Tusk

Ymir the Tusk is a melee strength hero whose array of icy disables make him a very strong team initiator and ganker. He has a damage nuke and disable in Ice Shards, which lets him precisely place a barrier in an enemy's path, inhibiting their movement and blocking off their escape path. Should his teammates need help closing the distance to enemies, Tusk can assist them with Snowball, which surrounds Tusk and any nearby allies in a protective shell of snow as he rolls at a target enemy, damaging and stunning everything in its path. Once in a fight, Tusk can slow the enemy down to his pace with Frozen Sigil, which reduces the movement and attack speed of all nearby foes. His ultimate, Walrus PUNCH!, sends a target enemy flying with a mighty uppercut, stunning and disabling them while dealing tremendous damage, and slowing them upon landing. A strong initiator and powerful brawler, the Terror from the Barrier should never be bet against in a fight, as he can put his foes down for the count with his unique assortment of spells and disables.

Recommended items
Starting items: Early game:
 * s and give Tusk HP sustain in-lane, allowing him to survive enemy harass and continue gaining gold and experience.
 * allows Tusk to replenish his mana pool from casting spells, important since all of his basic spells are very expensive and will consume a sizable fraction of his small base mana pool. In particular, can consume almost half of Tusk's mana pool, so having enough mana to cast his full combo can make or break getting First Blood.
 * and give Tusk all-around attributes, important for beefing up his HP, base damage and mana to increase his survivability in-lane. They allow Tusk to immediately build a Magic Wand from the Side Lane Shop once he has enough gold.
 * is a useful starting item to purchase, as it gives Tusk some passive HP regen, mitigating harass damage, and a way to instantly replenish mana for casting his spells in a pinch.
 * is particularly useful if Tusk is played as an off-laner, as the damage block will give him increased resistance to enemy harass. It can be upgraded later into a to increase Tusk's beefiness and increase his survivability during initiations.
 * is important to purchase early on, as Tusk relies on good positioning in order to make the most of his spells. He can more easily chase down enemies during ganks, or escape pursuers.
 * can be immediately built using already-purchased attribute items. The charge storage allows Tusk to immediately replenish his HP and mana, which can make or break fights or ganks given his powerful spells.
 * provides Tusk with an assortment of attributes, primarily strength for increased HP and base damage. It can later be used to build a Drum of Endurance.
 * is a strong pickup in any situation, but particularly if Tusk is a roamer. Applying the slow debuff can reduce an enemy's chances of escaping, and stacks alongside Frozen Sigil to help chase down fleeing enemies.
 * is very powerful on mobile initiators like Tusk, since he can roam and set up kills for his team, and as such benefits from always being at full HP and mana should a gank opportunity arise. As well, he can take advantage of runes to increase his initiating power.

Core items:
 * gives Tusk an assortment of powerful benefits, making it the best boots for him. The increased movement speed allows him to position more easily to cast his spells, and allows him to more easily chase down fleeing enemies in combination with . The bonus damage improves Tusk's ability to last-hit to farm, and increases the damage done with
 * gives Tusk all-around stats that give him more HP, damage, and a larger mana pool to work with. The aura improves his mobility and gives his team a fighting edge when engaging the enemy.
 * is important to carry at all times. Tusk's strong crowd control and initiation abilities makes him a powerful ally to have when ganking a lone enemy, or starting a teamfight on his own terms.
 * gives Tusk many benefits for a cheap price. As a highly mobile ganker, Tusk can easily get charges with which to heal himself and teammates or deal more damage in ganks; as well, Urn charges can instantly put enemy Blink Daggers on cooldown from a distance. The item also provides strength, giving Tusk more HP and base damage, and scaling mana regen to help him to cast spells more easily.

Situational items:
 * gives Tusk increased bonus damage, and allows him to apply an armor debuff to enemies, particularly when combined with.
 * increases Tusk's physical damage output, and gives him yet another initiation ability. Shadow Walk can be used to deal tremendous physical damage to a gank target with, or can be cast to escape in a tight situation.
 * is very expensive but increases Tusk's HP significantly, allowing him to stay alive for much longer after initiating with . The increased strength also gives Tusk more base damage, improving the potency of.
 * ensures Tusk is protected from most disables, allowing him to continue fighting and casting his spells after a successful initiation. The extra strength gives him more HP and damage, while the extra damage gives him more physical damage output.
 * helps make Tusk a better all-around fighter through its various bonuses. It grants more HP and evasion for increased survivability, more base damage and bonus damage to make his attacks hit harder, a Lesser Maim that can debilitate enemies in fights, and a Disarm that can outright prevent enemies from using their right-clicks.
 * is a strong aura and fighting item that, while expensive, can greatly improve Tusk's damage output. The increased armor makes Tusk much tankier, and the attack speed helps him to deal more damage. The aura can be easily utilized due to Snowball giving Tusk a way to get close to enemies, and its armor debuff can increase the hitting power of.
 * is a very cheap utility item that gives Tusk many strong benefits for its price. The armor helps make Tusk tankier, and the mana regen helps to sustain his expensive but powerful spells. Using the active on an enemy during initiation can increase the amount of damage they take from.
 * unlocks, greatly increasing Tusk's impact in fights and ganks. The item also makes Tusk tankier and improves his mana pool to sustain his spell casting.
 * gives Tusk increased survivability when initiating against powerful enemies. Besides giving him more armor to aid survivability, Echo Shell allows Tusk to use the enemy's unit-targeted spells against them should they attempt to target him during initiations, and can otherwise give him a larger window to act while the enemy hesitates. The scaling mana regen also helps Tusk to maintain casting his spells.
 * Upgrading Shadow Blade into a can greatly augment Tusk's initiating power. Besides improving Tusk's damage output, applying a Break to an important target can disable their passive abilities and cripple their damage output, making them a much smaller threat in an engagement.
 * is powerful in many situations. As Tusk requires good positioning to use his spells, Blink Dagger can allow him to immediately get within range to cast a disable. In a pinch, it can also be used to jump on top of a beleaguered ally to protect them with Snowball, or as an escape mechanism after casting Snowball to protect himself long enough for it to come off cooldown.
 * is a powerful survivability item that fills in many of Tusk's deficiencies. The armor makes him tankier, the intelligence shores up his small mana pool, and the damage improves the potency of . Using the active can discourage enemies from attacking Tusk, and can allow him to use his HP pool offensively against gank targets who try to fight back.
 * is a cheap fighting item that gives Tusk an assortment of bonuses. It provides armor and HP regen, aiding Tusk's survivability, and the active gives him bonus strength and damage, giving him more HP and damage output in an engagement, particularly increasing the damage that deals.
 * is an all-around fighting item that improves Tusk's ability to engage enemies in teamfights. The improved movement speed allows Tusk to position for his spells and chase down fleeing enemies, and the strength and bonus damage give him better battlefield presence. The Greater Maim also allows him to debilitate enemies' attempts to fight him and his team.
 * is an unorthodox but useful item for a roaming Tusk. While it is generally considered a core farming item, it provides Tusk with many useful benefits. The HP and mana regen allow him to roam more independently, while the cleave can help him to farm more items for himself. The ability to cut trees allows Tusk to position himself for casting his spells from unorthodox locations, or simply path through the jungle more easily, and the increased damage allows him to deal more damage with.
 * is expensive to farm, but allows Tusk to fight more effectively against enemies. The area burn allows Tusk to damage all nearby enemies in the midst of initiations, particularly as he can easily get into the middle of their formation with Snowball, and the induced miss chance also gives him survivability against auto-attacks. The bonus damage also allows him to deal tremendous damage with.
 * drastically improves Tusk's damage output, and allows him to hit enemies through evasion and blind. The raw damage increase makes Walrus PUNCH! much stronger as well.
 * gives Tusk attributes across the board, making him much tankier and giving him a bigger mana pool to work with. The Cold Attack modifier also allows him to slow enemies with his attacks, stacking alongside Frozen Sigil to magnify his battlefield presence.
 * gives Tusk greatly increased damage, making even more powerful, and a chance to bash enemies he attacks. The active can give Tusk even more lockdown on top of his other disables, particularly as it can stun through spell immunity.
 * Tusk's spells allow him to provide strong utility for his team when not built to take advantage of his ultimate. Several items can help him to this end:
 * is very cheap and can be easily purchased in the early game. It provides mana and HP regen, allowing Tusk to roam more independently, and lets Tusk dip into his HP pool to cast his spells, allowing him to be more active on the map.


 * increases the size of Tusk's mana pool and gives him a means with which to replenish it, along with that of his teammates. Being able to easily sustain his own mana pool allows Tusk to stay on the go and use his spells to set up kills for his team.
 * is a strong utility item that increases Tusk's mobility. It provides intelligence, improving his mana pool, and gives him HP regen to keep his health topped up. The active can be used as an initiation booster to help Tusk position himself to cast his spells, as a quick escape, or can be used on allies to re-position them for various purposes. It can also be cast on enemies to dis-position them, or to break an enemy Linken's Sphere during initiation.
 * is a useful mid-game utility item that provides Tusk with a strong teamfight aura. It provides Tusk and allies with additional armor and HP regen, improving their survivability, and some mana regen to allow Tusk to maintain his mana pool more easily. The increased damage also provides Tusk's team with an edge in fights, and helps Tusk to deal more damage with.
 * gives Tusk increased casting ability, along with providing other strong bonuses. Its intelligence and scaling mana regen bonuses solve all of Tusk's casting problems, allowing him to always have a full mana pool to deal with any situation, and its movement speed bonus increases the potency of Phase Boots and Drum of Endurance, allowing Tusk to be far more mobile. The cyclone can be used to provide Tusk with another invulnerability ability on top of Snowball, purging debuffs from himself at the same time, or can be cast on enemies as an additional disable during initiations.
 * can be upgraded from Medallion of Courage, and provides Tusk with many of the same benefits. The extra armor and evasion make him increasingly tanky during initiations, and applying the debuff to an enemy will cause them to take even more damage from.
 * is well-suited to improving Tusk's survivability and casting potential. It greatly improves Tusk's HP pool, making him tankier and more able to survive during initiations, and a large amount of intelligence to drastically increase the size of his mana pool. The extremely long range on the active allows Tusk to drastically slow a target enemy from a great distance, and the slow can be combined with that of Frozen Sigil, enough to almost completely immobilize an enemy. As well, the long cast range allows it to be used to paralyze an enemy prior to casting Snowball, preventing enemies without blink or haste abilities from outrunning it.
 * is a strong utility item that can give Tusk increased survivability against magic nukes. The magic resistance helps him to survive during initiations once his HP pool is large enough, and the active can shield him and his teammates from enemy magic nukes for a time.
 * can be upgraded from Vanguard, and allows Tusk to increase his team's resistance to physical damage. The additional armor greatly improves Tusk's tankiness on top of the increased HP and damage block, and using the active can further protect him and his teammates against the enemy's physical attacks.
 * is an expensive utility item but synergizes strongly with Tusk's ability to disable enemies. It provides a great amount of armor, making Tusk more tanky, and drastically improves his mana pool through bonus intelligence, ensuring that he can always have enough mana to cast his spells. The aura and active can slow enemy movement and attack speed even further on top of Frozen Sigil, and the active can be used prior to casting Snowball in order to apply the blast to the entire enemy team during initiations.

Trivia

 * In DotA, Tusk's title is Tuskarr. The Tuskarr are a race of humanoid walruses in the Warcraft universe.
 * His response Tusk superpunch attack 53.mp3 "Falcon Punch!" is a reference to Captain Falcon's signature move in the Super Smash Bros. franchise, which has also become a popular internet meme.
 * His response Tusk kill 23.mp3 "Bang! Zoom! To the Mad Moon!" is likely a reference to The Honeymooners character Ralph Kramden, who would frequently say "Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!".
 * His response Tusk death 09.mp3 "Coulda been a contender." is likely a reference to the quote from the movie On the Waterfront.
 * His response Tusk death 11.mp3 "My fight money." is likely a reference to Balrog from Street Fighter who says the same thing whenever he loses a round.
 * His response to missing a Walrus Punch, Tusk failure 03.mp3 "Well there's your problem." is likely a reference to Adam Savage from Mythbusters, who has made it a show catchphrase. Savage often jokes that the mustache of his co-host Jamie Hyneman makes him look like a walrus.
 * His response Tusk superpunch attack 79.mp3 "Double Dragon Punch Punch!" is a reference to the game, "Double Dragon".
 * In Tusk's lore, the Bristled Bruiser is, who was ported to Dota 2 roughly a month after Tusk; Bristleback's lore makes mention of Tusk as well, and the two heroes share rival and ally lines with regards to this relationship.
 * Before 6.80, where dealt higher crit damage to targets below 50% health, the floating text above the target would change:
 * When landed on a enemy creep whose health was above 50%, the caption read "Penguin Punch!" in small blue letters.
 * When landed on an enemy hero whose health was above 50%, the caption read "Polar Punch!" in medium blue letters.
 * When landed on any enemy whose health was below 50%, it read "Walrus Punch!" in large letters.
 * In the current version, it always displays "Walrus Punch", no matter what is targeted.
 * 's version of Walrus Punch would throw a projectile which uses Rubick's model and spins towards the target. When used on Tusk, it would read "Sucker Punch!" in green. On other targets, it read "Stolen Punch".
 * However, since Walrus Punch is an active attack modifier, Rubick cannot steal it anymore.

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