Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Sacred Warrior
http://planetdota.blogspot.com
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Skill Build
3. Item Build
4. Burning Spear and Helm of the Dominator
5. Skills Strategy
6. Combat Strategy
7. Laning
8. Farming
9. Jungling
10. Ganking
11. Team Battles
12. Replays
13. Conclusion
14. Change Log
15. Credits
1. Introduction
There have been several excellent Huskar guides. I'm sure that by the time you read my guide,
you have already read theirs, so I'm guessing that you know the basics on how to play Huskar.
My previous Huskar guide focused on the general Huskar, including his stats, skill explanations,
early to late game strategies, etc. However, through comparing my guide with the other guides, I
have realized that my guide was too similar to theirs and it was just a simple hybrid which wasn't
quite unique. However, this guide will focus more on the actual strategy such as laning properly
or how to gank/counter-gank, etc.
Due to shifting my focus on the strategies, I have minimal images in the guide. In addition, this
guide will be text heavy. However, if you truly wish to improve your skill on Huskar, do proceed
onto the guide. My second aim in this guide is that in the future, Huskar will be chosen more
frequently in higher-level games.
If you wish to read a more detailed guide in terms of general Huskar with no lifesteal, read
Afterburn's Guide to Huskar, the Sacred Warrior. If you wish to see an abridged guide on Huskar
that uses only lifesteal, read Complete Idiot's Guide to Sacred Warrior.
2. Skill Build
For complete details about Huskar and his skills, click here.
*Take 1 level of Inner Vitality before level 9 if there is any need for it. Also, max out Burning
Spear first if there is very low harassment level.
This skill build is for people who loves to play aggressively and enjoys flexibility. Berserker's
Blood is maxed out first as the passive bonuses are great! With level 4 Berserker's Blood, Huskar
gains +56% attack speed and +56 damage at 58% health. Burning Spear will then be maxed to
maximize the Huskar's harassing cability. Some people prefer to take 1 level of Inner Vitality at
level 4, but I find this entirely useless as it only regenerates around 85 hp including Huskar's
natural regeneration. Furthermore, it can only be casted once. I prefer to take extra damage over
time than a mere 85 hp regeneretion, especially because I recommend that you get 1 set of Tango
and 2 Salves. With this build, early game kill will be guranteed as long as you play smart and/or
your allies stun/slow the enemy.
If you plan to jungle, then follow the skill build in the Jungling section.
3. Item Build
In my opinion, Huskar is a very flexible hero. He can either be a ganker, a semi-carry hero, a
tank or a hybrid of everything. Therefore, Huskar's item build may vary on personal preference.
In terms of orb-effects, the only viable options seem to be lifesteal or corruption. The strategy I
will focus on is both Burning Spear and lifesteal as they seem to be the best options for Huskar.
The most important items on Huskar is Armlet of Mordiggian and/or Helm of the Dominator. As
long as you get one/both of those two items, I don't really mind which item you get for my
strategy.
Phase Boots provides movement speed as well as armor and damage. However, the main reason
why I get this item is because of Phase. The active ability will allow me to orb-walk easily since
I will be able to pass through creeps and get the movement speed of 407. I would only
recommend this item in low-level IH games where you are too pro for your friends. Boots of
Travel will allow you to push/defend more easily as well as give you more mobiliy to farm or
gank. Anyways, Power Treads is still a good option if you don't really need the teleport.
Hood of Defiance allows you to be more tanky as well as provide you with +8 health regeneraion
per second. This item also reduces the backfire damage from Life Break. I highly recommend
this if you will be tanking many nukes. Satanic is for higher lifesteal towards late game where
you won't have to dominate creeps for kills since there will be more team battles. Assault Cuirass
is for the armor bonus and negation and the nice attack speed bonus. Very useful for tanking
damage and supporing allies with the aura. Get Black King Bar if you get focus fired by nukes
and disables. With this item, it is possible to kill an entire team alone! Heart is recommended for
those who do not plan to get Helm of the Dominator, since there will not be any item such as
Satanic to boost Huskar's health pool. The 3 damage item is up to you. Get Buriza if you want
higher lifesteal from the critical. Get Monkey King Bar if there are channelers. Get Radiance if
no one has it since it will help in pushes/defences.
Once again, I do not like to post an item build. Even I play with different item build pretty much
every game, so please do not argue with me about the item builds. I don't really mind what you
get, as long as you get Armlet and/or Helm of the Dominator.
I have been frequently questioned about maxing Burning Spear when I suggest Helm of the
Dominator as core items. Here is the reason why.
When Burning Spear level 1 hits a target 5 times, the additional damage will be 180 damage.
However, at level 4, the additional damage is 360. The basic math craft is: 5 x [Burn damage (6,
8, 10, 12)] x 6 (time).
This is excluding the magic reduction and natural/item regeneration. For example, if you hit a
target once who has Ring of Health, you will only do 4 additional damage per second or so.
However, if you hit the same target twice, you will be able to do around 11 damage per second.
And so on. What I'm saying is, 180 (125 for say with magic reduction and natural/item
regeneration) is caused by level 1 Burning Spear. However, level 4 Burning Spear will deal
around 315 damage when the target is hit 5 times minimum.
Since my item build suggests Helm of the Dominator, you will have a pretty decent disable. Go
with troll as ensnare is the easiest disable as it locks the target down for 2.5 seconds and this skill
is targeted. Not to mention your own disable: Life Break. Hitting your opponent with Burning
Spear constantly until the hero dies is fairly easy. In addition, even if the hero gets away with 200
or so life, the maxed Burning Spear will most likely kill the hero.
Honestly, I rarely find that I have to retreat before actually killing the hero by damage over time,
since my enemy just decides to fight me despite the burn damage, meaning that the burn damage
can stack easily. Even if my enemy starts to run, I can easily disable them as long as they're not
super fast or goes invisible. Who knows, maybe the approximate 209 damage difference caused
by maxing Burning Spear can actually get you a kill if your enemy does decide to go invisible or
super fast at 200 life. Happened many times in my life!
Now about orb-walking with the Helm of the Dominator in your inventory; first of all, put
Burning Spear on auto-cast, then simply orb-walk like you would normally (using the hot key
"R"). Instead of lifesteal, you will be able to burn your target. This way, you can still orb-walk
easily even with a second orb effect.
5. Skills Strategy
There are so many ways to use Huskar's skills to their max potential. Here are some combination
of skills that I'd like to point out. These are just basic skill strategies.
Dominate Disables
Make sure that you dominate neutral creeps with disables. Huskar's only disable is his ultimate,
so the dominated creeps are really beneficial for Huskar. Here are some neutral creeps and their
abilities.
Creep Stacking
You can stack creeps using your dominated creep. The neutral creep spawns per minute as long
as there are no corpse, units or anything revealing the area of spawn. Do this by hitting the creeps
at approximately X:53 and just running away from the camp. I usually do this on Ancient Creeps
near Roshan as you can load up +1000 gold after few stacks. However, do realize that it will be
difficult for Huskar to actually kill the Ancient Creep Stack during mid-game. Only do this if you
have Double Damage rune, 3 Bracers, Armlet and Helm of the Dominator with a new dominated
creep such as Centaur. Otherwise just allow your carry to farm if they can. Your allies will love
you.
Burn
Harass your enemies using Burning Spear. Either manually cast it or auto-cast it. Try not to auto-
cast it during early game as it attracts creeps. Note that once you get lifesteal, or any other orb
effect, Burning Spear can only take effect if you auto-cast it. Like I mentioned above, however,
you can still orb-walk with Burning Spear once you option Helm of the Dominator by simply
leaving it on auto-cast and orb-walking normally.
Notice how Afterburn (Huskar) used Burning Spear to attack his enemy Balanar. After Balanar
got some hits, he was able to shake off Afterburn, but the damage over time from the Burning
Spear granted Afterburn a kill! This is why I said Huskar loses too much harassing capability
without his Burning Spear.
Heal/Double Heal
You can either cast your Inner Vitality or just lifesteal. Inner Vitality is Huskar's healing skill
which requires mana. The heal is based on the primary stats, so the higher the primary stats, the
better the heal. This should be casted on ally tanks or carries, or self for extra safety in team
battles. If you want to regenerate really fast, cast Inner Vitality and lifesteal. Don't forget that the
regeneration rate will increase when the target's health is below 40% health. In Huskar's case,
when he is below 40%, his Berserker's Blood will be at max, so you will regenerate really really
fast. Trust me.
In one-on-one combat, try to use this when you reach 40% of health, because if you cast it in the
beginning, the enemy realizes your regeneration rate is high, so s/he might just run away. In
addition, fighting without Inner Vitality in the beginning in 1 on 1 and dropping your health by
40% means that your opponent will think that he can own you as you only hav such few healths.
Furthermore, if more enemies come after a 1 on 1 battle, the faster regen can keep you alive and
you can either bait for your allies more safely, or just run away until the target gave up on you or
whatever. Sometimes though, it is advisable to cast it in the beginning. I never found any reason
to, so I rarely casted it in the beginning of a 1 on 1 fight. Don't forget, if Armlet is on, you will
have higher regeneration as Unholy Strength provides +25 strenght!
Life Break
This is Huskar's ultimate which will eat away 40% of your enemy's current health. Thus, Huskar
cannot kill using this skill as a nuke. This skill provides 50% slow for 5 seconds, which is great
as Huskar can harass the enemy while he is slowed. Use it on tank or carries as they are number
one priority in team battles. Golden rule is that when you are about to die, you either cast it on
green hp hero, or cast it on any hero around you who will not die in next 2 seconds so that your
ally/ies can pawn him.
6. Combat Strategy
A good player needs to know the abilities of every heroes in DotA. Also, a good player has good
map awareness and know which allies are near you and which enemy heroes are missing. Most
importantly, you must have experience. Here are some other imporatant facts which you must
drill into your minds when playing Huskar.
Health Management
Always manage your life. Although Huskar is stronger when his life is low, this is only up to
58% of health. Even this might still be dangerous against nukers. Managing your health is as
important as farming! Managing your health also means that you determine whether you are still
good for one more fight, or whther you should return. Always try to bait for your allies. Don't be
a fool though! Manage your health!
Trading Hits
I see so many Huskar players run away when they have low health and are beinga attacked by
enemies. That is no way to play Huskar. Never be afraid to trade hits with your enemy when the
opportunity arises. Your stack damage from Burning Spear is very signifcant. Enemies will, in
most cases, underestimate the burn damage and the Berserker's Blood. The lower your life, the
stronger you get. Use it to your advantage. There is no reason why Huskar should be afraid of
getting hits! However, be reasonable and manage your health.
In this image, notice how Afterburn (Huskar) has critical health, but still approaches enemy Lich
who has Frost Armour and half health. Afterburn stood ground and fought, and the outcome was
that Afterburn was richer in experience and gold, while Lich died.
For Huskar, since he only has an average movement speed, you should cancel the Burning Spear
animation. Simply, after Huskar casts his spear, click on the designated location where your
opponent will go to. Once he starts moving, click on your target again to cast another Buring
Spear. He also has a small delay time after casting Inner Vitality/Life Break/Unholy Strength
(from Armlet) and this might change his target. Make sure you click on your target after activting
your skills.
Creep Advantage
Usually the case is, if your life is lower than your enemy's, he will get greedy and chase you,
regardless of your creeps attacking your enemy. Just try to let him attack you until your creeps
arrive. When the creeps arrive, cast Inner Vitality if you have, Life Break your opponent and
keep attacking the hero with your creeps using lifesteal. In most cases, you will live and receive
+200 gold or so. Don't forget the 3 A's!
Regeneration
Don't forget, Huskar has excellent regeneration. Not only from Inner Vitality but also from
lifesteal. Use it properly as stated in the Combo section above.
7. Laning
Huskar is an overall a pretty balanced hero. I believe that he is capable of any lane situation as
long as you play correctly. Huskar's main role is harasser and farmer. Huskar does need to farm a
bit for his items, such as Armlet of Mordiggian and Helm of the Dominator, etc. Honestly, there
are just too many combinations of lane partner/enemy(ies) you can encounter. I can't really cover
much on laning. However, whatever the case is, always last hit/deny creeps. Here is the general
concept.
1 on 1
This is probably the easiest. Just harass your opponents by manually casting Burning Spear so
that you do not attract creeps. You will be able to dominate your lane if your enemy is a melee
hero. You might also be out harassed if your enemy is a nuker or long ranged harasser such as
Silencer, Enchantress, Leshrac, etc.
1 on 2
This might be tough or it could be really easy. If the lane is double nuker and double stunner,
either ask for lane switch or lane partner as you will be out harassed. If the enemies are both
melees, it will be much easier as you can just harass both. I cannot really cover much detail on
this as there are too many combinations of heroes. Just basically play safe, smart and know when
to harass. Watch your opponents and determine whether they have good cooperation or not. If
they are very uncoordinated, the case usually is that you will be able to dominate your lane.
2 on 2 or 2 on 1
This is like 1 on 1 lane except you have an ally. Again, watch your opponents' cooperation. Try
to go for a kill if your ally is a disabler. Coordinate properly with your ally and try to go for a
kill!
Afterburn (Huskar) was harassing Lanaya at level 1 using Burning Spear. She was forced to stay
away from the creeps, making her unable to farm. This is why Huskar's Burn is such a great skill
early game to establish lane control.
8. Farming
Basically, there are three ways Huskar can farm.
Creep Killing
The general concept is that Huskar can farm better with lower life as Berserker's Blood will
increase his attack speed and damage, giving him better ability to farm. Huskar's attack
animation is nice and his base attack time is quite low as well. Make sure you can dominate your
lane so that you can farm more easily.
Hero Killing
Hero killing isn't really considered "farming" but I just included it here as killing heroes give you
gold. Try to kill heroes as much as possible to get money for your items. But always work within
limits! Don't go killstealing without permission!
9. Jungling
With the permission and help from Sonicspear and Xenterex, I have included a Jungling Section.
I personally don't do this, but if you really enjoy jungling, then go ahead. This requires a
different Skill Build though, but still follows the Item Build recommended.
Assuming that your ally buys a chicken for the team, buy 3 Circlets of Nobility in the start.
Creep pull the camp at x:45 and x:15. If you have any spare time, you can either kill the easy
camp, or attack the hard camp. Sonicspear advises that you go for the easy camp unti level 3. In
15 minutes, you should be able to have 4 Bracers and Boots of Speed. Also, because of Huskar's
Berserker's Blood, he is capable of taking the hard camps from lower level.
And so on. Raise Burning Spear when you decide to start ganking heroes. Sonicspear and I both
agree that with this, you should follow the recommended Item Build suggested, which includes
Helm of the Dominator as lifesteal is needed.
10. Ganking
Huskar is capable of solo ganking hero from level 1 due to his stackable orb-skill which.
However, I suggest you farm your items up first before you go for hero kills. Also, use
domination to your advantage. I see so many people in pubs get Helm of the Dominator and
never dominate creeps. Disables are your friends! Huskar doesn't have disables until level 6 or
whenever you decide to get Life Steal.
During Ganks
As I have stated previously in the Combos and Combat Strategy sections, just trade hits and be
smart. Predict your opponents movements. Heal yourself if you need to. Know which orb you
want to use. Aptitude, assurance and aggression are the mental keys to your victory. Don't forget,
stupidity is not aptitude!
After Ganks
If there are enemy heroes missing, then either go back to the fountain if you have critical life or
go near your ally for safety and/or Double Heal yourself. Mostly, the enemy heroes are coming
to get you with greed. Now if it is one hero that is gone, and you know you can fight again, then
do so. Enemy heroes will underestimate Huskar's regeneration and will regret it.
12. Replays
The English spoken is quite different as I played Malaysians (I'm Korean).
The replay might not showcase my strategy, as I have hard time playing good games.
Here's a 1.22 patch replay by ha107642 using my playstyle. I haven't been able to obtain 1.22
patch as of yet. I'll upload his replay. n1huskar.w3g ( 465.84k ) Number of downloads: 1463
13. Conclusion
To me, Huskar is a very fun hero to play with. He isn't your typical strength hero, nor is he your
typical troll. He is the only troll with self confidence issues. If you wish to play well, you need
good teammates who has great general knowledge of the game and knows what they are doing.
The main reason why I have changed my guide was because I wanted my Huskar guide to be
focused more on the strategy. Many people tend to have this thing with not reading the "strategy"
section of many guides as they are very dull and boring and doesn't outline specific strategies. I
hope that my guide helped you. However, if you disagree with my playstyle, then that's fine with
me. Don't forget, this is my strategy. I strongly encourage you to try your own strategies and
create different ways of playing this great hero.
I'm not sure if this quote exists in the world. Someone else probably said it, but this is why I
thought of while writing this new guide. Practice makes Permanent. Keep practicing, but you'll
never be perfect, which is why you will practice forever. However, the skills you have obtained
through your effort will be permanent. All you need to do is drill in the concepts in your mind
and practice! I hope you enjoyed reading my text-heavy, image-less guide and still learned
something out of it. Comments and feedbacks please! Thank you!
15. Credits
All my friends for disliking Huskar which made me use him lol.
Kalorful for writing Complete Idiot's Guide to Sacred Warrior.
Afterburn for writing Afterburn's Guide to Huskar, the Sacred Warrior.
Afterburn, again, for providing me with screen shots.
Sonicspear and Xenterex for providing the Jungling section.
Draajen for telling me that Huskar can still orb-walk the Burning Spear even with Helm of the
Dominator.
ha107642 for providing replay for 1.22 patch.
Gotank for the first actual in-depth criticism.
Jtyh for moving the guide to appropriate location and adding my guide to Complete List of
Strategy Guides.
Dota Allstars Wiki Team for writing the Wiki pages that I have used.
All the people who read this guide and commented on it.