TIDEHUNTER Carry - The modern carry

"Your allies must be willing to support you and you must be able to convince them Tide is a carry"

it really is the end bit that says it all, you need to convince them that tide is a carry.

Radiance isn't for initiaters with good AoE stun. They're for carries who excel at chasing or have illusions. Did you ever notice how no one goes went radiance on any initiater, except on troll support-carry builds?

You seem to genuinely believe that Tidehunter is a carry. There is absolutely nothing to make him a carry. His q slows and reduces armor. His w lets him tank. His e does good damage. His ult stuns everyone. None of these abilities make him a carry. With your logic, every initiater in the game is a carry.

I agree with you that ancor smash is your main DPS skill, and it is! 4 sec cd, 225 damage - that's awesome. + dmg reduction. Not going to go into the items *shudder* + if you wanted the benefits of a buckler, why not just get a medalion? :D

however, my bro plays the same build - and his is the best.
gush, smash, smash, shell,smash, ravage, smash, shellx3, ravage, stats..
And he builds this way as a support. so no radiance, just arcane boots and creep stacking. walking tank, solid slow - 225 damage, arcane boots, nice little ravage - I'm the carry and now farmed my *** off.. gg

Good luck at farming for Radiance.

Also, Ravage is Tidehunter's main skill, you need it as soon as possible.

Getting Ravage at 8 and no Gush early? ...Really??