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Heroes of Newerth Hellbringer Guide

By X-Flame - 16th October 2010 - 22:48 PM

Meet Hellbringer, a somewhat close resemblance to Warlock from Defense of the Ancients. A hero so powerful that he has been an auto-ban in the competitive scene for quite some time, forcing S2 to nerf him several times in order to balance him out. Having the ability to completely force enemies out of their lane thanks to some incredibly powerful harassment, while being able to summon a giant helldemon to wreck entire teams, this hero is certainly no push-over, and is always a welcome addition to any team.


Hellbringer


Hero backstory:
During the war against the Beasts, many humans became experts in summoning daemons to fight alongside the Legion. Some became addicted to this unholy act, and even when the Hellbourne turned against their masters, continued to invoke the dark rituals. One such warlock is known only as Hellbringer, now a captain in the Hellbourne army and perhaps the most despised man on Newerth.

Damage 46 - 56
Attack Range 600
Attack Speed 0.645

IPB Image Armor: 1.40 IPB Image Move Speed: 295

IPB Image 18 (+2.1) IPB Image 10 (+1.2) IPB Image 24 (+2.9)

Lets take a look at the basics. For a ranged hero, he has fairly high base damage and 600 range to boot. This means that his harassment just from auto-attacks is quite potent. His Intelligence gain is also quite high, 2,9 gain is some of the highest in the game. Not all is great, though. His low armor means that he can't take a whole lot of punishment, and his relatively low Strength gain, though still rather high for a Intelligence hero, will mean that he remains squishy throughout the entire game.

Skill Descriptions


Unholy Shackles
Hellbringer binds a target enemy with Unholy Shackles, reducing its movement speed and attack speed.

Activation
  • Target unit - Enemy Units
  • Type: Magic
  • Range: 600
  • Mana cost: 65/75/85/95
  • Cooldown: 15 seconds
Applies Unholy Shackles to target for 5 seconds.

Unholy Shackles Effects
20/30/40/50% Movement Slow
-30/-40/-50/-60 Attack Speed

Usage
A fairly basic skill, Unholy Shackles slows the enemy in his movement and his attack speed. Useful for slowing a fleeing enemy and to keep the enemy carry down during later stages of the game. Not much to it really.

Deathboil
Hellbringer inflicts a target enemy and those nearby him with a disease that causes their very insides to boil, dealing increasing damage over time.

Activation
  • Target unit - Enemy Units
  • Type: Magic
  • Range: 600
  • Mana cost: 100/130/160/190
  • Cooldown: 15 seconds
Applies Death Boil to 1/2/3/4 targets for 5/6/7/8 seconds.

Death Boil Effects
5/6/7/8 ticks of Magic damage, starting at 10 and increasing by 10 for each tick.

Usage
Death Boil is one of the strongest spells in the entire game at level 1, dealing 150 magic damage over a period of time. It will cause nightmares to your enemies as it is a very potent harassment tool in the laning phase. On higher levels it will chain to other nearby targets as well, making the harassment even stronger. As the game progresses you can use it to stop heroes from blinking away with a Portal Key, or to disable the use of Bottle.

IPB Image
The maximum range of Death Boil

Chaining
If the enemy is just out of your reach but they are close to the ranged creep, apply Death Boil to the ranged creep to chain the Death Boil to the enemy

As with all spells that deal damage over time, it certainly has his downsides. Not only is the effect over time, meaning you can't really pick off someone quick with it, it can also be countered by heals, or it can be purged away by someone with a purge ability, such as Accursed, Jeraziah or Electrician, along with everybody with a Nullfire Blade.

Life Void
Hellbringer casts a Life Void over a targeted area, causing enemies hit to have reduced Magic Armor. Additionally, damage those targets take will heal Hellbringer.

Activation
  • Target Position - Enemy Units
  • Type: Magic
  • Range: 600
  • Radius: 250
  • Mana cost: 80/100/120/140
  • Cooldown: 10 seconds
Applies Life Void to target for 5.5/7/8.5/10 seconds.

Life Void Effects
-3/-4/-5/-6 Magic Armor
10/20/30/40 % of damage taken heals inflictor.

Usage
A fairly interesting skill, Life Void does two things for you. First, it decreases enemy Magic Armor, making any Magic attack aimed at the enemy pack more punch. This can be very viable when your team consists out of a lot of magic damage dealers. Secondly, a percentage of any damage done to the enemy will heal you back up. This allows him to stay in team fights for quite some time as, provided your team is actually dealing damage to the right target(s), you will be able to out heal almost any damage they can throw at you. It also makes you able to tank Kongor at early levels as well.

IPB Image
The radius of Life Void


Summon Malphas
Summon a large demon and stun all enemies in an area around where it is summoned.

Activation
  • Target Position - Enemy Units
  • Type: Superior Magic
  • Range: 1200
  • Radius: 600
  • Mana cost: 200/300/400
  • Cooldown: 165 seconds
Summons Malphas, stunning everyone in a 600 radius for 1 second and dealing 100 damage. Malphas has 900/1200/1500 Health, 15/20/25 Health regeneration, attacks for 50/100/150 with an attack cooldown time of 1.35 seconds, and lasts for 60 seconds.

Usage
The skill that defines Hellbringer, this skill does exactly what it does. It stuns everyone in a large radius (largest stun in the game), and then the giant Malphas erupts from the ground, ready to be controlled by you. Keep in mind that the stun is superior magic, thus going through magic immunity, such as Predator's Stone Hide and anyone with a Shrunken Head. This skill is incredibly useful as initiation, and the gigantic radius on it makes it impossible to miss.

IPB Image
The radius of Summon Malphas


2. Skill Build and Usage

  1. Death Boil/Unholy Shackles
  2. Death Boil/Unholy Shackles/Life Void
  3. Death Boil
  4. Unholy Shackles/Life Void
  5. Death Boil
  6. Summon Malphas
  7. Death Boil
  8. Unholy Shackles/Life Void
  9. Unholy Shackles/Life Void
  10. Unholy Shackles/Life Void
  11. Summon Malphas
  12. Unholy Shackles/Life Void
  13. Unholy Shackles/Life Void
  14. Unholy Shackles/Life Void
  15. Stats
  16. Summon Malphas
Your first point should be spent into either Death Boil, or Unholy Shackles if you are laning with a partner that can kill from level 1. But because Death Boil is so strong early on as harassment, you should make sure to max it as fast as possible, so if you haven't gotten it at level 1, get it at level 2 and 3. After that it is a choice of preference. If you feel Unholy Shackles will net you an early kill, then by all means go for it. If you find yourself harassed a lot more than expected, get Life Void to keep yourself in lane longer. And as expected, you should take a point in Summon Malphas every time it is possible as the skill is extremely good.

3. Item build


3.1 To start with:


3x Mana potion
Monkey Courier OR Wards
1x Runes of the Blight
3x Minor Totem

Your most important item that you buy with your initial gold, is a Courier, or if someone else has bought it already, a pair of regular Wards. You also get a couple of mana potions to help you keep spamming Death Boil early on, as the mana cost is rather hefty at higher levels. The totems and the Runes of the Blight are there to keep yourself alive and running.

3.2 Then..


Flying Courier
Blood Chalice
Marchers
Ring of the Teacher
Steamboots OR Ghost Marchers
Nomes Wisdom
ALWAYS Homecoming Stones

The first thing you should buy with your money, is a Flying Courier. If you are looking for a great way of getting mana, get a Blood Chalice. When combined with your Life Void it can be a great way of getting extra health back, too. After that you buy regular Marchers, followed buy a Ring of the Teacher for some extra mana regen and a bit of extra armor. You then upgrade your Marchers into Steamboots, giving you some much needed strength and extra mobility. If you feel you need the movement speed more though, get a pair of Ghost Marchers. After that you turn your Ring of the Teacher into Nomes Wisdom for a some added strength and other basic stats. And as always, carry Homecoming Stones, as you'll never know when you need one.

Optional
Fortified Bracelet

Should you find yourself dying a bit too easily early on, get one or several Fortified Bracelet(s). They are a cheap way of adding some extra health to Hellbringer.

Barbed Armor

Barbed Armor, in conjunction with Life Void, can make you tank damage unlike almost no other hero is able to. Also adds 5 Armor and a good amount of Intelligence, making Barbed Armor a good pick-up on Hellbringer.

3.3 Mid-late game items


During this phase, you can fully customize Hellbringer to whatever is needed. You can choose one or several of the following items:

Puzzlebox
A Puzzlebox has never been a bad option for almost any Intelligence hero, and Hellbringer is no exception. It fixes most of your mana issues, adds some strength, and the minions that it spawns aren't something to laugh about either. A very common pick-up and a strong choice.

Tablet of Command
Tablet of Command is to some people a strange item, and not a whole lot of people know what they can actually do with it. But being able to push any hero for 500 range can be rather useful. A enemy Pharaoh keeps initiating on you or your team mate? Push your ally out! Enemy hero with a channelling spell and your team lacks stuns to interrupt them? Push the enemy or your ally away to interrupt the spell! Push an ally out of Chronos' ultimate, push Tempest out of his ultimate, the possibilities are endless. Overall a solid pick on Hellbringer, provided you know how to use the item.

Astrolabe
It gives you armor and buffs all your stats, and on activation, it adds a solid heal for you and other team mates. Not much to say about this item. A good pick-up for the Hellbringer looking to support his team with health bonuses.


If the enemy team is relying on magic damage a lot, get a Barrier Idol. It makes you able to tank a load of magic damage, while the active ability can save your team from doom when they have a hero like Plague Rider or Magmus, just to name a few examples.

Restoration Stone
You know how devastating your ultimate can be, right? Then there is almost nothing better than the ability to be able to summon another Malphas. The Restoration Stone resets the cooldown of all your abilities, including your ultimate. Adds hardly any survivability though, but if you can afford it, this is the item you are looking for. Also note that on level 16, a double ultimate combo will eat 1175 mana, so do some maths beforehand to see if you can pull it off.

3.4 Luxury game items


Kuldra's Sheepstick
Adds 10 strength and agility, adds 25 intelligence, and gives you a 3,5 second stun as an activate-able ability. What's not to like? Expensive and hard to farm, but if you can get it, get it.

Harkon's Blade
A very-very-very late game item, Harkon's Blade gives you all the mana you will ever need, crazy damage, and another magic armor debuff, making you able to subtract 11 magic armor from your opponents. Given the fact that any hero has 5 magic armor by default, any magical attacks aimed at the poor target will hit like nuclear weaponry and absolutely demolish the target.

4. Hero Specific Strategies and Techniques


4.1 Lane preference


Hellbringer is rather versatile and can therefore choose to either run a solo lane, or be with a partner. This is because though he benefits from early levels as an early Malphas can really wreck things for your opponents, he doesn't really need it, nor does he need the farm that he can get in a solo lane as he is fairly item independent. If he runs in a solo lane, his strong harassment can really tear the other player down as other ranged heroes are usually fairly squishy. Note that he can be taken down fairly easy though, so if you are up against a strong nuker, stay on your toes and try to harass him with Death Boil as much as you can.

Should you opt to go with a partner, you will make for a fine babysitter thanks to your enormous lane presence. So go with a carry to give him free farm. If your ally is up for it, take a point in Unholy Shackles and go for the early kill. This is best done with someone like Swiftblade, though other heroes will work as well, such as The Dark Lady. Either way make sure you babysit as well as you can so the carry can farm his items in peace.

He goes well with a tri-lane strategy too, provided you put him in one of the two solo lane. He doesn't do all that well in the tri-lane as his harassment is very level dependent.

4.2 Mid game


Mid game is where Hellbringer is at his best. Though he doesn't fare as well in the ganking phase, thanks to his Ultimate alone, he is a monster in team fights. When initiating, try to use Life Void on as many enemies as you can, and then drop your Malphas right into the middle of them. This causes your erupting Malphas to do more damage, while you will be healing back up in case you are getting focused. Immediately after dropping your Malphas, try to apply Death Boil to as many opponents as you possibly can to maximize your damage output. With a combination of these spells he will be dealing a monstrous amount of area of effect damage (AoE), making his mark on the team fight. If needed, apply Unholy Shackles to whoever is trying to get away.

4.3 Weaknesses


Though Hellbringer is a strong hero, he does have some weaknesses. Aside from being squishy and susceptible to surprise ganks, he is also incredibly mana intensive, and though he has fairly high Int-gain, he will need an additional form of mana regen to maintain his spell spam. Arguably his biggest problem though is that all of his spells, barring the Malphas itself, are debuffs. This means that any purging ability, such as Arachna's Hardened Carapace, Accursed Fire Shield and Electricians Cleansing Shock will remove all your spells from the target. Which brings us to his main enemy, the Nullfire Blade. Not only can the Nullfire Blade purge all of his spells, it can also instantly purge the Malphas, making Hellbringer a lot less of a threat as his Malphas isn't running around creating chaos in teamfights anymore.

4.4 Malphas


Though you might not immediately notice it, Hellbringer is actually a very manly hero. After all, he has a giant daemonic fire-breathing dragon as his own pet. The Malphas itself comes with 3 abilities, one active and two passives. The first spell, Fire Breath, allows the Malphas to breathe fire into a specific direction, dealing 100/150/200 magic damage in a line. During this time, it can turn around to deal the damage to a different target as well. His second ability, Immolate, causes any organic enemy close to the Malphas to be hit with a DoT(Damage over Time), dealing 20/40/60 magic damage per second as an aura in a 225 radius. The third ability, Burning Sword, causes a burning DoT of 5/10/15 magic damage per second over a period of three seconds on whatever organic being he strikes with his blade. These DoTs, along with his active ability, make the Malphas for a feared creature. He can push towers very well thanks to his high health regeneration and his overall tanky nature. His attacks aren't too shabby either, dealing 50/100/150 damage per strike.

IPB Image
The range of Fire Breath


However, be careful though. Just because it's fairly tanky, doesn't mean it can't be taken out. It gives valuable XP and 100 gold to whoever kills it, so be sure not to send it directly into a hopeless situation, as you don't want to feed it to the enemy. If you are forced to, withdraw it from combat and let it die where the enemies can't kill it. Or send it into a suicide mission to get it killed by Neutrals or a tower. Whatever you do, don't let it get killed by the enemy.

5. Replays and Videos


-REPLAYS COMING SOON-

6. Changelog


Oct 17, 2010 First release
December 12, 2010 Updated item build