Beastmaster/Guide

Ability Builds

 * Summon Hawk and Summon Boar are leveled up simultaneously.

General

 * Beastmaster is usually played solo in the offlane, but also sometimes in the mid lane.
 * Some enemy setups can shut down Beastmaster in lane. If needed, ask a support to join you.
 * Micromanaging Beastmaster's summons, especially his Hawk, is important to winning games.
 * Compared to other supports, Beastmaster is fairly tanky.
 * Beastmaster has no escape mechanisms. Engage carefully.


 * Wild Axes has a very long range, and can be used to pick off fleeing enemies.
 * Wild Axes is good against juking enemies, as it cuts down trees over a wide area.
 * Wild Axes is a powerful farming tool, clearing waves of creeps at once.
 * Aside from farming, Wild Axes is not very useful compared to Beastmaster's other abilities, and is usually maxed last.
 * Use Wild Axes to stop an enemy from regenerating with or.
 * Wild Axes can be used to stack/farm ancient creeps, since they affect spell immune units. This can be very effective when used in Dire offlane (bottom), as Beastmaster doesn't need to leave the lane to hit the creep camp.
 * Be careful not to undercast Wild Axes. Always target the space behind the enemy.
 * Wild Axes can be used to cut down trees next to lanes. This gives better vision and could save Beastmaster from a gank.


 * The Hawk is Beastmaster's greatest asset, as it provides a large vision advantage for his team. It is usually leveled first.
 * Because of its low cooldown, there should always be a Hawk somewhere on the map, if not two.
 * Send a Hawk to scout ahead before a potential engagement. Even if it dies, it's well worth the sacrifice.
 * Keep in mind that the Hawk cannot see enemies under.
 * Move and place Hawks over trees. This makes them harder to detect or kill.
 * If an enemy has spotted a scouting Hawk, and there are no impassable terrain nearby, immediately stopping the Hawk's movement may give it enough time to stealth before being killed.
 * Don't move Hawks too often, or they will be seen.
 * Hawks are good at scouting areas where wards are seldomly placed, like the forested edges of the map.
 * Most players will instinctively try to kill a Hawk. If seen, move the Hawk to bait enemies into favorable positions.
 * Hawks can be used as a target unit for . Strategic placement will allow teammates to teleport to it for split pushing or ganking.


 * Because of its low cooldown, Beastmaster can have two active Boars at the same time.
 * Assign control groups to Boars for easier microing.
 * In teamfights, target enemy carries with Boars to slow them down, making it easier for teammates to kite them.
 * Boars can be used to stack creeps for your team.
 * Boars can be used to block camps against the enemy team.
 * Target Boars on a pursuing enemies to slow them down.
 * With very good timing, Boars can be used to deny Beastmaster (or any other ally/building).
 * Hawks and boars give considerable experience when killed. In the laning phase, they will quickly give a level advantage to your opponent if they keep killing one or the other. Do not let that happen. Don't forget you can at least deny your boars once they're low on hp, but you should rather send them safely behind your tower and wait for them to time out.


 * Inner Beast is an excellent passive for pushing. With several teammates nearby, buildings will fall very quickly.
 * Inner Beast synergizes well with Boars, creeps, as well as units from . This gives Beastmaster significant pushing ability.
 * After the early game, Beastmaster should try to stay near allied carries so they benefit from Inner Beast.


 * Primal Roar has the longest unconditional stun duration in the game.
 * Primal Roar is one of few stuns that goes through spell immunity, making it ideal for stopping a carry who just activated a.
 * With, Beastmaster can jump in to initiate with Primal Roar. The purpose of this is to quickly eliminate one hero, giving your team a numerical advantage if the enemy chooses to engage.
 * Make sure teammates are around to follow up though, as Beastmaster cannot kill tougher heroes alone.
 * If initiating, try to stun the enemy carry or initiator. This ensures they don't counter-initiate.
 * makes Primal Roar significantly more powerful, allowing Beastmaster to initiate every 40 seconds from a solid 950 range.

Items
Starting:
 * allows you to take more harassment in lane.
 * ,, and allow you to stay in lane longer without having to return to the fountain.
 * is a very cheap item that provides a bit of attributes.
 * is sometimes picked up to aid in last hitting.

Early:
 * is a viable choice if you started by jungling, or the offlane is too hard for you to survive.
 * is a strong pickup on almost all heroes.
 * tanks you up and potentially uses one of your starting gauntlets.
 * gives some good starting armor and mana regeneration in lane. The additional armor given to the creeps while activated can push the lane faster.

Core:
 * offers additional movement speed. Since in early and mid game Beastmaster's summons deals more damage than himself, you can leave Boots of Speed as it is and build up later.
 * has natural synergy with and is a great item to quickly take towers and add additional damage to target hit by, draining their mana and making the enemy hard to retaliate after.

Situational:
 * allows Beastmaster to engage on slippery targets that would not normally allow you to get into range to cast your ultimate.
 * gives additional armor and mana regen. Together with and summons you can bring down Roshan in early game. Can be upgraded into a  later.
 * provides health, gives you much needed mana, and increases your ability to get in range to use on enemies. It also further increases the attack speed of your Boar.
 * synergizes well with, since it boost your teams's damage as well as survivability. Also, Beastmaster is able to stay outside of base thanks to the lifesteal.
 * stacks with his abilities and is a great pickup in general.
 * further increases the power of your ultimate, giving it extreme range and a cooldown low enough to use it twice in protracted engagements.
 * is another strong aura item for your team and helps with pushing. It counters team with strong magical damage lineup.
 * makes you extremely tanky, but be wary of getting it too early as you have less utility than with other item choices.
 * is a strong utility item to disarm an enemy carry in teamfights. It will also give some extra health and evasion.
 * allows you to use Primal Roar two times in quick succession. It will also allow you to summon an extra boar and hawk.
 * can be bought in the late game. It is especially powerful when teleporting to the Hawk to kill lone target.