Strategy Guide for Mortred the Phantom Assassin by Ali Radicali (as of v6.59)

http://planetdota.blogspot.com

Story

Born into the reclusive Night Elf order known as the Wardens and shunned by mainstream Night Elf society, Mortred pledged allegiance to the Scourge to take revenge. A perfect blend of strength and speed, the years spent alone in the forests of Ashenvale allowed her to blend into the terrain, appearing phantomlike at times and striking when you least expect it. The deadly precision with which she carries out her attacks have made her a valuable member of the Scourge, and it is clear why she is known as the Phantom Assassin.

Introduction

Mortred has long been the laughing stock of the "Prö" DotA community; the stereotypical lategame pubstomper that can be easily countered early-game with proper team-play. Many recent changes however, have buffed Mortred, to the point where she can actually be considered as a carry (not in the highest levels, but in a "fun game" between decent players).These changes have all directly or indirectly buffed Mortred:

- Blink Dagger Nerf (No more easy escape from mortred, also an indirect buff to Blink Strike)- Power Treads buff (More survival)- Armlet of Mordiggian (A very powerful item for Mortred)- Bottle Nerf/change (A nerf to Bottle is a buff to non-bottle heroes)- Ring of Health / Void Stone / Perseverance buffs. (Easier mid-game)- Battlefury buff (Cheaper = easier to farm)- Stifling Dagger (Way better than Shadow Strike)- Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse change (A player getting Guinsoo's first won't have Cyclone mid-game)- Stifling Dagger buff. Wheee!

Prös and Cons

Pros:- Good Movement Speed- Nice Attack animation- Ranged last-hitting tool- Good Chaser- Exponential power-growth- Very good stat-gain- Incredible late-game

Cons:- Melee Hero- Low starting HP- Microscopic mana pool- Only a weakish disable- An unreliable escape mechanism- Weak early-game- No farming skills

Before you pick Mortred

Mortred is a needy little girl, you can't pick her in any game and expect to own. Before picking her, here are some things to consider:

What kind of heroes did your allies pick?

Mortred needs a balanced team to function properly. In a team with only lategame carries, you can expect to get raped, so before picking her, wait and see what your teammates pick.A good team for mortred has a tank to draw fire from her, as well as numerous (ranged) harassers/nukers/disablers that can solo (This is important because you'll be jungling, leaving them alone in their lanes). A good lineup (Sent-side) could be:

QUOTETormented Soul top lane, soloing.

Crystal Maiden and Centaur Warchief MidLich and Mortred bottom lane.

In such a team, the other heroes have a very powerful early-game, allowing you to farm while they take the full brunt of the opposing team. The amount of AoE disables allows your fragile little Mortred to enter combat without getting focus-fired, and late-game your team can support you very well.

Some Exceptionally good allies:

QUOTERanged Solo Nukers/Disablers

Capable of soloing, and capable of unleashing AoE hell, these guys make your early game easier by babysitting/enabling jungling, and they make teamfights a breeze by distracting the enemies with confusing AoE spell-animations.

Initiator-Tanks

These guys can jump into an enemy team, cast their spells, tank a while and come out alive. Blink-Stun is one of the gayest gang-bang initiations and Mortred's just aching to exploit the chaos by jumping in to kill the enemy team with massive crits.

Special Mentions:

Bambi

She's capable of holding a solo-lane, and she has a very powerful slow. Her heal is very helpful too, and once she gets a guinsoo, you'll love her.

Omniknight

Omniknight-Mortred is pure rape. You won't need a BKB to enter combat and be untouchable, and his other skills all complement you. He's pure support, and that's just what you need, a little help. Also, this guy can probably be convinced to get Vladmir's offering, giving you some juicy lifesteal and damage.

What kind of heroes did your opponents pick?

If your enemies' team consists of only early-game nukers/disablers, you might be better off

picking an early-game hero yourself. Chances are you'd never reach the point where Mortred starts to own against these heroes; they'll suppress you early, and finish fast.

Some Exceptionally bad enemies:

QUOTEPusher-disabler earlygame dudes

Put a couple of these in one team and you're guaranteed to have a bad game. If your facing some of these guys think very hard before picking Mortred.

If your team complements Mortred, and the enemy team isn't too early-game focused, then by all means pick Mortred, it'll be fun!

Stats & Skills

Affiliation: Scourge

Starting Health: 473Starting Mana: 169

Starting Damage: 46 – 48Starting Armor: 4.2

Starting Strength: 17 (+2.05 per level)Starting Agility: 23 (+3.15 per level)

Starting Intelligence: 13 (+1.0 per level)

Base Attack Speed: 1.7 (normal)Starting Attack Range: 100 (melee)

Starting Movement Speed: 310

QUOTE

Stifling DaggerHurls a dagger which deals minor pure damage and slows the unit's movement speed for a short

duration. Deals half damage to heroes.

Manacost: 30/25/20/15 - Cooldown: 10 seconds - Cast Range: 650Level 1 - 40 damage, 50% slow. Lasts 1 second.Level 2 - 80 damage, 50% slow. Lasts 2 seconds.Level 3 - 120 damage, 50% slow. Lasts 3 seconds.Level 4 - 160 damage, 50% slow. Lasts 4 seconds.

Stifling Dagger is Mortred's shiny new skill, and it's vital to her for the entire game. This skill has two uses:1. A disable that helps in chasing heroes. Stifling Dagger has very low damage against heroes, but it costs next to nothing, slows significantly for a large duration, and has a very low cooldown.

2. A ranged last-hitting tool. Early-game, you might find yourself in a lane facing one, or even two good (ranged) harassers. In that case, Stifling Dagger can be used to last-hit from a safe distance, netting you a sure kill without any risks.

QUOTE

Blink StrikeTeleports to a unit and strikes it if it is a foe, dealing bonus damage. Casting range improves per

level.Manacost: 50 - Cooldown: 30/20/10/5 seconds

Casting Range: 700/800/900/1000

Level 1 - deals 30 extra damage. Level 2 - deals 60 extra damage.Level 3 - deals 90 extra damage.Level 4 - deals 120 extra damage.

Another important skill for Mortred, Blink Strike is a versatile spell that can be used to chase and escape. It also works for early-game damage/harassment against heroes, and even as an alternative last-hitting tool for when Stifling Dagger is on cooldown.The skill's range increases per level:

Blink Strike level 1 ====================== Blink Strike level 4

As you can see, the range increases significantly between level 1 and level 4. At level one, the range isn't much more than a ranged hero's attack range; at level 4, you can blink from one side of the screen to the other.

QUOTE

Blur - PassiveThe Phantom Assassin becomes hard to see by blurring her body. Some enemy attacks miss.

Level 1 - 7% dodge.Level 2 - 14% dodge.Level 3 - 21% dodge.Level 4 - 28% dodge.

When you level this skill, Mortred's model becomes more and more see-through, until finally becoming nothing more than a shadow at level 4. This helps confuse enemies, and makes you hard to target in hectic battles.

QUOTE

Ultimate: Coup de Graçe - PassiveMortred has refined her hero-killing skills to a high degree.

Level 1 - 15% chance to 2.0x critical. Level 2 - 15% chance to 3.0x critical. Level 3 - 15% chance to 4.0x critical.

This skill can be considered a 15%/30%/45% average damage increase. It starts to rock as soon as your damage becomes significant.It's worth mentioning that Critical strike doesn't stack with Coup de Grace (the last skill learnt/item purchased will take effect when both occur on a single attack). Also, any bonus damage from bashes/minibashes are treated a separate damage, and are not multiplied by Coup de Grace.

Skillbuild and Itembuild

Mortred's build depends greatly upon your play-style, and the type of game. If you're neutralling a lot, then stats and Coup de Grace are useful; if you're staying in-lane, Stifling dagger is a must; and if you're hunting heroes, you need both Stifling Dagger and Blink Strike maxed.

QUOTESkill Build (Neutral-creeping):

Stifling Dagger: 1, 3, 12, 13Blink Strike: 2, 8, 9, 10 Blur: 17, 18, 19, 20Coup de Graçe: 6, 11, 16

Stats: 4, 5, 7, 14, 15, 21-25

This build gives you the required damage and hp to tank neutral creeps. The two points of Stifling Dagger are for last-hitting in-lane (Mortred can't jungle from the start), the single point of Blink Strike is for escaping. This build is very non-interactive; you can't really assist in ganks, and you can't get early kills, but you can jungle with it.

This Table shows you how much hp you'll lose for each creep camp using this build, and how long it takes to kill the creeps.

QUOTESkill Build (Lane-Farming / Gank-assisting):

Stifling Dagger: 1, 3, 5, 7Blink Strike: 2, 4, 6, 8 Blur: 17, 18, 19, 20Coup de Graçe: 10, 11, 16Stats: 9, 12-15, 21-25

This build is more suited for fighting heroes and farming in a lane. Both Blink Strike and Stifling Dagger are maxed for easy farming against even ranged heroes, powerful harassment, and assisting in kills. With this build, you won't be able to deal a lot of attack-damage early-on, but

you'll have more lane control and disabling power.

QUOTEStifling Dagger or Blink Strike?

It doesn't matter very much which one you max first. If you can farm freely, go for Blink Strike, but if you need Stifling Dagger for last-hitting, max it first. In a fight, you want both skills maxed, Dagger for its slow, Blink Strike for the 5 second cooldown at level 4

QUOTENo Coup de Grace?

Coup de Grace is not needed early if you're staying in your lane. It doesn't help in last-hitting, because it's unreliable and in skirmishes with opponents your damage will come mainly from Blink Strike bonus damage and your allies' nukes, not from your rather puny attack-damage.In lane, it's best to wait 'till level 10-11 before getting Coup de Grace.

Core Items:

The unique thing about mortred is the versatility of her basic items. There are certain items that are absolutely necessary for her, but the order in which to get them, and the exact items vary greatly, depending on your opponents, the speed at which you farm and personal preference.What Mortred needs:

- HP.As a melee hero, Mortred will be in the thick of combat, so without some hp, she'll die really fast.

- Damage.Mortred's main damage-boosting skill, Coup de Grace, increases damage based on how much damage she has, so the more extra damage you get, the more damage Coup 'll do.

- Attack-speed.Mortred needs to deal her damage very fast, otherwise, she'll get disabled and die.

- Lifesteal.This is essential for Mortred's survival. Without lifesteal, Mortred might get a kill in a big battle, but she'd probably have to escape at that point. If she has some lifesteal, she can remain in combat, regenerating health based on her DPS (which is extraordinary).

The core items are:

Power Treads(STR)

Armlet of Mordiggian

Battlefury

Mask of Madness/Helm of the Dominator

QUOTEWhy get Power Treads (STR)?

- I think Power Treads are better than Boots of Travel for Mortred, because;a. They're cheaperb. They give a decent amount of hpc. They give a useful attackspeed bonusd. They give you an early edge on BoS users that haven't upgraded their footwear yet

As for PT(STR) vs. PT(AGI) Mortred needs the 190 hp a lot more than the 10 damage and AS.

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QUOTEWhy get Armlet of Mordiggian?

- It's an insanely powerful item that can be assembled from easy-to-farm items that all provide useful bonuses.

+ Helm of Iron Will: Armor and HP regen allow you to farm neutrals with minimal loss of life.

+ Gloves of Haste: Extra atack-speed means you'll be able to farm faster, and you'll lose less hp per camp.

+ Claws of Attack: Same as Gloves of Haste, you'll farm faster, and lose less hp neutralling. It also helps with last-hitting, when you're farming in a lane.

+ Unholy Strength: The reason Armlet is gotten. When activated, you'll instantly gain 475 hp (25 STR), +31 damage (for a total of 40), +10% AS (for a total of 25%), for the cost of 30 35 hp/sec. Activating Unholy Strength gives you a ton of survival, and a lot of damage potential, both of which Mortred lacks early-game. Once this item is gotten, you're a decent threat.

About Armlet: Armlet is a more complicated item to use than most items. There are quite a few tricks to master, but instead of going to great lengths to explain them here, I strongly suggest you check out Patccmoi's Guide to the Armlet of Mordiggian.

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QUOTEWhy get Battlefury?

- Mortred needs damage as well as attack-speed to function. Just as Mask of Madness is the best Attack-speed booster for her, Battlefury is the best damage item for her.

+ DamageBattlefury is the cheapest way to get a lot of damage, in easy-to-farm pieces. The most expensive component now costs a mere 1400 gold.

+ Cleave AttackThis is the reason you're getting this item. It turns you from a chaser, useless in a team-battle, into a ferocious beast. Normally, Mortred won't be very effective in a big battle, because she can't hurt more than one hero at a time, but once she gets one or more battlefuries, even standing next to her starts to hurt like hell. Two or three battlefuries turns her into an AoE nuke that does 1000+ damage per second to surrounding enemies.......Also Cleave improves your farming tremendously, generating huge wads of cash to spend..... on

more battlefuries! (and survival-gear of course )

+ RegenerationThe awesome regeneration Battlefury (and Perseverance) provides makes mid-game farming a breeze.

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QUOTEWhy get Lifesteal?Lifesteal works well with mortred, because she has a form of critical strike, which is basically a passive attack damage enhancer. The more damage you deal, the more life you steal, and Mortred's Coup de Graçe gives 45% extra damage per attack, on average. Lifesteal is also a good way to keep your hp full when neutralling, which is something Mortred should do. A lot.

QUOTEMask of Madness or Helm of the Dominator?- There's no easy answer here, it really depends on the game.The items are quite different, they both have their positives and negatives.

QUOTEMask of Madness?

- This item synergises wonderfully with Mortred. Let me explain, by highlighting each of MoM's effects, and explaining how it helps Mortred.

+ LifestealSee above for why lifesteal is a must. MoM gives slightly more lifesteal than HotD, but Satanic gives significantly more.

+ Attack SpeedCoup de Graçe is chance based, which is why the average of 45% only applies when she attacks a large number of times. The more often she attacks, the more likely it'll be that she'll do the expected number of crits. Also, this skill gives you burst damage, which is very nice, because your slow lasts a very short time.I calculated that with the current skill build, Mortred (level 16) will have 1.85 attacks per game-second upon activation.BAT = 1.7AGI = 84 (5*stats + 1 Bracer + 1 Ironwood Branch + Statgain) = 84% IASMoM = 75% IASArmlet = 25%Power Treads (STR) = 30%AS = 1 + 0.75 + 0.84 + 0.25 = 2.84 AS/BAT = 1.85 attacks per game second. (See also: guide to attack speed)

+ Movement speed.Ideal for chasing. By using the combination of Blink Strike-Stifling Dagger-Berserk you can latch on to your opponent. This combination of slowing your opponent down and speeding yourself up allows you to attack almost as fast as you would if your opponent weren't moving at all. Furthermore, the extra speed can be used to travel faster or to escape a sticky situation.Base movement speed = 310Power Treads = +65Total MS = 375*1.15 = 431 MS. Now that's fast.

+ 20% extra damage received.The drawback of Mask of Madness, is that you receive more damage when you activate it. Though this is a major inconvenience, especially on a low-hp hero like Mortred, quite a bit of this drawback is dealt with by blur. Every attack that misses you because of blur means that you've not evaded 100% of the attack damage, but 120%. So basically, The drawback of receiving extra damage is to a certain extent reduced by evasion.Also, it must be noted that Life Drain from Armlet of Mordiggian is not increased by Berserk's 20% damage increase! (tested by yours truly).

QUOTEHelm of the Dominator?

- It gives a good damage boost, it's upgradeable to Satanic, and Dominating creeps makes for easier farming/interesting ganking options.

+ Build PathGoing for HotD allows you to get double HoiW, which is a very powerful combination, especially for neutralling.

+ LifestealSee above for why lifesteal is a must. HotD gives slightly less lifesteal than MoM, but Satanic gives significantly more.

+ ArmorSurvival is good. Extra armor makes neutralling easier.

+ DamageMore damage means more lifesteal and faster neutralling. Ever since the 6.50 buff to HotD, the damage is a pretty good reason to get it.

+ Dominating CreepsThis is tricky, but if your micro-skills you can use creeps like Centaur, Polar Ursa and Dark Troll

to disable your opponents. This can make the difference between a kill and a 0-hp escape.Also, dominatees can tank for you, making neutralling even easier.

Generally Armlet will be your first major DPS item, but if you're farming very well, and your team seems to be doing fine, you can go straight for Battlefury, and get Mordiggian afterwards. Also, early-game, you can combine your Mask of Death with Helm of Iron will to form a Helm of the Dominator, and disassemble it later to make Armlet.

In this guide I'll be using my standard item-build, but this can be adapted from game to game.

Game Walkthrough

(this part of the guide is far from complete. More strategy-stuff will be added on a regular basis.)

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Level 1-11

During the early part of the game your top priorities should be leveling up and gaining gold. Ideally, you won't return to your base until you can buy your Power Treads + Armlet of Mordiggian. You can get Helm of Iron will at the side-shops, and it's a good investment because it allows you to neutral longer, and you need it anyway. If you do return to your base, it's wise to invest in some early-game items so you can stay away from the fountain longer, ergo gain more gold & experience. To summarize, you'll spend this part of the game farming your ass off, and trying not to get sent home.

FarmingThe first few levels will be spent farming in a lane, because you can't jungle from the start. Use Dagger as a last-hitting tool only when necessary. If you can last-hit regularly without suffering major damage, then do so. Don't waste your mana/cooldown. Once you get 950 gold, buy a Helm of Iron Will at the side-shop. With this item, you'll be able to jungle. This doesn't mean you have to! At earlier levels, jungling will be slow and it'll probably still cost you a fountain trip. If you can delay you jungling a little, then do so. If you're being dominated in-lane, but your ally can handle himself, then by all means jungle.After a certain point, jungling will give you more xp and gold than farming a lane with another hero, however an untended lane (no heroes, ally or enemy) will always give more XP and gold than jungling. If you see an untended lane nearby, and the risk of an enemy gank isn't too great, then drop by and get some free creepkills.

Hero-killing

Against decent players, killing isn't very likely early-on. Most enemy heroes will outdamage you early, and your chasing isn't very powerful yet.With a decent ally however, you can turn out to be a nasty surprise. Stifling Dagger is spammable and powerful, and Blink Strike deals quite a lot of damage. If you're using the "Lane build" you can get kills through ganks/teamwork. Solo killing is only possible if the enemy

screws up. (which does happen frequently in pubs )On a whole, your early-game role is passive.

(I've divided the early items into two "fountain trips", but the Helm of Iron Will should usually be gotten in a side-shop. The first fountain trip provides more basic survival, and is a higher priority in survival = farming. The second gives you the items that send you into your mid-game. As soon as these items are completed, you enter your mid-game mode, so the sooner you farm up these items, the sooner you'll own!)

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Starting items:

Ring of Regeneration - 375

Ancient Tango of Essification - 90

Ironwood Branch - 57After purchasing these items, head to a side-lane, preferably Bottom Sent / Top Scourge. These lanes provide the most safety from ganks, and they allow you to creep pull. Don't Solo! Having a teammate with you might net you some early kills, and it'll certainly save you from harassment.

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Side Shop:

Helm of Iron Will - 950If you get 950 gold whilst in-lane, its usually wise to buy Helm of Iron Will. It's necessary for Armlet, can be upgraded to Helm of the Dominator, and it provides very useful stats for neutralling. Once this is gotten, neutralling becomes an option. (It's not always the best option though)If you're planning to make HotD as your main lifesteal item, you can get two of these!

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First Fountain Trip:

Belt of Giant Strength - 450

Boots of Speed - 500

Circlet of Nobility - 185

Gauntlets of Strength - 150

Bracer recipe - 175 => Bracer - 510

Optional: Ancient Tango of Essification - 90 They ease the pain of Neutralling. Often a wise investment.

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Second Fountain Trip (and further trips)

Mask of Death - 900

=> Helm of the Dominator - 1850This is usually a temporary item, it's quickly disassembled to make Armlet. The Mask of Death can be used to make a new HotD, or it can be used to make a MoM. Helm of the Dominator allows you to jungle without losing any hp (see table above), so once this is gotten, you should have no trouble farming.

Gloves of Haste - 550

Blades of Attack - 650

Armlet of Mordiggian Recipe - 700

=> Armlet of Mordiggian - 2850

Gloves of Haste - 550

Power Treads Recipe - 350 => Power Treads (strength) - 1850

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Mid Game

Your item-build should look something like this:

During this stage of the game, farming is still your major focus, but hero-killing becomes viable as well. With combos such as Blink Strike-Stifling Dagger-Unholy Strength you can easily beat an unwary hero to an early death. Mortred is usually underestimated in this stage of the game (few pubbies recognize the power of Mordiggian), and that often results in easy kills.This phase of the game ends as soon as you acquire your first Battlefury, because that's the point where you go from relatively weak, to brutally powerful.

FarmingIn this stage of the game, you'll only be farming the jungle and untended lanes. Don't stay in one place too long, because you'll get ganked.

Team FightsThese will start to occur around mid game. Don't get overconfident, even with Mordiggian

you're still not a major player on the battlefield (yet). Your task is mostly that of assassinating the fleeing enemies. Use common sense, don't start a fight unless victory is certain, and if a fight occurs, don't blindly rush towards the fray, but calculate how you'll help your team best. If the fight is on the other side of the map, don't bother going there, use the opportunity to farm a lane. If the fight turned into a complete wipe for your team, don't sacrifice yourself, try to minimise the impact. Dying won't help your team.

Mask of Madness Recipe - 1050

=> Mask of Madness - 1950

Or: Helm of Iron Will - 950

=> Helm of the DominatorThey both work, it's a matter of personal preference, and it depends on your opponents.

Ring of Health - 875

Void Stone - 875 => Perseverance - 1750

Claymore - 1400

Broadsword - 1200 => Battle Fury - 4350

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Late Game

Your item-build should look something like this:

This is where Mortred starts to shine, the Late Game. Suddenly all those INT heroes that have been pestering you all game long are scared of you, and all those tanks will come to realise that you can cut them down to size in seconds. In this stage of the game, you should go through creep-waves like a Harvesting machine, cutting down creeps as if they were blades of grass. You won't ever have to go back to the fountain, because in a pinch, you can leech your life back from neutral creeps, so investing in a chicken might be a good idea. From now on, you'll spend your money on survival gear and extra damage.

FarmingNeutrals, Creepwaves, Roshan, Enemy heroes, anything goes man! With Battlefury, one crit means you've killed an entire creepwave(~200 gold) or creep camp(~100 gold). With high damage and decent lifesteal, soloing Roshan in an unguarded moment is viable too, and ninja-ing unwary enemy heroes is preposterously easy. In this part of the game, you should be getting insane amounts of gold really, really fast.Team BattlesIn a big battle, you should wait until people have engaged their targets, then Blink Strike in, turn on Berserk, turn on Unholy Strength and proceed to own everyone.

Itemswith your core items done, you can now think about spending your mountains of gold on luxury items:Damage:

2nd Battle Fury - 4350

Monkey King Bar - 5400Survival:

Heart of Tarrasque - 5500

Satanic - 6150

Black King Bar - 3800

Linken's Sphere - 5175

Optional/Luxury Item Selection

Extra DPS

Once you have the core build of PT, Armlet, Lifesteal, and Battlefury, you might start thinking about your second DPS-item. If you find you can cope with your enemies without additional defensive items, I suggest getting a second Battlefury, but getting a Monkey King Bar is sometimes better.

If you didn't make Mask of Madness, you might be lacking Attack-speed. In that case, you could consider getting a Hyperstone.

QUOTE

Battlefury:Pros- Cheaper- Easier to Farm (cheap components)- Cleave (Better for Teambattles, fighting multiple heroes, pushing)- Regeneration

Cons- Less damage against a single target- No ministuns or extra attack-speed.

QUOTE

Monkey King BarPros- More damage- Ministuns- Attack-speed.

Cons- More expensive- Hard to farm, inefficient components- Less AoE damage.- Ministun doesn't get added to Crits (So the 100 bonus damage gets added after the multiplication)

QUOTE

Pros- Attack-speed- Very cheap

Cons- Doesn't give any damage.- Cuirass costs too much, so you won't upgrade it until hyper-lategame.

I rarely get MKB over a second Battlefury, but if you're facing channelers, very tough carry heroes, or a single enemy (the others left, or it's 1v1) it's the (slightly) better item.

Counters/Survival

Once you've got your core build, you might start thinking about getting additional defensive items. If you're facing lots of disablers, you might even want to get one of these before completing the core build.

Heart of TarrasqueThis is my preferred survival item. If you took MoM as your Lifesteal item, HoT is the way to go.

SatanicIf you got Helm of the Dominator, then this will be your primary survival item. It doesn't give enough raw HP as HoT, and it costs considerably more, but it gives armor and extra lifesteal,

both of which are really nice. Unholy Rage is a very, very powerful ability, don't underestimate it.

Black King BarThis should only be gotten if you're facing disablers working together to chain-disable you. This item is gotten purely for the avatar-ability, so make sure you only get it if you absolutely need Magic Immunity.PS: Be careful when using Avatar, always use BKB before any other self-buffs (Unholy Rage)

Linken's SphereIf your opponents have a few very nasty single-target spells, but they don't have a lot of spells (Heroes like Necrolyte, Sven, Lina), then Linken's Sphere is better than BKB. If they do have a lot of spells, they can just use the weakest to trigger your Linken's, so think carefully before getting this.

Rejected Items:

These items are inefficient for Mortred, and shouldn't be bought.

Maelstrom/MjollnirThis is an Orb-effect, so it conflicts with Lifesteal. Furthermore, it deals its damage with chain lightning, and your crit doesn't calculate those, so it's inefficient as a DPS-booster.

Diffusal Blade/Manta StyleSame as Maelstrom, this Orb's bonus damage isn't calculated into the crits, so it's inefficient.

Stygian DesolatorDesolator is a doozy. The armor reduction is useful, and the damage is great. The reason Deso is a no-go is that it's a conflicting orb, and that Battlefury gives the same damage for less gold, and has that nifty cleave.

Vladmir's OfferingThe item gives decent abilities, but they're not needed. Sure, 16% extra non-orb lifesteal is sweet, and so is the extra damage, the armor, and the mana, but getting this item means delaying your necessary items. Kindly request your melee ally to get this, donate your RoR to the cause, but don't waste 2K on an item that's just "nice".

Assault CuirassAgain an item that gives "nice" bonuses, but isn't cost efficient/useful enough to make it into the main build. The Attack-speed from Hyperstone is good, but the armor is pretty much wasted on Mortred until she gets a lot of hp, and 2K for the armor auras is ridiculous. Best leave this item 'till all your other slots are full, or better yet, have the team's tank take it.

The ButterflyI expect to get flamed for this, but I'll say it anyways: The butterfly isn't cost-efficient enough for Mortred. It costs a massive 6000 gold, and gives 60 damage and 60% attack-speed. Good stats, bu not good enough. The components are pretty weak by themselves (Neither Quarterstaff, nor Eaglehorn is very powerful for its price), and by the time Mortred farms up this gear, she could have gotten two Battlefuries. If you're playing -EM, and you need a sixth tier 4 item, then this doesn't apply of course, but in a normal game, you generally won't ever reach the point where Butterfly is worth the effort.

Eye of SkadiDon't ever get this. If you ever get 7K gold, just spend it on DPS or survival, there are heroes that can use the orb much better than you can, and Skadi is just too general an item. It doesn't give enough damage to be worth it's hefty price.

Replays:

 6.51_Imba_Mortred._IMBA_.w3g ( 441.37k ) Number of downloads: 1165

This is a replay of the first time I played with the 6.51 Mortred.It isn't a very awesome game, my early-game sucked (I had to solo + I occasionally mistimed

Stifling Dagger, and I didn't spam it enough...)By mid-game some guys left, leaving it 3v3. Because I'd farmed a lot, I ended up beating the remaining team together with a farmed up alchemist. This replay is good for showing how easily Mortred can dominate with relatively cheap items.

Better replays and images coming soon!

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