Centaur Warrunner/Guide

General

 * Centaur Warrunner is usually played solo in the offlane. However, with a support who has hard disables (such as or ) he can absolutely dominate the safelane and potentially get several kills.
 * Centaur Warrunner can also jungle if the lane is going badly.
 * Centaur's actual damage is average at best in the early game, with slow attack speed and only one damaging ability that hurts himself as well. However, Return can do crippling damage to the enemy team if they choose to heavily harass him.
 * Centaur's late-game damage is entirely dependent upon how much strength he has. If he ends up with over 200 strength (achieved by items such as and ) then he can deal frightening amounts of damage.
 * Remember that Return doesn't return damage on missed attacks. Keep this in mind when choosing talents and items. It may be worth it to take hits if the enemy team is highly magical, or relies on fast attacks instead of powerful attacks.


 * With a, Hoof Stomp can be used as an initiation ability.
 * When trying to land Hoof Stomp on fleeing enemies, get in front of their path if possible. Most opponents will outrun the stun during the cast time if they are already on the edge of the radius.
 * Hoof Stomp has a long cast animation so the enemies will have time to react.
 * However, Hoof Stomp's cast animation does not play during the first few seconds of Stampede, allowing Centaur Warruner to surprise the enemies.


 * Centaur cannot deny himself with Double Edge.
 * As Double Edge affects all enemies in a small radius around the target, it is very effective when taking on tight clusters of enemies. This includes jungle creeps, lane creeps, large amounts of enemy illusions, or multiple melee heroes trying to gang up on you.
 * Be careful when using Double Edge early game when you have not purchased or  to reduce self-inflicted damage and heal you back up.
 * Using Double Edge against enemies with unusually high magic resistance, such as or, is not recommended, as it ends up hurting you more than it hurts the enemy.


 * Return is an extremely powerful ability and not to be underestimated. Although its most notable effect is greatly increasing damage against enemies that try to gank Centaur in the late game, even at lower levels it can completely shut down heroes with high damage and low health.
 * To force a tower to attack you and utilize Return, issue an attack command upon an enemy hero when in range (even one in another lane). This trick also works to aggravate lane creeps in order to push.


 * Stampede's effect is global. Keep an eye on allies and enemies across the map to use it when needed.
 * Stampede can be used offensively to allow you and your team to quickly initiate a teamfight, or chase down enemies trying to run away.
 * Stampede can be used defensively to help allies escape a bad situation.
 * Stampede only affects enemies once for a relatively short duration, so in larger fights the skill may go totally awry. This means the initiation must be careful and planned, with a chosen initiator, as with other fights (more than not, possibly Centaur himself).
 * In the late-game, if Centaur has the right items, Stampede can do upwards of 600 damage to every enemy hero affected by it (before reductions). This means that Centaur Warrunner or his teammates should try to trample over all enemy heroes if possible, as this can result in a whopping 3000 damage to the enemy team.

Items
Starting items:
 * increases your survivability in lane with health regeneration.
 * also restores health.
 * partially abates any harassment he receives.
 * gives cheap attributes and builds into Magic Wand; or, Centaur Warruner can use it with Tango for more heal.
 * provides health regeneration so Centaur Warruner can stay in lane.

Early game:
 * can increase your survivability in lane, and can be later turned into a.
 * gives big movement speed boost and health regeneration to help negate the self-damage from Double Edge.
 * grants mana regeneration and absorbs some magical damage.

Mid game:
 * gives attributes and more burst health and mana restoration.
 * is essential to initiating with Hoof Stomp. It is a necessary item if your team has no other heroes that can initiate well.
 * grants health regeneration for sustain and magic resistance to reduce self-inflicted damage taken from Double Edge.

Late game:
 * grants extra survivability from the health increase and health regeneration, and the strength also increases damage done by attacks, Return, and Stampede. The massive health regeneration also allows for the near-constant use of Double Edge without needing to heal for a long time afterwards. Note that in the late-game it may be a good idea to buy a second or (rarely) even a third Heart, as they are the most item-slot-efficient source of strength.
 * will help your team deal with enemy initiation and nukes, while reducing the health cost of Double Edge.

Situational items:
 * has some benefits depending on the game. Given the team can go through impassable terrain, it gains a really interesting use, specially for ganking and evading ganks. Besides, it also grants damage reduction of 40%, greatly benefiting a team that's vulnerable to high bursts of damage and help balancing non tanky heroes to do a better team fight and survive through it.
 * is a very cheap and effective source of strength and armor, increasing damage and tankiness greatly. It should be activated constantly, as your various health regenerating items will counteract its health drain.
 * can be a good purchase if playing against many physical heroes. Later upgrade to a to help defend your team, or an  for more stuns.
 * further increases your ability to initiate by being able to teleport to almost anywhere on the map, as well as having extra movement speed.
 * turns centaur into a full tank, as well as providing his team with extra armor.
 * can be a luxury item when your team is winning, as Centaur will be able to live long enough to burn down the enemy.
 * 's damage reflect stacks with Return, making Centaur an even less appetizing target. However, enemies will probably already be focusing on your teammates in a fight rather than you.
 * grants strength, and also the ability to disarm enemies, which can be useful in the late game when Centaur's damage falls off.

Centaur Warrunner/Руководство