Mangix – The Pandaren Battlemaster
Primary Attribute: Strength
Primary Role: Hero Killer, Tank


Introduction:
Don't be fooled by his innocent-looking panda face, this guy is lethal in every sense of the word; he's powerful, deadly and drunk. With a huge amount of strength growth and the greatest passive power in the game — Drunken Brawler, this hero is extremely hard to kill. In case you do manage to lower his hitpoints, he can use his ultimate 'Primal Split', then kick your ass, and eventually go home a happy panda. In case he feels like killing a few heroes, he can Thunder Clap their puny asses and make short work of them with his critical strikes.

The Good:
Amazing strength growth and decent agility growth
Hones one of the best passive powers in the game
Good escape mechanism (Primal Split) and decent survivability

The Bad:
Hard to use Primal Spirit
Pathetic mana pool
Farming in the beginning, is hard

Let's look at what his spells have in store for us...

Thunder Clap (Mana Cost - 90/105/130/150 / Cooldown - 12 Sec.)
Description: Deals 100 to 300 damage and slows the enemy's movement and attack speed down by 25% to 55% (depending on spell level), by slamming the ground with force.

This skill enables you to become a good early game hero killer. At level 2 the skill does 175 damage, so cast it and get a few shots onto your enemy while he's slow, then move back. Do this a few times, and you shall be able to take down heroes with low HP easily. This spell becomes quite effective later on too, for instance, if a friendly hero on low health tries to run from an enemy, you can get near them and use this spell to slow down the enemy, then whack him a few times, and either kill him, or send him back to his base.

Drunken Haze (Mana Cost - 75/ Cooldown - 10 Sec.)
Description: Mangix makes a hero miss attacks and slows his movement speed down, by drenching him in alcohol. The effects last for 5 seconds, during which the speed of the target is slowed down by 10% to 17%, while its miss chance is between 45% and 75%, depending on your skill level.

This skill should not be taken early on, since the other skills are far more useful at low levels. However, at higher levels this skill becomes far more useful against hardcore damage dealing heroes. This spell forms an awesome counter to heroes with high critical chance.

Drunken Brawler (Mana Cost - N/A / Cooldown - N/A)
Description: Gives the Battlemaster a chance to dodge attacks and allows his attacks a chance to deal 1.8x of his damage. The dodge ranges from 6% to 24%, while the critical strikes range from 5% to 20%, as the skill level increases.

This skill combines two passives — dodge and critical strike, into one, making Mangix highly adept at melee combat. This is one of the best passives in the game according to me. Max this out after Thunderclap, since there are few things more beautiful than the red numbers that fly, when your critical strike wipes out a chunk of your foe's HP. The higher your damage the larger the critical strike, so it's imperative to get a lot of damage boosting items to get the best out of this skill.

Primal Split (Mana Cost - 150/ 225/ 320 / Cooldown - 180 Sec.)
Description: Mangix splits into three elemental warriors with their own range of spells. If all three survive, the Battlemaster resurrects with the same amount of HP and mana he had before the spell was cast.


Skill Build:

Level 1 - Drunken Brawler lvl 1
Level 2 - Thunder Clap lvl 1
Level 3 - Thunder Clap lvl 2
Level 4 - Drunken Brawler lvl 2
Level 5 - Thunder Clap lvl 3
Level 6 - Primal Split
Level 7 - Thunder Clap lvl 4
Level 8 - Drunken Brawler lvl 3
Level 9 - Drunken Brawler lvl 4
Level 10 - Drunken Haze lvl 1
Level 11 - Primal Split
Level 12 - Drunken Haze lvl 2

Max out Drunken Haze after this, after which you should take stats points.

Early Game:
Items you should buy:


Start the game with a Ring of Regeneration, a few clarity potions and a Circlet of Nobility. The Circlet helps you by giving you an extra bit on mana and hp. This mana can come in handy for your 'Thunderclap+Critical Strike' combo. Only try last shot creeping, don't auto-attack else it will just push your creeps towards your enemy tower, giving them more experience from the tower's kills. Being a melee hero, it will be kind of hard to take on ranged heroes, so just play a little defensive if you have one in your lane, and wait till you hit level 3. At level 3, you'll have two levels of Thunder Clap a level of Drunken Brawler. You can now use the Thunderclap+Crit combo, and here is how it's done: Go in close range to your enemy hero while they're a little distracted (like when they're trying to get the last shot on a creep) and cast Thunder Clap and give them a few melee shots before running back. If you did it successfully, your target will lose around 200-250 HP, and if you get a lucky critical strike on him, you can do 300+ damage with this combo. Doing this becomes easier once you have Boots of Speed, since you can walk up to the enemy quicker. If done on low HP heroes, you can even get first blood. Once you get some cash, head to base to buy yourself a Bracer and an Ogre Axe, for a nice HP and damage boost, and you'll be set for this stage of the game.

Mid Game:
Items you should buy:


Your hero becomes half a tank at this stage, with the speed and damage-dealing capacity of an agility based hero. The item you should collect for now is a Yasha and Sange, since it boosts your ability as a tank, and at the same time it enhances your speed. The maim effect really helps you kill heroes by slowing them, while the damage boost helps you increase the damage dealt by your critical strikes. Pair this up with a pair of Power Treads, and you'll be able run like no other panda before you. With your large amount of HP and your level 2 Primal Split, you should be able to tank towers and take them down fairly easily. For the next stage of the game, you'll need about 3000 gold, which won't be too hard to collect for Mangix.

Late Game:
Items you should buy:


Your hero will be quite a pain in your enemy's ass at this point of the game. You can kill heroes, tank towers and escape with relative ease. You need to decide whether you want to boost your damage dealing abilities, or you want to improve your tanking skills. If it's the former, collect for a Sacred Relic to improve your crits, which you can turn into a Radiance. If the tanking bit attracts you, buy yourself a Heart of Tarresque and tank your team to victory.

Optional Item(s):