Ogre Magi - Middle / Core

Lore & Introduction

Lore

"The ordinary ogre is the creature for whom the phrase 'As dumb as a bag of rock hammers' was coined. In his natural state, an ogre is supremely incapable of doing or deciding anything. Clothed in dirt, he sometimes finds himself accidentally draped in animal skins after eating lanekill. Not an especially social creature, he is most often found affectionately consorting with the boulders or tree-stumps he has mistaken for kin (a factor that may explain the ogre's low rate of reproduction). However, once every generation or so, the ogre race is blessed with the birth of a two-headed Ogre Magi, who is immediately given the traditional name of Aggron Stonebreak, the name of the first and perhaps only wise ogre in their line's history. With two heads, Ogre Magi finds it possible to function at a level most other creatures manage with one. And while the Ogre Magi will win no debates (even with itself), it is graced with a divine quality known as Dumb Luck--a propensity for serendipitous strokes of fortune which have allowed the ogre race to flourish in spite of enemies, harsh weather, and an inability to feed itself. It's as if the Goddess of Luck, filled with pity for the sadly inept species, has taken Ogre Magi under her wing. And who could blame her? Poor things."

Why I Enjoy Playing Ogre Magi, and You Should Too

The first time I ever played Ogre Magi, I automatically fell in love with him. I REALLY enjoy strength heroes (Ogre Magi has more Strength than Intelligence the entire game.), his spells look pretty baller (Who doesn't like blue fire?), and his voice lines are fantastic! (Take a look!) But in all seriousness, I think that Aggron's a really great hero. He's really hard to kill early game due to his high base armour, his high health and high regeneration. (Thanks to his 3.2 Strength gain per level.) He also does a great amount of damage with his skills, and he can do AOE. Any good core Ogre player should snowball out of control through ganking and racking up kills.

The Hero

Ogre Magi begins the game with base attributes consisting of 23 Strength, 14 Agility, and 17 Intelligence. He has a good attribute gain per level being 3.2, 1.55 and 2.4. As I mentioned before, Ogre has more Strength than Intelligence the entire game (Both attribute wise and not.), making him very different from other intelligence heroes. He has good base damage, being 58-64, his base attack speed is 0.67 per second, and his attack animation is great. What use is this information to me, I hear you asking. It means that Ogre Magi was BORN to be played as a mid hero! (Please don't kill me, aggressive DotA players.) It means that Ogre can easily out last-hit his opponents, easily brush off any harassment and his high attribute gain means that he does well when he has levels. Anyway, let's get onto his abilities.

FIREBLAST is a hero target ability that deals good damage and stuns for a reasonable amount. It works best when coupled with his ultimate, because of the large increase in damage and stun duration. Fireblast is generally what you want to use first to begin a combo because it guarantees that you can land your other skill/s. You'll want to max this skill 2nd because in the early game, Ignite is more useful.

IGNITE is another hero target ability that works similarly to Fireblast. It does way more damage and it provides a helpful slow that can allow you to chase the enemy in order to auto-attack them. You'll want to max this ability first because it can send the opposing hero back to base (Or kill them if they're stupid.)if spammed against them. This ability is also what will generally be scoring you the most kills until you hit level 11 and score a second level in your ultimate.

BLOODLUST is YET ANOTHER hero target ability that gives either you or your allies extra movement speed and attack speed. Since you'll be playing Ogre as a core hero, you'll mostly be using this ability on yourself, in order to get some extra auto-attacks in, or to move across the map faster than usual. You'll want to max this skill last since your first 2 skills prove more useful. (You could get a value point after your ultimate if you really wanted to as well.)

MULTICAST, Ogre's most well-known and bullsh*t ability. I swear, this ability makes me look GOOD at the game by proc-ing at the most useful of times. The other side of the ability is that it can really screw you over if it doesn't go off when you need it too. Multicast really improves Ogre's damage output and allows him to DEMOLISH enemies with low health if it procs. Get a point in this skill whenever it's available, trust me. Multicast also adds the Unrefined Fireblast ability if you have Aghanim's Scepter. (But we'll talk about that later.)

Pros / Cons

Pros

• Has both stuns and slows.
• Does good damage.
• Hard to kill.
• Generally requires only a small amount of farm to be useful.
• Can buff the entire team.
• Doesn't require a large amount of skill. (Only the basics.)

Cons

• Requires you to be a follower of RNG-sus. (Random Number Generator)
• Small mana-pool without items.
• Melee hero.
• No teamfight potential.

Items

Starting Items

The Tango and Enchanted Mango should give you a TON of health regeneration in lane and a burst of mana in case you need it before you aquire your Bottle, and the Iron Branches will give you a couple more attributes, meaning that you get health, regen, armour, attack speed, mana, mana regen and damage. You still have gold left, so you can get your bottle faster. How efficient!

Bottle

A bottle is important for multiple reasons. It gives you 235 health and 75 mana per charge (3 charges.), plus it allows you to take the runes, use them to your advantage and deny them from the enemy. As Ogre Magi mid, you're going to want to spam the enemy to your heart's content, and this item will allow you to do just that.

10-20 Minute Mark

These are the items you should be aiming to have by the 15-20 minute mark. I'll go into detail on why I would recommend them. Boots of Speed are self-explanatory. They provide a nice movement speed buff which allows you to chase enemies, escape from them and move around the map faster. I would recommend upgrading your boots to either Tranquil Boots for the extra movement speed, armour and health regen if you feel that a bottle and Soul Ring aren't enough, or Power Treads for the extra attack speed and attributes. A Magic Stick although generally underrated, can save your life by giving you free health and mana when you need it most (In combat). I would definitely recommend getting one, trust me, you'll need it. A Soul Ring is great for Ogre because it provides much needed mana regen, health regen and can be activated to give you straight mana. Although it takes away 150 health, with the regen it provides you and Ogre's base regen, you will regenerate more health than you had when you used it, making it a PERFECT item for Ogre. (Plus you can build it into a Bloodstone.) Aghanim's Scepter. Where do I get started? If I was told to name what item suits what hero, I would instantly say "Aghs for Ogre!". It provides you with some great attributes (We talked about how much we love them), some straight health and mana, AND if you though that was enough, it gives Ogre Magi a new ability. That's right! It's called Unrefined Fireblast. And my God, it's awesome. Unrefined Fireblast costs 60% of Ogre's current mana pool, meaning that you'll want to use it last in your combo ( Bloodlust, Fireblast, Ignite, Unrefined Fireblast, auto-attack.), but it also means that you can use it no matter how little mana you have. What a deal, huh? Town Portal Scrolls, much like Boots, are self-explanatory. It allows you to go back to base to heal, gank lanes, help allies, participate in teamfights, defend towers, escape from enemy heroes, and the list goes on. Why would you not get one? But in all seriousness, I can't stress enough that you should ALWAYS BE CARRYING ONE! Seriously. Please do.

Maneuverability

I mentioned before what I though of each boot choice. Quick refresher: Tranquils = Armour, Movement Speed & Massive Regen. Tread Boots = Attack Speed, Attributes. When it comes to moving around the map and suprising your foes, there are only 2 choices. Blink Dagger or Force Staff. For the most part, it's a personal choice which one you want to use. I prefer a Blink Dagger, but others may disagree. Remember that a Blink Dagger provides more mobility out of combat, whereas a Force Staff can be used more IN combat. (Plus it gives you intelligence and health regen.) So the choice is up to you!

Semi-Carry Items

Dagon
Bloodstone is a fantastic item for Ogre Magi, as it gives him health, regen, mana, mana regen, plus it allows you to suicide, denying the enemy any gold or experience. After you get a couple of kills and begin snowballing, you should basically become unkillable. Eul's Scepter of Divinity is a pretty good item for Ogre as well. It gives him EVEN MORE movement speed, mana, mana regen and the ability to keep enemies in place using the active toggle. Eul's is a good pickup if you're falling behind slightly and were unable to pickup a bloodstone. Scythe of Vyse is useful because it provides another disable for your arsenal. You probably shouldn't be picking up damage items if you're thinking of playing as a utility hero, and getting a Sheepstick (Scythe of Vyse). Shiva's Guard is a great item to get if you're playing against a physical damage oriented team, and would like the extra slow and intelligence. Veil of Discord gives you some nice attributes and has an ability that can be activated to up the magical damage potential of your team. A nice pickup if your team has an area of effect disable, allowing you to make the most out of the item. A Dagon is generally just a fun item to get if you're way ahead or just want to burst the enemy down. (Which is what you should be doing anyway.) It works well with an Ethereal Blade, which makes the enemy take increased magic damage. If you choose to pick those 2 items up, your combo becomes: Ethereal Blade, Dagon, Fireblast, Ignite, Unrefined Fireblast. The Octarine Core is what I find to be one of the best items you can pick up as Ogre. The reduced cooldown on all of his abilities helps immensely, as well as the health on magic damage being nice as well. With the OC, you should be able to destroy any opponents in a fight, as you'll be constantly stun-locking them. An Orchid Malevolence allows you to do increased damage to opponents as well as silencing them, making sure that they can't stun you/escape your stuns or attacks.

(More to come!)