Some Idiot's Guide to Ogre Magi

Introduction

HELLO ONE AND EVERYONE!

Safecyn here

bringing you

a guide to...

I am very, very surprised you agreed to doing that with me.

What can I say? I've got a bit of a soft spot for complete morons that talk to themselves.

D'aw. Come here, you.

No. No hugs. NO HUGS! This was a guide, THIS WAS A GUIDE!

Oh! Right! Ogre Magi! This guy is a blast! A Fireblast even! You'll love playing him. You really, really, really will. If someone ever came up to me and was all 'Safecyn, who's the best-made hero in Dota 2 when it comes to voice acting, skill cap, fun-ness and PURE AWESOME all wrapped up in one?' I'd be all 'I HAVE DONE THE MATH AND IT IS OGRE MAGI GOOD SIR OR MADAME I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT DETERMINING YOUR GENDER BEFOREHAND THAT WAS POOR MANNERS ON MY PART.'

Would you really?

Yeah. Those exact words, even. I've done it before, remember? YOU WERE THERE.

Oooh. That's why she doesn't call anymore.

Y-yes. ;_; But on a less depressing note, Ogre Magi really is a powerful hero. The recent buffs of 6.82 have really brought him to the forefront in the professional scene, and for good reason. He was always an incredibly powerful ganker/disabler and a good support, but his high armor, high base strength, good strength gain, and recently buffed HP regen have all coalesced into making him one of the best offlaners in the game.

Damn straight they have! You can just walk right up to the enemy carry in a tri-lane, stun 'em, start wailing on 'em, and before the enemy even knows what's going on it's FIRST BLOOD NUBS! ALL OGRE NOW!

... Um... well ok, then. I... I mean, ok I've done this before in my games, but it's always with another hero in my lane that has either a stun or slow to go with mine... but yeah, it's doable! I don't... I don't endorse 1v3ing with Ogre Magi at early levels in all cases, though? It... you're not LITERALLY unkillable. Just close.

And do remember, this guide is just suggestions based on my own experiences and understanding of the game, and shouldn't be followed to the letter. Being able to adapt to your specific game is what separates the pros from us rank amateurs. Feedback is appreciated, as long as it's constructive!

Pros/Cons

Pros Tankiest of all INT heroes, and third highest Strength gain in THE GAME. Starts with nearly SEVEN armor, for extra tankability Great ganking and killing potential between Fireblast and Ignite Ignite is also insanely good lane harass. Built in attack speed steroid that pierces spell immunity: great for pumping up your hard carry or for melting towers. 2.5 base HP regen. Figuratively literally unkillable. High base damage for trading hits and killin' creeps Doesn't need all that many items to be effective Aghanim's Scepter OP plz never nerf Impress your friends and foes with your 1337 5k|115 Fun to listen to, and fun to play!

Cons Very low base INT and INT gain makes his mana pool small and difficult to keep full Poor agi gain Melee. 'Nuff said. All the luck in the world won't help you if you're silenced Below average movement speed Luck is definitely a bigger factor than usual with this guy. Too smart for his own good.

Skills

Fireblast

Blasts an enemy unit with a wave of fire, dealing damage and stunning the target.

Cast Range: 600
Multicast Interval: 0.4
Damage: 60/120/180/240
Stun Duration: 1.5

The Ogre Magi is easily amused, entertained for hours by playing with fire.


Level 0 Multi Cast: Cooldown: 12 Mana: 75/85/95/105
Level 1 Multi Cast: Cooldown: 10 Mana: 95/105/115/125
Level 2 Multi Cast: Cooldown: 8 Mana: 115/125/135/145
Level 3 Multi Cast: Cooldown: 6 Mana: 135/145/155/165

Notes:

I understand that 'Level 0 Multi Cast' is more clearly said as 'the values of the ability when you don't have a point in your ultimate yet.' But that wouldn't have lined up, and it looks so much better all lined up. Trust me on this. I tried to leave it askew. Couldn't do it.

OCD much?

Am I the OCD one? I thought you were the OCD one, and I was the one who threw dirty clothes on the floor instead of in the laundry hamper.

I thought that was me.

Enh. Whatever. Anyways, Fireblast! What a skill, man. What a skill. A stun that does damage, and can do more stuns and damage if Multi Cast procs. That's... I mean, that's basically it. It's not too complicated, at least not in what it does.

When it comes to how this thing interacts with Multi Cast though... ooh boy. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's nothing insanely complicated, but it can catch you off guard if you're not prepared for it. And by 'it' I mean the lowered cooldown and increased mana cost that is applied to this spell each time you put a point in your ultimate.

2 second cooldown reduction at each level, and 20 mana cost increase, yeah?

Exactly! The mana cost increase actually used to be a lot worse (it used to cost 215 mana at max level!), which was one of the reasons people used to suggest skipping Multi Cast until later levels, but now: now it's just right. You should always pick up your ultimate as early as possible now: the cooldown decrease and potential doubling of this skill's damage output are well worth it.

The last thing to cover before we move on is the 'multicast interval' statistic. Essentially, it's talking about how much time elapses between Multi Cast procs which... for the most part, the only thing you really need to know is that each time you hit a Multi Cast, the stun duration of this ability increase by .4. This means you get a 1.9 second stun with a 2x, a 2.3 second stun with a 3x, and a 2.7 second stun with a 4x.

Stuff they could have figured out by mousing over the skill and reading.

Y-yeah? But moving the mouse is hard sometimes, man. You know.

Fair. Fair.

A few final notes: when Multi Cast triggers, each Fireblast is dealt as a separate instance of damage every .4 seconds. This, in combination with Ignite, makes you a nightmare for heroes like Templar Assassin and Treant Protector who can have their protection dispelled after a certain number of damage instances. Also, because each tick is technically a separate 'cast' of Fireblast, a Linken's Sphere that comes off cooldown halfway through the spell might block some of them, but not all! Like if you get a 3x Multi Cast and Linken's comes off cooldown after the first one, it blocks the second one and the third one. Super cool interaction! And really annoying. Still though.

Ignite

Drenches a target in volatile chemicals, causing it to burst into flames. The target is in immense pain, taking damage and moving more slowly.

Cast Range: 700
Multicast Cast Range: 850/1000/1150
Multicast Range: 1400
Projectile Speed: 1000
Effect Radius: 0
Multicast Effect Radius: 150/300/450
Damage per Second: 26/34/42/50
Move Speed Slow: 20%/22%/24%/26%
Duration: 5/6/7/8

Batter up!


Cooldown: 15 Mana 95/105/115/125

Notes:

This seems like a really simple skill, doesn't it?

It IS a simple skill. Throw it on someone, slow them, deal damage, catch up, stun, then whack 'em like the world's softest mole. You know what that's called?

What's it called?

OGREKILL NUBS!!

Like overkill, I get it. Ha. Someone brought their cleverpants today. Well I'll have you know, good sir, that this skill is, in fact, INSANELY complicated. We're going to spend a lot of time talking about it, without even venturing into Safecyn's Math Corner. It's that bad.

First point of order: the difference between 'Multicast Range' and 'Multicast Cast Range': each level of Multi Cast increases the cast range of the spell by 150, giving you the 850/1000/1150 shown above. When Ignite triggers a Multi Cast, however, the additional projectiles it throws out connect with targets at up to 1400 range. This is an important distinction, as those additional projectiles are tricky beasts.

And howzat?

For starters, the additional projectiles a Multi Cast sends out can hit invisible units AND units in fog of war. This means that, if you get lucky, of course, you can cast it on a neutral or lane creep to try and scout for hidden heroes. It's... I mean, that's not reliable by any means, but it's a thing you could try. It doesn't actually deal damage to invisible units, though, so you're not going to pick up a kill by just burning and turning.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Ignite will always prioritize targets that don't already have the debuff when Multicasting. It is possible, however, to hit the same target multiple times! This gives us a very interesting mathematical result: whereas normally a unit would take 400 damage over 8 seconds when hit with Ignite, if you were to get a 4x Multi Cast and there was only one enemy in sight, the .4 second interval between collisions would give you a NINTH tick of damage due to the spell refreshing, even though the duration is only eight seconds! 450 damage before reduction is the max damage output of this skill then.

Technically.

Very, VERY technically, yes. Still cool, though. Another interesting dichotomy of this skill is how perfectly it scales from the laning phase to the later game; it's really quite unique. In the early stages of the game you can use it to harass all you want without worrying about pushing the lane. Once you grab the first point of that ultimate, though, not only do you get the chance to shoot more than one, but each one will also ignite in an AOE: the AOE listed in the 'Multicast Effect Radius' category above.

This makes it a great ability for both pushing AND farming: the chance to multicast and send projectiles flying 1400 dotameters away means you often find yourself clearing multiple jungle camps at once without even trying. You might even get really lucky and stack a camp for yourself by accident! People will look on and be like: 'whoa. 2Pro4Me'.

Bloodlust

Incites a frenzy in a friendly unit, increasing its movement speed and attack speed.

Cast Range: 600
Multicast Radius: 575
Move Speed Bonus: 10%/12%/14%/16%
Attack Speed Bonus: 20/30/40/50
Duration: 30

'Runnings not as fun as hitting¦ Not one bit fun.'

Cooldown: 20 Multicast Cooldown: 15/10/5 Mana: 75

Notes:

As if Ogre didn't already bring enough to the table, eh? Say hello to one of the most powerful steroids in the game, everybody. Is that... is that FIFTY bonus attack speed? Almost a Hyperstone? Better than a Beastmaster aura? Able to be cast on friendly creeps, spell-immune allies, AND siege units? It is, isn't it? And... what's that? There's even a chance you could buff nearly all your allies at once, instantly? That's absurd!

I don't know what this is that you're doing, but you're not doing it well. It's also creeping me out a bit.

Shush. Anyways, this is the one, everybody. The reliable, game-winning spell tucked in the back pocket of an already scarily powerful beast. Notice that with each level of multicast, the cooldown decreases with no additional mana cost, so there's really no excuse for you not to keep this up on your carry, if not your entire team, constantly as you head into late game. Just as an extreme sample case: between me on an Ogre Magi constantly keeping Bloodlust up on a Terrorblade and his illusions, we were able to, by ourselves, take two lanes of rax in the time it took the enemy to secure an undefended tier 2 tower. Poor suckers lost the game before they knew what hit 'em.

Yeesh. As if Terrorblade didn't push fast enough already.

The move speed bonus isn't anything to sneeze at either, and is always something to keep in mind. At max level, it makes your allies move 16% faster: that, my friends, is a free Phase Boots, except it lasts 30 seconds instead of 4. Sure it doesn't give you phase, but it's still amazing for chasing AND running away. Bloodlust can save lives if you use it right. Never forget.

Final notes:

- This ability can be set on auto-cast by right-clicking its ability icon. When selected like this, Ogre Magi will automatically cast the spell on any hero in range that doesn't have Bloodlust already.

- In addition to heroes, the auto-cast will target Meepo clones, Lone Druid's Spirit Bear, Warlock's golem, and Brewmaster spirits. It won't auto-target illusions, though, or Visage familiars for some weird reason. Oh, and it won't auto-cast on spell immune allies, so be vigilant!

- The spell won't auto-cast if you're channeling, so you don't have to worry about your TP getting broken because the buff ran out on someone nearby. Probably weren't thinking about that one, eh? Well now, even if you were, you've got that peace of mind. You're welcome.

- The multicast radius of this spell is slightly smaller than the cast range. By like, 25, so it's barely noticeable, but I just find that really interesting! Why, Icefrog? Would that extra 25 dotameters make Ogre OP? THIS IS THE KIND OF INCONSISTENCY THAT MAKES YOUR GAME HARD TO LEARN, ICEFROG-SENPAI! Plz notice me... ;_;

One more skill. But it's not the one you think.

Unrefined Fireblast

Blasts an enemy unit with a wave of fire, dealing damage and stunning the target.

Cast Range: 600
Multicast Interval: 0.4
Damage: 275
Stun Duration: 1.5

The 'who-casts-spell-first' argument between himself is solved simply by both casting at once.

Cooldown: 6 Mana: 60% of Current Mana

Notes:

Where's Multi Cast? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MULTI CAST YOU MONSTER?!?!?!?!

Whoa there, easy on the interrobangs. Scroll down a bit. I'm giving that beast its own section.

The maths?

So much maths. It's glorious and beautiful and makes me feel dirty just thinking about it. But in the best way.

Ew.

ANYWAYS! This is the skill that you get after picking up an Aghanim's Scepter, and it's the reason Aghanim's Scepter is an absolute core item on Ogre Magee. Having this spell in your arsenal makes you INSANELY powerful, as if you weren't terrifying enough.

It should be pointed out that, if you somehow manage to farm a scepter before you get a point in your ultimate, you'll still get this skill! Also, no matter what level your regular Fireblast is at, the cooldown will always be 6 seconds, and the damage will always be 275. Take note! Unrefined Fireblast was not subject to the damage nerf that Fireblast was in 6.82, so it actually does MORE damage than that spell now.

The mana cost is an important thing to look at too: 60% of current mana. While this makes it insanely expensive when you have a full mana pool, it also means that you can LITERALLY NEVER BE UNABLE TO CAST THIS SPELL WHEN IT'S OFF COOLDOWN. Fair trade, in my humble opinion. This means that you want to use it judiciously when you're close to full mana, but not TOO judiciously. Don't let a kill go unsecured because you were afraid of wasting mana or anything, but if you don't need it, don't throw it.

Says the guy who basically always throws it no matter what.

Hey, at the very least, I always make sure I lead with Fireblast, ok? Plus I keep Soul Ring and Arcane Boots around for quick bursts of mana to get me back another cast of Fireblast! I know what I'm doing.

Suuure.

Shush. Anyways, other than damage and mana cost, this skill acts exactly the same way as Fireblast, so anything I said about that applies here as well. With that out of the way, it's time to move on to...

The Mathematics of Multi Cast

YOU HAVE ISSUES, YOU KNOW THAT? Actually no, scratch that, you've got SUBSCRIPTIONS!

Think up that one yourself, did you? You really are wearing those cleverpants.

They're size 180, except instead of measuring my waist, they measure MY IQ.

That would explain why you're so... PRECOCIOUS. Eh? Eh? Levine and Marks? Classic IQ scale from 1928?

Just... just do the skill.

F-fine...

Multi Cast

Multi Cast

Enables the Ogre Magi to rapidly cast his spells, giving them greater potency. Gives a chance to cast a spell multiple times in one cast. Increases Fireblast's mana cost and decreases its cooldown, increases cast range and adds an area of effect to Ignite and reduces Bloodlust's cooldown and gives it a chance to cast on random allies around Ogre Magi.

Fireblast Mana Increase: 20/40/60
Fireblast Cooldown Reduction: 2/4/6
Ignite Radius and Cast Range Increase:150/300/450
Bloodlust Radius: 575
Bloodlust Cooldown Reduction: 5/10/15
2x Multicast Chance: 40%/50%/60%
3x Multicast Chance: 0%/20%/25%
4x Multicast Chance: 0%/0%/12.5%
Aghanim's Scepter: Adds the Unrefined Fireblast ability.

Despite being largely incapacitated by his IQ, the Ogre Magi's success in battle is attributed to pure skill.

The math behind this skill is... interesting. It seems pretty straightforward until you realize that the percentages don't add up.

Whaddaya mean they don't add up? 60% + 25% + 12.5% is 97.5%!

So the chance of not getting a multicast is 2.5% then? You actually want to argue this?

Uh.. oh. Huh.

You're forgetting that not getting a Multi Cast at all has a flat 40% chance at max level. This, when added to our total from earlier, gives us 137.5%, which... that's not... look, that's not how statistics works, ok? Trust me on this. The probability of all your possible outcomes should add up to 100%, because SOMETHING has to happen. It can't be more than that because you only get one outcome at a time.

So what are you saying, that the numbers are a lie?

Not quite. Just a little unclear. I'm fairly certain that the listed probabilities for this skill are the probabilities of getting AT LEAST that level of Multi Cast, but not of getting that percentage in and of itself.

I don't follow.

Say you have a wheel that has the numbers 1-100 on it, yeah? You spin the wheel, and if you get at least a 41, you get a Multi Cast. The numbers 41- 74 correspond to a 2x Multi Cast, but if you get a 75... 3x! The numbers 75-87.4 give you a 3x, and at 87.5 and higher you get a 4x.

You think that's really how it works?

It's my best estimate. The straight percentage chance for each type of Multi Cast becomes as follows, then:

1x: 40%
2x: 35%
3x: 12.5%
4x: 12.5%

Add these percentages up and voila! 100%.

Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait. Are you saying that you're equally likely to get a 3x Multi Cast as you are a 4x?

I am indeed, good sir. Just based off of my own experiences with the game, I totally buy this, too. Sometimes I swear 3x is actually RARER than 4x once I hit level 16.

Now that we have our percentages in check, lets do some hard math and come up with some cool looking numbers, yeah? This section is also going to double as proof of why you seriously need to get Aghanim's Scepter on Ogre, to the point where you should run him in a farming role until he gets it.

Let's say you've got your Aghanim's Scepter and you focus down one target (hopefully an imporant one!) in a team fight with both versions of Fireblast. Ogre Magi's potential results, and the chance of those results, are as follows:

Chance of two 1x casts: .4*.4 = .16 or 16% chance: 3 second stun, 515 damage.

Chance of one 1x cast and one 2x cast: .4*.35 = .14 or 14% chance (x2 = 28%)
2x Fireblast and 1x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 3.4 second stun and 755 damage
1x Fireblast and 2x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 3.4 second stun and 790 damage

Chance of two 2x casts: .35*.35 = .1225 or 12.25% chance: 3.8 second stun, 1030 damage

Chance of one 1x cast and one 3x cast: .4 * .125 = .05 or 5% chance (x2 = 10%)
3x Fireblast and 1x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 3.8 second stun and 995 damage
1x Fireblast and 3x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 3.8 second stun and 1065 damage

Chance of one 2x cast and one 3x cast: .35 * .125 = .04375 or 4.375% chance (x2 = 8.75%)
3x Fireblast and 2x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 4.2 second stun and 1270 damage
2x Fireblast and 3x Unrefined Fireblast yeilds a 4.2 second stun and 1305 damage

Chance of one 1x cast and one 4x cast: .4*.125 = .05 or 5% chance (x2 = 10%)
4x Fireblast and 1x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 4.2 second stun and 1235 damage
1x Fireblast and 4x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 4.2 second stun and 1340 damage

Chance of two 3x casts: .125*.125 = .015625 or 1.5625% chance: 4.6 second stun and 1545 damage

Chance of one 2x cast and one 4x cast: .35 * .125 = .04375 or 4.375% chance (x2 = 8.75%)
4x Fireblast and 2x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 4.6 second stun and 1510 damage
2x Fireblast and 4x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 4.6 second stun and 1580 damage

Chance of one 3x cast and one 4x cast: .125*.125 = .015625 or 1.5625% chance (x2 = 3.125%)
4x Fireblast and 3x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 5.0 second stun and 1785 damage
3x Fireblast and 4x Unrefined Fireblast yields a 5.0 second stun and 1820 damage

Chance of two 4x cast: .125*.125 = .015625 or 1.5625% chance: 5.4 second stun and 2060 damage

Double check the math if you want, cats and kittens, but it all adds up to a solid one double o. Make sure that check in the mail comes with a MATE, Volvo! Wait... you know what I mean.

What are those x2s for?

Permutations! Take the 2x/1x scenario: it's a 14% chance of getting a 2x Fireblast and a 1x Unrefined Fireblast, but it's also a 14% chance of getting a 2x Unrefined Fireblast and a 1x Fireblast! Hence your total odds of landing this combination is 28%. Notably larger than your chance of whiffing on both, I might add.

Now I could stop here and say that this is the power of Aghanim's Scepter: that you have at minimum a 3 second stun at your disposal and are actually most likely to get a 3.4 second stun. But... this is a math SECTION, not just a math CORNER, so I'm not leaving it at that.

But.. what else is there to do? You've already done so much math...

Oh, I don't know, maybe... TAKE A WEIGHTED AVERAGE TO DETERMINE THE TRUE MEAN STUN AND DAMAGE DONE BY THE SKILL COMBO???

YOU MONSTER! Screw subscriptions, you run your own flipping PAPER!

YOU CAN'T STOP ME! AHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!

Average Stun: 3(.16) + 3.4(.28) + 3.8(.1225) + 3.8(.1) + 4.2(.0875) + 4.2(.1) + 4.6(.015625) + 4.6(.0875) + 5(.03125) + 5.4(.015625) = 3.78 seconds.

Average Damage: 515(.16) + 755(.14) + 790(.14) + 1030(.1225) + 995(.05) + 1065(.05) + 1270(.04375) + 1305(.04375) + 1235(.05) + 1340(.05) + 1545(.015625) + 1510(.04375) + 1580(.04375) + 1785(.015625) + 1820(.015625) + 2060(.015625) = 1017.125 damage

Wha... wha... wha..

To quote myself from earlier in this guide: Aghanim's Scepter OP. Plz never nerf. Now, I COULD compare this to having a level 2 Primal Roar and an Aghanim's Scepter-fied Finger of Death every 6 seconds, and wouldn't be completely lying, actually. But this is, of course, the ideal scenario: the stun length is dependent on you chaining your abilities together correctly, and both the stun and damage values are dependent on you not being interrupted halfway through your combo. And trust me: if you're an Ogre Magi who starts wrecking face on the enemy team, they WILL start to focus you. Which... I mean, since you're not the main carry, that's not necessarily bad.

It's also worth mentioning that although this seems pretty high, these true averages fall just under the values for two 2x Multi Casts in a row. This should highlight how unlikely it actually is to get those really big, impressive stun and damage values! It's also worth mentioning that it is a True Random Distribution: don't fall prey to the fallacy of 'well, I haven't gotten a Multi Cast in 3 spells so the next one has to be one.' No it doesn't, it's a 40% fail chance every single time. There's a name for that kind of flawed thinking, actually: Gambler's Fallacy or, my preferred, more verbose term, The Fallacy of the Maturity of Chances.

You just went Monte Carlo on these people. In a Dota guide.

AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN PROUDER OF MYSELF THANK YOU SIR.

Are we done now? Can we get to itemization, please? I feel like if we stay any longer in the math section we'll run into some Greek letters.

Fair enough, fair enough. I can only push people's patience so much. To the items!

Items

Starting Out

Total Gold: 600 Pocket Change: 25

This is the item build I prefer when I play Ogre. I'm not sure whether that makes you more or less likely to try it, but there ya go. Taking advantage of Ogre Magi's great HP regen and armor, we skip a Healing Salve and instead pump our starting gold into an early Sage's Mask, filling out the remainder of the inventory with two GG branches for early stats and a Clarity for sustaining your harass in lane pre- Soul Ring.

The first two items, the Tango and the Mask, are what I'd consider the hard 'core' of the starting item build this way. If you need to spend your other 175 gold elsewhere, for Observer Wards, maybe a Smoke of Deceit for an early gank mid... or if no one else on your team bought the courier, than go ahead and do those instead. Alternatively, if you know you'll be facing a very difficult lane, or if you just prefer having more of a safety buffer, you can do the following:




Total Gold: 590 Pocket Change: 35

How much starting armor does this give Ogre? TEN?

9.96, but who's counting? Yeah, though, it's pretty cray-cray. Definitely something to be said for taking an already large number and making it even larger. You can see we've replaced on Iron Branch with a Clarity to compensate for the loss in mana regen, and we've given ourselves that well-loved Healing Salve: nothing like a tall green one to keep you in lane after nearly being murdered. After being that committed to your lane, you might start expecting a ring, which is great! Because that's what comes next:



Total Gold: 1325

Now, to be clear, I'm personally a fan of skipping Basi Ring and going immediately for Soul Ring. Even in games where I go the safer item build, I'll disassemble my Ring of Basilius to make my Soul Ring rather than buy a second Sage's Mask. But if you're doing well in lane, with decently uncontested farm, maybe a kill here and there, maybe even some first blood bounty: it's not a bad choice to get both. The armor and the right-click damage from Basilius doesn't go to waste on Ogre Magi, and having the aura can help your lane partner if you have one.

Core Items

Total Gold: 5,450

That Soul Ring, though: that's what we're really working towards. Now that Ogre has had his HP regen buffed, it's essentially cost-free mana: getting the item will bump your HP regen up to 5.5/sec, which means that every 30 seconds you'll regenerate more than the 150 HP activation cost.

165 HP every 30 seconds, huh? Enough to tank a little harass and still get your health back for each cast. I dig it.

Did... did you just do math? <3

No. What? No! Shush.

After that, it's Boots of Speed to help Ogre Magi keep up with his opponents (he is a bit slower than average, both in the head and on the foot), and straight on to good old Aghanim's Scepter, which... I devoted like an entire section to why that's core on Ogre already. But uh... it also gives good stats? Buy the Point Booster first, it's the best bang for your buck.

Once these three items are complete, you really don't NEED any other items in the game to be effective. Not that they'll go to waste, but if other people on your team need farm, you definitely fall to 4 or even 5 role once you get Aghanim's Scetper. It's perfectly valid for you to become the hardcore Ward/Dust/Smoke slave at this point, but if you ARE looking to expand your arsenal, here's some ideas:

Gap Closers

OR

Sometimes your enemy is just out of range, or they have a pretty safe position and you need to be able to get the jump on them. These two items give you the mobility needed to get in and get the job done, maybe even completely bursting down a hero if you roll well enough. Now, I'm not recommending you get both, of course. This is an either/or scenario.

Blink Dagger is good if you need the be the primary initiator for your team, giving you pinpoint accuracy, flexibility, and great teleport range to catch your enemy by surprise. If there are other initiators on your team, though, or if you don't really need an 'initiator' per se, then go for a Force Staff. It's the same price, but gives you some extra INT, some extra regen to add to your already impressive total, and it can double as a 'get-out-of-jail' card if you get caught out and focused, as the cooldown won't reset on damage like Blink will. The choice is yours, folks. Make it count.

These Boots are Made for Clubbing

OR OR

Only a matter of time before you made THAT joke.

Shush. Now, in a lot of games, Arcane Boots are the boots of choice on Ogre Magi. The increased mana pool and burst mana replenish keep you casting your spells longer, and your team will love being able to use their spells more often too. The Energy Booster can even be used later on to upgrade your Soul Ring to Bloodstone, if that's the sort of thing you want to do with your money.

Tranquil Boots are something you'll want to pick up early, like pre-Aghanim's early, if you want to get the most use out of them. Whether you're a roaming, ganking Ogre Magee or a solo offlaner taking tons of harassment, these boots give you good sustain both in lane and during rotations, assuring that the only thing you'll need to go to the fountain for is mana. But that's why you got Soul Ring, now isn't it?

Last but not least, Power Treads. While they may seem like an odd choice, they're not a bad fit with ogre, they really aren't. He's one of the harder hitting intelligence heroes in the game when it comes to right-clicks, so the attack speed isn't wasted, and he can tread-switch to INT to extend his mana pool and cast mo' spells.

In fact, due to the nature of Unrefined Fireblast, and how it costs 60% of your current mana pool, Ogre Magi is in the unique position of being one of, if not THE only hero in the game that can benefit from tread-switching AWAY from INT before casting a spell. If you have less mana, the spell costs less, after all. Food for thought! I haven't personally tried this, but I think it's a nice theorycrafting gem at the very least.

The Lap of Luck-xury

Groan.

You love it.

I really, really don't.

These items are for when you've got more money than you know what to do with. Stuff for late game, to help you secure that victory that's just out of your grasp. For now.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity is a good pick-up on a lot of Intelligence heroes, and Ogre Magi is no different. Being a bit slower than average, he can really benefit from the move speed, plus the mana regeneration will keep your fires burning long into the night. Add all that to the fact that it gives you another disable up your sleeve and good times ensue.

Scythe of Vyse is another item that's amazing on pretty much every Intelligence hero, and a lot of non-intelligence heroes as well! Those stats, that mana regen, that ability to turn people into a pig: it's perfect, really. Late game, if no one else on your team can or will get one of these, I highly recommend working towards it, this thing wins team fights, particularly against carries with high mobility or annoying survivability passives.

Shiva's Guard is a personal favorite item of mine. It gives such good stats, a lot of armor, a super useful attack slow aura AND an active that nukes and does a move-speed slow for four seconds! Did I mention that it's one of the cheaper high-end items in the game too? And that it's like... super good on Ogre? Making you tankier AND giving you an aura that messes up the enemy team as long as you're alive? Is good.

Heart of Tarrasque. Because Ogre Magi isn't limited by his mana pool when it comes to how many times he can cast a spell, he never becomes completely useless no matter HOW low his mana pool gets. Because of this, the longer he stays alive, the longer he dishes out the hurt: and that's where Heart comes in. For that raw HP and sustainability to make you last until it's all Ogre.

For similar reasons, an Eye of Skadi is an amazing item too. While it might not give you the massive regen and sustain that heart does, it makes up for it with more of EVERY stat, and a nice orb effect that slows move and attack speed, to boot. A 5 SECOND slow, I might add, since you're melee and all.

Rod of Atos gives you a significant chunk of intelligence for more damage and spells, some nice health to make you tankier, and that long range slow that can help you catch up to fleeing heroes, and synergizes with Ignite nicely. Could be worth a look-see, as it's on the cheaper side too.

Orchid Malevolence is quite nice on Ogre: attack speed and damage, mana regen and Intelligence, plus that five second silence and damage amplification to make your burst even burstier. Against elusive heroes that rely on spells to escape, or heavy nukers that are wrecking your team it can be a real godsend.

Bloodstone! A natural extension of your Soul Ring and by far the best mana regen item in the game IF you don't lose stacks, of course. It gives a lot of things to Ogre Magi and does stem very organically from items he wants already, but keep in mind that it's more of a snowball item: if you rush Aghanim's Scepter, chances are you won't be able to finish Bloodstone before it starts to fall off. Still a very good item on Ogre if you can get it, though.

Veil of Discord might not work as well on you as other heroes with a lot of large, AOE teamfight spells, but it's still a strong pickup. Decent stats, armor, and damage, and a magical amp that can be applied to multiple enemies, increasing the potency of your spells and those of your teammates. It's decently cheap, too! Always worth your consideration, for my money.

Skull Basher looks weird, I admit, but honestly, if you're going to get one on an Intelligence hero, it might as well be Ogre Magi. Well, and Windranger, but Ogre gets the full 25% chance to stun THROUGH BKB. Add this to the fact that he has his own attack speed steroid on hand and it starts looking pretty good, huh? Even makes you a little tankier to boot. Plus, it gives you more luck-based stunnage, so it works thematically. :D

Refresher Orb is a good mana/HP regen, stat giving, damage giving item on its own, and its active... is kinda wasted on someone with low cooldown spells on Ogre Magi. BUT! Nothing is more hilarious than stunning someone twice, then picturing their confused screams of anger as you reset your SIX SECOND cooldowns and stun them twice more before they can move.

It's... maybe the best way to rub in how much you're owning? And just think, if you get 4 4x Multi Casts in a row, you'll deal 4120 a total of 4120 magical damage, and probably get your own video on Youtube. JUST SAYING.

Allies and Enemies

These heroes can both roam with you early on to get kills or support you in an offlane farming/harassing role to make the enemy carry's life a living hell. Crystal Maiden, as always, offers her sweet, sweet Arcana Aura to give you more mana then you know how to swing a club at, and Vengeful Spirit's damage aura will synergize quite nicely with your Bloodlust passive later on, pumping up your carry to insane levels.



Heroes that increase magical damage work extremely well with our lovable dual-headed genius. Skywrath Mage has his Concussive Shot, which combined with your Ignite lays a pretty thick slow: between that and your Fireblast, he shouldn't have any trouble landing Mystic Flare. Undying works as a nice offlane partner as well, bringing your enemies low with Decay so you can burst them down. Ancient Apparition will amp your damage with Ice Vortex, and will really appreciate your stuns to help him land a good Cold Feet.



Any carry will love having an Ogre by their side: Bloodlust really is THAT good a steroid, after all. People with reduced BATs like Anti-Mage and Juggernaut will get more bang for their buck from the increased attack speed, and strong tower pushers like Lycan and Terrorblade will push the enemy into their base even FASTER: in those kinds of scenarios, getting an early point or two in Bloodlust might not be a bad idea. Heroes with crits like Jugg, PA and Wraith King, and heroes with bashes like Faceless Void and Slardar, will also love the large jump in DPS you can give them.




As is expected of a Magi, Ogre hates heroes that can silence him: he might be tanky enough to live through the full duration (at least more often than other casters), but it still turns him into a glorified creep. It's almost as if the only difference between him and the Ogre Frostmage neutral creep is a second head and a squatter figure.



Speaking of things that can turn you into a glorified neutral creep: magic immunity! It does that just as well. Lifestealer and Huskar will both tear through you despite your tankiness, as well, so keep an eye out for them. At least with Lifestealer you can target him when Rage is off cooldown...



This is less a real, pressing threat and more of an annoying thing that happens, but Ignite? Totally disjointable, as mentioned earlier. So a Naga Siren can completely ignore a lot of your early game harass by casting Mirror Image every time you throw that slow projectile, it's... it's infuriating, sometimes. Lone Druid can do the same with True Form and any hero with a Manta Style can pull the same trick, and... it's not the end of the world, but it makes you groan if it happens too often in one match. In the words of the great Falco Lombardi: "HOLD STILL AND LET ME SHOOT YOU!"

Conclusion

Alright then. Done. Thank goodness. Now hit that publish button so the stream of angry comments can start.

What, it ain't started already?

I thought it... damn it! Don't DO that! You know I can't help but respond!

Sorry, man. Anyways, good thing we're done, I needed to head out for a run anyways.

Running's not as fun as hitting.

Not one bit fun.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

On a serious note, thanks all of you for reading this guide. I'm open to suggestions and constructive criticism, so feel free to call me out on what I messed up! Safecyn, signing out.