a mana cost of 80/90/100/110 and a very long cooldown of 30 seconds, so only use it when you really need to. Casting range improves per level (500/650/800/950 range). Again, very useful spell for many situations. 
   
   
  Notes 
  • If target becomes magic immune after this spell has been cast, target will not return to the X after the duration ends. 
  • It interrupts channeling spells. 
  • If the enemy is TPing, use it and they will return to where they TP'd away.  
  • You can cast X Marks the Spot on teammates and on yourself. 
   
   Return 
   
   
  * Ability Type: Active 
  * Targeting Type: Instant 
  * Ability Hotkey: R 
   
  Returns the target to the X.  
   
  Simple as that; It immediately returns the target to the X, so you don't have to wait for the full 1/2/3/4 second(s). Very useful for returning them to a torrent that you have placed on the X. Costs 50 mana and has a cooldown of 5 seconds. 
   
  Notes 
  • This ability is automatically gained when X Marks the Spot is learned.  
  • Due to Kunkka's fairly long casting animation (0.51 seconds, which could mean the difference between hitting or missing your torrent), Return will take a moment to actually bring the enemy back.  
  • Using this spell alone makes Kunkka raise his sword. This is the casting animation for all your spells, so make use of this when chasing enemies. Cast return without using X Marks The Spot, making it look like you casted Torrent. Smart opponents will turn around or walk to the side, attempting to dodge the "Torrent", giving you and your teammates time to catch up.  
   
   
   Ghost Ship 
   
  * Ability Type: Active 
  * Targeting Type: Point 
  * Ability Hotkey: T 
   
  The admiral summons the mythical ghost ship S.S. CoCo to the battlefield. Allies are doused in Captain CoCo's Rum, inebriating them for 10% bonus movespeed and numbness to incoming damage, causing them to feel only half of the pain now and half after the Rum wears off. Enemies, pirates and scurvy knaves are dashed on the rocks for damage and a brief stun when the ship crashes. 
   
  This is a very complicated spell with many effects. Firstly, Kunkka raises his sword and a huge boat comes from behind him. The boat travels forward 1000 range and crashes, stunning all opponents in the 400AOE for 1 second, dealing 300/400/500 damage. All allied heroes, for the next 5/6/7 seconds, have their movespeed increased by 10%. Additionally, all allied heroes will take only 50% of the incoming damage for the 5/6/7 seconds, and will take the other 50% after 5/6/7 seconds. Since a large battle lasts around 6-10 seconds, you and your teammates will be able to tank a lot more in the battle, and take the rest of the damage after. I find this buff part of the skill unnoticed and underestimated, which is why I described it in detail. The cooldown for this spell is 100 seconds, which is short enough for you to use it to gank enemies, or in a 2v2 fight, for example. Use it to initiate battles, as it has a huge casting range, and so the damage reduction will be active during the fight. A game-breaking ultimate when used correctly. 
   
   
  Notes 
  • Damage type: magic 
  • Actual AoE of ship's collision is larger than the boat itself. 
  • The boat has a movement speed of 650. 
  • Damage dealt after CoCo's rum wears off is non-lethal and can never kill a hero. It leaves the hero with 1 HP.  
  • The boat does not crash exactly where you aim it. Instead, it heads that direction for 1000 range, then crashes. It takes practice and prediction to hit a perfect Ghost Ship. 
   
   
  2.1.1 Mini-Guide to perfecting your spells 
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  Kunkka is a fairly hard-to-perfect hero, and a lot of his spells require good aiming, timing, or positioning to be used at their maximum potential, so I have written a "Mini-guide" on using Kunkka's spells. 
  Click on "show" to view screenshots. 
   
   
  Torrent 
   
   
   
   
   
  Tidebringer 
   
   
   
   
   
  X Marks The Spot 
   
   
   
   
   
  Return 
   
   
   
   
   
  Ghost Ship 
   
   
   
   
   
  The Magical Kunkka - A DotA Movie on Kunkka, by hexOr 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  3. Skill Build 
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  Note: There are lots of skill builds that you could use (some people even suggest getting Torrent + X first for early ganking power, but this is very mana dependent, and Kunkka does not have great int gain early game. Don't do this unless you have a CM or Ezalor on your team, or if you have some other form of mana supply.)  
   
  Dual Lane or Solo Lane 
   
  Level 1 - Torrent/Tidebringer 
  Level 2 - Tidebringer/Torrent 
  Level 3 - Tidebringer 
  Level 4 - Torrent 
  Level 5 - Tidebringer 
  Level 6 - Ghost Ship 
  Level 7 - Tidebringer 
  Level 8 - Torrent 
  Level 9 - Torrent 
  Level 10 - X Marks The Spot/Stats 
  Level 11 - Ghost Ship 
  Level 12 - X Marks The Spot 
  Level 13 - X Marks The Spot 
  Level 14 - X Marks The Spot 
  Level 15 - Stats/X Marks The Spot 
  Level 16 - Ghost Ship 
  Level 17-25 - Stats 
   
  Justification 
   
  For first blood attempts, get Torrent, which is pretty self-explanatory. After that, Tidebringer is maxed out first as it is too good to skip early game. It is your only lane controlling spell, and is essential for last hitting and harassing. 60 Damage from Tidebringer + your base damage is about 130, and at Level 7, that is a lot for something you can dish out every 4 seconds. 
  Next, max out Torrent for, again, obvious reasons. However, getting X Marks The Spot at Levels 8, 9 and/or 10 is not a bad idea if you're finding it hard to land Torrents. If you have a Crystal Maiden or have some sort of mana resource to make up for the extra spell you will need to use, this is definately a viable strategy for helping you land your Torrent. You can then max out Torrent, then X Marks The Spot accordingly. 
  Ghost Ship is added at level 6/11/16 because Level 1 Ghost Ship costs only 150 mana (30 mana more than torrent), deals 300 AOE damage and stuns for 1 second. You also get the movespeed bonus and the incoming damage reduction, all for 150 mana. I highly recommend adding Ghost Ship at lvl 6 for a 2v2 lane. X Marks The Spot is taken over Stats because its helpful for ganking and the cast range improves per level, but getting a Level of Stats at Level 10 is a good idea if you want to boost your hp/mana a little. In the mid game, you dont have that big of a mana problem, so get X Marks The Spot. 
   
   
  3.1. Skill Build Questions [Q&A] 
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  Q: Is there ever a situation where maxing out Torrent first is good? 
  A: Adapt to the game. 19/20 of the time, Kunkka is going to be a carry, focusing on farming, so Tidebringer is usually preferred. However, if you are part of a tri-lane, you might want to get Torrent over Tidebringer, but it really depends on the game 
   
  Q: Why don't you leave X Marks The Spot at Level 2 because it lasts 2 seconds and Torrent erupts in 2 seconds? 
  A:I have heard this many times, and while it seems like a perfect strategy, it's usually better just to max out X Marks The Spot. There are a lot of situations where you will really want the extra few seconds on X Marks The Spot. For example, if you leave it at Level 2, you might get stunned after you cast X Marks The Spot so you won't get a Torrent off, and you will have wasted X Marks The Spot, just so you could get +4 to all Stats. Also, adding X Marks The Spot increases the casting range which is infinitely useful when chasing quicker heroes. 
   
  Leave a comment if you have any Questions, and I will gladly answer them. 
   
   
  4. Roles & Game Strategy 
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  In today's metagame, Kunkka is usually played as a carry. His farming capability allow him to get Core items very quickly. He naturally deals high amounts of damage, so he needs to farm. 
   
  [Choice #1] Go for a dual lane with a hero like Crystal Maiden or Vengeful Spirit. They will provide you with a disable long enough for you to hit your torrent 99% of the time, and they are natural support heroes, so you can get all the farm you need. I think Crystal Maiden deserves a special mention here, because she provides you with an extremely helpful aura: Brilliance aura. Your early mana problems are solved, and her Frostbite and your Torrent combine to make a deadly laning combo. Last hit as much as you can, as your laning combo will make the opponents be more defensive. If the support hero plays properly, you should be able to farm quite easily. Gank if your lane is pushed, or if your team is built around doing so. If not, continue to rice (farm) your lane. Once you get some decent items, force some team fights, and initiate the battles with Ghost Ship and and follow up with Torrent. Use X Marks The Spot to catch up to fleeing heroes. In the Late game, support the carry with Torrents and X Marks The Spot. At this point, the reduced damaged from Ghost Ship starts to be noticeable. Use Ghost Ship whenever there is a battle; it will help a lot. You are a very good carry hero, so if nothing is hapenning, farm a lane whenever possible. Carry TP scrolls to farm at your maximum potential. With your excellent farming capability, you should be able to farm some high tier items with ease. In huge team fights, either initiate, or let a hero like Tidehunter do so, and follow up. Wreck the heroes with your splash but don't play too aggressively, because you aren't really a "tank". 
   
  [Choice #2] Go for solo mid. The short lane makes your Tidebringer easier to harass the enemy with. Ask your roamer or help from the dual lane to gank. Any roamer with a stun will most likely net you a kill. If the enemy gets away with a bit of hp, let him be. You get a few creep waves to farm, which is equally as good as a hero kill. Continue harassing the enemy and score as many kills as you can. The important thing is to out-level the enemy and farm as much as possible. Since you have the level advantage, you should be ahead in farm due to Level 4 Tidebringer. From here on, your playstyle should be the same as [Choice #1]. Initiate battles, and use your level difference to your advantage. Your spells do a lot of damage. Hopefully your solo mid also gave you the money to farm some significant items and make a big impact in teamfights.  
   
   
   
  5. Item Overview 
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  Recommended Items 
   
  Note: Always adapt to the game. These are just my overall ideas after quite a lot of experience, but always, always adapt. 
   
   
    
   
  Magic Stick/Wand is good item on every single hero, and Kunkka is no exception. You will get into a lot of sticky situations where the ~150 hp and mp could turn the tides of a fight. Always good to have this. The 3 to all stats from Magic Wand is also nice. Unfortunately, it becomes nearly useless later on, and still takes up an item slot. 
   
   
   
   
  Its good to have 1 or 2 Bracers. Kunkka doesn't have great strength gain for a hero of his role, so the added hp and the boost of mana is always useful, but if you're farming well, you might want to consider other items. 
   
   
   
   
  I used to recommend Phase boots on Kunkka, but after testing out Treads in a variety of games, I found Treads to be a very viable choice. The attack speed on Treads is extremely noticeable, and the extra strength allows you to tank quite a bit more. Although teleport from BoT is nice, TP scrolls will be enough. The Phase ability is always good to have, and bonus damage is always welcomed. It is really your choice whether to get Treads or Phase, so look at the game's situation. 
   
   
   
   
  Always carry one of these. Whether its for escaping, defending, or farming that free lane, its always good to have TP scrolls on hand.  
   
   
   
   
  Urn is simply an awesome item for Kunkka. It provides him with some much needed HP and mana regen, while still being cheap. The charges on the Urn also allow you to stay in lane for a lot longer, which is always good. 
   
   
   
   
  Ring of Basilius is actually a pretty good item on Kunkka. If you're in a trilane, which will be very often in competitive games, a RoB is one of the best items even after the nerf. It makes Kunkka just a little bit more tanky and again, gives some much needed mana regen. I highly recommend RoB if you're going for a lot of roaming/ganking with your Venge and Witch Doctor. 
   
   
   
   
  Extremely useful item for Kunkka. BKB allows you to deal a lot of damage in teamfights and not get disabled/nuked to death. Although you have no channeling spells, you are extremely vulnerable to spells and you being the beast that you are, will often get targeted. The 10 strength and 24 damage is always helpful, and it doesn't cost too much. Keep in mind that every time you use BKB, it will lose 1 second of duration the next time you use it, so only use it in logical situations. However, it will only go down to a 5 second duration, long enough to dodge the major spells in a team fight. Do keep in mind that bashes go through BKB.  
   
   
   
   
  Battlefury is a great item on Kunkka that synergizes with Tidebringer. It provides you with even more damage, and much needed regen to both HP and MP. Its a good item to go for if you're farming well, and its pretty easy and convenient to build up. Highly recommended item for Kunkka. 
   
   
   
   
  Lothars is definately a good item on Kunkka. It allows you to suddenly splash tons of damage amongst the whole enemy team. The 125 backstab damage is included in the splash damage, and Lothars also gives you a good escape mechanism. IAS and damage is great, and even though it is a little expensive, it is very noticeable in team fights, and is extremely worth the gold. 
   
   
   
   
  Assault Cuirass is a very useful item not only for you, but for your team because of the IAS and Armour auras. The -5 Armour reduction to enemies is like an AOE Desolator, and the IAS is awesome if the game is lasting longer than expected, and you have massive DPS items stacked up. 
   
   
   
   
  Buriza really makes you a real threat because if you get a critical strike with Battlefury and Tidebringer, all that critical damage will be splashed amongst the enemies. Although Buriza costs a lot, it is a late game Luxury and it will pay off after you see the critical damage. I don't recommend getting this item for every game, but it is definately a Luxury item if you can afford it.  
   
   
   
  Situational Items 
   
   
   
   
  Kunkka benefits a lot from what vanguard gives, but is often regarded as a "fallback" item. If you seem to be farming badly, or are looking to drag the game (turtling), you will often want to go for a Vanguard first. In Mid-game teamfights, you will be rambo-ing in a lot, and you really need that vanguard to withstand focus fire. Not a bad item for you, but not always a must. 
   
   
   
   
  Bottle is sometimes a good item if you seem to be lacking some HP/MP for ganks or staying in lane to farm. Its sometimes seen as a cheap perseverance, so its another "fallback" item if you're not farming so well. Again, its definately not a must unless you're soloing mid, but even so, its better to rush that Ring of Health 90% of the time. 
   
   
   
   
  Heart is useful for tanking, and as Kunkka is often focused, he will need the HP boost. He should not be going back all the time, so the 2% regen will go farther than you think. Always good for a strength hero, but its usually better just to go with your "glass cannon" title and get more DPS items.  
   
   
   
   
  Pipe is another situational item. Because you have BKB, it could go to waste, but your team could greatly benefit from this. Synergizes well with Ghost Ship, but is geared more towards a defensive/safe strategy. Not a bad item at all. 
   
   
   
   
  Satanic seems perfect for Kunkka at first, providing survivability and lifesteal, but its not. Of course, its not a bad item, but it doesn't provide you with much damage. If you find yourself needing HP and survivability late game, I find it better just to go for Assault Cuirass just because it provides tons of armour while increasing your DPS. Nonetheless, Satanic is not a bad item, but it de-synergizes with your AOE theme since the Lifesteal will only work on one target. 
   
   
   
   
  Hex and Shiva's Guard are both "good" items to get, but most of the time, you should just get those top tier DPS items. However, Guinsoos is widely regarded as the best late game item, and the ability to hex is, indeed, a priceless ability. Shiva's provides some survivability, but the int is a little too much, and you should be focusing on increasing your AOE damage with DPS items, not Shivas. 
   
   
   
   
  Vlads is not the best item to go for on Kunkka, but its not too bad. It is easy to build in the early game, and provides some helpful things like Mana regen and Lifesteal. However, its cost is quite unappealing for its use, and again, there are much better choices. 
   
   
   
   
  Unless your team chooses 4 AOE Disabling heroes and you are sure that you will not get focused, do not buy Mask Of Madness. Kunkka does not have the survivability to take the extra damage since he is often focused. Also, Tidebringer will not activate more often if you have faster attack speed; You will always have to wait 4 seconds for it.  
   
   
   
   
  Linkens could be useful on Kunkka, but if you have a BKB, you won't really need it. A good alternative to BKB though; The stat & regen bonuses are nice and a Spell Block every 20 seconds is great. Unfortunately, it is quite expensive, but consider this item before getting BKB. 
   
   
  Rejected Items 
   
   
   
   
  Quote: 
  Armlet's Unholy Strength gives +65 damage and +25 strength worth of HP on activation, along with a good armor and HP regen bonus, and a decent boost to your attack speed, at the cost of only 30 HP/sec. This item is GOOD. Activate it when you're about to take your first swing, and then if there's no danger of you dying and the kill is guaranteed, just turn it off to save HP. If the shit is going to be flying, just leave it on the entire time. Turn it off after several heros are dead. Trust me, an extra 200HP from the HP drain is much less traumatic than the ~500HP drop you suffer from deactivating it in the middle of the fight. Once the fight is over, you can safely deactivate and TP if your health is low. 
  This is a very good argument for getting Armlet. However, Kunkka does not have a great amount of HP, making it very risky to use Armlet. Despite the fact that it is quite safe to just turn on Armlet, attack, then turn it off, it is just not worth the money for that little bit of damage for one attack. Unless you buy Lifesteal and some survivability to make up for the 35 hp/second loss, the 2850 gold for Armlet could be used for many more important core items. Lastly, Kunkka will not be the hero getting disabling support from the team. Instead, he is the AOE presence, a glass cannon who should not be using Armlet and absorbing a lot of damage. 
  For more about my opinion about Armlet, click here 
   
   
   
   
  Never, ever, get Quelling Blade on Kunkka. If your eyes are working properly, you should be able to read the "Cannot be held by Admiral". Its not because Admiral already has a sword; No, its because you won't get the extra damage from it since it will dis-function with Tidebringer. Don't ever get this on Kunkka. It doesn't work. 
   
   
   
   
  While Maelstorm and Mjollnir seem like a nice sidekick to your splashing, AOE arsenal, Kunkka has horrible attack speed which means he won't proc the lightning much. Also, it provides barely any attack speed and an orb that is barely even useful. For attack speed, get AC, for damage, get another Bfury. Kunkka is also quite fragile, so you don't want people focusing you to get those Static Charges off. 
   
   
   
   
  Although SnY provides decent movespeed and survivability, it costs 4500 Gold. Certainly not a good deal, especially for a hero like Kunkka. You already have burst movespeed from Phase Boots, and have better survivability from BKB, and the damage is very little compared to items like Lothars or Battlefury. 
   
   
   
   
  Kunkka does not have excellent attack speed, so bashers is a waste. It does not give Kunkka things that he needs, and there are many other things that the money could be used for. Don't get bashers. 
   
   
   
   
  Let your team's support hero get the Mekasm. You should be focusing on getting your core items. By the time you get them, the 250HP heal will be unnoticeable. 
   
   
  5.1. Item Build 
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  Starting Items at base 
   
   
  Total: 586 
   
  [Recommended] This build is more defensive and provides more heal. It provides quite a bit of strength, and is more safe incase you face heavy lane harassment. Feel free to switch the tango + salve around with 2 tangos or 2 salves, but I recommend getting one of each.  
   
   
   
  Total: 584 
   
    
  Total: 594 
   
  [Situational] These two builds provide a solid, aggressive start that provides you with a fair amount of hp. Have your team's chick/crow grab you a salve or two if you are farming well. You will need it because you only have 1 tango/salve for healing, which is next to nothing. If you are farming well, go for the Ring of Health from the side shops asap. 
   
   
  Core Items 
   
   
   
   
  This is your core item build, and its pretty damn expensive. Firstly, you should have chosen your boots - Treads or Phase. A bracer helps you survive a bit more, and it gives a bit of mana. The Lothars is vital to your instant AOE splash "theme". Paired with Battlefury, you will do a lot of damage to the enemies. Keep in mind that these items also help you farm the other one, so its really not that hard to get. Obviously, keep a TP scroll for defending or farming the free lane, and a Magic Stick for that (imba!) instant heal. In a really good game, you should be able to farm this in about 30 minutes, but don't hold yourself from helping the team to farm. You are not Phantom Lancer, who is supposed to farm, farm and farm until he gets his Radiance. By the time you're Level 11, you should have a good balance between farming and initiating teamfights/ganking.  
   
   
  Luxury Items 
   
   
   
  The main Luxury items you should be aiming for are (in order of importance) BKB, Assault Cuirass, and Buriza. BKB provides you with magic immunity, which is priceless in teamfights. Assault Cuirass greatly increases your EHP and your physical damage output by a ton. Buriza is the real icing on the cake, as a critical'd splash attack is game-breaking when you proc it. Other items like Heart or Satanic are optional; Get them if you feel that its the "right" item to get for your game. 
   
   
  5.2. Item Questions [Q&A] 
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  Q: Why do you hate Armlet so much? 
  A: I don't hate Armlet as an item, but I do dislike the idea of making it on Kunkka. I do understand the use of Armlet and the logic behind it, but you really need the gold for other items. For example, Battlefury costs more, but it provides more regen, more damage, and more splash damage. Also, the idea of losing HP on Kunkka is unbearable, and even if you say you're trading it for a lot of damage, Kunkka will often chase heroes, and you'll have to keep the Armlet on. Lastly, if you want to do more damage with your Tidebringer on that first hit, why not just get Lothars, which is infinitely more versatile. 
  To go back to the Item Overview of Armlet, click here 
   
  Q: Why don't you suggest any Orb effects for Kunkka? 
  A: Orb effects are usually for heroes who have fast attack speed, or do large amounts of damage so that they can Lifesteal it back. Kunkka has neither of these traits, so he is not a very good candidate for Orb effects. Also, with Lifesteal, you only steal life from the target you attack, not the others who received splash damage, so its not very useful. 
   
  Q: How many Battlefurys should I get? 
  A: Most of the time, one Battlefury is plenty, and by the time you have Battlefury and Lothars, you should be going for BKB and then Assault Cuirass. However, if your team consists of heroes like Magnataur, Tidehunter and Enigma, you could opt for a second Battlefury to increase your splash damage output. 
   
  Q: What about Refresher Orb? 
  A: Refresher is way too expensive for its use, and the Mana regen is not needed if you have a Battlefury or even a CM on your team. Although I do agree that Double Torrent and Double Boat seems sexy, it is far too mana-intensive and you would need a soul ring and probably even a mystic staff just to use it, and when you attack, you will deal only ~150 damage, which is nothing for a hero who has so much more potential. Lastly, you could get a lot of other useful items like Lothars and Buriza for the same price which increase your splash output by a lot more without using so much mana.  
   
  Leave a comment if you have any Questions, and I will gladly answer them.  
   
   
  6. Drafting and Synergy 
  ~Back to Table of Contents 
   
  Kunkka is a versatile hero that can fit into many lineups. Generally, use Kunkka in a team of heroes that: 
  Don't have a lot of carries 
  Has some AOE disables/damage 
  Needs an initiator 
  Has powerful Mid game presence 
  Works well with Kunkka! 
   
  Good Allies 
   
   
   
  As mentioned earlier, Crystal Maiden is Kunkka's best ally. She helps set up kills with frostbite, has a great aoe slow, solves you and your team's early mana problems, and has an ultimate that, combined with yours, is a thing to be scared of. She's also a natural support hero and a babysitter, allowing Kunkka to get much needed farm. 
   
   
   
   
  The new Magnus is a perfect teammate for Kunkka. He, again, deserves a special mention because he can drag the whole enemy team together, setting up a perfect Torrent and Ghost Ship. Secondly, he can buff you 45% more damage and 45% more splash, which is incredibly strong on Kunkka. If played correctly, Magnus can boost Kunkka's potential by a whole lot. 
   
   
   
   
  Dark Seer is another obvious hero that synergizes perfectly with Kunkka, but only with good coordination. A well timed Vacuum and Torrent could set up a deadly combo (Ex. Magnus' + Nevermore's Ultimates). Surge is good for Kunkka since he often needs to chase, and more AOE from Ion Shell is always welcomed. 
   
   
   
   
  Vengeful Spirit is often paired with Kunkka in a dual lane due to VS being a support hero, an excellent babysitter, and a hero with a targetable stun, allowing Kunkka to hit Torrents very easily. Also, Kunkka will be able to farm quite well with VS's babysitting, making this a very potent lane. 
   
   
   
   
  Sand King has a ranged AOE stun that can set up your torrent very well. Imagine a Burrowstrike + Torrent + Ghost Ship + Epicentre. Excellent ally from Level 1 to 25. 
   
   
   
   
  Lion is another babysitter, and he has two target-able disables and, making your Torrent a lot easier to hit. He can also harass the enemies well, allowing you to last hit and control the lane much better.  
   
   
   
  Basically any hero with an AOE skill, a stun, or a initiating/positioning skill. 
   
   
  Your Enemies 
   
   
   
  Silencer messes up everyone's combo, and you're no exception. A Kunkka using only Ghost Ship or only Torrent just isn't as effective. Try to stay away from him when you cast your spells so you won't get silenced. Silencer also has amazing lane control, so if you face him in a lane, you won't be getting much farm, even with a babysitter. 
   
  How to counter: In the lane, try to force the kill as soon as possible with a ranged stunner, because if you don't, he will constantly keep you at 0 Mana, and keep draining your HP.  
  In team fights, you should obviously try to stay back and not get silenced by Last Word. Also, you don't get silenced by Last Word from using items, so cast your Ghost Ship, get silenced, but follow up with Lothars and attack. Then use your X and **** catch the fleeing heroes. This way, you can still initiate effectively without being bothered by silences.  
   
   
   
   
  Now the main problem with NA is actually not his burst nuking combo. If you are unlucky enough to be his laning opponent, he will constantly keep you at very low mana. Although you have Tidebringer to fend him off early game, he will still come back later on, and unless you are constantly holding your torrent hotkey, waiting for him to appear, you will suffer. 
   
  How to counter: Harass as much as you can with Tidebringer, and don't try to force a kill, since you will be low on mana. After the laning phase, stick with your teammates more and ask for better warding so you don't get picked off. In the late game, he won't be much more than a pesky fly. 
   
   
   
   
  I feel kind of silly putting SA as the on this list, but he really does make you useless, even if you have dust/wards. Even if you get out of smoke screen, and you cast torrent, he will simply blink away or blink to you. Using X Marks the Spot on him is a pain too, because if you turn around to cast it when he's invisible, he's gonna be right behind you, dealing massive damage. A very annoying hero, so you'll need good teamwork to rid of him. 
   
  How to counter: Stay with your team, ask for more wards and buy dusts, or ask for the support hero for dust. As soon as he pops out, cast X Marks the Spot as soon as you get out of Smoke Screen, then use dust. Since hes such a fragile hero, he'll be dead in seconds. 
   
   
   
   
  If you decide to solo mid and you see a Medusa, you have the right to be afraid. Medusa has incredible lane control over you, and your Tidebringer will seem to do no damage at all. She also never runs out of mana, while yours just goes lower and lower, along with your health. Chasing her is difficult as well because of Stone Gaze. Simply an ugly (and I mean ugly) hero to have on the other team.  
   
  How to counter: You can't really "counter" a Medusa with Kunkka. However, you can ask for constant ganks and try to force as many early kills as you can before she gets her Linken's or any soursce of damage. 
   
   
   
   
  Again, a very unique hero to put in this section, but Kotl's Mana Leak can really mess you up if you make a wrong move. Since you are Mana dependent in team fights, you cannot afford to lose any mana, but you cannot afford to stand there while a battle is happening. Fortunately, Mana Leak doesn't have a huge casting range, so you probably won't get hit by it. 
   
  How to counter: Stay back in team fights to avoid Mana Leak. Other than Mana Leak, Kotl is no threat and a very fragile hero, so if you find him isolated and out of position, cast X Marks the Spot on him right away and pick him off.  
   
   
   
   
  Pugna's ward can be really annoying if he places it in an effective spot. The mana shock you get when you cast a spell hurts, and you will be casting all your spells. Unfortunately, the mana degeneration hurts even more, as it might encourage you to rush your combo.  
   
  How to counter: Communicate with your team to fight away from where the Nether Ward is. Try to be patient and don't rush your Ghost Ship. If you're chasing him and he casts Decripify on you or himself, you can still cast X Marks the Spot, then wait for Decripify to run out. This is also another example of why you might want to max out X Marks the Spot: because it lasts longer, so you can chase more easily. 
   
   
   
   
  Of course, Doom has to be mentioned because he is the "universal" counter to virtually all 97 heroes in the game. Not much more to say here. 
   
  How to counter: Don't get doomed; you can't even use items in them... But seriously, try to position yourself better than him, so you chain disable him before he can even do anything. 
   
   
   
   
  If you're alone, Bloodseeker will leave you with no choice but to give him the kill. His rupture and silence just totally counters any hero if they are alone. The only way to survive would be to outlevel/outfarm him, or to have teammates come help.  
   
  How to counter: Again, you will need good, constant warding. Also, keep your eye on your HP when farming, because the AOE of Bloodseeker's Thirst is a lot larger than you think. If he chases you, casting Rupture and Bloodrage on you, fight him! Without any top tier items, Bloodseeker is an underwhelmingly weak hero, so pop your Magic Wand, and with the extra damage from Bloodrage and Tidebringer, you will be doing massive amounts of damage to him, turning the tides of the battle. 
   
   
   
   
  If N'aix goes for you, all you can do is activate Phase Boots and run. There is simply nothing else you can do for 5 seconds. He will eat you, open your wounds, and he is immune to your violent splashes of water. Just hope that you can survive long enough if he comes after you when you're alone. 
   
  How to counter: Lothars is the safest way to go. Also, if you feel that you have enough HP remaining, TP out as soon as you see him raging and opening your wounds. He has no stuns, so if you can tank him for a few seconds, you can easily get away. 
   
   
   
  Basically heroes who like to pick on enemies who have no quick escape mechanism, or heroes who are just plain good against any hero. You will need to rely on your team to save you from them.  
   
   
  6.1. Examples of Teams 
  ~Back to Table of Contents 
   
  Note: These picks and bans are simply my opinions of heroes that work well with Kunkka and the ones who might counter them. These suggestions are based on lots of experience through IH games and scirms.  
  Also, the lanes are assigned assuming you are Sentinel. 
   
  AOE and Teamfight-based team 
   
  Bans:      
   
  Picks  
   (Top) 
   (Top) 
   (Mid) 
   (Bot) 
   (Bot Jungle)  
   
  Lots of AOE disabling capability here. CM will lane with Kunkka, which is a really strong lane. Kunkka should be able to farm quite well here with CM's support and the aura is awesome for the entire team. SF will solo mid so he can get quick Levels and souls for his ultimate. Tide will solo bottom, the safe lane, and enigma will jungle, ganking bottom from time to time. Tidehunter and Enigma both have incredible AOE Disabling skills, allowing Kunkka to follow up with his Ship and Torrent very effectively. 
   
   
  Ganking-based team 
   
  Bans:      
   
  Picks  
   (Top) 
   (Top) 
   (Mid) 
   (Bot) 
   (Bot) 
   
  This team will focus a lot on stuns and ganking. As you can see, all 5 heroes have a stun/disable of some sort, so ganking will be very easy. You will need some good warding and will need to take advantage and control in the early game by constantly ganking. Kunkka here should keep a balance between farming and participating in ganks. 
   
   
  Kunkka Solo Mid as a hard carry 
   
  Bans:     
   
  Picks  
   (Top) 
   (Top) 
   (Mid) 
   (Bot) 
   (Bot) 
   
  Kunkka here will solo mid, and he will need it because he is the only real carry on the team. Both of the other lanes have very strong lane control, so you should be staying in your lane farming as much as you can. In a lineup like this, you will probably want to farm most of the time, and get some top tier items to make impacts in teamfights. 
   
   
  7. Replays 
  ~Back to Table of Contents 
   
   
  Replay #1: GosuGamers DotA | Replay: MYM vs DTS 
   
   
  Replay #2: GosuGamers DotA | Replay: Nv.GiGa.my vs OK 
   
   
  Replay #3: GosuGamers DotA | Replay: MYM vs TeG 
   
  Well played Kunkka by MyM|MaNia-, laning with Maelk who plays Vengeful Spirit. Notice how VS plays a very defensive and denying game, letting Kunkka last hit. Because they were laning against Rooftrellen, a very difficult hero to kill early on, they were not as aggressive. They get their first kill at 6:45 through a Stun + Torrent combo. MaNia- farms a LOT this game. He has a creep score of 77/8 13 minutes into the game, which is insanely good. I think MyM was worried about Razor being a real threat and getting out of control, so MaNia- tp'd everywhere and farmed like crazy. He gets a bracer, Phase Boots and Bfury by 16 mins, which is very respectable farm. All in all, a good example of how to play an Kunkka in the laning phase, but the game just turned into a stomp later on. 
   
   
  8. Conclusion 
  ~Back to Table of Contents 
   
  Firstly, I'd like to say that this guide is the outcome of hours and hours of research, revision, testing and effort, so I hope that any comments are thoughtful and meaningful, and that you think twice before you comment. 
   
  All in all Kunkka is an awesome hero in pub games and in competitive games. He excels at farming, initiating battles and dealing huge amounts of damage in mere seconds. He is capable of changing a game if played properly, but he also depends a lot on his team. Because he is a hero with such an impact, he is a top pick in competitive games.  
   
  To end the teaching part of the guide, I'd like to say one last thing: In this guide, I use the word "positioning" a lot, and while it might be redundant, positioning is what the current game is all about. In reality, you can get horrendously outpicked, but if you have good positioning (okay, last time I'll use it.), initiating well and starting battles intelligently, you will often win the fight, with good coordination of course. 
   
  So there we go, I hope my guide has inspired you to try or play Kunkka more and I hope you enjoyed reading it. 
  

 
  Introduction 
   
  Alchemist aka Alch aka Chubby (+10 Cool Points for reference) is one of the more versatile heroes in DotA, and is an especially deadly one now that his stun has been reworked. Alch has always been one of my favorite heroes, and it was nice to see him get some love in the last update. 
   
  He is now able to be played as a tank/support and to a lesser extent carry/tank. Not a true hybrid like Slardar and not a true tank like Centaur. Alch has always had some role confusion; my goal is to help you better understand his role and maximize your effectiveness at all stages of the game. 
   
  In order to play Alch within the vision I present, you must have the following skills: 
  1. The ability to last hit effectively and consistently. 
  2. You must be able to manage your mana effectively. 
  3. Map awareness. 
  4. Understand how the roles of heroes interact and how to utilize yourself with your allies. 
  5. Basic mastery and understanding of jukes is also necessary to play Alch. 
  6. A sense of timing is the mark of the best Alch players, and without this your gameplay will always be mediocre. 
   
  Fair warning, this guide can definitely be a wall of text in some parts, and I've tried to incorporate colors and pictures to break it up a bit for you. However, I highly recommend reading all parts of the guide in order to understand the thinking underlying the play style. By doing this, you can come to understand how I think and make a critical judgement in order to adapt this to your own play style. 
   
  Please note that this is a guide based around how to maximize the effectiveness of a particular hero and not an instruction manual on how to play DotA, so I will not be discussing things in the light of how they fit within your learning curve. I will assume I am talking to someone who knows how to play the game at a decent to skilled level. If you don't know what a laning phase is, what a gank is, or when late game starts, IceFrog has a nifty Learn the Game section located HERE. 
   
   
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   
  The Philosophy 
   
  This section was added after a thoughtful comment suggesting that I add a section dedicated to outlining a game's flow and how the player should behave and what they should buy at various times throughout the game. Here's where I explain why I don't think this is a good idea. 
   
  My gaming philosophy is that the best players are those who do the following: 
   
  1. Formulate an initial plan. 
  2. Decipher the enemy plan. 
  3. Immediately throw out their plan and react to counter the enemy's plan. 
   
  But how do I make this accessible to you, the reader? It seems totally obvious to me how this works, but that doesn't mean it's obvious to you. Hence why I am taking the time to attempt to convey the thoughts behind the guide. 
   
  Endless adaptability. Know your options. Recognize synergy. Pressure a game's flow into your favor. Seize every opportunity. Create fear in your opponents. Strike without mercy. Never surrender. Become chaos. 
   
  These are the core components of my thinking when going into a game. I intend to make them fear me and my teammates. I intend to be chaos unleashed. And while these things seem to be weighty thoughts, they are truly accessible by anyone. 
   
  Here's how I make this accessible. I don't bog you down with a list of things to accomplish and a timetable to get things done. That's your job as a player. Asking me, the writer, to do that for you is essentially asking me to think for you. Laying down your mind is the absolute worst thing you can do to yourself as a player. 
   
  My part and my intention in writing this guide is to inform you of the best options and to provide insight into when these options are used. Once you have the best options, it becomes your responsibility to analyze the game, it's flow, and it's players' tendencies and to then react in an appropriate manner. That manner being your best to crush your opponents without letting up. It becomes your job to cause them as much chaos as you are possibly capable of mustering. 
   
  Just as an example for you. Let's say that I lay out a pretty timetable going for my preferred items in a standard game, and leave it at that. I've handicapped you. I've not given you the tools I used to construct the timetable. What happens when it's not a normal game, and you need to figure out how to counter a 5 man push mid at minute zero? I fully intend for you to be able to pluck apart this guide and be able to come up with a solution to just such a problem. 
   
  In conclusion, the ability to think actively about the situation is what will define you as a player. Set this aside and you leave things to chance. I try my damn hardest to leave nothing that I have in my ability to control and affect to fate. To do so is the height of irresponsibility. 
   
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   
   
  Quick Play Guide 
   
  You just want to know what to do and don't care about the underlying thinking, or you've read the guide before and just need a quick refresher. 
   
   
   
   
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   
   
  Skill Discussion 
   
   Acid Spray 
  Acid Spray is a great utility power. It provides armor reduction, damage over time (DoT), and effects a HUGE area. This ability never gets old and allows you and your physical attacking allies to be even more effective every team fight. Be sure to drop this at the start of every team fight to maximize it's power. 
   
  Skill Details 
   
   
   
   
   Unstable Concoction 
  Alch's signature, and usually the one most people misuse. This power is the one that requires the best instincts of timing and the best juking knowledge to be absolutely devastating. The ability is a stun-nuke, and is unique in its application due to its charge-up time. 5 seconds sounds fast, but you will sweat for all 5 seconds of this abilities countdown if your opponents have any skill. 
   
  Maximizing this ability is not about getting the highest possible damage or stun out of it; it's about LANDING the stupid thing. Waiting for all 5 seconds only to have your opponent juke out and let you stun yourself is the absolute height of embarrassment for all Alch players. It's better to land a half charged nuke than nuke yourself for the full amount. 
   
  Skill Details 
   
   
   
   
   Goblin's Greed 
  The ultimate farming skill. This skill is the reason Alch always has items. 1-6 and still got his core items on time, this is the reason. I cannot stress how much last hitting will improve your gameplay for any hero, and it's imperative for Alch especially. And if you manage to get a good score while farming, say 3-1 or even 2-0, you'll probably be the first one to finish your items on the board. That allows you to leave the lane to your carry and roam. Believe me, nothing is scarier than an mia Alch. 
   
  Skill Details 
   
   
   
   
   Chemical Rage 
  Activate GOD MODE. Seriously, massive boost in all of your regeneration, reduction of BAT to the lowest of any hero in the game, extra MS to chase, gank, and run, and extra HP. Never enter a battle without this active if you can help it. 
   
  This has a low cooldown and long duration as far as most ultimates go, but you should be cautious while this is on cooldown. Without this active, you are one of the squishiest heroes in the game. While active, you have the potential for causing absolute havoc within the other team's ranks. 
   
  Skill Details 
   
   
   
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   
   
   
  Skill Builds 
   
  Alch is one of those heroes that can be built a few different ways. All the skill builds have you make out your nuke-stun first, and that is probably the only thing that is absolutely set in stone for playing Alch. I'll present 3 skill builds. Each one serves a particular playstyle, and I'll explain each one. 
   
   The Face Smasher 
  1. Unstable Concoction 
  2. Acid Spray 
  3. Unstable Concoction 
  4. Acid Spray 
  5. Unstable Concoction 
  6. Chemical Rage 
  7. Unstable Concoction 
  8. Acid Spray 
  9. Acid Spray 
  10. Goblin's Greed 
  11. Chemical Rage 
  12. Goblin's Greed 
  13. Goblin's Greed 
  14. Goblin's Greed 
  15. Stats 
  16. Chemical Rage 
   
  This build is optimized towards getting into your opponents' faces as fast as possible. You stun, you spray acid, you smack them until they die, and you do it during the early game. That's the idea behind this skill build. 
   
  I also recommend this when facing off against a weak lane. Say a Juggernaut paired with a Phantom Assassin. You can basically free farm as long as you set yourself up as the dominant force in the lane. 
   
   
   The Rich Man 
  1. Unstable Concoction 
  2. Goblin's Greed 
  3. Acid Spray 
  4. Goblin's Greed 
  5. Acid Spray 
  6. Chemical Rage 
  7. Acid Spray 
  8. Acid Spray 
  9. Goblin's Greed 
  10. Goblin's Greed 
  11. Chemical Rage 
  12. Unstable Concoction 
  13. Unstable Concoction 
  14. Unstable Concoction 
  15. Stats 
  16. Chemical Rage 
   
  This is for those who have the $$$ in their eyes. If you have absolutely phenomenal last hitting ability, you'll be able to fully utilize this skill build. You stay a threat since you have your stun, and you become a bigger threat with your intensive farming. Maxing out Acid Spray intensifies your farming and allows you to last hit much easier as well as harassing enemies in the lane (especially melee heroes). 
   
  I would almost never recommend doing this build. It's useful in one very select situation that should never happen: your team has no carry. Then it falls to you to step up and farm your damn heart out. Finish ALL your core items by the 15-20 minute mark and one luxury item by 25-27 minutes. Go kill the other team and lol while they realize they shouldn't have let you farm. 
   
   
   Harmony 
  1. Unstable Concoction 
  2. Goblin's Greed 
  3. Unstable Concoction 
  4. Stats 
  5. Unstable Concoction 
  6. Chemical Rage 
  7. Unstable Concoction 
  8. Acid Spray 
  9. Acid Spray 
  10. Acid Spray 
  11. Chemical Rage 
  12. Acid Spray 
  13. Goblin's Greed 
  14. Goblin's Greed 
  15. Goblin's Greed 
  16. Chemical Rage 
   
  This is my personal build. I am a big believer in taking a level of stats in the early game for that little bit of extra padding on both HP and Mana. I've been saved by it enough to really incorporate it into most of my gameplay. 
   
  You'll notice the one level of Goblin's Greed. If you're able to chain your last hits back to back, it really pumps up your gold income by around 15-20% in the early game. I take Acid Spray going into the mid game when I'm assisting in ganks and pushing lanes. 
   
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   
   
  Playing Alchemist 
   
   
  Deciding How to Play 
   
  Alright, you have an idea of how Alch is built skill-wise. You may have sneaked a peak at the the Quick Play Guide, and you're wondering what the hell was I thinking when I put that together. No worries. This is where I handle that part. 
   
  For now, I'm going to step away from discussing Alch specifically. In order to pick a good item and skill build, you now have to asses your team and the enemy team. You also have to take into account your lane, your lane partner and your enemies in lane and in the neighboring lane. It's a lot to think about, but here's a good summary. 
   
  1. Does our team have a reliable carry? 
   
  If the answer to this is yes, congratulate yourself on being able to do what you do best: support/tank. If the answer is no, you're the one to step up; you have reliable tanking ability and and insane attack speed as a given. All you need is damage (which means lots of farming). 
   
  2. Is my lane partner heavily item dependent? 
   
  If the answer is yes, let your partner have at least half the early farm. You can make it up in spades later with a quick 5 or 10 minutes in the jungle. If the answer is no, go to town and farm your heart out. 
   
  3. Is the opposing lane lacking somehow? 
   
  This is a loaded question. Lacking how? If you can answer yes to at least 3 of these, bash their faces in and be hyper aggressive where you can: they have no regen items, their individual HP is 550 or lower, they have no disable (true disables, not slows or semi-disables), the opposing lane is all melee, they have no strong nuking ability. If the answer is no to at least 3 of these, then you need to be a bit more conservative but completely ready to spring on them if they screw up. 
   
  These are the basic questions that I always ask myself when playing Alch, since he is so versatile and can adapt as need to the situation. 
   
  Next, we need to do one last thing before we leap off the deep end. We need to summarize the inherent attributes of Alch so we know exactly what we have to work with 
   
  -Alch's starting numbers are rather high except his low Agility. 
  -His overall stat gains are one step above being totally abyssmal. 
  -He has a stun that is tricky to land (and does physical damage, not magic). 
  -Goblin's Greed can increase your gold income by up to 30% throughout the game (statistically over the course of a game). 
  -His ult improves his BAT immensely, gives him more HP, HUGE regen boost for HP and mana, and more ms, so he's most effective only during his ult and is extra fragile outside of it. 
   
  So, what does all this mean? Alch is a bit of trick. He's startlingly scary during his ult. He's able to get farm no matter how many times he dies. He has a fairly reliable stun. He will not get easily dominated early game, but will peter out unless he is supplemented with appropriate items. 
   
  Keep this in mind, as I'll refer back to it several times. 
   
   
  Getting Out of the Base 
   
   
   
   
   
  This is my preferred way to walk out of the base. Quelling blade is good for a couple of things: interesting jukes, extra last hitting power for both creep kills and denies. That extra 20+ damage a hit on creeps gives you another degree of precision for getting your last hits. 
   
  The 3 branches are some necessary padding for when your levels don't net you many stat gains. 
   
  For healing items, you get 3 tangos and 1 salve. This gives you necessary heal over time to supplement against any harassment and a burst heal for after that near miss that should have killed you. 
   
  If you're really just overly confident in yourself you can replace the tangos or the salve with 2 clarity potions, but I don't recommend it. 
   
  Quelling Blade - 225 
  Iron Branches x3 - 159 
  Tangoes - 90 
  Salve - 100 
  ------------------------ 
  Total - 579 
   
   
  Working the Lane 
   
  Ok, we've got items; let's get the hell to a lane and get down to business. Usually, I prefer a side lane with Alch, and having a ranged hero in the lane to harass the enemy is most preferred for you to farm up. * 
   
  While in lane, get all the last hits you can on both the enemy creeps and your creeps. Denies means low experience for them and a higher level for you. I would probably attempt a kill at level 3 or 5 if your lane partner is at all reliable. If not, don't even try. 
   
  You should shoot straight for some Boots of Speed; the MS means you avoid ganks easier and makes working your lane that much easier. *If you've not used the salve or tangos by the time your ready for your boots, sell off a branch. You can do without if you must, but the heals won't go out of style any time soon. 
   
  If the enemy is harassing the hell out of you, there are 3 things you can do about that depending on their method. You'll have to sell a branch to fit one of these in this early, but that's ok since branches are cheap. 
   
   or  or  
   
  The Magic stick is especially useful against spammers like Bristleback. You shouldn't be hurting too bad anymore with this in your arsenal. The Stout Shield is to protect against those guys getting in the random physical attacks like Windrunner or Lich or another ranged hero. The Ring of Regeneration is useful as a supplement to your tangoes and helps most when your tangos were taking care of your issue before. 
   
  Now, it's time to upgrade your boots into something more substantial. 
   
   Treads vs Phase  
   
  Treads grant AS and HP or Attack Speed or Mana, but you have your ult for that. *Seriously, they're overkill in my opinion, and you desperately need some damage. 
   
  Phase grants an MS boost that stacks with your ult and damage, which your ult doesn't grant. *That MS boost is nasty; it pumps your MS up to 448 with only your level 1 ult. It's gets really nasty at 16 when you get an MS boost up to 482. Get the Phase. 
   
  Moving on to Bigger Things 
   
  After the laning phase of the game, you should farm the safe lane and participate in any ganks that you can. Meanwhile, you need to build up your next items.  
   or  
   
  This is the perfect time to either finish a Magic Wand or a Bottle. I honestly don't have a strong overall opinion here. Bottle is nifty for toting runes, Wand is super burst heal and mana regen in a pinch. It's all relative to how the game is going and what other heroes are in it. If your buddy is rune-whoring, let him abuse his Bottle and get a Wand; don't be a dick and steal his runes. 
   
   Be a Team Player Just This Once 
   
  Vladmir's Offering is a definite must for any team. It's team mana regen, armor, damage, and lifesteal for melee heroes. Get it if no one else is gonna; you have the farming ability for this to not offset you very much and lifesteal is just baller on top of your ult's regen. 
   
   The Split 
   
  This is where you actually need to make decisions and things stop being definitively good or bad. This section is more of a discussion of how these items effect your gameplay as Alch and advice on when these items are appropriate. 
   
   Vanguard vs Black King Bar  
   
  You need the HP, no ifs ands or buts about it. *Here's how this decision works: analyze your problems dealing with the other team. If your bigger problem is dealing with big spells/stuns, you can take full advantage of the BKB, and it gives a good damage boost on top of that. However, if your bigger issue is just needing a mass of HP to deal with a tough DPS, get the Vanguard. You're a melee hero, and you can take full advantage of the Vanguard as a melee hero. It raises your EHP (effective health points) by a significant margin and is also cheaper to build than the BKB. 
   
   
   Viable Orb Effects 
   
  Left to right is actually my preference for orb effects in order from highest to lowest. I don't expect to just implicitly trust me though, so I'll explain. This is the point in a game where I really notice Alch's lack of stat gains. His BAT is awesome, and he attacks at a good speed, but he doesn't have much damage. He's really just a good damage absorber at this point in the item build. It could be so much awesome with the right item combination. Choosing one of these orb effects will drastically change which extension items are viable, and I'll make sure to include that later. 
   
  The Preferred 
   
  Mjollnir is my pick of the bunch. It has a good buildup either from a Maelstrom or a Hyperstone; I prefer the Maelstrom. It gives you a solid attack speed to finally take advantage of your low BAT. I'll grant that you only get one Chain Lightning per second. But with your new BAT and IAS, you will get one at least every 1.5 seconds; I guarantee it. That translates into monstrous pushing power and an 160 damage boost every 4th attack. Not to mention that you now have an stupidly good buff to put on whoever the other team seems to focus down first. This is usually you or your carry; punish them for it with Static Charge. Since this gives me some damage and attack speed, I tend to get this most often since you won't need another item after this. Any item after this is just gravy. 
   
  The Needy 
   
  Stygian Desolator has a nifty side effect; it stacks with your Acid Spray. This gives you a deadly -12 armor on your targets; they are gonna feel every hit you land, especially any squishy INT heroes. If you can manage an Assault Cuirrass, you'll pop up to -17 armor on your target. Can you say QQ? Honestly though, without a decent attack speed item behind it, you won't be able to take advantage of the damage boost or the negative armor that the Desolator provides. If you go this route, prepare to keep farming for another item afterwards or get the other item first depending on your choice. 
   
  The Strangely Intriguing 
   
  Diffusal Blade is usually one of the last things I'd ever consider for Alch. However, it's strangely appealing in certain scenarios. Against a team sporting an Omniknight, it's downright kickass. The mana burn combined with your BAT and agility gain from the Diffusal Blade usually empties the mana pool of anyone but an INT hero. I've experimented with this and I have mixed feelings. Following your stun with a Purge just keeps the enemy inside your Acid Spray longer, and let's you wail on them that much longer. If you're going for a carry Alch build, this is definitely something to think about. 
   
  The Downright Weird 
   
  Eye of Skadi is useful only to the richest Alchs and only to those that absolutely gotta have some stats. It's nifty only in limited circumstances, and I have only gotten it 3 times on Alch. Circumstances calling for a Skadi include having to deal with a Slark (this helps counter the stat steal from his Essence Shift), having forgotten to spend your gold for awhile and have 6150 gold just lying around, or your team has plenty of stuns to initiate with and needs a slow to follow it all in order to finish off heroes. Honestly though, avoid this item on Alch if you can. 
   
   
  Rounding Yourself Out 
   
  In all seriousness, your game should be over long before you ever finish too many of the following items. 
   
   
  Certain items should be on the back burner of your brain in case you need them earlier than the late game. For instance: Armlet of Mordiggian can be devastating after your team has a Vlad; Radiance is always nice on Alch and complements your abilities well, and it adds punch to your naturally fast attacks and its AoE damage stacks with Acid Spray. 
   
   
  Blademail is a must if you're the team's main tank. You'll need a way to turn the damage soaking to your advantage. 
   
   
  Monkey King Bar can be a help if the enemy carry got some evasion. It's true strike is sick against such heroes. 
   
   
  Shiva's Guard is a consideration if no one else can get it, or you're really in need of a way to debuff the enemy carry. The armor is super ridiculous on you, the AoE damage/slow synergizes well with your Acid Spray, and the 25% attack speed debuff is a definite plus. Honestly, you don't need the mana. 
   
   
  Necronomicon should only be gotten if a Gem isn't a better choice for dealing with Invisible heroes. You're tanky enough to be a strong candidate for Gem carrier, and I've honestly never gotten this on Alch before. However, it's in my bag of tricks if I ever need it. 
   
   
  Boots of Travel are a viable thing to build in the late game when you need to be a constant presence with your team. It allows you to teleport to the fight immediately after you've solo-pushed a lane or just revived. It also gives you the option to teleport out of dangerous situations. Overall a good if expensive follow-up item. 
   
   
  Finding Some Synergy 
   
  I'll assume you've got an Orb Effect item or have one planned at this point. Which items you choose from this list are strongly impacted by your choice of orb effect. 
   
   
  If you went for Mjollnir, avoid anything with more attack speed. You don't need it. The Cranium Basher is usually a good complement to your insane attack speed. Battlefury turns you into almost as good a pusher (or better) as the kings of push like Geomancer and Pit Lord. Same for the Radiance. 
   
   
  If you went for the Stygian Desolator, you HAVE to get either an Assault Cuirrass or an Armlet of Mordiggian. You have to pump your attack speed through some mechanism to truly push your damage into being a threat. 
  

 
  Introduction 
  Go to Table of Contents 
   
  Since Kaldr, the Ancient Apparition (AA) was first introduced in 6.65, he quickly became my favorite hero in the game. His skills can be confusing at first, and with four actives, he can be quite intimidating, but once they are learnt and mastered, AA becomes one of the most powerful heroes in DotA. He is able to amplify both his teams physical, and magical damage output, as well as stop pushes from across the map, and control the lane in a excellent fashion.  
   
  AA has been nerfed since his introduction in 6.65. His Skill Cold Feet, which costed 90 mana in 6.65, was increased 90/100/110/120 in 6.66, and then increased again to a constant 150 in 6.67. Ice Blast's impact delay was increased from 6.65 to 6.66 as well. 6.68 saw AA's biggest nerf to date, he lost 1 starting armor, and Ice Blast's cd was changed from 44/32/20 to a constant 45 seconds. In 6.72 his armor was nerfed a further 2 points, but due to the fact that heroes get exp if they kill other heroes outside of their exp range Ice Blast received a huge buff. While these are nerfs to balance AA, he is still a formidable hero. 
   
   
  Table of Contents(Click on a section to go there) 
   
  Foreword 
  Introduction 
  Table of Contents 
  Hero Introduction 
  Skills 
  Skill Build 
  Item Build 
  Strategy 
  Ice Blast Strategy 
  Closing 
   
   
  Hero Introduction 
  Go to Table of Contents 
   
   
  Kaldr, the Ancient Apparition 
   
  Defeated in a battle long forgotten, this once great mage was banished to a tomb of ice for all eternity. For countless ages he lay in unbearable anguish until he was discovered by minions of the Lich King. In a vain attempt to gain favour with this ancient soul for his own purposes, the Lich King released him. But this soul no longer knew gratitude, it no longer knew friend from foe, it knew only pain. With its body long since decayed, the soul took up the only form it knew. Consumed with hatred, even a touch from this monstrosity causes agony. Able to conjure devastating ice storms with a mere thought and hurl soul-shattering bolts of frost seemingly impossible distances, this creature punishes all who dare to stand their ground against it. 
   
  Stats 
  Strength 18 + 1.4 
  Agility 20 + 2.2 
  Intelligence(main) 25 + 2.6 
   
  Advanced Stats 
  Affiliation: Neutral 
  Attack Animation: 0.45 / 0.3 
  Damage: 44 - 54 
  Casting Animation: 0.01 / 0.75 
  Armor: 1.8 
  Base Attack Time: 1.7 
  Movespeed: 295 
  Missile Speed: 1250 
  Attack Range: 600 
  Sight Range: 1800 / 1400 
   
  Pros and Cons 
   
  Pros 
  High range 
  Good starting stats 
  Amazing casting animation 
  Very good night time vision 
  Great attack animation 
  Can push lanes from across the map 
  Simply amazing skills 
   
  Cons 
  Terrible strength gain 
  Average movespeed 
  Needs ally help for reliable disable 
  Four actives (Silence) 
  Magic immunity counters what ever he can do 
   
   
  As you can see, the Pros out weight the cons. His biggest weakness is silence and his low hp, but his skills alone make up for these drawbacks, let alone his awesome other stats. 
   
   
  Skills 
  Go to Table of Contents 
   
   
   
  Cold Feet 
   
  The Apparition curses his foes with The Frozen Mark which will freeze enemies to the ground. Unless target enemy moves at least 740 away from the mark within 4 seconds he is frozen still. 
   
  Level 1 - Deals 37.5 damage every second, 1.25 seconds stun. 
  Level 2 - Deals 50 damage every second, 2 seconds stun. 
  Level 3 - Deals 62.5 damage every second, 2.75 seconds stun. 
  Level 4 - Deals 75 damage every second, 3.5 seconds stun. 
   
  Manacost - 150 mana 
  Cooldown - 15/13/11/9 seconds 
   
  Notes 
  -Casting range is 700 
  -This skill actually does damage at .8/1.6/2.5/3.4 seconds 
  -The stun occurs at 4 seconds exactly 
  -The damage stops and no stun occurs if the target moves out of range, even if he moves back in range 
  -The casting is instant 
  This skill is the crux of your laning stage. Use it to keep enemies out of exp range, and do damage. If you have an ally with a stun or slow, you can easily get kills with this. It works wonders in trilanes. 
   
   
  Ice Vortex 
   
  Gathers ancient frost energy into one area to create a small, immobile ice vortex at a location. Whenever enemies are near it, their movement speed and magical resistance are reduced. 
   
  Level 1 - -18% movespeed and -10% spell resistance 
  Level 2 - -22% movespeed and -15% spell resistance 
  Level 3 - -26% movespeed and -20% spell resistance 
  Level 4 - -30% movespeed and -25% spell resistance 
   
  Manacost - 80/90/100/110 
  Cooldown - 6 seconds 
   
  Notes 
  -Casting range is 1500 
  -AoE is 275 
  -Casting time is instant 
  -Gives vision of the area 
  -Negative 25% spell resistance does not mean that it negates natural hero resistance in 25% - 25% = 0, the equation is .75 * 1.25 = 93.75% damage done, instead of 75%. Dagon for example, does 375 damage instead of 300. 
  This is the skill that amplifies your teams magic damage. Cast it behind targets of cold feet to slow them and cause them to take more damage, and cast it underneath targets in team clashes to cause them to take more damage. The skill also helps to escape, and the vision can be used to scout ganks, scout runes, and prevent jukes.  
   
   
  Chilling Touch 
   
  Releases a gust of cold wind at a target area, enchanting allied heroes with bonus magical damage on their attacks. Lasts for a limited number of attacks up to a maximum of 40 seconds. While the enchanted heroes have this chilling touch, their attack speed is reduced by 15%. 
   
  Level 1 - +40 Bonus magic damage on attack, for 2 attacks 
  Level 2 - +50 Bonus magic damage on attack, for 3 attacks 
  Level 3 - +60 Bonus magic damage on attack, for 4 attacks 
  Level 4 - +70 Bonus magic damage on attack, for 5 attacks 
   
  Manacost - 140 mana 
  Cooldown - 50/46/42/38 seconds 
   
  Notes 
  -Casting AoE is 450 
  -Casting range is 800 
  -Magic damage amplified by Ice Vortex 
  -Damage is dealt separately from attack damage 
  -Interrupted attacks do not count against the attack counter 
  This skill increases your entire teams physical damage output. It is invaluable in team fights, essentially adding 1750 magic against the enemy team. It can be useful in the laning stage as well, with a good disabler/slower. 
   
   
  Ice Blast 
   
  Ancient Apparition projects his presence out to make way for a powerful ripple of hailstone and dark magic. Once cast, it can release the spell to strike targets within the area of where his presence was upon release. It will deal damage to enemy units and apply a frostbite curse on them where their health regeneration will be frozen and will shatter if they fall close enough to death. This spell has global range depending on how long you wait for the projections to move. Frostbitten units will take minor damage over time. 
   
  Level 1 - 250 Damage, 12.5 DoT, instant kill if damage suffered below 10% HP, last 8 seconds 
  Level 2 - 350 Damage, 20 DoT, instant kill if damage suffered below 11% HP, last 9 seconds 
  Level 3 - 450 Damage, 32 DoT, instant kill if damage suffered below 12% HP, last 10 seconds 
   
  Manacost - 100/125/150 
  Cooldown - 45 
   
  Notes 
  -Casting range is global 
  -The area of effect for the damage is 225+50*TimeTraveled capped at 1000, The area of effect for HP freeze is 275 along the path of the second projectile and upon the final strike area. 
  -First projectile has a 1500 movespeed, stops when the caster dies or casts the second part of the skill 
  -First projectile clears fog in a 500 radius circle at it's end. 
  -When shatter kills a hero, the kill is given to AA 
  -Fatal damage is 100000000 physical and clears all debuffs prior damaging. 
  -Shatter does not work on meepo's clones or illusions 
  -Stops all heals from items and skills during the duration of the debuff 
  -The debuff can be purged, and it will not kill units under the effect of shallow grave 
  -The original projectile is invisible, but will be revealed by truesight. 
  This skill is AA's best skill, and one of the best skills in the game. It can kill heroes from far away, or close up. It can be used to stop heals, including lifesteal. It is also AA's only real farming skill, but it is a good one. It can push lanes, or defend lanes from anywhere on the map. It is ridiculous, and I expect the mana cost or cd will be nerfed. However, the skill is hard to aim, and with truesight, exceptionally easy to dodge when not disabled, unless launched from across the map. 
   
  If you don't get this skill after reading this, I recommend testing it out in single player, as it's actual use is much simpler then its description. 
   
  Go to Ice Blast Strategy 
   
  Skill Build 
  Go to Table of Contents 
   
  1.Cold Feet 1 
  2.Ice Vortex 1 
  3.Cold Feet 2 
  4.Ice Vortex 2/Chilling Touch 1 
  5.Cold Feet 3 
  6.Ice Blast 1 
  7.Cold Feet 4 
  8.Ice Vortex 3 
  9.Ice Vortex 4 
  10.Chilling Touch 1/Ice Vortex 4 
  11.Ice Blast 2 
  12.Chilling Touch 2 
  13.Chilling Touch 3 
  14.Chilling Touch 4 
  15.Stats 
  16.Ice Blast 3 
  17-25. Stats 
   
  Reasoning: 
   
  Cold Feet is taken whenever possible. The lane control advantage is too great to pass up. The disable will help kill enemies with an ally, and the damage is really good for early game. There is no reason not to get Cold Feet. 
   
  Ice Blast is also taken when possible. It's uses speak for themselves, and the added ganking powers are simply to good to even consider passing up. 
   
  Ice Vortex is taken over chilling touch because it's all around a better skill. The 1500 cast range is absolutely ridiculous. With a 6 second cd, a powerful slow, an instant cast time and vision, it's very hard to escape or gank AA. Plus, the negative magic resistance and slow synergise with Ice Blast for kills.  
   
  One level of Chilling Touch might be helpful early because it does add a lot of damage. With just three heroes, it adds 240 magical damage, which is pretty good. But most of the time the damage from those 6 attacks alone mixed with Cold Feet and other spells is more than enough, and the extra mana cost is hardly worth it. 
   
   
  Item Build 
  Go to Table of Contents 
   
   
  Starting Items 
  x1 set 
   
  These starting items give enough health, mana and regen to last until you can make at least 1400 gold, and get to level 6, as long as you play smart. They will turn into your core build.(A chicken is an option if no one else bought one, and you can buy clarities/tangoes/GG branches with the money) 
  Early Core 
   
   
  This is your core build. These items give enough health, and regen on all aspects, to last on outing of at least 10 minutes ganking, if you have successful ganks. Usually they will last much longer then that, until you can get bots in which case it doesn't matter if you go back to the fountain, as you can be anywhere in seconds. Do remember to have tp scrolls, and many times you will be the warder for the team. 
  Main Core 
   
   
  Bot's cost 2200, which is more then you have spent all game. In total, these items cost 4084, and in many games these are all you need to be successful. Each item has different utilities that will be discussed in game play.  
   
  Of course, sometimes BoTs isn't achievable. Phase boots or treads are acceptable alternatives to BoTs in many cases, Phase boots if you need ms, and treads if you need hp. Otherwise, just not upgrading your boots in favor of other items is totally fine as well. But BoTs is by far the best option for AA. 
  Mid/Late Game Choices 
  After you get your main core, you will often have a big sum of money left to spend. You can opt for a bracer or two if you need the health. Afterwards, there are 5 main items to choose from. Each have different uses, and drastically different costs. Which item is chosen is dependent on the game. 
   
   
  This item is perfect for Kaldr, fitting him even more so than guinsoo's in many cases. Because of Ice Vortex, Ice Blast, and of course it's relatively low cost and easy build-up, Dagon makes Kaldr an even better ganker than he already is, and can easily take out key heroes in team fights, faster than Guinsoo's can. In games with low hp heroes, Dagon is probably the best choice possible. 
   
  Note: Upgrading Dagon is usually not wise. It cost quite a bit for a very small increase. Though it can be wise, against low hp heroes who must be taken out in a split second. The damage with Ice Vortex does tend to add-up. 
   
   
  Probably the item AA is most famous for getting, and for good reason. Guinsoo's gives life, all the mana Kaldr would ever want, and a 7 second disable when combined with cold feet. But it is very expensive, hard to build-up, and gives almost no benefits before it's gotten. Because Kaldr's main farming tool is his ultimate, which only becomes very effective at level 11, and often times steals farm from other people while pushing lanes, it isn't the most practical item in many games. That being said, if you can afford it without hindering your allies, it is a perfect item for Kaldr, and can often win games.  
   
  Note: Cast Cold feet before using Guinsoo's. Because of the way it is coded, Cold feet will have no effect casted on a hexed unit.  
   
   
  This item is a must if the enemy team has any type of invisibility, or silence. Because this item gives the biggest strength boost of any item Kaldr should really be considering, and that it can easily be more effective than both Dagon and Guinsoo's, it is a perfect choice for Kaldr. The only problem with this item is that the effect's aren't nearly as fast as the other big four items. Still the stats and effect help Kaldr immensely(remember, the demons speed aura counteracts the speed debuff from chilling touch.) 
   
   
  This item is the item that Kaldr gets if he needs physical damage or the enemy team has a silencer. It provides huge survivability, and huge damage. It's probably best at killing towers, but it will allow Kaldr to carry in some situations. Manta is best gotten after one of the others. Necronomicon is the best combo with this item, because of it's great stats, but most importantly the demons. Manta and Necronomicon can allow Kaldr to carry in aoe light games.  
   
  Note: This item can dispel silence and other debuffs, making it a very good second core in a lot of games, even if your dps isn't all that needed.(it works well with Guinsoo's as well) 
   
   
  The cheapest of the big five, Mekansm is what Kaldr should get if he needs to support/survive. Sometimes, your allies simply do much more than you can even with bigger items, and it is important to keep them alive. Other times you have a moment of phail, and need a cheap item that helps you survive while helping your team. Mekansm is a great item if you or your allies need a heal to win the day. Plus, it gives great stats for Kaldr. 
  Rejected(But Not Awful) Items 
  Listed best to worst, these items are rejected because the big five are simply better, due to cost, effects, or other things. 
   
   
  This item can be fairly useful in the right line-ups. It's a situational item that can be beastly when combined with Ice Vortex. The biggest problem is that it's effects are pretty drawn out for AA's skills and it's stats are not the greatest, which means that unless you have allies to take advantage of it, other items are simply better. This item is ALWAYS better if someone else gets it, no matter which hero you choose, which means that AA may be the one who is forced to buy it, because he is at least fairly item independent.  
   
   
  One of the better item's for Kaldr. It gives a disable for cheap. You can cast everything you have as they cooldown. And you get more movespeed. The problems are these. It's only good against one hero to save yourself with, it doesn't help with hp, and the biggest by far, it isn't that great for ganking, at least Dagon is much better. The disable causes them to be invulnerable, which gives time for their allies to come, their skills to cooldown, prevents dot's and can even allow them to blink away. Dagon will usually cause death, while Eul's only sets up the possibility. Still, Eul's is plausible if you love the item, and want to use it to leet dodge crix/tide/kunnka's ult, or are afraid of gankers.  
   
   
  The problem with this item is that even though the survivability is great, you shouldn't need it. Kaldr stays back casting, if he is in attacking range it is because there is no risk of death.(or he is trying to carry with necro book and Manta.) Linken's is useful for long single targeted silences and that is about it.(yes I'm talking about Doom and Bloodrage) Even then it cost a lot of money. 
   
   
  Skadi is a great item for almost any ranged hero, no one can deny that. And the slow loves cold feet, and Kaldr loves the stats. But it cost too much, Kaldr shouldn't need so much hp, and every big five item is better then this item for Kaldr.  
   
   
  The thing about bottle is that, he doesn't need it. He doesn't need the hp, because he has urn, which is much better. He doesn't need the mana if he uses his mana wisely. And if he comes across a rune, he doesn't need to store it, as he can gank pretty much any time starting from level 1. It's a sub par choice. 
   
   
  This item is a weird one. While it cost a small amount, and it gives mana which could change the early game, it phails in comparison to Magic Wand and Urn, both of which AA was built for. Even though AA shouldn't be taking very much damage, that doesn't mean he can afford the health needed for this item. It's not the worst item(as it can be used to launch an Iceblast for free), but it's simply not good enough.  
   
   
  The nuke and the aura are the only redeeming qualities to this item. Kaldr doesn't need the int, and he doesn't need the armor. His health is to low for the armor to make a big difference, considering he already gets quite a bit from mek and his own agi gain. Waste of money when looking at any of the items above it.  
   
   
  Worse than Shiva's. Kaldr should rarely if ever physically attack, and if he needs too, Manta is many times better. Silence is to weak a disable to waste so much money on. And he doesn't need the mana regen. 
   
   
  All of these items cost to much for something Kaldr doesn't need. If you want to increase survivability, get Mek, Manta or Necronomicon. These items are a waste. 
   
  All other item's don't need explanation. The item's I mentioned are the only one's Kaldr should really consider.(Save situational items like Ghost Scepter, Force Staff, etc...) 
   
   
  Strategy 
  Go to Table of Contents 
   
  Early Game(Levels 1-5) 
   
  There are two "best" laning options for you here. Solo mid, or trilane. Since I play pubs, I choose solo mid, but I can explain the basics of trilaning. 
   
  Solo Mid: 
   
  Basically, you will out creep your opponent, and harass him every chance you get. Due to your amazing attack animation, this is very easy to do, even for a bad last hitter such as myself. But really, the harassing is where AA shines, because the enemy can't fight back without risking a Cold Feet/Ice Vortex combo. The thing about this combo is that if the enemy hesitates to run for even a second, it will activate(unless they have a very fast hero.) This means that you can be super aggressive in the lane with very little worries. If the enemy fights back, you have a very high chance of getting a kill. If the enemy runs, you still did a lot of damage with Cold Feet and your attacks and you can then go scout runes, which you absolutely don't want your enemy to get.(if you get a nice one, you can go gank with it) 
   
  The main goal of this phase however, is to get to level 6. 
   
  Trilane: 
   
  Cold Feet and Ice Vortex are both amazingly strong on low levels, and work amazingly well in a trilane. Lane with some stunners, and kills are all but guaranteed. Even long range anti-trilane heroes will have a hard time against Ice Vortex. It's so good, many people would call it imbalanced. 
   
  Dual lane: 
   
  Only dual lane with someone who can activate cold feet with some magical damage. This should be done only if your allies are...less than adequate, because getting to level 6 is as important for AA as it is for say, Storm or Meepo. 
   
  Mid Game(Ganking) 
   
  Once you reach level 6, you should be ganking non-stop. Use the runes if no one else needs them, and use your ultimate as well.  
   
  The unique thing about AA is that he can literally be ganking two different lanes at once. Because Ice Blast's AoE gets so large if you shoot it off far, it can be timed right to hit distant enemies with ease, which usually allows those allies in that lane to kill that hero. While Ice Vortex and Cold Feet are such a good combo together you rarely even need Ice Blast to kill a hero if you have an ally to help you. Of course, if you don't trust to/know your allies aren't capable of killing the enemies this way, than you can always do it the old fashioned way, and use the three skills in conjunction for an almost sure kill.  
   
  Late Game(Team Fights) 
   
  Your focus in team fights comes down to using your skills and items effectively.  
   
  Chilling Touch is a pre-fight cast, to increase your team's total damage by 1750 magic damage, which is simply amazing against agility carries who have a very high armor late game. 
   
  Cold Feet should be casted on a key hero, usually in conjuction with Guinsoo, but sometimes they can be more effect if used separately, particularly if a hero is already disabled. 
   
  Ice Vortex should be spammed all over the enemy team, to increase your teams magic damage and slow the enemy team down. The effectiveness of doing just this can win fights. And afterwards it can chase down heroes easily. 
   
  Ice Blast should be used to hit as many heroes as possible and comboed with Ice Vortex.(which is easy to do with Vortex's 1500 cast range) As long as the carry is hit with the DoT, that is usually enough, because now they can't life steal, or be healed by the supports. Hitting low hp heroes with a Vortexed Ice Blast will usually devastate their hp pool by 50% or more when all is said and done, which means almost certain death with another AoE damage, or just a few attacks from a farmed carry. 
   
  Book: Use this item before the fight to scout out any enemies/mines. Set them to attack and burn the mana of the most crucial hero after the battle starts. While this item gets a bad rap for hard microing, it's really very simple, just a one button manaburn and a right click. 
   
  Manta: This item is special. It might seem like a lolwtf item, but it's really just fantastic. If the enemy team has silence, use this item to dispel it and increase your dps to respectable levels. The enemy won't know what hit them. 
   
   
  Ice Blast Strategy 
  Go to Table of Contents 
   
  Ice Blast is my second favorite skill in DotA, second only to the legendary Ball Lightning. As such, I've learned a few gameplay tricks to using it, that I've noticed not many other players take advantage of. 
   
  Initiating? 
   
  A lot of other guides advertise to initiate with this spell, which is, in many cases, the best thing you can do. But in many other cases it's a terrible idea. For one, if the enemy has truesight, Ice Blast will be completely wasted. Secondly, if you can't hit very many heroes with it, or it's debuff, then you should wait until the battle starts and the enemy comes in closer together. Lastly, it works best as a follow up to an initiation that involves a disable, such as Ravage, Puck, or ES, because the enemy heroes certainly won't move out of the AoE then, and Ice Vortex should already be on them. These cases occur in at least 50% of my games, so, they are well worth considering. 
   
  + 
   
  Ice Blast's AoE is increased based on where it was cast, not where AA is when he launches it. In other words, if you want a guaranteed hit, cast if to a lane, tp to that lane, and then when it finally arrives cast vortex underneath the target hero/heroes for a nasty surprise and often double kill. The best thing about doing this is that the enemy doesn't see you cast Blast, and even if they spread out it will most certainly hit with a huge AoE. Also, since the cd would have already started, it means you can cast it again sooner. Lastly, since you most likely casted it at the fountain, you didn't use the mana on it. A sign of a good AA is one who uses this combo(which not many do.) 
   
  + 
   
  This is the reason why Urn is and always will be core on AA. Use Urn after a gank to replenish you health. Use it during a gank to secure a kill, rinse and repeat.  
   
  + 
   
  If you have wards around where a gank just took place, and one of the enemies had low hp, wait until you can see them to cast Ice Blast. They could heal, they could be taking a weird, not obvious detour, and you don't want to waste Ice Blast on nothing. Though this one should be obvious, it sadly isn't 
  

 
   
  Introduction 
   
   
  Magina is normally taken  
  1. not a first pick 
  2. against spell casters 
  3. noobs who think they can blink to avoid harsh environments :P 
   
  This guide will show you how to use magina against any hero, be it strength, agi or intelli. If played well he is a night mare to agi and strengths. What can a hero do without mana?? nothing, he becomes a creep.  
   
  Remeber your ulti may be your fourth spell, but magina needs to be built around his 1st spell, break.  
   
  [IMG]http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/43/character.gif [/IMG] 
   
  I have edited the original guide cuz it was getting criticized for not giving him enuf survivability.  I will still put that build in it cuz i think that is the most effective build for magina. There is scarce gold and we need to make sure that we make the best out of it 
   
   
   
  Pros'n'Cons 
   
   
  thanks to Zephirdd for editing and improving the pros'n'cons 
   
  Pros 
  + Lowest B.A.T in the game, meaning an excellent last-hitting animation and an excellent innate attackspeed. 
  + Second best MS of the game - 320 - second only to Chaos Knight's 325. 
  + Huge mobility, and the best escape mechanism of the game: Blink. 
  + Good damage, excellent with Mana break. 
  + Good lane control with Mana Break 
  + Casters are pure food with Mana Break and Mana Void 
  + Principal counter to Medusa, the arguably best tank-carry of the game 
  + Nukes are nothing to magina thanks to Spell Shield 
   
  Cons 
  - Third lowest health in the game. Second least strength gain (after slark) in the list of meele heroes 
  - Silence completly screws his mobility and escape tool 
  - Rather weak mid game, where the most important fights occur 
  - Easily outcarried by real carries ala Void, Destroyer, troll and Mortred etc 
  - No farming tool 
  - Situational pick which is countered on armor-based lineups(think of Slardar, Dazzle, Venge, Tide and Lanaya) 
  - He is blind.  
   
   
   
   
   
  Hero Skills 
   
   
   
   
  burns mana 
   
   
   
  + deals 60% of the mana burnt in damage 
  + killer early to mid game, wana get first blood? harras the enemy with a cple of hits, get a disabler ally and finish him off 
  + level 1 break is 28 damage, = plus 16.8 damge for you, USE IT 
  break has no cool down as some other passives of others heroes, so it is done on every attack, thats y our emphysis is on IAS. 
  break is an orb, so NEVER take any orb effect with it. the damage done from break  
  +CAN BE LIFELEACHED with a life steal aura, so vlads is a good item on him. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  + the most desired spell in dota 
  + 3G speed 
  + Chase and destroy 
  + has a high cool down initially so use it wisely 
  need to practice range, cuz if you over do it magina will blink only 4/5th of the distance 
  + learn and explore the map, know locations and obstacle, you can blink over hurdles and obstacles,  
  +you can only blink to a place which has already been explored by you or your allies. 
  + Hero concept is chase and kill , when a hero runs with low HP, blink infront of him in between his path so that he has to move around you, gives you time for 2 or 3 hits, if you blink behind him you would only be able to maybe hit him once or not hit at all 
  + when being chased blink over a hurdle 
  + avoid projectiles, like tower hits, difficult but doable, blink once a projectile hits you and another is sent by the tower, the 2nd misses you, you look PRO  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  + upto 40% spell resistance other than basic resistance 
  + stackable with all spell resistance items,  
  once the spell shield is leveled up, magical damage is a joke for you 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  + deals damage on a ratio to missing mana in a hero 
  + very difficult to be used to full effect 
  + devastating if use correctly in a team fight on a heavy nuker, can turn around the outcome. 
  + you need to click on an enemy to see the missing mana pool so always have a hot key for your hero, never void blindly as if you cast void on a hero with no mana missing, it would be a real teasing sight 
  + playing anti mage is different than other heroes where you are relying a lot on your ulti, but antis ulti really is his mana break, void comes in as a secondary but devastating spell to assist the damage done by break 
   
   
   
  SkillBuild 
   
   
   
  NEW SPELL BUILD AFTER 6.68c, TRY it and give feedback plz 
   
   
   
  Spell buildup can be altered as per the requirement but always have break maxed out first, blink and shiled is where you can put in your preference, but as a rule of thumb have blink at level one or 2 and another level should be taken before level 10.Below mentioned skillset is mostly used against a balanced team with a couple of carries, intellies and a tank  
   
  Chase and kill magina build, better build to get more kills. 
   
   
   
   
  then ofcource start taking stats and get level 3 of your ulti. 
   
  The ANTI-Mage skill build 
   
  People love to take magina when the opponents have a lot of intellies, 3 or even 2. The upper build woud not be that efficient against 2+ spell spammers, 
   
   
   
   
  Even in this spell build we donot comprise on leveling the break, as that is your most wanted spell. we gave him more survivability against spell casters, remeber in this build you have a high cool down on your blink, so use it wisely 
   
   
  BLINK OR BREAK at level one 
   
   
   
   
  Blink or spell shield, 
   
   
   
   
  Game Play 
   
   
  Hero Model: 
  + chase and destroy+ blink and break 
  + Attack speed 
  + understand the fragility of magina 
  + knowing your enemy 
   
  Factors to keep in mind when playing magina 
  + remeber the title of this guide. Quicly Now, what ever you are onto, be quick. you cannot afford to be lazy. killing, ganking or chasing. be on your toes. If you notice hard, magina even runs on his toes 
  + You need to have a good control on mouse and keyboard :P 
  + never underestimate break, its damage early to mid game is exceptional 
  + your main skill is break, break is on every attack so give him IAS. 
  + glass canon, he is very fragile, and some times one stun is all that is needed for the other team to bring you down 
  + play cleverly, early use blink to either last hit an enemy or escape, dnt spam it as it has a high cool down early on 
  + if you are facing spell casters or spammers, having level one blink is enough and max your shield aftr maxing break. 
  +know your enemies better 
  + if you are double minded to go for attack speed, raw damage or crits, go for attack speed.  
  + save your ultimate never use it at the start of a battle , as it would keep the enemy double minded as they wont want to get rid of their mana on spells and get hit with your void 
  + no matter he has a low HP, magina's presence in a team is threatning because of his abilities related to mana, casters would always be weary of casting spells in your presence.  
  when you start a game, its pretty common to recieve a certificate of selfishness from team mate, you have no disable no tanking and not stun to help a friend in trouble. A friend in need is a friend indeed. but here you are the friend in need of farming, so the sacrifices made by your commarades should be apreciated :P and return the favour when you farm enough.  
   
  Before moving forward you need to keep in mind, that the max potential for the anti mage is early to mid game, very late game his main skill the mana burn has little effect as enemy heroes are made and they have ample items, if you cannot utilize the early to mid game period, anti is no good. he is NOT a carry like mortred or troll. u need to be in the battle zone since early on to make up your items, NEVER EVER EVER waste his early and mid game potential  
   
   
  Early game: 
   
  + Lane: sentinal bottom/ scourge top. Have a ranged hero with you, a disabler or stunner is your best bet. 
  + have a baby sitter with you, even better a disabler. take mana break at level 1, early on all heroes have sorry ass hp and mana pool. with break taken all you need is a couple of hits to enemy and a stun with damage or a disable with some hits from the anti mage to get a kill. getting kills is pretty easy early on with the help of an ally, use it. get blink at hero level 2. i understand that a lot of people may differ here as they want to take blink at level 1, but try break at hero level one and im sure you will understand how deadly it can be, with heroes like, rhasta, veno, vengi & lion etc yoou can get a kill easy at level 1. 
  + Go for the ranged creep first as it has mana and you can out do him easy, same rlue for jungling, go for creeps with mana. on creeps mana burn damage is 100%. you need life steal/ survivability to jungle . better to get a poor mans shield if you need to jungle, magi is not a good jungler early on, but his IAS can be used to a great effect on enemy creeps, better farm there and jungle once you have any survivabilty item or life steal 
  + Harras the enemy meele heroes with mana break, (melees preferred, ranged sometimes if you have enough regen) a hero with no mana is no threat at all and you can get rid of his mana in a couple of hits, so harras them and dnt let them farm. 
   
   
  Mid game, 
   
  + by mid game you should have PTs, yasha and some survivability(in form of wraith bands or maybe bracer) 
  + Mid game most heroes have enough survivability but magina is pretty fragile mid game, your mobility makes up for your fragility, you team mates need to understand that you are fragile and in case of any dire situations you would need to blink off. Do not initiate, NEVER INITIATE with anti until you have manta or BKB. they will get you or you would need to blink away with little to no hp. if you have manta, then you can play a good role as initiator by blinking in. 
   
  + once the battle has been initiated, keep an eye on who is casting most spells and getting short on mana,  
  + better NOT use void early on. FEAR OF THE DARK, if the enemy knows you still have void, they would not like to empty their mana pool, that is a passive advantage of void. keep your blink handy to pursue a fleeing enemy, this depends on your skill build though. if your team is really pushing level up blink faster than shield, if your team is not pushing but being pushed level up your shield before maxing blink. 
   
   
  late game, 
   
   
  Simple, Blink in, make illusions, focus fire one enemy, he will go all apells so to avoid losing abilities by your imba mana burn, SMILE if there is only one enemy chase him and kill him if they are a couple, USE void.  
  1v1 you are the predator, mana burn will turn then enemy into a creep, basher will keep him at bay, blink to follow him and may be void to finish him off. i dnt recommend wasting void on one enemy as with your mobility they cannot out run you,.. void is much better in team battles. there are a few heroes who dnt need mana that much and can get you whopped. you will find a hero counter section at the end of this guide.  
   
   
  Tank-carry Magina, 
   
   
   
  Beware Rape Magina Strategy, 
   
   
   
   
   
  Item Build 
   
   
  core items: the items which may never be compromised for the anti mage and need to be taken what ever the opponents are and what ever the situation is 
   
  survivability items, the items which make up for anti's fargility make him enough survivability to stay in battle 
   
  situational items, items which are required as per the game and your opponents 
   
   
   
  Starting items, 
   
   
    
   
  tangoes 
   
  first recepie to complete is the Poor Man shield and then the Power treads.  
   
   
  Core items 
   
  Power treads, gold = 1450 
   
   
  at 450 get belt of giant strength then 
  add gloves of haste and lastly get the boots, keep your PTs in strength 
   
   
  Yasha first or Vanguard?? 
   
  After getting the PT you have 2 choices, 
  1. go for yasha which is very important for you, gives you armor, MS, IAS and damage. 
   
  2. Get vanguard, helps you survive more, jungle to a much better extent, etc. We already have taken the PMS which is more than enough to make up for the early phase and to some extent the mid game as well 
   
  I personally dont go for vanguard as it delays your core and your mid game potential is wasted. But a lot of players love to get vanguard on it. I have a few observations below. Decide cleverly what to get, if you have a good tank/ally with you, better get the yasha first as it would insanely increase your mid game potential, which is magi's time. If you are getting harassed a lot and cannot stay in battle because there are a lot of carries in your team or inexperienced allies, go vanguard. BUT IF YOU GO VANGUARD FIRST IT BECOMES YOUR DUTY TO MAKE YASHA IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES. JUNGLE AND FARM.  
   
  Yasha: 
  + blades of alcracity 1000 
  + boots of elven skin 450 
  + recipe 750 
   
  vanguard: 
  + vitality booster 1100 
  + ring of health 875 
  + stout shield 250 
   
  It may be better to get both of these items, but money and timings are the crucial 
   
  +if you make yasha first then on next 2100 gold you would want to convert it into manta which delays vanguard to late game, and vanguard isnt that effective late game, 
  + if you get vanguard first then you are delaying your core items.  
  + My suggestion is to better get yasha first and then convert it into manta if you have good support from your team mates, otherwise go for vanguard right after PTs and farm ASAP to complete your core,vanguard does make farming easy. 
  + Remember, vanguard is not a core item for anti mage it is only to give him survivabilty during mid game, if you have good allies and tanks, skip it and go manta. 
   
  MANTA 
  IM LOVIN' IT 
   
  ++ 
   
  Yourcore, your heart and sole. They have mana burn, one you have it you have 3 MANA burning predators, IMBA IAS, every hit with them to an enemy = 192 mana gone, 60% of damage from MANA BURN = 115 damage only from MANA burn + your physical damage thats like GOD strength from SVEN with trolls AS. LOL 
   
   
   
   
  Situational items, 
   
   
   
  Vladimir offering,  
  [img]http://www.playdota.com/img/items/122/thumb.jpg [/img] 
   
  once manta is made, anti has an imba IAS, also the damage dealt by mana burn can be life leached, check with your team, if some one else is making vlads, skip it, life leach is very important for the antimage, he has a high AS and thus this becomes a heart for anti. chances are your carries would get life steal for them, better ask them to get vlads if they are meele so that you can save the money, otherwise do get it yourself. Lifestea with your AS gives you insane HP regen 
   
  Black King bar 
   
   
  + if there are a lot of disables in the enemy team, go BKB, you have very less heath and being disabled is some thing magi cannot afford.  
  + 5 second magic immunity (the least time provided by bkb after 5 uses) is all you need. blink in BKB, start hitting a high mana pool enemy, burn mana, once bkb is over, use manta illusions, once enemy mana pool is low, do the void, and kabooom. 
   
  PS, if you have manta and there are not a lot of AOE nukers then illusions is all you need rather than BKB, go for basher 1st or Monkey. BKB is not so much for anti as it is for heroes like nevermore.  
   
  Cranium basher,  
   
   
  magina has no disable, we need to cover those grounds so that we can use our imba AS. basher is a great item for anti, and you need to have it when playing against heroes with bash or heroes with good escape mechanisms, like Akasha and POTM. Basher can be included in magina's core, depends on you and the situation as we can only have 6 items in total 
   
  ButterFly 
   
   
  a dream come true for any agi hero, butterfly = imba anti mage 
   
  Monkey King bar,  
   
   
  this item is required for heroes like, panda, mortred and troll and against items like Talisman of evasion. YOU NEED TO HAVE IT if you want to fight them,  
   
  Orchid Melavolich 
   
   
  There are some heroes in dota who have insane damaging spells and you would want to have them silenced, orchid is a great item for people like Obsedian Destroyer etc. 5 seconds of silence, is heaven for anti mage, have it if you donot have a silence skill in your team.  
   
  Guinsoo: 
   
   
  Another item, this can replace orchid as it has a 3.5 second hex. and you know hex removes magic resistance and armor etc. so this becomes an amazing item, plus it gives you +10 agi and +10 strength, A good substitute for orchid giving hp and agi, but gives less damage and IAS. and rememebr anti could do well with any form of additional strength stats 
   
   
   
  Dream build for antimage 
   
  I tell you if you can get this build in a game, there is no one stoping you, this is my dream build for anti, Imba AS, deception from illusions and evasion, true strike, bash and silence. OOOOOOOOH orgasmic!!!!!,,,,,,,, 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  More items worth mentioning 
   
  Other items which may be used on magina 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   or (though im not a big fan of crystalis on the anti mage, crystalis is more suited to troll), but it works good on magi beecause of his imba BAT,  
   
   
  you can only keep 6 items in your inventory and gold is scarce (once again we have the financial slump  ), so chose wisely, never compromise on PTs, manta and stick. Stick is an imba item if you use it efficiently 
   
   
   
  Rejected items, 
   
  + all items other than yasha from enchanted artifacts, as they are orb effects 
  + blink dagger, refresher orb etc, are not just for anti mage 
  + radiance, high cost and no sychronization with his skills 
  divine rapier, you have got to be kidding me 
  + force staff etc 
  + Aegis, it is better for any other carry or tank in your team, and that is where it should be. 
   
   
   
  Friends'n'Foes 
   
  Foes 
   
   
  counters 
   
  Linkens,  
   
   
  + pay good attention to this item ,if an enemy has one, then, well. your void is useless on him untill linkens is in cool down. so make sure you have a looksie at his inventory. in team battels save it at the start cuz of spell attacks chances are that it will go in cool down, ONLY USE VOID ON AN ENEMY WITH LINKENS WHEN LINKEN IS IN COOL DOWN. 
   
  SILENCE: 
  Magina with no blink is no good. BBe very carefull of the silencers, they can destroy all your hard earned respect and killing power with one shitty spell. 
   
  Agility heroes,  
  Most carries will outmatch you late game, feed on them early to mid game DONOT let them farm. 
   
  Mortred, 
   
  + she does not need mana that much, has a low mana pool and has blink strike. and once she is made, she is a force to rekon with, all she needs is one critical on you, and if she has a basher, stay away untill you have manta, and monkey. If she comes for you blink in a dark area where she cannot see you and is unable to bklink strike you. 
   
  intelligence heroes, let them cast there spells on you, you need life steal, keep on attacking them and use void, donot forget to use your magic stick 
   
   
  Obsedian Destroyer, 
   
  the bad bad enemy intelligence hero, you can damage him cuz of his high mana pool, but the problem is it never, goes down as his passve brings back 25% of mana in that too at a high rate, and his orbs will get you in 5 hits.  
  The way to counter him "silence", ORCHID Melovilcih pr Guinsoo. DONOT TRY TO COUNTER HIM WITH BKB, he will go astral and your immunity duration would be wasted, the best item to counter him is orchid, silence him, 5 seconds, and destroy him. If you dnt wanna spend that much money on orchid, you better have a silence skill in your team, other wise the games pretty much over for you lads.  
  A clever OD will have linkens on him, in that case, either your Orchid or your void is blocked by linknes. if an ally is there ask him to use a spell on him so that linken goes in cool down and then silence him., if you are alone and you need to kill him ,waste your void on him, then silence him. and destroy him, this is tough but can be done. 
   
   
  strength heroes, if they are alone, burn their mana make them a creep and chase them, basher is required to counter and finish them off 
   
  Taurean Chieftain 
   
  so you are famous for your imba spell shiled, well not any more lad, the chieftain is here to fuck your shield up, NATURAL ORDER maties, seriously he is imbalanced and this is his passive OMGWTF and with you sorry ass hp, you are no good against him, yes you can avoid his ulti and stun but if you get stuck in his presence, you are just a good looking creep yourself. He is a counter against you, and remeber he is not intl he is a tank 
   
  addition by imnotsonoob 
   
  Huskar.  
   
   
  + Thanks to Kawumm for bringing him up. What can anti do against a hero who does not need mana so much and the more damage he gets the more imba IAS and damage he gains. Stay away from him early game, he can rape you single handedly. Mid to late game he is not much trouble to you, life break is reduced due to your shield and spears do less damage as well, but his initial lane control is imba, so change your lane if you are against him 
   
   
  Good Allies, (in works) 
   
   
  disablers, stunners, healers. 
  Disablers and stunners when paired with you need to stun or disable only after you have given a couple of hits so that you cn hit more while he is disabled. and once he tries to run away, blink infront of the enemy to finish him off. 
   
   
     
   
   
   
  steroid junkies, friends like, troll, ogre magi, vengeful spirit make your attacks more power ful or increase you As. use it to your advantage 
   
  Healers, healers like enchantress/huskar, lifesteal of SK and armour of treant keep you stay in the battle, the more you can survuve the more effective you are.  
   
  Skeleton King: Needs a special mention in allies, he has two things you love, imba lifesteal and stun, he is one of your best friends, if he is in your team, be with him mid game onwards, his stun and life steal aura is great for you. 
   
  Lion and Shadow Shaman: 
  Who does not love them, the ultimate disablers of the game and if they are against you, you are their worst night mare but when they are with you, you couldnt wish more, their disables and your break is IMBA