Hello friends. Today we are going to discuss Centaur.

You may be wondering why this isn’t in caps. That is because I have found peace. You see, Dota can be a very stressful game for everyone involved. Worrying about farm, positioning, mana issues, item builds, etc. contributes to the hostile environment that it’s known for.

Centaur can fix that.

ABILITIES

Hoof Stomp is a moderately sized AoE stun. 2 seconds at level 1 is insane, making Brad a good choice for first blood combos with the right teammates. At rank 4 it stuns for 2.75, but it also gets more expensive to cast. We’ll be maxing it early, but not first.

Double Edge hits you, your target and anyone next to them like a mack truck. 400 damage at rank 4 is crazy strong, and your innate chuft will help it hurt you a lot less then it’ll hurt them. In addition, any magic resist you build will lessen the damage you take. You’ll usually want to max this first because it can decide early fights very quickly.

Return hurts anything that swings at you for a little bit of damage, plus 50% of your strength. This makes attacking Cent a terrible idea, but it only really starts to matter once you have some levels and items. We’ll be maxing it last, but grabbing a rank of it early isn’t a bad idea.

Stampede is-

Wait, stampede?

STAMPEDE?

AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

STAMPEDE IS FUCKING AMAZING. YOU AND YOUR WHOLE TEAM FUCKING FLOORS IT FOR ¾/5 SECONDS WITH NO UNIT COLLISION. ANYTHING YOU TOUCH GETS STUNNED FOR 1.25 SECONDS AND TAKES 200 DAMAGE PLUS 2X YOUR STRENGTH. IT ONLY COSTS 50 MANA, AND THE COOLDOWN IS ALMOST NONEXISTANT. GANK BITCHES. SAVE YOUR TEAMMATES FROM ACROSS THE MAP. CHASE DOWN COURIERS. BE EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE. RUIN EVERYONE’S DAY. POWER OF THE HORSE, FULL FORCE.

Phew. Let’s talk items.

ITEMS

Start: , , x 3, or . Turn branches into .

Centaur’s items are easy to handle because he only buys a handful of things. Early game I tend to grab a tango, salve, 3 gg branches and either a Ring of Protection or Stout Shield depending on what’s on the other team. If they’re set up well for early harass the shield will largely negate it, and if not the ring will go towards a fast Tranquils. If you’re midding you may want to consider a bottle since Centaur is a great ganker, otherwise skip it. Also, make sure to get a wand. I shouldn’t have to say this, put not enough people buy wand.

Boots: or

Boot-wise your options are Tranquils or Treads. If it wasn’t for STAMPEDE I’d say you always want Tranquils, but the option is there now. Setting your Treads to strength gives you a good early chunk, but they are slower. If you’re not being kited too hard you can go for Treads, but the speed, active and price of Tranquils usually win out for me.

A case could be made for Arcanes, but it’s not very hard to keep your mana in check with Centaur. You only have two abilities that cost mana, and one of them only costs 50. Phase Boots aren’t a great choice because auto attacks are not really how you’re going to do your damage, at least not until your strength totals hit critical mass.

Midgame: or , , possibly

After boots you want either Hood or Vanguard. Both of these make frequent use of Double Edge practical, and they’re barely different in price. Hood is generally a better item, and it can build into a pipe late game if needed, but Vanguard has its uses, especially against an auto-attack stacked team.

Blink Dagger was and is amazing on Brad, but thanks to STAMPEDE you don’t necessarily have to buy it. It’s usually a good choice, though. Even if your team already has a proper initiator (probably won’t happen in pubs) being able to choose your position from almost anywhere is really powerful. It was core before, and it’s still core now, but you can pass if STAMPEDE is covering your needs well enough. Blademail is just a really strong situational pickup.

Lategame: or , if you’re doing well.

BKB is everything Brad wants in an item. I have no idea why it’s not recommended in game, it’s great. Pipe is a good choice if your team is handling fights more than you are, and it’s an easy pickup if you bought a Hood. Heart is the king of Centaur items. Health, health regen and a metric fuckton of strength make it an easy choice if you’re making bank, which he doesn’t have much trouble with. Other items like Radiance and Assault Cuirass are ok, but they don’t synergize as well.

A few nifty Centaur tricks:

Teammates with abilites that consolidate people are your best friends (Dark Seer, Magnus, etc.). You can stun a group of people for a full 4 seconds with a good STAMPEDE and stomp, and if they’re really bunched up you can smack all of them with Double Edge.

You can’t kill yourself with Double Edge. A lot of heroes just can’t go toe to toe with Centaur early game for that reason. You can fight someone normally and reserve the chop for when you’re both low, then limp away while you read their bitching in all chat.

Your teammates can make use of STAMPEDE even if you’re not around. Keep an eye out and help out with ganks across the map.

In teamfights, try to stomp as many people as possible, ala Slardar. Also, use Double Edge whenever you can, preferably on squishies that you can kill easily. Anyone who doesn’t build magic resist deserves to get culled.

Ganking with Brad is easy. Run up to the gank-ee with STAMPEDE, body block their escape route, and stomp as soon as the first stun wears off. Hit them during that whole affair, and finish them with Double Edge. This can be an easy kill on your own, and is practically a guaranteed kill with a helper.

I hope this intro will be useful to you guys. When the new and improved Centaur hits the main client, turn your brains off and give him a try. You’ll have fun, I promise.