Tidehunter

Leviathan the Tidehunter is a melee strength hero who is formidable due to his uncommonly tough hide and his ocean spells that sweep enemies upward. He is a support hero whose greatest strengths lie in being able to take heavy amounts of damage in the early game and the disabling powers of his spells.

Though he does not deal especially high damage at any point in the game, his spells can have a devastating effect on the enemy without expending much mana. He is able to send forth a spray of water to slow down the enemy retreat and his outrageous ultimate, Ravage, throttles enemies in a massive area around him. The durability of his Kraken Shell allows him to shrug off damage for absurd survivability against low damage attacks. Tidehunter's ability to shrug off damage and his enormous strength gain makes him very durable, and the power of his spells means he is a tank the enemy very much needs to target.

Tips

 * Blink Dagger is a commonly bought item for Tidehunter, used in conjunction with Ravage to initiate.
 * Anchor Smash is a great way to clear creeps and farm for Tidehunter. Due to its low Mana cost, it can be used to harass enemies, especially melee heroes.
 * Do not underestimate the 60% damage reduction from Anchor Smash. If you use it on a hero with a powerful auto-attack, such as Ursa, their damage output will be severely reduced. With 100% uptime from level 2 onwards, you can keep one or more enemies' attack damage crippled indefinitely provided you keep using this skill.
 * Resist the urge to take early levels of Kraken Shell for the block during the laning phase. Tidehunter's two other abilities both scale very well with additional ranks, and if you need damage block you can simply buy a Stout Shield and sell it later for minimal (125) gold loss. Also consider the opposite, that damage reduction is better early game since damage levels are lower then and it won't have as much impact late game. Also consider that Gush is mana intense early on so the Kraken Shell + Anchor Smash combo is cheap mana wise and will give you excellent staying power against right clicking heroes(remember that the shell does not protect against magical damage) and it also allows jungling without lifesteal or additional healing.
 * Remember that while Ravage travels quickly, it does take a brief time to extend to its maximum range. Very alert opponents might be able to blink away or activate magic immunity before they are stunned, so be sure to blink in closer to those heroes to reduce their window of escape.
 * Extremely quick fingered opponents may also avoid Ravage by blinking very close to Tidehunter, a small area around Tidehunter exists in which Ravage will not affect very close opponents.
 * Should the enemy team have a Rubick, it is critically important to cast another one of your spells (generally anchor smash) after casting ravage, as a skill so devastating could easily be the deciding factor in a teamfight should Rubick steal it.
 * Anchor Smash can be used to clear stacks of Ancient Creeps. This can be used in the offlane to farm your Blink Dagger early game.

Trivia

 * The name Leviathan is derived from a sea monster in the Bible. It is also used to refer to any large sea monster or creature.
 * Previous designs of Tidehunter had him use a large hook as a weapon.
 * One of Tidehunter's kill lines (Ha ha ha! Women and children and Kunkka first!) is a reference to the "Birkenhead Drill," a historical protocol where women and children's lives would be saved first in the case of a life threatening situation, typically the sinking of a ship.