Lone Druid/Guide

Spirit Bear Carry/Pusher
This build focuses on getting items on Spirit Bear. Spirit Bear will have tankiness and damage to sustain itself in the middle of fights, while Lone Druid mostly supports from behind with buffs. is often picked up to farm up for Spirit Bear, who can then run rampant through the enemy ranks, and called back with Return or escape from enemies with the help of Savage Roar under dire circumstances. can be uniquely strong for this build since it allows Spirit Bear to attack without Lone Druid being nearby or alive.

Ranged Carry
Due to talents that buff attack range, Spirit Link, and Battle Cry, Lone Druid has excellent carry potential. Getting and talent allows him to outrange towers. Build a afterwards for even higher attack speed (combined with Spirit Link) and Chain Lightning. Due to long attack range, you can forgo survivability items to focus on damage output. Use Spirit Bear for rooting enemies while you attack them from afar. Spirit Bear can also scout and collect Bounty Runes for you.

General

 * Lone Druid is most dominant in the mid game as he can farm quickly enough to obtain level and gold advantage. Try to get objectives and gank during this period.
 * If the match goes late, ranged carry Lone Druid should consider building more damage on his bear, making his bear as powerful as he is.
 * Lone Druid can be played with little micromanagement, but in order to be of maximum effectiveness Spirit Bear must be controlled separately, almost like a second hero.
 * Lone Druid can use his bear to pick up runes, you can send Spirit Bear to easily collect bounty runes while you stay in lane.
 * The Spirit Bear can buy and deliver items and act as personal courier if you either cannot get to the shop yourself or it is too much of a risk to send a courier.
 * More tips needed.


 * In the early game, the Spirit Bear is relatively durable; use it to tank lane creeps and jungle creeps.
 * An early or  on the Spirit Bear makes it adept at harassing lane opponents.
 * When killed, the Spirit Bear gives a large bounty of gold and experience to the enemy, similar to losing a hero. It also deals backlash damage to Lone Druid himself, taking 10% of his max health. Therefore, do not let the bear die.
 * If you suspect an upcoming engagement, you can use Spirit Bear to scout and use Return to keep it from dying.
 * The Spirit Bear can deny Lone Druid, and vice versa, dealing no backlash damage in latter case. Your teammates can also help with denying Spirit Bear.
 * When ganking, try to control the Spirit Bear instead of Lone Druid as it has long attack backswing which you can cancel.
 * Doing so will keep the Spirit Bear close to target, providing more opportunities to proc Entangling Claws.
 * When retreating, use the Spirit Bear to root chasing enemies with Entangling Claws.
 * Send the Spirit Bear out to push and attack buildings, especially up the high ground to hit tier 3 towers.
 * Unlike heroes, the Spirit Bear does not gain attributes. Thus, it cannot scale as well to stand toe to toe against enemy hard carries in the late game. So, you should finish the game as quickly as possible.
 * Consider building to let the bear attack without Lone Druid, potentially succeed in split pushing as Lone Druid and teammates engage and distract the enemies elsewhere.
 * If the Spirit Bear is about to die in a teamfight, you can try to transfer its items to Lone Druid so he can continue the fight.
 * Control the Spirit Bear to collect bounty runes while you farm. It can also draw enemy creeps away or scout for heroes so your team can push towers faster and safer. With, it can burn and wipe creep waves without attacking, good to push the lanes to gain map control.
 * The Spirit Bear's attack damage type is basic, meaning that its attack damage is reduced by 25% when attacking heroes and creep-heroes.
 * The Spirit Bear can use to teleport to the fountain to heal and retrieve items, then use Return to get back to Lone Druid.
 * The Spirit Bear can use Town Portal Scroll to get to and collect bounty runes then Return back.
 * Leveling up Summon Spirit Bear refreshs cooldowns of Spirit Bear's abilities, so the bear can use Entangling Claws and Savage Roar again.
 * At early level, you may hold the skill point of Summon Spirit Bear until Entangling Claws proc during a gank, increasing the chance of getting a kill.
 * More tips needed.


 * Spirit Link's lifesteal and Spirit Bear's Defender sustain Lone Druid in fights, so he sometimes can turn the tide against enemy gankers in the early to mid game.
 * Spirit Link works well for ranged carry Lone Druid by increasing his attack speed and lifestealing to keep Spirit Bear alive in the frontline to tank enemy assaults.
 * More tips needed.


 * Have a value point in Savage Roar to drive enemies away when they are ganking Lone Druid in the early game.
 * Both Lone Druid and Spirit Bear can use Savage Roar, though they still share the same cooldown.
 * To save an outnumbered ally, send out the Spirit Bear and use Savage Roar to scatter the enemies.
 * Send the Spirit Bear into the Roshan Pit, and use Savage Roar to interrupt enemies attacking Roshan.
 * Savage Roar can be used to disrupt other taunt spells if it is used after them.
 * Use Savage Roar to cancel channeling abilities and.
 * Use Savage Roar after rooting with Entangling Claws. The affected targets cannot move, or use items and abilities to help themselves, effectively acting like a stun.
 * More tips needed.


 * True Form is usually leveled much later than other ultimate abilities, either due to Lone Druid's reliance on his Spirit Bear, or because his build is designed to attack at range with druid form.
 * True Form has a cast time, during which Lone Druid cannot move. Be careful when using it while retreating, as the transform time could allow enemies to catch up with Lone Druid.
 * Transform into bear form before a fight to make Lone Druid more durable.
 * Transform into bear form in an emergency to save Lone Druid by gaining extra health.
 * Although Lone Druid is much tankier in his bear form, he is usually not strong enough to last long in an intense fight, especially if his Spirit Bear has half of his items.
 * Transforming into druid form makes Lone Druid move faster, but will greatly reduce his maximum health.
 * When retreating, only transform back to druid form when no enemies are close enough to kill or disable Lone Druid.
 * True Form lowers Lone Druid's base attack time, effectively increasing his attack speed and making all his attack speed and damage items more effective.
 * More tips needed.


 * Use Battle Cry just before an engagement to increase attack damage and armor of Lone Druid and summons, including Spirit Bear.
 * Use Battle Cry then switch back to druid form to safely take objectives as ranged carry.
 * Use Battle Cry around your summons, such as units.
 * Buying a allows you to control a, which can raise two Skeleton Warriors for a total of 6 summons, counting Spirit Bear and Necronomicon units.
 * Battle Cry has a cast radius. Make sure that your summons are within the radius when cast so that they all gain the buff.
 * Battle Cry has a short duration; use it only when you are ready to engage, lest wasting the duration.
 * More tips needed.

Items
Starting items:
 * keeps Lone Druid in lane with health sustain.
 * gives Lone Druid cheap attributes.
 * can heal both Lone Druid and Spirit Bear.

Starting items (Bear):
 * helps Spirit Bear tank creeps.
 * helps Spirit Bear score last hits with bonus damage against creeps.

Early game:
 * for movement speed boost; sometimes, Lone Druid will not upgrade his boots in favor of spending gold on Spirit Bear.
 * can save Lone Druid with burst health and mana.

Early game (Bear):
 * gives Spirit Bear extra movement speed.
 * applies slow on attacks to harass and chase enemies.
 * slightly increases damage early by reducing target's armor; can build into late game.

Core items:
 * give Lone Druid fast movement speed and attack damage, which combine well with Spirit Link.
 * gives attributes, as well as more burst health and mana.
 * , along with attack range talent, gives Lone Druid incredible range for fights and tower sieges. The active abilitiy, Hurricane Thrust, allows Lone Druid to position better against enemies.
 * can deal large amounts of damage with Spirit Link's attack speed buff, and let Lone Druid farm and push quickly.

Core items (Bear):
 * increases Spirit Bear's movement speed to run down enemies and catch them with Entangling Claws.
 * makes Lone Druid and the Spirit Bear regenerate health and attack much faster, while allowing them to control a neutral creep that bring useful abilities and auras. Furthermore, the dominated creep also benefits from Battle Cry's buff, increasing overall damage output.
 * greatly increases Spirit Bear's damage output, as its high health allows it to stay in the center of fights.

Situational items:
 * heals Lone Druid and grants great movement speed to catch up with Spirit Bear.
 * grants teleportation around the map for quick farm and pushes; you can teleport using Spirit Bear.
 * allows Spirit Bear to attack without having Lone Druid nearby and alive, making it a more autonomous farmer and pusher.
 * grants spell immunity so Lone Druid can continue to attack without fear of disables.
 * greatly increases damage output and applies armor reduction debuff on attack targets, including buildings.
 * increases attack damage output, and evasion to survive in fights.

Situational items (Bear):
 * grants gold and experience boost to help Lone Druid and Spirit Bear scale faster.
 * grants aura of lifesteal and attack damage for both Lone Druid and Spirit Bear.
 * lets Spirit Bear push extremely fast because armor reduction on buildings combining with Demolish.
 * increases attack speed and damage, aiding in pushes.
 * 's attack speed increases potency of Demolish on buildings and chance to proc Entangling Claws, as well as synergizes with Spirit Link and True Form's base attack time reduction.
 * gives Spirit Bear high attack speed to proc Entangling Claws.
 * keeps enemies immobilized with stun and bashes in addition to Entangling Claws.

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