Graddus' Guide to Pudge

In this guide i'm gonna teach you the basic and advanced tactics of my most succesful and favorite hero. (I like heroes with hooks)
I will also provide an item and skill build, which can be used in-game. Pudge's counters will also be covered.
Why do you want to play this hero? Because he is very fun and rewarding to play. If you don't like a hero that relies on skillshots, go home with your tail between your legs and play riki.

Introduction

Pudge is a melee Strength ganker who excels at taking down squishy targets in the early and mid stages of the game. His Meat Hook+Rot+Dismember combo will destroy almost anyone i early game. Your goal as Pudge is to build a level and gold advantage for your team, and to slow down the farm of the enemy carries. In the mid stages of the game you must try to force a teamfight with a well-landed hook. If you do this, and your team can kill the hooked target quickly, the enemy will be forced into a 4v5 teamfight. Since Pudge isn't a DPS (Semi-) Carry, he will fall off in the later stages of the game. This means that you have to gank as much as possible in the stages of the game in which you're effective, meaning early and mid game. All in All, Pudge is a very tanky and strong ganker that will win the game for you when played correctly.

Abilities

Meat Hook launches a hook at the target point, grabbing the first unit it collides with. The hook will then return and drag the target to Pudge, mini-stunning and dealing damage if it's an enemy. Meat Hook is your main initiation and ganking tool, since it will close the gap between you and your target. Meat Hook goes through terrain, allowing you to stand behind trees and hook someone. The Hook will grab and drag magic immune targets, but it won't damage and ministun them. It will also hit invisible units, making Meat Hook very effective to finish that low-HP Riki you just Dismembered.

Rot will be your main farming and 'pushing' tool. It deals some nice AoE damage, but the slow is where it's at. If you Hook a target, you can just walk next to them with Rot activated. Booyah! Easy First Blood. Rot will also be used after you hooked someone and want to Dismember him. Rot doesn't interrupt Dismember, which means that it allows you to chase the target if he survives Dismember. The best thing about this is that Rot HITS INVISIBLE UNITS, which means that you can take down low HP invisible targets. If you know where they are of course. One final note about Rot is that it can be used to deny yourself. This is actually very important to know, since enemies will not get experience and gold if you deny yourself.

Flesh Heap is the reason Pudge is very hard to kill in Late Game if he did well during the early game. You get up to 12% bonus Magic Resistance and a permanent bonus Strength for each kill you make, or if you are within 450 range of a friendly kill. The Magic Resistance stacks with items that give Magic Resistance, which means that Magic Damage won't deal much damage to you. (Including Rot) The best thing about Flesh Heap is the fact that you don't have to skill it to get stacks.

Dismember is your follow-up to Meat Hook. It deals a lot of damage, while disabling and revealing the target. Turning Rot on or off will NOT interrupt Dismember's channeling, which makes escaping from a Pudge very hard. The best thing about Dismember is the fact that the disabling part of the skill goes through BKB. Don't be afraid to use it on that Magic Immune Enigma who is channeling Black Hole, even though Dismember won't damage him.

Skill Build

Pudge's Skill Build is pretty straightforward. You'll take Rot at level one in order to lasthit and harass.
At level 2,3,5 and 7 you'll take Meat Hook to increase the Hook's damage and most important, it's range. Maxing Meat Hook ASAP is a nobrainer. After that you'll max Rot at level 9 in order to improve it's damage. At levels 10, 12, 13 and 14 you'll take Flesh Heap to take advantage of the stacks you earned in the meantime. At level 6, 11 and 16 you'll take your amazing ultimate, Dismember, in order to improve your ganking capabilities.

Item Build

Starting Items



There are two sets of starting items for Pudge, depending on your playstyle.
Set 1 is a Tango, Stout Shield and Gauntlet of Strength. You'll get this set if you're gonna lane against a ranged DPS'er like Viper or Drow Ranger. If not, get a Tango, 2 Gauntlets of Strength and 3 Branches.

Early Game

First, ask your Supports if they are gonna build an Urn of Shadows. If not, build one with your Gauntlet(s) of Strength. Buy a Bottle as soon as possible, since it provides health and mana regen, and Rune control. Buy Boots of Speed after you have your Bottle, since Pudge's base movement speed is very low. After you have your Boots, you can build your Urn of Shadows if you decide to get one.

Core Items

And then the debate begins. Which Boots should you get? Arcane Boots, Phase Boots and Power Threads are all legit options. Get Phase Boots if chasing people is a problem, Power Threads if you need more survivability and Arcane Boots if you need more mana. After that get a Blink Dagger. A Blink Dagger improves your mobility and it also allows you to Graddusinize people (Using Blink, Dismember a target and finish him with Rot). The last Core Item, the Hood of Defiance should be build right after the Blink Dagger, since it reduces magic damage, including the selfdamage from Rot.

Luxury

After the Hood you should get an Aghanim's Scepter. An Aghanim's Scepter improves your survivability, since Dismember will heal you. You can now even dismember a creep to regenerate your Health. After the Aghanim's a Heart of Tarrasque is an excellent choice. It provides a lot of HP and HP regen, and the bonus Strength synergizes with the Aghanim's Scepter. If you still have money left, you should get a Shiva's Guard. It increases your Mana Pool, Armor and it also provides a nice teamfight AoE.

Situational Items

A Force Staff could be picked up instead of, or even in addition to, a Blink Dagger. Do so if you want mana regen instead of mobility. Or if your teammates rely on positioning. If you have trouble hooking people, a Shadow Blade could be picked up to solve that. A Pipe of Insight is also a logical choice, since it builds from the Hood of Defiance. Do so if your teammates don't wanna get it (shame on them). The last situational item for Pudge is a BKB, since it allows you to channel Dismember in peace. ALWAYS GET A BKB IN HIGH TIER!!!

Gameplay

Early Game
One you checked or took the rune, go back to the midlane and start farming. Lasthitting is a top priority, since you need to have Boots of Speed, A Bottle, a TP Scroll and a Smoke of Deceit when you become level 7. Becoming Level 7 is a top priority, since you will have Dismember, Rot and a level 4 Meat Hook. At level 7 you need to gank as much as humanly possible. Buy TP's and Smoke to avoid enemy wards. TP to a lane that is pushed by the enemy while smoked. Once there, go into the jungle adjacent to the lane and wait for the perfect opportunity to land a hook. Landing your hook is very important, because the enemy will know that you're near when you miss. Landing a hook when your enemy knows you!re near is very difficult. If you landed the Hook, you and your teammates can get an easy kill. If you missed, you have to decide if you want to stay or just TP to another lane. As you may know, you need to gank and kill as many enemies as possible during the Early Game.

Mid Game
During the mid game, you must try to force teamfights with a well-landed hook. The enemy will haveto react to save their teammate, starting a teamfight, or they will be in a 4v5 fight. After that, you should try to Dismember an important enemy, someone with a lot of spells or a high DPS. Keep in mind that Dismember disables magic immune targets, which allows you to waste some BKB durations. When you win the teamfights, you and your team should do Rosh or push. When your team goes Rosh someone with a low-cooldown single target ability should use this on Rosh, since it wastes Rosh's spellblock. After that's done, you should Dismember Roshan, so your team can whack at him. After you used Dismember, go ahead and tank Rosh, since you'll have well over 2000 max health at this point. Please do NOT take the aegis, since a Pudge who did well is really tanky. Let the Carry of your team have the aegis instead.

Late Game
Late Game really sucks for Pudge. His Hook and Dismember don't deal much damage, everyone is grouped up, people can escape Rot easily and everyone is tanky. Pudge isn't a DPS machine, so he will not be very effective during the late game. That's why you need to end the game as soon as possible. When the Late Game arrives, you should try to hook an enemy, so your team can focus him down. Don't try to go 1v1 with a carry, unless you're sure he is squishy enough to take down.
When you're losing, and you still have your tier 3 towers, you should try to hook an enemy into your base, so your team can kill him quickly while his team can't help him. And if you're winning, for godsake, DO NOT CAMP THE ENEMY BASE. Really, people will hate you if you do this. Just end the ************* game!

Hero Matchups

Friends:
Bane's Nightmare sets up an easy Hook. Bane's Fiend's Grip is an easy hook too, but it can also be used for a dirty Fiend's Grip+Dismember combo. And finally, his Nightmare could be used for an easy first blood in combination with Rot.



Crystal Maiden can, just like Bane, set up an easy Hook with Frostbite. Her Arcane Aura increases your mana regen, which Pudge badly needs. Her Crystal Nova can also set up an easy hook, or make chasing with Rot easier. And last but not least, her Frostbite in conjunction with Rot is an easy first blood.



Dark Seer's Surge makes chasing with Rot very easy, and when his Ion Shell is applied to you, you will deal a stupid amount of damage in conjuntion with Rot. And last but not least, his Vacuum+you Rot is also a dirty move.




Omniknight + Pudge is a very old combo. Omniknight's Purification deals a stupid amount of damage to targets you're slowing with Rot. His Repel allows you to cast Dismember without being interrupted, as well as removing the selfdamage from Rot. His Degen Aura makes hooking and chasing easier, and his Guardian Angel protects you from physical harm.


Foes:
Huskar is one of the hardest counters to Pudge. During the laning fase, he will harass you down with Burning Spears. If you hook him, he will just use Inner Vitality to survive Rot's damage, and if he survives Dismember his Berserker's Blood+Burning Spears will hurt a lot. And Life Break deals 50% of your current HP in damage, which means that Huskar doesn't care about how much HP Pudge has. He will just burn you down.

Lifestealer is feared by every Pudge, and for a good reason. Lifestealer's Feast will frustate the hell out of you, since even if you hook him, you can't kill him without Dismember. If LS has a good reaction time, he can use Rage before the hook hits him, nullifying the damage and preventing your Dismember follow-up. And his Open Wounds will tear Pudge apart, since Pudge doesn't have an escape mechanism.

Outworld Devourer isn't a really dangerous counter, but he can stop your combo and evade your hook easily.
During the laning fase, he will use his rightclicks and Astral Imprisonment to frustrate the hell out of you. If he uses Astral Imprisonment a lot, you can't even cast Meat Hook with full mana, since your max Mana is too low. If you're ganking, OD can easily save himself or allies from your Hook by using
Astral Imprisonment on them. And even when your hook lands, OD will just cancel Dismember by locking you up.

Doom is a very old enemy of the Butcher. The main reason for this is his ultimate, which indeed Dooms Pudge. If he can cast Doom on you while you use Rot, you will receive a great amount of DoT. His Lvl Death? has a mini-stun, which disrupts your Dismember, and he can escape your Rot easily with Scorched Earth.

Gameplay Video

Hero Build

If you would like to use the in-game build, you can subscribe to it here:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=155642382&searchtext=graddus+pudge

Ending

I hope this guide has learned you something about my favorite Hero, Pudge. He is my most played hero and i still enjoy playing him after 4 years, and hopefully you will enjoy him just as much!

If you have suggestions or comments, feel free to post them in the comment section below. U can also add me if u want to conversate about this guide or other things.

[Don]

skyr

[Хис]

eduj

[Not Animus]

он ВООБЩЕ ПОПАЛ ХОТЬ РАЗ

[WeedRanger]

prosto pizdec suka pidoras

[ыапощшпафвшзрох]

норм

[OdonkoR]

nice

[Крысавчик]

хуйня мясо нужно травэла а потом яша!!!!

[охота крепкое]

wp

[NGO]

gj

[CherryPashka]

nice build, ty... i will try it)