Troll Warlord

Jah'rakal the Troll Warlord is a ranged Agility hero able to output mighty damage competitively at range and in melee. His Berserker's Rage gives him the unique ability to change his attack position from ranged to melee and back at will as the situation prefers. When in close combat, his stats are increased accordingly: he gains bonus damage, armor, movement speed, health, reduced base attack time, and the ability to Bash. Not only does this greatly improve the Troll Warlord, but allows him to overpower most other carries, as well as permabash a target for extended amounts of time. The Troll Warlord is an axe specialist, using them in his unique Whirling Axes. Whirling Axes has two variations: the first is available to his ranged form wherein he throws five axes in a cone formation to damage and slow enemies down. The second is available to his melee form, unleashing axes around himself in a small radius to damage and blind nearby enemies. In keeping with his savage nature, Fervor builds up the Warlord's momentum. With each consecutive hit on the same target, he gains increased attack speed, up to a maximum of 4 stacks. His Ultimate, Battle Trance, increases the attack speed of all of his allies globally, making it useful both for teamfights and to shred towers down quickly. Notorious for his superbly fast attack speed that can be matched by few, Jah'rakal is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Tips

 * At level 25 without items and with 4 stacks of fervor and his ultimate Troll Warlord reaches 421/500 attack speed.
 * Troll Warlord is faster in melee mode, making it easier to chase or escape from enemies and the bonus damages to get last hits and deny (more effective with Quelling blade). It also increases your health and armor, so switching to melee form whenever damage is received reduces the overall damage you take. On the other side, being in ranged form makes healing effects more effective, since the current health percentage stays the same when switching between melee and ranged.
 * The melee and ranged versions of whirling Axes have separate cooldowns. Keep this in mind when in battle, so that you can output more damage with them.
 * When your target enemy is starting to become harder to chase in melee form, keep in mind that you still have a Ranged form. Ranged Whirling Axes can aid in crippling them, so that you can revert back to melee form to finish them off.
 * Augment Troll Warlord's power with damage-boosting items, since his power lies in his excellent attack speed.
 * Ally buffs such as 's Empower can also be a good source of boosting damage.
 * Because of its scaling boost to attack speed Fervor is usually leveled up last with 1 point at level 4 for tower pushing/roshan/beating on a single hero. Having your movespeed and bash duration higher will greatly benefit your survivability and chase, since Fervor is extremely good with even only 1 skill point. But keep in mind that since a recent update the first stack is always active.
 * It's better to focus on one target rather than switching from one to another, since Fervor makes him more dangerous the more he attacks the same target with each blow.
 * Attack speed items such as Gloves of Haste and Hyperstone allow you to build up Fervor more quickly, but do not scale well if you opt to max it early on.
 * If you're 6-slotted, sell any attack speed items for higher damage items. With all skills levelled, Troll Warlord easily achieves his maximum attack speed, so items like Mjollnir are much less useful.
 * Drum of Endurance and Sange and Yasha are strong items coupled with the bonuses from Berserker's Rage, giving you even greater mobility to prevent kiting.
 * Maelstrom, Mjollnir, Orb of Venom and Eye of Skadi are the only few Unique Attack Modifiers that stack with the commonly opted HotD.
 * Maelstrom is an excellent source of early-game and mid-game damage, but upgrading to a Mjollnir is discouraged as Troll Warlord hardly benefits from the 80 attack speed it provides. Instead of upgrading your Maelstrom, sell it for higher damage items such as Daedalus, Butterfly or Monkey King Bar, or utility items such as Eye of Skadi, Black King Bar or Heaven's Halberd.
 * Heroes who mainly auto-attack benefit greatly from Battle Trance. Try to draft at least one more hard hitting carry for your team to get the most out of it. If your team insists on picking four carries, Battle Trance can often be the saving grace for a horribly gold starved team as it equates to more than a free seven second Hyperstone for everyone at its first level. Contently look at the map and use Battle Trance at any engagement of allies to give them an advantage. Check at the map at use your ultimate everytime someone is fighting or pushing. Communicate with your team to know when exactly you need to activate your ultimate. Be sure to always have enough mana, buy a Ring of Basilius to get more mana regen.
 * Battle Trance can be used to help allies in many ways even if you are not there, as the effects are global, that is why Troll is often played mid to reach level 6 quickly (and do a fast Roshan at the same time). Whether you have someone pushing a tower such as or, if  has used ,    or if  is Roshing, heroes with high base damage but low attack speed like , be sure to help your friends by using your Ultimate!
 * Battle Trance does not buff Illusions, but it does work on and his clones allowing to reach the highest DPS of the game. Because Meepo is excellent at pouncing on enemies, he can generally obliterate anyone instantly once he blink/poofs in under the effects of Battle Trance. He can use Troll's ultimate to destroy buildings in backdoor.
 * With the bonus attack speed when Troll Warlord is picked, some heroes can focuses on damages Daedalus or Monkey King Bar or disables like Skull Basher instead of attack speed.

Trivia

 * Jah'rakal's lore and certain dialogue lines make several references to Internet trolls, a type of identity or role assumed by certain Internet users.
 * Troll Warlord, along with, has the lowest intelligence growth in the game (+1 per level).
 * Troll Warlord's alternate name in DotA was Cory Clark a nod to the famous internet troll.
 * His skill set was completely changed by the time DotA went into version 6.60 and above. His abilities were either modified, or replaced. Some of these changes are as follows:
 * Berserker's Rage used to cost mana.
 * Blind was arguably his trademark ability, and the very reason why he was called the Blinding Axe in the lore of DotA. An intense light blinds his enemy, causing some of their attacks to miss.
 * Fervor used to be Beastmaster's recent Inner Beast, where it was an attack speed-enhancing aura.
 * Rampage, his old ultimate, is where he goes into animalistic berserk state, increasing his movement speed and boosting his attack speed to an ultimate level for a long period of time. This ability is able to give him instant blinding speed and the potential to wipe out five heroes separately, thus, it was the inspiration of the name of a five hero kill from a single hero "Rampage".
 * Battle Trance's Battle Trance.mp3 sound effect is based on Troll anger 10.mp3 this and Troll failure 03.mp3 this line combined.