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5 Votes

Brooding Over My Next Move

November 28, 2012 by TeTSee
Comments: 5    |    Views: 9042    |   


Long-Lane Solo

DotA2 Hero: Broodmother




Hero Skills

Insatiable Hunger

2 3 5 7

Spin Web

1 4 6 8

Silken Bola

1 4 6 8

Spawn Spiderlings

9 11 16

Talents

15 17 18

Warmin' Up The Ol' Egg-Injectors

Hello all, this will be my first guide, and very much a work-in progress. I've decided to open with a guide to Broodmother, the giant, horrifying spider that holds a dear place in all of our hearts... mine anyway :P.

This is only going to be MY experiences with her, and what I've read if I agree with the writers thinking. But I am hoping for feedback of all kinds, to help me improve my guide and my play, as well as others getting helped in the process.

Also, I can't make good guides cause I don't know how, so get ready for some text walls. Any help on that would be greatly appreciated as well.

Pros and Cons of Running A Family

Pros:

Good STR gain for AGI hero
Great nuke
Huge lane presence, even as solo
Superb pushing power
Large amount of lifesteal (80-frickin'-percent!) which fully stacks with other lifesteal
High gpm with Spiderlings in jungle or killing towers
Great killing power
Giant spider



Cons:
Pretty squishy early
Requires some decent macro skills
Countered by Sentries/Dust/Gem
Very little presence outside your lane
Doesn't scale super well late-game



As you see, she doesn't have too many cons, and many are solvable with simple practice and strategy.

The Broodmother As I See Her

Broodmother is a Mid-Game hero who specializes in pushing towers and dominating foes who dare enter her webs. Her stats are a bit off-kilter for an AGI hero, but I do not mean bad when I say that. Here:

=-STRENGTH-
*Base of 17
*Growth of 2.5

=-AGILITY-
*Base of 18
*Growth of 2.2

=-INTELLIGENCE-
*Base of 18
*Growth of 2

As you can see, her highest stat naturally ends up being STR, even tho she is AGI. Because of this she isn't amazing with right clicks, which is okay because of her Spiderlings, who output massive damage when you amass them like a good mother :3. For these reasons, I think Brood is, at most, a Semi-Carrry, offering some good utillity and decent right clicking.

Skill Building

Before I say ANYTHING about skills, please note that this is an option, if things go well and you don't have to meet special needs. Keep aware of who you're facing off against, in lane and in general, and alter your skilling as neccessary.

Picking up Spin Web with your first Skill Point is very common, and for good reason- you start to establish yourself in your lane. Some argue against maxing out Webs, yet the bonus regen, movespeed, and number of webs all synergise greatly with her tendency to push the lane and be invasive. I usually max Spin Web second.
Also, placing your webs will break trees in the area, giving you even greater vision. So, heading to lane early and placing your first web over the large patch of trees across from the shop, leading into the forest-NOT directly in front of the shop!- lets you regen some mana for later placement of your second web, and gives vision to prevent early ganks. The trees will grow back eventually tho, so be careful of overassuming your safety at times.
If you aren't able to push too hard, skip this in favor of either Stats or Incapacitating Bite, dependant upon your approach to this conflict- kill your enemy(s), or sit back and sap exp for a while.

Your second and third points will go into Spawn Spiderlings, what will become your bestest buddy for a lot of the game. It is your nuke, and while the fourth rank provides no more Spiderlings, the extra damage really helps, as nukes WILL fall off later on. It is also your main source of pushing power, providing you with many young Spiderlings to use as you please. Don't fret, see the later section Spiderlings for some tips and options for your precious widdle babies!

After both Spin Web and Spawn Spiderlings are maxed, i start to work on Incapacitating Bite, the only non-Ultimate skill left. The slow and miss chance are both fantastic, but the reason I don't put any points into this for a long time is because it isn't that good until level 3, and you shouldn't be right-clicking heroes for a while anyway, let you young do that for you. once you get this skill, however, very few will be able to escape you and your brood, and fighting back becomes much less of an option because they keep missing.

Lastly we arrive at Insatiable Hunger, an Ultimate that isn't super-flashy, but serves us well. Skipping it until both Webs and Spiderlings are maxed is another common practice, as you shouldn't be engaging in many direct fights for a long time. However, skipping it for too long can leave you in a very bad situation at times, so I believe it's worth picking up fairly soon. Besides, 80% lifesteal is quite high and really makes quite the difference in keeping you living, at least long enough before you must retreat.

Treasures Strung Inside The Webs

Starting off, a Salve-Tango is a personal favorite for most every hero, the regen is incredibly helpful while you are establishing your webs and don't have the natural regen yourself yet. Also, the Ring of Regen adds even more, as well as helps with rushing Soul Ring. And hey, gotta ensure a Good Game with an Iron Branch, the +1 to All Stats is superb early game, and Branches are The #1 most cost-efficient item in the game, so spending your left over gold on one can make enough of a difference, trust me. I've gotten away from many poor situations as a Brood-due to my being over-aggressive- with about 7 health, coming from that little ol' branch. With your first few games, just grab it. If you don't like it, having a little extra gold to get Soul Ring faster never hurts.

Rushing a Soul Ring lets you spam Spawn Spiderlings every 20 seconds for 0 mana (effectively), and you can easily regain the lost health just by standing around in your webs. Plus, Boots 1 will make you quite speedy in your webs, upping your survivability by tons. After these two items, it's time to start the terrible process of bullying out your laning opponent, generating leagues of Babby Spiders, and pushing down the towers that dare to stand where you want to go.

By the time you end up pushing down the Tier 1, you should be able to afford a Vlads, making your spiders even deadlier by adding to their survivability, as well as your lane creeps' as well. Vlads will make your family an unstoppable force when pushing, jungling, or killing heroes. Also, the lifesteal STILL stacks with your Hunger, so that is not wasted on your part. It is a Mid-Game item, which works greatly with this playstyle. Grabbing an Orchid Malevolence will solve ALL your mana problems, as well as give you some nice attack speed. Plus, the active silence will often ensure many kills you could not otherwise get, due to them having an escape method using their spells.
NOTE- a Scythe of Vyse offers a better disable and more mana/mana regen, but zero AS, and Broodmother doesn't really need that much mana. All in all, I don't reccommend it.

Boots are a fairly simple choice for Brood:
POWER TREADS
*Power Treads offer good move speed, a healthy supply of stats, and some needed attack speed, to keep your Bite on your target and lifesteal enough. 'But, oh, you said she's not a right-clicker, so why need attackspeed!?' Well, I did say that, and I mean it. However, these and Orchid boosts your AS just so, and you end up in a very powerful situation- yet this power will eventually taper off, being static bonuses.
PHASE BOOTS
*Phase Boots offer good damage and high MS, but you already move fast in your webs, and you don't gain any AS. Some say that grabbing Orchid boosts up your AS, but it's not enough in my opinion. You could grab these if you like them better.
ARCANE BOOTS
*Gives you some mana and the movespeed is meh, not that good in my opinion, there are better options for mana.
TRANQUIL BOOTS
*I love getting tranquils on many many heroes, but Broodmother already has great regen from her Webs, and the Vlads provides better armor anyway. Not good on her, imo.
BOOTS OF TRAVEL
*Rapidly moving from lane to lane isn't Broods style, she loses the effectiveness of her webs when they're dotted all over the map. Late game, they are a possibility if you've got a lot of gold, otherwise you should pass them up.

Late game, after you've pushed down the tier 2 tower, it's time to get some goodies to help you bite even more delicious heroes. First on the list is either a BKB or a Linken's. Please, get one AND ONLY ONE of these, and don't say "But you has Orchid, they can't cast anything against you already, lol dumbass." Yes, you have a great disable, but only on ONE target. Early it's fine to have a single-target focus, but eventually more people will come to kill you. So, having magic immunity/spell block ups your chances of surviving and getting a kill immensely. Plus, it lets you have more teamfight presence, being able to get in there and do what you wish to whomever you wish. I recommend BKB over Linken's, but it's more situational and a bit of personal preference, I suppose.
*Selling your Vlads for an AC is a good choice, as the added armor and AS really are great, and you're less focused on your spiders during teamfights and 5-man pushes so the lifesteal gets unused for the most part otherwise.
*A Basher becomes very good, as your attack speed becomes pretty good Late-Game and bash procs really let you wail on your prey. If you get this, I recommend upgrading it into an Abyssal Blade pretty soon afterwards, the damage and overwhelm ability go so well and help you in your need to damage living creatures.
*Manta Style adds a lot to your dps and survivability, but do NOT get this if the enemy has a lot of AOE skills, which already hurt you pretty badly.
*Shivas gives some nice INT and armor if you really want it, and you end up taking a lot of right clicks yourself. A Heart also works in a similar situation.
*Mjollnir gives sweet damage and attack speed, as well as some good AOE-will overrun your Bite when it procs, mind you.
*Daedalus adds some serious punch to your right-clicking, and combined with an AC you can become a real pain- well, more of a pain, at least.

Also, spend 150 gold to buy a pack of Sentries. They're be the difference between ripping peoples faces off and just lolling around, being completely useless. Seriously, 150 gold to save your life, absolutely worth the investment. And as any good player should know, keep a TP on you as often as possible. You can do so much with one, and the gold is easily earned again from 2-3 last hits. Also worth the investment.

Sub Section on Items

There are a couple more items I'd like to mention, but didn't fit well into the main items section. I don't agree with them entirely, but I've talked to some who swear by getting these items, and they can make it work. So, I thought that I would put them here, and give my thoughts on them and how they could potentially be used, or not.
*Gem of True Sightdoes provide a good counter to any other invis heroes who may try and gank you, but you are the only benefactor if you were to purchase it, as I rarely leave my lane until its pushed quite far. It'd certainly help with the Sentries that your foes will place to try and find you. Still, there are better options, like grabbing your own Sentry Wards. 550 gold cheaper, and still as effective.
*Heaven's Halberd gives some more STR, evasion, and a nice Disarm ability, but the slow is useless as your Bite provides one, and there are better disables out there than a Disarm. Not for Brood to pick up, imo.
*Radiance offers big damage and the Burn effect, and nothing else. If you're absolutely crushing- which can happen, mind you- then picking up a fast Radiance can do some serious damage to your enemies. However, not worth it, imo, if it's already past the 20 min mark, it wouldn't do enough to be worth the gold.
*Butterfly- agility, damage, attack speed, and evasion. Quite the item, but incredibly expensive. If you're doing well, definately worth picking up to turn you into a real powerhouse. I only disagree with getting this because I do not play Brood as a hard right-clicker, otherwise it's a very good item.

A Broodmothers' Thoughts on Web Placement

For the mot part, you'll be staying in your lane for most of the game, riddling it with webs, blood, intestines, dead spiders, dead heroes, and occasional Sentry Wards.

Placing your webs hither and thither is no good- have some order to them! you can leave the AOE of the web and the buff will last about 3 seconds before you are visible again, so keep that in mind when you are placing them- ask yourself, 'how far can I reliably go in 3 seconds?' Don't worry, the spacing will come with time. You want to cover the lane in webs that allow you to roam fast and freely up and down the lane, providing constant regen and striking fear into your opponents, as they never know where you are.

Spiderlings- How to Hold Your Family in Order

Spiderlings will spawn out of an enemy unit under the Spawn Spiderlings debuff when they die. They have 450 HP, 18 damage, and a Base Attack Time of 1.35. They have two passive abilities, a Poison Sting, applying a 2 second debuff(4 on non-hero units) on the target, making them take 4 damage per second and have their MS slowed by 15%. The second passive ability places a debuff on the enemy hit, causing a Spiderite to spawn upon the affected units death. *Spiderites have 175 HP, 9 damage, and a Base Attack Time of 1.35. They have no passive effects. Both Spiderlings and Spiderites last for 60 seconds, have 0 armor, and offer a 16-21 gold bounty.

I like to use control groups to command my spiders, some like to separate Spiderlings from Spiderites, but that's personal preference. To bind units to a control group, hold control and hit any number from 1-9 on the top of your keyboard, NOT the numpad. Then you can bring up that group again by pressing it's corresponding number. By default, F1 also selects your hero, so you don't have to worry about setting up a control group for her, it's k. There's more that goes into control groups, but that's really all you have to know to play Brood using them, and you can look elsewherre for much better explanations on them. Also, try to NEVER have both your main hero and your spiders selected as one group, it's not good to always have your hero and spiders doing the same thing. There are exceptions, but it' a good rule of thumb to work off of.

Now, lets talk some business here. It takes a lot to run a family, and doing it as a single mother makes things soooo much harder. However, the end results of playing as a family will justify all the effort. Broodmother on her own is nothing- mockable, hardly a threat of any sort. However, that Sven laughing at your hideous spider-face will die very quickly to a massive army of spiders- which you just so happen to be able to create VERY quickly. However, what goes for you also goes for your offspring- alone, they are weak, and even a sizable group wont be able to do anything lethal. Broodmothers success lies in the cooperation of her and her babby spiders.

If you follow my build, you will acquire a fast Soul Ring, and every time it's off cooldown, you should use it and cast Spawn Spiderlings on either a near-death creep or your lane opponent, resulting in either more Spiderlings to utilise or great harass, respectively. If they're not too close to their tower, sending a group of about 6 spiders to attack your enemy causes some serious damage, both to their HP and their sense of safety. By doing this, you are effectively saying, "Get out of here, this is my lane! If you don't, I'll kill you," while poking at their jiggly bellies. Aww, aren't giant spiders so sweet?

However, even if you can amass an army of Spiderlings in relatively little time, sometimes there just won't be any heroes around for them to munch on. If that's the case, send them off into the jungle to kill creeps for you. They'r very capable at doing so, and will raise your GPM while you're still in lane last hitting the creeps. Careful of Ceantaurs and Ursas, as they have AOEs that proc when 3 units are around them, and they will put a serious dent in your spiders HP. after killing a camp or even two, it's a good idea to bring them back to lane for more harassment and lulz.

When going for a kill, select all your spiders and right click your target. If there are multiple heroes, sending off a small group to hit the left over hero can be a good idea, but not necessary. That way, they'll be taking some damage, your spiders will tank the tower if it gets to that point, and you'll get a kill or possibly two out of it.

Closing Thoughts

Welp, congrats on reading to the end of this guide. It's no masterpiece, but I just want to get my words out there. Hopefully I won't get too many tl;dr's, and I'll be able to improve this guide. Thank you!

Side Note, I've heard about going solo mid as Brood, but i've never tried it and don't currently have access to Dota 2 right now, but when I can I will certainly give it a try.

Web-Logs

Nov. 28, 2012:
Completed and published guide

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