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Boots of Speed
Iron Branch
Clarity
Arcane Boots
Buckler
Radiance
Shiva's Guard
Refresher Orb
Abyssal Blade
Shadow Blade
Daedalus
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Hi I am xTimekeepeRx - I have been playing DotA since 10 years ago. Tidehunter is one of my favourite heroes, and I think it has a potential that most players do not understand. Most players, even in competitive matches, play tidehunter as a support. Why? Tidehunter makes one of the best carries in the game, because of his high STR.
Without further ado, let's begin with the guide.
EARLY GAME:
Boots of Speed
This item is good for tide when he starts - this allows you to walk right up the enemy and anchor smash him. Most opponents do not expect this, so you have the element of surprise on your side.
Iron Branch
The GG branch is the best item in the game. For 53 gold, you get 1 to all stats! Seriously though, an iron branch at the start gives you stats and allows you a smooth transition into Buckler, one of the most underrated items in the game.
Clarity
A clarity gives you enough mana to spam anchor smash until you get arcane boots.
Arcane Boots
Arcane Boots is the best boot for Tide, because it gives him a higher mana pool and mana on demand. It also allows you to freely use your Anchor Smash to deal terrible, terrible damage.
Buckler
This item is a component in 
Mekansm, but nobody really buys it for the sake of itself. It is a great item for tide because he has low armor. Also, your enemies will never expect a sudden +2 increase in armor, allowing you to turn fights, complemented with the 40% attack damage reduction from Anchor Smash and Kraken Shell.
MID GAME:
Radiance
Why not Radiance? IMHO, this is one of the most important items on Tidehunter, because it allows him to deal INSANE area-of-effect damage, both to creeps and heroes. Radiance burns enemy units at 40 damage per second.
When you anchor smash a wave of creeps, the ranged creeps will be dying and you do need to walk over for the last hit, you just need to let your radiance do the job - this allows Leviathan to farm very quickly, allowing him to enter late game on a good note.
Also, after you unleash your Hyper( Ravage) on your enemies, your enemies will be stunned for a good 3 seconds. This allows radiance to burn them during that duration too.
Level 3 Ravage Air Time: 0.52 Seconds
Level 3 Ravage Stun Time: 2.77 Seconds
0.52s + 2.77s = 3.29s seconds of stun.
Factor in walking time, you will have an additional 3.41 seconds of radiance burn.
In total, you will have (3.29 + 3.41)*40 = 270 damage
WOW!! You just dealt 270 damage by just simply standing there. Imagine if you did something!
LATEGAME/LUXURY ITEMS:
Shiva's Guard
Shiva's guard gives you two abilities: A passive much like Omniknight's Degenerative Aura - it passively slows enemies around - comboing with your Radiance. Enemies will avoid you like a plague! Also, the activated ability is deadly combined with your Hyper. Applying a nova of frost to your ravage is just adding insult to injury.
Refresher Orb
This item allows you to cast your Hyper and your Shiva twice! No reason not to get this item.
Abyssal Blade
Abyssal Blade is situational. Most of the time, you will not want to get this item because you will be stomping them before you need it. In a drastic situation, e.g Enemy PA has become too farmed and has bkb - your solution is abyssal blade. It allows you to even stun magic immune targets, plus a passive bash that also goes through BKB.
Shadow Blade
Shadow Blade is a good alternative to blink(which most people get), because it also gives you damage and attack speed - while blink does not. An item far more worthy of your inventory than blink. Also, your enemies won't expect an invisible tide to appear next to them and use his ultimate ability.
Another plus to shadow blade is that you can harass enemies by walking around them because you have radiance. A good mind-game strategy to do is to have another invisible hero in your team like bounty hunter, and get him to buy radiance. When you harass enemies with radiance, enemies will think "It's BH, let's dust and kill him!". But when they actually do it, they will see you instead and they would have all stacked tightly for a WCG-standard Ravage-Anchor Smash-Shiva Combo. RAMPAGE!!
Daedalus
With all your items, why not Daedalus? With the most recent patch, it's crit multiplier has been buffed from 2.5x to 2.7x - just imagine the fury you will unleash on your enemies when you crit them during a ravage.
First of all, it's important to get a good feel of Tide so you are familiar with his attack animations - this allows you to last hit to your best and participate in team fights as the MvP.
What most people, even tournament players don't realize - that they are playing Tidehunter WRONG. Tide is a carry, not a trashy support like Crystal Maiden that goes blink and wastes gold on observer wards.
Just imagine the damage tide can do with a full combo:
Gush = 260 DMG
Anchor Smash = 225 DMG*3(Use 3 times in fight)=775 DMG
Ravage = 450 DMG
Shiva's Guard = 200 DMG
Refresher Orb = x2 of spells and items
Radiance = 40*15(seconds you will spend around the enemy in a fight)= 600 DMG
Melee hits = Est. 1800 damage(with Critical Strike from Daedalus too)
((260 + 775 + 450 + 200 + 600)*2)*0.75(Armor Reduction) + 1800*0.65(Est. Armor Reduction) = 3427.5 + 1170 = 4596 DMG!
It's a complete RAMPAGE. 4600 damage, most of which are AOE damage. You will devastate your enemies with this simple combo. Be sure to cast your abilities in this order:
1. Ravage: Stun your opponents!
2. Anchor Smash: Keep your DPS skill on cooldown!
3. Gush: Reduce their Armor!
4. Shiva's Guard: Freeze them with magic!
5. Anchor Smash: Keep your DPS skill on cooldown!
6. Arcane Boots: Refresh your mana to complete the combo!
7. Refresher Orb: Make sure you complete the above in 3 seconds, because the stun will end.
8. Arcane Boots: Refresh your mana again! (DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP OR YOU WILL NOT HAVE MANA!!!)
9. Ravage: Stun your opponents again! Be sure to keep calm and not to do it too quickly or you will clip your stun.
10. Anchor Smash: Keep your DPS skill on cooldown!
11. Gush: Reduce their armor!
12.Just MELEE.
At step 12, you would have run out of mana, so learn to manage your mana. Anyway, to do the combo smoothly you must practice this motion in Bot Matches or Single Player. Also, make sure to use hotkeys for your items or you might be too slow.
7: Shiva
8: Arc Boots
9: Refresher
Non-Legacy:
R-E-Q-7-E-8-9-8-R-E-Q
Legacy:
V-R-G-7-R-8-9-8-V-R-G
Happy owning!!
Teamwork is very important when playing a Tide carry. Your allies must be willing to support you and you must be able to convince them Tide is a carry, just like the way I convinced you. Try to take solo mid, because it is the safest lane for any carry to farm in.
Thanks for your time for reading this, hope you will own like me :)
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