Strategy Guide for Jah'rakal the Troll Warlordby Kleech (as of v6.59)

http://planetdota.blogspot.com

Table of ContentsI. IntroductionA. Pros and ConsB. The Troll's Role in the TeamC. Statistics

II. The Power of TrollA. Skills InfoB. Items Info

III. On to the buildA. Skill BuildB1. Core Item BuildB2. Optional Item BuildC. Levels 1-10D. Levels 11-15E. Levels 16-20F. Levels 21-25G. Other ItemsH. Items NOT to Get

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IV. Hero and Item AnalysisA. Good Supporting HeroesB. Good Supporting ItemsC. Tough Enemy HeroesD. Tough Enemy ItemsE. Easy Heroes to Kill

V. FRAPS ClipsR. Recommended ReplayI. Inhouse ReplaysL. League ReplayM. 1v0 Replays

VI. Frequently asked questionsA. Skill QuestionsB. Item QuestionsC. Miscellaneous Questions

VII. Concluding ThoughtsA. ReplaysB. Latest UpdatesC. Final Words

—————————————————————————I. Introduction

——————————————————————————I started this guide a really, really long time ago because there was only 1 guide out at the time for Troll and I didn't like how he presented him. Through many updates and versions (my old guide was @v2.0) I've finally come to (I hope) the best possible way to play and explain Troll.

___________________A. Pros and Cons¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Pros:

Huge Late Game Potential Strong Anti-Orbwalking Skill Ranged (500) Fastest attacking hero late game. Easy animation.

Cons:

#1 Target of Disables Low hit points No harassing skill of his own. Average Movespeed (300). 13 intel / +1 intel gain. Wow. (Fixed with my buff to rage / no mana on bkb)

_______________________________B. Trolls Role in the Team¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Troll's role is to survive until late game while being able to farm. Once at that stage, his role is to take out a hero as fast as possible using his extremely fast attack speed to inflict as much damage as possible. It's pretty simple really.

Some people think he needs extreme late game with many tier 3-4 items, but they are extremely wrong. All Troll needs is some sort of damage, health, and a BKB. If you can achieve this, then all you have to do is follow your team and focus on one hero. Then move on to the next, etc. Troll works better with massive disables, for he has none of his own and it would be best if someone could hold the hero while Troll kills it.

Besides late game though, Troll is not a ganking hero. Instead, he should be let to creep neutrals and farm and deny his lane in peace. There should never be a reason for Troll to leave his lane to go kill. Instead, let the ganking heroes come to your lane.

______________C. Statistics¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

For all your statistics needs, please refer to Troll's Hero Editor Page on the site.

—————————————————————————II. The Power of Troll

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_______________A. Skills Info¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

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Berserker Rage

Jah'rakal goes berserk, using his throwing axes as melee weapons. He gains bonus damage, movement speed, attack speed, hit points, armor, and the Bash ability, but can only attack

at melee range.

All levels grant:

100 Max HP +15 Minimum Damage

+15 Maximum Damage 20 MS (*30 MS at level 4*)

Increased Base Attack Speed (From 1.8 to 1.55) 2 Armor

Level 1 - Bash has a 5% chance to deal 25 bonus damage and stun for 2 seconds. (costs 00 MP, cool down 00)

Level 2 - Bash has a 5% chance to deal 50 bonus damage and stun for 2 seconds. (costs 00 MP, cool down 00)

Level 3 - Bash has a 10% chance to deal 25 bonus damage and stun for 2 seconds. (costs 00 MP, cool down 00)

Level 4 - Bash has a 10% chance to deal 50 bonus damage and stun for 2 seconds. (costs 00 MP, cool down 00)

Kleech: "A very touchy skill, as you gain tons of bonuses but you must go melee form. As a rule of thumb, if you are with creeps and a enemy hero, this should NOT be on. Only turn this on when running away (+20 movement speed, it's something.), fighting a hero 1v1 (Bashes do happen, even at 5%), or neutral creeping. (Bashes and all bonuses help.) You will gain Melee experience while in this form, so spamming from Ranged to Melee can bring your experience higher then others.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Blind

A searing light blinds the vision of a target enemy unit, making it miss on some attacks.Lasts 15 seconds.

Level 1 - Misses on 15% of attacks. (costs 20 MP, cool down 8)Level 2 - Misses on 24% of attacks. (costs 20 MP, cool down 8)Level 3 - Misses on 33% of attacks. (costs 20 MP, cool down 8)Level 4 - Misses on 42% of attacks. (costs 20 MP, cool down 8)

Kleech: "This is an AMAZING skill of Troll. At level 2 with its low mana cost it should be getting cast on heroes. By level 4, you reduce their farming ability, harassing ability, denying ability, and killing ability by 42%!"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Fervor Aura

Passively increases the attack speed of all nearby friendly units.

Level 1 - Increases attack speed by 05%. (300 AoE)Level 2 - Increases attack speed by 15%. (300 AoE)Level 3 - Increases attack speed by 20%. (300 AoE)Level 4 - Increases attack speed by 30%. (300 AoE)

Kleech: "This is the overrated skill of Troll. "LOL 30% IAS! MAX FasT!" Well, sure, if it wasn't for the fact your creeps get the same 30% IAS. Because they do, they push faster onto your opponent’s side, which leaves you open to ganks. In the end they will be pushing to his tower ALOT, which just gives him free experience and counteracts your amazing blind."--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Rampage

Jah'rakal goes into a feral rampage, increasing his attack and movement speeds.

Level 1 - Increases attack speed by 40% and movement speed by 07%. (costs 100 MP, cool down 90)

Level 2 - Increases attack speed by 80% and movement speed by 09%. (costs 150 MP, cool down 80)

Level 3 - Increases attack speed by 120% and movement speed by 11%.(costs 205 MP, cool down 70)

Kleech: "This skill was nice to have before the animation change, but now it's so cool! Troll's hands turn to fire of the sorts and attacks really fast. With an extremely fast CD, you can use this to run away, neutral creep, or fight a hero."--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

______________B. Items Info¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Wraiths x3 | (460 each, 1380 total)Made of: Slippers of Agility (150) + Circlet of Nobility (185) + Recipe (175)+3 To all Attributes+3 Extra points to Agility

Boots of Speed | (500)Made of: Boots of Speed (500)+50 Movement speed

Stygian Desolator | (4420)Made of: Mithril Hammer (1610) + Mithril Hammer (1610) + Recipe (1200)+60 Damage+Reduces Opponents armor by 6 for 3 seconds+ORB EFFECT

Boots of Travel | (2200)Made of: Boots of Speed (500) + Recipe (2200)+90 Movespeed+Grants Teleportation to a friendly creep/structure.+75 Mana, 60 second cooldown.

Black King Bar | (3800)Made of: Ogre Axe (1000) + Broadsword (1200) + Recipe (1600)+10 Strength+18 Damage+10 second avatar which makes the hero immune to all magic.

Butterfly | (6350)Made of: Eaglehorn (3400) + Quarterstaff (1150) + Recipe (1800)+30 Agility+30 Damage+30% Increased Attack Speed+30% Evasion

—————————————————————————III. On to the build

——————————————————————————______________A. Skill Build¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Berserker Rage: 1, 18, 19, 20Fervor Aura: 12-15Blind: 2, 3, 5, 7Rampage: 6, 11, 16Attribute Bonuses: 4, 8-10, 17, 21-25

___________________B1. Core Item Build¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

2 Slippers of Agility and 2 Packs of Tangoes and Chicken.Wraithsx3 (1380)Boots of Speed (500)Mithril Hammer (1610)x2 Stygian Desolator Recipe -> Stygian Desolator (1200)Boots of Travel Recipe -> Boots of Travel (2200)Black King Bar (3800)-==========================-Total Cost: 11980

Only this?This what I'll be going over in the guide. Slippers give you faster damage early so you can last. You need to get these ASAP so you can survive more. Boots are then gotten of course, but if facing heroes with a slow you might want to get Boots before Wraiths. Wraiths give more damage to last hit early for Troll, but if facing heavy gankers you might want x2Bracers instead. Desolater is one of the easiest items to build, and Troll can farm it pretty early. It gives you a strong mid game, with early bonus damage and extra damage for the team. Boots of Travel increases your farming, letting you jump around the map and farm more then usual. Finally, Black King Bar gives you 10 seconds to hit heroes without getting stunned or hurt from spells (Though ultimates work most of the time!)

Get Hood if they have a team full of spell casters. It's pretty insane for an item, and if you can tell that you'll need it, change your build and get a RoR+Ironwood Branches so that you already have 1 RoR to start off with. Getting it will not only let you survive in your lane more, but also be able to tank more spells and disables while you are killing their team. Get it whenever you have money, but work hard on getting it AFTER Desolator. Grab an early Cloak if you really need it, but do not finish until after Deso. BKB can only protect you for 10 seconds, while Hood can make you tank longer until you have the hit points to shrug off the damage.

________________C. Levels 1-10¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Skill order

Level 01 | Berserker RageLevel 02 | BlindLevel 03 | BlindLevel 04 | Attribute BonusesLevel 05 | BlindLevel 06 | RampageLevel 07 | BlindLevel 08 | Attribute BonusesLevel 09 | Attribute BonusesLevel 10 | Attribute Bonuses

Build OrderCirclet of Nobility x2 (370)Tangos x2 (180)-AR Games Only- Chicken (225)Boots (500)Wraith Band (460)Wraith Band (460)Wraith Band (460)Mithril Hammer (1610)

Start off and buy tangoes and your circlets. Tangoes are a great regeneration item, as Troll takes lots of harassment and a Ring of Regen isn't going to cut it. He also could use stats, so circlets are bought to fix that problem. With that stats you'll be getting from Blind+Stats and Bracers, they'll really add up. Beserker Rage is gotten at level one for the movement speed increase. Not only that, it gives you some hit points and armor to help you survive 1 more hit when ganks happen, or when you face a hero 1v1. Never use this while farming of course, and abuse your chance to stay ranged.

Troll is a solo hero. He needs to farm as quickly as possible, with little to no interference from allies. He also has Blind to help him survive versus non-nuking heroes. The best lane for troll is bottom Sent. Bottom lets you tower hug, and you’re near creeps to pull or neutral. Scourge Trolls have the best chance up top, were they can tower hug as well. Middle lane can be taken also, it's really a matter of preference.

Stay near your base until the creeps spawn (1:30 in games, 3:00 in -lm) and begin to walk in front of your creeps. This should crowd them up behind you, and bring your opponent’s creeps closer to your tower, which gives you the ability to tower hug much easier.

When you are at your lane, stay around the ranged creep and pace around it for a bit. When a creep gets low on hit points (Hold ALT to see) attack them. The same goes for your own creeps. This is called last hitting and denying. If you deny (kill your creeps) the other team

doesn't gain as much experience. For more information, please check InDe_eD's Guide to Micromanagement. To get automatic HP bar programs (pretends to hold [] for you) go download this link: here. For Mac users, hold [ + ] and then hit enter.

For these levels, play it safe. Starting at level 3, cast blind on a hero. You want them to always be blinded as much as possible, as it stops their farming/denying/harassing. Continue to beg and cry to the person who bought a chicken but didn't share with you. If he still won't, buy it whenever you have the extra cash. Right now you just need to concentrate on getting your three wraiths and boots. Your hammer will help you last hit much easier, and will really boost your income.

Finally, be wary of ganks. You are a late game hero trying to solo and farm up money for items. You have, on your own, no reliable escape mechanism, and need to survive and live. The more you die and get caught in ganks the worse it becomes. So, as Akuryou suggested, carry around a teleport scroll or two. If you see a gank coming to you, or are able to juke the gank for a little bit, teleport to a different lane, or even back to base. Including in this, please try your best not to push the tower you are laning in. The more you push, the farther into their territory you and the creeps become. This can lead to easier ganks on your hero or less time farming because you are scared of those ganks.

_________________D. Levels 11-15¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Skill order

Level 11 | RampageLevel 12 | Fervor AuraLevel 13 | Fervor AuraLevel 14 | Fervor AuraLevel 15 | Fervor Aura

Build Order

Mithril Hammer (1610)Stygian Desolator Recipe (1200)

Gameplay

If staying in your lane is not possible without dying or getting harassed too hard, you'll probably want to go and neutral creep for a bit. A chicken can really help while you neutral creep. Of course, you don't have to take all the damage all of the time. If are you near a lane, you can creep pull. This is the time of the game where your chicken is needed. So, as already suggested, flame/spam/beg/buy your own until you get one. I would suggest buying your own right now though, because they'll be pissed off because you use the chicken a lot.

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is this is the point in the game you should be neutral creeping the most. You've started to get your aura, and if you go into lanes too much you'll end up pushing which will open you to ganks. So, neutral creeping is the way to go.

What makes Troll so well fit to neutral creep is that he can survive and farm fast in them. Blind the creep you aren't hitting, melee form every creep (and stay melee, for you need to move around the creeps fast) and use your ultimate whenever you want. Appear from time to time in your lane/ a lane, farm the creeps, and go back in. With your aura however, start denying the creeps @50% hit points, yet last hit when they are low. This is the best shot you have at counteracting your aura, and generally will keep the creeps closer to you. The common phrase for this is "lane-denying." I just call it "hit-your-creeps-alot-and-not-theirs-strat."

To keep the creeps closer to your tower, you can also "pull your creeps" to fight the neutrals. To do this, you attack the neutrals and make them run into your lane while the creeps are passing. They will get attracted and start to fight them. For a better explanation, skim ThisIsBob's guide to creep pulling when you have time. Just know he doesn't cover every creep pull possible, and that you should always try and figure new ways to pull creeps around.

Use your chicken to bring you items while you farm, and have it bring a flask so you can heal if a push appears. You aren't that much help to the team until you finish Desolator, so get cracking! Stay farming, and don't go help for ganks. Remind your team you'll pay them back late game, and keep farming. Unless the opposing team is hitting your base tower and they really need your help, you should be farming. If they do, use the teleport scrolls you've been carrying to move from lane to lane or back to base. You have been buying them, right? Always teleport with your scrolls on the tower for the +100000 Armor.

_________________E. Levels 16-20¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Skill orderLevel 16 | RampageLevel 17 | Beserker's RageLevel 18 | Beserker's RageLevel 19 | Beserker's RageLevel 20 | Attribute Bonuses

Desolator Build OrderBoots of Travel (2200)Orge Axe (1000)Broadsword (1200)

Gameplay

Late game, it's a pushing frenzy. You'll need to move around the map a lot easier, so that's why we bought BoT. Late game is only about pushing and counter pushing. Pushes become a lot easier if you gank first, which leaves pushing at 4v5. Use runes and warding to take control and catch someone off guard. Doubling runes makes your ganking loads easier. For information on how to do this, please go to MasterJoe's Guide to Runes!

Next we'll be building parts of BKB. These two can be switched if the situation calls for it. BKB allows you to do more damage in team battles without the worry of getting nuked or disabled. Do note that all ultimates including DOOM will go through BKB. Others include Beastmaster's Stun and Bane's Grip. Though the damage of the Grip will not be taken, the disable will still hit which is your worst nightmare. If disables are really owning you, you might want to get BKB before BoT. Besides that, most Scourge teams don't have many disables, so BKB can be held for later.

Even if you didn't get the gank, team battles will happen. You will get focused fired, and you have to be able to accept that. Be careful and stay back until the fight begins. Nukes will be thrown around before, and you don't want to be caught in the middle of them. Always blind the damage dealer of the group, as Blind's effectiveness never falls. NEVER start a fight. Let someone else start for you, like Earthshaker or Sand King. Activate your ultimate, and focus on a hero. With Desolator, it's much more effective if you have everyone on your team focus 1 hero at a time. That way the orb effect is used to its fullest potential. If you do win the battle, straggle up what's left of your team and continue to push the lane.

_________________F. Levels 21-25¦¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Skill orderLevel 21 | Attribute BonusesLevel 22 | Attribute BonusesLevel 23 | Attribute BonusesLevel 24 | Attribute BonusesLevel 25 | Attribute Bonuses

Desolator Build OrderBlack King Bar Recipe (1800)Begin Butterfly (6350) (Not in core build... but the next item.)

Gameplay

This must seem like the smallest list of items for late game you'll see. Black King Bar makes

you a GOD. You can't get disabled (mostly, though Bane/BM/Tide/etc do stun you) and you can just go crap over everyone on the team. You are in a key role of the team, motivating everyone to follow your lead.

It's hard to explain when you should use Black King Bar, but know they will try and bait you to use it too early. Activate it when you know the real battle is going to start. If you activate it too early, they will pull out and wait for it to end. Once your immunity is over, they will push and focus you without your BKB. That's why it is extremely important to use this at the right time.

These levels are the same as the last levels, with the regular pushing, counter pushing, and ganking. Boots of Travel becomes extremely powerful, because you can go farm for a while, and come back to help push or defend. After a battle, you can teleport to your creeps in a different lane and push with those. If you end up being the only one alive while the other team is pushing, buy teleport scrolls. By teleporting to the towers and getting the +100000 Armor, you can hopefully delay the battle for a couple of seconds.

Other ideas late game are Roshan. You can get him pretty easily with your Desolator, as negative armor really hurts the early levels of Roshan, letting you kill him fast. Also, with your great ultimate and huge damage, you can backdoor towers if your team can make a good distraction.

_________________G. Other Items¦

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Late Game Items

After you finish the build, you need to get more damage and survivability. Therefore, the best way to go is Butterfly. With +60 more damage, +30 IAS, and +30 Evasion, it's one of the best items to get on Troll. After you get that, you can get Heart to increase your HP. It will help you live and survive faster in battle. Past this, finish off with Buriza to have insane criticals that will go off so many times with your insane attack speed. Your final slot, if you did or did not get Hood, is to get BKB. With this full build, you have 3,000 HP in Melee (2,900 w/o), 780 damage cricts, and WTFECK IAS and 30% evasion with 10 seconds of immunity. GG.

Desolator > All?

Yes. It's the perfect item for Troll. It gives him fast damage to help him farm faster. Desolator gives him an orb that gives not only Troll damage, but the rest of his team benifits too. Also, the parts aren't extremely expensive which makes it relatively easy to farm for. In a 1v1, the heavily favored Monkey King Bar would win. As heroes stack armor, Monkey King Bar does indeed become favored, mostly for the fact that it grants Troll a 15% IAS, which influences how much damage he can put out in 1 game second.

Desolator beats out Monkey King Bar when heroes have their armor under 14. Keep in mind

though, this orb affects ALL heroes, which makes it worthwhile past this armor number. Also, Deso is 1000 gold cheaper for the same basic damage. Finally, most heroes's armor is usually below or around 14, which means it will most likely be a strong choice of item to get in games.

Completely sure mathcraft is correct. Damage is factored in with:Boots, x2 Bracers, -Said Item-, Stat points, Average Damage @25, Fervor Aura, Rampage, and any bonuses provided by the items.

Sange And Yasha

No. Why on earth would you ever get this? Troll needs damage and survivability. Small health and +16 damage is NOT damage! Please, don't even try that. The slow, would seem okay with Troll's IAS, but it's not needed and the orb could better be suited elsewhere.

Maelstrom/Mjollnir

The point of my guide is a team-based easily achievable build. Mjollnir does not give that to Troll. First off, let us look at Maelstrom. At 3,000 gold, it seems like a good orb for cheap damage. However, Troll is already a bad solo hero, and you should still be laning by the time you farm Maelstrom, meaning it would push your creeps to gank territory. Not only that, it does not give as much damage as Desolator gives, so your last hit is not as strong as it could be. If you are neutral creeping by the time this item is made, you already have your two hammers for Desolator, which can sometimes clear the creeps faster if you are unlucky.

Now, Mjollnir wise, you've been forced to neutral creep because of your Maelstrom problem. Not bad, but it does shorten your time in lanes with your BoT you bought before, saying we follow the build. However, once you reach Mjollnir, I could instead take that Eaglehorn and have Butterfly, with a 30% Evasion to increase my survivability and by that, damage, in a battle. Mjollnir however, just gives you a buff which hurts random targets around you. With 500 Range, you're looking at Melee heroes (see: Tanks) and creeps (See: Useless.) So, the Static buff just seems overrated. I'd rather survive 30% longer then you then deal out a lucky 200 damage to that Centaur Warchief.

And there's no point to buy this after Desolator, you can spend your money better on Buriza to have extra smecky crictials with your -6 armor heroes.

Bashers

Bashers are not what you want to get in your game. You already have a passive bash in your melee form, why do you need more? Secondly, they scare your opponent more than usual, which will send more disables at you then usual. It takes up an item slot which could be better used some other place. More to the fact, you don't need to spend your time disabling heroes. You have a team for that. Your item slots can be better off with more damage and survivability. I'm going to stress this in about every item. That's all you need for Troll. Damage and survivability.

Lifesteal! (Vladamir's, Satanic, Helm of the Dominator)

As I said with every other item, Troll needs damage and survivability. As lifesteal doesn't give damage, you might think it gives you the key to surviving. Well, it doesn't. Considering you get disabled a lot, your orb gets wasted all that time. If you do take the orb, your only damage item would be Buriza (MKB ruins your bash, others are orbs). With no other damage items, you won't be making any damage with your critical.

Escape Items (Lothars, Blink)

Troll seems like the ideal candidate for one of these. His job it to take out a hero as fast as possible without dieing. Sort of like a Clinkz, but more power in the battle. Without an escape mechanism, it should be a top priority, no? Well, no, it shouldn't.

Lothars gives you good bonuses (+31 Dmg, +10% IAS) but it costs 3800, while most of that cash is just for the wind walk effect. For one, the wind walk is only a 9 second wind walk and it's cool down makes not too spammable. This means that you can't WW, BKB, kill one and get out. It doesn't work like that. Not only that, but wards, gems, and necronomicons are among the easy to counter items that can be bought to ruin your escape. And as such, Lothars would only be used as an escape mechanism, and nothing more. But if you have good teammates and good map sense, you should be able to dodge most of those ganks anyway.

Blink Dagger then seems like the winner. Uncounterable, escape, and a mana cost you can handle! The only problem is that Blink is used to get in position for something, or as a starting attack. You are neither. You don't want to jump in first, as you would get disabled and focused faster than you can believe. You also don't want any sort of "position" as all you have to do is run and attack. So blink is useless as well.

—————————————————————————IV. Hero and Item Analysis

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__________________________A. Good Supporting Heroes¦

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Orge Magi* and Magantaur

Buffing HeroesTroll has all the damage he can want, and these guys amplify that damage. While Troll is pretty strong on his own, add other buffs and he can become a one man wrecking machine! Orge Magi gets speical mention, for he gives Troll lots of what he needs. He has a disable which can go for an extended period of time with Multicast, and also has Bloodlust to increase Troll's IAS to MAX (4 attacks a second) with his ultimate on, as they stack. Finally he has an AoE slow to help Troll chase down the fleeing heroes.

Beastmaster & Bane Elemental

Long DisablesTroll needs a disable. I cannot stress this enough. Without disables ganks can't happen, and kills are much harder to make. With a disable, Troll can tear the hero apart freely. BM can also use his hawk to help Troll survive by scouting around to help avoid ganks.

Lich & Shadow Priest*

AoE Slows / Slows in GeneralTroll doesn't have the greatest move speed, and with no disables, heroes can merely run away as soon as he starts to fight. Slows slow down the heroes which gives Troll more time to get hits in on them. Also paired up with AoE nukes like Lich can give Troll more room to farm, if forced to go in a lane.

Shadow Priest gets another speical mention, as he is a great ally of Troll in this guide. He gives him free heals early game, a nice disable and slow for the taking, and negative armor to help out your Desolator. Finally, he has a free mini-Aegis on him, saving you cash whenever you die.

________________________B. Good supporting Items¦

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Guinsoo, RefresherAgain, I'm stressing the fact about disables. Why is refresher put into here? Well, you only get refresher to double your ultimate, and usually those ultimates are disables. So, 99% of the time the hero buying a refresher will most likely be using it for more disables. YAY!

Chicken, Observer Wards

Woohoo! Anyway, the tangos are nice and all, but Troll needs more than that. He needs a good supply of flasks coming to him after he's done creeping and running to a team push/fight/etc. Also, Troll is easy to gank and you don't want to be running around with cash and no way to spend it. Also, being that big gank target, observer wards placed by your big farming intelligence heroes can save you from those ganks.

_______________________C. Tough Enemy Heroes¦

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Lich & Solo Leshrac

Early Game Harassers / Chain NukersTroll has a counter to physical harassing, but when it comes to spells he's got nothing. He can't harass back either, so that's out of the question. Later on they'll become weaker, as you gain more HP with your stats and strength gain, and you can tear through them. However, they will make your early game hell. Request ganks and neutral creep a lot to get through these guys, knowing full well they're food for you later on.

Death Prophet and Tormented Soul

Early Push StratTroll needs late game to win. This is probably a sure proof plan to take him down and make him near but useless. You can't stay farming, as not many teams can hold 4v5 vs. early push. It's still a pain if you stay and defend, for you can't farm your items and really you can't do much during the battles. You'll probably want more bracers, 2-3 in this case. Bracers are always recommended if you are having trouble, for the more hit points you get the better.

Queen of Pain & Venomancer

Heavy Ganking HeroesTroll is a huge gank target because he has no escape ability besides a silly 42% blind and +20 movement speed. With the more deaths Troll gets, the more he is set back and the more he might be weak late game. Observer wards and good calling from lanes should do the trick on them. Don't play too aggressive, and neutral creep if the creeps have gone too far. (Pulling works too.)

Also figure out the tells of the enemy and use them. If they are extremely passive then start harassing you, you are in for a gank. If they are aggresive, then wait for awhile, they might be planning your death soon.

______________________D. Tough Enemy Items¦

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Dagon, AghanimsDagon and Aghanims both give your opponent stronger nukes. Troll can't do much against nukes until he gets more hit points or a BKB. They'll most likely buy this item to use against you and focus you.

Vanguard and Assault CuirassAn early Vanguard can counter any sort of harassment you'll try to give to the hero. Also, all tanking items just means it takes longer for you to take down the hero. Best way to counter this is to not focus the tank, but if the tank plays well that's not an option.

_____________________E. Easy Heroes to Kill¦

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Zeus & Sniper

No Reliable Escape HeroesI hope I've stressed enough Troll should not be the ganker of the team, but if you need to go kill something to take out your anger, so be it. You'll still want to go with an ally of course. These heroes are the easiest because they have low hit points and do not have a reliable escape mechanism. Disable and get a quick kill. If you have enough time, run in melee form first, and once they run away go ranged.

Pugna & Necrolyte

Intelligence w/o disablesIn team battles, there are two ways you can look at something. Take away the support heroes and leave the carry to fend for themselves, or focus the carry heroes and leave the support to hold

their own. As "support" is to "support" it's better to take them out first, plus it's easier to take them out, for the carry heroes are most likely protected by the others.

________________________F. Suggested 5v5 Line-up (-XL!)¦

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯Bane Elemental and Omniknight | Troll | Sand King and Lina

[Leshrac, Silencer, Beastmaster disabled]

Early game will be Troll's weak point. Blind will keep him alive versus orbwalking heroes, but be prepared to get hurt badly. Bane and Omniknight both have heals, and a rush of Arcane with Omniknight can keep them at full hit points all game. Sand King and Lina is a strong combination at the lane, with the regular double stun. Sand King is able to go around ganking, as he also works well with Bane's classic Sleep/Grip/Free Epicenter Channel during lane time. Sand King is a strong tank and Omniknight can buff Troll late game to make him rip stuff up.

Top lane doesn't have the best control, but they have the ability to survive well. With Sap and Heal, they can survive most lanes well. If needed to harass, Sleep/Heal/Sap could be used. Omniknight rushes Arcane ring and Bane works on Necrobook, while ganking around the map whenever Grip is up.

Troll goes Blind + Stats (of course) and just tries to survive. This build is your best bet versus most orbwalkers, just work on surviving. Keep Troll in middle as much as possible, unless they are pushing hard. No jungle hero means all the creeps are yours, so feel free to farm ones if the creeps push out too far.

Finally, Lina+Sand King is a strong lane taken from the -LM lane of Leshrac/Sand King. With Bane around to gank, Sand King leading in stuns with Lina's after can score early kills while having support from Bane when needed. Sand King rushes Blink while Lina can get whatever she wants, including Euls or Blink or BoT.

—————————————————————————V. FRAPS Clips

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__________________R. Recommended Replay¦

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kevintroll.w3g (map version 6.46b, -RD, 5v5, TDA) played by Kleech trollkevin.w3g ( 871.95k ) Number of downloads: 1694

Sentinel:top: Orge Magi and WeaverMid: Solo Troll WarlordBot: Magnataur and Centaur WarchiefScourge:Top: Solo QoPMid: Solo RazorBot: Keeper of the Light and LeviJungle: Lycan

Here is it. I solo Mid vs Razor and do pretty bad last hit wise, as I haven't played Troll in ages. I farm horribly, and die carelessly twice, so I only end up with a 35 minute Desolator. After that however, everything picks up. I grabbed a cloak before starting Deso because of KoTL and QoP, finishing it after into Hood. I then get Boots of Travel and farm up my butterfly. Once completed, I can 2v1 Lycan and Levi (see:60 minutes) pretty easily, and the game swings back to our favor.

Everything in this guide is shown in the replay, and more importantly, it shows how sick Troll can be if you can have good teammates. With Orge and Maggy always buffing me, I end the game with an 1000 damage crict, and tear through their heroes.

End 8-4, really 7-3, just dove fountain for a kill. Bracer/Boots/Bracer/Cloak/Deso/Hood/BoT/Butterfly/Heart/Buriza/BKB.

__________________I. Inhouse Replays¦

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troll_lost.w3g (map version 6.41, -RD 5v5, TDA) played by Kleech troll_lost.w3g ( 1.74mb ) Number of downloads: 933

Sentinel:top: Solo Stealth AssassinMid: Rhasta and Orge MagiBot: Doom and WeaverScourge:Top: Solo TrollMid: Visage and EarthshakerBot: Necrolyte and Bloodseeker

I solo top versus an SA, and farm pretty well. I do feed him 2 branches, which was just weird in the game because I was wondering where they went. Two close calls gets me 2-0 in my solo. Yet, our team is not handling itself well.In the end, we lost thanks to me. I teleported away to defend, when it should have been a rush for the throne. We held off Super Creeps for a really long time too.

I put this up because it shows everything. It shows how to handle yourself throughout the game. I carry as best as I can, and we break the first barracks of the game. Yet, I get focused fired beyond belief. Rhasta, Orge, and Doom all threw everything at me every battle, and BKB could not do anything to Doom. I probably should have built heart first to try and counter Doom, but I didn't.

__________________L. League Replays¦

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Fierce_troll.w3g (map version 6.40, -AP 5v5, IHCS) played by Fierce Fierce_troll.w3g ( 877.83k ) Number of downloads: 1056

Sentinel:top: Bane and OmniknightMid: Solo TrollBot: Beastmaster and DoomScourge:Top: Leshrac and JuggernautMid: VisageBot: Pugna and Morphling

QUOTENotes: I solo mid verse korny's visage, pretty boring game if you just watch me play only, my teammates establish map control 4v5 (very impressive in my opinion) while i just farm, the surprising thing is my teammates are not high rated at all compared to the other players but they are definitely good support players =)

Though he does not go my build (Midas, MKB, Fervor @10) this replay shows how a Troll can handle in a high level game. It also shows AMAZING support by his teammates, which is what Troll needs. He survived Visage well and called for lots of ganks. CREDIT TO FIERCE FOR ALLOWING ME TO USE HIS REPLAY.

__________________M. 1v0 Replays¦

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troll_jukes_wards.w3g (map version 6.41) played by Kleech troll_jukes_wards.w3g ( 107.09k ) Number of downloads: 342

I go and place wards out for Troll and show you some good juke spots you might not know of. I

showed how to creep pull bottom lane, and enemy creep pull top. By the way, never do that in a game unless it's really 1 sided. They CAN SEE YOU WHEN YOU PULL THEIR CREEPS.

scourge_jukes_wards.w3g (map version 6.41) played by Kleech scourge_jukes_wards.w3g ( 76.02k ) Number of downloads: 207

If you play -ap on Scourge, I placed some ward spots up. Most of the juke areas were covered on Sent, but I use others for Top lane/bottom. I tried creep pulling with little success. The mega creep pull is extremely hard.

—————————————————————————VI. Frequently Asked Questions

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__________________A. Skill Questions¦

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯QUOTEQ: Why not level up melee to level 4? You gain +25 damage more per bash, which is an average of +2.5 damage per attack, which is more than stats. Also +10 ms!

A: Why, yes, yes it is. Yet, melee is not used for bash. It's not used for melee form either. It gives you bonus damage, hit points, and armor. Also +20 movement speed. All of that is used when you are neutral creeping, or facing a hero 1v1. And if you are only using it then, .5 extra damage isn't going to make a difference.

A: I do level it up! The buff to the movespeed makes it worthwhile to upgrade at level 20.

QUOTEQ: Fervor is the winz! You nub! No attack speed early!

A: Why sure, with it's pretty big AoE, your creeps will be pushing towards their tower, which will lower your gold income and cancel the point of Blind. Also it gives the enemy free levels. Also, you have melee form to boost your IAS if you go rambo 1v1 early game.

QUOTEQ: What's the point of Blind if you aren't facing orb-walkers?

A: A fair question. Well, like I've stated, you ruin their last hitting and denying by 42%. Also,

you aren't going to get fully nuked to death, there will be a few pot-shots in there. By reducing those potshots by 42%, you could be saving your life. Finally, Blind is not only there for orb walking heroes. Pub heroes such as Night Stalker or Gondor need to hit you a few times for you to die, and Blind can turn those ganks around for you.

__________________B. Item Questions¦

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯QUOTEQ: What about Mask of Madness?

A: First, the IAS is utterly useless. It doesn't stack with your ultimate, and you don't want that extra damage on you for whatever reason. Not only that, Desolator is an extremely good orb for Troll, and you can't pass it up with a MoM.

QUOTEQ: Why don't you have Midas in your build?

A: Okay, it's going to stay this way. Final decision! I am not getting Midas because if playing in a competitive atmosphere, Troll is going to have a hard time farming and surviving. You can't spend the time rushing Midas, you have to rush double bracers. Then after that, you're going to need better damage to last hit with. Midas just never has a shot.

__________________________C. Miscellaneous Questions¦

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯QUOTEQ: How do I counter this Troll? Blind makes it hard to harass!

A: Simply put, Chain nukes or non-stop harass. Examples would be CM+Lina, Viper, and Lich. CM Lina rapes anything and everything. If you can keep Troll down with nukes, your gold in kills will out pay the missed creeps.

Viper should be able to put him down through constant orb-walking and harassing. Blind may work, but it's not too useful before level 5. Hit him hard and early. If not Viper, Visage does the same job but earlier. TPD was countered with Visage when they placed Troll in middle.

Lich can deny Troll (so can Engima) and harass with nukes. Spam him, harass, and don't worry about farming. You don't need much items as Lich.

—————————————————————————VII. Concluding Thoughts

——————————————————————————

____________A. Replays¦

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯The replays are the best way to learn how play Troll. I can only explain so much on when to farm and when to help your team. Also I'll try and supply a mix of a Pub(Just 1, I promise), A TDA, and maybe a TIHL, and my CAL scrim. I feel that I can show you the best Troll player in the world yet learn nothing, for he doesn't make mistakes.And plus, there isn't screenshots that I can tell you how to play Troll with. So, replays are here to help.

__________________B. Latest Updates¦

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Guide Updated: (2006.02.21)-No Midas-Double Bracer-Only Desolator-Deso vs MKB graph-Strategy revised

Guide Posted version 3.0! (2006.12.17.) Sent Guide to HGC #3 (2006.09.10.) [Scored 5/10] Took out Permabash build. (2006.09.03) Added Rage Level 1 (2006.07.11.) 2nd Place in 6th HGC Premium'd (2007.09.17)

-Removed Stat Graph so no stretch-Added Wraiths instead of Bracers-Working on Mjollnir build-Fixed Layout a bit.

________________C. Final Words¦

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So thus ends my Troll Warlord guide. I hope I covered everything possible. Also, leave me comments! A "I hate you" or "Eh, alright" or even a "I WANT YOUR BABIES" is great. Just PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE don't go, "I like doing this..." and then give me your stat and item build.

If you want to do that, instead go, I think you should have ___ here, because ___ reasons.

Its just a lot nicer and easier for both of us. Also, it's against the rules to post miniguides in other people's guides.

And next time you see a Troll who has Fervor Aura early on, just laugh. Laugh your heart out.Credit goes to:

Thanks to Serados for his guide to writing guides to help me learn to make better ones. MasterJoe for his always helpful insight, replays, and item build suggestions. (bracer,

Midas, Deso, bkb) Non stop support. Beast_Pete for making his Hero Guide Template public and letting me use it! TOTAL

STEAL NP I OWE PETE MY LIFE. AND FOR the spam this time. noobasaurusREX, for Pete made his layout from Rex. My brother, rebz, for always being there to spam my topic. =] Fierce, for letting me use his replay. Everyone at each HGC for telling me I need updates/sucks/pro/feed/bad/. <3 Naz for letting me post WCHPH. His confirmation on it being allowed is such: here.

Kleech2007.2.21.

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