DotA Guides: Guide to axe

MOGUL KAHN
AXE

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CREDITS GOES TO DEVIANTART(The one who made it)

Introduction:
â€œIn the war of Humans and Orcs that occurred long ago many Orcish warriors were corrupted by demonic influence and became tools of blackest darkness. One such warrior was the leader of the Half-Tribe of the Bloodied Axe Clan; Mogul Kahn. Mogul was slain by human Paladins but mysteriously was seen fighting alongside the Scourge around the time Mannoroth started to command the Orcs in the war against Archimonde. The Axe has been revived by demons and uses his reflexes and powerful blows to hunt down and seek out the Sentinels' agile warriors and cut them down to size, even projecting his lust for war onto them.â€

So Why Choose Axe??
Axe is a great tanker and very strong, he could take 5 heroes at once with his skills. He is also a good pusher because of his Counter Helix and can advance and go behind the enemies tower.

PROS:
-High Str
-High Agi(For a STR Hero)
-Good Skill Synergy

CONS:
-Early Target
-Melee Hero
-Low Movement Speed
-Low Attack Speed

SKILLS:

Berserker's Call
- Mogul Kahn focuses all of his enemies' hatred on him, causing them to attack him at all costs.
Level 1 - 5 Bonus Armor/1.5 Seconds
Level 2 - 10 Bonus Armor/2 Seconds
Level 3 - 15 Bonus Armor/2.5 Seconds
Level 4 - 20 Bonus Armor/3 Seconds

Notes:
-Affects all units within the area
-Good Skill Synergy with Counter Helix
-A must in Early Game

Battle Hunger
- Afflicts a target with a terrible killing hunger. The target will take damage per second until it kills a unit.
Level 1 - 15Dmg/Second in 10 Seconds
Level 2 - 15Dmg/Second in 15 Seconds
Level 3 - 20Dmg/Second in 20 Seconds
Level 4 - 25Dmg/Second in 25 Seconds

Notes:
-Damage type: magic
-Heroes affected with this buff cannot be denied when their HP is low.
-Killing illusions or destroying buildings will also remove the spell.
-A must if your just new and going for Support

Counter Helix
- Mogul Kahn counters some blows made to him dealing damage to all nearby enemy units.
Level 1 - 17% chance to trigger. Deals 100 damage
Level 2 - 17% chance to trigger. Deals 125 damage
Level 3 - 17% chance to trigger. Deals 150 damage
Level 4 - 17% chance to trigger. Deals 175 damage

Notes:
-Damage type: physical
-Counter Helix checks for triggering whenever an attack against Axe begins, not when Axe is actually damaged by said attack.
-If dealing with ranged heroes, just go beside them but be careful
-Early Game killer skill

Culling Blade
-Purges the weak from Mogul Kahn's sight. Deals moderate damage, but will kill a target that is low on life.
Level 1 - 150dmg,Kills if below 300 HP
Level 2 - 250dmg,Kills if below 435 HP
Level 3 - 300dmg,Kills if below 625 HP

Notes:
-Damage type: magic (regular), 100000000 physical (killing blow*)
-The killing blow* is dealt at the target if its HP is below 300/450/625 respectively, depending on the level of Culling Blade
-The killing blow* goes through magic immunity
-The killing blow* removes all buffs from the target unit before killing it
-This is your Final Blow!!!
-Does good skill synergy with Call,Helix then CULLING!

SKILL BUILD:
Killer Type
1 - Counter Helix
2 - Berserker's Call
3 - Counter Helix
4 - Berserker's Call
5 - Counter Helix
6 - Culling Blade
7 - Counter Helix
8 - Berserker's Call
9 - Berserker's Call
10-14 - Battle Hunger
15 - Stats
16 - Culling Blade
16-25 - Stats

Item Build
Basics:

Stout Shield

Tango of Essification(2)

Bracer

Bracer

-The stout shield will provide 60% to block 20 dmg which is good in pushing and this will protect you in advancing creeps.The shield is also good in Lane Control, it will keep you from getting red health while facing a whole wave of creeps. While the 2 bracers will add more str and they are good starting items

Core Items:

Vanguard

Boots

Kelen's Dagger

Blade Mail

-The vanguard will make others be hard up in killing you and will provide +300 hp,+6hp regen/second and 70% to block 40dmg. If you are in trouble, its time to buy boots. Now for the Hit and Run method of your opponents, buy a dagger and when the call is not enough and they get away, just blink and then call again to kill them. It is also for Chasing,Escaping and Direct Nuking.For the blademail, its for more mana for the casting of call and culling.
Core Extension:

Vanguard
(can be sold if you already have HoT, not if you want to be more tougher)

Phase Boots

Kelen's Dagger

Heart of Tarrasque

Blade Mail
(If you're wondering if where is the hood, it is a recipe for the pipe and if you're also wondering why we have Vanguard, it is just a temporary item for Axe and when you're almost done with a HoT, just sell it for another or a lux item, now if you're saying that it is just a waste of gold, no it is not because you cannot buy a HoT instantly that's why we have it)

-In this Extension, the phase boots is the added which will come in handy in escaping and the HoT which will give another staggering +300hp and +35str and it also comes with a 1% hp regeneration.

Luxury Items:

Heart of Tarrasque

Khadgar's Pipe of Insight or

Hood of Defiance
(If theres a small amount of Magic Users)

Radiance

Shiva's Guard
(If you're wondering if where is the Blood Stone/S&Y/Vladz/VF then, there is none because its just a waste of gold and will interfere in buying Shiva's and Pipe)

-Another HoT will make you even harder to kill and if its possible, you can make two. The pipe is for resistance against magic and also adds hp regen and armor. For the radiance, this item has a great synergy with counter helix for the fact that it damages units in a certain area. For the shiva, its for calling,slowing and armor for tanking purposes.

Rejected Items:

Vladmir's Offering

Aghanim's Scepter

Battle Fury

-Lifesteal is not ok with Axe cause duh! he is spinning not punching and another common mistake i see is the Scepter (-_-"). Its true that it gives +10 attributes,+200hp and +150mana but it does not make culling stronger like killing heroes below 1000hp(shame on those who use this item on axe). The battlefury isnt really necessary because you already have your helix. Counter helix counters all attacks within AoE.

Battle Strategies:
Early Game:
In this time of the game you must follow the basic items and the level 1 skill. You can easily kill here if you're level is from 2-5 even without your Last Skill. To kill enemies in early game, you must be lvl 2 or any level but you must have your Call and your Counter Helix.

What you're gonna do is:
Sentinel Side:
Bottom Lane-You must go behind the Goblin Shop or the other side and wait your enemy to become more closer to your tower and when you see that, go straight to your enemy's side and activate your 1st skill Berserker's Call, now when its activated, just attack and attack him dont worry if he/she is long ranged cause he/she will attack you close. When he/she tries to run you might wanna get the skill Battle Hunger or just activate the call again. If you have a companion just follow the Killer Type Skill Build.

Top Lane-The same as with the Bottom Lane strategy cause Axe is a back stabber but there are 2 strategies that you might want. Back Stabbing the tower or your opponent. If you want to kill the tower and the enemy at the same time, just go to the top of the 2nd neutral creeps spot on the top line of the scourge side. Wait for the creeps to spawn and just stay there and their attacks will trigger your Counter Helix and they will be pwned in no time. In this case, your opponent will go counter you because he/she sees you there. When he/she is close enough, activate your 1st skill and just harass him/her, if creeps arrive, it is better cause there will be more attacks to trigger your counter helix. But be careful, you can be backstabbed by another hero too. This works with ranged enemies too. Now if you just wanna kill the enemy then follow the bottom lane strategy.

Mid Lane-Now in this lane, you are hard up in killing most of the heroes that go here(Mirana,Shadow Fiend,Techies,Tinker,ETC). They are most of the time Ranged and always carry a bottle and you can take advantage from that. The reason they carry a bottle with them is too store runes and for spawning skill. To counter that, just harass them at the 1st creep spawn but you need to creep block so they will be more closer to your tower and when they are close enough, thats the time to go at their backs and just harass them but dont activate your call yet, wait for them to run at orange health and then activate it. The next thing you will know, your at orange health heading for a tango and the screen popping 1st Blood.

Scourge Side:
Bottom Lane-In this lane you need a companion with you or not. If you have then invite him/her to advance behind the tower and let him/her support you if someone gets closer. The reason why you will advance is to kill creeps faster and to destroy the tower faster by the use of your creeps. In killing an enemy, its the same as the top lane on the Sentinel Side. They will just get close to you when they see you advancing and if they do that, you know what you will do, harass and when they run, do the call and boom, your opponent is pwned.

Top Lane-Well this is a good lane for Axe because at the 2nd creep spawn, you can lure the 2nd neutral creeps spot to the tower. When they are lured there, your creeps will see them and help you kill them. Now when its finished then you have 2 creep schools on the top lane at the same time which will kill the opponent creeps faster. At that time, when your creeps are busy killing the other creeps, back stab your opponent and harass. But dont activate the call yet, wait for him to run at his/her danger stage then actiavet it. Harass and harass then he/she will be simultaneously killed.

Mid Lane-This is just the same with the sentinel side. But i dont recommend you going here in a 5vs5 battle.

Mid Game
In this time of the game, you will now have your core items. Now you can kill almost everyone but be careful, you cannot just approach them and pawn, you still need your allies to support you. You can farm in this time of the game to reach your phase boots and buy some of the Luxury Items.

Late Game
Now its time to push!!! If the 1st towers of your opponent are still not destroyed, its time to go with your creeps and push them. To make the pushing faster, go behind the tower and take the creeps, just let your creeps attack the tower. When a hero arrives, go back to your respective allies and join them. When the tower is almost destroyed or in Red Health, go for the hero and activate your call or if you want to make sure if you are being targeted, signal on your place and ask them to support you. Same as with the succeeding towers.

BEST COMPANIONS AND OPPONENTS:

Companions:STUNNERS AND SLOWERS