Ursa, The Killing Bear

Introduction

Hello there, here I have my attempt of first guide, and couldn't think of a better option than Ursa, my first hero to play back in the days of Dota 1, he's one of the most effective 1 vs 1 melee fighter, and of course the thing that stand out from him is his capability to take on Roshan alone on early-mid game.

I give my thanks to Dr. D for his guide about how to make guides :P

Skills

Earthshock

Type: Targets:

Active Enemy Units

Ursa slams the earth, causing a powerful shock to damage and slow all enemy units in a nearby area for 4 seconds.

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Notes:

• This skill is the one that let you kill the other heros before they get away, the damage output is not a great deal, but the slow movement does miracles for you.

Overpower

Type: Targets:

Active Self

Using his skill in combat, Ursa gains increased attack speed for a set number of attacks or until the duration expires.

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Notes:

• This is the one skill that let you kill enemies in a matter of few seconds, as it has bigger duration than CD the best practice is to trigger it some seconds before battle, so right after it effect is over, you can activate it again.
  

Fury Swipes

Type: Targets:

Pasive Enemy units

Ursa's claws dig deeper wounds in the enemy, causing consecutive attacks to the same enemy to deal more damage. Each hit on the same target within 6 seconds, including the first hit, deals damage and increases the damage taken by subsequent attacks. If the same target is not attacked after 6 seconds, the bonus damage is lost. Fury Swipes is a Unique Attack Modifier, and does not stack with other Unique Attack Modifiers.

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Notes:

• This one skill is the one that allows you to kill Roshan so early in the game, DO NOT engage Roshan unless you have already maxed this and you have Vlads.

Enrage

Type: Targets:

Active Self

Ursa goes into a frenzy, gaining a percentage of his current health as bonus damage. Lasts 15 seconds.

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Notes:

• The more hp, the more damage, plain enough.

Lore

Ulfsaar the Warrior is the fiercest member of an ursine tribe, protective of his land and his people. During the long winters, while the mothers sleep and nurse their cubs, the males patrol the lands aboveas tireless, vigilant defenders of their ancient ways. Hearing dim but growing rumors of a spreading evil, Ulfsaar headed out beyond the boundaries of his wild wooded homeland, intending to track down and destroy the threat at its source, before it could endanger his people. He is a proud creature with a bright strong spirit, utterly trustworthy, a staunch ally and defender.

Items

To begin with:

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As a matter of lane survival I almost always begin my game with any hero with 6 Tango and 1 Healing Salve, we add to this a Stout Shield because you will probably get pretty harrased.

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Early:

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After that go for Phase Boots, this will give you bigger chances to take advantage of mistakes from the enemy and maybe get a free kill.

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Next go for Vladmir's Offering, this is your most important item, the one that allows you to take on Roshan alone.

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Mid Game:

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After all that you should be in mid-game, where there is a lot of gank attempts and team battles, here is where you need Shadow Blade or Blink Dagger, according to the situation you should choose the better option, mostly I go for Shadow Blade as I can take a chance and roam on jungle and maybe find some enemy hero and get him by surprise, of course, if you have a stealth hero in your team( Riki, Weaver, Bounty Hunter), you should get Blink Dagger, the other team would get Dust of Appearance and/or Gem of True Sight before you can even take advantage. The same goes if the other team has a Slardar or Bounty Hunter, with skills that allows them to see stealth units, being stealth is not the best approach.

This moment is where you should farm the most gold from a lot of kills, and from that you get Skull Basher, with a 25% chance to bash and 400% attack speed for 6 attacks, most surely you'll get a stun which denies the enemy to reply your attack.

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Late Game:

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Already in late game, go for Heart of Tarrasque, once you have it, with all your damage output and your HP you should be unstopable

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Situational Items:

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Black King Bar: Provided the enemy team has a lot of CC, you'll need it to continue your killing without interruption

Blade Mail/ Heaven's Halberd: Both items will work if the other team has a fed carry, Blade Mail + Your damage should do the job of killing the other carry before he gets you, Heaven's Halberd Give you more chances overall for the stats, damage output and evasion, but of course, it's quite a lot more expensive.

Abyssal Blade: If you have a lot of money and don't know what to do with it, always better to have more damage.

Battle Fury: This one I tested by accident, got the Claymore for Shadow Blade, but it was a better option the Blink Dagger, so I made it and gotta admit that there was some nice results there with the cleave, nevertheless, you're a 1 vs 1 fighter, so while useful, it's not the best option to make on my opinion

Sange and Yasha: This one item is useful in almost all heroes..., there are better options for Ursa

Vanguard: If you're having problems farming early game, or want a more defensive posture, this works well, the extra hp comes in handy for ult also.

Pros / Cons

Pros Excellent 1 vs 1 Fighter Early Roshan Can take down even the tankiest hero

Cons No close-gap ability, neither long range attack The more hurt you are, the less effective you are

Team Work

As in early game, in lane you'll need a companion that can do what you can't, control the enemy, in my experience my best ally so far has been Crystal Maiden, both with Crystal Nova and Frostbite allows you a big chance to get First Blood, pretty much any disabler can work well with Ursa in lane, to put more examples: Dazzle, Jakiro, Lich, Tiny, and a lot on.

Nevertheless you can't count on your partner alone to control the lane, and that's why we get a point in Earthshock at level 3

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Once you get Vladmir's Offering you should be around level 8/10, more than enough to face Roshan, dispatch him quickly, if there's MIA ask for help from your partners checking the spot near Roshan for ganks. This will give your team an edge of extra gold very valuable at early/midgame.

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Whatever the decision you made of getting Shadow Blade or Blink Dagger, your objetive now should be get kills, a lot of them :P, if you got Shadow Blade you can try to roam jungle in stealth mode, see if you find an enemy off guard and get the free kill, on team fights, dispatch of the squishiest enemy first, taking advantage of your item to pass through their initiator.

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Enemies

I said before which heroes would be good to lane up with Ursa, now I thought of which you should rather try to avoid a fight, at least head on

Huskar: This guy is the exact opposite of you, the less HP he gets, the more powerful he is,and to begin the fight with a lot less of hp will dramatically reduce your damage output, catch him by surprise.

Drow Ranger: Unless you have Shadow Blade or Blink Dagger to get right next to her, she'll just kite you to death, same with Viper but he also gets Damage Over Time. This get to most of the heroes that make problems to Ursa, ranged heroes with a slow factor.

Axe: The Anti-Melee hero, with his Counter Helix can leave you almost death before you realize it, and then ult you.

Finally, any hero with a lot of HP and a Blade Mail can turn the battle on you so beware.