Human Hero Guide

Castle Defender



Hero Description:



Stat Distributions:



Pros:
-Insanely powerful tanking machine which gets stronger as game progresses.
-Equipped with an array of highly effective support skills.
-Active skills make decent creep farming skills.
-Highly effective against physical damage based heroes.

Cons:
-Extremely low DPS, especially on the physical side.
-Lacks proficiency in hero killing.
-Slow speed and short ranged spells makes him incapable of effective ambushes.
-Relatively small mana pool compared to spell mana costs.

Skills:

Power Defense



Power Defense is highly variable. It has a relative small chance of activation, but when activated it can block all damage from a damage instance. This may not prove to be of much use at earlier game stages, but as the game progresses on, when heroes have increasingly high damage both on spells and physical attacks, this skill will work wonders. Imagine a Hell's Blast from a Level 4 Soulreaper's Loop triggering this skill, and that totals up to 3600 damage blocked at an instance. Pretty scary, right? A highly recommended secondary skill after learning Seal of Reflection.

Seal of Reflection



Seal of Reflection is an exceptionally powerful defensive support skill. It increases the armor of nearby allies and causes enemies that attack them to have returned damage. This not only makes the whole team less vulnerable to physical attacks, its damage return effect is also highly useful at harrassing, especially against heroes who rely primarily on their physical attacks to deal damage. An essential skill for any build of the Castle Defender.

Lesser Power: Pain Sharing



Pain Sharing is arguably the most effective non-ultimate damaging spell in the whole game. With a damage of 875 at Level 6, there is no other non-ultimate damaging skill that can even come close to compare with it. Plus, with the additional 1.8 second area stunning effect, this skill even works well with ganks and escaping heroes. The only downsides of this skill are the intensive mana cost and the massive life penalty the Castle Defender receives upon casting this skill.

Ultimate: Skin of Steel



Sometimes the most simple skills are the one which are the most effective. The Skin of Steel gives the Castle Defender a significant boost to hit points and armor. It enables the Castle Defender to cast Pain Sharing more frequently with his massive life pool, and when this skill is combined with Seal of Reflection and Power Defense it literally turns the Castle Defender into an ultimate tanking machine. Although Power Defense, Seal of Reflection and Pain Sharing do not complement greatly with each other, they all make excellent synergies with Skin of Steel, and hence this skill is most definitely a must-learn for the Castle Defender.

Human Hero Guide

Master Ranger



Hero Description:



Stat Distributions:



Pros:
-Powerful DPS dealer, and becomes amazingly effective from mid game stages onwards.
-Excellent synergy of skills, can be used concurrently to do a single powerful combo.
-Exceptional hero killer.
-Highly capable in stealth attacks.

Cons:
-Small life pool, highly vulnerable to magical attacks and somewhat vulnerable to physical attacks.
-Small mana pool which is insufficient to sustain the usage of all skills.
-Has no ally supporting spells, whether offensive or defensive.
-Inefficient escaping skill, Camouflage gives a move speed penalty.

Skills:

Camouflage



Strike out from nowhere. The Camouflage skill gives the hero invisibility and bonus backstab damage on the first attack, at te price of mana and reduced movement speed. Although an invisibility skill, it is not an effective escaping skill, due to the movespeed penalty. However, when used in ambushing, its massive backstab damage and invisibility are priceless as it catches a hero unawares, giving an extensive first-hit advantage. Other than those, it also has a long duration, allowing the player to plan the ambush in advance. An essential skill for the Master Ranger.

Volley



Volley is a highly variable nuking spell, but is easy to use. It is virtually useless in long ranges, but when used at point blank range, it can deal the x2 times the damage of a normal nuking skill, which can be devastating. Moreover, Camouflage allows the Master Ranger to get close enough to her victim for a deadly point blank shot, provided that the ambush is planned beforehand. A powerful skill to have, especially against melee heroes.

Lesser Power: Marksman Mastery



Marksman Mastery has a unique mechanism. It gives a powerful bonus damage to the Master Ranger's attacks, provided she remains immobile for 3 seconds consecutively. Although it looks like a standard damage boosting skill at first glance, when coupled with Camouflage's bonus backstab damage, it can deal major damage to an unsuspecting enemy in a single shot, gaining control of the battle easily. An effective secondary skill to have with Camouflage as the primary skill.

Ultimate: Spirit Arrow



The signature skill of the Master Ranger. A channeling skill that charges a magically enhanced arrow at full blast, then releasing it at the target enemy. This is the ultimate finishing skill to finish off dying or escaping heroes, and it can even be used concurrently with Camouflage to ensure her safety by staying invisible during the channeling process. However, regardless with or without Camouflage, the fact remains that she is vulnerable to attacks and unable to retaliate when channeling, and hence this skill must be used if and only if there are no potential threats present nearby.

Human Hero Guide

Sacred Swordsman



Hero Description:



Stat Distributions:



Pros:
-Astonishingly effective stun and slow support skills.
-Decent DPS dealing hero.
-Short learning curve, newbie friendly.
-Becomes more effective as game progresses.
-Efficient at both farming and hero killing.

Cons:
-Low damage absorbing capability compared to other Strength based heroes.
-Small mana pool but skills have relatively high mana consumption.
-Unable to provide defensive support.
-Skills have short range, making it difficult to do ambushes.

Skills:

Shield Bash



One of the best stunning skills ever. Despite its melee casting range and mediocre damage, Shield Bash has an incredibly long stunning effect compared to other stunning skills, and with a 10 second cooldown, it can almost render an enemy at close quarters motionless indefinitely. An exceptional supporting skill both for solo and team assaults. The only downfall is that the hero does not have the mana necessary to cast this skill repeatedly at earlier game stages.

Combo Strike



Combo Strike gives the hero rapid attacks in 3-strike intervals. Although this does not seem to be an effective skill at first, its effect becomes more and more pronounced as the hero's damage increases. This skill reaches its peak of effectivenesss at mid-late game, when it significantly amplifies the effect of each damage point the hero has on him. However, as the hero gains more base attack speed at late game, this skill's effects becomes less powerful in comparison. A great secondary skill to have after learning Shield Bash.

Lesser Power: Earthbreaker



The name says it all. Earthbreaker is an instant skill, which causes the earth at a short distance in front of the hero to explode, damaging and slowing enemy units. Apart from the intense slowing effect, this skill does a TON of damage. One of the most effective damage/support skills one can ask for. This skill is particularly useful as a finishing blow which combined with the Shield Bash, which virtually grants the opponent no escape as he vainly tries to maneuver his way out of combat. However, this skill is highly mana intensive and has quite a long cooldown time, and hence should be used only when necessary.

Ultimate: Imploding Shield



A deadly counter physical attacking ability, the Imploding Shield works best when the hero is surrounded by large amounts of enemy creeps, which can be eradicated easily by the shockwaves generated by the ability, making it a highly effective creep killing and pushing skill. This skill is also particularly useful when fighting against opponent heroes with high attack speed, provided the hero has the damage absorbing capability to cope with it. Although a decent combat support ability, the Imploding Shield does not synergise greatly with the hero's other skills, as it becomes useless when the opponent decides to stop fighting and escape.

Human Hero Guide

Elder Wizard



Hero Description:



Stat Distributions:



Pros:
-Highly damaging magic skills with relatively fast cooldown times.
-Effective at farming creeps and harressing enemy heroes.
-Decent supporting skills.
-Massive mana pool for mana demanding spells.

Cons:
-Highly vulnerable against both physical and magical attacks.
-Highly incapable of commencing stealth attacks.
-Effectiveness decreases as game progresses.

Skills:

Fireball



Fireball is the basic nuking spell of the Elder Wizard. Its damage is somewhat below average compared to most nuking spells, but it has a nice 2 second stun effect, which gives the Elder Wizard a fair amount of offensive support capability. Moreover, the stun and damage effects have an area of effect of 300, which means it can be used to farm creeps, counter ganks, support allies, making Fireball one of the most versatille spells available. Definitely a must-have skill for the Elder Wizard.

Fire Orbs



Fire Orbs is a damage enhancing spell which adds fire damage to your attacks, and that's it. It seems to be quite a mundane skill compared to the other skills of the Elder Wizard, and does not complement greatly with them either. However, it has an extremely low mana cost to damage ratio, which makes it a great harrassing/farming skill at early game. Moreover, it is one of the few spells in game which can actually affect buildings, making it also act as an effective pushing skill. Learning this skill is optional, but it is good to have it at moderately high levels in early game.

Lesser Power: Blaze Armor



Blaze Armor is the signature skill of the Elder Wizard. It greatly increases the armor of a target allied unit, and makes nearby enemy units burn at take duration damage. With an effective area of 350, it is one of the best possible pushing and harressing skills in the game. Combined with Fireball and Eternal Fire, it can deal a ton of damage to an attacking hero, or even rout a full-scale assault. Furthermore, the massive armor bonus it gives also makes it a highly effective defensive support skill. An essential skill for the Elder Wizard.

Ultimate: Eternal Fire



Eternal Fire is the strongest DPS skill in the Elder Wizard's array of spells. At early-mid game stages, it is capable to take away a major portion of hit points even from a Strength based attacker. The additional 20% slow effect of the skill can be also useful against escaping heroes. Moreover, the DPS affects an area around the target enemy, which makes it capable of killing multiple units. It is an excellent spell to have, if your mana pool permits you to use it.