The Kiting God - Pubstomp Build for DK

"- He suffers vs melee heroes with strong disables and mobility steroids (eg Tiny, Lifestealer, Troll Warlord, Faceless Void, Sven, Slardar, Timbersaw), whom he finds rather difficult to kite
- He can't really chase down high-mobility heroes like Clinkz, Bounty Hunter, Lina, Death Prophet
- He can get fairly easily kited by longer-ranged heroes like Sniper, Drow Ranger with Mask of Madness/ Shadow Blade"

He does not suffer vs meele carries at all. He is at least a soft counter against these, because:
- he has insane armor and good hp, therefore he is very good against physical damage
- lvl 3 dragon form slow down meele carries which helps a lot to kite

From your guide it seems that u think that DK has to fight them 1v1, but that's not true, DK is a 5men hero, he excels in 5v5 fights. So let's imagine an 5v5 where faceless void uses his ulti on u.
If he tries to kill you then he is ****ed because a few seconds is not enough to bring you down and if his ulti expires u just stun him and he is ****ed. Actually the most common mistake against DK is to focus him. Btw its very funny when void wastes his ulti on u and he does a few times 50 dmg then he has to run.

"He can't really chase down high-mobility heroes"
Its not his job, his job is to stun, then someone must have some burst damage to kill.
Generally very few heroes can chase down a weaver or AM, so the solution is the stun + burst.
Your build seems to focus on a chasing high mobility DK.

"- He can get fairly easily kited by longer-ranged heroes like Sniper, Drow Ranger with Mask of Madness/ Shadow Blade""

Yes, these heroes are relatively good against him, the solution is gap closing with shadow blade or blink. Especially shadow blade works really well against these heroes. Go invis, hit them once, stun, hit, breath fire, hit, hit and they are usually dead.

Troll warlord is tricky to beat, he permastuns you, but if your team is there, then u have the upper hand.

Timbersaw is not pleasant at all, usually tanky heroes are pain in the ***, u can't do much against them. Especially timbersaw is annoying, because most elusive heroes are squishy, but he is tanky, elusive and deals ridiculus damage.

UH well I just dunno I love Dragon Knight but tbh I always felt that if you have a bottle but no Iron Branch (or other stats) you still can't do much.
I usually see three branches as a safer option.
But hey I guess that's up to personal preference anyways good guide.
I like how you defended your opinion to not buy a Lothars or a Blink Dagger
I would still say that you should buy it if you have a carry that needs help.
A Spectre or a Medusa will love you if you help them in the laning stage and will have a much higher impact in the game.
So it's like an investment.
You have to ask yourself.
Will my carry have an easy lane?
Or will he be harassed, denied and killed?
If the anser to the second question is yes. Ask yourself again.
Will my carry be able to be impactful in the game if I help him? DO I trust him?
If the answer is no proceed to buy oother items and carry the game on your own.

This text got longer than I wanted to O_o.
+1

for mid? I don't think so, because it only takes 2 last hits (for which you can use Breathe Fire) and you can grab your bottle which solves your regen problems... you can always proceed to more branches/wand after that

you can also start with QB, 3 branches, tangos but that's if you want to play a little aggressive with Dragon Tail

Isn't it a bit greedy to start with only one Iron Branch?

Great to see someone appreciate this way of building DK, thanks for your comment!

I've actually been trying midas recently and I agree it works amazing with this build too - I've updated the guide and added a section on it.

+1
Good guide. I like your debate about Phase vs Treads and S&Y vs Blink Dagger vs SB.

I have played quite a bit with DK and always used to build Treads + BKB + so on.
I find that with this build you are incredibly dependant on the rest of the team to set up the fight for you, even with Blink or SB. And since pushing became less rewarding after the patch updates he is not as fitting anymore in the current metagame

I have recently tried the S&Y+Phase and I think it is way more viable because it turns DK into a very fast killing/farming machine, as opposed to a very slow kited hero. I think his lack of mobility is actually his biggest downside. It wasn't as much of a problem before when teams just grouped up after 10-15 and pushed towers.

Another item that works well with him is the Midas if you manage to stay steadily get unharassed farm. It will get you to lvl 16 much faster which you desperately need. It isn't fun to play DK from behind.

I do. You got a prob? Meet me at "that" pub if you wanna settle things

Does anyone even play this hero anymore?

no no he is kiting god.In the sense that he gets kited by everybody.

I'd add a mobility item like Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade.