Introduction
"So much meat, so little time."
Pudge, the Butcher, is one of the most feared gankers in the game. Typically he plays the mid role, although he is never really expected to win the lane. Rather, he needs experience, and then he goes-a-ganking. Pudge's Hook into Rot & Dismember combo allows him to wreak havoc when he ganks the lanes... if he gets it off.
Pudge's complete character profile can be found here.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Intimidating map presence
- Very versatile skillshot ability in Hook
- Great stat gain and only gets tankier as the game progresses
- Disable scales incredibly well as it goes through Black King Bar
- Fun, high impact hero
Cons
- Pressure to succeed with initial ganks
- Even more pressure to land your Hooks
- Requires skill and confidence to use
- Mana problems
- Drops off late game
Item Build
Pudge has a very flexible item build and item choices will come down to personal preference, so play around with the different item set ups a bit before deciding on your ideal build. That said, you will probably want to select from a mixture of core items, detailed below, and avoid anything else.
For starting items you'll need a set of Tangos, a Healing Salve, and two Branches (which you can upgrade into a Magic Wand later on). If you expect to be up against a ranged heroes or good harasser pick up a Stout Shield as well, otherwise you can get two pairs of Gauntlets of Strength to later turn into an Urn of Shadows.
Moving into your early game pick-ups - Bottle is core on Pudge, as are basic Boots of Speed. Smoke of Deceit is an excellent pick up if you suspect the enemy team has good defensive wards - not only will they not see you coming, they'll probably be much less expecting of a Pudge Hook coming at them from the jungle. And a Town Portal Scroll allows you to defend allies against tower dives.
As far as upgraded Boots go, you have four options: Power Treads, Phase Boots, Boots of Speed, or Arcane Boots. The only Boots I would not really recommend from these four are Arcane Boots; although they're not a bad option and will solve all your mana problems, you should have enough mana and regen from the Magic Wand/Urn & Bottle combo, and the others all have better synergy with Pudge.
Go for Power Treads if you want the stats and to feel more secure using Rot, Phase Boots if you feel you need the extra speed (Pudge has very low move speed, at 285, making him one of the slowest heroes in the game), and Boots of Travel moving into late game or if you get filthy rich early on.
After that your build is entirely up to you. Below I'll list the items that are generally considered good pick ups on Pudge; I recommend you pick from these moving forwards.
Blink Dagger - The new addition to Pudge's arsenal. Blink Dagger will make the enemy team even more terrified of you than usual. It mitigates your terrible move speed, gives you superior positioning, and allows you to Blink directly onto your targets before using your combo, ensuring you need never miss a Hook. The downside? It's expensive and doesn't give you any stats. As a first big ticket item you need to get it quickly, otherwise wait until after you have a stat item like...
Aghanim's Scepter - Scepter gives you solid stats, which equals a nice boost to your health and mana pools, and its bonus to your Ultimate is pretty good - it trebles the strength damage bonus of Dismember and will heal you whilst you're Dismembering in proportion to the damage you deliver. The components are fairly easy to pick up over time as well. A solid pick all-round.
Force Staff - Force Staff used to be the go-to item for those who wanted the mobility of an item like Blink Dagger but couldn't buy it because you weren't allowed to buy a Blink on Pudge. Now, however, you can buy a Blink Dagger on Pudge, but Force Staff is still a good alternative nonetheless - whilst Dagger is easily cancelled, Force can be used to pull off clutch escapes, and can be used to save allies too. It's not quite as good for positioning (Force into Hook can be tricky to pull off, and the distance you travel is much more limited), but it is a much more team-oriented item.
Drums of Endurance - A good item pick up for almost every hero, including Pudge. One of the most cost-effective stat items in the game, it makes you tankier, gives you more mana, boosts your move speed and gives your entire team a move speed and attack speed aura bonus. On top of all that it's easy to build into, making it a great pick up if you're struggling.
Hood of Defiance - Hood is a decent pick up for three key reasons. 1) It reduces the damage you take from toggling Rot quite substantially, 2) The health regen from Hood will allow you to stay out on the map almost indefinitely, and 3) You can later build into a Pipe of Insight which, if there are no other Pipe carriers on the team, is always a good item to have, especially during teamfights and when attempting to breach high ground.
Black King Bar - Almost always a good pick-up. If the enemy heroes have hard disables or deal high magic damage then this is your way of staying in a teamfight. It also allows you to almost always get off a full duration of your Dismember, because very few abilities in the game work through BKB. In the late game, Dismember will typically be your key contribution to your team, allowing you to pin the enemy carry down. BKB allows you to achieve your purpose at that stage of the game.
Crimson Guard – A good defensive/utility item. If you decide to opt for an early-ish Vanguard then later upgrading it into a Crimson Guard is a good way of buffing your inventory in the late game when Vanguard’s usefulness tapers off and inventory slots are at a premium.
So you get a nice chunk of flat health (250), +2 all stats, +5 armor and 6 health regeneration. On top of that you gain a passive Damage Block ability, which gives an 80% chance to block 20-40 damage, and an active Guard ability, which allows you to create a shield which applies to yourself and allies in a 750 unit radius that grants everyone affected by it +2 armor and a 100% chance to block 50 damage.
Crimson Guard is somewhat comparable to Mekanism, but more suited to heroes with low mana pools (following Patch 6.82’s hefty increase in Mekanism’s mana cost). It performs a similar protective and +armor role (albeit granting damage block rather than direct health). If you fear being unable to sustain a mana pool for Mekanism but want to add utility/tankiness to your teamfight then a Crimson Guard is a great option.
Ghost Scepter - A potential late game pick up. With their carry fully on line you'll be killable despite your enormous health pool and magic resistance. Ghost gives you 4 full seconds of physical immunity, which is pretty much a small lifetime from an enemy carry's perspective.
Vanguard - Vanguard in general is a much-maligned item and most experienced players in particular will question the choice, though it has been picked more often in pro games as of late. It can give you a lot of what you need to stay out on the map with the health regen and bonus health it supplies. Still, you're probably better off buying a casual Vitality Booster and working into a...
Heart of Tarrasque - Don't have enough health? Problem solved. Heart makes you a true late game meat shield, allows you to need never return to base, and will sky-rocket your health pool (although by this point you should have a decent number of Flesh Heap stacks). The bonus strength will increase your damage potential as well.
Assault Cuirass - If you want to be tanky but help your team in the process - and no one else already has one - then consider buying one of these over a Heart of Tarrasque. The same can be said for a Shiva's Guard.
Skill Build
Put your first skill point into Rot. This is to potentially help you last hit in the lane and also to help defend against potential level 1 tower dives against you. If you're in a lane, it also combos well with an allied stun; simply walk up to the enemy and Rot whilst they're stunned.
| Tip: If you toggle Rot quickly enough, you will take less damage but still deal full damage to enemies |
After that you want to focus on maxing Meat Hook first. The increased range, damage and reduced cooldown all make it your primary early game skill. The damage from Meat Hook is pure damage as well (i.e. it is not reduced by damage resistance).
| Tip: Meat Hook affects both allies and enemies (allies do not take the damage though), so is a great way of saving teammates that over-extend or get left behind in a retreat. |
Get Dismember at levels 6, 11 and 16. Once you hit level 6 and have a point in Dismember you can gank the sidelanes or attempt to kill the enemy mid hero if you find an opening for your Hook. Remember that Meat Hook hits enemy creeps and has a slight delay, so you'll need to aim it accordingly, ensuring you aim at where you anticipate the enemy to move to NOT where they're currently stood.
Max Rot second, to complete the damage potential of your combo in the early-to-mid game. Your combo at this point in the game is Meat Hook, followed by toggling on Rot whilst the enemy is being hooked towards you, followed by Dismember. If they survive the combo pursue them with Rot turned on; the slow is potent and if they don't have an escape mechanism you should be able to finish them off.
Level 10 is when you get your first point in Flesh Heap. This ability is retroactive, meaning that any stacks you would have acquired up until now will be added once you skill it - this is why you can wait until level 10 before putting a point into it.
Gameplay Tips
As previously mentioned, your basic ganking combo is Meat Hook into Rot into Dismember. If you opt for a Blink Dagger you can jump onto the enemy, Rot, Dismember, then Meat Hook. This virtually guarantees you'll land the Hook, and you'll deliver much more Rot damage over time. Be careful not to over-extend, however, as your ability to disengage is non-existent.
| Tip: If you do over-extend and find yourself almost certain to die, toggle Rot on; you can actually kill yourself with Rot, so if Rot is the last instance of damage you take before you die you'll deny yourself. |
Force Staff is the other mobility option. Since many capable players will angle themselves so that your Meat Hooks would miss or grab creeps instead, a Force Staff allows you to catch the enemy by surprise. You can push yourself so that your Hook will come from a different angle altogether. You will need to practice this move a fair bit though; it's not easy to pull off. The advantage of Force Staff over Blink is its greater utility; Force Staff is not cancelled by enemy attacks and you can use it to save teammates.
Moving into the post-laning stage, you'll find fewer opportunities to gank and claim pick-offs, and will need to be present in teamfights. You actually play a fantastic initiation role at this point in the game. Where almost all initiators in Dota 2 are forced to engage on enemy ground, Pudge can Meat Hook opponents into your team, forcing the enemy team (if they want to come to their teammate's aid) to fight on your terms. A word of warning though - don't hook enemy initiators like Tidehunter or Earthshaker, unless you want to be in a world of pain!
Late game you fall off in damage potential, but you're still a great meat shield for your team. In addition, since Dismember goes through Spell Immunity you can use it to hold an enemy carry in place for its duration, allowing your team to go to work on them.
Although Pudge has no hard counter heroes per se, since he thrives on feeding off of squishy supports he can be somewhat countered by a tanky hero line-up; a Pudge that can't feed on heroes is a sad Pudge indeed.
Heroes with great mobility, such as Anti-Mage, Queen of Pain, Mirana and Puck can also be frustrating to deal with; if you don't manage to kill them with your initial combo they will almost certainly survive.
Last Updated - Patch 6.83.
