Tidehunter is a very strong off lane hero with one of the greatest team-fight spells in the game. His spells make him very tanky and his playstyle can be very fun, especially because he is capable of farming neutrals to get some items easily.
You and your team should avoid fighting when Ravage is on cooldown if possible, as it is such a powerful team-fighting spell.
@ Valve
[/column]Tidehunter Skill Build
- Anchor Smash
- Kraken Shell
- Anchor Smash
- Kraken Shell
- Anchor Smash
- Ravage
- Anchor Smash
- Kraken Shell
- Gush
- Talent
- Kraken Shell
- Ravage
- Gush
- Gush
- Talent
- Gush
- –
- Ravage
Read Also: Is Dota 2 Dying?
Tidehunter drenches the target in water, dealing damage and slowing the target as well as reducing their armor. Aghanim’s Scepter makes Gush an Aoe spell that travels in the direction of the cast point, affecting all enemies in its radius as well as reducing the cooldown of the spell. Gush isn’t needed for the first few levels for an off lane Tidehunter, as he is unlikely to be able to kill an enemy without help. The move speed reduction remains the same at all levels which is why only one point is taken early and left to be maxed last. It should be first skilled when you think you can potentially kill an enemy in your lane. This may be earlier than usual if you have a roaming hero on your team.
Tidehunter blocks a portion of incoming physical damage, and purges debuffs when an HP threshold has been crossed. The purge from Kraken Shell counts as a strong dispel and as such removes stuns. This spell is usually skilled alongside Anchor Smash to reduce the amount of harass Tidehunter takes in the laning phase. Kraken Shell is the spell that makes Tidehunter an effective tank in the early and mid game. It effectively acts as a stronger Poor Man’s shield.
Damage from wards is not blocked by Kraken Shell, and the threshold meter is reset after not taking player damage for 6 seconds. Kraken Shell can be taken at level one if you are against ranged heroes that are attempting to zone you in the off lane as it may be hard or risky to move close enough for an Anchor Smash.
Tidehunter damages nearby enemies and reduces their damage. This is usually maxed first because it increases the damage reduction and amount of damage that it deals. The damage from Anchor Smash is physical which means that it deals more damage against enemies with low armor or minus armor debuffs, such as Gush.
The damage reduction affects creeps and ancients, although not Roshan. Kraken Shell and Anchor Smash allow Tidehunter to very effectively farm neutral camps in the early game. The spell is very strong against melee heroes who farm the lane, as you can make it very hard for them to last hit. It also deals a lot of damage with a very low cooldown and mana cost, allowing you to harass easily and potentially dominate the off lane.
Tidehunter causes tentacles to stun and damage enemies in a large AoE around him. Ravage is one of the strongest team-fight ultimates in Dota 2 esports and has the potential to turn an entire team-fight around. Ravage has a very long cooldown and high mana cost.
In the early game, you should try to get a kill with ravage as soon as you get level 6. Usually you’ll need help, so you can either gank another lane, turn a gank around by teleporting in or have someone else gank your own lane. Don’t be afraid to use this spell on only 1 or 2 targets, as it can give you an early advantage. In some instances, you can land a Ravage from the tree-line, before you have your Blink Dagger. This adds the element of surprise to a gank that you lack from Blink Dagger.
In the mid game, you should have a Blink Dagger. At this point, you need to either initiate team-fights yourself if your team is close enough to respond, or turn team-fights around by hitting several heroes with your Ravage. Be wary of spell immunity and try not to let the enemies see you before you Ravage, this way they’ll be caught out easier.
In the late game most core heroes will have a BKB. This makes it a bit harder to use Ravage effectively but try to wait until the effect has either expired or catch them by surprise. Just make sure that your team is close enough to respond.
@ Valve
The movement speed can be good if you need to be able to escape mobile heroes more easily. Otherwise, the extra Gush damage is usually more preferred. The Gush damage is almost 2 skill points worth of damage, as each point increase the damage by 50.
Consider whether you’ll need the damage reduction against physical damage dealers or not. If they have mainly melee physical damage, then the Anchor Smash option is even more relevant, as it will be even harder for enemies to damage and kill you. The XP gain is more helpful in games which will likely last into the late or very late game. It can also be good if the enemies mostly have ranged physical damage dealers, or melee carries with lots of dispels as it can often be hard to use Anchor Smash against them easily.
The Kraken Shell damage block is very good against physical damage dealers as well as spells that deal physical damage, such as many wards. The Gush armor reduction is very strong if you have an Aghanim’s Scepter, lots of physical damage on your team, or other sources of minus armor, as it will further decrease their armor. If you need to tank up more, then the Kraken Shell will help you lots, but only against physical damage. The Gush minus armor is more helpful when it comes to dealing with tanky heroes or bursting enemies down with physical damage. Of the two talents, the extra damage block is usually more helpful.
The cooldown reduction should be your go to talent in almost every case. It allows you to cast all your spells including Ravage much sooner. This makes you much more active in team-fights and also affects all of your items such as Refresher Orb and Shiva’s Guard which have long cooldowns. The extra right-click damage can be very significant if you are able to stand in the midst of the enemies and attack them several times. This is usually only possible if you are very tanky, can use Anchor Smash on the enemies and the enemy is more focused on killing your allies than they are of killing you.
Tidehunter usually goes off lane where heroes typically need lots of regeneration. This is somewhat mitigated by Anchor Smash and Kraken Shell reducing the amount of damage he takes and this allows him to often get away with less regen items. It depends on your lane, but often an Enchanted Mango and Tangos will be enough regeneration for Tide. A Circlet and Iron Branches can be built into a Magic Wand later and can potentially be used as regen as well. A clarity can be good on Tide as he uses Anchor Smash quite a lot to farm neutrals and harass the enemies. If you can get away with it you can get a Quelling Blade to help you last-hit and deny the enemy carry.
Magic Wand is good on tide as a fully charged stick allows Tidehunter to use Anchor Smash another 4 or 5 times in a team-fight, especially as it has such a low cooldown.
Arcane Boots are almost always the boots of choice on Tide. These allow Tidehunter to be able to farm the jungle much faster and to harass the enemy carry more. Tide needs the mana pool to be able to cast Ravage as well as other spells and items in a team-fight, especially because he tends to build items which cost lots of mana, such as Mekansm and Refresher Orb. In team-fights, make sure to use these before using Refresher Orb so that you get some mana back.
Tidehunter excels at team-fights and Mekansm gives your team an early advantage when your teams begin clashing. It’s good on Tidehunter because he can usually farm either the jungle or the lane to get it relatively early. Mekansm tanks you and your team up further and allows you to start taking and winning most early and mid game fights.
Blink Dagger allows Tidehunter to be able to get great Ravages off on the enemy team. It also allows him to catch up to enemies and either chase them down with Gush or use Anchor Smash on top of them.
Read Also: Dota 2 Reddit - Repository of the Most Important Dota 2 Subreddits
Solar Crest tanks you up with more armor and evasion. It can also be used against a physical damage dealer on their team if they don’t yet have true-strike. It can also be very effective against heroes with evasion as it gives your entire team 35% accuracy against them.
Force Staff is another great mobility item. You can use it to reach the enemy team easier for a ravage as well as to escape if you start losing the fight. It provides more intelligence which is needed on Tide as well as some HP regen. It can make Tide much harder to kill because Kraken Shell will purge any stuns and slows if you take enough damage and Force Staff provides you with an ability to escape. You can Force ranged carries who are attacking you close enough to you to get an Anchor Smash off to reduce their damage.
Guardian Greaves are a natural pickup on Tide as they are built from Mekansm and Arcane Boots, both of which Tide often buys. They work very well with Refresher Orb if purchased later. It can be used to purge silences which is often very helpful against heroes like Silencer.
Pipe of Insight is a great team-fighting item against lineups which deal lots of magic damage. It also gives Tide passive magic resistance to tank him up more and provides the team a minor magic resistance aura.
Shiva’s Guard provides Tidehunter with lots of intelligence and some armor. This allows him to cast more of his mana intensive spells and items in team-fights. The passive slows enemy attack speed which is helpful against hardest Dota 2 hero carries and the active ability can slow enemies as the stun from Ravage ends.
Octarine Core should be considered after getting a few other items. It reduces the cooldowns of all of your spells and items. This means that Tide can use Ravage more often and this gives the opponents less time to engage you without Ravage being available to you. The cooldown reduction stacks multiplicatively with the level 25 cooldown reduction talent. Octarine core will also tank you up considerably from the raw HP and mana it gives you and from the spell lifesteal. Each enemy hero hit by ravage will heal you for 95 health, which can become a considerable amount when it hits several enemies at once.
Lotus Orb will tank you up against targeted spells and purge you of any slows or silences. It can be very powerful against certain lineups and has the potential to turn a team-fight around if used well.
Refresher Orb allows you to cast Ravage and any other strong item twice in one team-fight. This gives your team very strong team-fight in the late game. You can use your first Ravage in pick-offs or ganks if it will guarantee the kill as you have a Refresher Orb ready to use for the ensuing team-fight.
A Scythe of Vyse can be a good item on Tidehunter as it provides him with a significant amount of mana regeneration and intelligence. This allows him to use his spells much more freely in the late game. Scythe is a good option if you need the additional lockdown provided by the Hex ability against strong cores.
@ Steam Workshop
Aghanim’s Scepter can be a good pickup on Tidehunter. It makes him tankier and gives him a bigger mana-pool. It can be good with allies who deal lots of physical damage to several heroes at once, for example Ember Spirit, Spectre and Juggernaut. This item is particularly effective when combined with the level 20 Gush talent.
A Halberd gives you evasion as well as a very powerful disarm ability. You can Blink in, Ravage the enemy team and then use Halberd on the enemy carry. If you manage to do this before they use any magic immunity then they will not be able to purge it. This item is very powerful against heroes that rely on attacking, such as Phantom Assassin, Lifestealer or Sven. Halberd is even more effective against ranged heroes, as the duration is increased.
Radiance is a very situational item. It can be good on Tide as he tends to survive a long time in team-fights. Radiance can be hard to build as it’s very expensive, although in some situations it can be very effective. It cancels Blinks through a damaging aura as well as providing a miss chance to nearby enemies. If fights are lasting a long time and the enemy team have many Blink Daggers, it can be a good pickup.
Read Also: Dota 2 The International - Dota 2 Esports Tournament Overview
Rubick can steal Ravage often with only one mobility item. This can be detrimental to your team in fights so use Anchor Smash immediately after you cast Ravage.
Silencer can prevent you from getting a Ravage off if the enemy team initiates onto you because he can Silence you as soon as the fight begins. Buy some form of dispel against him or try to initiate the team-fights yourself to guarantee a Ravage.
Ursa’s Fury Swipes are not removed by Kraken Shell. This can make him tricky to lane against and harass so avoid going near the creep wave and farm very safely.
Heroes that have a split-push playstyle can be hard to deal with as Tide. This is because Tidehunter naturally wants to team-fight whenever Ravage is available and split-pushers can take towers while you fight their team. The best way to play around this is to try to pick the split-pushers off before taking a team-fight or pushing the lanes out before going for a smoke-gank.
Chen rivals Tidehunter’s ability to team-fight in the early to mid game. This is mainly because of his ultimate which effectively heals his entire team up after a Ravage and the pressure he can place on a team through pushes. Chen can get some strong neutrals and push a tower while your Ravage is on cooldown and has a strong team-fight skill-set. To play against Chen you will need to get a good start and get a Mekansm quickly. This will allow you to fight their team with less of a disadvantage in the early and mid game. If you manage to gank Chen, you should try to take either a team-fight, a tower or Roshan if possible as the enemy team is much weaker without him.
LOL
CS2
Dota 2
Valorant
Fortnite
Call of Duty
Mobile Games
Gaming
