Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Skills
III. Skill Build/Justification
IV. Item Build/justification
V. Strategy
VI. Replay
VII. Changelog

Introduction:

Tauren Chieftan was introduced in patch 6.60 and I still rarely seem him utilized to full potential. He has a solid group of spells that have a lot of synergy. I hope to present you with a great guideline on how to utilize him. This is my first guide so all constructive criticism is welcome.

Skills:
Echo Stomp [T]



Calls upon the spirit of his ancestors to join him in an earth-shattering echo, rendering nearby foes unconcious. The spirit and Tauren Chieftain both deal 80 damage in the area, the Spirit dealing magical damage and the physical form dealing physical damage. Unconscious enemies will wake if they get hit. If the spirit is seperated from you, it will still perform its part of the spell. 1.4 second cast time.

Level 1 - Knocks out units for 2 seconds.
Level 2 - Knocks out units for 3 seconds.
Level 3 - Knocks out units for 4 seconds.
Level 4 - Knocks out units for 5 seconds.

Cooldown: 15
Manacost: 100/115/130/145
AoE: 500 units

This ability is great to set up your ultimate. What a lot of people don't realize is that if you send your Ancestral Spirit out, then do this move, Cairne and his hero both stomp stunning the enemy. This allows you to stun at range and your opponents will either be forced to run out of the stun allowing your teammates to kill them or get caught in a 5 second stun - devastating.


Ancestral Spirit [C]



The Tauren Chieftain sends forth his guardian ancestor to bring ruin upon his foes. While seperate from the Chieftain, the spirit will mimic his movement and damage any unit it passes through. When it rejoins the Chieftain, it grants him bonus damage and movement speed for each enemy it has struck.

Level 1 - 120 Damage. 3 Attack Damage per creep, 1% speed per creep, 10 Attack Damage per hero, 5% speed per hero.
Level 2 - 160 Damage. 6 Attack Damage per creep, 1% speed per creep, 20 Attack Damage per hero, 5% speed per hero.
Level 3 - 200 Damage. 9 Attack Damage per creep, 1% speed per creep, 30 Attack Damage per hero, 5% speed per hero.
Level 4 - 240 Damage. 12 Attack Damage per creep, 1% speed per creep, 40 Attack Damage per hero, 5% speed per hero.

Duration: 8 seconds
Cooldown: 19
Manacost: 110
Casting Range: 1000 units

This is a great move to hit enemies at range and get CS. It also allows you to kill fleeing enemies. Also, while engaged in combat 1v1, place an ancestral spirit behind your opponent and they will most assuredly be stunned by you or your spirit. Do not neglect the bonus dmg/movement speed you receive when the spirit returns to you, as it makes a big difference. Note that you can run into the spirit manually to get it to return to you if you don't want to wait for it to come back on its own.

Natural Order (Passive)



The Tauren Chieftain uses wisdom gathered throughout the ages to reduce everything to it's most basic level. Removes base Magic and Physical resistance.

Level 1 – 20%
Level 2 - 40%
Level 3 - 60%
Level 4 - 80%

Comments: Cuts through defense like knife through butter! This ability is also given to the Ancestral Spirit.

Not much to say here...it is what it is.

Earth Splitter [E]



Using his mighty axe, the Tauren Chieftain rends the very earth itself, sending a jagged crack under the feet of his enemies. After several seconds the earth implodes, sending his foes tumbling inwards. Any unit caught in the implosion will take damage based on their maximum life and have their speed slowed for a short time. Implodes after 3 seconds. Deals 35% of a unit's maximum HP.

Level 1 - 30% Maim for 3 seconds duration.
Level 2 - 40% Maim for 4 seconds.
Level 3 - 50% Maim for 5 seconds.

Cooldown: 100
Manacost: 175
AoE: 325 units (width) / 2400 units (distance)

Your ultimate. Play it similar to your stun. If there is another person who can initiate and stun, do your ultimate, get them to stun, follow up with your stun, and your ultimate will definitely destroy the other team. If not, send in your ancestral spirit, stun, ultimate, and charge the opposing team, if placed will in battle, the enemies won't have enough time to escape the ultimate, you can then swoop in after to finish off and if you chase your ancestral spirit will likely be off cool down again.

Skill Build:
1. Ancestral Spirit
2. Echo Stomp
3. Ancestral Spirit
4. Echo Stomp
5. Ancestral Spirit
6. Earth Splitter
7. Ancestral Spirit
8. Echo Stomp
9. Echo Stomp
10. Natural Guidance
11. Earth Splitter
12. Natural Guidance
13. Natural Guidance
14. Natural Guidance
15. Stats.
16. Earth Splitter
17-15. Stats

Begin with ancestral spirit due to its invaluable capability to boost your CS and harass opponents. You have great chance to draw first blood with this due to its range and the bonus dmg/movement speed bonus when the spirit returns to you. Get echo stomp at level 2 so you have your combo in order. I prefer to get natural guidance after as it is most likely going to be more beneficial to you to have more damage from leveling your spells than to make your opponents have less resistance. Note that the stun length and ancestral spirit bonuses increase with level, all the more justification to max these first.

Item Build:
Starting Items






At base, I will at minimum get a Ring of Protection, Circlet of Nobility, and a Tango (450 gold). Now, there is some flexibility with the remaining 153 gold. I prefer to grab 2 clarities and a gg branch. You could grab another tango and a clarity if you anticipate a lot of harassing by the opposing team in your lane. I believe ring+circlet+tango+2xclarity+gg branch is a really good balance of items. +2 armor, +3 all stats, and regen for your mana and health.

Shoot for:




Total: 4460

You need to adjust the order in which you grab items according to how the opposition is playing. If they are heavily harassing, go RoH->Arcane->Void. If you are having trouble getting the RoH, grab a Ring of Regen in the meantime.

If your opposition is letting you lane free, go Arcane->RoH->Void. Getting arcane ring quickly allows you to absolutely dominate your lane since you are free to spam your Ancestral Spirit. Finish off your bracer and you have your core.

Boots:

I prefer phase boots, however really all the choices of boots are good choices for TC. Treads give you bonus HP and IAS. Phase allows you to chase better and gives you more attack power. If the game drags on for a long time I see no choice but to upgrade to travels. For the sake of the guide, I'm gonna put phase here.

Then:

Upgrade that perseverance into a Battle Fury. You now hit like a truck you are a force to be reckoned with.

Luxury:

You're a strength melee hero...need I say more?


Helps you're low armor, IAS, reduces opponents armor. Get this over heart if HP has not been much of an issue. Get heart if HP if there are more nuke oriented heroes.

Situational:

Another disable if your team needs it.


Double ultimate means 70% of your opponents health is gone. Get this if the game reeeeeeally drags on.


Doom? Laguna Blade? Finger of Death? Hard to justify this purchase before your core since you won't be effective, but you can reach for this item if really need be.

Strategy:
Early Game (roughly 1-7)
Harass with ancestral, stun if you think you can get the kill, be smart. Farm as much as you can without being too greedy to your possibly carry.

Mid Game (8-15)
Gank with your team, your stun is an invaluable asset. Continue to farm a bit and finish off your bfury.

Late Game (16-25)
Push with your team, stun often in team fights, be sure your ultimate resolves and your team will love you.