Behemoth

Skill Build

1 - Fissure
2 - Heavyweight
3 - Fissure
4 - Heavyweight
5 - Fissure
6 - Shockwave
7 - Fissure
8 - Enrage
9 - Heavyweight
10 - Heavyweight
11 - Shockwave
12 - Stats
13 - Stats
14 - Stats
15 - Stats
16 - Shockwave
17 - Stats+
23 - Enrage+

Justification / Modifications:

Fissure is your bread and butter skill pre-Portal Key and is maxed first. Heavyweight is taken for more damage on your combo, and for eventual synergy with Enrage for the stun.
Enrage can be taken as early as 3-4 if the ministun interrupt is important enough to consider. Enrage past level 1 is pretty meaningless, and stats are better.

Starting Items:

Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 4x Mana Potion

Core:

Chalice >> Striders >> Portal Key >> 2x Talisman of Exile

Get a Logger's Hatchet if you can farm the lane (no use in getting one if you are forced to stay back and tower hug, or are roaming). Then get your Chalice ASAP! Striders are amazing on Behemoth; the more mobile you are without having to buy TP's is a good thing.
Portal Key is your obvious goal for being the initiator you are.
Talismans can be taken before or even after Portal Key to flesh out your mana pool a bit further for your combo + more Fissures.

After core:

- Wards of Sight - Hell, even before you get Portal Key. Investing 100g to get more back from assist and proximity gold (and get EXP too!) is always worth it. After you have Portal Key, you're pretty much complete so these babies are the priority.
- Tablet of Command - Rates a mention as it can be used as a poor man's PK substitute. Or someone else can get it and push you in. Either or.
- Spellshards - Lowered CD's, mana regen and -ma. Makes your initiation THAT much more scary considering the amount of magic AoE you can pull off.
- Frostfield Plate - An extra AoE nuke for your initiation and bigger mana pool to do it with.
- Behemoth's Heart - It fits, ya know?

Information

Roles: Initiator, Roamer, Ganker
Preferred Lane: Any sidelane.
Difficulty: 4/5 (Placing Fissures makes or breaks the hero's early and midgame)
Farming capabilities: 3/5 (Enrage and Fissure with maxed Heavyweight will clear creep waves)
Item dependent? - Yes, requires Portal Key to initiate.
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 2/5 (Fissure can net kills if properly used with someone who can make the most of it)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3/5 (constant threat if ganking with others)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 4/5 (Arguably the best initiator with the amount of stun he has; creep waves don't start spawning smaller!)

30-Seconds-Guide:

- Ganking/Initiating WITH Portal Key: Wait for an opportunity, which in this case is if two or more enemy heroes are surrounded by creeps and within 560 distance of each other.
- Ganking/Initiating WITHOUT Portal Key: It's all about positioning, Portal Key or not. Stay out of your opponent's line of sight and fissure enemy heroes into a corner, or separate them so that your allies can more easily dispatch them. After the Fissure run up and Enrage->Autoattack.
- Often times you will have to save your idiot partners from their own stupid mistakes. Generally I have managed to save them with a well-timed Enrage (that Heavyweight stun does get quite hefty when levelled), but every once in a while when they really screw the pooch you've got to put a Fissure between the bloodthirsty opponents and your lovable idiot.

Counters:

- When pushing or defending, stay away from your creeps! Otherwise his initiation will be devastating.
- Try to spread out as much as you can so he doesn't hit you all with his Shockwave.
- Closely watch Behemoth's movement in the early game. Be very careful if he is trying to trap you with a Fissure. This is very very deadly!
- Finally a Barrier Idol can be a helpful counter if popped before his initiation.