Anub'arak

The Nerubian Assassin

Introduction

The Nerubian Assassin Anub'arak is a hero of great renown, mainly due to his great burst-damage ganking skills. He is often banned in competitive games because of this and his ability to ruin mana-sensitive line-ups. This guide is meant to clear up a few stereotypes and biases and is dedicated to everyone willing to play this easy to play, hard to master hero.

Pro's and Con's

+ Top-tier ganker
+ Great burst-damage
+ Eats spell-casters for breakfast
+ With some practice, nobody escapes you
+ He's annoying
+/- Easy to play, hard to master
- Tends to rely on other heroes late-game
- Spiked Carapace is hardly ever useful
- 1.1 second casting animation

Playstyle

The Nerubian Assassin is a ganker. What this means is that you pop out of nowhere, killing a hero or two, farm a bit to keep up with your offensive potential and try again. You do so in order for your carry - the hero getting the largest amount of items to "carry" your team to victory - can have some peace. Your main objective therefore is not killing precisely, but protecting your ally by attacking your enemies. Therefore, in solo situations, you usually take on low hp nukers/disablers and dps carries second, while in team battles you tend to focus on high team threats able to deal the most damage to your team and rout those escaping.

Impale

Impale is a generic AoE stun. You use it to interrupt skills - especially channeling ones - and it is the solid bulk of your offensive array of skills. The low cooldown, high damage and the high stun is really reliable. Do note that the 0.52 second is added to the stun, giving you a total of 2.72 second disable at level 4.

Tip 1: When surprised by an ambush, chased, chasing, you name it - use Impale first. This refers to most non-gank situations. It saves your life, lives of your allies and kills your enemies and gives you time to make your next move. Abuse it.
*pic of range/width of Impale*
Tip 2: As you can see by the range, you can wait it out a little so you could hit two or more enemies. Do not wait too long though.
Tip 3: Impale is RARELY used for farming. Use it only late-game, when not ganking, when you have a surplus of mana AND when you have to clean up a lane quickly. Note the RARELY.
Tip 4: This spell does hit through fog and cliffs, so feel free to surprise someone from trees/fog with a sudden impale or delay an approaching enemy.
Tip 5: However if you are close enough, clicking the enemy directly is a much safer option.
Trivia: Using it on the ground won't trigger Razor's Unstable Current and Linken's Sphere's Spell Block. Abuse that.
Trivia 2: Impale reveals everyone affected by Permanent Invisibility skill-type. This involves Mirana's Moonlight Shadow, Rikimaru's Permanent Invisibility and Broodmother's Web.

Mana Burn

Mana Burn was a ladder skill that was taken from the Demonhunter. Your reliable anti-caster laser. It used to burn a fixed amount of mana, but recently it was changed to burn an equivalent of 4x of the target's intelligence.

Tip 1: You should either use it on heroes of high threat in team battles. Use your instinct - which hero of the enemy team would find it the most bothersome to have less mana? An example could be heroes with game-breaking ultimates such as Enigma, Sand King and Tidehunter. During ganking, use it on heroes of high intelligence for maximum damage output.
Tip 2: If an enemy has an escape mechanism, make sure that they'll be unable to use it, especially if you won't be able to kill your enemies with your 3-skill combo.

Vendetta

Vendetta is a Windwalk skill on steroids used mostly for the backstab. Bear in mind that the spikes take a little time to reach the target so it's better to get *slightly* closer so they won't miss.

*enlarged pic of the Vendetta icon showing lasting time to CD comparison*

Tip 1: Try to remember this pic. Thanks to it, you'll be able to utilize the most of your time of Vendetta. The bonus MS and invisibility will allow you to position yourself the best as well as wait until you get enough mana for combos. How to position yourself the best? Always back stab, always surprise, always hit where it hurts the most. Do your best to inflict the most damage to the enemy while you and your allies remain alive, best untouched. So if you like invisible heroes (such as Rikimaru), you should be able to understand the pattern.
Tip 2: I might be bashed for this, but should you be under very low health and Impaling is either on cool down or won't make a difference in your situation - use it for escaping. It's LAST RESORT though, so be aware of this.
Tip 3: Cast it out of sight of your enemies during ganking. Even if your enemies won't see you by their personal sight buy you'll still be in their hero sight, the obscene sound of going into windwalk will awake them.
Tip 4: At level 3, the cooldown is 60 seconds while the lasting time is 50 seconds. So If you use it just at the end, you can use another Vendetta in 10 seconds to finish your enemy off.
Tip 4: The Backstab damage is amplified by the Double Damage rune. Look out for it.
Tip 5: ALWAYS backstab. Cut off the shortest route of escape. Use mindgames to make the enemy run away preferably into the hands of your allies.

Skill Build

Level 1 - Impale/Mana Burn
Level 2 - Mana Burn/Impale
Level 3 - Impale
Level 4 - Mana Burn
Level 5 - Impale
Level 6 - Vendetta
Level 7 - Impale
Level 8 - Stats
Level 9 - Stats
Level 10 - Stats
Level 11 - Vendetta
Level 12 - Mana Burn
Level 13 - Mana Burn
Level 14 - Stats
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Vendetta
Level 17 - Spiked Carapace
Level 18 - Spiked Carapace
Level 19 - Spiked Carapace
Level 20 - Spiked Carapace
Level 21 - Stats
Level 22 - Stats
Level 23 - Stats
Level 24 - Stats
Level 25 - Stats

Impale is maxed first for its great use both as a nuke and as a disable. You take Mana Burn first only when going mid, since you would want to keep the constant mana pressure for your own safety. In other cases Impale is a better choice.
What most of you may notice is the lack of level 3 and 4 of Mana Burn. This is due to the recent change in the skill. All that increases per level is cooldown and mana cost - damage does NOT change. There are several reasons for not completely maxing out mana burn:
a) You won't use it that often due to your ganking so the cooldown is wasted.
b) The mana cost is a bit difficult to chew.
c) Your enemies won't have enough mana or will use all of their mana pools should they survive your combo, considering you will still have mana for a 2nd Mana Burn.
25 seconds cool down is most optimal, as it synchronizes best with Impale's 11 second cooldown. If you think you won't be using it that often, take only one level. If you think you will use it more often, take more levels. This skill build should adapt to you and the situation, not the other way around.
Stats are useful instead because of your reliability on mana, as well as a cheap bonus to your overall potential. It also allows you to spam Mana burn later on.
Therefore, the most natural moment to take level 3-4 of Mana Burn is after your Vendetta level 2, which is the moment you naturally begin to use it more often.
Vendetta is taken whenever possible for its obvious power.
In most games, there will be at least 2 dps heroes so feel free to take Spiked Carapace on 17-20. Stats work better against caster problems, while spiked carapace works better for physical damage. However, if there is 1 or no dps hero on the enemy team or/and you're having mana problems, feel free to skip it until the end.

Item Build
-Early items

A large collection of items but it gives you everything you need for a start. 3 Branches for cheap stats and a good-game. A mantle and clarities are to improve your mana situation a little as well. Heals are obligatory. This as you can see is an offensive variant, as it suggests spamming impale and mana burn early for an aggressive lane control. For a more passive build, feel free to replace the clarities with an additional heal.

Later, get these:

In this order. You get the shoes for obvious mobility, the wand and Nulls for general stats as well as to solve your mana problems. Your roaming playstyle reflects the choice of bottle to always be ready for the next encounter. If there is already a bottle-user in your team, feel free to skip bottle for an additional null talisman.

Core item

Dagon 1

Most people criticize this item for being used only in non-competitive games on fairly odd heroes. On Nerubian Assassin however, who focuses on burst-damage, this is the best option. It may not improve his agility, but that's NOT what he needs to remain supreme. You use it after you use your 3 active skills and the target isn't finished yet, use it. Also use it when finishing off an enemy, but only if your carry can't do it.

Situational Items

Necronomicon 3

Necronomicon 3 is a fine alternative and a follow-up to Dagon 1 based more on support rather than ganking. In most cases you'd prefer Dagon however because of its burst damage. It's great against invisible heroes and mass wards however so should none of your allies be able to get it - you could.

Diffusal Blade

It is good as a follow-up to Dagon 1. Fancy improvement of chasing as well as a counter to mass buffers and summons. Diffusal Blade won't replace Dagon because it's NOT a burst damage source, and Purge won't help you with your mediocre DPS. Remember - You are not a carry, you are a ganker. Play him as such.

Upgrading Dagon

Surprised? Generally speaking, upgrading Dagon is most often a bad idea, because it's rarely cost efficient. Rarely is a good word. In short, getting it is a good idea when you dominate. What this means is to have preferably 0 deaths, lots of kills and Dagon 1 by the 20th minute or less with each next recipe coming along each 2-3 minutes or so. If you can achieve that, then Dagon 5 will be your source of dominance and then nothing can stop you from victory. The key is to make Dagon cost-efficient. Skipping Boots of Teleportation for another Dagon Recipe is justified in such a case.
However, if your killing dominance ends, so should end your process of upgrading Dagon in favor for other items UNLESS the enemy team doesn't have enough tanking power - meaning heroes with 2.0+ str gain and below are dominant.

Blademail

Highly situational. Generally speaking, people get this to avoid damage once they pop out of nowhere and kill a foe or two. The reason this item is highly situational is because if you really under fire after popping up with Vendetta, you did something wrong. As a late-game counter to damage, Guinsoo is superior. You should get this if you really find gaining any money after Dagon difficult.

Luxuries

Boots of Teleportation

The first item you should consider. By late-game you will need all the MS you can get to gank around like crazy and arrive in team battles with great speed.

Next, there are 2 options, depending on what you'll face.

Guinsoo's Staff of Vyse

This item is by far the most solid out of the three, it provides you solid stats and a hex allowing you to take down the heroes which are harder to break as well as another disable to counter heavy dps. You'll choose this as your luxury in majority of cases.
Tip: Consider using Impale on a hexed target. It prolongs hardcoded disables by half a second.

Orchid Malevolence

Orchid's silence and amplified damage is just as great. You take it over hex if your team already has enough disables and relies highly on ganking and burst-damage. Bear in mind however the lack of the survivability boost.

Rejected Items

Carry Items

You are not a carry. Leave these to your carry. He can't be a carry because:
a) He has no skills for a physical dpser. You hardly ever attack and you focus on your spells to kill the enemy.
b) His stats don't allow him to support high damage even if he gets some attack speed items nor the attack speed, even if he gets some damage
c) Carry items cannot be achieved due to his lacking farming potential. Even if late-game will come where his dps allows him to farm quicker, he won't surpass other carries. If late-game lasts too long, you must have done something wrong for that to happen.

Refresher Orb

As tasty as a 2x your combo + dagon sounds, you don't support the mana to perform it, unfortunately.

Strategy

You start off by choosing your lane. You can both solo and lane well - the choice depends on whether your team has a highly competent solo or if there is a late-game carry to take care. You also need to take into account if the enemy has a potentially great solo, such as Tinker, Shadow Fiend or Viper. The choice is yours. You might ironically get more money and your level quicker in a lane rather than solo faced up against a powerful enemy. Adapt your laning to your skill. The worst cases you can get in a solo is to get an unexpected lane partner, such as Huskar, who doesn't rely on mana and makes good use of the farm. This or a double disabler/nuker lane, in which case it is recommended to switch. In most cases a laning NA is safer.

Early game(1-5)

Do your classic lasthitting, make sure you have enough farm by level 6. Harass with Mana Burn just as often as it cools down. A tip with Impale is to use it when the enemy heads to harass you, gets attacked by creeps OR backs up after the wave was dealt with. This strategy might even get you a kill. Be agressive on caster-terms. Help your ally to gain a kill, preferably first blood by a well-placed Impale.

Mid-game(6-16)

Your early game ends by level 6-7 because that's when you start ganking.
The moment you get your wand/bottle/boots(one of these is minimum) and level 6, look around the map. Is any of the towers in trouble? Is there any enemy half on health or an ally nearby an enemy hero that together could guarantee you a kill? Is there any other situation that could provide you an opportunity to efficiently gank? Go for it. Vendetta when you're nearby, strike, Impale, Mana Burn, attack - and you got yourself a kill. Run away or chase, recover and repeat. Burn this pattern into your mind. Farm only when you're lacking a little to an item such as a dagon recipe.
As a reminder for all bottle users wishing to refill it while on the run - it spawns each even minute (2:00, 4:00, etc). If you can catch double damage, you're in luck, cause you can almost guarantee yourself a kill. An additional, fairly common tip is to refill your bottle via a flying courier, should you have one.
Ganking is all you should ever do in this period.

*a gank map*

Here is a map that could help you get into position, especially if you don't have enough mana for the full combo(with Vendetta). Use it as reference but remember that going for the kill by predicting what an enemy might do is a better option.
In non-competitive games, make it a habit to ping should you be going for the gank or be ganked.
When facing wards, try to ask your support hero to get rid of it or avoid that area.

Late-game (17-25)

This is the time of intensified team-battles, where your enemy is likely to counter you with a gem. Try not to gank without a teammates now, unless you're really confident. Your role in teamfights is to weaken key enemy heroes by mana burn and by your burst damage and show who should be first to fall. A stun and at least half HP chunked off should be enough of a bait for your allied team to follow. Your other role is to backstab those trying to position themselves(retreating is also a kind of positioning), interrupt whatever they are doing and preferably, kill them.

Ganking Mini-guide

This is a small list of how to kill your enemies, Nerubian Assassin style.

A) Get ready to gank. Look around the map. Look out for lone enemies. If you're confident of escaping, you can initiate 1vs2 and run away, should the other hero have no way to kill you. Think if you'll initiate the lone enemy, will he able to survive and escape after your combo. Very often, it may be a trap. Best to take someone who is already wounded.
B) Close in, either by a TP scroll(always carry one until you get BoT). Ping the map(Alt+G then click the spot) or/and tell your enemies to join you, should you require it.
C) Turn on Vendetta out of the vision of the enemy. The higher the level of Vendetta, the further away should you activate it. Wait out for double Vendetta if necessary.
D) Position yourself. Always backstab the moment the enemy is the most vulnerable. You could ask your ally to intiate so you won't be focused upon by any nearby allies should you suddenly appear or even worse, be expected.
E) STAB.
F) Automatically follow-up with Impale and Mana Burn - in that order.
G) Best Scenario - Target dead, you and your allies alive - escape, recover, and go to point A).
Target not dead, low hp - follow and Impale/Mana Burn again, escape if necessary.
Target not dead - considerable HP - If your allies won't finish him, you chose the wrong target.
You are dead or/and your allies are dead - You definitely chose the wrong target or/and positioned yourself wrongly. In a great majority of cases your death is your own fault.
H) Repeat, starting from A.
I) ???
J) PROFIT!!!

Tip: The hotkeys - V(endetta) (Impal)E (Mana Bu)R(n) + numlock key assigned to Dagon(7-8-4-5-1-2 depending on where you got the Dagon, e.g. 8 for slot 2) is worth remembering to have your skills reachable in all - both expected and unexpected circumstances.
Tip 2: You can shift-delay your skills to make the skills hit best and attack before Impale ends.

Greatest allies

Worst foes

Replays

Credits