Ursa/Guide

Hero

 

Strategy

 

Equipment

 

Gear

 

Talents

 

Relics

 

Responses

 

Sounds

 

Animations

 

Lore

 

Old Abilities

 

Changelogs

 

Known Bugs

 

Gameplay

Playstyle
Ursa is a simple carry/anti-tank hero who specialises in quickly taking out enemies one at a time. He is powerful from start to finish, tearing apart enemies and getting early Roshan kills for his team with the help of his passive Fury Swipes. Combined with Overpower and Enrage, Ursa can quickly take down even the toughest heroes. However, his damage output is strictly limited to melee range and he has no mobility options, making him a prime target for enemy disables and thus heavily reliant on items such as Black King Bar and Blink Dagger.
Pros	Cons
Best solo Roshan killer in the game. Very high single target damage. Very strong hero in mid and early game. Efficient early/mid game jungler.	Dependent on Black King Bar and Blink Dagger/ Abyssal Blade. No escape mechanism. Low mobility. No disables. Low attack speed without Overpower. Dependent on Overpower to deal damage.

Carry

• Ursa only needs Morbid Mask and max Fury Swipes to take down Roshan.
• After obtaining the Aegis, Ursa should dominate the mid game by ganking the enemies repeatedly with Blink Dagger and his team.

Ability Builds

Generic Ursa
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Talents

Hero Talents
+3 Overpower Attacks	25	2 Earthshock Charges
+10 Fury Swipes Damage	20	+400 Earthshock Radius
+20% Enrage Status Resistance	15	Earthshock Applies 2 Fury Swipes
+1.75 Mana Regen	10	+20s Fury Swipes Reset Time

Tips & Tactics

General

• Ursa's lack of ranged abilities and mobility options make him very easy to kite. Pair up with a disabler such as Lion or Shadow Shaman.
• Ursa's Fury Swipes ability allows him to solo-kill Roshan at very low levels with any source of lifesteal (as low as level 1 if paired with Wraith King), but typically around level 7 with Morbid Mask.
• Try to deward the area around the Roshan pit and use Smoke of Deceit prior to entering the pit to avoid being detected and ganked while inside.
• Ursa can be easily shut down by disables.
• Ursa remains relevant in late game by having items that improve survivability and counter enemy disables Black King Bar, Linken's Sphere, Aghanim's Scepter, or even Aeon Disk, and of course Aegis of the Immortal and Cheese.

Abilities

Earthshock

• Earthshock is a low cooldown, decent damage AoE slow that is useful for crippling enemies while you lay waste to them with your right click attacks. Consider at least one value point in this skill early game as it gives you the full slow duration as well as a magic nuke which will more easily allow you to acquire kills.
• Though the mana cast is not high, the low cooldown combined with Ursa's small mana pool means you will fast run out of mana if you are not careful. Consider stat items/mana regeneration items to ensure you have enough mana for this and Overpower.
• Do not rely too much on the slow to pin down enemies; though it is very strong and lasts a good while, savvy opponents will build Force Staff/ Glimmer Cape/any item that dispels debuffs for themselves or each other, kiting you and denying you easy kills. Often it is essential to build items that give better lockdown such as Scythe of Vyse or Abyssal Blade.

Overpower

• Overpower's cooldown is shorter than its duration. This means that Ursa can cast the ability early, use up the Overpower attacks, and then cast it again immediately after for up to 14 attacks in quick succession. Use this to maximize his burst damage and jungling efficiency.
• The combination of Overpower and Fury Swipes is the source of Ursa's tremendous damage output, as the greatly increased attack speed allows Ursa to build Fury Swipes stacks very quickly.
• The long duration of Overpower means it should be cast before a fight to let Ursa start dealing heavy damage right away.

Fury Swipes

• Fury Swipes builds up Ursa's attack damage as he keeps attacking target, similar to how Fervor increases Troll Warlord's attack speed.
• The damage scaling of Fury Swipes make Ursa great at killing Roshan.
• Works best when you already have a stack of Overpower nearing its expiring time, as you can use Earth Shock to slow down the enemy and attack, resulting in a definite kill if you do this and pop in another Overpower stack and use Enrage.
• Make last hitting easier by "preparing" each creep in the laning phase. This is done by getting Fury Swipes stack(s) on the creep, so that when you go for the last hit, you do more damage. Be wary of pushing the lane with this method.

Enrage

• Note that Enrage has a quite short duration. Enemies with long ranged or long lasting disables can therefore easily waste the Enrage buff by disabling Ursa after he has cast it. Examples of such disables are Astral Imprisonment, , and Primal Roar, or even Paralyzing Cask and Malefice, which are short, but repeating stuns.
• Enrage does not disjoint any debuff and is not recommended to be used against debuffs that can't be disjointed such as Rupture, as it only puts a strong dispel on Ursa. However, you still take 80% less damage while using Enrage, which allows you to retaliate, and in the case of Rupture to fight back.
• Enrage does not work against abilities that damage via HP removal, so abilities such as Culling Blade and Ice Blast can still kill you instantly.

Items

Starting items:

• Tango provides health regeneration in lane.

• Iron Branches can be used to make a Magic Wand and provide cheap, efficient attributes for the early game.

• Quelling Blade grants a cheap damage boost for easier last-hitting.

Early game:

• Boots of Speed are essential for most heroes but particularly Ursa as it allows him to chase down enemies to get into Earthshock range, as well as reducing down-time while jungling.

• Magic Stick combines with earlier Iron Branches to make a Magic Wand.

• Wind Lace if the enemy laner has more movement speed than Ursa, this gives him enough movement speed to continue chasing them down.

• Morbid Mask naturally synergizes well with Ursa's high physical damage, greatly increasing his staying power on the map. It also gives him a tool to take on Roshan.

Mid game:

• Phase Boots provide Ursa with additional chasing power, as well as attack damage to bolster his already high damage output.

• Magic Wand may be useful to supplement Ursa's poor mana pool and save him from bad situations.

• Battle Fury enables Ursa to still farm fast despite having early impact through fights. Additionally it helps with his mana issues in the beginning of the game.

• Blink Dagger is used for picking off heroes or initiating fights as it gives Ursa the option to pounce on an enemy hero with Earthshock and rapidly kill them. This can either be upgraded later into Overwhelming Blink for an extra AOE burst to cast alongside Earthshock, or opt for Swift Blink to chase faster thanks to the bonus phased movement speed provided upon cast.

• Black King Bar protects Ursa against disables, so he can keep hitting the enemies at close range.

Late game:

• Abyssal Blade's stun is useful for locking down slippery carries. The bash also synergizes well with Overpower as it gives Ursa high attack speed for more chance to proc.

• Satanic builds from Morbid Mask, improves Ursa's health and attack damage, and allows Ursa to fully heal in an instant with Unholy Rage.

• Nullifier applies a continuous dispel to prevent enemies from escaping Ursa with buffs like Ghost Scepter and Glimmer Cape.

Situational items:

• Linken's Sphere is a great item against Disarm and Silence and other heroes possessing powerful single-target spells. It should be bought if Black King Bar cannot stop the enemy from locking you down.

• Boots of Travel makes Ursa very mobile and allows him to defend his base or push enemy towers.

• Desolator is often unnecessary due to Ursa's sheer damage potential but can be used to supplement allied physical damage dealers, especially against enemies with high armor, and allows Ursa to tear down buildings faster.

• Sange and Yasha provides some easy-to-build HP and movement speed on Ursa, so if a Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade is not viable in the game, consider this item for some added mobility and tank. It can also be disassembled to create a Heaven's Halberd and Manta Style later in the game to provide evasion and debuff removal respectively.

• Scythe of Vyse grants a powerful hex that lasts longer than Abyssal Blade and has longer range, but offers few useful passive bonuses.

• Diffusal Blade improves Ursa's attack damage and rapidly burns mana with Overpower, and can slow enemies to keep them in range of Ursa.