Predator guide by Xndr

Predator
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With huge, lance-like claws of solid bone emerging from their forearms, and spikes fit to impale the strongest foe spread across their hard shell, Predators seem more like daemons than Beasts. The men who fight beside them look at them with recollected fear from the days the Predators hunted humans, not daemons. But the hunger, speed, and rage they bring to bear against the Hellbourne are a welcome boon.

Predator is one of the most underrated heroes right now in HoN. On his own, he’s a mediocre hero at best, but in team fights, he’s a BEAST (no pun intended). He’s a pretty flexible hero who can serve as a ganker, tank, and initiator. I guess if you could compare him to any hero in DotA, he is closest to N’aix (commonly picked hero in DotA); he has a slow, an activated magic-immunity, and Feast.

Stats
Damage: 52-62
Armor: 1.52
Magic Armor: 5.5
Movespeed: 300
Attack Range: 100 (melee)

Str: 25 + 2.4
Agi: 18 + 1.9
Int: 15 + 1.8

Skills

Venomous Leap
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The Predator leaps toward an enemy unit, then strikes them with venomous claws. The enemy takes some damage and is slowed briefly.

Level 1 : Leaps toward target dealing 75 magic damage, 40% movement slow for 2 seconds
Level 2 : Leaps toward target dealing 125 magic damage, 40% movement slow for 3 seconds
Level 3 : Leaps toward target dealing 175 magic damage, 40% movement slow for 4 seconds
Level 4 : Leaps toward target dealing 225 magic damage, 40% movement slow for 5 seconds

Type: Magic
Range: 650
Mana Cost: 90
Cooldown: 20/17/14/11 seconds

Great all-in-one ability: deals damage, slows the target, and brings Predator immediately into melee range.

Stone Hide
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The Predator makes his hide like stone, granting him Magic Immunity, dispelling debuffs, and increasing his armor temporarily.

Level 1 : Dispels debuffs, +3 armor and magic immunity for 3.0 seconds
Level 2 : Dispels debuffs, +6 armor and magic immunity for 3.75 seconds
Level 3 : Dispels debuffs, +9 armor and magic immunity for 4.5 seconds
Level 4 : Dispels debuffs, +12 armor and magic immunity for 5.25 seconds

Mana Cost: 75
Cooldown: 15 seconds

Kind of a “burst” tanking ability, or an escape mechanism if need be. Situational awareness and predicting your enemy’s next move are pretty key to using this successfully.

Carnivorous
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The Predator feasts on his opponents flesh with each attack, allowing him to topple the mightiest warriors. Each attack damages opponents for a percentage of their current Health, and heals the Predator based on the damage dealt. Does not work on boss units.

Level 1 : Deals physical damage to targets equal to 4% of their current health and heals you for the same amount.
Level 2 : Deals physical damage to targets equal to 5% of their current health and heals you for the same amount.
Level 3 : Deals physical damage to targets equal to 6% of their current health and heals you for the same amount.
Level 4 : Deals physical damage to targets equal to 7% of their current health and heals you for the same amount.

Exact same ability as Feast. Percentage-based damage is always great because it scales with your enemies’ health as you go into late-game. It is based on the target’s current HP though, so it loses effectiveness with each successive attack.

Terror
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The Predator roars, instilling terror in nearby enemies, reducing their armor. Allies who attack enemies affected by terror will receive increased attack and movement speed.

Level 1 : Applies Terror to enemy heroes for 20 seconds in a 450 radius around self. -4 armor, when attacked, buffs attacker’s attack speed by 30% and movement speed by 15% for 4.5 seconds
Level 2 : Applies Terror to enemy heroes for 20 seconds in a 450 radius around self. -8 armor, when attacked, buffs attacker’s attack speed by 50% and movement speed by 15% for 4.5 seconds
Level 3 : Applies Terror to enemy heroes for 20 seconds in a 450 radius around self. -12 armor, when attacked, buffs attacker’s attack speed by 70% and movement speed by 15% for 4.5 seconds

Mana Cost: 100/200/300
Cooldown: 150 seconds

Kind of like Vengeful Spirit’s Wave of Terror but with a much larger cooldown/effect and a ridiculous buff to all attackers.

Skill Build
1. Venomous Leap
2. Stone Hide
3. Venomous Leap
4. Stone Hide
5. Venomous Leap
6. Stone Hide
7. Venomous Leap
8. Stone Hide
9. Terror
10. Carnivorous
11. Terror
12. Carnivorous
13. Carnivorous
14. Carnivorous
15. Stats
16. Terror

I max his two main abilities ASAP and hold off on the ulti until later. It isn’t useful until larger fights start happening and costs a ton of mana.

Major Strengths/Weaknesses
+Great initiator
+Good ganking abilities
-Low mana pool, ulti costs a ton

Ideally, this is what I want to have happen in a team fight:
-initiate the fight by leaping in on the first kill target
-Stone Hide, while the panicked opposing team reacts by focusing you and wasting their spells
-Terror while in the middle of the entire enemy team
-your team comes in and eats them, NOM NOM NOM
-live to tell about it

You might not always reach Step 5 but with good teamwork, the person you surprise-leaped on stood no chance. If really necessary to get the slow off, you can always pre-Stone Hide and then leap in. Unfortunately, physical-based disables can still stop you. This makes the recent change to Pestilence’s stun pretty bad for Predator.

Good Stone Hide usage is all about timing, just like using a BKB. Pop it too early and you will be ignored for 5 seconds, then be defenseless for 10. Wait too long and you will eat a stun/silence/sheep and not get a chance to use it at all.

Items

Starting Items
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Mid-game Items
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Late-game Items

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I usually go for a tank build with Predator. DPS items are ok, but early on you want to be ganking with a teammate anyway, so massive amounts of damage aren’t necessary. Bracer mats give you the extra mana needed to use your skills often enough. Then if I’m doing well, I’ll make a Vanguard in the lane. Predator needs survivability in team fights for when Stone Hide isn’t up; Vanguard and Heart are perfect for that. Helm of the Dominator is for a more dependable lifesteal and more tankiness. I’m not entirely decided on Steamboots vs. Enhanced Marchers. I usually go for Steamboots, but it seems like every hero in HoN right now is getting Enhanced Marchers so you may need them to keep up. It’s really a matter of preference; they are both good and add to your effective health/survivability. An alternate semi-DPS build I am considering is Mask of Madness/Armlet to make yourself more of a threat while you are magic immune.