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Straightforward Information
Introduction
Reasoning Upon Writing Guide
Story & Stats
NonStatistic Information
Pros & Cons

Skill & Item Builds
Skills
Skill Build
Skill Combos
Items Introduction
Core Build
Aftermath Suggested and Rejected Items
Item Synergies

Strategy
Lane Decisions
Earlygame
Midgame
Lategame
Strategy Introduction
Chasing

Closing
FAQ
Credits
Replays

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Introduction

Ogre is a very odd hero. His main attribute is intelligence, however Ogre is melee. Ogre Has an unusual strength gain in which is greater then his intelligence gain. Many people do not like him because of his skills. He has a nuke, which stuns and deals a lot of damage. Ignite sets a unit on fire and burns them dealing DoT. Bloodlust (like the skill in ladder), beefs up a units attack and movespeed. Ogres main reason for being disliked is his ultimate, Multicast.

Multicast gives you a chance to autocast your nuke several times on a single enemy, dealing damage for each nuke that hit them. It gives ignite a AoE spread, making it hit a lot of targets. And, it gives you a chance to Bloodlust every unit around you. The only problem with it? It's chanced based, meaning you will never get a Multicast on a unit every time. This is what makes people hate Ogre, he is chanced based. You are never guaranteed a kill, instead you have to push your luck, sometimes even risking your death for a multicast.

Multicast also does the liberty to decrease your spells cooldowns, making them more spammable. Fireblast (your nuke), can deal over 600 damage in a single Multicast, which is beyond crazy. Fireblast is mainly for harassing and killing your enemy hero. It never really should be used on creeps. Ignite is a DoT like said before, dealing 40 damage for 8 seconds at level 4. This spell can finish off weak enemies when combined with Fireblast. Ignite cannot Multicast, meaning the only buff it gets is the AoE spread. Ignite is fine to use on creeps to get last hits. Bloodlust is very useful to buff an ally. It gives a lot of movespeed and attackspeed. It can be Multicasted, doing it to random nearby units.

Overall, Ogre is a very useful team hero. You will get Multicasts every once in a while, making you step on enemies. People usually get mad when they get Multicasted, so get used to it.


Reasoning Upon Writing Guide

I decided to write this brief section onto why I wrote this guide. First and foremost, I wrote it because I wanted to elaborate more on Ogre then the other guides on the forums. I wrote the guide because I thought Ogre is a great hero when played right, Multicasting or not. This guide will pick up and define strategies any amateur can utilize , and it will be worth reading if you play or want to start playing Ogre.


Story & Stats

Ogres, a race bred to be warriors, have no experience with the arcane arts, leaving Aggron, who was born with a rare affinity to magic, without guidance regarding his innate abilities. His own force of will harnesses his talent to produce elemental flames and explosions that consume his opponents. Being a natural warrior, he reaches into his own aggression to fuel his comrades' lust for battle. His savage, untapped magical potential is prone to fiery outbursts which enhance the potency of his spells. A towering force built on strength and magic, Aggron is honored by his people and feared by his enemies.

Strength - 23 + 3.2
Agility - 14 + 1.55
Intelligence - 17 + 1.9
Attack Range - 100 (Melee)
Movement Speed - 295 (Average)
Starting Life - 587
Starting Mana - 221
Beginning Armor - 5
Base Damage - 58-64

This is a table of his stats at level 25 with Attribute Bonus at level 10.


Ogre is very odd in his stats. His role is a caster, but he also has potential to be a tank. There's nothing really wrong with any of these stats, besides his starting mana; which is crap for an intelligence hero. Don't let his base hit points fool you; Ogre, with his armor and 3.2 strength per level eventually make him rise up there to the midgame tanking skills of a Centaur.


Other Information

Random information for Ogre I found here, its just simple hero data.


* Model File = Stonemaul Magi (unitscreepsOgreMagiOgreMagi)
* Tinting Values (Red/Green/Blue) = 255 / 255 / 255
* Scaling Value = 1.40
* Selection Scale = 1.20
* Weapon Sound = Wood Medium Bash
* Weapon Type = Normal
* Armor Type = Flesh
* Attack Projectile = N/A
* Projectile Speed = N/A
* Projectile Arc = N/A
* Triggers = N/A
* Abilities = Scepter (Ogre Magi) [Requires Aghanim’s Scepter]
- Target Art = Building Damage - Human Medium <Target> (EnvironmentLargeBuildingFireLargeBuildingFire2.md l)
- Target Art Attachment Point 1 = weapon
- Target Art Attachments = 1
* Run Speed = 210
* Walk Speed = 210
* Damage Point (point/backswing) = 0.300 / 0.300
* Casting Point (point/backswing) = 0.560 / 0.510
* Required Animation Name = N/A
* Movement Type = Foot
* Movement Height = N/A
* Sound Set = Ogre


Pros & Cons

[Pros]
[+]Fantastic support to the team (Team buff, AoE slow, stun+damage)
[+]Great damage and strength per level
[+]Good armor
[+]Small, but promising tanking ability
[+]Low ability cooldowns (with Multicast leveled)
[+]Easy hero to learn (see below)
[+]Easy farmer with ignite
[+]Good last hitting animation
[+]Spam-friendly nuke
[+]Two heads are better than one

[Cons]
[-]Can't Multicast 100% of the time
[-]Casting fireblast doesn't guarantee a barrel roll
[-]Multicast won't happen everytime you scream at your computer
[-]Melee int hero

Ogres a good support hero. His spells allow him to power-up allies and slap the enemies with your ban hammer (club?). Triggering Multicast is the true power that Ogre has, and can only be unlocked by chance. Ogre may have some tanking powers, but unless very special conditions are in play, NEVER go into battle first! Ogre should be one of the last in, in front of the other intelligence (Zeus, Pugna) and low hp agility heroes (Clinkz). With Ogre, you must get all your spells off in a team battle to finish half of your role. After you spam all your spells, begin moving in to smack some fools with your club, which deals a good deal of damage believe it or not.


Playing Ogre

Play Ogre If
[+]You enjoy heroes who spell cast as their main source of killing
[+]You can rely on chance to win some of your battles for you
[+]You enjoy heroes that have mixed team roles (tanking, spell casting)

You probably won't enjoy Ogre If
[-]You hate nuking heroes
[-]You Dislike heroes chance based
[-]You don't enjoy semi-tanks and prefer a solid, single-roll hero



Skills


Ogre has unique ability synergies other heroes do not have. In order to harness and use his abilities to there full potential, you will need to know when and why to get and use the skill. I will explain a strategy or two for each ability.





Cooldown Table


Your best skill. Even Multicast doesn't match up to it. Why? Because you need this for Multicast to be good. get this every time you get the chance. Why? It deals moderately high damage, and stuns for 1.5 seconds (both have a higher effect if multicast triggers). This skill has a lot of roles infused to it, such as providing a finishing blow, or even stunning the enemy just to get away. It should not be spammed UNLESS you can support it with an obscurely high amount of mana late game.

If you want to know what damage it does when it Multicasts and when it doesn't in table format, please look at the FAQ section at the bottom of the guide for a detailed chart.

[attachmentid=61616]
This spell functions similar to: Storm Bolt




AoE Table


A great last hitting skill and creep farmer. This spell deals 40 damage a second and slows for 25% for 7.5 seconds at level 4. This spell can't be dispelled by anything except Purge.
This spell functions similar to: Lightning Storm (except it's an instant spread)




Cooldown Table


Fantastic buffer to allies and yourself. This spell can Multicast, which makes a few units around you get Bloodlusted. This increases both Movespeed and Attackspeed by a ton, and makes you bigger (everywhere) . This spell lasts quite a bit and can altar the victory of a close hero battle. It is completely random as to which units will receive the buff during a Multicast, regardless of hero or creep entitlement.
This spell functions similar to: Rabid




Great skill, allows you to still be super useful lategame. This gives you a chance to cast Fireblast multiple times on a unit, with just casting it and showing the animation once. For bloodlust, this gives the buff to random nearby units if it multicasts.
This spell functions similar to: Witchcraft


Skill Build

Normal Skill Build
1:Fireblast
2:Ignite
3:Fireblast
4:Ignite
5:Fireblast
6:Multicast
7:Fireblast
8:Ignite
9:Ignite
10:Bloodlust
11:Multicast
12:Bloodlust
13:Bloodlust
14:Bloodlust
15:Attribute Bonus
16:Multicast
17 - 25:Attribute Bonus

This is probably the most used build by all experienced Ogre players, maybe with a little stats instead of skills here and there. This build should be easy to memorize.

An alternative is to wait and level Multicast at level 9 so you can get your other skills at maximum level first. Doing this will also save you mana on Fireblast earlygame, as Multicast will increase the manacost of Fireblast.

Why Get Those Skills At That Time?
Fireblast is your most useful skill, it should be maxed first. Ignite is a great farming skill that allows you to get many creep kills while not attacking the creeps directly. It's not better then Fireblast but it still should be maxed out quickly. Bloodlust isn't that useful early game because less ganks go on where you need that bonus. Instead, its delayed until middle game where things start picking up. Multicast is gained at each opportunity because it gives smaller spell cooldowns, and gives a Multicast chance. Attribute Bonus is last because it gives you good bonuses, but they aren't in a higher priority then any of your other skills by far because all of your skills provide very useful effects.

There are reason as to why Ignite is not leveled first to farm in the lane. First, you simply don't have enough mana to support that spell enough to be a very reliable farming instrument early game. Second, as more creeps are added to the wave count, and more ganking is going on, farming is a lot easier. Ignite is an easy help to the enemy because it slowly withers hit points away, which allows extremely easy denying.


Skill Combos

Skill combos aren't that hard for Ogre. He has 3 active spells, only 2 of which are used on enemies. I will state a few combinations that correspond with his skills.

If a enemy is trying to gank you, check there power first. Are they a higher level? Do they have more health? Do you think, in your head that you could win against them in a 1v1? If not, then run and fireblast whenever you get a chance to stun them, and maybe you will Multicast and change the battle tide. If you think you could win, stay cautious because you don't know whats around you, but fight the enemy. Bloodlust yourself first to get the upper edge, then Fireblast. Keep whacking him until they start running. If they are low enough, then ignite them. It is important that you know Ignite has a long range and that it should be used last, rather then the beginning of the battle. Wasting ignite early in a battle can destroy all your chances at obtaining a kill.

If you are able to get behind the enemy (unseen, of course), try to get an ally to bait themselves in front of the enemy. If the enemy charges in, begin with a Fireblast. Don't just sit there and wait for your ally to die . I will promise you that they will never be your bait again. Fireblast em', and charge forward. Bloodlust your ally if you can to give them the upper edge. If your ally is going to die, Ignite the enemy. Ignite slows a lot and will make the enemy less likely to run faster then your ally. Start bashing on him if you think you can get the kill.

The other team is Roshing and you guys are 100% sure. Before you all go in separately like idiots, tell them all to get together. Bloodlust your strongest ally, and if your lucky, you may get a Multicast and improve your teams chances of winning 100%. Let the tank get in there first. You may also be a tank but you must get your nuke and slow off on them before you proceed into battle. Fireblast the target that looks like he deals the strongest damage, so he is stunned and that gives your allies a chance to hit him.

Again, these combos are easy. If you have played Ogre a few times, you should be able to do all of this with no trouble.


Items Introduction

Deciding what items to get on Ogre is cake. You will start out with mana enhancers, because your mana is complete garbitch. Then we will focus on powering your hero up. We want Ogre to be very useful to the team and not useless. We get consumables to increase survivability, and to allow us to farm more. If you don't farm enough, it will be harder to participate in teambattles and do a lot of good. Creeping is something Ogre can do well, unlike most int heroes. This is because of his high strength, and his ignite skill. Fireblast should not be casted on creeps, mainly because its just not needed. Ignite does the job much better then Fireblast.



Core Build

Here's your Core Build. This build is your start.


- 1 Set, 2 if you random Ogre or have extra cash.


Wanted for earlygame mana regeneration.



- Get the items required to make these. One null is at least required, two if your farming well.


- Boots are needed!

Well this is your core build. Get Tangos, a Flask, x2 Nulls (1 if your farming is bad), and Boots. I removed the other items from this section because I realized some key things. Tangos and Flasks are absolutely needed earlygame to stay in the lane. Nulls have the priority of giving you a lot of mana and other small bonuses. Boots are a key part to chasing, a strategy Ogre does very well at.

This build costs 1700 Gold, a cheap price for what you're doing to Ogre, however the big items is what were looking up to.
Notice that in calculating the total sum, I put the price of 2 Tango sets and 3 Clarities.

Aftermath Suggested and Rejected Items

The items here are possibilities and rejected items after your core build. Finish your Core build before coming here. Please note that the items here are in no particular order and should be looked at by the color, not the position.


Color Key

Suggested
Rejected
Situational

Arcane Ring
- Arcane Ring is a very powerful mana regeneration item. This is what you should replace flasks with. This is such a great item if you have teammates that also need mana.

Bottle
- If you aren't farming well, and or you need some extra health because of constant nukes, the bottle is right for you. It is very easy to buy and will give you most of the mana you'll need up until midgame (do not buy this and arcane ring, only choose one.)

Boots of Travel
- I didn't put this on the core because you don't necessarily need it yet. Enemies haven't gotten BoT yet (or possibly even Power Treads) and it's not lategame, the point where you must teleport and help the team in all lanes. I say this is good, but only when you think you'll need it, such as your enemies are mass pushing all lanes constantly.


Linken's Sphere
- Linken's Sphere is a very Situational item. It depends on if there team has nukers, and a lot of singletarget nukes. If they don't, its pointless. I recommend other items before this, it's not that worth it getting it first, so don't.
Cost: 5,175 Gold


Radience
- Nice item, however it's not that useful on Ogre. Usually someone else on your team will go for this, let them. This item isn't recommended that much on Ogre. You already have an AoE DoT skill anyway.
Cost: 5,150 Gold


Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse
- Most Useful if there team has a hero like Troll that needs to be disabled in order to be killed. However, it Can be useful against any hero. It it recommended for the disabling purpose, but it is costly; so I would recommend an Orchid before this.
Cost: 5,675


Blademail
- Unneeded! Ogre isn't a tank tank in which he needs to buy items to help him with this task. Ogre is a caster at heart, and that's why the items we are getting help his manapool and give him additional abilities to cast.
Cost: 2,700


Necronomican
- Almost made it to the bad items section, however, it has some use. Very little, but some use. Its only needed for 1 thing, the true sight. By the time you spend over 3k leveling it up, you could have been building something better, like Guinsoo's. I don't really like this item a lot in general, so it's probably opinion based.
Cost: 2,750 (Level 1)
Cost: 4,050 (Level 2)
Cost: 5,350 (Level 3) -The only useful level and it costs a lot!


Dagon
- Useless, period. After your core, this will be very time consuming to get. After you get it, guess what? You have to level it . After spending 5k leveling it and trying to make it useful. The other team has tons of life. Besides, this item doesn't really benefit you because you already have enough mana, and it doesn't Multicast. Fireblast has a low enough cooldown, Dagon is not needed. 6 seconds>40 seconds.
Cost: 2,850 (Level 1)
Cost: 4,200 (Level 2)
Cost: 5,550 (Level 3)
Cost: 6,900 (Level 4)
Cost: 8,250 (Level 5)


Aghanims Scepter
- Ahh how I miss combining my Soul Booster for you, baby! (Doesn't work for Ogre anymore).
Cost: 4,300


Bloodstone
- This item was also on the core build. It helps you a ton in battle, giving fantastic bonuses! With Multicast, getting charges will be easy. This item is recommended though it depends on how you play Ogre.
Cost: 5,050


Shiva's Guard
- Another great item on Ogre. This one is a good damager and slower. It's built for team disables. Ogre can use this to chase with, giving it another plus. I recommend this.
Cost: 4,700


Orchid Malevolence
- Another disable, except this focuses primarily on a single target. It disables all enemy spell casts, great for other heroes like Luna and Lina. This one gets the thumbs up! This is probably what you want to build first after your core.
Cost: 5,025



Item Synergies

This small section will talk about either items synergizing with your skills, or items synergizing with items.


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This combo is very fun. What it does is when you silence an enemy and fireblast them; they're stunned, and they can't fire back with their skills. This works good on heroes like Doom and Akasha so they cannot ult you. It also amplifies damage, making it a good choice.

http://www.playdota.com/img/items/110/icon.jpg +
NEEDS FIX HERE!!!!

Again, another fun combo. Basically, you jump in and use Shiva's Guard first, then immediately use ignite. This will make the enemy unbelievably slow and will allow for easy pickings. Attacking them will be easy and you can even throw a fireblast in if you want.



Lane Decisions

Deciding what lane you should go is a big thing for Ogre. Heroes like Nerubian Assassin and Gondar are big, well known intelligence killers. You should always check up at the beginning what heroes they have. Picking Ogre may not be safe if they get some big counters. Never pick Ogre at 15 seconds, always wait to see what they pick.
Sidenote:Some big hero counters for Ogre are Nerubian, Gondar, Clinkz, Pudge, Medusa, and Anti-Mage.

Anyhow, if you pick Ogre, then I'm assuming they don't have a team of big counters for him. Now, grab all your starting items and head to a lane, preferably either middle or bottom. Why not top? Middle and bottom are Sentinals lanes that can let you creepblock to your tower (of course this only applies when your in a pub or a game allowing creep blocking). I've never seen a Sentinal team ever creepblock to top's tower (unless of course you have a hero like Earthshaker, one of few heroes that could do that).

I recommend going middle. Why? Middle is closest to base, middle has easiest access to runes, and middle has easy access to the secret shop and other lanes. Ogre benefits a lot from these variables. Bottom can get the bot rune, has the goblin shop, and has easy access to only the middle lane. The bottom lane lacks things the middle lane has by far.


Earlygame

Get into your lane and figure out your lane partner. Ogre should not be the solo! It is recommended that you go with another nuker or a ranged harasser. Melee DPS/Tanks will not help you as much. Always plan out your strategies with your teammates, telling them when your going to try to score a kill, so they can help. Going in there mindlessly and trying to kill them without backup can result in a death.

Always stay aware of your ally lanes. Sometimes your allies are careless and won't call mia. Watch out for mia calls as well, just in-case you do have some good allies. Nuke occasionally when you have full mana. Waste some of it, don't just hold it.

When you have level 3-4 Fireblast, you will be dealing good amounts of damage to your enemies. Always check for runes. Don't grab runes like illusion and double damage, tell your team they are there. Instead, get invisibility, haste, and regeneration runes. Those help you.

Call mia whenever an enemy is away, so in return your allies will as well. You want to save your teammates whenever possible. Feeding your enemy makes Ogre harder to use correctly, as they have more health (and possibly spell resistance if they invested in an item that has it or they have a built-in-skill).


Midgame

Midgame is where you will get your second level of Multicast, level 1 of it is not that good but level 2 is where it shines. +3 extra nukes if you get a Multi, making the enemy take 500 damage. Midgame is where a bunch of ganks will be going on. Try to keep out of pushed lanes where you have no allies at, that makes you a big target. Always try to be with an ally, or allies for support. You do very well in team fights, don't forget that.

Again, call mia a lot. Enemies go mia more then in earlygame, so keep watch. Always look at your mana, if you have it low, use a clarity or your arcane ring if you have them. Using these will give you a big upper-advantage in combat.

Try farming a little with your ignite skill, and watch as you get the last-hit on the entire wave! Bloodlust allies, Fireblast enemies, Multicast this, Multicast that, farm this, gank that, and you will be fine.



Lategame

Lategame! At this time, enemies will be in different lanes all the time, so mia calling doesn't really help that much anymore. Gank them a lot and get money, Ogre needs a lot of it. Multicasting should have gotten you a few kills already. Buy the items you think would help you best in your situation. An example would be a getting a Orchid to stop windwalkers, or a Guinsoo for a passive disabler like Void and Troll. Shivas if there team ganks as a whole a lot.

Try to Roshan with your team. You can actually tank roshan for a while if your team doesn't have any big tanks. I've actually tanked a Roshan the whole time when 2-3 of us were hitting him. I got out with about 70% health. Roshan gives a lot of xp and money, so do it asap.


Strategy Introduction

This section will explain to you some of Ogre's innate abilities. This section will have screenshots to be more clear to the readers. If I don't have screenshots yet on a certain combo, please note I have to do that combo on an enemy, and have some allies that also know what I'm doing so they can help. Well, lets get started!


Chasing

Chasing is something Ogre can do. You need to have Ignite and Fireblast at level 4 and have Bloodlust at least at level 2. You also need Boots of Speed or Boots of Travel to keep up.

O.K., chasing enemies with an intelligence hero may seem odd, and in fact it is. Ogre, however is an exception. He has many roles, chasing can be one of them. His movespeed makes chasing almost not his thing, but his spells make up for it.

What you need to do is to Bloodlust yourself, for movespeed. Find an enemy that's below half and you know he's alone. If there are more then 1 enemies, you will probably lose this chase. Fireblast the enemy first, to slow him. Once he is out of the stun, ignite him. The enemy should be pretty slow. Keep chasing and you may get that kill!


Chasing Situation 1

In this screenshot, I was chasing Yurnero. I made sure he had a low manapool so he couldn't Omnislash me or Bladefury away. I chased him and I nuked him. Lucky enough, it Multicasted!



You can see his dissipate animation, showing he died. I got the kill and went home and spent my lewt.


Chasing Situation 2

In this shot, I find Drow low so I move in. I ignite her so she can't get away.



I get a fireblast on her and she goes down. Another 200 Gold!


Chasing Situation 3

The same Drow, this time I find her at nearly full health and I Multicast.


Again I chase her. I Ignited once again to slow her down.



I got a Fireblast on her, slowing her down to the point where I could attack her. She had a sliver of hp and 1 hit killed her. This chase shows how useful Multicast is and how I would have probably not got that kill if I didn't Multicast.


Chasing Situation 4
This time, I find Doom running down the river, I get a Multicast however you can't see it.



I chase him down and I Fireblast and hit him to death. I die at the exact same time due to Nevermore. The primary reason I posted this was to show how chasing can go wrong if you do not look on your minimap for all of the enemies. Map awareness is big for Ogre!



FAQ

When you Multicast Fireblast, can the Multicasts Multicast?
No, they can't.

When you Multicast Fireblast, does that mean the enemy gets stunned for each one equally.
No, Multicasts do not prolong the stun to some extreme number. They do stun, but the only noticeable one is the last one, in which it stuns for 1.5 seconds.


Credits

Guide Created By Parrothead (last edit on March 01, 2010).


Replays

I'll accept replays to post here, just PM me with you following my build (preferred) and strategies (not required) and I will likely add it with credits going to you. If your replay is incompatible with the latest patch, it will not be added.

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To place this guide on your site, PM me. I usually have no trouble with it. You may also email me at ClanCMNC(AT)gmail(DOT)com for posting rights.

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