The strong eat the weak, and I eat the strong - A guide to Ja'rakal

I almost never get any escape item anymore on ANY hero. Usually you can avoid dangerous situations by being smart, and if you are in one, just either tough it out or dish out as much damage as you can so your teammates can finish them off.

It's expensive and useless at lvl 1.

Fervor or Berserker's Rage at lvl 1, always. Berserker if mid (creep cutting), Fervor if safelane.

BTW with 625 starting gold you cant get Healing Salve and Tango. You have to choose.

I'd reccomend a level of Whirling Axes at level one. The slow and damage is invaluble. You really dont need to be goign in with melee at level one. You DO however need a good nuke and slow.

Nicely written!

I personally don't go for beserker rage until level 4 or so, since there is no point in attacking melee in the beginning - all you do is last hit, deny, and maybe harass, all of which are easier with ranged+fervor than pure melee and/or whirling axes.

As for Crystalys, BKB, HotD and Daedalus, I think the order should be
Crystalis > HotD > BKB > Daedalus
Since lifesteal doesn't do much unless you can rely on the critical procs from the crystalis, as the troll's dps until mid game isn't much to write home about. After crystalis, you really benefit from the lifesteal on HotD (base damage increase + occassional crit boosts give better lifesteal).
Or, if the game starts getting intense fast, you can switch to
Crystalis > Morbid Mask > BKB, then complete HotD and then Daedalus.

This is all just my personal opinion and playstyle, and I don't imply what you say is wrong. It's just a suggestion! :)

Agree with the swapping Crystalys for BKB. As Troll, you're going to be targeted really hard.

Also, I think Yasha into a Manta can be wonderful as well.

Finally, I think MKB should be got before Crystalys/Daed if the enemy team has evasion of any sorts, if you've got your items early enough (MKB dps > Daed dps early-game), or if you're capable of pushing.

Some remarks:
1) BKB should be core. You can't autoattack without BKB in teamfights, and autoattacking is what Troll does.
2) You should be VERY AGGRESSIVE in lane. You can kill pretty much anyone without good escape mechanism with ranged and melee axes combo and some attacks. Also, gank frequently, don't sit in your lane and farm.
3) Once you get HotD, go and solo Roshan, you can do it faster than Ursa.
4) Vanguard is a terrible item, never buy it. Also, hood provides 0 dps and is useless since BKB is core.

BKB is NEVER situational. Swap out Crystalys with BKB, boom perfect item build. Armlet of Mordiggian is also nice on TW

BKB works really well on him, I agree(after playing with him more). I've added it to the "Late" section of the build. It works well as a core, but I prefer getting other items before. Though maybe I still need more experience with this hero to be able to say that with proper justifications.
I also like Manta Style on him, so I'll maybe add a build including it. Though for that I believe I also require more experience with using a different build on him(with manta style).
Finally, I also agree with you on the melee part, I like it more. Bash and stats, nuff said?
Aaaand, thank you for your tips and further info :-)

I agree, Black King Bar is pretty much core on him, because all your bashes and AS doesnt matter if you get nuked and/or disabled.

In some games I buy a Manta Style on him. Great item overall, and illusions profit from Fervor.

Range is never as good as melee on Troll, because you can't bash the enemy carry to death and specially with a Drow Ranger you should not have any concern getting close to your target.

Imo, Black King Bar should not be a luxury,should be there in almost every game.Of course that against people like Beastmaster you get Linken's Sphere.

+1,nice work.

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