Centaur Warrunner

Bradwarden the Centaur Warrunner is a melee strength hero whose natural place in combat is right in the center of battle. His abilities stop enemies around him in their tracks and inflict heavy damage, making him an excellent initiator. He is also a powerful tank, having the highest strength gain in the game.

Bradwarden has immense natural health, and his skills' area of effect mean that he can charge into combat and incapacitate groups of enemies at a time. Hoof Stomp and Double Edge make a great combo of stunning and burst damage on short cooldowns and his Return means instant retaliation on enemies who try attack him. His ultimate, Stampede effectively turns the entire team into initiators, granting them high speed and the ability to flatten enemies under as they pass over them.

Although he is usually not played as a carry, he can scale powerfully with items, becoming a hard-hitting semi-carry that is nearly impossible to kill.

Tips

 * 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 AoE.
 * 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 Warrunner 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.
 * You can use Stampede's movement speed boost to help allies escape or chase in a pinch, although the long cooldown makes this usage situational.
 * Stampede gives all allies the power to become initiators, allowing the entire team the chance to break into battle with destructive force; unfortunately, 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 Warrunner himself).

Trivia

 * Centaur Warrunner has the highest strength gain in the game (+3.8 strength per level).
 * In DotA, Bradwarden's hero title was Centaur Warchief.
 * Centaur Warruner's old ultimate, Great Fortitude, was a passive skill that granted him 15/30/45 strength. His strength gain was changed when his ultimate was changed to Stampede.
 * Bradwarden is the name of a centaur in the first DemonWars Saga trilogy by R.A. Salvatore.
 * Hoof Stomp's original animation involved Centaur Warruner slamming the handle of his axe into the ground. After receiving community feedback, Valve changed this animation a few days later to better suit the skill's name.