The Teddy Bear of TERROR! - DvalinTheCacnea's Guide To Ursa

Updates

* Remake the guide to quick-reader friendly using colors etc.
* Remake skill set as Enrage was reworked

Introduction

Hi viewers. Welcome to my guide! After lots of things, I finally manage to edit my guide once again!

I learn how to play DoTA about the game mechanics, items, etc. with Ursa. Ursa is a carry melee hero that shines usually on mid-game although on late-game his power is still formidable.

Ursa is one of the highest DPS heroes in the game with his Overpower and Fury Swipes that gives more damage the more he hits at the same enemy

Without further ado, then let's begin the guide!

Muscles and Fats

As a bear which is a mammal, Ursa does have muscles/pros, which make him strong, but he also has fats/cons, which make him weak. Here are those muscles and fats he has.

Muscles:

+ A native of the jungle
+ High DPS
+ One of the Agility heroes that is not very squishy (Because of Enrage decreases damage input to him)
+ Cheap core items
+ Famous for Solo-ing Roshan
+ Tons of Fur


Fats:

- Usually Focus Fired
- Prone to CC before buying BKB
- Prone to Blade Mail before buying BKB
- Surprisingly slow, maybe due to his big stomach


Conclusion: Ursa is High DPS carry with cheap core items. It is recommended to pick Ursa if the enemy has less disables like Hex, Wraithfire Blast, etc.

Skills

Earthshock

Although I prefer to max it later, but I recommend to level it first at level 4 so you have decent slow, making a sure kill from small ganks. The slow from it stack with Eye of Skadi/ Orb of Venom, Sange/ Sange and Yasha/ Heaven's Halberd, and other slows, in which, if combined, can give good slows.

Overpower

This skill is in synergy with Fury Swipes and it should be maxed second. This skill, combined with Fury Swipes and Enrage can cut down large chunks of health and wear enemies down quick.

Fury Swipes

This is Ursa's bread and butter skill. This skill is what makes Ursa into a fearsome bear. Each hits will be more painful, and also this skill is what makes Ursa can do Roshan easily.

Enrage

The ultimate skill, level it when you can. Since the 6.84 update, that makes attack speed has more priority than health since Enrage now makes a multiplier from Fury Swipes damage

Night 1-2 - Early Game

Well basically, every hero can start off at a point right? So does Ursa. You can do laning Ursa instead of jungling, just change the starting items into a Tango and some Iron Branches. There is a difference in jungling/laning in terms of profit and stuffs like that.

Laning:

More gold and exp required if solo-lane
Less gold and exp required if dual-lane
Prone of harassing and denying
Prone to ganks (especially if disables are flying everywhere)



Jungling:

Gold and exp are less rather than solo-lane, but more than dual-lane
Safe from ganks
Jungle creep will not spawn if warded by enemies
Put another hero on solo-lane



From these difference, I myself prefer jungling as it can benefit me and another teammate since solo-lane provide you gold and exp more.

As usual, Stout Shield to block damage, Quelling Blade to help jungle faster, and the Tango is self-explanatory.

Since Fury Swipes is not an orb anymore, it is possible to rush Morbid Mask first. However, you can also buy Ring of Basillus and Ring of Regeneration first. It is up to viewer on this point.

Anyway, immediately go for Vladmir's Offering and do Roshan. The earlier, the better. After that, buy Boots of Speed and you can start to gank and unleash the terror.

Conclusion: Ursa is better in jungle as he and other teammates benefit from it, but it is not a bad idea to put him on the lane if the support is a good babysitter.

Side-Topic: Why still Vlad's?

Although with the update that Fury Swipes is not an orb effect anymore, I still prefer Vladmir's Offering as my core item rather than Helm of the Dominator or Mask of Madness (Though form the new update MoM seems ideal though). This is the list of difference I have studied the benefits between Vladmir's Offering, Helm of the Dominator, and Mask of Madness.

Vladmir's Offering:

Gives armor aura
Gives health and mana regen aura (From

Headress since the 6.84 update and Ring of Basilius)
Gives lifesteal aura, from which the three of them benefit your team.
Is not an orb, giving it more orb item choices rather than Helm of Dominator.


Helm of the Dominator:

More lifesteal
More armor, but only to it.
The active to take a jungle creep to help.
Can be upgraded to

Satanic which is one of the best lifesteals in the game
Cheapest


Mask of Madness:

More attack speed from berserk
More movement speed from berserk
Gives

Fury Swipes more potential


In the real game, sometimes I buy both and they stack with each other, giving of chunks of health back, especially after Helm of Dominator is upgraded into Satanic. If I need attack speed, I would pick Mask of Madness. Nevertheless, I will still put Helm of Dominator or Mask of Madness not as my core.

Conclusion: These kinds of lifesteal items are all situational, so it is up to readers to pick what items to get depending on the condition. Vladmir for teammate support, Helm of Dominator for more lifesteal, and Mask of Madness for more attack speed.

Side-Topic: Blink Dagger vs Shadow Blade

Some people prefer Blink Dagger over Shadow Blade and others do the reverse. For me, I still prefer Blink Dagger. Here is another list of differences of pros between Blink Dagger and Shadow Blade

Blink Dagger:

Cheaper for about 650 gold
Relatively mobile
Can pass through cliffs or trees
Wards/Gems/Dusts will not cut down the effectiveness

Shadow Blade:

Extra backstab damage
Will not interrupt cooldown when attacked
Min money that must be gained to buy ingredients is 1400 (

Blink Dagger is directly 2250)
Can be further upgraded to Silver Edge that gives extra slow


Conclusion: If your money is enough, buy Blink Dagger as it has a lot more mobility, otherwise, Shadow Blade is not a bad idea either.

Night 3 - Orb Items

To make it short, I will list the benefits of each items I put in my build.

Satanic:

Extra lifesteal
STR gain help in health and damage
The active helps to gain missing health back quickly

Desolator:

Extra damage boost
The active makes your DPS more painful
The cheapest out of the three

Eye of Skadi:

Nice boost to all of the attributes
The active slows, and combined with

Earthshock, it is easy to kidnap a wandering hero and kill them.


Mjollnir:

The lightning helps to clear creeps and flash farming
The attack speed increases helps a lot
The active makes you more tankier

Based on these list, I would prefer Satanic most of the time, but in some cases, I will go with Desolator or Eye of Skadi or Mjollnir depending on the situation.

Conclusion: You are not FORCED to buy these items, you can skip ahead to items after this section if you feel like you do not need it. Satanic for lots of lifesteal, Desolator for more DPS, Eye of Skadi for a lot of slow, and Mjollnir for increased attack speed

PS: (Lifesteal stack with Eye of Skadi, while Mjollnir only become orb when the lightning procs)

Night 4 - Mid Game

This is where Ursa shines as a dreadful carry. If you have any trouble listed below, buy these items, otherwise go buy luxury items and skip this part.

Enemy has a lot of CC and nukes : Black King Bar
Enemy has AoE spells or hit hard : Blade Mail
Enemy has a lot of evasion / Butterfly : Monkey King Bar
Enemy is just too annoying (Like Faceless Void, etc.) : Heaven's Halberd

Night 5 - Late Game

At this point, the shining light of Ursa has faded, although Ursa is still a formidable hero up to this point. Just do not blink, stay with your team, and try to do as much damage as possible. Your role mostly will shift from carry into tank.

Buy Heart of Tarrasque is a good idea as it helps you to tank and soak out damage for your teammates.

Sange and Yasha and Shiva's Guard are good items on Ursa as another slow items beside Eye of Skadi.

Assault Cuirass is another useful item on Ursa but usually other hero deserve to have it more than Ursa.

Butterfly is other things that make enemy go wonders if they have not bought Monkey King Bar yet.

Abyssal Blade is useful against pesky annoying heroes such as Lifestealer, Slark, etc.

Manta Style for debuff from silences, disables, etc. and more damage output, although Fury Swipes will not trigger from illusions.

Moon Shard? More attack speed = More damage output. It's that simple. Oh, and the night vision can be used to counter Darkness

Allies and Enemies

Ursa is a hero that can work well with most heroes as it can independently dish out damage. However, some allies are more than enough for Ursa to shine. Those allies are:

Heroes with CC: Crystal Maiden, Lina, Lion, etc.
Damage Amplifier Heroes: Magnus, etc.
Heroes that give temporary near-invulnerability: Omniknight, Oracle, etc.

Special Mention: Wraith King --> Hellfire Blast for stun and slow and lifesteal aura that stacks with Vladmir's Offering and Satanic. There is also a rumor I have not tried is you can solo Roshan at level one with the help of this old, wise king of the wraiths.

However, despite the tremendous power Ursa has, it also has enemies that can wipe him easily. Those enemies are:

Heroes with CC (What is your best friend is your worst enemy)
Anti-tank heroes: Huskar, Necrolyte, etc.
Heroes that can disarm: Silencer, Oracle, etc.
Heroes with Blade Mail as one of the possibly core: Centaur Warrunner , etc.

Special Mention: Lifestealer --> Weak at early game, but after he gets his Skull Basher, things get harder. Feast will cripple your health and damage easily with the help of Rage. Instant heal and nuke ability with Infest, and chasing ability with Open Wounds. It is simply a nightmare except if you successfully shut him down before time.

And also, for the one who hates Ursa, try to avoid picking these heroes:

Squishy and no CC heroes: Pugna, Sniper, etc.
Most of the tankies (usually)

Special Mention: Axe --> Who doesn't love a good tank with good stats early game and the ability to backdoor by pulling creep aggro? But not if you go against Ursa, new Enrage works well against Blade Mail, Axe's usual core item. So maybe just beware when picking this hero against Ursa or else.

Closing

Well that is all for this guide. Thank you for reading this guide. This guide is, however, far from perfect. Therefore, feedback and comments are welcome. In addition, please do not straightly down vote this guide. Honestly, I prefer harsh comments rather than straight down vote.