The Ultimate Tanker
Centaur Warchief

Permanent Blademail?

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I have touched DotA for a while, and I have loved playdota.com, and I think that it�s time for me to give some of my experiences back to the community. Thus, I decided to write this guide to the all mighty Centaur Warchief, who is one of the best tankers in the game.
I am open to comments and new ideas, also criticism, so don�t hesitate to leave any feedback.

Guide Version: 6.70

Table of Contents
1.Introduction
2.Hero statistics
3.Skill description
4.Item builds
5.Play style
6.Good allies and worst enemies
7.Conclusion
8.Change Log

1. Introduction:
If you want the hero that give farmed up carries headaches, it got to be the Centaur Warchief. Bradwarden is renowned for his tanking power, and with the recent buff/nerf in 6.67c, his passive return skill can deal reasonable amount of dmg to paper-hp agi-carries late game as well. Aside from the Centaur�s ability to tank, he also provides a great disable and a great nuke, giving Centaur the ability to gank early game, and initiate team fights with blink dagger.

This guide will be wielded toward a full tank Centaur build, not the dps build, as I believe, that Centaur should not be a dps hero late game, even with his decent agi growth.

2. Hero Statistics:

23+2.6

15+2

15+1.6
Dmg: 55-57
Armor: 3.1
Movespeed: 300
Attack range: 100(melee)
Attack animation: 0.3/0.3
Casting animation: 0.5/0.51
BAT: 1.7
Vision range: 1800/800

Additional Statistics of Centaur Warchief can be found here:
Centaur Warchief

As you can see, Centaur Warchief does not have the imba starting Str or Str growth for a tanker, but he does have decent Agi growth, which would mean that Centaur will not lack attack speed and armor late game. He also has decent Int growth for a Str hero who only has one mana consuming spell, which would mean no mana problem through most of the game.

Pros and Cons of Centaur Warchief
Pros:
-One of the best tanker in the game
-Great ultimate, even with the recent nerfing
-Decent Agi gain, thus not lacking armor and attack speed
-A great stun and nuke
-Can tank, gank, initiate, and semi-carry
-His skill does not lose effectiveness as the game goes on
-No mana problems at all for the whole game
-Great attack animation
-Great farmer and pusher
-Somewhat noob-friendly

Cons:
-Melee�.
-An hard-to-place stun
-No real escape mechanism
-A quite long and awkward casting animation

As you can see, the pros hugely out-weigh the cons (or it�s just my personal bias)

, and thus making Centaur a great choice in tanking.

Centaur Warchief should be picked when:
-The team needs a tanker
-The team lacks a stun
-The team lacks an initiator

Centaur Warchief should not be picked when:
-N�aix is on the other team
-The team already has a tanker or an initiator

It is very important that Centaur Warchief not be picked when N�aix is on the other team, as his feast skill will be beyond imba combined with the Centaur�s monstrous hp.

3. Skill Descriptions:

Hoof Stomp Hotkey: T
A simple skill that stuns and damages nearby land units.

-The signature skill of Centaur Warchief, and the skill that the enemy is watching out for to dodge. Hoof Stomp is a low dmg, small aoe stun skill with high cd.
-As the only mana consuming skill of the Centaur Warchief, the mana consumption is not high, thus making this skill a viable choice for midgame farming.
- The magical dmg dealt is quit low, thus this skill is mainly used for its long stun duration.
- With a Blink Dagger, this can be used as an initiation skill.

Double Edge Hotkey: D
A skill used at point-blank range that possess high dmg, and a mini-stun, but harms both the Centaur and the enemy.

-Since this magic dmg skill hurts the enemy AND the Centaur, HoD can decrease the dmg done to Centaur.
-Can not be used to deny Centaur himself, thus using this skill when u r 1 hp (or somewhere close to death) will decrease ur hp to 1, while the enemy suffers the full dmg. Thus this skill can be used to extreme kill.

Return � Passive
A skill that dmg whoever attacks the Centaur based on the Centaur�s Str.

-A permanent weaker version of blademail.
-The dmg is dealt before the actual attack hits, similarly to axe�s counter helix.
-This skill affects towers.
-Return is not trigged by spell usage, only regular attacks

Great Fortitude � Passive
The awesome ultimate of the Centaur Warchief, permanently increasing 12 Str per level.

-This skill not only increases the hp, also the dmg output of Centaur, via physical attacks and the passive ability � Return.

Skill Build:
Standard Build:
1. Hoof Stomp
2. Double Edge
3. Hoof Stomp
4. Double Edge
5. Hoof Stomp
6. Great Fortitude
7. Hoof Stomp
8. Double Edge
9. Double Edge
10.Return
11.Great Fortitude
12.Return
13.Return
14.Return
15.Stats
16.Great Fortitude
17-25. Stats

The skills that are named first are the recommended skills, while the skills listed after the dashes are interesting alternatives.

Hoof Stomp is skilled first as it is a very solid skill for first blood. Hoof Stomp is maxed out first for the dmg increase and the stun duration increase. Centaur should have no problem with mana, since Hoof Stomp �s mana cost is low, and it�s the only mana consuming skill. Double Edge is maxed along with Hoof Stomp as it is a great nuke, even at the cost of Centaur's own Hp.
Return is maxed out last to increase the Centaur�s late game dmg output, as by then, Centaur should have more than 100+ Str. At last, Great Fortitude is obviously taken whenever possible. Taking Stats are not recommended, as the skills of Centaur are more effective.

An alternate build is to max Double Edge early game before Hoof Stomp , but I personally do not prefer this build, as it is somewhat risky.

However, due to the buff Centaur received in 6.70, maxing out Double Edge before Hoof Stomp is now highly viable, and although it still remains risky, this build is definitely more effective than before 6.70.

Alternative Double Edge build:
1. Hoof Stomp
2. Double Edge
3. Double Edge
4. Hoof Stomp
5. Double Edge
6. Great Fortitude
7. Double Edge
8. Hoof Stomp
9. Hoof Stomp
10.Return
11.Great Fortitude
12.Return
13.Return
14.Return
15.Stats
16.Great Fortitude
17-25. Stats

Extreme kill with Double Edge

With the new patch, Double Edge can not be used to deny Centaur himself anymore. Thus there's a new way of using Double Edge.
Because the dmg of Double Edge is dealt to the Centaur and the enemy, and since it can not be used to deny Centaur, using this skill at a low hp will leave the Centaur with 1hp, while the opponent suffers the full dmg of Double Edge. Double Edge is an amazing skill to use when playing mind-games, as u can literally turn a losing fight to an instant kill for u.
However, this is very risky for a number of reasons:
1. u will die from the creep-agro
2. u will die from another enemy hero
3. u may be killed by a nuke before u use Double Edge on the enemy.

How to use Double Edge to extreme kill:
1. You have red hp, and the enemy is chasing u.
2. Use Hoof Stomp, when the enemy is close enough.
3. Turn back and slam his head in the stun duration.
4. Keep bashing his head after the stun ends.
5. Use Double Edge when u have about 50hp left (an amount of hp that can not tank another hit by the enemy).
6. See if u r lucky. If u r lucky, the enemy will die from the huge dmg done by Double Edge while u will be left with 1 hp.

Note:Always use Double Edge when ur hp drops to a point where u can not take another hit by the enemy.

After using Double Edge, remember to cancel the backswing of the casting animation, by attacking the enemy, as u have enough time to regular attack the enemy 1 more time, as Double Edge interrupts the enemy, and he is forced to restart his attack animation again.

Obviously the higher the dmg done by Double Edge, the more effective this strategy is. Thus, if u like to use this strategy, max out Double Edge ASAP, as the 400 magic dmg early game can usually instagib a chaser. This is a very amazing strategy, however it requires luck, hp management skills, and in some way, balls.

However, in real serious games, the increased stun duration of Hoof Stomp will always outweigh this strategy. Thus, it is still recommended to max out Hoof Stomp first.

4. Item Build
Again, this guide is wielded toward the tanking build of Centaur Warchief, thus dps items are not recommended.

Starting Items
(Assuming that the starting gold is 603)

Depending on ur enemy's team, 2 starting build and core builds are available.
The first is the HoD build.
The second is the Vanguard build.

One should use the HoD build when the enemy team has some decent nuke dmg, however the main reason for HoD is to decrease the hp lost from Double Edge. Since it also decreases the dmg from the enemy nukes, the more nukes the enemy have, the more effective and cost-efficient HoD will be.

One should use the Vanguard build when the enemy team has minimal nukes. Vanguard is an awesome item on Centaur as his Return (asumming u skilled 1 point of it) still fully works with dmg block. As u know, dmg block is amazing early game, thus there is no point in purchasing Vanguard as a second core item. However, because it does not decrease the dmg dealt by Double Edge, the 300+ hp bonus can be easily sapped away by enemy nukes and your own Double Edge. If the enemy has almost no nukes whatsoever, a Vanguard will be more cost-efficient to tanking rather than HoD. HoD CAN still be gotten after Vanguard since decreasing the dmg dealt by Double Edge is very useful. However, with a Vanguard, and a minimal nuking team, u can go for heart after the Vanguard as that will increase ur tankiness by a lot. A Vanguard should never be gotten after HoD as the dmg block becomes weaker and weaker as the game goes on.

Most likely, the enemy team will have decent nuke dmg, thus the HoD build is used more cost-efficiently than the Vanguard build.

HoD build - Starting items:

Centaur should always choose a side lane. Centaur is not very item dependent early game, due to his high dmg, and good attack animation, thus making him a valid candidate for chick buying. RoR should be the choice of regeneration, as our first core item is HoD, which increases the Centaurs tankishness mid-game by a lot, since the main dmg output in mid-game is nukes. It also decreases the dmg dealt by Double Edge which in turn, make u tankier. The Ironwood branch is for the cheap stat bonus, which could be sold or upgraded into a magic wand later in the game. The courier can fetch tangoes if you are facing a hard lane, but the RoR should be more than enough to keep you alive.

Vanguard build - Starting items:

An early stout shield combined with Return will achieve great results. The harsser will suffer just a tad less dmg then u r, as a lv 1 Return does about 18 physical dmg to the enemy. Usually, ranged harassers in lane have lower hp, which would make them think twice before attacking u, thus making ur life a lot easier in last-hitting. A chick is still purchased as Centaur does not require a lot of items early. A set of tangoes is purchased instead of a salve since tangoes can not be interrupted, and 3 charges is always better than 1 charge in early game. An Ironwood Branch is bought for its cheap stat bonus, and it may be sold or upgraded into a magic wand later.

Core Items:

A magic wand will usually be the first item to go for. The instant heal and mana regen is very useful early game. A magic wand can also acheive the same results as a bracer, however one should still build 1 bracer after u get a magic wand.
Note: If u r laning against spell spammers such as bristleback, or zeus, u need to get mage stick and turn it into a magic wand ASAP.

At least 1 bracer should be purchased as it is a cheap and effective way to tank early game, fetched by chick. The number of bracers depends on ur early game. If u had a good early game, one bracer would be enough. Vice versa, If u didn't have a good early game, building 2 bracers would be a good choice.
Note: only build 1 bracer if u purchased a magic wand, as u need ur inventory slots, and u can't afford to stack 2 bracers and a magic wand into ur inventory.

Boots should be gotten early with Centaur. The same logic from the bracers can be applied to boots as well. If u can rake in those last hits, perhaps facing a passive lane, then get boots after perhaps a circlet. Vice versa, if u can't get close to the creeps to get last-hits, get the easy-to-build bracer first.

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HoD should be the first item Centaur should get unless the enemy has minimal nukes. If that�s the case, Vanguard should be rushed instead of HoD, but it is still recommended to build a HoD after Vanguard. Vanguard should not be gotten on Centaur since Vanguard is only most-effective when rushed, and it loses its effectiveness if purchased after HoD, also Vanguard comes with big parts compared to HoD, thus HoD is the item of choice for tanking with Centaur in mid-game.
So, if the enemy team has decent nukes, one should get HoD, and vice versa, if the enemy team doesn't have a lot of nukes, one should get Vanguard. Only purchase one of the two, as getting an HoD after Vanguard with a minimal nuking team delays ur core, and one should obviously should not get a vanguard after HoD as the dmg block gets weaker mid-game, and there are better items such as HoT.

A blink dagger increases the Centaur mobility by a lot, and make landing Hoof Stomp a lot easier. However, one should first tank up a bit before saving 2150 gold for an item that only gives the ability blink. Preferably, dagger is gotten after boots, bracers, and HoD/Vanguard. A vitality booster can be purchased before dagger if your team is playing defensively or u didn't have a good early game.

A vitality booster should be gotten after HoD/Vanguard or dagger, as it increases the Centaur�s tankishness and it�s a part of HoT, which is the first luxury item for the Centaur Warchief.

A Plate Mail can also be purchased after vitality booster to increase Centaur�s tankiness further, especially if u have physical dps on the enemy team. However, if you are having an ok game, you should go for heart instead.
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Lastly, Necronomicon is one of the best anti-invis items in DotA, and since Centaur is usually at the centre of the battle, he is a viable Necronomicon carrier. However, he is not the best one since the Int+ is mainly wasted. Obviously, if Centaur does choose to be the Necro carrier, it should be rushed to lv.3 ASAP, preferably after bracers and regular boots.

At first, i thought gem should never be bought, as it is expensive and it drops after u die. However, after a game of 4 invis heroes on the enemy team, i completely changed my mind about gem. Getting a gem after HoD will be the worst nightmare for a stealth enemy team. With a heart and HoD/Vanguard, a Centaur is so hard to take down, thus u can act like a movable sentry ward for ur team, and the enemy team have to choose either to attack u and suffer the dmg from return, or let u be the movable sentry ward.

Late-Game Luxury:

Of course, Heart is on the top of the list. The main luxury of Centaur, which increases his tankiness to an amazing level, and increases the dmg output from Return greatly. This item should be gotten after HoD.

Since Centaur is always in the middle of the fight, pipe is a good choice for Centaur if the other team has a lot of aoe heroes such as Sand King.

Assault Cuirass should be the item of choice for upgrading the Plate Mail, as the ias and armor +/- is very appealing. However, Centaur should be saving his money for buybacks after he has gotten a Heart and a Plate Mail, since he does not need any more items to function. Having a Centaur buying back will be the worst nightmare for the enemy, as taking this beast down once is already hard as hell.

Being a great pusher, a Centaur can benefit greatly from having a BoT. However, Centaur should focus on the tankiness, and a simple TP can do just fine. Only purchase BoT after finishing HoT and Plate Mail.

Situational Items:

This item is on the top of my list, because I personally do not purchase this for Centaur for a couple of reasons:
The Centaur should be drawing the attention of the enemy, not making them switch targets. He already has a permanent blademail-like ability, and by having a HoT, Return can achieve great results. Also, the dmg+ and Int+ is mainly wasted, and it delays Centaur�s core by a considerable amount.
However, this item depends on personal preference, and I am not saying it should not be core on Centaur.

This is another item that can be upgraded from Plate Mail, and the aoe nuke is definitely nice, since Centaur will always be in the centre of battle. However, because the Int+ is largely wasted on Centaur, I do not like to purchase this item. And as I said, Centaur should be saving money for buy-back after having a HoT and a Platemail.

Phase can not measure up to the ability of the blink dagger. However, if u really think think that a phase boots will help early game, u can consider purchasing it. It does help at roaming the map, however the dmg+ is largely wasted. So it comes down to personal choice. I personally don't make a phase boots, since it does not increase the Centaur's tankiness.

Rejected Items:

As Return works even if disabled, Centaur should absorb all magic dmg with his high hp and magic resistance, instead of Rambo-ing through it.

All other dps items including lifesteal orbs are rejected, as Centaur have enough attack speed late game, but should be played as a tank, instead of a dps hero.

5.Play Style:

Everyone's playstyle is unique and different, the ones that are written here are only a guideline.

Early Game:
Centaur should not mid, not jungle, and only be sharing a side lane with another teammate, as his Hoof Stomp can only be most effective when cooperated. Personally, I think that the Centaur can survive in the short lane, and should leave the long lane to a more vulnerable late-game carry. A Centaur should not be too aggressive during the laning phase, as his stun is hard to place, and he is still killable before his ultimate. Instead, he should focus on last-hitting with his awesome attack animation. With the RoR and the lv.1 Return skill, the Centaur should be able to stand the harassment.
It is extremely important to not waste Hoof Stomp, as its huge CD will only allow one use in a gank. One needs to be extremely careful when using Hoof Stomp, as Centaurs mediocre casting speed and the small aoe of the stun, combined together, making Hoof Stomp easily dodged. Of course, one can never miss an already disabled target, thus Centaur should only use Hoof Stomp after another ally disables the target first. Centaur can of course stun first, especially when the Centaur comes out from the forest. One should use Hoof Stomp first, as the enemy probably can not react to dodge right away.
While trying ur hardest to get those precious last-hits, you should be trying to get either:
the second RoR, bracer, or boots.
All three choices are fine, although a bracer is recommended to be purchased first. The second RoR will help greatly to using Double Edge and harassment. Boots will help land the Hoof Stomp. So it comes down to personal skill and preference.

Mid Game:
After u get ur ultimate, mid-game begins, where nukes rule in team fights. Centaur can start roaming and ganking using his stun and Double Edge combo. However, one should try to put together an HoD or Str treads as early as possible. HoD should be the first item to go for, since Centaur does not really need the extra 25 ias from treads, and would benefit more with the magic resistance and hp regen from HoD.
Centaur Warchief should be the first one going into the team fight, trying to eat all the nukes and dmg from the other team with HoD and his massive hp. This will help ur team greatly, as ur team will be full health when they go in on the enemy.
It is ok to die with Centaur as being a tank and the first one in the team fight, he will be focus fired by the other team. Absorbing the most of the enemy�s dmg is the job of a tanker, thus Centaur can most certainly die. But it is ur job to make sure that Centaur does not go down easy in team fights, which would only make the enemy�s head hurt more.

Late Game:
Centaur still remains the heavy tanker for the team, going in first in team fights to absorb dmg. One should already have a heart or a blink dagger now, thus making Centaur a primary or secondary initiator for the team. Centaur�s high Str with his passive ability Return should be wrecking havoc in team fights as well. The skill Double Edge is losing more and more of its effectiveness, and should be saved to cancel a channeling spell if there are dangerous channelers such as Sand King or Bane Elemental.
As Centaur is an excellent pusher after maxing out Return, he can lead a team push, or defend against a push, and u should communicate with ur teammates to organize a push or counter-push.
This is the point where ur buy-back will be most effective. A single Centaur buy-back can determine the outcome of a team fight easily. With Centaur�s superb pushing ability, the enemy can not afford to lose one single team fight in late-game.

6.Good Allies and Worst Enemies

Good Allies:

Pretty much heroes who can disables the target first from afar, to allow Centaur to come close to the target and use his stun. With a dual stun lane combo, a kill is easily attainable, and the enemy will be forced to play passively while u rake in those last-hits.

Heroes who have abilities to pull all the enemy into one area is also a great help to Centaur as his 2.75 sec stun is very deadly in team fights.
Magnus and Enigma are especially good allies as they can initiate the team fight by blinking in, while a Centaur would go in afterwards to continue disabling the enemy.

Healer are also a great help to Centaur, as they can increase his tankiness and help him survive after absorbing the team�s dmg.
Shadow priest and Omniknight are especially helpful to Centaur. Their Shadow Wave and purification can usually dmg several enemies while healing Centaur, while Shallow Grave and Guardian Angle are life continuing skills that can increase the Centaur�s tanking by a few precious sec after his hp is gone. With the few extra seconds, Centaur will still dish out a great amount of dmg through Return.

Worst Enemies:

Obviously N�aix is the biggest enemy/counter to the Centaur Warchief, as his passive ability feast will make him virtually unkillable while he takes down ur hp away chunk by chunk. N�aix can also easily dodge Centaur�s stun via his ability Rage as he has 0 casting time.
One should not pick Centaur Warchief if N�aix is on the other team.

Terrorblade is also a counter to Centaur Warchief, although not as much as N�aix. His ultimate allows him to exchange the life between u and him. Seeing that Centaur is a melee hero, TB should have no problem casting his ult. However, because Sunder considers the Hp percentages, not the actual value, A Centaur with 30% hp can still have more hp than a TB with 60% hp after Sunder.

Necrolyte, being one of the oldest adversaries of Centaur Warchief is still a great counter to him. His Aura will take away a lot of hp the longer u stay next to him. Because his aura is direct HP removal, the only counter to it is to boost hp regen rate. His ultimate will kill u late game whenever ur hp drops too low, which would mean 1/3 of the tanking strength sapped away. However, his ultimate does deal magic dmg, thus an HoD would greatly negate the effect of his ult, even if he purchased an agh. When facing Necrolyte, an early HoD is a must. He must choose to either aim his ult on ur magic resistant body, or leave the tank in the battle field. With an HoD, Centaur Warchief would still do fine against Necrolyte.

Heroes that can suck life away via percentages are also a great counter to Centaur. A HoD must be gotten as soon as possible to decrease the % of hp lost via these heroes spells.

Dmg amplifiers are also a counter to Centaur. An early HoD would help a lot with Maledict, however there is no real counter for Warlock or Chen, as their dmg amplifiers are pure dmg and physical dmg(respectively).

Armor reduction and magic resistance reduction are also devastating for Centaur as he has a quite low starting armor, and he can not afford to lose magic resistance. Having a platemail somewhat reduces the negative armor effect, but overall, these heroes does reduce ur overall EHP.

7.Conclusion
A Centaur should be the tanker of the team, and should always go in first in team fights to absorb the enemy�s dmg with his high magic resistance and hp. The player�s job is to make Centaur as hard to take down as possible, by increasing his hp and magic resistance, because the longer the Centaur stays on the battle field, the more dmg is dealt via Return, which does deal amazing amount of dmg contrary to popular belief. By tanking for ur team, the carry on ur team will have a easier time destroying the other team with full hp.

Thank you for reading my guide to the Centaur Warchief, have fun with this ultimate tanker hero!