The
arrival of another Dota 2 patch brings with it Tusk, a new
strength-based melee hero who hurls ice magic at his enemies and has a
deadly Walrus Punch waiting up his sleeve. That’s not something any
injured hero wants coming their way, as it does quadruple damage if its
target has less than half its health remaining. The cooldown for his
powers is very low, the longest being just 50 seconds for Frozen Sigil, a
spell that creates an enormous snowstorm.
As well as a new hero, the patch cleans up the game’s combat log, making it easier to read and to filter.
But
you don’t want to hear about that, you want to know about just how
deadly Tusk is. Well, click through and I’ll give you a rundown of his
powers.
Tusk’s abilities are:
Ice Shards:
Five shards of ice are packed up into a ball and launched in front of
Tusk. When they strike a hero, or when reach their maximum range, they
spring up to form a barrier that stands for five seconds. The cooldown
on this is just 18 seconds at first level, and is subsequently reduced
to 16, 14 and then 12.
Snowball: This is particularly good fun. Tusk transforms into a giant snowball
and then rolls into an enemy unit, stunning it and any others that get
in the way. But that’s not all, as any nearby allies can also join the
snowball and roll along with you, smashing through creeps and heroes
alike. Ridiculous? Yes, particularly if you’re the one killed by it. The
cooldown on this is just 24 seconds at all levels.
Frozen Sigil:
This area-of-effect sigil brings down a thirty second snowstorm that
slows the movement and attack speed of all enemies caught within it. The
sigil automatically follows Tusk, but can be directed elsewhere. It can
also be destroyed by enemies for a bounty of 90, 100, 110 or 120 gold
dependent upon level, and has 220, 240, 260 or 280 hit points
respectively. With a 50 second cooldown, that means there’s a gap as low
as 20 seconds between active snowstorms. This could be a serious
disabler.
Walrus Punch:
Tusk’s next melee attack will do triple damage, or quadruple damage if
its target is at less than 50% health. The target is tossed into the air
and slowed for two, three or four seconds, and the cooldown for this is
30, 24 or just 18 seconds respectively.
Here’s a video of all of these powers in action:
Players of the original Dota will probably remember the Walrus-like Tuskarr, on whom Tusk is based.