Lone Druid without Spirit Bear

Atlas told me to try Lone Druid without leveling up Summon Spirit Bear or True Form. It didn't sound like a really good idea at all, but I tried it myself and it was pretty overpowered, lol.
The idea is, you can max out your Rabid and Synergy by level 8, then level up stats. You'll have a really high movement and attack speed for a long time, kinda permanent, because of the Rabid and Synergy. Also, you won't use True Form because it takes down movement speed and the attack range.

What do you guys think about this? of course, it would never work in competitive playing, but in pubs, yes.


This was my first match I ever used this build, and it went really well. Atlas, please post yours too. :D

Thanks for posting this! Definitely trying this out!

Quick question... what adjustments did you make to your item build at all at the beginning. I imagine you didn't go headress.

@Vash, you'll want to go mid, and typically start with some branches and regen. Your core is basically Shadow Blade. I can't post my match because, well, DOTABuff being taken down and all. But Hades, I never said you can't take Ulti, just take it after your Rabid and Synergy are maxed.

Item build: You can either choose Treads or Phase boots. I would prefer Phase but Treads are helpful if you need a bit more HP, and the Attack Speed doesn't hurt either. Like I said, Shadow Blade is core. This should be what you rush first. After that, I like to grab a Mask of Madness, this helps you move fast and stick to a target once you get to the point where you can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time, though it can be skipped. After this, Yasha. It gives you movement speed, damage and attack speed. Finally, after all this, you want to go for your big items. Daedalus, Abyssal Blade, Butterfly, Assault Cuirass, Heart of Tarrasque, Satanic (sell your MoM if you get Satanic obviously).

Strategy: Once you hit level 11 or so, and you have your Shadow Blade and Phase/Treads, you can easily kill most heroes. Once you have your MoM, you should go into Melee form before you kill someone, activate MoM, then Shadow Blade in. You'll take them by surprise and they will melt incredibly easy.

@Atlas

Well, I play without Mask of Madness or True Form. I level up True Form when I'm done with Rabid, Synergy and stats.

But still, works very well.

I think you should get one level of your spirt bear. Not to use in combat of course but as a courier or bottle crow.

This, if you have a Bottle.

I level him up when I want to take Roshan by myself.

As they say, anything works in pubs. I go Hand of Midas, Shadow Blade, Treads, Daedalus and Desolator on Crystal Maiden. No, it's not viable but it works in pubs. One thing similar to this I used to do was not level wolves with Lycan. Just get the passive and buff. You'll deal more damage but you won't be able to push nearly as hard.

Not quite the same with Lycan. His wolves actually do a rediculous amount of damage and early-mid game will often out-damage you.

^Agreed. I have to ask though, how much of an early advantage do you receive by going this route with LD. Are you forced into a ganking role where you have to actively get kills to remain ahead, or can you just play normally and benefit from the extra attack speed?

You can just play normally, I usually stay mid and farm as much as possible, rushing a Shadow Blade so I can be even faster and deal more damage. Even if Lone Druid doesn't have any damage spells, his attack speed deals a huge DPS.

Also, with his movement speed, it's kinda impossible to escape from him or catch him.