Page 1 of 1

Hero Builds

Posted: December 24th, 2013, 6:11 pm
by watermelon
This is a list of heroes and the skills I've invested by the time they're level 39 (17 skill points). My general strategy is to get one point in all skills by level 7, unless noted otherwise. I usually then focus on only two skills and the ultimate at Level 15. For skills that have the same levels invested in them, the order indicates what I would prioritize next. This list does not account for getting extra skill points.

Comments are in curly braces, {}. The comment after the hero name is my general item suggestions.
Hero names preceded with a “?” means I don't have a lot of experience playing them.

This has been up-to-date with version 1.17b2.

Changelog
9/22/14
Updated to 1.17b2.

2/18/2014
  • Changed AA, Swash, Tact, TC, Defiler, Lich
  • Other minor changes that involve switching skill order
  • Scattered more comments around
Feel free to ask questions.

Elven Battalion
Aeromancess/Aero:
{Survivability and Int/Evoc}
  • Tempest = 6
  • Hold Person = 6
  • Mana Storm = 3
  • Maelstrom = 1
  • Soar = 1 {possibly best one-point skill in EotA, favor over getting Maelstrom as a one point}
{Special build: if she's on Stormwail, making Hold Person a 1 point and investing in Soar could be useful to make her a flyer.}

Arcane Archer/AA:
{Survivability, Int/Evoc, Mana Regen}
  • Meteor Swarm = 6
  • Mass Haste = 6
  • Ice Wall = 3 {0 if Candle}
  • Ethereal Heal = 2 {5 if Candle}
{The most useful thing Familiar can do for you is being at Level 4 to cast roots. Otherwise, it's generally a liability.
Put 4 points into Familiar only if the other team lacks good AoE and to get roots. Favor it over Mass Haste.}

?Blazing Priest/BP:
{Survivability, Str, and Attack damage}
  • Skeletons = 0 (6 if Stormwail or Gloom)
  • Chasten = 6 (1 if Stormwail or Gloom)
  • Healing Fire = 6
  • Firestorm = 3
  • Kindle Faith = 2 (1 if Stormwail or Gloom)
Divine Wizard/DW:
{Survivability and Int/Evoc}
  • Holy Strike = 6
  • Empower = 6 {later on, it makes DW's auto attack scary}
  • Vengeance = 3
  • Energy Drain = 1
  • Stun Rune = 1 {great one-point skill}
{Don't neglect his innate. If teammates don't really care about it, you can still use it to heal quickly at main.}

Infiltrator/Inf:
{Dryad's Gift, Temporal Buckler, Nets, Attack Damage, Agi}
  • Attack of Opportunity = 6
  • Explosives = 6
  • Sabotage = 3
  • Smoke Cloud = 1
  • Blink = 1 {only one point}
{Favor Smoke Cloud over Sabotage if your team isn't sieging.}

?Mystic Swashbuckler/Swashy:
{Int, Agi, and Attack damage}
  • Demoralizing Blow = 6
  • Dash = 6
  • Keen Blade = 3 {makes his attack damage scarier}
  • Mockery = 1 {Scaling against heroes isn't that great though it can be very useful as a CC against normal units}
  • Pilfer = 1 {Scaling is rather horrid in my opinion and you won't necessarily get the good items}
{Have fun with his mana issues in early-game.}

?Rune Knight/RK:
{Int and Attack Damage}
  • Catapult Sigil = 6
  • Shield = 6
  • Grand Rune = 3
  • Hazard Slash = 2
?Soul Binder/SB:
{Survivability and Int/Evoc}
  • Incinerate = 6
  • Decoy = 6 {having the decoy be able to cast Entrap Souls helps a lot early-game to get mana} {can leave behind to destroy a base with Incinerate while going somewhere else}
  • Throw Corpses = 3
  • Mend = 2
{Soul Strike is pretty much garbage since it doesn't deal a lot of damage, easy to break, and makes SB a duck}

Tactician/Tact:
{Attack damage and Talisman for buff overwriting}
  • Neutralize = 6 {has a rather long delay, but also a long cast range so it's useful against unaware players. Scaling is great for the increase in AoE}
  • Blast Arrow = 6 {rather good way to get enemies stuck; just be aware of the delay}
  • Promote = 3
  • Banner = 1
  • Flank = 1
?Time Cleric/TC:
{Mana regen, Attack damage, and Int}
  • Echo Strike = 6 {note level 6 echo duration lasts long enough to get triggered by Degen's damage} {Forks are better at using this than Degen}
  • Rapid Heal = 6
  • Fork = 3 (1 if the other team is good at killing Forks)
  • Ebb and Flow = 2 (4 if the other team is good at killing Forks)
{She cannot handle a lane by herself.}

United Creeps
?Acid Reaver/Bane:
{Str/Evoc and Mana regen}
  • Breath = 6
  • Charge = 6 {Stun scaling is pretty useful.}
  • Acid Rain = 3
  • Acid Sheath = 1
  • Impale = 1 {Range gets longer even without further investment in the skill} {In chasing an enemy hero, it's easier to land a stun by innate or Charge and then Impale before the stun disappears}
{It's still rather dumb how much stuns Bane has, so use that to your advantage to chain stuns.}

Arboreal Crusader/AC/Dryad:
{Survivability, Mana Regen, and Int/Evoc}
  • Gale = 6 {Combined with Geomancy movespeed + Wisp makes it hard for an enemy to escape}
  • Geomancy = 6 {mainly for Stoneskin, movespeed, and water elementals. Do not invest more in it if it starts snowing.}
  • Wisp = 3
  • Cure Wounds = 1
  • Tangleweed = 1 {facing an enemy hero, cast behind AC; else cast on creep waves}
Arcane Mistress/AM:
{Attack damage and Agi/Int}
  • Infernal Binding = 6 {Strong hero nuke early-game}
  • Necrotic Shot = 6
  • Wail = 3
  • Mind Fog = 1 {remember this counters certain spells like Corona}
  • Haunt = 1 {Talent and a hold can make the damage skyrocket even at Level 1}
{Her innate deserves a special shout-out for being able to creepblock enemy heroes at later levels. Generally immobilize them with IB and Mind Fog first.
Another build could work with Haunt being invested in if your team is siege-oriented. Choose it over Necrotic Shot or IB depending on how defensive the other team plays}

?Colossus/Gravel:
{Mana Regen, Str, and Attack damage}
  • Rockslide = 6 {Use while sieging}
  • Smash = 6 {the slow is very disjointed and large}
  • Heart of the Mountain = 3 {Get healing talent as soon as possible.}
  • Enrage = 1 {mindlessly spamming with the mana talent seems to work well for infinite mana}
  • Golem Stampede = 1 {Only spend more points if you're impatient to have the duration be shorter, otherwise stay away since it's scaling is horrid.}
{You should pretty much always be lugging a tree (use Grav's innate) as reducing armor is much scarier than Bash.
Once you grab the Enrage mana talent, you shouldn't need to have mana regen items anymore.}

?Crest Witch/Murloc:
{Survivability and Int/Evoc}
  • Rogue Wave = 6 {cast against a line of units to make better use of its effect}
  • Coral Sanctum = 6
  • Drown = 3
  • Murloc Rampage = 1 {could be taken as a one point early-game since it's more overwhelming then}
  • Tidal Curse = 1 {Seems like level 1 is just as annoying as level 6 even if it deals less damage. The scaling for the murlocs don't really matter since they tend to die quickly.}
{Combining Tidal Curse with a Hold/Net is pretty evil.}

Dread Shaman/DS:
{Survivability, Int, Mana Regen, Attack Damage}
  • Totems = 6 {only one that won't get much use is probably shadow. Dispel is very useful when innate is activated}
  • Mass Healing = 6
  • Twist of Fate = 3 {pretty easy to keep a hero stuck in this longer by using expunge, cyclone totem, and slow totem}
  • Expunge = 2
{Very abusable with some of the new items, though he's still on the fragile side and doesn't have that much offense. Just make use of his 4 disables/slows and you'll be fine.}

?Elder Treant/Tree:
{Survivability and Attack Damage}
  • Tree Hug = 6
  • Tree Curse = 6 {great at making enemy towers useless} {Try to lower the need to spam this since it does have a rather high mana cost and long duration.}
  • Tree Revival = 3
  • Tree of all Trees = 2 {You're basically set if you just use this for pixies. The only other notable effect is the slow aura.}
{I don't grab taunting treants since Tree Curse neuters most enemy spawns}

Grim Hag/Harpy:
{Mana Ward, Attack Damage, and Agi}
  • Swoop = 6 {A mapwide cast is the best way to take advantage of this especially in Storm. You might have to right-click spam on a target for it to hit sometimes though.}
  • Blade Rain = 6
  • Chaos Rift = 3
  • Killing Fields = 1
  • Featherfall = 1 {Careful spamming can make this skill deadly}
Icespinner/IS:
{Survivability and Int/Evoc}
  • Ice Lance = 6 {Make use of the knockback talent both offensively and defensively.}
  • Frost Spire = 6
  • Blizzard = 3
  • Glaciate = 1 {great to get rid of debuffs from IS}
  • Brain Freeze = 1 {great utility in interrupt/silence}
{I grab Ice Lance over Frost Spire since it's a useful harass against heroes. Frost Spire also does a lot of damage to creeps even when low level.}

?Master of the Hunt/Fenny:
{Helm of Champions, Attack damage, Str, and Agi}
  • Lunge = 6
  • Hamstring = 6
  • Furor = 3
  • Dream Run = 1
  • Dire Howl = 1
?Scarab:
{Mana Regen, Survivability, and Int/Evoc}
  • Smite = 6
  • Life Wave = 6 {3 if Stormwail or in need of a disable}
  • Retribution = 1 {Use to relieve pressure on you especially if you get ganked.}
  • Penance = 3 {6 if Stormwail or in need of a disable}
  • Indignation = 1 {one point is great for restoring mana on attacks. Notice that it doesn't scale that well.}

Grim Brigade
?Ascendant/Garg:
{Mana Ward, Attack Speed, and Str}
  • Stonegaze = 6 {since this can be hard to land by itself, I usually start with Terra Smash, then Ravenous Dive, and then cast it on the enemy hero}
  • Terra Smash = 6
  • Red Thunder = 3
  • Abberate = 1 {Might be taken earlier to overwhelm early on.}
  • Ravenous Dive = 1 {can interrupt heroes even if they can't be picked up}
?Behemoth/Reek:
{Mana Regen and Str}
  • Maw of Death = 6
  • Brainlust = 6 {ridiculous scaling}
  • Riptide = 3 {don't bother using this against main halls since it won't damage them. You must get the talent to make this scary against heroes.}
  • Miasma = 1
  • Anchor = 1 {really annoying as a one-point skill}
Defiler:
{Survivability and Int}
  • Exhaustion = 6 {1 if enemy team seems to dispel}
  • Pestilence = 1 {6 if enemy team dispels}
  • Vile Infusion = 6
  • Flesh-Eating Cloud = 3
  • Blight = 1 {I might invest in this earlier if I can get crystal for the mana talent}
?Emberwraith/Ember:
{Str/Evoc, Mana Regen, and Attack Damage}
  • Pyroclasm = 6
  • Cinderfury = 6 {The best use for this seems to be nuking an enemy hero with that long range, though the self-heal gives Ember more staying power. Don't bother throwing it against creeps.}
  • Corona = 1
  • Slag Spray = 3 {Grabbing it early as a one point can still be beneficial since a 25% slow is nothing to scoff at.}
  • Erupt = 1 {mostly because of talent}
Forlorn Martyr/FM:
{Agi/Int and Tiara}
  • Whirl = 6 {hit-and-run for clearing creep waves, great Agi Boost}
  • Ion Surge = 6
  • Streak = 3 {allows hit-and-run tactics}
  • Thunderstrike = 1 {necessary one-point early-game for PKing}
  • Polarize = 1 {invested early} {more to just be a nuisance against enemy heroes rather than to clear out waves}
{Has a rather horrible time in the beginning but he can scale a lot if the enemy team doesn't dispel. Abuse Tiara with Streak to get to anywhere.}

High Oracle/Oracle:
{Int}
  • Mindstab = 6
  • Ki Blitz = 6
  • Geyser = 3
  • Zen Archery = 2 {Should invest once early on to get an interrupt/panic button}
{Don't get her.}

Incarnation/Lich:
{Raider's Orb, Int/Evoc, and Attack Damage}
  • Rend Soul = 6
  • Gravebind = 6
  • Moratorium = 4 {Use sparingly to save allies or mess with the enemy.}
  • Dark Altar = 1
{Raider's Orb pairs nicely with Lich as it can bypass Lich's horrid movespeed to get last hits or cast Rend Soul.
Invest in Bonestorm or Dark Altar over Gravebind if combat seems to be more macro-oriented}

Nephilim/Neph:
{Orb of Falling Ash, Survivability and Str/Int}
  • Living Longer
  • Blood = 6
  • War = 6
  • Power = 3
  • Fire = 1
  • Shadow = 1
    OR
    Nuke and Gets Nuked
  • Shadow = 6
  • Fire = 6
  • Power = 3
  • War = 1
  • Blood = 1
{Don't get him.}

?Putrid Eidolon/Eido:
{Survivability and Int}
  • Wilting = 6
  • Shield = 6
  • Rotting Tree = 3 {1 if unable to siege well}
  • Spore Cloud = 1 {great one point.}
  • Seed = 1 {3 if unable to siege well}
?Sorrow Liege/Rue:
{Attack Damage and Str/Survivability}
  • Mortal Strike = 6
  • Guard = 6
  • Auras = 4
  • Despair = 1
{Grab the ult over Auras if you think you want a command tower}

Fel Horde
?Crimson Squall/CS:
{Glacial Wall, Attack damage}
  • Dominant Blow = 6
  • Surge = 6
  • Overwhelm = 3
  • Crash = 1
  • Duel = 1 {can be useful in defending. Scaling is not too significant.}
?Glacial Tyrant/Tyrant:
{Mana regen, Int/Str}
  • Arctic Cataclysm = 6
  • Ice Shield = 6
  • Deep Freeze = 3
  • Shatter = 1
  • Ice Trap = 1
?Scarlet Maiden/SM:
{Attack Damage}
  • Mesmerize = 6
  • Maiden Strike = 6
  • Fluster = 3
  • Soulmate = 1 {may be taken earlier as one-point to give infinite mana to allies.}
  • Embrace = 1 {avoid using when enemy heroes are present unless they can't interrupt it}
Mercenaries
?Blackguard/Dwarf:
{Attack damage and Str}
  • Shadowclap = 6
  • Doom Hammer = 6
  • Shadowstride = 3
  • Unwilling Sacrifice = 1
  • Life Drain = 1 {best to use this when you can heal from Unwilling Sacrifice}
?Fire Knight/Fire:
{Str/Int and Attack Damage}
  • Phoenix Strike = 6 {beware of creeps blocking this}
  • Inferno = 6
  • Mindburst = 3 {best used when enemy is running away. Would only bother with this against unaware players or AI.}
  • Shield = 1
  • Dash = 1
Stormweaver/Storm:
{Survivability and Int/Evoc}
  • Tether = 6 {Innate is useful to chase enemy heroes with Tether active.}
  • Snowblast = 6 {best use seems to be spamming right-click against enemy heroes}
  • Storm = 3 {usually used against a fleeing enemy hero with Tether active}
  • Twister = 1 {2 if healing is easy to access.}
  • Healing Rain = 1 {0 if healing is easy to access.}
{Use the ult when you want to last hit or help someone from a gank.}

?Wretched Chef/Tony
{Mana Regen and Str}
  • Slice = 6
  • Feast = 6
  • Potluck = 3
  • Chili = 1 {will help give lane control early on as a one-point}
  • Nausea = 1 {useful one-point against enemy heroes}

Re: Hero Builds

Posted: December 28th, 2013, 2:59 pm
by aegir ravenking
Tree Hug = 6
Tree Curse = 6 {great at making enemy towers useless} {I don't grab taunting treants since this neuters most enemy spawns}
Tree Revival = 3
Tree of all Trees = 2
Just uber.

Also, YAY!!! I guessed password on second try!