HUSKAR GUIDE (by dark_phoenix96)

  • Tittle: Don't Mess with the Bad Guy
  • Author: dark_phoenix96
Huskar Dota

Pros
  • One of the best ranged heroes in the game.
  • A very dangerous opponent 1v1 thanks to his Berserker's Blood.
  • Can take down heavy tankers with his Life Break.
  • Excellent harassing ability and lane control with his Burning Spears which makes him a dangerous foe in laning phase.
  • One of the best healers in the game.
  • He doesn't need mana much.
  • IMBA damage and attack speed when in critical HP. 
Cons
  • A bit squishy even if he's a strength hero.
  • Using his Burning Spears and his Life Break reduces his health, which can be risky.
  • Low starting damage.
  • Can be easily outmatch by melee heroes like Barathrum, Slardar, Troll and/or Void. 
  • Low armor.
Pick Huskar if:
  • Your team has a lot of disablers.
  • The enemy team has a lot of carries.
  • The enemy team have few or no disablers and nukers. 
  • The enemy team has a tanker (Centaur, Axe, etc.). 
  • Your team needs a carry. 
  • Your'e lucky. 
  • You're a good farmer. 
Don't Pick Huskar if:
  • The enemy team has a lot of diablers. 
  • Your team is full of carries. 
  • The enemy team is full of nukers. 
  • You're not lucky. 
  • You're not in a mood to play Huskar. 
  • You're a pussy.


Skills

 Inner Vitality
Magically unlocks the potential regenerative power within a target unit, healing its life force based upon its primary attribute. If the target is below 40% it will heal faster.
  • 1. Mana 170 / Cooldown 25 / Duration 16 seconds / 5(15*)% of main attrib + 2 hp regen per sec
  • 2. Mana 170 / Cooldown 25 / Duration 16 seconds / 10(30*)% of main attrib + 4 hp regen per sec
  • 3. Mana 170 / Cooldown 25 / Duration 16 seconds / 15(45*)% of main attrib + 6 hp regen per sec
  • 4. Mana 170 / Cooldown 25 / Duration 16 seconds / 20(60*)% of main attrib + 8 hp regen per sec
  • (*) These values are used if the target is below 40% of its maximum hp.
  • The hp percentage is checked every second and the regeneration adjusted accordingly.
  • Can be cast on magic immune units.
This is your healing skill. This is not really useful in early game so save it for late game because its healing rate is based on a hero's primary attribute. Since Huskar's a Strength Hero, his main attribute is strength: more strength you have, the more you'll heal faster. Once you have a lot of Strength from your luxury items, you'll heal faster with this skill so this is very effective in late game, especially to your allies as well. The best part of this skill is that this skill does not dispel when the targeted hero is under attack. Also, it will heal much more faster the more the targeted hero is injured so it's also a very good skill for any ally who's in bad shape. Use this when you or your friends are critically injured (If you or your ally's HP is 40% or below); also, use this when you're in low HP while fighting a carry because the high regeneration will keep you alive longer during a battle. Don't forget that this cost mana though. 

 Burning Spear
Using his own life force to set them aflame, the Sacred Warrior can cause his spears to deal stackable damage over time as they impact the foe.
  • 1 Healthcost 15 / Cooldown 0 / Duration 7 seconds / 5 damage per second
  • 2 Healthcost 15 / Cooldown 0 / Duration 7 seconds / 10 damage per second
  • 3 Healthcost 15 / Cooldown 0 / Duration 7 seconds / 15 damage per second
  • 4 Healthcost 15 / Cooldown 0 / Duration 7 seconds / 20 damage per second
  • Damage type: magical (target), HP removal (self)
  • Burning Spears stacks additively when used multiple times on one target. There is no cap.
  • Huskar cannot kill himself using this skill.
This is your auto-cast orb. This is a very effective skill in early game since it's a powerful harassing tool. Use this in harassing an enemy laner in laning phase. Since it's an auto-cast active orb, you can get another orb in his arsenal. The best orb that you can get for him is Lifesteal so get a Helm of the Dominator or Satanic (If you have a Lifesteal orb and you manually-cast Burning Spear, Burning Spear won't work so keep it on auto-cast if you want it to trigger continuously). Lifesteal is a good orb on Huskar because lifesteal has great synergy with your Berserker's Blood, which can keep you alive longer (I'll explain this later). Since you have two orbs: Lifesteal and Burning Spear, you need to learn when you'll switch orbs. If you're ganking or if you're in a fight, use Lifesteal when the enemy's attacking you or when your HP is half or low; otherwise, auto-cast Burning Spear when the enemy's running away from you or when your HP is still high. Don't forget that this skill stacks additively and magic resistance reduces the DoT of it.

 Berserker's Blood
Huskar feels each of his wounds and channels the pain, increasing magic resistance and attack speed for each 7% missing health. First bonus starts at full health.
  • 1. 8% IAS and 4% spell resistance per stack
  • 2. 12% IAS and 5% spell resistance per stack
  • 3. 16% IAS and 6% spell resistance per stack
  • 4. 20% IAS and 7% spell resistance per stack
  • There will be a special effect when Berserker's Blood is giving a large bonus (60% missing health).
  • First stack lasts from 100% to 87% of Huskar's maximum HP.
  • Maximum bonus (14 stacks) is achieved when Huskar has strictly less than 3% of his maximum HP.
This is your only passive skill. Don't think this skill is useless. Remember, the more damage you take, the more damage and IAS you gain, so this is very effective with Lifesteal like what I've said before. This is a dangerous skill and it'll make you more fearsome in battle. It also has great synergy with your Burning Spears and your Life Break since their side effects take away your HP, but using these skills are risky because, of course, you'll lose a lot of HP which can give your enemies the advantage against you. So when that happens, switch to Lifesteal when you're in half or low HP like what I've said before too.

 Life Break
Huskar reaches into the well of his own life force to heavily damage an enemy. Huskar is magic immune while charging towards the target. The target takes damage equal to 50% of its hp. Slows target by 50% for 5 seconds. Huskar pays a certain percentage of his hp to cast this.
  • 1. Mana 0 / Cooldown 45 (4*) / Duration 5 seconds / Huskar pays 40% of his current hp to cast.
  • 2. Mana 0 / Cooldown 30 (4*) / Duration 5 seconds / Huskar pays 35% of his current hp to cast.
  • 3. Mana 0 / Cooldown 15 (4*) / Duration 5 seconds / Huskar pays 30% of his current hp to cast.
  • Damage type: magical (to both Huskar and the target)
  • Huskar will charge up to his target, becoming magic immune, before doing the effects.
  • If Huskar is disabled during this charge, or if the target moves more than 1400 units in 0.015s, the charge stops.
  • Slow works on magic immune units.
  • Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
  • Improved version deals 65% of the targets current hp as damage.
This is your ultimate. This can deal a lot of damage against heroes who have high HP so you don't care how beefy they are. This has great synergy with your Berserker's Blood since you'll lose HP. Take note that Life Break damage is reduced by magic resistance so keep it in mind. Try not to let your enemies get a Hood or a Pipe; otherwise, the percentage damage of your Life Break will be reduced greatly. If they were able to get a Hood or a Pipe, get Aghanim's Scepter to counter the magic resistance. Aghanim's Scepter will improve your ultimate by increasing its percentage damage and it will also reduce your ultimate's cooldown greatly, which also counters Linken's Sphere. I forgot that this skill cannot kill any enemy instantly and it doesn't get you out of fights.



Skill Build:
  • Level 1: Burning Spear(1)
  • Level 2: Berserker's Blood(1)
  • Level 3: Burning Spear(2)
  • Level 4: Berserker's Blood(2)
  • Level 5: Burning Spear(3)
  • Level 6: Life Break(1)
  • Level 7: Berserker's Blood(3)
  • Level 8: Burning Spear(4)
  • Level 9: Berserker's Blood(4)
  • Level 10: Inner Vitality(1)
  • Level 11: Life Break(2)
  • Level 12: Inner Vitality(2)
  • Level 13: Inner Vitality(3)
  • Level 14: Inner Vitality(4)
  • Level 15: Stats(1)
  • Level 16: Life Break(3)
  • Level 17-25: Stats(2-10)
Explanation: This is my personal skill build for Huskar. We need to maximize Burning Spear and Berserker's Blood first since these will give you the advantage in early game and in mid game. Then, we level up Inner Vitality since this skill is effective later on, especially when you and your allies have your luxuries. Always level up Life Break when you're at level 6, 11 and 16 since this skill is game-breaking. After maximizing your skills, level up your stats to full.



Item Build

Starting
  • Gauntlets of Ogre Strength: These give you extra strength for absorbing damage and also give you extra damage for last-hitting and harassing as well. These items will be upgraded into an Urn of Shadows later on.
  • Ironwood Branches: These will give you stats, which will keep you flexible throughout the entire laning phase. These will be upgraded into a Magic Wand later on.
  • Healing Salve: As explained before, Inner Vitality is not effective in early game yet. A Healing Salve will heal you very fast whenever you take a lot of damage from the enemy's harassment. Keep your distance from the enemy if you're going to use this because taking damage will dispel the healing.
  • Ancient Tango of Essification: A Healing Salve is not enough to keep you alive in laning phase. These are also very useful in healing. The best part is its healing won't get disable whenever you take damage.
Core

 Power Treads: These are perhaps the best starter boots for Huskar. These give you Attack Speed, which will allow you to attack faster. The extra Strength also slightly increases your attack damage, your HP and your Inner Vitality's healing rate on yourself. You can switch it to Intelligence mode if you need enough mana to cast Inner Vitality but don't switch it to Agility Mode since you don't need its extra Agility anyway.

 Helm of the Dominator: As explained before too, you need Lifesteal for more survivability since it has great synergy with Berserker's Blood. This item is your main source of Lifesteal. It gives +20 damage which will allow you to deal extra damage. It also gives +5 armor for slightly increased defense against physical attacks. Its Dominate ability is very useful; you can dominate a neutral creep and use its aura and its skill(s) for your benefits. You can also use your dominated creep as a scout while your farming in the farming areas. When your scouting creep encounters an enemy hero, it will signal you and your allies of the enemy hero's location.

 Armlet of Mordiggian: This is the real core for Huskar. Its stats and its Unholy Strength ability gives you slightly high HP regeneration, high damage, moderate attack speed, +5 Armor, and high Strength. The DoT you take from Armlet has great synergy with your Berserker's Blood, which also has great synergy with Lifesteal. Whenever your HP is in critical state, you can double-click Armlet to restore some HP so you can survive some attacks. And when your HP is in critical state again, double-click it to restore some HP again. Doing this takes some practice but its not that hard once you've mastered it.

 Urn of Shadows: This item is upgraded from your two Gauntlets of Ogre Strength. It gives +6 Strength and 50% mana regeneration. Its Soul Release is very useful. You can use a charge to heal yourself or damage an enemy over time. Use its Soul Release wisely depending on your current situation.

 Magic Wand: This item is upgraded from your Ironwood Branches. The Magic Wand can be a Lifesaver, especially in most situations where you're in danger. It gives +3 to all stats and you can gather charges from nearby enemy spells. Maximize the charges to full and use it whenever your in critical state (If you don't have enough charges while in critical state, don't hesitate to use it).

 Scroll of Town Portal: TP Scrolls are always a must for any hero so keep some of these in your inventory.

Luxury

 Assault Cuirass: This is a very good late game item for Huskar. It gives you more armor to make you beefy, and more attack speed to make you attack faster. The auras can support your team as well. And always remember that the more HP you have, the more effective its armor will be.

 Heart of Tarrasque: This ultimate tanking item of the game. It gives you a lot of Strength, which gives you very high HP and high damage. It also gives you +300 HP for extra beefiness. Its HP regeneration is insanely high, but it won't work when you take damage from an enemy hero or from Roshan.

 Divine Rapier: The ultimate weapon of the game. It gives you insanely high damage, but the drawback is it will drop when you die so think twice before buying this.

 Monkey King Bar: The anti-evasion item. It gives very high damage and slight attack speed. Its True Strike Ability is good against, Mortred, Panda, Rikimaru and/or other heroes with evasion and miss buffs.

 Radiance: This item's amazing. The Radiance Burn stacks nicely with your Burning Spears' DoT. The damage is very high too.

 Buriza-Do Kyanon: A very good item on Huskar. It gives you very high damage. The Critical Strike is very useful as well.

 Abyssal Blade: Also a very good item on Huskar. It gives very high damage and moderate strength. The bash is very good and it has great synergy with your Berserker's Blood because the more IAS you have, the more you can bash. You can stun the enemy with its Overwhelm ability since your Life Break puts you very close to your target.

 Heaven's Halberd: Once on my optional list, but now it made all its way up here. It's very useful on Huskar since the Strength and the evasion makes you tanky; the maim is good in slowing down the enemy's AS and MS, and it gives cheap damage. This will help you a lot in owning your rival carries since carries rely on their normal attacks, which means using its Disarm ability on your target enemy carry will prevent them from attacking you.

 Satanic: The best orb for Huskar and the only upgrade for your Helm of Dominator. Along with your high DPS, the Lifesteal is very useful.

 Black King Bar: Tired of getting disabled and/or focused all the time? Then BKB is the answer to all your problems! Its magic immunity will protect you from spells and disables; however, there are some skills that will still penetrate magic immunity (Like Bane's Fiend's Grip and Pudge's Dismember). It also gives you decent Strength and Damage boost.

Optional

 Linken's Sphere: Get this if you're facing heroes with dangerous ultimates (Doom, Fiend's Grip, Mana Void, etc). It gives fairly high stats and nice regeneration.

 Tranquil Boots: Get this if you want more healing. It gives more movement speed and HP regeneration.

 Mekansm: Get this if you want more healing too. This is good in early game but if you don't want to buy it, leave it to your supports.

 Blade Mail: Get this if you're facing extremely hard-hitting carries. It gives cheap damage and good intelligence boost.

 Phase Boots: Get this if creeps are getting in your way. It gives cheap damage and good movement speed.

 Boots of Travel: Get this when the game turns into a 5v5 push festival. It gives very good movement speed so you can move faster.

 Orchid Malevolence: Get this if you're facing very heavy spellcasters, especially those heroes who have skills that penetrate magic immunity. It gives decent damage and attack speed to boost you up a bit.

 Aghanim's Scepter: Get this if you're facing heavy tankers, Linken's Sphere holders and/or heroes with heavy magic resistance (I've already explained this before). It gives very good stats boost too.

 Necronomicon: Get this if you want to own enemy spellcasters by burning their mana. Upgrading this to max level will give one of the Necronomicons True Sight, which can counter invisible units. It gives very good intelligence and strength boost.

Rejected

 Dagon: Getting this item on Huskar means one thing: you want to kill-steal your teammates. Why would you need an item with a nuke that doesn't scale into late game?

 Any other Orb Effects: You don't need any other Orb Effects. Helm of the Dominator/Satanic is much more better since it'll allow you stay alive longer.

 Sange and Yasha: It might not be an orb anymore, but the stats boost and the bonus movement speed isn't really worth the gold. This item is like a weak hybrid version of Skadi and Manta, and it really sucks in late game. If you want its Maim, get Heaven's Halberd instead.

 Ethereal Blade: It might amplify the damage of your Life Break but do you want to be a sitting duck after you use Ether Blast?

 Vladmir's Offering and  Battle Fury: These items work only if your melee. You're a ranged hero so don't waste your money on these.

 Refresher Orb: It may give you damage and regeneration but all of your skills have a decent cooldown. Don't waste your money on this too.

 Manta Style: You don't need illusions since illusion can't cast Burning Spears or Inner Vitality. Leave this for Naga Siren.

 Arcane Boots: Huskar barely uses mana so why waste your gold on this?

 The Butterfly: Heaven's Halberd is much more better than this. Skip it for someone else.



Game Strategy

Early Game

In Early Game, you're very effective since you have your Burning Spears. Buy your starting items and pick your respective lane. Pick the top lane or the bottom lane and make sure you can control your lane with your own hands. While you're laning, harass as much as possible if you're laning against someone with little or no lane control and try to avoid any harassment from the enemy if you can, especially when your fighting nukers. Last-hit and deny creeps as much as you can and try to get fat. If you're having a hard time laning against your opponent(s), call for a lane switch or gank. Once you reach level 6, gank lone carries and try not to let them get fat. Make their lives a living hell! You can kill any carry alone in early game but when you're fighting nukers, bring someone since you can't kill them easily (They can kill you with their nukes after you use Life Break so be aware of that). If you're in critical HP while fighting an enemy carry, don't fall back! Keep on attacking your target enemy carry until you die or when you kill him/her with your own hands. But if you're in critical HP and you encounter a nuker, fall back! They can kill you easily with their nukes if you're in critical HP.

Mid Game

During this time, ganks and clashes will occur numerous times. When participating in clashes, don't tank unless you have Heart and Assault Cuirass. Ask a tanker from your team then go for the attack. Spam burning spears around in clashes and skirmishes to keep all the enemy heroes under fire, but do not waste time not attacking to walk up to additional targets. Don't forget to use your Inner Vitality during fights as well too. Farm up as much as possible and get your core items. Once you have your core, you can own nukers as well but face them when you're in full HP. If you want better ganks, buy observer wards and plant them in different places in the map or you can let your supports do it for you.

Late Game

Once you have most of your luxuries, nearly one can stop you. During fights, focus on heroes who focus on one hero so they can't turn the tide of battle easily. Turn the late game fights into uneven fights as fast as possible. As mentioned earlier, use your Inner Vitality during fights as well. Your job in a fight is easy if you have an additional ally carry with you. Do not let enemy carries farm in late game! Fully-farmed enemy carries can easily outmatch you during late game, especially melee heroes. If you manage to make their lives a living hell, you'll win the game. But if not, you lose. Finish the game within 60 minutes.

Edited by basicdotaguide.blogspot.com
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