Introduction
"If they want war, then we shall give it to them!"
Tresdin, the Legion Commander is a strength melee carry, with all-round good starting strength, intelligence, and agility, with solid stat gains, an often under-estimated dispel and heal, and an ultimate that allows you to get out of control very quickly.
Legion Commander's complete character profile can be found here.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- High base stats all-round and good stat gain in general too
- High starting damage
- Ability to dispel almost any debuff in the game
- Granted extra attacks by her passive
- Inherent life steal proc that does not count as a unique attack modifier
- Ultimate that allows for permanent damage gain on use
Cons
- Relatively low armour
- Mana problems
- Ultimate can back-fire if used poorly
- Needs a good start
- Fairly strict item progression
Item Build
Legion Commander has a somewhat unique, tiered item build list. With your starting gold you'll want at least a set of Tangos, two Branches (which you should eventually upgrade into a Magic Wand) and a Stout Shield. Grab an additional Healing Salve if you expect pressure on your lane (if you opt, or are forced to jungle, a Quelling Blade, Stout Shield, and one set of Tangos is your best bet).
For your core items you have two separate choices to make. First of all decide which boots to go for, you can either opt for Power Treads (for the extra health and attack speed) or Phase Boots (for the damage and movement speed). Most builds (including this one) recommend Phase Boots, but they're not essential.
Your second core item is your initiating item, which you will need in order to effectively use your ultimate ability, Duel. This item will either be a Blink Dagger or a Shadow Blade - Blink is cheaper and gives you superior positioning capabilities, while Shadow Blade achieves similar (although in an inferior way) goals and gives you additional stats. If you feel you lack tankiness or won't be able to farm your second core item in a reasonable space of time, then either an Armlet of Mordiggian or a Drums of Endurance is a good next step - they're much easier to build into and will give you some utility early on. You can then go back to picking up an initiation item afterwards.
Your item progression once you have your core items is fairly flexible and almost entirely situational/taste dependant:
A Black King Bar is a must if the opposing team consists of high magic damage dealers and multiple stuns.
If you're able to skip a BKB purchase you can opt for any number of other items. Mjollnir is great for beating down opponents in Duels. Assault Cuirass complements almost all carries and benefits your entire team. Desolator stacks with your passive, which means you'll shred through enemies when using your Ultimate.
Finally, Heaven's Halberd and/or a Skull Busher working into an Abyssal Blade will make you an almost unstoppable anti-carry if that's what your team requires.
Skill Build
You can be somewhat flexible with your skill build. If you're laning then a couple of points in Overwhelming Odds followed by maxing Press the Attack is recommended. Overwhelming Odds will give you some decent lane presence and damage given that enemies will often be close to a creep wave (thus increasing the spell's damage), whilst Press the Attack will allow you to stay in the lane against heavy harrassment (you can also use it on allied heroes, so if your lane support is being forced out of lane cast it on them to help them out).
| Note - This guide assumes you're laning with Tresdin, but she's a decent Jungler too. If you're jungling you'll want to max out Moment of Courage first, followed by Press the Attack, so that you're not forced back to base at any point. |
Always get your Ultimate, Duel, whenever possible (i.e. levels 6, 11 and 16). This is what makes you a fearsome carry and you should be looking to accrue permanent bonus damage as soon as possible through this skill.
After that, you can finish maxing Overwhelming Odds or, preferably, given that you should be looking to utilise Duel as soon as possible, start getting points in Moment of Courage, since it synergises superbly with Duel, effectively giving you extra attacks with lifesteal.
For a detailed breakdown of Legion Commander's abilities, check out the Skills page.
Gameplay Tips
Although much of the focus of Legion Commander is on her Ultimate, don't under-estimate her other skills either. Press the Attack is an especially good spell for both yourself and your team that new players often forget to use. It removes most debuffs and disables (much like Abaddon's Aphotic Shield), allowing you to save a teammates who's almost certainly set to die. The bonus attack speed and health regen, which lasts for 4 seconds, also makes it a fantastic combat ability, not just a support skill.
When it comes to using her Ultimate, Duel, note that whenever you use it you (and your Duel opponent) will be Muted, which is a special form of silence. This means you cannot use items, so be sure to activate any items you intend to use during the Duel before casting your Ultimate (such as the active on Armlet or the Spell Immunity of Black King Bar).
The cast range on Duel is tiny (100 range), which is why you should purchase an initiation item as quickly as possible (either Shadow Blade or Blink Dagger).
Your traditional combo is: cast Press the Attack > Blink/Shadow Blade into your opponent > cast Duel > win fight and gain permanent bonus damage.
Although your enemy is muted and forced to attack only you for the duration of the ability, their teammates are NOT, and they CAN interfere in the Duel. This makes deciding when and when not to pounce on an enemy and Duel them a crucial part of playing Tresdin. If you're sure your opponent is alone then it's usually an easy kill, but if they have back-up it's easy for you to ultimately end up losing the Duel and granting the enemy bonus damage - in this respect, Duel can backfire against you.
Most of the time, barring enemy interference, you will win your Duel, thanks to a combination of already-accrued damage, Press the Attack, and your passive Moment of Courage giving you extra hits with bonus life steal, in which case you can quickly snowball out of control.
And the further good news is that teammates can also attack and cast spells on the enemy you're Duelling, making you a great partner for heroes that deal massive damage if they can catch an enemy in one place, such as Kunkka, Skywrath Mage, Jakiro, Elder Titan, Crystal Maiden, Gyrocopter, and Disruptor.
Last Updated - Patch 6.82.
