Pangolier is an offlane hero who excels at disrupting the enemy’s lines and who can also deal a surprising amount of damage with only a few items.
His ultimate is a strong spell with a low cooldown which allows him to chase and escape from enemies very easily as well as potentially serving as powerful initiation tool for his team. His skill build doesn’t vary much at all between games, and his item build mainly consists of a very few key items which are important to get at one point or another.
Pangolier usually gets a Javelin in the early game because it grants him an increased change to deal extra damage which works amazingly well with Swashbuckle.
@ Valve
[/column]Pangolier Skill Order
- Swashbuckle
- Shield Crash
- Swashbuckle
- Shield Crash
- Swashbuckle
- Rolling Thunder
- Swashbuckle
- Shield Crash
- Shield Crash
- Talent
- Heartpiercer
- Rolling Thunder
- Heartpiercer
- Heartpiercer
- Talent
- Heartpiercer
- –
- Rolling Thunder
Pangolier rushes to the target point and quickly attacks all enemies in the target direction in an AoE attack in front of him 4 times. These attacks fully proc all attack modifiers, including Heartpiercer. Swashbuckle is usually maxed first because it grants Pangolier a lot of kill potential as the skill increases in damage and lowers its cooldown per level. Swashbuckle is the reason that many attack modifiers and on-attack proc chance items are purchased on Pangolier.
Casting Swashbuckle during Rolling Thunder will immediately cancel his ultimate. Swashbuckle can be used to pass over impassable terrain such as cliffs or through trees. The 4 attacks have true strike and ignore disarm effects from spells or items such as Heaven’s Halberd.
Pangolier slams the ground, dealing damage to all nearby enemies and gaining incoming damage reduction based on how many enemy heroes were affected, for 10 seconds. If Shield Crash is used during Rolling Thunder, Pangolier will maintain his forward momentum and continue traveling, potentially jumping over impassable terrain such as cliffs. Shield Crash is prioritized second usually, because it gives Pangolier a lot more potential damage during Rolling Thunder. Each point increases the damage as well as the damage reduction you gain from each enemy hit by it.
If you’re playing against melee heroes who tend to stack up a lot, or if you need more magical damage than physical, then you can max Shield Crash over Swashbuckle, as you will be able to deal a lot of damage once you have Rolling Thunder. It can also be a good idea to max Shield Crash if you need to tank up against the enemy lineup more, especially if you’re playing against melee heroes who can chase you down.
@ Valve
Pangolier gains a chance upon his attacks to slow enemy movement and to reduce the enemy’s armor value to 0, regardless of any buffs. The proc activates after a short delay. This is usually maxed lastly because armor reduction is generally more valuable in the mid and late game and your other skills give you more kill potential. It can be good to get one level of Heartpiercer early if you can be very active in the early game, particularly if you are against some of the hardest Dota 2 heroes that are tanky with high armor.
After a short delay, Pangolier rolls forwards, becoming magic immune and damaging as well as stunning and knocking back any enemies he comes in contact with. While rolling, he can move through trees and has increased movement speed, however his turn rate is greatly reduced. If Pangolier comes in contact with a cliff, he will turn around and continue rolling. Be careful about turning in tighter spaces such as near many stairs. This is because Pangolier may often struggle to turn around enough so that he can leave and may find himself stuck, bouncing between 2 walls. However, this can be good in situations where enemies are forced to walk near you, for example in the Roshan pit. Pangolier can collide with the terrain spawned from Power Cogs, Fissure and Ice Shards, although he will roll through buildings. He can also use any items normally while rolling.
The mana regeneration is almost always a better option. This is because Pangolier really needs mana regeneration, which is why he often buys Arcane Boots, Magic Wand and a Ring of Aquila. Mana regeneration allows him to keep fighting across the map, keep farming jungle camps and creep-waves and contribute more to longer fights. Pangolier also doesn’t really need the extra movement speed because he has a lot of mobility from Rolling Thunder, Shield Block and Swashbuckle.
The 2 second Shield Crash cooldown during Rolling Thunder is almost always a stronger talent because it grants so much more utility in team-fights. It will help you to chase enemies down over cliffs much more easily and similarly make it easier for yourself to escape bad situations, control the enemy team more easily and increase your overall damage output. It will also tank you up a lot more, because you will be given more chances to gain more Shield Crash charges by being able to use it more often.
In general, the extra strength is more preferable. This is because Pangolier is quite tanky through Shield Block and Rolling Thunder, and having an additional 400 HP will go along way in tanking him up, especially when combined with his high mobility. The extra damage is applied to each of the 4 swipes, effectively adding 120 damage to every enemy struck by Swashbuckle, assuming they are hit by each attack. This can be good if you are facing an illusion hero, or a hero who can spawn summons, especially because the spell has quite a low cooldown. It can also be good if you don’t need to tank up or if you need more damage output on your team, especially when facing against some of the best Dota 2 players.
In most games, the reduced Rolling Thunder cooldown is a bit stronger. This is because the reduced Swashbuckle cooldown relies on you having damage items in the first place. The Rolling Thunder talent will halve the downtime of the spell, assuming you’ll use Rolling Thunder for the full duration. This will allow you to be magic immune sooner, give your team more disables, more magical damage nukes and give you more survivability in team-fights. If you don’t need more control in team-fights and just need damage then the Swashbuckle talent may be more preferred, especially if you have some items such as MKB and Abyssal Blade.
Pangolier’s starting items almost always consist of a Stout Shield, Iron Branches and basic regeneration. The Stout Shield is important because it allows you to take a lot more damage from right-clicks during the laning phase. The damage reduction from Shield Block also works very well with Stout Shield, allowing you to block an even greater amount of damage. Basic regeneration will keep you in the lane for longer and Iron Branches can be built into a Magic Wand. If you are unlikely to take a lot of right-click harass from enemies, it may be better to get Boots of Speed with your starting gold. These will make it a bit harder to chase you down and allow you to kite enemies a bit more easily.
An Orb of Venom can be a good early game item to buy on Pangolier if your team lacks much ability to chase or lockdown opponents. The slow is applied to everyone affected by Swashbuckle, which can be good against melee heroes as they have a tendency to be closer to each other in engagements. The damage can also be good if you are able to right-click harass enemies a lot. Otherwise, the item is usually skipped as it’s often seen as an unnecessary cost which delays your other items.
A Magic Wand is a great item on Pangolier because the hero likes to fight a lot in the early and mid game. This allows him to gain many charges and potentially save himself or get kills he otherwise wouldn’t. Pangolier can move over cliffs very easily with Swashbuckle and Shield Block during Rolling Thunder and similarly, these spells can be used to chase enemies down. Overall, a Magic Wand should be gotten in almost every match. It will raise your chance of climbing those Dota 2 ranks.
Pangolier can often keep his Boots of Speed without needing to upgrade them. Arcane Boots can be good in many games, and Phase Boots are perhaps situational as well. They can be good if you need to be aggressive or fight a lot in the early game, otherwise Boots of Speed can be upgraded into Boots of Travel in the mid or late game.
@ Valve
Arcane Boots can be very strong on Pangolier because almost all of his strength comes from his spells. These have very low cooldowns and quite high mana costs, and Arcane Boots allow him to use them all a bit more often, which is especially helpful in longer team-fights. You should consider getting these if only one or no teammates will get them, as they will also help your team and because you can usually rely on your supports to give you mana otherwise.
A Ring of Aquila can be a good early game item on Pangolier. It increases his damage, allows him to push a bit more easily and grants him some more mana regeneration which keeps him casting his spells. It can be good if you are being very active in the early game, or if you have an early game lineup. If no one else on your team will get one, it can be a decent pickup and overall, it provides some great stats.
A very effective way to increase Pangoliers damage output if through stacking Javelins. They have a 25% chance to deal an extra 100 damage and this works very well with Swashbuckle, as the spell launches an assault of 4 attacks very quickly. Each of these attacks have a chance to deal the extra damage and can potentially deal the damage as many times as Pangolier has Javelins for each attack. Two Javelins are usually purchased to build a Maelstrom and a Monkey King Bar and are built into these two respective items later.
A Blink Dagger can be a great item on Pangolier because you can use it during Rolling Thunder to initiate team-fights and instantly stun enemies. It can be especially strong in areas where there are many cliffs such as near the ancients or at the Roshan pit. You can Blink right into the middle of them and bounce back and forth without them seeing you coming and having as much time to react. Certainly one of the most popular items in all of Dota 2 esports.
A Skull Basher is a great item on Pangolier because you have a chance to apply it on each of your Swashbuckle attacks. However, it has a cooldown of 2.3 seconds, which means it can only apply once. With a 25% chance to bash and 4 attacks it should, in theory, bash an enemy each time you cast the spell. It’s built from a Javelin and will also help to tank you up a bit.
A Vanguard can be a great item because it can be built into an Abyssal Blade and it will help to tank you up even further, especially when combined with Shield Block. If you are facing heroes with a lot of physical damage, it can be very good to get a bit earlier.
A Diffusal Blade is another item which will greatly increase your damage output, particularly through Swashbuckle. It will drain 50 mana and deal an extra 40 physical damage in addition to the 20 damage from the agility which it provides. This means that it will drain 200 mana and deal an extra 240 damage to enemies caught by all 4 attacks. You can also use the active to slow enemies down and and keep attacking them. A Diffusal Blade is a great item against heroes or rely on mana, such as Medusa or Wraith King.
A Maelstrom has a cooldown of 0.2 seconds, which means it can’t proc on each attack from Swashbuckle. Nonetheless, it can be built from a Javelin which provides a lot of value for Pangolier and will help him to farm and wave-clear in the mid and late game.
Abyssal Blade is a great late game item on Pangolier because it combines a Vanguard, which tanks him up, and a Skull Basher which works great with Swashbuckle. The item also provides a strong late game disable which can be easier to land through the mobility of either Swashbuckle or a Blink Dagger.
Monkey King Bar grants a 75% chance to deal an extra 60 Pure damage. This has no cooldown and can be applied on each of the Swashbuckle attacks. This makes it a great item for Pangolier as it drastically increases his damage output. It may be prioritized if you face a hero with evasion, however it isn’t always necessary, because Pangolier doesn’t always rely on his right-clicks to deal damage in team-fights.
A Shiva’s Guard is a good item on Pangolier because it provides a lot of armor, which benefits Pangolier a lot against physical damage, and provides an attack speed slow aura, which will help your team out as well. The active movement speed slow and nuke works very well with Rolling Thunder, as you can use it to apply the effect to a large area as you travel.
Boots of Travel are usually the late game boots of choice on Pangolier because they allow him to push lanes out very quickly with Swashbuckle and Shield Block and teleport to a team-fight if needed. All of his spells have low cooldowns which means that he is more or less always ready to fight, whether or not the enemy team have Dota 2 wards in place.
@ Dota 2 Wiki
A Linken’s Sphere can be a good item on Pangolier if you are facing some very strong single-target disables. It provides a strong spell block, lots of regeneration and a large amount of stats. It can be prioritized in the mid game if you are certain that you will need it to survive team-fights. Heroes like Bane and Beastmaster have disables which go through spell immunity and which will cancel Rolling Thunder and reduce your overall team-fight contribution.
A Hood of Defiance can be a very strong early or mid game item if you are facing a lineup with an excessive amount of magical damage. It can often be hard to get much use out of Shield Block, particularly against ranged casters, and a Hood really helps to negate some of the damage that you would otherwise take.
A Radiance can be a good mid or late game item on Pangolier as it will deal more damage to enemies during Rolling Thunder and apply a miss chance to all nearby enemies. This is particularly strong if you are facing a lineup with lots of physical damage dealers, as it will tank you and your team up a bit. Pangolier excels at being in the middle of the enemy team because of Rolling Thunder and Shield Block, and having a Radiance will allow you to deal a lot more magical damage to all of the nearby enemies. It’s often quite an investment however, and it can be hard to get the 3800 gold needed for the Sacred Relic. This means that you may often be better off buying a different item that has an equally large impact, if possible.
Any disables which pierce magic immunity are usually very strong against Pangolier because they interrupt Rolling Thunder. Spells like Fiend’s Grip, Chronosphere and Nether Swap are all examples of spells which often make it had to contribute to team-fights and which you need to watch out for in almost every fight. Try to wait for these spells to be used on other targets before you use it, or alternatively use it only when you know it won’t get interrupted.
Bloodseeker’s ultimate, Rupture, is very strong against Pangolier because it pierces magic immunity, which means that it can be placed on Pangolier during Rolling Thunder. This will force Bloodseeker to stop moving and to cancel Rolling Thunder or cause him to take a massive amount of damage. Rupture is also strong against Swashbuckle because using it will cause him to take a lot of damage.
Each one of Meepo’s clones will count as a hero when Pangolier uses Shield Block against them. This means that you will often very easily be able to get 5 stacks of Shield Block when playing against Meepo. Consider buying a Blink Dagger, as you will often be able to Blink near the middle of the Meepos and gain almost 100% incoming damage reduction for 10 seconds.
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