Want help learning Brewmaster

[Stoick The Vast]

Hi there!
So I recently started playing Dota and feel that it's an extremely deep game to master.
So far I have tried a couple of heroes, mostly played Bot-games to get a better grip on them before I venture into a public game. I find i tessential to at least know the basics of a hero before I join a match where others rely on me doing my job. But I find Brewmaster a bit hard to play so far, and therefore I ask for guidance.

I've googled and found a couple of Brewmaster guides, but most of the ones that has been rated are also 1-2 years old, and I have no idea how good these are todays after patches and changes. So what I would like is for you guys out there who knows how to play this hero to point me in the right direction for a good guide. I know that what items to use often changes from game to game, but seeing as I'm still new to the game I need something to stand on. How to spec, what items are must buy, some advice on how to play him in general and so on. I would also like to get tips and tricks for Brewmaster, stuff that I should always keep in mind, small things that can mess it up for the enemies etc. Please do share your wisdom, so that I can be all that I can be as old Panda. :)

So give me what you have, share all your nastly little secrets and help a newbie out! Thanks!

[Taragis Scott]

Link me those Guides :) I can try correct some of em.

[Chara the Explorer]

First tip: DON'T play Brewmaster if you're just starting out. His ultimate requires a LOT of fidelity to be effective. You'll want to practise micromanagement on another hero first.

[Stoick The Vast]

Originally posted by moap | 1686 MMR:

Link me those Guides :) I can try correct some of em.

First we have this guide. It's up to date but I have no idea if it's good or bad: http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/guide/some-idiots-guide-to-brewmaster-8393
We have this one that has some changes for start to mid items: http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/guide/competitive-brewmaster-guide-and-strategy-1273
Browsing top of most populair here on steam:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=128977033
and
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=128738102
and
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=129109889

There are a lot of similarities between builds, but knowing what can be disposed in favor of better items is a huge benefit. Scepter and blink dagger are the items that everyone seem to suggest. But then we have Bottle, we have Drum of Endurance, Magic wand, Arcane or Phase boots and more that people seem to differ about. I would love to hear some opinions on what should and shouldn't be bought. I've also seen a difference in ability builds. Some goes for base stats early, while some don't even look at it until later levels. Anything of value is appreciated!

Originally posted by The Milkman Conspiracy:

First tip: DON'T play Brewmaster if you're just starting out. His ultimate requires a LOT of fidelity to be effective. You'll want to practise micromanagement on another hero first.

Yes, I've noticed that the ulti is a little tricky. Using Earth for stuns(and an extra clap with Scepter), Storm for Whirlwind and disabling buffs/debuffs. But for each time I use it I feel I'm getting more and more comfortable and Brewmaster feels like he could be really fun and turn a fight around entierly if I can only learn to play him correctly. But it will take some trial and error no doubt. What hero would you suggest otherwise that uses micro? I've played Sven, Spirit Breaker and Shadow Shaman before him. Tried Dragon Knight and Jakiro but didn't really fancy them.

[Drake and Josh]

Originally posted by Stoick The Vast:

Originally posted by moap | 1686 MMR:

Link me those Guides :) I can try correct some of em.

First we have this guide. It's up to date but I have no idea if it's good or bad: http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/guide/some-idiots-guide-to-brewmaster-8393
We have this one that has some changes for start to mid items: http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/guide/competitive-brewmaster-guide-and-strategy-1273
Browsing top of most populair here on steam:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=128977033
and
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=128738102
and
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=129109889

There are a lot of similarities between builds, but knowing what can be disposed in favor of better items is a huge benefit. Scepter and blink dagger are the items that everyone seem to suggest. But then we have Bottle, we have Drum of Endurance, Magic wand, Arcane or Phase boots and more that people seem to differ about. I would love to hear some opinions on what should and shouldn't be bought. I've also seen a difference in ability builds. Some goes for base stats early, while some don't even look at it until later levels. Anything of value is appreciated!

Originally posted by The Milkman Conspiracy:

First tip: DON'T play Brewmaster if you're just starting out. His ultimate requires a LOT of fidelity to be effective. You'll want to practise micromanagement on another hero first.

Yes, I've noticed that the ulti is a little tricky. Using Earth for stuns(and an extra clap with Scepter), Storm for Whirlwind and disabling buffs/debuffs. But for each time I use it I feel I'm getting more and more comfortable and Brewmaster feels like he could be really fun and turn a fight around entierly if I can only learn to play him correctly. But it will take some trial and error no doubt. What hero would you suggest otherwise that uses micro? I've played Sven, Spirit Breaker and Shadow Shaman before him. Tried Dragon Knight and Jakiro but didn't really fancy them.

Meepo is the ultimate micro hero.. Visage is also a good micro hero. What i do for brewmaster is i set control groups to 1 2 3 4 (1 is brew 2-4 is spirits). Then when i need to use a spell i just tab through. Since fire has no spells, brew really isn't much micro. For the most part, just stun on cooldown with Earth spirit.

[Leah]

visage is harder than meepo because the familiars control completely different than visage. whereas meepo is 80% correct hotkeys and groupbuilding.

[Drax Vyzenithmx]

Sm Ganker?

[Stoick The Vast]

Isn't Meepo harder than Brewmaster on the micro-part? Seeing as The Milkman Conspiracy recommended to learn micro on another hero, I thought those guys were harder.

I forgot to mention that in my earlier post, but this is the guide I've actually followed, what are your thoughts on that one in comparison to others? http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/guide/some-idiots-guide-to-brewmaster-8393

Just played a game against bots and it went pretty nice. Getting more and more hang on the spirits.

[Chara the Explorer]

Originally posted by Stoick The Vast:

Originally posted by The Milkman Conspiracy:

First tip: DON'T play Brewmaster if you're just starting out. His ultimate requires a LOT of fidelity to be effective. You'll want to practise micromanagement on another hero first.

Yes, I've noticed that the ulti is a little tricky. Using Earth for stuns(and an extra clap with Scepter), Storm for Whirlwind and disabling buffs/debuffs. But for each time I use it I feel I'm getting more and more comfortable and Brewmaster feels like he could be really fun and turn a fight around entierly if I can only learn to play him correctly. But it will take some trial and error no doubt. What hero would you suggest otherwise that uses micro? I've played Sven, Spirit Breaker and Shadow Shaman before him. Tried Dragon Knight and Jakiro but didn't really fancy them.

Um, last I checked none of those heroes required micromanagement, which is when you're trying to control multiple units and their abilities at once.

Warlocks's a good starter since his ultimate summons a golem (or four), but they don't have any active abilites other than "point and we'll punch" so all you have to do is make sure they're focussing the right targets and move them around when they can't see anything to punch.

Illusion heroes like Phantom Lancer may also be good since the illusions are more available, they also are only able to autoattack and it doesn't really matter if the illusion die too much.

Alternatively you can just buy a Helm of the Dominator or a Necronomicon on pretty much any hero it's viable on, and start either converting jungle creeps or summoning imps to practice controlling.

Basically you want to focus on first controlling minions and illusions that don't get more complicated than "point and say kill" before moving onto more complicated things.

[Chara the Explorer]

Originally posted by Stoick The Vast:

Isn't Meepo harder than Brewmaster on the micro-part? Seeing as The Milkman Conspiracy recommended to learn micro on another hero, I thought those guys were harder.

Frankly I'm shocked anyone would recommend Meepo for a beginner. Not only do you have to micro up to five heroes with their own abilities, if ONE dies they all die, unlike other micro heroes where at worst the illusions will go poof or your minions will feed the enemy a little.
Trust me, don't start out with him.

[Stoick The Vast]

Originally posted by The Milkman Conspiracy:

Um, last I checked none of those heroes required micromanagement, which is when you're trying to control multiple units and their abilities at once.

I see now that my answer was easy to misunderstand. What I meant was not that they used any micromanaging, but just wanted to point in that I had tried a couple of other heroes that I feel some what comfortable with. It was my way to say that I had at least tried a couple of heroes in general. :)

Originally posted by The Milkman Conspiracy:

Basically you want to focus on first controlling minions and illusions that don't get more complicated than "point and say kill" before moving onto more complicated things.

I can take a look at those mentioned heroes. I will still try Brewmaster some more, but it's great to have some other heroes to train micromanaging with. Thank you for that!

Originally posted by The Milkman Conspiracy:

Frankly I'm shocked anyone would recommend Meepo for a beginner.
Trust me, don't start out with him.

I trust you on this matter!

[Stoick The Vast]

Originally posted by Drake and Josh:

Meepo is the ultimate micro hero.. Visage is also a good micro hero. What i do for brewmaster is i set control groups to 1 2 3 4 (1 is brew 2-4 is spirits). Then when i need to use a spell i just tab through. Since fire has no spells, brew really isn't much micro. For the most part, just stun on cooldown with Earth spirit.

These set control groups, how do you create them? If I understood you correctly, you have so that as soon as you pop your ulti you can toggle between the spirits using only 2, 3 and 4? That would be really neat, as of now I'm clicking on them and that just wastes time.

[Drax Vyzenithmx]

Lolz~
Fix this problem 1stly
Try copy the tour player hotkey..
The controller with Inv, but i;m user legacy
Good chance to pawn INT and AGI on Lv 6 with standard grab level and item..
Ursa oso hard to handle this hero..
Scepter is normaly, that is your nesecery item..
I donthink about another build, what i know..
Useless

Skill 1, 3, 1, 2, 1, 4?