Thunderbringer Strategy Guide

This is the same guide do Zeus (DotA), made by MYM|Merlini (one of the best DotA player).
Adapted by tiurush to HoN.

Thunderbringer

Damage: 21-29
Armor: 0
Attack Range: 350
Strength: 19
Agility: 15
Intelligence: 20

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- Hero Abilities

Chain Lightning


The Thunderbringer zaps a target anemy unit with volatile lightning. The lightning then bounces to additional nearby enemy units.

Level 1 - Arcs 5 times, deals 85 damage.
Level 2 - Arcs 7 times, deals 100 damage.
Level 3 - Arcs 9 times, deals 115 damage.
Level 4 - Arcs 15 times, deals 130 damage.
Cooldown: 2.5


Blast of Lightning


Thunderbringer blasts a target enemy unit with lightning, dealing moderate damage and very briefly stunning it. The area around the target is lit up briefly, giving vision and revealing nearby stealthed units.

Level 1 - Deals 100 damage.
Level 2 - Deals 175 damage.
Level 3 - Deals 275 damage.
Level 4 - Deals 350 damage.
Cooldown: 7 seconds.


Lightning Rod


Enemies near Thunderbringer act as lightning rods, taking damage every time he casts a spell. Tha damage is proportional to their current health.
Affects an area of effect of 800.

Level 1 - Shocks for 5% of current hit points.
Level 2 - Shocks for 7% of current hit points.
Level 3 - Shocks for 9% of current hit points.
Level 4 - Shocks for 11% of current hit points.


Lightning Storm


Thunderbrindger strikes every enemy hero on the map with lightning, dealing damage and revealing the area around them briefly.

Level 1 - Deals 210 damage.
Level 2 - Deals 335 damage.
Level 3 - Deals 460 damage.
Cooldown: 120 seconds.

Staff of the Master Upgradeable: Increases damage.

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- Skill Build:

Level 1 - Chain Lightning
Level 2 - Lightning Rod
Level 3-5 - Blast of Lightning
Level 6 - Lightning Storm
Level 7 - Blast of Lightning
Level 8-10 - Lightning Rod
Level 11 - Lightning Storm
Level 12-15 - Attribute Bonuses
Level 16 - Lightning Storm

Justification: Blast and Lightning Storm are maxed as soon as possible since they are his most powerful spells, and Rod is gotten afterwards to add multiple-target damage during team fights. Some people max Chain Lightning before 23-25 but it is actually not always good to max Chain Lightning because you can only re-cast Chain Lightning when the first one is done 'bouncing' and since level 4 hits 15 targets, the cooldown is often over before the lightning finishes bouncing. In rare occasions sometimes you might want to go Stats/Blast of Lightning/Blast of Lightning/Stats/Blast of Lightning/Ult/Blast of Lightning/Lightning Rod/Chain Lightning /Lightning Rod/etc - I'll explain that more later in soloing.

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- Item Build:

- Core Items:

or
2x Talisman of Exile / 2x Fortified Bracelet : I started getting 3 Talisman instead of Ring of Sorcery when DotA's Nerubian Assassin was popular. I feel that maximum hp / mana is very important on fragile int heroes: Feel free to make Fortified Bracelet instead.


Glow Stone : Since a lot of battles are 2v2 3v3 or whatever from full health to death, mass hp is the most important factor for survival. Glow Stone provides great hp/mana for its cost.


Bottle: Enables you to control the lane, have regen, and if you are soloing mid, collecting runes is very essential to your game.

- Luxury Items:

Totem of Kuldra: Lategame, having a guinsoo will work wonders for your team - great stats, imba range, and mana regen, and of course hex is a priceless ability.


Post Haste: It is a standard choice on Thunderbringer for mobility and movespeed.

- Other Items:

Ring of Sorcery You dont see many people going for mana regen or sorcery because those only help with the laning phase and since Thunderbringer is such a glass cannon, he is often focused first.


Other Lategame Items: If you farm more than a Totem of Kuldra etc., you are probably farming too much (taking away from carries) or not fighting enough, or both. Thunderbringer is still very potent late game, but reserve the farm for heroes on your team who are more item dependent.

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- Playing Thunderbringer:

Early Game: For starters, its 4 Minor Totem + 3 Mana Potion + Runes of the Blight . Since I tend to solo middle when I play Thunderbringer, I rush Bottle to get the quick lane advantage. Usually my build is 3 Talisman of Exile , Marchers , Homecoming Stone and Bottle.

Attack Animation: His 'wind-up' (frontswing) is very long, but you can use that to your advantage to 's- cancel your attack and out-lasthit your opponent. Many players rely on Chain Lightning too much.

Lane Control: Chain Lightning pushes the lane and is also dependent on Mana Potions, but pushing the lane also gives you free time to check the runes, so you have to weigh both choices. Both Chain and Blast have a range of 700, enabling you to stay out of danger when casting

Strong Enemies: Against a good laner, Blast/Stats build is needed sometimes . It's important to get early last hits and stats helps with both allied/denied units (obviously, Chain only works for offensive purposes). When dealing with a really problematic hero, make sure you keep a Homecoming Stone on you at level 6 and definitely go Chain. Try to rune whore it with bottle while keeping sentries up (from teammates) and you should do ok. Go gank the side lanes

Oh, maybe try out the stats/bolt build a few times so you can work on last hitting with Thunderbringer

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- The 5 MYM|Merlini Golden Rules1. Always Blast of Lightning before Chain Lightning
It may seem better to blast before lightning to get maximum effect from static field but if you arc first you may lose your opponent in the fog

2. Always, ALWAYS watch your positioning
Blast of Lighting has a hell of a long range, Lightning Storm has infinite range, and Chain has pretty damn long range too, so there is almost no reason to be 'up close and personal' in battle unless you are chasing down heroes.

3. Wrath for Vision
When trying to kill low hp heroes (low, but not low enough for wrath only) in hard to navigate areas (e.g. below sentinel bottom right tower), use Stotm to gain vision of your enemy so you can bolt them to death.

4. Share control with your allies
Communicating to a teammate to do something is always much slower than doing it yourself

5. Abuse Bolt Range
Try to ninja that extra bolt in before team fights actually start - it has ridiculous range and helps in battles way more than you think

this guide is from Heroes of Newerth forum