Huskar – The Sacred Warrior
Primary Attribute: Strength
Primary Role: Tank / Hero Killer


Introduction:
With the last version of DotA that was released, there were a good number of unique heroes that were revealed. Huskar is one of them – a strength hero with ranged attacks, a health regenerating spell (that totally owns) and a damage stacking attack projectile that can be use to harass your enemy. This guy is what you may call an all-rounder!

The Good:
Good Lane Control
Heal Spell rocks for team support
Has only one spell that requires mana
Skills complement each other well

The Bad:
Weak against early-game nukers
No escape skill

Inner Vitality (Mana Cost – 50/90/130/170/ Cooldown – 30 Sec.)
Description: Magically unlocks the potential regenerative power within a target unit, healing its life force based upon its primary attribute. If the target is below 40%, it will heal faster for 16 seconds. The skill level increases the percentage of the primary attribute taken into consideration while calculating the heal from 15% to 60% at level 4. Even the additional bonus regeneration increases with skill level, from 2HP per second to 8.

This skill makes you a very valuable ally, and at the same time ensures that you do not get your ass handed to you when your HP’s low. This regeneration spell is so kick ass, that it can actually out-heal the damage most heroes deal, allowing you to either escape, save an ally, or take on an enemy head on even when you’ve got very few hitpoints left.

Burning Spear (Mana Cost – N/A / Cooldown – N/A)
Description: Using his own life force to set them aflame, the Sacred Warrior can cause his spears to deal stackable damage (up to 5 times) over time as they impact the foe. Cannot cast if Huskar's HP is lower than 100. The damage caused increases from 6 per second (per spear) to 12, while the hitpoint cost of the spell remains the same throughout – 15 HP per spear.

This spell is what makes you control your lane efficiently, harass your enemy, and bag a whole bunch of creep/hero/neutral creep kills. This spell is your bread and butter, so ensure that you max it out first.
Berserker’s Blood (Mana Cost – N/A / Cooldown – N/A)
Description: Huskar feels each of his wounds and channels the pain, increasing attack speed and damage for each 7% missing health. 7 Max bonuses. First bonus starts at full health. The increase in attack speed changes from 2% to 8%, while the bonus damage increases from 2 to 8 depending on skill level.

To make the most out of this spell you’ll need to keep your HP at around the half way mark. The problem here is that when your overall HP pool is kind of small (which is usually the case early on), you can’t afford to keep your HP that low since you’d be likely to get nuked the **** out of.

Life Break (Mana Cost – N/A / Cooldown – 45 Sec.)
Description: Huskar reaches into the well of his own life force to potentially destroy an enemy. Huskar's target takes damage equal to 40% of his (the target’s) HP, while being slowed target by 50% for 5 seconds. This spell takes a toll on Huskar too in the form of 40% to 25% of his current HP, depending on the skill level.

The first thing to remember is that you shouldn’t be afraid to use this skill. The HP you lose will be compensated for by Inner Vitality, while Berserker’s blood will help you increase your damage out tremendously. Use this skill as a gank starter or finisher, or both, if your battle goes on for more than 45 seconds (yep, the cooldown is really short).

Skill Build –

Level 1 - Burning Spear lvl 1
Level 2 - Inner Vitality lvl 1
Level 3 - Burning Spear lvl 2
Level 4 - Inner Vitality lvl 2
Level 5 - Burning Spear lvl 3
Level 6 – Life Break
Level 7 - Burning Spear lvl 4
Level 8 - Inner Vitality lvl 3
Level 9 - Inner Vitality lvl 4
Level 10 - Berserker’s Blood lvl 1
Level 11 – Life Break
Level 12 - Berserker’s Blood lvl 2
Level 13 - Berserker’s Blood lvl 3
Level 14 - Berserker’s Blood lvl 4

Early Game:
Items you should buy:





Burning Spear is a good spam skill to harass your enemy, but beware, because it makes you lose hitpoints. To compensate for this, you’ve got Inner Vitality, which heals you over a period of time. What I’m trying to say here is that you should Burning Spear sparing – only to harass, and if need be, to last hit creeps; but don’t go overboard with it, else you’ll end up dead. If you’ve got a nuker in your lane, I suggest you take it easy and keep as much of you HP as possible. You should start the game with a Ring of Regeneration and a Gauntlet of Strength. When you have enough gold and you’re at base, get yourself a pair of Boots and complete your Bracer. If you’ve farmed well enough get another set of Bracers, else buy a Vitality booster directly. When your ultimate is complete, use it to get a quick kill on an unsuspecting hero. Make sure that you have a team mate with you though, since the slow effect from your ultimate lasts only 5 seconds. Even if the ganking bit doesn’t happen, ensure that you farm decently and maintain lane control by harassing your enemy. Don’t forget - Beware of Nukers!

Mid Game:
Items you should buy:





Your hero should have a decent sized hitpoint pool by now. Participate and help setup ganks as much as possible, because your ultimate coupled with Burning Spears works well to dish out the hurt quickly. Don’t hesitate to use Inner Vitality on allies when they’re on low HP. Complete your Power Treads quickly and farm enough to get a reaver. Farming should be easy as pie for you now, so don't stop doing it. By the end of this period you should have enough HP to even tank towers, so don't hesitate to do so. Just beware of being ganked.

Late Game:
Items you should buy:


Your hero is a powerhouse by now. With the large amount of HP and great skills you should be able to guide your team right through to the enemy base. Once you have enough cash farm for a Heart of Terrasque, you should get a Satanic. Your high attack speed, coupled with your lifesteal, high amount of hitpoints, and Inner Vitality, should allow you to be almost un-killable. Stick with your team from now on and provided they don't screw up, you should be victorious.

Optional Item(s):