How to command a legion (No jungling)

Introduction

Tresdin, the Legion Commander is a very powerful snowball type of hero. While she is effective in most part of the game, a well farmed legion commander with a good amount of duels won is almost unstoppable, and can manfight almost any hero and beat very hard carries like Anti-Mage and Phantom Lancer for example.

With her unique skillset, Tresdin will be able to turn their numbers against them, contribute to the team and be able to take a fight all by herself.

Currently in Dota Buff she has a winrate of 47.96% which is not as bad as other heroes but its not that good. What made me write this guide is the current idea of her jungling and the main skill build used on her, which in my opinion, its not that good. So, I hope you can understand my ideas and please let me know any grammar mistakes or typos since English is not my main language, I'm from Mexico :D

ARE YOU READY SOLDIER? LET'S GET STARTED THEN!

Play Video
A good song to get you started fighting the evil from the Abyss.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• Tanky
• Very strong laning skills
• Can snowball out of control
• One of the best disables in the game
• Great against pushers/minions/illusion heroes
• Good base movement speed
  
  
  
  Cons
  
  • Requires good judgement (when to duel or not)
  • A little mistake can lead to throwing the game (feeding duels)
  • Needs to gank or early fights to become a carry
  • Has no other lockdown but Duel
  • No scape mechanism.

Skill Build explanation

The skills are pretty well explained in the icons, I will go on how to do use them on different situations.
Overwhelming Odds Is your premier laning skill, and why I think jungle Legion Commander is just not worth it, because you leave this skill without levels, which are great early game and fall off late game. This ability got nerfed on the 6.82 patch, which makes me think it was too stronk. This skill lets you control the creepwave, a big harass for enemy melee offlaners, like Clockwerk or Timbersaw. This is meant to be used against a big number or enemy units, so you can punish early pushers like Nature's Prophet or Enigma. Considering level 1, with first creep wave, 4 creeps (3 melee and 1 ranged) and enemy offlaner, the total damage of the nuke (after 6.82 ;_;) is 116 magical damage.

The objective with this skill is to use them on as many units as possible early on; think of Phantom Lancer illusions, Meepo clones, Enigma's Demonic conversion eidolons, Naga Siren illusions, and such, think of it as a less powerful spammable Echo Slam.

On top of the nuking power it offers, it yet grants you bonus movement speed, which is crucial when chasing and picking off weak heroes with your Duel, and thats why Phase Boots are not that much needed on her since she can chase just fine. So, considering an early push consisting of Nature's Prophet, his treants, another hero and a 5 creep creepwave, casting Overwhelming Odds on them will do a total damage of 490 magical damage (correct my math if I'm wrong) and grant you a big % of movement speed (which I'm too dumb to calculate, dear readers, help me) coupled with Tresdin's innate high movement speed. Coupled with another good counterpusher like your mid Kunkka's Torrent (or even better Ghost Ship) can be devastating to those pesky rats, and then procceed to Duel that poor hurt hero with your blinding speed, and win it with little effort. EZ stacks=Ez game.


Press the Attack is your steroid and a sustain ability. This is to be cast after Overwhelming Odds while chasing and standing next to the hero you are going to duel, in order to try to finish the duel as fast as you can (If you are alone). This was nerfed too in 6.82 patch, now the mana cost is always 110. This is why I think Soul Ring is good on Tresdin, she has a spammable AoE (Area of Effect) nuke which helps farm faster, and this skill's regen makes up for the lost health while other heroes cant just spam Soul ring, like Dragon Knight´s Breathe Fire or Wraith King´s Wraithfire Blast since they slowly regen lost health.

This is also for LEGION IS KREDIT TO TEAM! since it also removes debuffs and offers regen, which might save your poor ally from that douche Viper's Viper Strike.

When you've acquired some attack speed items and later on a Basher, you may use this to defy the odds, cast it on yourself, Blink Dagger next to your lone victim, and start bashing his face (Much like Ursa's blink dagger strategy) while you win more duels for more damage.

Moment of Courage is what makes people think Legion commander works in the jungle. It might work but you are relying on a RNG proc (Much like Axe's Counter Helix) to farm the jungle and a high early game mana cost pseudo regen.
Moreover, the effectiveness of this passive is based on how much damage you deal. Early game you won´t have much damage for a tiny 16% chance proc of 20% lifesteal on 57 damage =11.4 hp from lifesteal. This is why we max this skill last, will work better the more damage you have got through the game, say late game you have over 150 extra damage for a total 250 right click damage, if you proc you will regain 200 hp just by being there taking damage.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must target the unit you are attacking in order to use Moment of Courage, it is a short second buff. (You can use this to your advantage, you can target the lower armor enemy in order to deal more damage, and thus, regaining more HP). Great huh? Now go there and keep winning your Duels, private!

Oh, Duel, the mighty Duel. This is why you picked The Legion Commander. I can not think of a manliest skill than this one and Berserker's Call and it is essentially a big single target Berserker's Call. Faceless Void? Come out of your Chronosphere and fight like a man! Ursa? Wraith King? Sven? Ok enough. A well played Legion Commander can stomp all these kids by brute force. But this skill is a double edged sword, and if not executed properly, can backfire terribly on you and on your team.

Duel should be used everytime its off cooldown, but this does not mean spamming it and failing at killing the victim, or even worse, giving that Phantom Assassin even more damage. This leads to "Report legion noop ajaja asco xD" and in my opinion is worse than intentional feeding. In order to become the monster we want to be, first we have to win some Duels. Use it while in ganks with your team, when it's a guaranteed kill, and be aware of the duration of your duel, which at level 1 is 4 seconds.

Your main targets early on are really tough guys like Crystal Maiden, Chen, Io, Techies and other glass fragile heroes.

You don't want to duel very tanky heroes or those who can obliterate you before you can, like Axe (he might just spin you away), Troll Warlord, Ursa ( Overpower OP) and the like, or tanks like Abaddon (Please, just ignore him), or Tidehunter. Be careful of Tiny and his Craggy Exterior!

Do not engage with a full hp enemy hero early on, I've seen tons of Legion Commanders failing terribly to end the duel and thus losing the oportunity to earn more damage. In fights, start chiping health away with your very good nuke and catch those off position heroes, in your duel, even if they are 2HP away, Duel them, its either a kill (or assist) and the vital damage you will need to become relevant in the game. It's also a very useful disable, since its one of the few "mute" status abilities, the other being Doom(This was nerfed) and Aghanim's Scepter Static Storm for example.

Item Explanation

Starting items

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What you will need in your very first moments on the battlefield is pretty obvious, Basic regeneration; Tango Clarity a Stout Shield for the damage block it offers, since Tresdin is a hero who is usually near the creepwave and to avoid some damage from pesky ranged enemy supports. I did not suggest a Quelling Blade since Legion Commander's level 1 damage is more than enough to be able to get consistent last hits (Up to a whoping 61!) And of course, the GG Iron Branches. These are good enough to build into a later Magic Wand or to sell them when you need more item space.

Items to consider: Magic Stick If you are facing these lonely (and very annoying) offlane heroes such as Bristleback, Batrider, and Silencer who tend to be really aggressive early game in order to prevent you from farming spamming spells. When they try to go for a kill on you, turn their spells against them with your 15 charges and beat them.
Town Portal Scrolls are a must around minute 9, or after you feel the laning stage is over. A real Royal Stone Hall guard does not know when he can take a quick duel in other lanes! Keep at least one in your inventory at all times. Share a TP scroll= save a life.




After Laning Stage items

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This is when the game starts to get interesting. > Pudge is missing!

This phase is crucial for you; Legion Commander is not your typical AFK farm Hard carry, she is rather a snowball type of carry, what you do here will define your fate later in the game, since its harder for her to catch up on other hard carries because her potential lies on racking up extra damage, and stealing it from (prefferably) from their carry. I wont explain the gameplay here, rather the item explanation.

You will need some boots to catch up on your enemies, soldier! and their Power Treads extension are the best in my opinion. Why? Well, they patch most (if not all) of our Legion Commander's needs. First, you have a good starting speed in 310, which is above the average, and gets boosted further by Overwhelming Odds. Tread switch is fantastic on her, since she has a nuke AND a sustain ability, switch to intelligence before casting a spell to save tiny but significant amounts of mana. And, it offers her more HP, and her being a strength hero means more base damage, and the so appreciated attack speed.

The other option are Phase Boots, don't get me wrong they are great for chasing, but I feel them a bit lacklustre against everything that power treads offer, and the damage they offer is patched by won duels. YOU NEED ATTACK SPEED, SOLDIER! FINISH YOUR DUELS FASTER!

I personally love the Soul Ring. Soul Ring is a commonly built item on some carries like Sven, Chaos Knight, or [Dragon Knight]] who have a good high mana cost spell in Storm Hammer, Chaos Bolt, or Breathe Fire, and have in common mana problems early on. Legion Commander, on the other hand, has 2 spammable spells with a standard mana cost in Overwhelming Odds and Press the Attack. The catch with Soul Ring is the 150 HP cost. Yes, these heroes are tanky and have high HP, but eventually, being alone in lane with half HP is not really adviceable. Soul Ring is used on heroes who can use the extra mana AND with that make the most out of it and even regain the HP back. The perfect examples are Bane and Omniknight, Brain Sap and Purification deal damage and even regain their HP back.

Then why would I suggest this on a right click hero like Legion Commander? Press the Attack is such a good spell, it is not only a 300 hp heal (huge early game) but a 120 attack speed steroid (Think of Tiny with this buff) AND a purge, possibilites are endless: Poison Nova, Last Word, Fiend's Grip, Orchid Malevolence, you name it. I've yet to test if this removes Doom or Ice Blast. Legion Commander can just heal the hp taken from Soul Ring back and get 150 more. I find it great on her.

My little baby Blink Dagger. No, you are not the team's main initiator, but Blink Dagger is one of my Legion Commander guide's core items. Why? Well, it works the same way as Ursa. Use Duel+blink in order to catch up with that sneaky fragile hero: Storm Spirit, Bounty Hunter, Nature's Prophet and the others; when doing this early on make sure you have another disable or nuke teammate around, you want to win the Duel in the end.

Blink Dagger is just so good. All around mobility, disjoint projectiles, TP out safely, all for the modest price of 2250 Gold and fast fingers.

Now what? When you get to that time of the game when you ask yourself, "Now What?" It is time to start building your late game and luxury items. I like starting with a naked Hyperstone for the great attack speed it offers and that it could be built later on into two awesome luxuries on you: Mjolnir or Assault Cuirass.




Late Game/ Luxury Items

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Here is where all your hard effort will be noticed. In late game, everything goes, the game is not over yet. So, adapting to your current situation with the correct items here will favor your victory.

First of all, you should be sitting around over 100 extra damage from Duels, if not, then you might start to fall off, so make those Duels happen. Gank with your team, and get more damage.

And now, the item explanation:

Offensive items

Black King Bar: 95% of your games you will need this item. However, it is not a first core item on Legion Commander since it does grant damage, but we want attack speed first. Get this after your attack speed items, against big teamfight spells like Ravage, or Static Storm which will stop you from what you do best: Manfighting. Be aware of what goes through it: Black Hole, Dismember, Fiends Grip; against these spells I suggest having good positioning and vision.

Assault Cuirass and Mjollnir: AC is a very powerful item, and needs a good carrier for the team. Legion Commander is casualy a great AC carrier, she's tanky enough, grants her desired attack speed and tons of armor. If you are dominating and want to end the game, rush this item after your Hyperstone. Did I mention it also reduces your enemies' armor?

Mjollnir, on the other hand, can be delayed more. It grants massive attack speed, and the active casted on yourself is amazing. With Duel, your poor victim will take lightning damage from your strikes and will take yet more for hitting you. I suggest getting as well the Hyperstone first since the Maelstrom isnt as good, it is more a farming and split pushing item, and you want to be in teamfights more than AFK farming like that booooring Lifestealer.

Skull Basher/ Abyssal Blade: These bad boys are just evil. Build it for unfair Duels and that silly Dark Seer that keeps running away, and the Abyssal Blade as a really, reaaaally late game item where everyone has BKB and you desperately need to lock down Anti-Mage. In my experience, Skull Basher is just enough and you can look for other items.

Satanic. You noticed I didnt suggest Lifesteal at all in the guide? You don't quite need it, you have Moment of Courage, which later on is better than most lifesteal items, that would delay your attack speed items. Even then, you need attack speed to make the most out of lifesteal. However, there are times of desperate need when one must fight against the five of them by herself. This allows you to do so, with high damage/attack speed you basically have 2 lives, in order to fight that Aegis of the Immortal Wraith King three times.

Desolator I am not a fan of desolator since Assault Cuirass is way better in my opinion. It's good when you are destroying the enemy team and want to melt them in few swipes.

Monkey King Bar Mainly for Butterfly users and Phantom Assassin.

Shadow Blade Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad item; yes, it offers you attack speed, but its good for gankers or 1 hit wonders like Tusk and Kunkka. Building it for a pseudo scape mechanism isnt good either, since any competent player will get Dust of Appeareance. It is pretty costy and gets countered easily.

Deffensive Items:

Butterfly You might want this very late game when there are nasty right clicks with Time Locks and Coup de Grace. The evasion is good and so is the attack speed, but gets countered by Monkey King Bar. The active is fun too!

Linken's Sphere Well, you are having a bad time against Bane and Beastmaster, I see.

Heart of Tarrasque. Any strength hero's dream item. Awesome regen, and more strength means more damage for you. This and Assault Cuirass are a decent pick up when in doubt.

Heaven's Halberd. Not a fan of it on carries, in my opinion is good for supports to have it, but you never know when you are falling off and you really need to win that duel. It has nice evasion too.

Sange and Yasha Many people dislike the mighty twin blades but I actually like them. They give you more movement speed, attack speed, armor, damage, a situational slow and HP too! I like to get these when I am in doubt and the game isn't going nowhere, around minute 35.




Personally rejected items:

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I made this section on items I commonly see players pick and which, in my opinion, are not necessary or not efficient.

Blademail. You are not meant to tank most part of the game, and your victims won't do much right click damage. It just delays items and you could get a Blink Dagger instead.

Battlefury. This is a farming item, or for heroes who can use the cleave. I don't even like it on Juggernaut, the only heroes, who in my opinion, make the most of it are Anti-Mage and Ember Spirit.

Mask of Madness. You dont need lifesteal, and yes, the cheap attack speed may sound good, but at the cost of taking more damage. In a fight, without good positioning it most likely will get you taken down fast and with a lost Duel. Leave this item for the Pr0s and crazy people like SingSing.

Medallion of Courage Pretty useless in my opinion. I've never seen Faceless Void or Lifestealer go for this item, and theres a reason why. "But Metabee, its good for the duel, you deal more damage!" Well, yes it does, but it is better in the hands of Bounty Hunter and Vengeful Spirit. You dont need the bonuses it grants, either.

Radiance Please don't.

Vanguard You are not Axe, while HP is always welcome, we want damage and attack speed. Just sell the starting Stout Shield and Get a Heart of Tarrasque instead in late game.

Vladimir's Offering You don't have summoned units, and again, you dont need lifesteal.

Tranquil Boots You are a hero who hits and gets hit a lot. Just don't. You already have Press the Attack.

Hand of Midas / Divine Rapier: Game of throws: Extended Edition with Antonio Banderas. Seriously, dont bother on Hand of Midas, sure levels are nice but expend that advantage gold on your Blink Dagger better, you are meant to farm heroes, not creeps. The Divine Rapier can be used as a last resort, but not as an item just to fill all the damage you could've stolen but you didn't. Even at an advantage, I don't recommend either.

Armlet of Mordiggian. "METABEE, YOU JUST COMMITED A HUGE SIN". I have an explanation. Armlet is used in many guides and even in the in-game item build. It does have a good mixture of bonuses, and the active is good. But, it is kind of lacklustre on attack speed in my opinion. It costs more than Blink Dagger, and the heroes who get it commonly build lifesteal too or buffs them in certain way; Lifestealer, Chaos Knight, and Huskar; But, doesn't Huskar manfight too? Yes he does, but the difference is time. They all can fight for a long period early on, while the Legion Commander needs not to waste any time in the short 4 seconds of Duel. You need not a lot of tank either since your main prey are squishy supports most of the game.

Conclusion

Tresdin, the Legion Commander is a very fun hero to play. All heroes take skill, and she is no exception. Playing her to her strengths shall lead you to victory.

Communication is key when playing her. Implicitly, while playing her, you are developing leadership skills. Be kind, forgiving and patient. After all, in order to win the war, a commander won't do it alone without her legion, her team.

Be wise, Dueling is a serious business. Play every minute the hardest you can, be your team's inspiration. Don't react to aggression, and always be thankful to those who help you. (Even if they're in the other team). This my friends, was my advice on how to command a legion, and I think its the way to play any hero in this fantastic game we all like, Dota 2.

"Duelling, though barbarous in civilized, is a highly civilized institution among barbarous people, and when compared to assassination, is a prodigious victory gained over human passions."
- Sydney Smith

Credits to Dr. D for his amazing guide which helped me write mine: Dr. D's Guide to Formatting

Thanks for reading!

EDIT LOG:
-Going to add mid lane build.
-Will add friends and enemies chapter.
-Will add Summary as soon as I manage to understand how to do so.