Tuskarr Guide, Tuskarr Build Items

I.Foreword

I have just played DotA for about 6months right now and am in no way a very good player. I can get that 'oh so desired #1 spot' once in a while in some games so I can say that I'm pretty decent in playing this game.

This ALT+TAB guide is my first one, and hopefully not the last. This is not meant to be the SOLID Ymir guide as most players can device something new and better for him. This guide is what has worked for me in my games using Ymir.

NOTE: This guide, will not feed you very detailed strategies. Being creative and playing the hero constantly is a part of the 'learning curve'. There are just some things that a guide CAN NOT teach you. You MUST LEARN them YOURSELF.

II. The Hero

Hailing from the Borean Tundra, Ymir is one of the wisest Tuskarr warriors. Acquainted with years of warfare experience against raiding Ice Trolls and Nerubian Spiders that beset his village during his younger years, Ymir eagerly volunteered himself into the ranks of the Sentinel to help halt the notorious rise of the Lich King. A specialist in controlling the element of ice, Ymir's prowess lies in surprising enemies with frosty magics. His arsenal not only consists of propelling Snowballs and hurling shards of solidifying ice, but also conjuring massive Snowstorms that greatly impede his enemies' battle efficiency.

A. The Stats

STR: 23 + 2.3
- Ymir's main stat. Pretty decent growth. Getting a lot of it will increase not only your HP but also your base damage and Last Skill Critical.

AGI: 23 + 2.1
- Ymir's secondary stat, as you can see, its growth is actually almost on par with his STR.

INT: 18 + 1.7
- Ymir's crappiest stat. Low starting INT coupled with low int gain = low mana pool. Don't worry, this can be countered early in the game.

B. The Skills

Click on the Skill Icons to view the skill tables from the main hero page.

ICE SHARDS
Tuskarr compresses 5 shards of ice into a ball of frozen energy that damages all enemies in comes in contact with. If the ball comes in contact with an enemy hero or reaches its maximum range the shards are released, creating a barrier that lasts for 5 seconds.

- This is your main nuke with the added "trapping" device. Use wisely and creatively.

SNOWBALL
Tuskarr and any nearby allied heroes roll in a quickly growing snowball towards the target enemy unit. Any victims caught in the snowball's path take damage and are briefly stunned; the final target takes 40 extra damage and 0.25 extra stun duration.

- This one is your initiating skill, be it in 1v1, ganks or clashes, use this to close in.

FROZEN SIGIL
Tuskarr summons a Frozen Sigil by calling upon the deepest cold of winter. The Sigil creates a snowstorm which slows all enemy units within 600 range.

- Your epic slow is a good chasing mechanism. Also good for clashes and 1v1 situations. Use with care as the CD is pretty high.

WALRUS PUNCH
Tuskarr prepares his mighty Walrus Punch; his next attack will do a critical strike and launch the victim into the air. The victim will be slowed upon landing and take damage.

- This is your killer punch. Kinda reminds me of Falcon Punch. That extra 'disable' and crit works pretty good on 1v1 situations when youre waiting for backup, low on hp and the difference of winning and losing is that couple of seconds. Guess what? The CD is great and the mana it requires is low! You can use this twice in a clash, even more if it gets drawn out.

III. Skill Build

I played Ymir a couple of times and saw that he can actually go into 2 main different builds. These builds focus on either assisting allies or going for the kill yourself. I'll explain my first skill build, and also the preferred one.

A. Killer Skill Build

1-Ice Shards
2-Snowball
3-Ice Shards
4-Snowball
5-Ice shards
6-Walrus Punch
7-Ice Shards
8-Snowball
9-Frozen Sigil
10-Snowball
11-Walrus Punch
12-Frozen Sigil
13-Frozen Sigil
14-Frozen Sigil
15-Stats
16-Walrus Punch
17-25-Stats

Justification:
Maxing your nuke first greatly increases your kill potential in every attempt that you make. 280dmg and a 5second trap isnt something to joke about. Maxing Snowball second allows you to 'roll in' and add extra damage. That's 480dmg right off the bat, headstart right? Maxing Frozen Sigil last makes sense because Ymir has a pretty decent MS of 305 and in early game, heroes are still pretty slow. Dont forget to factor in your lane partner's disable too.

B. Assist Skill Build (can still pawn)

1-Snowball
2-Frozen Sigil
3-Snowball
4-Frozen Sigil
5-Ice Shards
6-Walrus Punch
7-Snowball
8-Ice Shards
9-Snowball
10-Ice Shards
11-Walrus Punch
12-Ice Shards
13-Frozen Sigil
14-Frozen Sigil
15-Stats
16-Walrus Punch
17-25-Stats

Justification:
This build prioritizes on maxing out Snowball first, its a nuke that stuns for a short time. We also get 2 levels of Frozen Sigil because Im assuming that your going to 'roll in' with a teammate or 2 to gank and the slow + your damage + ganker's dmg will do the job. Netting kills for yourself will be pretty hard with this one, but the assist is always there.

I havent tried this build that much because I love the way the first one pawns.

IV. Item Build

Assuming you picked Ymir, your starting gold is going to be 603. This leaves you with this:

A. Starting Items

Set A

Gauntlets of Strength150 gold

Sobi Mask325 gold

Tango90 gold

This leaves you with 38 gold.

Justification:
Getting Sobi Mask first solves your early mana problems, 150 gold on +3damage, +3strength and some HP is a good deal, you may say that "why not get 3GG branches instead to make a wand later?", I say, go get your core first to solve that mana problem forever. Tango is a no brainer.

Personally, I like this one better than the next set.

Set B

Ironwood Branch (3x)159 gold

Sobi Mask325 gold

Tango90 gold

or Healing Salve100 gold

Justification:
Almost the same thing except you get 3 GG brances instead of a bracer. This set aims for the wand.

B. Core Items

Urn of Shadows:875 gold

You have 2 of its components as your starting items. This one should be easy to farm first. It has both HP and mana regeneration properties.

Power Treads (Strength):1450 gold

Strength Treads. Why not, right? I mean, come on, +stats, +MS, +AS, whats not to like? You wont be needing phase boots because of your second skill and BoT is just too much to farm, you can use 135 TPs to solve your teleportation problems right?

Sange:2150 gold

Yes, I know, you may say this is "pretty nooby" because you already have your 3rd skill, yes? No, sange's maim is a good stack on your third skill any regular hero without blink cant escape that, you'd also want that +26dmg boost.

Sange & Yasha:4300 gold

Sange and Yasha. This is a core as you can upgrade your Sange pretty easily into this. Sange's maim synergies well with your Sigil and Yasha will be your "Mask of Madness" minus the extra damage that you take.

Bracer:525 gold

Bracer adds survivability, damage and tanking ability. Cheap item for good stats. Also, upgradeable into that new item that I forgot.

Scroll of Town Portal:135 gold

Every hero needs this.

Empty Bottle:600 gold

Empty Bottle. Purely optional. Personally, I rarely get this when its pretty easy for me. Get this if youre having a hard time on the lane.

Magic Wand:509 gold

You should obviously get this if you went for the 2nd Starting Items Set. Skip the bracer.

C. Extension (Usually gotten if the game isnt over after youve gotten your core since your core is pretty costly)

Battlefury:4350 gold

Battlefury adds +60damage, HP and mana regen. Combine the mana regen with your Urn and you get 200% mana regen, this pretty much solves your mana problems.

Vladimir's Offering:2050 gold

Vladimir's Offering is known for its Lifesteal Aura for melee heroes but dont forget that 15% Damage Aura that it brings along with the Armor Aura as well, carry this if no one bought it for the team or if just have that extra space.

Soul Booster:3030 gold

Farmed to the bone? Enemies are feeders? Soul Booster can be an Extension of your Urn of Shadows. Just sell that Urn.

Bloodstone:5050 gold

Upgrade to Bloodstone. Youve really got to be rocking the game if you can farm up to this. Waste no time in getting this.

NOTE: Sometimes, the situational items take priority over these. You have to know which one is more important for you and your team.

D. Situational

Monkey King Bar:5400 gold

-Show Mortred and Troll Warlord who's boss. +88damage, +15AS and mini bash are just bonuses.

Dagon:2805 gold

-WTF right? You are a ganker, you can also get this for that burst damage. Also adds a small amount of damage and a little bit of INT to increase your mana pool. You can use this in pubs or in heavy ganking games. Can be used to farm heroes.

Vanguard:2225 gold

-Carry if youre taking too much fire and that HP boost is the difference between life and death.

Hood of Defiance:2125 gold

-Carry if you have too much magic using enemies

Khadgar's Pipe of Insight:3628 gold

-Upgrade from Hood if the nukes are still to much

Black King Bar:3900 gold

-You are made to hit, nothing's more annoying than being disabled and not able to see that Hero Fly High in the Sky. Also adds some STR (meaning it adds damage and HP)

Blade Mail:2200 gold

-Taking too much enemy fire? Stick your middle finger back up at their damage.

Heart of Tarrasque:5500 gold

-Carry for tanking and survivability and damage boost

Gem of Truesight:700 gold

-You've got the HP, you've got the damage, and you CERTAINLY can destroy those invisible heroes (eg. Rikimaru, Nerubian Weaver) why not?

NOTE: This item build is purely based on my playstyle and this is what has worked for me in my games. Builds are flexible to the player's style of play.

NOTE2: You might ask why didnt I put any escape items like dagger or Lothar's edge. I didnt put any, since in most of my games I rarely have the need to run away from them since I have the means to kill every single hero in the game. Also, did you notice that the core items I buy are costly? 2150 gold Daggers and 3300 gold Lothar's are just too much. Get them if youre fed well.

V. How to use your skills?

I will not expound too much on this area as Ymir's skills are pretty straightforward.

I'll list a couple of combos and how-to's and then thats it.

First Up

Frozen Sigil -> Charge Walrus Punch -> Snowball in -> Hit with Walrus Punch -> Ice Shards enemy upon Landing -> Hit to death.

The Frozen Sigil is there when youre not sure if you can land an autokill. Works in 1v1, clashes and ganks.

Second One

Charge Walrus Punch -> Snowball in -> Hit with Walrus Punch -> Ice Shards enemy upon Landing.

No Frozen Sigil here, youre sure that the target will die as soon as you do your combo with a couple of hits more. Best used in 1v1 situations.

Thirdly

Charge Walrus Punch -> Snowball in -> Hit with Walrus Punch -> Ice Shards enemy upon Landing -> Hit enemies too death -> Frozen Sigil if someone tries to escape.

Frozen Sigil is used last if there are agile heroes that can escape after the clash, Im assuming that youre not the only stunner so your third skill is best used for chasing.

Lastly

Charge Walrus Punch -> Snowball in -> Hit with Walrus Punch -> Ice Shards enemy upon Landing -> Hit enemies too death -> Frozen Sigil if...

This one is focused on escaping. Not sure about the gank? You think the clash might not go your way? That last minute slow will be the difference between life and death, a kill/assist/death. Not really advisable, your teammates might complain that the reason you lost the clash was because you did activate the Sigil immediately.

NOTE: Always try to make sure you hit the most number of enemy heroes with your Snowball and Ice Shards.

NOTE2: Normally, the Sigil is ALWAYS activated first.

NOTE3: ALMOST ALWAYS NEVER 'roll in' with a paper nuking hero like Crystal Maiden. You are a tank and you draw fire, 'rolling in' with her will just kill them in an instant. AVOID at all costs. (There are certain exceptions when its more advisable to roll in with them though, you have to figure that out yourself ^^)

VI.Natural Allies

Almost every hero. Since you are strong in all three phases of the game, getting a babysitter would be nice to get a really good farming head start or a good disabler for early kills.

VII. Natural Enemies
Basically, enemy heroes that won't let you use your combo in quick succession and there are those that wont let you use your combo at all by draining your mana or by shutting you up.

Disablers, Evaders and Manabreakers