Hero Discussion of the Day: Pudge (January 30, 2012)

Pudge was last discussed on October 19.

Pudge, the Butcher

Pudge is a melee hero who typically uses his skills to gank heroes or initiate battles, which can lead up to him becoming a late-game tank. When played right, mainly the player's skill and experience with Meat Hook, Pudge will become an excellent if not deadly ganker. While having a simple concept, Meat Hook is not that easy to master, and thus makes Pudge recommended for at least intermediate players. In the hand of good "Meat Hookers", Pudge is not just powerful but is also beautiful to play / watch.

Lore:

In the Fields of Endless Carnage, far to the south of Quoidge, a corpulent figure works tirelessly through the night--dismembering, disembowelling, piling up the limbs and viscera of the fallen that the battlefield might be clear by dawn. In this cursed realm, nothing can decay or decompose; no corpse may ever return to the earth from which it sprang, no matter how deep you dig the grave. Flocked by carrion birds who need him to cut their meals into beak-sized chunks, Pudge the Butcher hones his skills with blades that grow sharper the longer he uses them. Swish, swish, thunk. Flesh falls from the bone; tendons and ligaments part like wet paper. And while he always had a taste for the butchery, over the ages, Pudge has developed a taste for its byproduct as well. Starting with a gobbet of muscle here, a sip of blood there...before long he was thrusting his jaws deep into the toughest of torsos, like a dog gnawing at rags. Even those who are beyond fearing the Reaper, fear the Butcher.

"Nothing better than a nice raw liver."

Strength	Agility	Intelligence
25+3.2	14 + 1.5	14 + 1.5
Damage	Armor	Movespeed
52-58	0.96	285
Attack Range	Base Attack Time	Missile Speed
Melee	1.7	Instant
Animations	Icon	Fan Art

Meat Hook

Launches a bloody hook at a unit or location. The hook will snag the first unit it encounters, dragging the unit back to Pudge and dealing damage if it is an enemy.

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	110	14	700	N/A	N/A	Any unit	Deals 90 damage and drags the victim to the Butcher
2	120	13	900	N/A	N/A	Any unit	Deals 180 damage and drags the victim to the Butcher
3	130	12	1100	N/A	N/A	Any unit	Deals 270 damage and drags the victim to the Butcher
4	140	11	1300	N/A	N/A	Any unit	Deals 360 damage and drags the victim to the Butcher

• Damage type: pure
• Invisible units can be hooked normally.
• Meat Hook can go through cliffs, trees, structures and siege creeps.
• The tip of the Meat Hook is what drags the units to Pudge, so touching the Meat Hook in any other part than its tip will not trigger its effect.
• Meat Hook deals damage and a mini-stun to hooked enemy unit, effectively interrupting them. Allied units can be dragged too, but neither the damage nor the mini-stun will be dealt to them.
• Mini-stun can be dispelled by Black King Bar and Linken's Sphere.

Rot

A toxic cloud that deals intense damage and slows movement--harming not only enemy units but Pudge himself.

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	0	0	N/A	250	Until deactivated	Enemy units / Self	35 damage per second. Reduces movement speed of enemies by 20%
2	0	0	N/A	250	Until deactivated	Enemy units / Self	60 damage per second. Reduces movement speed of enemies by 20%
3	0	0	N/A	250	Until deactivated	Enemy units / Self	85 damage per second. Reduces movement speed of enemies by 20%
4	0	0	N/A	250	Until deactivated	Enemy units / Self	110 damage per second. Reduces movement speed of enemies by 20%

• Damage type: magical
• Rot can be activated while using Dismember without interrupting it.
• Deals damage and slowing effect to invisible units.
• If Pudge is silenced while Rot is activated, he will not be able to de-activate it until the silence wears off.
• Pudge can deny himself using this ability.

Flesh Heap

Gives Pudge resistance to magic damage, as well as bonus strength that increases each time an enemy Hero dies in the vicinity.

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Any unit	Gives Pudge 4% extra resistance to spells. +0.9 STR for hero kills.
2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Any unit	Gives Pudge 8% extra resistance to spells. +1.2 STR for hero kills.
3	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Any unit	Gives Pudge 12% extra resistance to spells. +1.5 STR for hero kills.
4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Any unit	Gives Pudge 16% extra resistance to spells. +1.8 STR for hero kills.

• Magic resistance stacks with magic resistance granted by items.
• Gains permanent strength when any enemy hero dies within 450 units from Pudge, or if Pudge kills them.
• The ability is retroactive, meaning the strength gain will be adapted once you level up flesh heap.

Dismember

CHANNELED - Pudge chows down on an enemy unit, disabling it and dealing damage over time. Lasts 3 seconds on Heroes, 6 seconds on creeps.

SCEPTER UPGRADABLE: Adds a 75% strength-based damage bonus, and heals Pudge equal to the damage dealt by Dismember.

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	100	30	160	N/A	3 seconds	Enemy Unit	75 (75 + 0.75x strength*) damage per second
2	130	30	160	N/A	3 seconds	Enemy Unit	125 (125 + 0.75x strength*) damage per second
3	170	30	160	N/A	3 seconds	Enemy Unit	175 (175 + 0.75x strength*) damage per second

• Damage type: magical
• Disable works on magic immune units.
• A unit affected by dismember will continue to be disabled and damaged even if it becomes invisible.
• Dismember is a channeling spell.
• Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
• Improved version heals Pudge the same amount as it deals damage.
• Linken's Sphere dispels Dismember, rendering it useless.

Dotacinema has put up a "Luminous approved" guide to Pudge.

Take a look at Wilco-'s daily tl;dr about Pudge.

Also check out kavukavu's Aesthetic Hero Discussion on Pudge.

As always, check out yesterday's discussion of Venomancer or the (almost) complete HDotD archives.