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 can be played as a support or as an offlane 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.

Recommended items
Starting items:
 * and are basic regen requirements no matter what lane Tidehunter is placed in. They give him HP sustain and ensure he cannot be forced out of the lane by enemy harass.
 * is useful for replenishing Tidehunter's small base mana pool, as does not cost a lot of mana and  is a powerful disable that is handy to have available at all times.
 * and are quite expensive, but can greatly improve Tidehunter's health pool and last-hitting power, both of which are very useful when playing in the off-lane. If playing as a safe-lane support though, such stats are not strictly needed and you should instead purchase support items such as the Animal Courier and Observer Wards, and cheaper stat items like Iron Branches.

Early game:
 * is useful for giving Tidehunter a measure of burst regen in emergency situations. A full-charge Magic Stick can give enough mana to cast one more spell in the early game.
 * are critical for purchasing on Tidehunter whether in the safe- or off-lane. In the off-lane, more movement speed may be required to evade gank attempts, and in the safe-lane it may be needed to quickly position yourself to cast Gush during a gank.
 * gives Tidehunter more stats, particularly Strength, increasing his tankiness.

Core items:
 * gives Tidehunter more stats, as well as increased charge capacity. Given his small mana pool, a Magic Wand serves all the same purposes as a Magic Stick and can be useful to keep at all times.
 * increases the size of Tidehunter's small mana pool, allowing him to cast his spells much more easily, and gives him the ability to replenish teammates' mana as well, an important duty for a support hero.
 * is possibly Tidehunter's most important core item, as it allows him to easily position himself to cast in a teamfight. It also allows him to chase enemies and cast Gush more easily, and can be used as an escape tool as well.
 * should always be carried, as Tidehunter's powerful disables can turn teamfights in his team's favor. As such, being able to show up to teamfights, ganks and counter-ganks at all times is very important.

Situational items:
 * is an expensive luxury item to farm, but can allow Tidehunter to stand in the middle of teamfights and absorb large amounts of damage, particularly due to.
 * is a highly situational aura item that can be useful for tanking and chasing. Its burn damage and induced miss chance can force the enemy to engage you in teamfights, using their spells on you instead of teammates, and it can be a useful chasing tool as it allows Tidehunter to damage enemies without stopping to cast spells, as well as prevent any Blink Daggers from coming off cooldown.
 * gives Tidehunter a much larger mana pool, allowing him to cast spells much more frequently, and the armor and aura give him even more survivability against physical damage. Its active ability can be used after a successful Ravage, slowing the enemy's movement speed after the long stun duration.
 * is a highly unorthodox aura item to build on Tidehunter. The bonus armor makes him much tankier, while the aura allows him to grant allies with increased armor and attack speed. The enemy armor reduction stacks alongside that of Gush, particularly when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter, allowing Tidehunter to greatly reduce enemy armor.
 * is a powerful tank and aura item, as it greatly reduces the amount of damage Tidehunter takes from magic nukes, thus greatly increasing the power of Kraken Shell. Its active ability also shields teammates from magic damage.
 * can extend Ravage's duration by casting it twice, making it easier for allies to turn the tides of a teamfight. Make sure you have enough mana to pull it off, though.
 * is useful both as a stat and aura item, as it gives Tidehunter stats across the board, particularly Intelligence for his mana pool and movement speed for mobility. The aura, especially the active portion, can benefit your team when cast during a teamfight.
 * is an expensive purchase, but greatly increases Tidehunter's survivability and gives him much more teamfight contribution. The active allows Tidehunter to purge debuffs off of himself if the enemy simply place low-damage disables on him to avoid proccing Kraken Shell, and the HP and mana restore are tremendous boons for pushes and teamfights. As well, the aura can provide tremendous amounts of armor and HP regen to teammates who are low.
 * is a flexible initiation and utility item, as the invisibility and magical resistance can be used either to allow Tidehunter to initiate with Ravage without the need for Blink Dagger, or can save a teammate who is caught out of position and is being focused down by enemies. However, mind its mana cost, as the active costs more than most of Tidehunter's spells.
 * greatly improves the potency of Gush, allowing Tidehunter to inflict multiple enemies with the nuke and debuff at high frequency. It also increases his HP and mana, making him tankier and improving his ability to utilize Gush more frequently.


 * When played as a safe-lane support, it is important to purchase the and/or s for your team. Your free inventory space should be filled with es for cheap stats, and you should upgrade to the  when possible.
 * is a useful utility disable item that increases Tidehunter's ability to hunt down enemies. Combined with Gush, Tidehunter can lower a single enemy's movement speed by 54%, allowing teammates to easily get within range to land further disables.
 * is a highly flexible item that greatly enhances Tidehunter's survivability while also giving him a measure of mana regen. The increased armor can drastically increase Tidehunter's beefiness as he can shrug off physical damage even more effectively, and the active can either stack with Gush's armor reduction or grant bonus armor to an allied hero. These bonuses can be amplified further by upgrading the item into a
 * is a useful mobility item to purchase that also serves as utility for your team. The extra Intelligence helps with giving Tidehunter a bigger mana pool, and the active ability can be used to better position yourself or allies for casting spells. While not as powerful as Blink Dagger, it is easier to build should you be having trouble farming.
 * is a good mid-game item that gives Tidehunter many great benefits. The increased Intelligence and armor give Tidehunter more mana and survivability, especially if he is playing as a tank rather than an initiator, and the active allows Tidehunter to take advantage of his massive health pool to discourage enemies from attacking him further.
 * is a low-cost utility item to help you initiate and contribute more to teamfights. Along with the large intelligence bonus and armor increasing your mana pool and tankiness, the item's active ability allows you to reduce the enemy's magic resistance prior to a Blink-Ravage combo, giving your team's casters an additional edge in teamfights.
 * is a useful utility item that can be purchased as a tank Tidehunter, and builds into Guardian Greaves. On top of giving him armor and more stats, the heal can greatly benefit your team as you are not likely to die before using it. On top of your general durability and ability to interrupt the enemy team's initiation with Ravage, you can further discourage the enemy from engaging you as you can simply heal yourself and your team at any point of the fight. However, mind its expensive mana cost, and be sure to increase the size of your mana pool first if you intend on building this.
 * is a useful chasing item that gives Tidehunter many benefits. The additional HP makes Tidehunter much beefier, while the intelligence gives him a much bigger mana pool. The active ability can be cast over long distances, allowing you to chase down fleeing enemies far more easily and apply Gush to them, slowing them even further.
 * gives Tidehunter a myriad of useful bonuses and a strong active ability. The armor and HP regen makes Tidehunter even tankier, while the mana regen keeps his mana pool topped up so that he can more readily cast his spells when needed. The active can purge debuffs, either from Tidehunter or an ally, and the Echo Shell punishes enemies to use targeted spells, especially frail casters with small HP pools.
 * is a strong support item that vastly improves Tidehunter's disabling potential. As he does not otherwise have a hard-disable outside of his ultimate, building Scythe of Vyse allows him to jump on enemies with Blink Dagger and instantly disable them on a regular basis. The item also improves his overall stats and greatly increases his ability to cast all of his spells due to the vast intelligence bonus and scaling mana regen.

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. This was later replaced by an anchor based on community feedback for several reasons:
 * To match the theme of
 * To add a reference to the model Tidehunter uses in Warcraft 3 DotA (which also uses a giant anchor as weapon)
 * To add another connection between Tidehunter and Kunkka (the anchor is supposedly stolen from one of Kunkka's flagship, as written in the lore of Anchor Smash).
 * Tidehunter's line Tide rival 24.mp3 "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.

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