Arachna - the poor mans carry

NTRODUCTION

Arachna is easily one of the best carries around - she can easily top 700 dps (not to be confused with dmg per attack) if built right. Add to that her easy laning phase (due to her +dmg skill and the ability to orb-walk) and her ability to easily gank most heroes throughout the game and you have yourself a can't-fail carry.

HOW TO PLAY

Go solo-mid or easy lane. Level webbed shot first so you can orb walk (attack the enemy hero by clicking on the skill then on him, instead of right-clicking the skill and auto-attacking the enemy - this doesn't attract creep or tower aggro) from the get-go, you follow up with two levels of Precision so you can out-lasthit your enemy, and get up to level 3 webbed shot before your ulti so you can auto-cast (right-click) it when you gank someone with the ulti.

Set the steamboots to STR for survivability, and (if you're solo-mid) gank (would be best if you can get a rune, but not really necessary) - getting a tp scroll is the best way to avoid the enemy calling miss on you or being spotted by their wards of sight.

Shroud is your bread and butter and you can even get it against pesti (he ulties you, you debuff with your 2nd skill, then invis), and the lifesteal is there to help against enemy carries. Savage and shards give the most damage possible. Get SH if you're getting disabled a lot

START

LANING

 

CORE

 

 

LUXURY

 

                                                                    

LVL 1 - Q

LVL 2 - E

LVL 3 - E

LVL 4 - Q

LVL 5 - Q

LVL 6 - R

LVL 7 - E

LVL 8 - E

LVL 9 - W

LVL 10 - Q

LVL 11 - R

LVL 12 - W

LVL 13 - W

LVL 14 - W

LVL 15 - +

LVL 16 - R

LVL 17 - +

LVL 18 - +

LVL 19 - +

LVL 20 - +

LVL 21 - +

LVL 22 - +

LVL 23 - +

LVL 24 - +

LVL 25 - +

[Pestilence]

Skill Build
1 - Impale
2 - Flight
3 - Impale
4 - Flight
5 - Impale
6 - Swarm
7 - Impale
8 - Flight
9 - Gore
10 - Gore
11 - Swarm
12 - Gore
13 - Gore
14 - Flight
15 - Stats
16 - Swarm
17 - Stats+

Justification / Modifications:
Usually Rank 3 Flight is enough and you can go for Gore before getting the last level of Flight. However there is nothing wrong with maxxing Flight at 9. You can also get an early point into Gore at level 2 or 4. The chance for the first level is much better than the increase in chance from the following levels.

Lane Starting Items:
Runes of the Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Crushing Claw, 2x Minor Totem

Core:
Logger's Hatchet >> Steamboots >> Portal Key >> Shrunken Head

Directly aim for Steamboots (you don't need more movespeed thanks to flight). Then get Portal Key - an insanely strong item on pestilence once you learn to use it properly. Most of the times you will build Shrunken Head after PK but don't be afraid to skip it if there is really few Disables on the opposing team.

After Core:

Shieldbreaker/Insanitarious >> Behemoth's Heart >> Daemonic Breastplate

Shieldbreaker is your item of choice. If you don't manage to farm it, get the easier-to-obtain Insanitarious. Heart and Breastplate are Luxury and can be replaced by other items.

Alternative Items:
- Abyssal Skull: The best choice if you desperately need Lifesteal.
- Helm of the Black Legion: I am not a fan of this but I see it being built in competitive games for the fact that he takes a lot of damage often being the first to go in. If you like this item, get it BEFORE Shrunken head.

Information:
Roles: Carry, Ganker, Initiator
Properties: None
Prefered Lane: Short
Difficulty: 3 - Medium
Farming capabilities: 2 - Weak
Item dependancy: 4 - Heavy
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 2 - Weak
- Mid Game / Ganks: 4 - Strong (Excellent TP- and Counterganker)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 5 - Very Strong (Strong and versatile carry)

30-Seconds-Guide:
- Flight makes you one of the best TP- and Counter-Gankers. Always carry a Homecoming stone and be ready to teleport-gank the other lanes.
- Focus on your farm during midgame. Your usefulness will skyrocket once you get Shrunken Head.
- Try to have a stunning/slowing babysitter with you (Demented or Witchslayer for example). This will create enormous lane domination for a carry/babysit lane!
- Always remember that your ultimate will reveal the position of the unit; also on otherwise invisible heroes. Use it on fleeing enemies to prevent them from juking you.

Counters:
- Remember that Pestilence takes an additional 10% damage when his flight is on. So it is a good idea to burn your spells on him when he comes charging in.
- Void Talisman might be a good idea as he hits like a TRUCK on squishies.
- If you want to counter him, stack armor. You need to get to at least 20 Armor. There is a huge difference between 15 and 20 Armor (0% vs 20%+ dmg reduction). Get Plated Greaves and Nome's wisdom for that if you are support /get good use of it. Then throw a Platemail on top and you will be fine.

[Warbeast] Jungle Guide

 

Warbeast-Jungle

While there are plenty of ways to play this diverse hero, this is my way. This is the way of the jungle. Actually, this hero is not diverse and he blows if you don't play him this way. When properly played following this guide, the Warbeast can be 3-4 levels above the enemy solo, with thousands of gold in items at a very early point in the game. He is able to four-five shot a running hero in seconds.

The Jungle vs the Lane

Some people may advocate a lane build, but I don't. This is because the War Beast has absolutely no power in lane--most lane builds forgo Summon Hellhounds for Stats, but Summon Hellhounds are his only harass skill. Therefore, he becomes a dead weight that only sucks XP from his lane mate. On the other hand, if you go a Summon Hellhounds jungle build, you are effectively creating a new source of cash and XP for your team, and your team gains more money and XP on the whole.

 

Tell Your Team

This is important. Tell your team you're going jungle Warbeast before they pick their heroes. This is because you're going to need two solo heroes--one for middle, and one for Legion bottom or Hellbourne top. If your team all goes AGI carries, you're in trouble. Keep in mind that the Warbeast is EXPECTED to carry the team--your team should constantly be watching out for you and distracting the other team for you while you farm away. A proper Warbeast play heavily depends in team intelligence and cohesion.

Skill Build

1 Primal Rage 1
2 Summon Hellhounds 1
3 Summon Hellhounds 2
4 Primal Rage 2
5 Summon Hellhounds 3

A. I like to occasionally visit my friends, and help clean up.
6 Metamorphosis 1
7 Summon Hellhounds 4
8 Primal Rage 3
9 Primal Rage 4
10 Battle Cry 1
 11 Metamorphosis 2
 12 Battle Cry 2
 13 Battle Cry 3
 14 Battle Cry 4
 15 Stats 1
 16 Metamorphosis 3

B. I am an autistic social recluse and prefer solitude with my dogs.
6 Primal Rage 3
 7 Summon Hellhounds 4
 8 Primal Rage 4
 9 Battle Cry 1
10 Battle Cry 2
  11 Battle Cry 3
  12 Battle Cry 4
  13 Metamorphosis  1
  14 Metamorphosis  2
  15 Stats 1
  16 Metamorphosis  3

Going option B will definitely make you a lot more money and allow you to kill Kongor faster, but Metamorphosis actually boosts your damage output by a ton, allowing you to repay your laning buddy with an assist or kill so you should strongly consider option A. On the other hand, if you are playing a mid-high level game, you should always go option A, or, if you go option B, at least get one level of Metamorphosis early on as you will be facing some ganks from a worried opposition.

Starting Items

This is more or less the only viable build for jungling if you don't have a courier.

Item Build: Creep Commando

This is an item build that focuses on your ability to command units. Primal Rage will give all units you control +25% damage and +25% AS, while Metamorphosis gives all your units 522 movement. If you are controlling a few 1100 HP Minotaurs and Catmen, you should see why this is very, very strong. Of course, this requires a decent amount of micro--if you're not good at that, go ahead and skip to Lone Wolf Rambo. However, understand that this is the far superior build in most games, though its effectiveness wears down as the game moves on, mainly because you should eventually be strong enough that you don't need creeps to help you.

Whispering Helm
Get this item as soon as possible, and start taking over Catmen and Minotaurs. Use it AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.

Abyssal Skull
This will not only give you supreme jungle power, but it will give your Hellbeasts and dominated creeps even more damage and lifeleech. This is an absolute MUST for the build.

Steam Boots
Get this next. Keep it on STR. After you get this, you can move on to the General Item Build section.

Item Build: Lone Wolf Rambo

This is the same basic build as Creep Commando, but if you don't want to bother with micro, you can forgo Whispering Helm, as Abyssal Skull gives enough lifeleech.


Abyssal Skull
This is still a good item because it makes Kongor super-easy, and gives you the mana regeneration and bonus armor needed to persevere without going back to base.

Steam Boots
Get this next. Keep it on STR. After you get this, you can move on to the General Item Build section.

General Item Build

Depending on the situation, you will want to prioritize your items differently. If they are nuke and disable heavy, and are trying to push early, get Shrunken Head first. Otherwise, go for Shieldbreaker for DPS.

Shrunken Head
Absolutely necessary item. It gives you magic immunity. You're a rambo hero, so get it.

Shieldbreaker
Most players don't tend to armor up. Your easiest targets are mages who have very little armor, so Shieldbreaker can increase your DPS by a ton.

Insanitarius
If you're not waddling in money, and have problems obtaining Shieldbreaker or the below items, get this. It's great for the price.

Symbol of Rage
If you went Whispering Helm, this is the natural progression.


Demonic Breastplate
This is the "pro" choice. It increases your survivability by a lot.

Complete Playguide: Game Start

Ask lane mate if you can hang back and soak XP until you reach LVL3. Then begin to neutral. This is risky as it leaves your laning partner slightly behind EXP compared to a solo lane, but the differences will be minute.

Complete Playguide: Early Neutralling

Summon Hellhounds to neutral. Micro them so that neither of them die by pulling them back if they take too much damage. If one is near death, and cannot be used anymore, send it to the river to check rune. Continue until you obtain Abyssal Skull or Whispering Helm, at which point you will be able to tank with your hero and not Hellhounds. You should be LVL6 or 7 when you get the first of those items--that's your target. It's easy sailing after this point. Continue to neutral until you have LVL4 Hellhounds and LVL4 Primal Rage, as well as two of the three items in the first Item Build sections. At this point, you can kill super neutral camps with ease. At LVL9, head to Kongor and kill him, microing your Hellhounds to tank damage for you. Abyssal Skull makes them last a long time if microed properly.

Complete Playguide: Teamfights

Continue to farm indefinitely until you are required for teamfights. You should now have Shrunken Head and/or Shieldbreaker--it is now about 30 minutes in, usually, and you are one or two levels above their highest hero. Position yourself so that you can run in from behind, or from another weird angle, while your team approaches from the front. This flank will force their team to turn in one direction the other, and screws up their push. Alert your team right before you initiate (and you should always initiate), then run in with Shrunken Head activated as you tear their team apart. Because of your superior damage and leveling, as well as your extra life from killing Kongor, your team should wipe them out completely. After this, you can either help your team push, or go back to farming. Continue until you can wipe them out reliably and push to win.

Suiciding to Neutrals

Early on, LVL1-4, it is better to suicide to neutrals than to return to base by foot. Spend all your money, then die--free fountain trip! Make sure you tell your allies so they don't QQ in All Chat. Keep in mind that when you do this, the enemy team will be alerted to your death. This can remind them that you've been jungling, so be prepared for more ganks.

Kongor

You can always kill Kongor at LVL8 with Abyssal Skull if you have LVL4 Hellhounds and LVL4 Primal Rage. I personally like to make sure I have Abyssal Skull and Steam Boots before I go. The earlier you do it, the better. It's a lot of XP and gold for you and your team. Make sure you ask your team to distract for you. Never let them Kongor with you--you need to XP and gold for yourself.

Whispering Helm Abuse

If you decided to go Whispering Helm, remember that all your units have 522 MS when Metamorphosis is activated. After you right-click the hero with all your units, it may be good to select your Minotaurs and Catmen and micro them specifically to stomp.

 

 

Dark Lady
Dark Lady is your best friend. If you have a Dark Lady on your team, ANY time the enemy team is at all fragmented, a Metamorphosis rambo + Darkness Falls will result in a dead team. It's ridiculous.

[Slither]

Skill Build
1 - Poison Spray
2 - Toxicity
3 - Toxin Ward
4 - Toxin Ward
5 - Toxin Ward
6 - Poison Burst
7 - Toxin Ward
8 - Poison Spray
9 - Poison Spray
10 - Poison Spray
11 - Poison Burst
12 - Toxicity
13 - Toxicity
14 -Toxicity
15 - Stats
16 - Poison Burst
17 - Stats+

Justification / Modifications:
Get one level of Poison Spray and Toxicity for the slow and regen debuff but max wards first as they greatly help you pushing/creeping/scouting and even ganking. The build is kinda flexible, you can change it as you like but always have all 3 spells at level 4! Some guidelines: With a gankheavy lane (usually paired with a stunner) you can max Poison Spray for early kills. With a very push heavy team (defiler, ophelia, etc.) always max wards first and assist in tower pushing. And finally Toxicity can be maxed first if you play solo or heavy babysit as you most likely wont get early kills with Spray and Toxicity helps you a lot for lane control by harassing.
If you are playing Slither as a pure support hero consider putting only one point into Poison Spray and level Stats from levels 12-14. (Only damage and Range increase).

Starting Items:
Monkey Courier, Runes of Blight, Healing Potion, 2x Mana Potion, 2x Minor Totem

Core:
Power Supply >> Wards of Sight >> Ghost Marchers >> 1-2x Soulscream Rings OR Fortified Bracelets

If someone else gets a courier, buy Wards instead. Your job is to keep the Wards up so keep buying them! This is always more important than your core items! Ghost Marchers are decent to chase poisoned enemies down. They are slowed by at least 10% so you can keep up to most heroes with Ghost Marchers. It's also good for positioning your ultimate in team fights before you get Shroud or Portal Key. Soulscream Rings can be replaced by Fortified Bracelets as you see fit.

After Core:
Optional: Nome's Wisdom. Depending on your playstyle Slither can be quite Mana Hungry. Nome's is the best solution for that as it provides a very valuable aura for the rest of your team. Only consider it if noone else builds it.
1. Staff of the Master because Poison Burst is what you bring to Teamfights.
2. Assassins Shroud or Portal Key for better Ultimate positioning and survivability. Rule of Thumb: The higher skill level your opponents have the more you want Portal Key. Get one; don't get both.
3. If you are here you most likely did something wrong. You should never reach this point in a normal game unless you "forgot" to buy wards or went farming instead of ganking.

Information
Roles: Support, Ganker
Properties: Roamer, Babysitter, Pusher
Prefered Lane: Any
Difficulty: 1 - Very Easy
Farming capabilities: 3 - Decent
Item dependancy: 2 - Low
Power:
- Early Game / Lane Control: 4 - Strong (Good Harassing, even with auto attacks)
- Mid Game / Ganks: 3 - Medium (Very Powerful ult in ganks and teamfights)
- Late Game / Team Fights: 2 - Weak (Usually not played as a carry)

30-Second-Guide
- Gank, gank, and gank. Buy items that will help you gank, these include homecoming stones, Ghost Marchers, Power Supply and wards.
- Always have enough mana for the Poison spray+burst combo if Poison burst is not on cooldown. The combo takes 320 mana at level 6, 335 mana at level 7, 435 mana at level 11, and 535 mana at level 16.
- Set up Toxic Wards behind you and to your sides when pushing for scouting purposes. They have a 1400 Vision Range. Even at night!
- You can block paths with Toxic Wards.

Counters:
- Power Supply is an excellent Soft Counter aganist ward-spamming Slithers. Especially early game. Grab a Mana Battery ASAP if you are laning against him.
- While Geometer's Bane can no longer remove his ultimate, it still can remove Poision Spray including its slow.
- Shrunken Head will also not remove Poison Burst and you still get hit by it with activated Shrunken BUT you will take 0 damage from it while Shrunken Head lasts. Shrunken Head also removes all his other dots/slows and is thus a decent counter.
- If a Slither decides to go carry do not worry, he is EASILY outcarried. Otherwise get magic armor and/or Shrunken Head.