Yur ner o, the Ju ggernaut

By Chameleon12

as of v6.59
http://planetdota.blogspot.com
Introduction

I didn't think I'd ever finish this guide, but here it is. Juggernaut is one of the first heroes I played
and has been my best and favorite hero for a very long time, but somehow I never got around to
finishing this guide until now. I put a ridiculous amount of effort into writing this guide, testing
builds and getting good replays, so hopefully it shows.

This guide is extremely long and comprehensive, but I think that all the information is necessary,
and I gauruntee it's worth the effort to read. Whether you play Juggernaut religiously, or you're
just trying him for the first time, I'm sure you can take something from this guide, and hopefully
start to enjoy playing this hero as much as I do.

Stats
 Strength: 20 + 1.9 each level
Agility: 20 + 2.85 each level
Intelligence: 14 + 1.4 each level
Base HP: 473
Base Mana: 182
Base Damage: 44 - 48
Base Armor: 4
Base Move Speed: 295
Range: 100 (Melee)
Attack Speed: 1.42 (+ 20% IAS from base agility)

Skills

Blade Fury

Level 1: Deals 80 damage per second.

Level 2: Deals 100 damage per second.
Level 3: Deals 120 damage per second.
Level 4: Deals 140 damage per second.

Mana Cost: 110

Cooldown: 30 Seconds

Juggernaut spins with his blade causing damage to all units near him. You become immune to
magic while using this. Blade Fury is your primary hero killing skill early game and your escape
mechanism throughout the game. Becoming proficient with this skill is essential to playing
Juggernaut well.

See the Guide to Blade Fury later in the guide to learn more about how this skill works and how
to use it.
 Blade Dance
Level 1: 10% chance for double damage
Level 2: 18% chance for double damage
Level 3: 26% chance for double damage
Level 4: 36% chance for double damage

Basically boosts your damage by 10, 18, 26, and then 36 percent. Blade Dance is very useful mid
and late game but isn't too helpful early on because you'll be relying on your spells rather than
your physical attack. Criticals from Blade Dance have a chance to trigger when additional
slashes occur during Omnislash.

Healing Ward
Level 1: Heals 1% of hit points per second.
Level 2: Heals 2% of hit points per second.
Level 3: Heals 3% of hit points per second.
Level 4: Heals 4% of hit points per second.

Mana Cost: 140

Cooldown: 75 seconds
Lasts: 25 seconds

Heals all allied units near the ward for a percent of their max HP every second. Great skill for
pushing but easily destroyed. Healing ward can be moved by selecting the ward and moving it as
you would move a hero.

See the Guide to Healing Ward later in the guide to learn more about how this skill works and
how to use it.
 Omnislash
Level 1: Attacks 3 times.
Level 2: Attacks 5 times.
Level 3: Attacks 8 times.

Mana Cost: 200/275/350

Cooldown: 130/120/110 seconds

Juggernaut performs random blink attacks that deal 150-250 damage each. Absolutely amazing
ultimate but somewhat hard to use. Additional slashes are possible between the set slashes if
Juggernaut’s attack speed is high enough. These slashes are based on your normal attack damage
rather than the 150-250 set damage from the other slashes. Omnislash deals physical damage.

See the Guide to Omnislash later in the guideto learn more about how this skill works and how to
use it.

Skill Build
Blade Fury
Stats
Blade Fury
Stats
Blade Fury
Omnislash
Blade Fury
Stats
Stats
Stats
Omnislash
Blade Dance or Healing Ward
Blade Dance or Healing Ward
Blade Dance or Healing Ward
Blade Dance or Healing Ward
Omnislash
Healing Ward or Blade Dance
Healing Ward or Blade Dance
Healing Ward or Blade Dance
Healing Ward or Blade Dance
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats
Stats

Why gets stats early?

Juggernaut relies almost solely on his spells to deal damage early game and taking points in stats
allows him to use his spells much more effectively. Without extra stats, Juggernaut does not have
enough mana to use both Blade Fury and Omnislash at level 6, making it nearly impossible to get
kills. Stats also help Juggernaut in terms of survivability and boost his base damage a little for
last hitting.

What do I take at levels 12-15?

In organized games, I suggest taking Healing Ward at levels 12-15 since that's when a lot of the
pushing will happen. In low-level games, Blade Dance is more useful during mid game because
the ganking and farming stage of the game tends to last a lot longer.

Any Exceptions?
Always. Although these are the typically the best skill builds for Juggernaut, there is always
room for adjustment depending on how the game is going. In pubs and TDAs, for example, it’s
perfectly fine to take only 2 or 3 levels of stats before getting Blade Dance. Blade Dance helps
you go through neutral creeps much faster and amplifies Omnislash’s damage more than stats do,
so if you can avoid dying, getting it a little earlier is fine. In organized games, it’s sometimes a
good idea to take Healing Ward a level or two earlier if you’re against a team that pushes early,
and so on.

Feel free to adjust the skill build to fit your own playstyle and the level of play you typically play
at.

Item Build
Core Items
OR

1. Bottle
2. 3 Bracers or Wraith Bands
3. Boots of Travel

Bottle

It took several patches for players to realize how good this item really is. It went from being
considered useless, to being considered decent on heavy gankers like Night Stalker and Bounty
Hunter, to being nerfed slightly because players used it on every hero from Sven to Zues. Bottle
works well on Juggernaut because it allows him to gank extremely effectively by using runes,
and gives him a cheap and effective way to replenish his mana and HP. Furthermore, since
Juggernaut needs Boots of Travel early on, he will be able to refill Bottle even when runes aren’t
readily available.

Bracers or Wraiths

In theory, Bracer fill out Juggernaut’s needs much better than Wraith Bands do, but in reality,
both items work well. Bracers are always better if you’re having trouble and tend to be more
useful in team fights, since you’ll mostly be relying on Blade Fury in large battles. Wraith Bands
are cheaper, however, and tend to be more helpful for ganking and farming because they help
with Omnislash, and amplify your base damage and attack speed.

As a rule of thumb, get Bracers if you’re going for Radiance or if you’re having trouble and need
to go for Sange and Yasha. Get Wraith Bands if you’re going for Desolator.

Boots of Travel

With Power Treads being better than ever as of 6.49b, Juggernaut is one of the few strength or
agility candidates for Boots of Travel. BoTs are particularly good on Juggernaut because of their
synergy with Blade Fury. Not only do you need the speed bonus to chase heroes effectively, the
the teleport ability because of the Blade Fury/TP trick, but Blade Fury is also an amazing
farming ability. If Juggernaut can't jump around the map and farm, his power quickly trickles
away by mid game and it's difficult for him to compete with other carry heroes later on. Notice
how other carry heroes with amazing farming capabilities, such as Shadowfiend and Razor, still
get Boots of Travel over Treads.

Power Treads are by no means bad on Juggernaut, and are actually a great alternative to Travels
now. But I feel that Juggernaut is still one of the few heroes that benefits more from BoTs.

After the Core Build

After obtaining all the core items, you can go in several directions. I won’t tell you that any one
is better than the others because every game is different, but I will tell you the pros and cons of
each and what situations each item is best for.

The Carry: Radiance

Radiance has been standard on Juggernaut for a long time. It has amazing synergy with both
Blade Fury and Omnislash, and helps tremendously with farming, which is helpful if you plan to
carry your team. Radiance’s only real drawbacks are that it is very hard to farm if you’re not
doing well and it makes you a big target. Since Juggernaut is still relatively fragile during mid
game, drawing enemy focus can get you killed. However, you’ll be able to farm other items more
quickly when you have Radiance so you can boost your survivability pretty quickly.

Get Radiance if
• You’re doing well enough that farming relic isn’t a problem
• There isn’t another hero on your team getting it
• There are too many disables to rely on your physical attack

The Omnislasher: Desolator

Desolator is the best DPS item for its cost on most heroes and works well on Juggernaut because
the armor reduction amplifies the damage from the 3/5/8 set slashes in Omnislash. Since the set
slashes make up most of Omnislash’s damage until super-late game, Desolator is the most cost
efficient and effective item for increasing Omnislash’s damage.

The only problem with Desolator is that it tends to be less helpful in large team battles, since
there are too many disables flying around to rely on your physical attack and too many units to
use Omnislash.
Get Desolator if
• There aren’t many enemy heroes with skills that stop Omnislash from working well
(Blink, Windwalk)
• One of your allies is already getting Radiance
• There are few enough disables that you can rely on your physical attack

The Fallback: Sange and Yasha

Despite the fact that everyone seems to hate this item, Juggernaut is one of the best candidates
for using it. In most cases, Desolator and Radiance are still stronger items, but SnY is an
amazing item if you need something to fall back on.

If you’re not dominating, SnY is generally the best option for Juggernaut. It has a very easy build
up, provides good survivability with the HP and move speed, and isn’t too bad in terms of DPS
either. The best part about SnY, however, isn't that the build up is so easy, it's that the build up is
so good. Most items come in large, relatively useless pieces like Demon Edge or Eaglehorn, but
each little piece of SnY is useful and cost-effective. If you're having trouble, SnY is all but
perfect on Juggernaut.

Get Sange and Yasha if

• You’re not farming well or getting a lot of kills
• You feel like you need the extra HP
• Another hero is getting Radiance and there are too many disables to use Desolator
After completing one of the items above, move on to one of these

Heart, Dagger, The Butterfly, Assault Cuirass or Monkey King Bar

Heart - Heart is usually a good choice after Radiance, especially vs a lot of casters. It can work
well after Desolator too in some cases. If you don't feel like you need more HP so soon, feel free
to get Butterfly or Cuirass, then get Heart afterwards, but remember that you won't be able to use
the damage you already have if you can't stay alive.

Dagger - Dagger works better with Desolator than with Radiance because you'll be relying more
on Omnislash and Dagger helps a lot with positioning. The Desolator build is also meant to be
used against teams with fewer disables, meaning you should be able to save yourself with
Dagger, where as a team with tons of disables would kill you before you could blink.

MKB, Butterfly and Cuirass - Before I compare the rest of these items these items, I’d like to
give you a brief overview of how damage per second (DPS) works, and how to go about
increasing your DPS as efficiently as possible. Increasing your DPS is all about balancing attack
speed and direct damage. Here is an example that illustrates this:

QUOTE
DPS Example

Hero A attacks once per second and deals 200 damage per hit. Hero B attacks twice per second
and deals 100 damage per hit. Obviously, both heroes deal 200 damage per second.

If we add 100 direct damage to Hero A, he now deals 300 damage once a second (300 DPS). If
we add 100 direct damage to Hero B, however, he deals 200 damage twice a second (400 DPS).
The same amount of damage was added to both heroes, but Hero B’s DPS is ends up being
higher because DPS relies on balancing direct damage and attack speed.

If you’re still confused, or would like to learn more about how DPS works, I suggest taking a
look at this guide.

As you might have guessed, most heroes don’t start with balanced direct damage and attack
speed. Most heroes start with very low base damage and decent attack speed, which is why items
that add direct damage tend to be the best choice for a first item (Desolator, MKB, Radiance,
etc). After getting your first damage item, the balance of direct damage and attack speed is
shifted the other way, so items like The Butterfly and Assault Cuirass become good choices.
MKB is generally used as a first damage item, but becomes a good second item if you had some
reason for getting a more IAS oriented item first, like Sange and Yasha.

Butterfly vs Cuirass

Butterfly and Cuirass are two very similar items. The both provide around the same amount of
attack speed and damage (although Cuirass’ damage comes from the armor reduction), and
Butterfly’s evasion provides about the same amount of damage reduction as the armor bonus
from Cuirass.

In general, Butterfly is better on agility heroes and Cuirass is better on strength and intelligence
heroes. Juggernaut, however, is an exception because Omnislash’s set 3/5/8 slashes are
considered physical damage and therefore benefit from the armor reduction given by Cuirass.
Butterfly adds more to your normal attack, but Cuirass adds more to Omnislash’s damage and
helps your team out.

In a typical game, I suggest getting Cuirass second for both the Radiance and Desolator builds.
Radiance gives 8% evasion, which means that you only get and extra 22% from Butterfly, which
isn’t as helpful in terms of survivability as the 15 armor given by Cuirass. For the Desolator
build, Cuirass is the item of choice because it reduces your opponents’ armor even further. Armor
reduction is the most effective when a hero’s armor is reduced to a point between 0 and -4, which
is about what enemy heroes should be at when you reduce their armor by 11.

Cuirass also has a better build up than Butterfly, since Hyperstone is a much more cost-efficient
source of damage than Eaglehorn is, and the bonuses for your teammates are helpful too.

Some other things to consider

Although Cuirass tends to be better with both builds in a typical game, there are several things
that can make Butterfly a significantly better choice.

The main thing you’ll want to consider is proc spells. The most notable of these is Bash, which
you can compete against with Butterfly, but will destroy you if you have Cuirass. Maim, Skadi’s
slow, MKB’s ministun, and Maelstrom/Mjollnir’s lighting, and Entangle are some other proc-
based spells and abilities that can be avoided with Butterfly’s evasion, but are unaffected by the
armor given by Cuirass. Butterfly is better vs criticals as well, since a critical strike can be
completely avoided with evasion, but is just reduced by armor.

Also, orbs like Silencer’s Glaives of Wisdom, Enchantress’ Impetus and Obsidian Destroyer’s
Arcane Orb are unaffected by armor, but can still miss. It’s a good idea to get Butterfly vs those
three heroes and other similar heroes.

Finally, you should always get Butterfly if another player on your team is getting Cuirass. If you
already have the aura, all you’re really getting is 40% attack speed and 10 armor. Make sure not
to get Cuirass if anyone else on your team is planning on making it.

What about MKB?

If you got SnY as your first item, MKB is generally the best choice for a second item. Since SnY
gives quite a bit of attack speed and not much damage, compared to other damage items, MKB
will increase your DPS more than Butterfly or Cuirass. It’s also about 1000 gold cheaper and the
ministun is always nice. If you’re up against a lot of physical damage, however, it’s better to get
Butterfly or Cuirass for the survivability factor. Butterfly tends to work better in this case since
there’s really no synergy between SnY and Cuirass.

If you got Desolator or Radiance first, MKB isn’t quite as good for increasing your DPS.
(Remember: balance direct damage and attack speed). It’s still cost efficient in terms of DPS, but
it doesn’t give you any survivability like Cuirass and Butterfly do.

There will be rare situations, however, where the mini-stun is extremely helpful and it’s worth
getting over Butterfly or Cuirass. The mini-stun is the best way to stop heroes with BKB from
channeling their ultimates. Namely CM and witch doctor.

Why not get Butterfly, Cuirass or MKB as a first item?

Desolator provides much better damage output for its cost than any of these items and has an
easier build up. The only time you might want to consider getting MKB as a first item is if
you’re set on getting Satanic later, but don’t want to go for Radiance. MKB is a good choice for
first damage item on a lot of heroes, but on Juggernaut, it's outclassed by Desolator 99% of the
time.

There’s really not much reason to get either Butterfly or Cuirass first over Desolator. They
provide around the same DPS, for 2k more gold and are much harder to farm. Remember that
DPS comes from balancing your direct damage and attack speed, and Juggernaut's base attack
speed is much higher than his base damage, comparatively. For this reason, it's much better to
start with a direct damage item like Desolator or Radiance. There's a reason why Sacred Relic
costs 3800 and Hyperstone costs 2100.

Some people like getting Butterfly or Cuirass first for the survivability factor, but the first half of
the game is dominated by spells, not physical damage. The armor and evasion will barely help
you before late game, and they're both based on your HP, meaning they're far less effective while
your HP is still low. If you’re looking for survivability, SnY is a better option for mid game and
has a much better build up. It’s not too bad in terms of DPS either. Even just getting Desolator
and three Bracers costs less than Butterfly or Cuirass and provides more damage and
significantly more survivability during early and mid game.

Other Items

Satanic – Great late-game survivability item if the other team doesn't have many disables. If you
got Radiance or SnY as your first main item, Satanic can take the place of Heart as a
survivability item, but you need to have two or three damage items before it really becomes
useful.
Black King Bar - Good late-game solution to disables. Using Blade Fury along with Radiance
works better for the first half of the game, but eventually you'll need to rely on your physical
attack, and that's where BKB comes in.

Battlefury – Terrible first or second damage item for Juggernaut, despite being strangely
popular, but pretty good as a late-game item. Radiance is simply a better item on Juggernaut for
most of the game because it deals damage while you’re using Blade Fury and Omnislash, and
Battlefury doesn’t. You can already clear creeps extremely quickly with Blade Fury, so the splash
damage isn’t needed for most of the game. The only situation that warrants getting Battlefury on
Juggernaut is if you've lost a barracks or two super-late game and you need something to keep
the creeps back.

Power Treads – With the buff to Treads in 6.49b, they're now a viable alternative to Boots of
Travel on Juggernaut. Personally, I still favor BoTs, but feel free to experiment with both option.
They both work fine.

Hood of Defiance - Bracers and Heart are just better for their respective stages of the game.
Juggernaut doesn’t need the regeneration because of Bottle and Boots of Travel, and proper use
of Blade Fury helps you get around a lot of spell damage. Hood is also percentage based, and
Juggernaut is pretty fragile, making Bracers and Heart better choices.

Vangaurd - Not a bad item, but there are better choices. By getting Vangaurd, you pay a lot for
the Ring of Health portion of the item, which is all but useless on Juggernaut since you'll already
be getting Bottle early on, and Boots of Travel not long after that. Two or three Bracers and a
Stout Shield will give you better bonuses than Vangaurd for less gold.

Diffusal Blade - Good for ganking, especially since it can be used during Blade Fury, and great
for countering Warlock on Omniknight. It really doesn’t add much damage though, and it’s very
difficult to carry if you dish out 3000 gold for Diffusal. Still, it can be choice if you have an ally
who can carry hard and you can play a more support and ganking-oriented role.

Mask of Madness - MoM is a workable item on Juggernaut, but it wastes your orb effect and
using it makes you extremely fragile. It isn't a bad item, but just like Hood is outclassed by
Bracers or Heart on Juggernaut, MoM is outclassed by Radiance, Desolator and SnY.

Skadi - Skadi's slow isn't particularly helpful on Juggernaut and takes up an orb effect that could
be put to better use with Desolator or Satanic. Heart, Satanic and SnY are better survivability
items for Juggernaut and the mana given by Skadi is put to waste, since Bottle takes care of all
Juggernaut's mana problems. Like many other items in this section, Skadi isn't bad on
Juggernaut, but it is overshadowed by a few other items.

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