The real Huskar 6.85 updated

Advanced guide to rule with Huskar.

Note

Welcome, I am 4800mmr dota player, i have played Huskar for years, and i want to share with you the way i play it.
Huskar is usually underestimated. I will try my best to change that.
This guide will be updated and modified, while searching more potential for this sacred hero.

Please, Do not hesitate to share any advice/idea, we are here to learn and to improve.
Keep in mind that there are infinite ways to play Huskar.
Please point out my grammar mistakes, my English is not perfect.

Considering recent rework : viewable here http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Huskar


SUBSCRIBABLE BUILD AT THIS LINK : http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=238189998

Credits for huskar image : angryrabbitgmod[angryrabbitgmod.deviantart.com]

For basics about huskar

go wikipedia : http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Huskar

When to pick huskar ? (captain's mod - all pick)

When you go captain's mod, you should have a plan, Huskar is not a simple counterpick.

You can pick Huskar if your opponents :
have a lot of Strength heroes.
have a lot of Magic nukers.
have not many disablers.

HUSKAR NEEDS EXP, avoid trilanes.
ON MIDDLE LANE :
Huskar will destroy/shutdown : any nuker, any melee hero.



other mid heroes to mention :


ON EASY LANE
On easy lane your goal will be to win the lane by blocking enemy from getting experience,and to get level 6 as soon as possible.
Note : Huskar should never be the main carry, if you put Huskar on easy lane you should have a farmer in your wood or a triaggressive hardlane. http://dotabuff.com/matches/511528985
Huskar will destroy :

other heroes to mention :



ON HARDLANE
On hardlane, Huskar as a different role : block enemy from getting experience, giving freefarm to your ally. He can easily annoy any hero, but you should avoid this if you face a trilane.

When NOT to pick Huskar

YOU SHOULD THINK BEFORE PICKING HUSKAR WHEN YOU SEE THOSE HEROES :
: this is THE counter to huskar, but you can still manage to win.
care about his magic shield
you will need a lot of armor items (tranquil, dominator, cuirass, blademail)
Careful this guy hits hard ! kappa
counter ONLY if he buys aghanim:

Ennemy heroes who can counter your burning spears :


BE CAREFULL ABOUT THOSE HEROES :
Hp/stats removal :
/\ /\
Pure damage :
/\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\

Physical damage to not forget :
/\ /\ /\
Others :
avoid jumping on Blademail Heroes
If you die by killing Necronomicon's creep, you will be reported.

Huskar's best friends

GOOD ALLIES WITH A HUSKAR SET UP
You want to dive tower and kill ennemies, they will help you.

Huskar's job

early game - laning phase : last hit, deny, harass, gank with rune, get level 6 as fast as you can.
mid game - pushing-ganking phase : alternate between ganking and farming, ALWAYS carry a
late game - push/fight phase : alternate between farming ganking pushing teamfight.

Huskar should not be your main carry (aka farmer).
Huskar is an initiator pusher-ganker.
Your job is to win lane, get armlet fast, get roshan fast, and get enemy rax fast (25min easy)
Also you want to kill as MANY heroes as you can.
This will give advantage to your main carry who should be afk-farming somewhere on the map.
A good technic to deal a lot of damage during teamfight is to use ultimate on a hero then instantly run away from him, so your team can finish the work, and this will give you the seconds needed to jump again on another hero. You are here to deal as most damage as you can.

early game : laning phase

When solo mid, you have 2 possibilities to dominate the lasthit/deny fight.

First one : you want to keep creeps in the river near from you
to do this, you have to control creeps, if you need to push a bit right clic on the enemy hero, so the enemy creeps will go on you, meanwhile your creeps wont take damage and will push the lane.

On this screenshot, i always stay up my river side, allowing me to lasthit easily, and as you can see i also have enough range to perform a successfull Life Break.

Second one : you want to keep enemy far away from creeps (he has to hit you before hitting creeps), its almost the same thing but all is about using manually Burning Spears so the enemy creeps wont attack you.
If you succeed to do this : you are in winning position, this is pretty good, but be careful about enemy ganks, since the mid will start complaining to his support.

example against a kunkka, controling lane in order to put him in the impossibility of hitting creeps.
This can be done also on range heroes like outworld destroyer, puck...

mid game - ganking-pushing phase

When you are level 6, you should already have killed the ennemy on your lane, time to GANK !
Be careful, a fail gank is the WORST thing that could happen.
There is nothing special about ganking, surprise ennemy, kill it, and go back to another lane.

How to gank :
Find target, Use Inner Vitality, Life Break, spam Burning Spears, escape (low hp), let him BURN
You can also do Inner Vitality after Life Break, just be sure there's no disablers.

You can solo gank the ennemy jungler, to do this you HAVE TO BUY :

Use out of ennemy vision.
Jump on ennemy hero and spam burning spears, when he's dead, use to go on another lane.
You have to do this if you think there is a risk of counter-gank (ennemy heroes missing on the map).

note : = free + 150 Damage to enemy !

To push : Just go under enemy tower and tank it using armlet toggle.
At this point, enemy should fear you, you can reach enemy rax before 25min.

Escaping/Chasing using Life Break on creeps

Huskar has only 1 spell to escape/chase : Life Breaf (aka your ultimate, aka "jump")
During teamfight (considering you have aghanim's scepter) do not hesitate to jump on creeps in order to go away from death.


On this map i show you common spots to jump over cliff.
Most of time you will do it to chase, one of the best point is the large creep on radiant side where a ward is not even needed.
This spot is also perfect to surprise radiant jungler.

Dodging spells using Life Break

While leaping, Huskar is magic immune
Meaning it is a free dispel ! All informations here : http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Dispel
You can dodge almost ANY non-instant spell

Actually you can easily dodge stuns from those heroes :

You can also dodge GLIMPSE

exemple :
Dodging Wraith King's stun.
Dodging Bane's Nightmare:


Also you should use your ult as a DISPEL against most hero and item abilities

Skill Build

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=238189998

Max Burning spear, its the key of victory.
Depending on the situation, 1 point of Inner Vitality can be taken if you have a difficult lane.
Also i dont max ult before Inner Vitality and Berserk are maxed (again situational)

Understanding Burning Spears

BURNING SPEAR DAMAGE :
1 spear level 1 = 5 damages per second = 40 damages
1 spear level 2 = 10 damages per second = 80 damages
1 spear level 3 = 15 damages per second = 120 damages
1 spear level 4 = 20 damages per second = 160 damages

3 spears level 1 = 15 damages per second = 120 damages
3 spears level 2 = 30 damages per second = 240 damages
3 spears level 3 = 45 damages per second = 360 damages
3 spears level 4 = 60 damages per second = 480 damages

That means : you gain +120dmg at each level (considering 3 burning spears)
Burning spear level 1 = 5 damages per second (+120dmg)
Burning spear level 2 = +100% damage (+120dmg)
Burning spear level 3 = +50% damage (+120dmg)
Burnung spear level 4 = +50% damage (+120dmg)

This is the reason why You should :
start harrassing ennemy at level 3, when your spear does "double" damage.
always max Burning Spears
spam Burning Spears until death when you cant survive (1v5 situation...)

Understanding Berserker's Blood

"NERF 6.85" = now you can die from magical damage when you are 1hp

Berserker's Blood level : 1/2/3/4
MAXIMUM BONUS ATTACK SPEED : 196/224/252/280
MAXIMUM BONUS RESISTANCE : 42%/56%/70%/84% (previously 56%/70%/84%/98%)

What to know :
Your attack speed will be descent with just 1 level of Berserk, you wont really need attack speed items
Level 4 Berserker's Blood = You should NEVER die from Magical Damage when low hp.
You will need ARMOR to protect yourself from physical damage.

Understanding Inner Vitality

6.83 update =
Increased base health regen bonus from 2/4/6/8 to 10.
Rescaled regen bonus when hurt from 30%/45%/60%/75% to 20%/40%/60%/80%.
THIS UPDATE MEANS = +4 hp/sec for level 1 Inner Vitality

BASE HEALTH REGEN: 10 (this means we can consider picking 1 point in Inner Vitality at level 4)
BONUS FROM ATTRIBUTE: 5% / 10% / 15% / 20% (The more Strenght, the better heal)
BONUS WHEN HURT: 20% / 40% / 60% / 80% (The less life%, the better heal)

EXPLANATION showing you how useless this spell is early game :
Bonus Heal Amount Below 40% HP: 20%/40%/60%/80% of main attribute

What happens if you max Inner Vitality first :
Huskar level 1 # 21 strength : Inner Vitality level 1 # 9 15 hp/sec = BAD
Huskar level 3 # 26 strength : Inner Vitality level 2 # 16 21 hp/sec = BAD
Huskar level 5 # 31 strength : Inner Vitality level 3 # 25 29 hp/sec = BAD
Huskar level 7 # 35 strength : Inner Vitality level 4 # 35 39 hp/sec = BAD
This is why you should never max Inner Vitality before high levels

Huskar level 4 # 28 strength : Inner Vitality level 1 # 16.7 hp/sec

putting 1 level of Inner Vitality at level 4 can be worth, BUT you should not max it against magical damage heroes (You have to choose : low healing or near 98% of magical resistance with Berserker's Blood)

Huskar level 7 # 35 strength : Inner Vitality level 2 # 25.3 hp/sec
Huskar level 8 # 38 strength : Inner Vitality level 3 # 33.6 hp/sec
Huskar level 9 # 40 strength : Inner Vitality level 4 # 43.5 hp/sec
Huskar level 10 # 43 strength : Inner Vitality level 4 # 45.1 hp/sec

Huskar level 7 # 35 strength : Inner Vitality level 1 # 13 18.3 hp/sec = BAD

Huskar level 10 # 43 strength : Inner Vitality level 1 # 16 19.9 hp/sec = BAD
Huskar level 12 # 47 strength : Inner Vitality level 2 # 26 30.5 hp/sec = BAD
Huskar level 13 # 50 strength : Inner Vitality level 3 # 37 41.1 hp/sec = GOOD
Huskar level 14 # 52 strength : Inner Vitality level 4 # 48 53.4 hp/sec = FINALLY USEFUL

Inner Vitality can not be purged. Thats why Huskar loves and


Boosts Considering Level 4 Inner Vitality :
1 level up = Boosts Inner Vitality hp/sec by 1.8
= Boosts Inner Vitality hp/sec by : 18.75 or -14.25 (-drain +item regen)
= Boosts Inner Vitality hp/sec by : 4.5
= Boosts Inner Vitality hp/sec by : 6
or = boosts Inner Vitality hp/sec by 7.5
= Boosts Inner Vitality hp/sec by : 18.75
= Boosts Inner Vitality hp/sec by : 30

Exemples :
Huskar level 14 : Inner Vitality level 4 # 48 hp/sec
_with 58 hp/sec
_with 97 hp/sec
Huskar level 25 :
_with 189 hp/sec


Inner Vitality is an insane heal : 16 seconds of +100 hp/sec undispellable
It has no interest on low primary stats heroes (most of supports)
It doesnt have a real impact before level 14
It has no interest when you are +40% hp

Starting items

Serious game:
or a RIng Of Protection
ez game :



some early regen, you want to stay on your lane and you want to WIN it

It will save your life one time, worth it.
then depending on your preferences : or or

you may upgrade those items to : or or or

ez game startup allows me to get then in about 6 minuts.

Early items

serious game : get fast you should have this item during your first kill, this item will allow you to snowball : 400hp healing + 150dmg on next gank.

another item to buy fast, your goal is to harass ennemy early game, you need speed to be efficient, and for eventual kill/escape.

Can(or should) be rushed, this is a must have. Cheap price item giving armor/regen/damage/hp, CARE ABOUT DOT spells.

TP Always have one early, this can make the difference if a gank/countergank is needed

SITUATIONAL :
if you face spell spammer like
if you want to tank creeps.

Core items - adapt to the situation

The reality is that there is NO CORE items on huskar actually. except ARMLET.
Just a lot of ways to play it.
Keep in mind that you want to adapt to the ennemy, You should only buy 100% impact items.
You have to consider every options.

AGHANIM'S SCEPTER
+10 Strength Agility Intelligence
+200 HP
+150 Mana
6.82 update : Aghanim has been boosted, very good item Luxury, it helps in teamfight.
REASONS :
1 : reduces cooldown from 12 to 4 seconds = SPAM ultimate
2 : damage upgraded from 35% to 65% of target's current HP = HUGE damage
3 : magic immunity everytime you jump ! = PERMA anti-debuff
4 : finally, it allows you to kill multiple heroes

With this on Huskar, he becomes immortal.
+40 Strength
+300 HP
1 - It boosts Inner Vitality regen by 30hp/sec
2 - +40 damage
3 - +300 hp
4 - you can INITIATE 1V5 without dying, your team will finish the work or you may do it alone !
5 - You can Spam Burning Spears without dying even when Heart regen is OFF.
This is THE lategame item you need.
You will become A FREAKING UNKILLABLE MONSTER.


Luxury
+25 Strength
+20 Damage
+5 Armor
This item is ultra late game item which requires you to have a lot of Physical damage and a BKB.
Lifesteal Keep in mind huskars heals better with Stenght and Inner Vitality than with Lifesteal.
It gives Huskar : survivability, damage, healthpoints, and faster farm with

ABOUT BOOTS : i recommend PT , i liked to use because cheap + armor + regen, in some specific cases (offlane, etc...)
Depending on your preferences :
TB = to regen between ganks if you dont have
PT = to get extra stats
PB = to not miss any last hits + faster movespeed
BT = buy it only if you have no slots left

Mid-Late items

Well if you play dota since long time, you should know that there are many ways to play some heroes, with Huskar i like to play it PUSHER/GANKER. But you still want to adapt your play to the ennemy team. So we will go directly to situational items.

Situational Items

anti fast physical damage
+ this item allows you to survive and LifeBreak again
used well, a Ghost Scepter can be awesome on Huskar.

A support should have this.
DONT PLAY HUSKAR WITHOUT ARMLET ! Adapt your items if enemy picks
This item needs some training, since a missclick can kill you.
ton of resistance, all what you need
can be good against some heroes (pudge, bloodseeker, nukers...)
Perfect item for better survivability
anti disabler
anti CHANNELING[dota2.gamepedia.com] + anti evasion EVASION[dota2.gamepedia.com]
Good item if you have it fast.
Can be a good item to initiate.
to upgrade your ghost scepter, and increase your physical resistance.
Good to push faster, since range heroes can now use VLADIMIR'S LIFESTEAL !

Others rarely used items :
if you need escape, or if you prefer it to
If you really need to be the tanky guy.
anti doom, anti legionduel, anti-disabler.
kill secure in pub

Banned items

Since 6.80 Lifesteal is not banned anymore !

buy this if you are overfed, better buy a
not really useful
your ult already gives a slow, and you dont need int stats. Trolling luxury.
This has 25% chance to override your precious lifesteal.


DONT WASTE YOUR GOLD !

Exemple of builds

recent ranked 4K5+ games :


early win build

initiator build

armor build

situational build

old games:

Jungling level 1 (not recommended)

In jungle, Huskar is ♥♥♥♥, this is only informative tip.
I DONT RECOMMEND Huskar jungle. It's dangerous, you dont get much exp/gold, meaning you may be useles in the game.

THE EASY WAY :
dont buy items, go straight to jungle medium camp and take 1 point in Berserk's blood
before 2 min, you should have a and reach your level 6 at about 8min.
Exemple of game 4K8 ranked : http://www.dotabuff.com/matches/1878228525

THE DIFFICULT WAY :
YOU HAVE TO TRAIN IT MULTIPLE TIMES IN SOLO BEFORE DOING IT ONLINE.
Common way to jungle with any range hero level 1 : you need
On Dire side, cut trees over the medium camp near the river, this way you can kill creeps and stack without being damaged (exit ranged creeps)
On Radiant side, cut trees over the medium camp cliff, this way you can kill creeps without being damaged (exit ranged creeps) (/!\ watch out this spawn is not easy to stack)

my personal way of jungling level 1 Huskar :
On Radiant side, dangerous way but faster farm (my record is 8 minutes = level 6 + armlet, maximum 10 minuts) :
starting items :
you will rush : to make a
then you can choose : ganking or farming jungle,
your farm speed will be INSANE (using armlet switch)
20minuts afk-freefarming = level13, 150 last hits, + +
how to :
Go over the cliff between big camp and medium camps, cut trees (you can cut all important trees from up. Spam Burning Spears, creeps will stay down your feet.
If trolls camp spawns at 0:00:30 put one point into Berserker's Blood first. You will need Salve to regen.
If trolls camp dont spaw at 0:00:30 put one point in Burning Spear. Trolls should spawn later (or wont spaw at all if you are lucky), you will need the salve.

real games jungling huskar :
___ http://dotabuff.com/matches/557426872 ranked 4K5
And I've been so unlucky, having to face 3 or 4 Troll camps in a row, making me loose lot of gold/exp. That's why its dangerous. But still win by becoming an unkillable initiator and by focusing ennemy hardcarry, and thanks to team as always.

Some games AP-CM

some games you can find on my dotabufff : http://www.dotabuff.com/players/15494513/matches?date=&hero=huskar&skill_bracket=&lobby_type=ranked_matchmaking&game_mode=&region=&faction=&duration=&enjoyment=any&timezone=Europe%2FBerlin

build against http://www.dotabuff.com/matches/1878228525

Discussion on some enemy heroes

You will need to be extremely careful about his ultimate ! You will need to dodge it or to DESACTIVE ARMLET Before you get hit by his ultimate, you will survive most of time thanks to your magic resistance, but ARMLET WILL KILL YOU.
You cant solo gank an enchantress earlygame, cause of her passive + heal, midgame, she should not be a problem for you.
you can shut him down earlygame before he gets pure damage, prison will be useless early game (exit gank) since you dont need mana.
This guy will annoy you earlygame, he has terrible range and he will dominate the lasthit/deny fight. During teamfight you will initiate, then an ally should be focusing on puting sniper down (like axe with a blink for example).
A good batrider will spam napalm and make Huskar turning around until death since he will loose too much time trying to turn in front of the bat.
It should be a good counter in lane, but i've never experimented it yet.

[Bricamor]

sry,but at when to pick huskar:section ON HARDLANE theres ennemy (there shuld be just enemy)

[Coco]

@Shenkiraxox, necrophos is not a counter-huskar anymore since years (6.78 Berserker's Blood rework). Just deal with heartstopper aura like any other hero.

[Shenkiraxox]

Super guide, mais tu pourrais parler de Necrophos. Bien qu'Huskar gagne facilement une lane contre lui, l'Heartstopper Aura reste dangereuse en teamfight. En tant qu'Huskar il faut burst le Necrophos très vite en teamfight sous peine de perdre tout contrôle sur la gestion de tes HP. Je parle par expérience, l'Heartstopper suffit a shutdown Huskar en teamfight. C'est pire que la plupart des DoT comme c'est du HP Removal

[kapitan nemo]

Manly guide for manly men +

[Coco]

you are welcome :) Both items are awesome on Huskar.

[Fluttershot]

I still prefer Aghanim to lifesteal, but dat guide is still awesome. Ty very much, dude.

[Not Angus]

The early slow and DoT is insanely useful

[Not Angus]

I just played an Orb game, and I pwned, on unfair bots :D

[Coco]

gotta test some orb of venom games, satanic is good as a luxury item.

[Not Angus]

I see your aguement, but I have found that that one little DoT and slow has so often secured me a kill it just isn't funny, so pair that with your spears DoT and you get a hell of a lot of DoT, then add in urn charges, e=which deal massive DoT, I commonly use urn charges on an enemy if I think I might *JUUUST* not manage to kill them, so that'll help alot, and because of it's cheap price it can help you outlane most enemies :D, and lifesteal is no longer for the weak, I have used Satanic soooo many times to win a hopless match :D