Axe, the art of being over powered.

Trust me, it's way too easy.

Introduction

Welcome to the Dastral Rei's guide to playing Axe. I am making this guide because Axe is one of my favorite heroes.[i.gyazo.com] This guide will teach you how to barely use your brain. We will go through the motions of being completely broken. By the end of this guide you will officially be able to play the easiest hero in all of Dota 2. Here are a few things you'll need before you get started...

• An IQ of 50 and above.
  
• A "r" or "4" key.
  
• The blessing our mighty lord, RNGesus.
  
• A halfway functioning pair of eyes.
  
• At least ten minutes of Dota 2 experience.
  
• This video for reference.
  

Who is Axe?

Mogul Khan is the lore name for Axe. Axe is a glorious warrior for the Red Mist Army. In the beginning of his seven year military campaign, the Campaign of the Thousand Tarns, he was a grunt (front linesmen or infantry soldier). In every battle fought Axe showed his strength and rose through the ranks. Axe was the ultimate warrior. Through all the battles his comrades dwindled. After one glorious battle Axe declared himself the new Red Mist General. Because of becoming general he took the title 'Axe.' That is when Axe realized that there were no troops but him. Many of his comrades had fallen to his own blade. But Axe is fine with a one man army, that's the way he likes it. [hydra-media.cursecdn.com]

Axe's stats, roles, and game stages.

Axe's Roles:

Axe is a melee strength early/mid game carry. Axe can play multiple roles. Axe can be a disabler, jungler, durable, and initiator. First, Axe can be a disabler and initiator because of his first skill "Berserker's Call." Berserker's Call is an AoE (Area of Effect) self-cast spell that forces all enemies in an area to attack him. Unlike many disable spells, Axe can target multiple heroes. Axe can be a useful disabler if he uses Blink Dagger on an enemy hero and uses Berserker's Call, because it catches heroes out of positon and can help land other spells or skill shots.

Axe can also be durable and a jungler because of his passive "Counter Helix" and because of his base health regeneration of four health points per second. Counter Helix is a spell that has a twenty percent chance (PRD) for Axe to "spin" in a small area around him and do massive damage. Therefore, low health jungle creeps die very easily to Axe's Counter Helix. He can also be durable because melee heroes will take large amounts of damage when attempting to hit Axe.

Axe's stats:

You can tell a lot about a hero from their stats. Axe is a very good hero stat wise. He has a strength gain of 2.5 and has a base strength of 25. That means he has about six hundred twenty five health at the start of the game. That is fairly high for a hero. Because of this you will be able to harass and receive harassment. His strength gain is average for a strength carry. Therefore, he will have more strength/health than most other heroes during the mid and late game. At level twenty five Axe will have 2145 base health.

Next, Axe has a fairly high agility gain for a strength carry. He has an agility gain of 2.2 and has twenty base agility. By level twenty five Axe have a base attack time of 1.12 attacks per second. That also means Axe will have a decent amount of armor. At level twenty five he will have twelve armor. That is about forty two percent base physical resistance. This means Axe does not care about 2/5 of all enemies right clicks. In a late game situation, a hero who does 200 damage will only do 120 damage because of Axe's base armor.

Lastly, Axe has a very low intelligence gain. He only has a 1.6 intelligence gain with a base of 18 intelligence. Axe starts with only two hundred thirty four mana. That is about three level one Berserker's Calls. Therefore, Axe is going to need heroes who provide mana to him or items that give him mana. Because Axe's spells on average only increase their mana cost by 30% he doesn't have as many mana problems late game than he does early game.

Early Game: One to Nineteen Minutes

Axe is one of the best early game heroes in all of Dota 2. Axe is very capable of getting a kill with two levels, one level being in Counter Helix, one level being in Berserker's Call, and a full or mostly full creep wave. This is because Axe's Counter Helix is a PRD (Pseudo-random distribution). That means the percentage chance for Counter Helix to proc builds up every time it doesn't proc. The first time percentage chance for Counter Helix to proc is 5%. Every time Counter Helix doesn't proc it increases 5%. If Counter Helix doesn't proc the first time it will have a 10% chance to proc. On the third time it doesn't proc it has a 15% chance. When Counter Helix procs it is reset back to it's original 5%. Therefore, the 20% is an average of the percent chance of various hits, not just one hit. This is why Phantom Assassin has a much higher chance to land a critical strike the more she attacks a hero than compared to the chance with one hit. Therefore when Axe Berserker's Calls a creep wave he will have a very high chance to Counter Helix because of all the chances he won't spin from the creeps hits. Here is an example of how Axe's Counter Helix increases in chance with PRD.

In this video Axe Counter Helixed many times because of PRD. Since he was getting hit so many times but wasn't procing Counter Helix, Axe at some points had proc chances that where about 50%. Because of this effect Axe can get many kills before he even reaches level six.

Creep Cutting:

There is also another strategy many Axes attempt, but most who try this strategy fail. It's called creep cutting. It is when an Axe player goes behind someones tier one tower into the enemies safe lane and tank all the creeps or pulls the creeps into the small camp (recommended). When successfully executed not only denies the enemy safelaners gold but also farm. I would only recommend trying this strategy if you are going up against squishy melee carries and if you have ranged disablers like Crystal Maiden, Lion, Lina,Vengeful Spirit, and sometimes Earthshaker (melee exception). To effectively cut creeps you must have the right mechanics. To figure out where the creeps are located in the enemies safe lane, just look at your own lane and see where they are located in your lane. When your creeps are at your tier one leave the jungle into the lane and pull the creeps into the small camp for extra farm or tank the wave. At this point the enemy team will notice you are doing this. When the enemies try to attack you, your ranged disabler will defend you. If you don't pull the enemy creeps into the small camp then return into the forest for safety when the creeps are dead. Repeat this process til the enemies tier one tower is destroyed.

Mid Game: Twenty to Thirty Nine Minutes

Axe progresses very well in to the mid game. By this time Axe's ultimate "Culling Blade" has hit it's max. Therefore you're at your most efficient kill potential. By now you have kill stolen enough kills with your ultimate to get your account muted or receive six low priority games. Axe's Counter Helix and Berserker's Call are both still effective, but start to drop off. You're ultimate comes to the forefront of your kills. In the mid game Axe should be punishing anybody who is out of position. During the mid game especially Axe should be shutting down the agility carries to ruin their late game.

Late Game: Forty Minutes+

Late game Axe turns into the utility hero of the team. Berserker's Call will be your most used spell. By now everyone has at least two thousand health and your four hundred damage Culling Blade starts becoming useless in comparison. Now Berserker's Call can cause more damage by giving an opportunity for your hard carries to attack whatever heroes are attacking Axe. It can also set up a big ultimate, or putting the enemies damage back on themselves with a Blade Mail. Along with being a disabler you can also push late game by tanking the whole wave for Counter Helix procs.

Skill Build

Berserker's Call
Axe's first spell is Berserker's Call. This spell is a self targeted disable that makes all nearby enemies attack Axe. During the duration of the disable, Axe gains forty armor. Berserker's Call gives Axe an extra 70% physical resistance. Since Berserker's Call makes enemy heroes attack Axe that means that Axe can pull heroes out of invisibility. For example, if you think you know where a Riki, Clinkz, or Bounty Hunter are you can Berserker's Call to take them out of invisibility. This spell has many uses. Early game Berserker's Call gives you a higher chance to Counter Helix to get a kill. Late game it can be used to lock down a hero so your hard carry can hit them, or it can be used to set up a big ultimate. Berserker's Call has very good synergy with Freezing Field (Crystal Maiden's ultimate). This is because both heroes can blink on bunched up enemies and and Axe can make sure all the heroes in an area take the same amount of burst damage. At the end of the Freezing Field, Axe can pick off any surviving enemies with a Culling Blade.

Battle Hunger
Axe's second spell "Battle Hunger" is your worst spell. Battle Hunger is a slow and damage over time spell. It is only effective mid game for chases or getting a kill on someone who is getting away and has very low health. It can be good because it can stack multiple Battle Hungers level three and four. But it can also be used to catch up to someone to land a Berserker's Call. Do not level this spell before your ultimate or you minus well be throwing levels away. Do keep in mind this is the only one of Axe's spells that doesn't go through Black King Bar. Battle Hunger is dispelled if the hero affected by Battle Hunger kills a creep. So be sure not to use Battle Hunger on someone who is last hitting. Some people may use Battle Hunger in lane to harass, but in higher levels/MMR people know they just have to kill a creep.

Counter Helix
Counter Helix is Axe's passive. It has a twenty percent (PRD) chance to proc. When it does, Axe spins in a small radius and does damage. This spell has really good synergy with creeps. That's because when there are a lot of creeps, Axe spins a lot. If Axe traps an enemy with Beserker's Call in a creep wave there a going to be many spins. Sometimes when Berserker's Call, creeps, Counter Helix, and an enemy hero all meet, it is certain death for that enemy. Counter Helix is an amazing jungling spell because it does a lot of damage in an area for a high chance. Counter Helix is not proced by spells that indirectly affect Axe. For Example, Death Ward, Split Shot, Moon Glaive, and Flak Cannon do not proc Counter Helix.

Culling Blade
Axe's ultimate is "Culling Blade." This spell is normally the final blow to enemies. Culling Blade does threshold damage. That means Culling blade will do extra damage if it is the final blow. If you miss a Culling Blade it will do a significantly less damage. Culling Blade can go through Dazzle's Shallow Grave and Abaddon's Borrowed Time. If a hero does not die from the threshold damage they will take a magic burst damage. When killed with the threshold you don't take magical or physical because the hero is dying from the threshold. In a way Culling Blade is pure damage if it kills someone but magical if it doesn't. If you kill someone with Culling Blade Axe will gain a huge movement and attack speed bonus. Culling Blade is typically used at the end of a Beserker's Call to do the final blow after all the damage taken from the Beserker's Call and Counter Helix combo. For many players Culling Blade is a hard spell to land. There is an easy way to tell when to Culling Blade. Every hero has a health bar above their character model. Each bar represents two hundred fifty health. Therefore for a level one Culling Blade, if an enemy has less than one bar of health, you can land a culling blade.

Item Build

Starting Items
Stout Shield costs two hundred gold and gives you a small amount of block. This item will be very useful against supports because they do a small amount of right click damage. This is also is useful when used for when you creep aggro (making creeps attack you by attacking a hero). Make sure you keep this item because you are going to build it into a Vanguard.

Axe will only need one set of Tangos for consumable health. This is because he starts off with four health per second regeneration and Axe builds a fast Tranquil Boots. Tangos should not be overlooked because it can help him early game with harassment. Tangos also can be very useful when creep cutting.

Ring of Protection will be built into Tranquil Boots. Axe buys Ring of Protection first because it gives him extra armor to deal with creeps and harassment, but Axe also buys this first so he can build Tranquil Boots at the side shop.


Early Game
Tranquil Boots are perfect for Axe. They give him enough movement speed to catch up to enemies. It also gives him plenty of regen to handle harass or the jungle. With these boots you should not be going back to base a lot. They also give decent early game armor. These boots are essential until Axe gets a Heart of Tarrasque.

Vanguard gives Axe enough block to have him not worry about creeps. The block damage is essential to how Axe gets kills. Axe also gains an extra two hundred fifty health. Since Axe can get kills early game with just Berserker's Call and Counter Helix, he will want to rush this item before Blink Dagger. That is because, Axe will be able to guarantee himself a kill without having to worry about dying. Late game this item can be sold for other tank items like Heart of Tarrasque.

Blink Dagger is Axe's most important item. It grants Axe the opportunity to catch someone by surprise by blinking and Berserker's Calling. If you are doing well, and you have a Vanguard, you should have this item by twelve to nineteen minutes.

Mid Game
Blade Mail is situational on Axe. It can deal a lot of damage to high damage carries. You should buy a Blade Mail for sure if there are any of these heroes: Sniper, Drow Ranger, Viper, Sven, Phantom Assassin, and Riki. When you Berserker's Call, turn on your Blade Mail to make them take the damage they are dealing to you. Therefore this forces hard carries damage against themselves. This can also be used for tankyness if Axe is getting focused.

Pipe of Insight is another situational item. Pipe should only be bought if there is massive magic damage hero that is limiting Axe's kill potential. You may want to buy a Pipe of Insight if there are any of these heroes: Skywrath Mage, Ogre Magi, Leshrac, Invoker, and Pugna. By buying a Pipe of Insight it gives Axe extra health regen and magic resistance. When activated, Pipe of Insight will give a four hundred magical damage shield. Pipe of Insight will also give Axe a bonus thirty percent magic resistance increase.

Heart of Tarrasque is essential on Axe. Heart of Tarrasque gives Axe massive health regen and the ability to tank creeps and towers without disabling the regen. Therefore, taking over both the slots of the Vangaurd and Tranquil Boots. Along with all the health Axe will gain, he will also receive forty extra damage. This item can also be postponed to buy an Aghanim's Scepter if Axe is doing very well to increase his kill potential.

Late Game
Aghanim's Scepter on Axe increases the threshold damage and lowers the cool down for missing the threshold to six seconds. Since this item greatly increases the amount of damage your ultimate does it is essential to Axes killing potential. Aghanim's Scepter also punishes players less for missing a Culling Blade.

Boots of Travel on are a very nice luxury item. Since Axe already has a Heart of Tarrasque his Tranquil Boots no longer serve a purpose. With these boots Axe can become a global presence. He can be places for ganks or pushes. Boots of Travel also grant Axe enough speed to retreat or initiate any fight.

Assault Cuirass is great on Axe. With is item you become much tankier. You also increase your damage output with the extra attack speed and armor. With the attack speed bonus Axe can land more hits during a Berserker's Call. Assault Cuirass also lowers enemies armor. Because of this Axe's Counter Helix will do more damage. Assault Cuirass will also help with pushing because it buffs Axe's creeps and weakens the enemies creeps.

Friends and Foes

Friends

Crystal Maiden is Axe's greatest ally. They have great synergy in almost all aspects. During the early game she can disable enemies with her Frostbite to land a guaranteed Berserker's Call kill. Her Arcane Aura helps Axe with his early game mana problems. She also can help Axe with chases with her Crystal Nova and Battle Hunger combo. Later in the game, Crystal Maiden's ultimate Freezing Field can grant Axe some guaranteed Culling Blade Kills.

Lion is Axe's right hand man. He should always be there disable or burst an enemy at Axe's command. Lion acts like a Crystal Maiden but does not provide mana to him. But since Lion can steal mana, he will always have mana for a disable when Axe may not. Early game Lion can provide two disables to secure easy kills. Later in the game, when Lion has an Aghinam's Scepter, Axe can Berserker's Call multiple enemies and Lion can use Finger of Death to all the heroes stuck in the Berserker's Call to help set Axe up for multiple easy Culling Blades.

Shadow Shaman is one of the best disablers in the game. Axe thrives with disables. Shackle, Berserker's Call, and Hex add up to an 11.7 second disable. This is more than enough time for Axe to claim a kill. Shadow Shaman is the pushing option to lion. Later in the game Shadow Shaman and Axe break off from each other and do other things. That is why he is the second choice to Lion.

Foes

Outworld Devourer shuts down Axe. Astral Imprisonment ruins Axe's mana pool. Without any mana, Axe can not get any kills. Outworld Devourer also does pure damage. That makes all of Axe's physical or magic resistance items useless. And lastly, Outworld Devourers ultimate "Sanity's Eclipse" does massive damage to Axe because he has very low intelligence. The only way to counter Outworld Devourer is silences and disables.

Viper is amazing against Axe. One of the main reasons Viper is so good against Axe is because he can easily cancel Axe's Blink Dagger. Since Axe can't get away from Viper, it just lets Viper pound down on him. Because of Nethertoxin, Axe can easily die to Viper. The only way to counter a Viper with Axe is to buy Blade Mail.


Lion is good against Axe for the same reason he is good with him. Lion is full of disables. He can make sure that Axe can never have an effective Berserker's Call. During the laning stages it's very easy for Lion to steal the mana of Axe. The best way to counter a Lion is a hero with a silence or disable.

Bibliography

A Tribute to Axe. Perf. Jimbendoto. Youtube, 2015. Youtube.

Axe's Stat Gain. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 10 July 2015.

R-Conqueror. Axe's Skill Build. Digital image. Dota Fire. MOBAFire Network, 16 May 2013. Web. 10 July 2015.

John, John St. Axe's Sayings. Valve Co., n.d. MP3.

Axe. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 10 July 2015.

Axe - Berserker's Call. Perf. Guides-dota.ru. Youtube, 2014. Youtube.

Axe - Counter Helix.wmv. Perf. Dota2skills. Youtube, 2013. Youtube.

Dota 2 Moments - Axe Is a Man. Perf. DoubleClickDota2. Youtube, 2013. Youtube.

Berserker's Call. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Battle Hunger. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Axe - Battle Hunger. Perf. Guides-dota.ru. Youtube, 2014. Youtube.

Counter Helix. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Culling Blade. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

The True Dunkmaster. Perf. Jimbendoto. Youtube, 2014. Youtube.

Stout Shield. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Tango. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Ring of Protection. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Tranquil Boots. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Vanguard. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Ramos, Christian. Axe - Mogul Khan. Digital image. Deviant Art. Deviant Art, 2012. Web. 11 July 2015.

Blink Dagger. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Blade Mail. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Pipe of Insight. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Heart of Tarrasque. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Aghanim's Scepter. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Boots of Travel. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Assault Cuirass. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 22 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Crystal Maiden. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 29 June 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Lion. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 4 July 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Shadow Shaman. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 7 July 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Outworld Devourer. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 29 June 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

Viper. Digital image. Dota 2 Wiki. Curse Inc., 30 May 2015. Web. 11 July 2015.

[PARADOX]

why not constantly using number (sometimes you use "245" other time you use "two hundred forty five")

[Mark The Dog Killer]

Lol

[Egg]

the beginning is prob the truest thing i have ever read in my whole life

[Separated from other Sigmas]

haha m8 very gut i laughed )))))))))))) it says you ned 10 min doto 2 expercience and using r because ax is very ez hero lal :OO ))))))

[76561198128806213]

haha

[Agu]

Started out funny but turned out to be meh...