HoN-Camp: Legion

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

Blacksmith

Introduction

Blacksmith is a rather unique hero in Heroes of Newerth. A melee hero with above average starting armor, strength, strength gain, and base damage, the blacksmith is actually a intelligence-based nuke supporter who keeps his team strong (or at least fast) and the other team weak. His stats and skills are each direct ports of the Ogre Magi from DotA, but as with most heroes of HoN he received a significant aesthetic upgrade with the port.

How we will play blacksmith in this guide is as an early game ganker with late game team support. His excellent starting strength and strength gain, coupled with a spell that allows for a significant speed boost, allows us to focus on intelligence and support related items without having to worry about our survivablity.

Pros and cons

Pros

Ridiculous strength gain, one of the best in the game.
Basic stats and armor cover all survivability needs.
Excellent ganker with 2 nukes, one a slow and the other a stun.
Powerful support ability, adding a significant speed boost to allies.
Scales better mid-late than most intelligence heroes.
Performs well in a lane, especially combined with another stunner/disabler.
Easy to learn and play.

Cons

Only intelligence based hero with a melee attack.
Lackluster farming ability, which doesn't matter because you should be ganking.
Poor intelligence gain.
The arguably most powerful aspect of PASSIVE ult is UNRELIABLE

Skills

Fireball
Hurls a scorching fireball at target opponent, both damaging and stunning them.

Enemy target
Magic damage
Range: 600
Mana cost: 75/85/95/105
Mana cost with level 1 Chaotic Flames: 105/115/125/135
Mana cost with level 2 Chaotic Flames: 155/165/175/185
Mana cost with level 3 Chaotic Flames: 185/195/205/215
Cooldown: 15/12/9/6 ::Important:: cooldown does not go down with THE LEVEL OF FIREBALL but with the level of CHAOTIC FLAMES.

Has a 25% chance to cast twice at level 1 Chaotic Flames

Has a 40% chance to cast twice and a 20% chance to cast 3 times at level 2 Chaotic Flames

Has a 50% chance to cast twice, a 25% chance to cast 3 times, and a 12.5% chance to cast a whopping 4 TIMES on level 3 Chaotic Flames.

Deals 75/125/175/275 damage and stuns for 1.5 seconds.

This is the skill you will rely on more than any other throughout the game. It is your primary source of magic damage, as well as a powerful single target stun. Max it, as until level 4 it deals subpar damage. Also, just like in DotA if you get extra casts of Fireball from Chaotic Flames the stun lasts longer.

Early game it serves us well. Until you put levels in Chaotic Flames it retains its low mana cost, which is a necessity considering our mana pool. It is a single target stun, so open with it in a gank. It allows you to set up a teammates spells as well. Tormentor or Pyromancer can easily hit someone who isn't moving for 1.5 seconds, although a Valkyrie might have more trouble. Or you could be laned with someone like Pestilence, and stun the enemy at 600 range, allowing Pestilence the chance to run in and use his stun.

Flaming Hammer
The Blacksmith throws a flaming hammer at a target enemy, which explodes on impact. The explosion causes the target to burn, taking damage over time and slowing their movement speed.

Enemy target
Magic damage
Range: 700
Radius: target/150/300/450 ::Important:: radius does not go up with THE LEVEL OF FLAMING HAMMER but with the level of CHAOTIC FLAMES.
Mana cost: 95/105/115/125
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Deals 10/20/30/40 damage a second and slows for 10/15/20/25% for 7.5 seconds

If you're too lazy to do the math, it deals 75/150/225/300 magic damage over it's duration. Another nuke, it works differently than fireball. It deals it's damage slower, but for chasing the 7.5 seconds of slow will actually allow more hits than 1.5 seconds of stun. Also, when we level Chaotic Flames, instead of dealing more damage to the target sometimes, it will ALWAYS deal it's damage in a larger radius, allowing for AoE slow and some farming potential.

Frenzy
The Blacksmith uses his control over fire to motivate his ally the best way he knows how: with heat! Starts a non-harmful blaze on a friendly unit that increases attack speed and movement speed.

Target ally
magic effect
Range: 600
Mana cost: 75
Cooldown: 20/15/10/5 ::Important:: cooldown does not go down with THE LEVEL OF FRENZY but with the level of CHAOTIC FLAMES.
Has a 0/20/20% chance to cast on 0/1/2 additional allied targets with levels of Chaotic Flames.
Applies frenzy to target for 30 seconds, ally gains 6/9/12/15% movement speed and 20/30/40/50 attack speed.

If nothing else, this spell will keep you supporting your team well into mid-late game. For some reference, activating Enhanced Marchers adds 10% move speed for 6 seconds, whereas level 4 frenzy adds 15% move speed in addition to practically giving them a Warpcleft for 30 seconds. Even if you don't get the 20% chance to get 2/3 casts, level 3 Chaotic flames allows you to keep this on your whole team. Put it on your carrys and they will love it. Keep it on yourself and you run faster than all but the fastest heroes (Blood Hunter with 44% movespeed, for example).

Chaotic Flames
The Blacksmith is experienced at gambling with fire. increasing the power of his other spells. When casting his other spells, he has a chance to achieve a more powerful result.

This is a passive ability that increases his other spells, and I've put the benefits into those skills rather that here.

This is really the skill that will make you love or hate this hero. It adds a chance to cast Fireball multiple times, adds an AoE to Flaming Hammer, and gives a chance to apply Frenzy on multiple allies. This ability earns Blacksmith a lot of hate, as people who play him complain of never multicasting (multiple applications of the stun) and people who play against him complain of always getting multicasted. The key to playing this hero is to never rely on multicasted stuns, pretend you don't have the possibility at all and you won't get yourself killed relying on that 25% chance.

Skill Build

A.
1. Fireball
2.Flaming Hammer
3. Fireball
4. Flaming Hammer.
5. Fireball
6. Chaotic Flames
7. Fireball (max)
8. Flaming Hammer
9. Flaming Hammer (max)
10. Frenzy
11. Chaotic Flames
12. Frenzy
13. Frenzy
14. Frenzy (max)
15. Stats
16. Chaotic Flames (max)
17-25. Stats

Explanation

Fireball and Flaming Hammer are our nukes and our disables. We max these as early as possible so that we can support our team and gank our opponents. Frenzy is taken as soon as we max these two as it does better mid-late than early, and stats are grabbed when nothing else is available. The early game is decided by nukes, and while the MS boost on frenzy is nice, the -MS on Flaming hammer, coupled with the damage it deals, serves us better early.

If you're having significant mana problems, you can put off Chaotic Flames until later than 6. Each level in Chaotic Flames will add to the mana cost of Fireball, so occasionally picking it up right at 6 will do more harm than good.

Skill usage and synergies

When should I use fireball?

Fireball is your standard nuke, and it should be your opener in most engagements. The 1.5 seconds of stun allows you and possibly an ally time to maneuver closer or drop more disables on the enemy. Without a leveled ult you'll only get it off once before the relatively long cooldown sets in. With points in your ult it becomes more spammable, and you can fish for multicasts. Keep in mind, once you've used fireball you are more vulnerable, so if a fight isn't sure you might want to hang back and wait for it to cool down, and hope for a multicast next time.

When should I use Flaming Hammer?

Flaming hammer differs from Fireball in some regards. It's a soft disable rather than a hard one, only slowing move speed. If an enemy isn't running or chasing, you may want to wait to cast it until he is, unless it's going to be a close enough fight that you need the 300 damage more than the slow. You can use this skill to help you farm, to a degree, but 300 won't finish off a creep unless you're hitting it as well.

Who do I cast Frenzy on?

Provided you have mana to cast it, you should keep it on every allied hero in the area. Part of the reason you don't take it early is because it's much easier to keep it applied on yourself 100% of the time only when you get mana regen items. Only neglect to keep it applied when you need the mana for your nukes more.

Skill synergies

Your standard early game combo. Drop both these on an enemy for up to 575 magic damage, and then run in for all the hits a 1.5 second stun and 7.5 seconds of slow will get you.

Same concept, but casting frenzy on yourself beforehand gets you extra hits in.

After placing levels in your ulti this is your hero killing/ganking combo. Casting frenzy on yourself may cast twice, hitting an allied hero with the buff as well. You then throw a fireball at the enemy to open. While stunned, close with your excellent movespeed and throw a flaming hammer. Before the Flaming Hammer wears off, Fireblast will have come back from it's 6 second cooldown with a level 3 ult, and maybe you'll get that 12.5% chance to cast 4 times for 1100 magic damage.

I just felt I'd throw this combo in for laughs. Nothing makes enemies rage harder than x4 multicast after a 1.2 damage multiplier. Plus, being silenced they have no choice but to run until the silence ends, giving you the chance to Flaming Hammer and get some hits in.

Friends and Foes

Best Friend's Forever

Heroes with hard to aim abilities.
Example: Torturer
Your Fireball is a single target stun at 600 range. It takes no precision aiming to work, so anyone with a stun more powerful but harder to hit a prepared enemy with, such as Valkyrie's javelin or Pyromancer's AoE stun will have a much easier time following up your stun with theirs. These combo's are almost assured kills early game.

Fellow nukers/disablers of any kind
Example: Demented Shaman
This example would actually make for a killer lane. Anyway, the idea is that Blacksmith has 2 nukes that disable. Anyone with 1-2 spells that either deal damage, disable an enemy, or both, are excellent allies for Blacksmith in a lane or in a gank.

Carries
Example: Pestilence
Blacksmith has an powerful aggressive-based support theme. Applying frenzy to a carry like Magebane or Dark Lady will significantly increase their damage and mobility. Stunning their most fragile hero, possibly multicasting, and then throwing a -25% ms and 300 damage to an area will allow your carry to destroy a team. Hopefully.

Worst Enemies

Mana stealers
Example: Magebane
At the moment there aren't very many enemies that mess with your mana in HoN yet. It's a much more prevalent theme in DotA. However, those heroes that can destroy our mana pool are our least favorite enemies to fight.

Int hero destroyers.
Example: Scout
There are some heroes thematically designed to seek and destroy weak heroes, usually the int support types. Heroes like Scout, Magebane, and I'll throw in Pestilence will cause you no end of trouble.

Combo attacks
Example: Devourer
Heroes that have 2-3 moves in a set designed to hit the same hero and end said hero work against Blacksmith as well as anyone else. Granted, you may be able to throw out a Fireball for a C-C-C-Combo Breaker but chances are a pollywog's ult+net+hex will take Blacksmith down.

Purge
Example: Electrician
Not the worst possibility, but purge can drop both Flaming Hammer from enemies and Frenzy from allies.

Items
Hey guys, everything up to this point has been pretty obvious, but this is where I start inserting my own opinions on things, feel free to pick your own items, and if you feel I have no clue what I'm talking about, kindly say so in your replies and I will take it into consideration!

Super thanks go to Lappi for making this section pretty!

** added images, links and costs as well as the category where to find the items in

** updated old dota names, e.g. frostfield plate

As mentioned previously, all our strength and armor needs are taken care of already. We don't need to waste money on our health pool, we can move directly to what we need.

Core Build

1-2x Runes of blight [Supplies] (90g); 2 if you can afford it.

1-2x Mana potion [Supplies] (50g); 2 if you can afford it.

1-2x Talisman of Exile [Initiation] (485), 1 if you farm badly.
*You can replace one Talisman of Exile with a Power Supply, it's a trade off of 3 int for the hp/mana regen charges

1x Bottle [Supplies] (600g)

1x Steamboots [Initiation] (1500g)
*Thanks to Ruscour for resizing the image for me

You are both melee and a high mana cost nuker with high strength and low intelligence. You need regen when you first go to the lane. Spend at least 140 on runes and a mana potion. It's your decision whether you spend the extra starting cash on more regen or starting your Talismans of Exile. Go ahead and grab a Mana Battery at the outpost next to your lane if you'd prefer it over a second Talisman of Exile. By the time you're done laning, you will have 1-2 Talismans of Exile, a bottle, and Steamboots.

Steamboots are still the best boots for Blacksmith even after the change. He has enough armor on his own, and the stats are nice. If 2-3 people on your team or the other have bottles, don't bother with it. But being a MELEE NUKER who GANKS, you are the perfect candidate to rune whore if noone else is.

So what next?

Ring of Sorcery [Supportive] (1700g)

If you have mana problems, this solves your mana problem for a short while and helps support your team. However, if you want a more long term solution to your mana woes you should build a....

Hellflower [Combative] (5025g)

Easily the best item to get on Blacksmith after the core. It solves your intelligence and mana regen problems, while adding significant damage and attack speed. Why would we want those on Blacksmith? Because he has a stun, a slow, and FRENZY. While an agi carry will get more out of frenzy than you, you can become a respectable DPS source in a fight yourself. On top of solving mana issues and adding damage capabilities, it casts a 5 second silence and 1.2 damage multiplier on an enemy hero. Perfect for your support role, and DEADLY IF FOLLOWED UP BY A CHAOTIC FLAMES PROC.

Stormspirit-2800- A good item early-mid game and an alternative to rushing hellflower. It provides intelligence, mana regen, movespeed, and a powerful disable.

Totem of Kuldra [Supportive] (5675g)

An obvious choice and a good one. Addresses mana issues, while adding to your support role in a team fight or a gank.
Behemoth's Heart [Protective] (5500)
With the recent changes to Behemoth's Heart, it's now viable as a luxury item on Blacksmith.

Frostfield-Plate [Protective] (4700g)
The final item on my suggested items list, this choice is respectable, though probably not as powerful in the hands of blacksmith as Hellflower or Totem of Kuldra. A support int item like the rest, this one also allows us to farm to a certain extent when combined with Flaming Hammer.

Nome's Wisdom is a great choice on Blacksmith. However, I would advocate asking if anyone on your team is going to get one before you buy it, as aura's do not stack. However, if noone on your team is getting Nome's Wisdom it is recommended that you do.

The reason I don't have a picture for this item yet is that Nome, ironically, did not put it up on his Item Pictures resource, yet.

Any other items are situational or better on another hero IMO.

Laning and Early Phase.

Your buddies are fellow stunners/disablers, your enemies are mana burners. ALWAYS lane with a teammate, and TRY to lane with a teammate with a stun, preferably one poweful but hard to hit with A.K.A. Voodoo or Tormented. Keep as much coordination between your ally and yourself going as possible, as Blacksmith can burst pretty damn hard early to mid game.

Keep good map awareness, all the Strength in the world won't help against an Swiftblade+Electrician gank if you aren't near your tower. If you do decide to go bottle, think about buying wards to watch the runes and for ganks. Call mia when your enemies leave and support your lane partner, IF HE'S A HARDER CARRY THAN YOU A.K.A NIGHT HOUND, TRY TO KEEP HIM ALIVE AND GIVE HIM THE KILLS, IT WILL SERVE YOU WELL IN THE LONG RUN.

Midgame and ganking phase.

This is where you will shine, so enjoy it while you can. Hopefully by now (probably 20-25 minutes in) you will have Steamboots, bottle, and level 2 Chaotic Flames. Look for any hero who's pushed too far, look for enemy heroes your allies are having troubles with, and gank your enemies jungle. Rune whore if you got bottle, and keep up the coordination with your teammates. If you keep the enemy low during this phase you've already won. You can hit for (275x3 multi +300 AoE with slow and stun) and supply at least level 1 frenzy to your allies. Your skillset peaks in between mid and late, so do whatever you can to give your allies the edge.

Late game

Hopefully you ganked well and helped your carries become stronger than theirs, because you start losing power at this point. DON'T BE ALARMED. If you got a hellflower or totem, you can still decide fights for your team. Blacksmith scales exceedingly well late game for an int hero. Slow, silence and stun their carries and frenzy your own. Work with your teammates and don't go in alone unless you wish to die.

Even supposing your carries did poorly and the enemy carries are big, don't panic. If you played significantly better than others, you can decide the game yourself! A Blacksmith with Hellflower and Totem of Kuldra is no joke! With stun, slow, hex, silence, multicasts, frenzy, >2000 hp and 200-300 damage a swing, blacksmith can actually carry a team!

This strategy is from Heroes of Newerth Forum

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Thunderbringer Strategy Guide

Pyromancer Strategy Guide

Legionnaire Strategy Guide

Predator Strategy Guide

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Blacksmith Strategy Guide

Legion Heroes Int

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