Axe · Offlane (pos. 3)
Axe Abilities and Combos
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This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.
Overview
This guide goes through Axe's kit ability by ability. The kit brings crowd control (taunt) with Berserker's Call. Its ultimate is Culling Blade.
Strengths
- Reliable taunt: Berserker's Call sets up kills.
- Valve tags Axe as Durable: it stays in fights longer than most heroes.
- Clear job in the team: survive a hard lane, bother the enemy carry and start the fights.
Weaknesses
- No escape in the kit: without good positioning and vision, Axe is easy to catch.
- Low base armor (0): vulnerable to physical harass early on.
Build cheat sheet
Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.
Builds
Most-played build
When to use it
The items most bought with this hero, phase by phase. Pick it when you don't have a clear reason to deviate. Built from what Axe players buy in the public matches we measured.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
192%- OfflaneMain92% of matchesOff lane as the space-making core (pos. 3).
Starting items
Early game
Core items
- 1Blink Dagger
- 2Blade Mail
- 3Black King Bar
- 4Aghanim's Shard
Boots
Late game
Skill order
Max order:Counter Helix›Battle Hunger›Berserker's C…
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Talents by level
- +150 Culling Blade Damage+85 Berserker's Call AoE25
- +15 Strength+40 Counter Helix Damage20
- +8 Battle Hunger Damage Per Second+10 Berserker's Call Armor15
- +8% Movement Speed per active Battle Hunger+3s Culling Blade Kill Buff Bonus Duration10
Abilities
- Berserker's Call18 / 16 / 14 / 12s90 / 100 / 110 / 120 mpAxe taunts nearby enemy units, forcing them to attack him while he gains bonus armor during the duration.
- Radius
- 315
- Bonus armor
- 12·13·14·15
- Duration
- 2.1·2.4·2.7·3
- Enemy attack speed bonus
- 0
- Battle Hunger20 / 15 / 10 / 5s50 / 60 / 70 / 80 mpEnrages an enemy unit, causing it to take damage over time until it kills another unit or the duration ends. The enemy is slowed as long as they are facing away from Axe.
- Duration
- 12
- Movement slow
- 18·22·26·30
- Damage per second
- 12·16·20·24
- Counter HelixPassive0.3sAfter a set number of attacks, Axe will perform a helix counter attack, dealing pure damage to all nearby enemies.
- Damage
- 100·120·140·160
- Radius
- 275
- Attacks to helix
- 7·6·5·4
- Culling Blade80 / 75 / 70s100 / 125 / 150 mpAxe spots a weakness and strikes, dealing pure damage. When an enemy hero is killed with Culling Blade, its cooldown is reset, and all nearby allied units gain bonus movement speed and armor.
Axe permanently drenches his blade every time he kills an enemy Hero with Culling Blade, gaining bonus armor for each stack.
- Damage
- 275·375·475
- Kill move speed bonus
- 20·25·30
- Kill armor bonus
- 10·15·20
- Kill buff duration
- 6
- Kill buff radius
- 900
- Armor per stack
- 1·1.5·2
One Man ArmyPassiveAxe gains Strength based on 50% of his Armor as long as there are no allied heroes within 700 distance from Axe. The effect fades over 3s after approaching an ally.Passive. It works on its own: play around it.
Most played skill order
The most played order in the last 100 professional matches with this hero. Highlighted levels are the points spent on talents.
Max order:Counter Helix›Battle Hunger›Berserker's C…
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ● | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | ● | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| · | ● | · | ● | ● | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | ● |
| · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | ● | · | ● | ● | · | · |
Strategy
1The kit
The kit brings crowd control (taunt) with Berserker's Call.
- Berserker's Call — Basic ability — applies a taunt and hits an area. Use it on the target your team can kill.
- Battle Hunger — Basic ability — slows. Part of your regular rotation.
- Counter Helix — Passive — hits an area. It works on its own: play around it.
- Culling Blade — Ultimate. Plan your fights around its cooldown.
- One Man Army — Passive. It works on its own: play around it.
2Skill order
Take Culling Blade whenever it's available (levels 6, 12 and 18). Between basic abilities, cores usually max their damage or farming ability first and supports their disable.
3Combos
A simple sequence that follows from the kit: open with Berserker's Call, follow with Battle Hunger and finish with Culling Blade. The disable first means everything after it lands.
4Using your ultimate
Culling Blade is the ability the enemy plays around. Use it where it changes the fight, and remember its cooldown: after using it, you're a smaller threat for a while.
Tips
- Land Berserker's Call first: every ability after it is easier to hit.
- Watch Culling Blade's cooldown: fights you take without it are much harder.
- Practise the combo in a practice game before using it in ranked.
- Count the enemy's key cooldowns: the best moment to use yours is right after they use theirs.
Changelog
- Guide created for patch 7.41.
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