Watcher in the Forest

Introduction

Hello, my name is Phalanx300 and welcome to my guide for Treant Protector.

Treant Protector is a unique hero which focusses on controlling the battlefield to grant your team the advantage. While he lacks the stats of a carry he has some unique qualities if you look at his stats. He has the highest natural attack damage (81-89) of any hero at level 1, meaning that last hitting and denying should be no problem. It also allows him to put down some pressure in the early game. He also has the second highest strenght gain, after Centaur Warrunner , meaning that he will be able to become quite tanky and able to survive a lot of damage. This comes at a cost however as his basic attack speed is the lowest in the game, which he shares with Spirit Breaker, meaning that he will mainly depend on his abilities. Treant Protector also has low armor, which will be a weakness if not adressed.

Treant Protector however has several strong abilities which he can use to manipulate the battle, being a natural support hero. He can use Nature's Guise to become invisible, Leech Seed to slow and damage his enemies, Living Armor to save and heal people or buildings and Overgrowth to disable multiple enemies. Now he can also build a Aghanim's Scepter to receive the Eyes in the Forest ability, granting him insane map control. So he really is a unique hero with a lot of utility.

Lore

Far to the west, in the mountains beyond the Vale of Augury, lie the remains of an ancient power, a fount of eldritch energy nestled deep in the high woods. It is said that the things that grow here, grow strangely. To the forces of nature this is a sacred place, made to stay hidden and unknown. Many are the traps and dangers of this land--all-consuming grasses and crossbred fauna and poisonous flowers--but none are so fierce as the mighty Treant Protectors. These ageless, titanic beings, charged with keeping the peace in this dangerous land, ensure that none within encroach without reason, and none without poach their secrets. For time untold they tended to their holy ground, uninterrupted, only dimly aware of the changing world beyond. Yet inevitably the wider world grew aware of this untamed land, and with each passing winter the outsiders grew bolder. Soon they arrived with tools to cut and with flames to burn, and often the Treants would ponder: who are these fragile, industrious creatures? What now had become of the wild, green world? There came and went an age of questions and of doubts, a thousand summers of long traditions set to scrutiny, while more and more the outsiders died and fed their earth. When all that bloomed had finally finished their stay, curiosity had overcome caution. It was decided: a lone Protector would be sent into the wider world, and instructed to wander until the glaciers arose once more, to observe the changing land and its creatures, and to discover what unknown dangers could threaten their sacred ground.

Skills

Nature's Guise

Nature's Guise will allow Treant Protector to turn himself invisible provided that he near trees. In order to stay invisible you must stay near trees. It will have 2 seconds of fadetime though so you will not instantly turn invisible. While invisible Treant Protector will move 10% faster. You can use your abilities and items without breaking invisibility.

An early level of Nature's Guise is taken in order to survive ganks. It is maxed last because only the duration increases while levelling this ability. It can also be used on your allies in order to save them. This ability can also be used to initiate with some teamwork. When using your Eyes in the Forest ability make sure you are invisible so your enemies can't tell what you are doing.

Leech Seed

Leech Seed will slow the enemy down while causing damage each second. It will also heal all friendly units in a small AOE around the target.

This ability is maxed first in order to ensure lane control. When used in combination with Soul Ring it will allow you to dominate your lane and get a few early kills. Using Leech Seed will allow you to farm neutral creeps if you have the mana to substain it. Leech Seed is a powerfull pushing spell as well as it will fully heal your creeps. Also something to keep in mind is that this ability heals more then Living Armor. Can be used with Nature's Guise to harass enemies or kill low health targets.

Living Armor

Living Armor will heal the target while also blocking part of the incoming damage for several instances or untill the duration ends. Can be used globally. Can be used on towers and other buildings to heal them.

This ability is maxed second because the regeneration and added damage block is more usefull then the increased Nature's Guise duration. Use this ability to save allies from anyone on the map. If you have the mana to substain it you should constantly be using this ability to heal towers and allies.

Overgrowth

Overgrowth will entangle all enemies in its AOE. While entangled they will be unable to attack, blink, turn invisible or move. However they can still use their abilities while entangled. Overgrowth can be used against magic immune enemies. Overgrowth will stop any channeling actions such as certain abilities or teleportation.

Levels in this ability are always taken when available. Use this ability to either initiate in a teamfight or to counterinitiate. Also feel free to use this ability to stop an enemy from escaping. While this ability works against magic immune enmies it will stop working if they turn immune after being entangled.

Eyes in the Forest

Eyes in the Forest is a new ability granted to Treant Protector when he finishes his Aghanim's Scepter. This ability can be used on trees to enchant them in order to make them give flying vision. These trees can be destroyed in the same way as any other tree. Echanted trees will not stop neutral creeps from spawning. When casting Overgrowth any enemies inside the highlighted tree AOE will be affected by Overgrowth. While caught by Overgrowth from a tree they will take damage. They will take no damage if the source of Overgrowth is Treant Protector himself.

This ability is what allows Treant Protector to become the master of map control. Consider this ability as giving you free Observer Ward and make sure that the ability is constantly on cooldown. While the damage component is nice you shouldn't avoid using this ability in order to wait for that. Any standard warding spot will make for a good location to enchant trees as these are the most common routes enemies take. Other good spots are near the jungle camps as you will constantly kill the neutral creeps if you use your ultimate. Making it quite easy to earn a lot of gold and disrupt enemy farm in their own jungle. You can also use this to initiate with Overgrowth without the need to blink in first. Make sure to use Overgrowth from the other side of the map in order to save your allies if you can use it through your enchanted trees. Combine it with Blink Dagger to enchant the trees near Roshan so you have vision of him.

Don't stop buying Observer Ward when you have acces to this ability. Combining this ability with Observer Ward will bring your map control to insane levels. Timbersaw was right to be afraid of the trees.

Items

Starting Items

For your starting items take one Tango for some basic health regeneration. One Ring of Protection is recommended considering that Treant Protector starts with low armor. Finally Animal Courier and Observer Ward should be bought if no one else has bought them. If someone has already bought them you can instead use the gold to buy Healing Salve, Clarity or Stout Shield depending on what you prefer.

Feel free to buy new Observer Ward if no one else is doing it. Even if you have your Aghanim's Scepter keep buying Observer Ward as they will still give increased map control.

Early Game

In the early game you should rush Boots of Speed in order to take advantage of skilling Leech Seed first. It will allow you to dish out more damage with your high attack damage and you can use it to bodyblock your enemy. A Soul Ring is absolutely vital as it has amazing synchronisation with your Leech Seed. Use it before using Leech Seed and it will negate the health loss while slowing and damaging the enemy.

Core

After Soul Ring you should try to build Arcane Boots, having both means you are free to constantly use your abilities without having to worry about mana. It also has the added benefit of providing your allies with mana. After that you should build a Aghanim's Scepter for the Eyes in the Forest ability it will provide. An added benefit is that the item itself gives you a lot of health and mana.

Late Game

After your Aghanim's Scepter a Blink Dagger is vital. Getting a Blink Dagger will allow you to easilly initiate with Overgrowth and will help you with the added mobility. It also will not break Nature's Guise provided that your blink location is near trees. You can choose to get a Blink Dagger before finishing a Aghanim's Scepter if you feel your team would benefit more from it. After your Blink Dagger you should try to get a Shiva's Guard. Shiva's Guard will fix your armor problem while also giving you a lot of mana to work with. The active and passive abilities will also help your team during teamfights. If you can't find the gold for a Shiva's Guard you should instead try to go for a Blademail as a cheap alternative. Refresher Orb is a great lategame item for Treant Protector as it allows him to use his Overgrowth twice during teamfights. If you have Shiva's Guard the mana cost of Refresher Orb should pose no problems.