Jakiro - We Done Good! [With IN-GAME GUIDE Support!]

Introduction

Valve just introduced the In-Game Guide system. Subscribe to these guides for IN-GAME tips on items and abilities...

• Pushing Build
  
• Teamfight Build

I started writing this guide to Jakiro months ago and was just about to release it. Then 6.75 came out. Most of the guide is still correct but a lot of theory about Jakiro is now thrown out the window because of the Ice Path change. He is now being trialed in competitive games and lots of patch analysis experts are saying that he's now a worthwhile pick.

I always thought he was, so this guide still makes sense!

Jakiro is a support Hero with incredible versatility that starts weak but becomes very powerful from the mid-game until the very end of the battle. He's a unique support in this sense, and this guide will take you through everything that is the Twin Headed Dragon.

Jakiro in a nutshell
Jakiro used to be one of the most underplayed Heroes in the game, but when you look at his abilities it's astounding that he didn't get more play time. The Ice Path buff changed all that.

He's easily top 5 at pushing down towers, so fits a pushing lineup perfectly. He is also one of the best counter pushers, being able to completely destroy creep waves with one move... while slowing down the attack speed of any Heroes who attack the tower. His stun ability is a 2 second stun on multiple enemy Heroes... with a low cooldown. If this one guide does anything, I really want it to increase the popularity of Jakiro in pubs. He's incredibly fun to play, very rewarding and is such a powerful utility Hero pick for almost any line up. He just requires the twin heads of patience and positioning

He pushes better than most, so he can lead tower charges. He nukes and disables very well, so he can start ganks. He has 2 reasonably spammy disables and massive AoE damage... so he's always useful in a team fight. All of this comes in a package that requires XP but not a huge amount of items, allowing him to be the ward *****.

He is a jack-of-all-trades. He'll never tear down a tower like Leshrac, he cannot disable like Crystal Maiden and he can't team fight like Sand King... but he fills almost every role (except carry) to a high degree of proficiency.

Other Guides
If you guys like Axe and Dazzle, then check out my other two guides...

• Dazzle - My Shadow LEAPS Ahead!
• Axe - Prove Yourself! The Hunger Game

Please vote and comment if you enjoy this guide!

Mini-Guide

Coming Soon

Changelog

06.02.2013
Nothing has changed. This guide is just as viable as ever, but now we have to update this **** every 3 weeks to stay 'fresh'. Stupid ****.

However, I did update the builds section to try and feature an overall 'realistic build' on the search results... and I've also removed Force Staff because I never build it anymore.

18.12.2012
Updated 6.77 parity changes. These changes feel like they will significantly nerf the Utility build (Build 3), as Ice Path now takes 4 points to deal 100 damage. It's still a great spell, and the build is still viable, but the damage is reduced when it's needed most.

Because of this change, Dual Breath is now recommended at Level 1.

30.10.2012
Updated 6.76 parity changes. Creation delay and mana increase on Ice Path as well as the changed components of Force Staff

11.10.2012
Guide released! Still missing some staples that I put in all my guides, but they're coming soon. Wanted to release this before the post-6.75 bandwagon starts.

Skills: Dual Breath

An icy blast followed by a wave of fire launches out in a path in front of Jakiro. The ice slows enemies, while the fire delivers damage over time.

Range: 500
Radius: 200 (start) 250 (end)
Duration: 4
Wave Damage (Both Waves): 35 (70) / 70 (140) / 105 (210) / 140 (280)
Burn Damage (Total): 5 (20) / 10 (40) / 15 (60) / 20 (80)

Movement Slow: 30%
Attack Slow: 20%

Mana Cost: 135 / 140 / 155 / 170 Cooldown Time: 10


Dual Breath Summary

This spell does it all! Remember that it does two waves of damage and the burn damage on top of that, so at Level 4 it's dealing 380 damage in a huge AoE. Plus it reduces Movement and Attack speed by a considerable amount. It's insane!

As with all of Jakiro's spells, it has a massive casting animation so it's difficult to aim on tricky enemies with blinks... BUT the added plus is that you can press the 'S' key to stop the casting midway if you think an enemy won't be hit.

With all of Jakiro's skills, the 'S' key is crucial to master.


When do you use Dual Breath?

In clashes, aim for EVERYONE if you think you can hit them. If you have to pick and choose, always aim for melee carries/semi-carries. The attack speed slow is a huge reduction to their damage (even more so in conjunction with Liquid Fire) and the movement slow lets your squishies kite them. In early game though, you should probably aim the Crystal Maiden or other squishy supports. 380 damage is enough to scare them away or downright gib them.

Defending Towers is another huge strength of Dual Breath. The damage, slow and attack speed slow pretty much nullifies creep waves. If you're solo defending against multiple Heroes, try to hug the tower and cast a Dual Breath which hits the front of the creep wave on the very edge of your range. You don't want to get dived. This will also give a little extra time for your tower to hit the creeps (movement speed slow) and it will draw aggro... allowing you to pull the creeps away from hitting the tower. What this does is force the enemy Heroes to hit the tower themselves (which is incredibly dangerous if you have allies in the wings) or retreat because there are no creeps to tank the tower.

Dual Breath is also Jakiro's farming and pushing skill. It wipes creep waves flat out, especially in combination with a well placed Liquid Fire. Obliterate creep waves for 'free' wards and TP scrolls.

Skills: Ice Path

Creates a path of ice in front of Jakiro, freezing and stunning enemy units who touch the path.

Range: 1100
Radius: 150
Stun Duration: 1 / 1.4 / 1.8 / 2.2
Damage: 25 / 50 / 75 / 100

Mana Cost: 90 Cooldown Time: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9

Ice Path has a 0.5 second delay before it takes effect


Ice Path Summary

Ice Path was changed massively in the last patch. It gained 25/50/75/100 damage, the stun effect is active for the entire life of the path and the cooldown was reduced. Quite frankly, from what the scene is saying, it's borderline overpowered now.

Ice Path used to be an excellent followup stun, that was rarely used on other occasions. He couldn't chase, he couldn't initiate, he couldn't escape. Now, because it creates a temporary wall (instead of only having a window of stun opportunity), it's much more versatile. Before, it caused no damage so it was detrimental to early laning presence. Now the tradeoff between all 3 of Jakiro's skills is massive.

Ice Path is insane now, at all stages of the game. Why? 100 damage for 90 mana rocks. It's the largest AoE stun at Level 1 and it has a low cooldown. The 6.77 nerf really hurt its laning harass potential but it's still a great spell.


When do you use Ice Path?

Ice Path is best used in the middle of team fights to hold enemies in place as your team unleashes its AoE goodness (and you unleash Macropyre). It's an extremely powerful follow up stun, probably the best in the game.

One thing Ice Path is really good at doing, compared to other stuns, is counter-initiation. If you can sense an Enigma, Earthshaker, Tiny, Sand King or Tidehunter is about to blink into your group, you can cast Ice Path where they will appear and often catch them before they can initiate. It's a bit like Silencer using Global Silence to screw up initiation. The animation starts, they appear in front of you, hit their disable and then 0.1 seconds later it gets interrupted by the Ice Path. Unlike instant long range stuns, you can hit this trick while being affected by their abilities (since the delay is after casting) and it's generally faster than a reactive interrupt after they've started casting. Jakiro can't use twitch reflexes to do anything. Mastering this ability can win you entire teamfights, and games.

As Ice Path has such a short cooldown, you might as well do this whenever your dragony sense is tingling. If they don't jump in, then just pull back and try again.

Skills: Liquid Fire

Jakiro has a fireball added to his attack after a cooldown. When ready, it will hit enemies in an AoE with damage over time and an attack speed slow.

Radius: 300
Duration: 5
Damage (Total): 10 (50) / 15 (75) / 20 (100) / 25 (125)

Attack Slow: 20% / 30% / 40% / 50%

Cooldown Time: 20 / 15 / 10 / 5

Liquid Fire affects Towers!


Liquid Fire Summary

Liquid Fire is probably one of the most underrated and unknown abilities in Dota. Many Jakiro guides recommend skipping it for Ice Path. I believe this is a bad decision and that Liquid Fire is one of the best laning spells in the game.

Firstly, it's completely free to cast... but relies on its cooldown. Skilling it early means you can drop 125 AoE damage on an enemy for free, every 5 seconds. This absolutely crushes weaker melee laners like Riki and Bounty Hunter. Every time they go to last hit, drop Liquid Fire on them. This is way more valuable in 90% of cases than a 1 second delayed stun that can be dodged.

On top of this, it slows attack speed... which can completely screw up last hitting. 50% attack speed reduction is huge for early game (when last hits need perfect timing).

More importantly, it works on Towers. It reduces the massive damage of Towers by 50%. If Jakiro gets to a tower with a full creep wave (which isn't hard, he can nuke them to oblivion with Dual Breath), that tower is completely screwed. He's not quite as powerful as Leshrac with Diabolic Edict, but he's definitely up there with Nature's Prophet as one of Dota 2's most powerful pushers.

Reducing Tower damage is also far superior to dealing bonus damage to towers, since it allows you to dive enemies camping the tower with much less risk of being killed by Tower Damage. Coupled with Jakiro's long range stun, slow and nukes... you and your lane partner can play very aggressively and completely zone out tower defenders.


When do you use Liquid Fire?

If you're pushing a tower, always make sure you don't waste it on creeps. You've got Dual Breath to deal with them, so you should be reducing Tower attack speed every time it's off cooldown. This is permanent at level 4.

If you're in the lane, try and hit the enemy either before they get into range of a creep or after, when they retreat after a last hit attempt. If you hit them while they're attacking a creep, you'll push the lane... so try not to do that. Before or after... not during. You're a supporting Hero so save Liquid Fire for hitting Heroes, even if that means missing last hits yourself (your carry should be taking them). It doesn't activate on Denies, so deny while it's ready and then drop the bomb on enemies when they're in range. If your enemy is too scared to last hit, be aggressive and fly up to them. Hit them with Liquid Fire and then retreat back. Try to do this every time it's off cooldown when you get Level 3 and 4 of the skill.

In a team fight, you'll probably need to stay at a safe distance because you are a squishy caster with no escape. However, if you have supporting teammates who can stun or you've just dropped your wombo combo (Ulti + Dual Breath + Ice Path), throw in a Liquid Fire on their carry while they're disabled. This should be safe. Other than that, use it to protect your carry and other squishy Heroes by targeting auto-attacking enemies who are breaking through your front lines. You will be amazed how much damage is reduced with the attack speed reduction.

Skills: Macropyre

Jakiro layeths the smackdown on an area, dealing high magical damage per second.

Cast range: 850 (1150*)
Effect distance: 900 (1350*)
Radius: 225

Duration: 7
Damage per second: 100 (125*) / 140 (175*) / 180 (225*)
Total Damage: 700 (875*) / 980 (1225*) / 1260 (1575*)


Mana Cost: 220 / 330 / 440 Cooldown Time: 60


Macropyre Summary

Macropyre is another underestimated skill. Perhaps it's just me, but I always thought the damage looked very lackluster on paper. However, when you compare it to Epicenter, Pulse Nova and Black Hole (typical high damage over time AoE spells), it completely blows them out of the water. It has more cast range, a larger area of effect and more raw damage than any of those spells. The long cast time and static nature of the ability are it's main two weaknesses.


How to use Macropyre?

The most important thing to learn about Macropyre is proper positioning.

While it deals ridiculous damage, it also acts as a massive deterrent and area denial spell. Drop it on squishy supports like Crystal Maiden and Vengeful Spirit and watch them evaporate. Worst comes to worse, it forces them to either move out of their cast range or into danger in order to support their team mates.

Another option is to cast it like a barrier in front of any ranged carries in your team. It won't stop a fed Anti-Mage from charging them down, but if your team can chain disable them in that AoE then it's bye bye to their carry at any stage of the game.

In most situations though, you won't have the time or luxury of picking and choosing exactly where to cast Macropyre. In those cases, drop it right down the freakin middle of the team fight.

If you can keep enemies in the effect for the full duration, you're dealing 1225 damage per Hero. The hard part is keeping multiple enemies inside Macropyre during dynamic team fights. When you start skilling your ultimate, it's important to remember your cast order...

1. Macropyre first - Natural human reactions will give you about 1 second of free damage
2. Ice Path next - Your stun needs to be cast next because enemies will still be bunched up (due to the reaction time when you cast Macropyre)
3. Liquid Fire - Enemies are stunned for 2 seconds with your Ice Path, so drop Liquid Fire on them while you wait for the stun to expire.
4. Dual Breath - As the Ice Path stun expires, hit targets with your slow.

With this cast order and perfect execution, you get around 4 seconds of Macropyre damage on targets without escape mechanisms. Still, 3 seconds of the effect is still active. Depending on your enemies and how sneaky you are, the chaos of battle often gives you free Macropyre time before you have to cast your lockdown combo.

Of course, the greatest way to maximize the power of Macropyre is to have allies who can lock down an area with AoE stuns. Enigma, Disruptor, Puck, Faceless Void, Sand King and Warlock are examples of Heroes who can give you free happy fun Macropyre time. Faceless Void is hands down the best Hero in combination with your ultimate. He has the longest disable with the biggest range, and that range is doubly beneficial for Jakiro because it gives him relative safety to get into a perfect position for a follow up Ice Path lockdown combo.

Is Aghanim's Scepter worth it?

It's very likely that you'll never have enough farm for Mekansm + Arcane Boots + Force Staff AND Aghanim's Scepter. It's purely a luxury item and you'll have to make a choice between Scepter, Scythe of Vyse, Veil of Discord and Shiva's Guard.

If you look at the numbers, Scepter gives you 315 total damage (per Hero), 300 extra casting range and 450 longer AoE. If you're teamed with a Chronosphere or Black Hole then I'd say that Scepter is worth it. You'll get the full 7 second duration every single time. The longer AoE is even a little bit useful for keeping enemies who are outside the Chronosphere at bay (when Void is vulnerable). In all other situations though, it's probably not worth it. Veil of Discord gives you more damage (which also applies to your allies) and nicer stats.

Items

Starting Items
3x Iron Branch - Cheap stats, ensures a GG and all that. Great for your Magic Wand

1x Tango - Cheap healing that doesn't cost mana

1x Ring of Protection - Builds into your early Ring of Basilius

1x Animal Courier - You're a good Hero to purchase the courier.

1x Observer Wards - Wards win matches. If you don't buy the courier, early lane wards can save your *** from aggressive mids, roamers and trilanes.

OR

1x Healing Salve - If you don't wanna ward, get a Salve if the courier is bought.

Core
Boots of Speed

Ring of Basilius - You'll only have one spell to cast for the majority of the laning phase. Ring of Basilius boosts your natural tankiness and gives the Armor aura to help with early pushes. This is great because with Dual Breath and Liquid Fire you're a great early pusher.

Buckler - Buckler is excellent on Jakiro and his first high priority item because the armor increase ability helps push the lane in combination with your Ring of Basilius. This gives your creeps great survivability against the tower, which has reduced attack speed from your Liquid Fire

Arcane Boots - I don't find any other boots as useful as Arcane Boots on Jakiro. The burst regen is nice, since your spells have short cooldowns and cost a ton of mana. I usually pick this up before Mekansm because it helps push the lane.

Mekansm - Mek is excellent on Jakiro. His natural tankiness synergizes brilliantly with the Armor stats, and he's just difficult to bring down so he's a reliable carrier that will always manage to use it when he needs to. It also assists with any push attempts. No creeps will die when you cast Mekansm and Liquid Breath on the tower.

Extensions
Jakiro's core is pretty much non-negotiable. The only thing that could possibly be replaced is the Mekansm if you have another support Hero buying it. In that case, you should probably be buying Observer Wards to make up for the money you save. After this though, the following items are excellent in any game.

Ring of Aquila - You've got Basilius already, why not? If you've got some spare cash then you might as well buy it. Gives you some extra stats for no inventory space.

Luxury
After your core and extension the game is likely going to be over... but if you are burning serious *** then you might be able to afford one of these. Your luxury items are all 100% situational, there's never one that's better than another.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity - Add Wind to your Fire & Ice. This is the cheapest luxury item and often the most picked up. When it comes to late game, you've got a lot more survivability than most support Heroes. You'll be surviving most fights (unless you get wiped) and your spells all have large mana costs and low cooldowns. Mana Regen quickly becomes an issue if you aren't dying, so a Void Stone is a highly recommended pickup. Once you have that, you might as well go whole hog and pickup the Eul's Scepter. Not only does it solve all your mana problems, it also gives you another escape/survival tool. Probably the only luxury you'll afford, but a good one!

Scythe of Vyse - Best item in the game. Always a great way to fix your Mana Regen problems. Not much else to say really. Mystic Staff is going to be the tough item to afford.

Shiva's Guard - I prefer this to Scythe of Vyse because it fits nicely with your AoE slows and gives you a massive Armor boost.

Veil of Discord - Rarely picked up on many Heroes but a very underrated item which works perfectly in wombo combo lineups. The magic amplification applies for your whole team, so it's amazing for Heroes like Sand King, Enigma, Lina, Zeus, Leshrac, Lion... the list goes on and on. Veil of Discord is extra good on Jakiro for the same reason many hybrid Armor items are... it boosts his survivability even more than on regular casters. This is usually my go-to item if I'm kicking *** in a game and have excess gold.

Aghanim's Scepter - Like I said in the Macropyre section, Scepter gives you 315 total damage (per Hero), 300 extra casting range and 450 longer AoE. If you're teamed with a Chronosphere, Kinetic Field or Black Hole then I'd say that Scepter is worth it. You'll get the full 7 second duration every single time. The longer AoE is even a little bit useful for keeping enemies who are outside the Chronosphere at bay (when Void is vulnerable). In all other situations though, it's probably not worth it. Veil of Discord gives you more damage (which also applies to your allies) and nicer stats.

Force Staff - I used to get this in most games. It gives you extra mana and the regen is nice (the attack speed was way better in 6.75). You don't get Force Staff for that reason though, you get it for the Push ability. For a Hero like Jakiro, who relies so much on positioning, Push is really amazing. It turns the lackluster chasing ability of Ice Path into a deadly weapon to finish off enemy teams. It allows you to fly into the perfect place to cut off an enemy team's escape route with Macropyre. On defense, it grants you an escape (which is doubly epic when you're already hard to kill) and it also lets you jump into your allies for important Mekansm heals. All round it's a great item but the recipe is so damned expensive now that I often skip it for the more late game oriented Veil of Discord

Roles - Choice of Build

Jakiro can play a number of roles, all of which were enabled by the Ice Path buff.

Castle Crusher - Pusher
Skill Ice Path at Level 1, then max Dual Breath and Liquid Fire before putting points into your Macropyre

This build forgoes his disable in order to completely annihilate lanes in the early-mid game. Maxing Dual Breath and Liquid Fire makes short work of creep waves and then towers. With this build, you'll want Ring of Basilius for the Armor Aura and Buckler as soon as possible. This gives your creeps +4 Armor (19% extra physical damage resistance) and reduces Tower attack speed by 50% permanently. Your creeps won't die.

Meatgrinder - Teamfighter
Skill Ice Path at Level 1, then alternate between Dual Breath and Ice Path until they are both maxed. Pick up Macropyre at Level 9, then take your first point in Liquid Fire at Level 10.

This build forgoes Jakiro's tower pushing passive to control teamfights with disables and high damage. Interweave Dual Breath and Ice Path, picking whichever skill you think you need most in lane (DB for damage, IP for control). I'd even ignore Liquid Fire until after your Level 2 Macropyre. Don't bother with a Ring of Basilius, just go straight for Arcane Boots because this build is more mana intensive and you will be getting your ultimate earlier.

Fire & Ice - Utility
Skill Ice Path at Level 1. Max Liquid Fire next, then Ice Path. Take Macropyre at Level 9 and then your first point in Dual Breath at Level 10.

This build is all about utility. Liquid Fire is a top tier pushing ability. Ice Path is undoubtedly the best non-ultimate AoE stun in the game. Give up the power and pushing of Dual Breath and play a more supporting role. With this build, you will be pushing towers but as a team (using your passive to speed up the process). In team fights, you will pretty much just contribute your stun until you gain your Macropyre. This build is extremely cheap in mana, so you can just get your Ring of Basilius and even buy Observer Wards on your way to Mekansm. If another teammate has Basilius, then use that cash for more wards.

Roles - Playing as Jakiro

Jakiro should be in the side lane. One problem with Jakiro, which is the same for Dazzle, is that he really needs a bit of farm to get going. Jakiro is heavily level dependent (you need level 10 before you even pick up your ultimate!) so he cannot roam and rely on creep pulls to get his experience. Perhaps this is why he sees little play right now (although I'm sure 6.75 might change this). Jakiro needs a duo lane and a lane that can kill is especially welcome. He works extremely well in a multi-stun lane with other nukers (use the Utility build) or in a multi-stun lane conributing his own nuke (using the Teamfight build).

Jakiro has two goals. Pushing Towers and Wrecking Teamfights. Early game, before level 10, he should stay in his lane and apply pressure. The great thing about Jakiro is that he can nuke a creep wave and get to the base of the tower extremely quickly, forcing the enemy to deal with your push. A Jakiro that isn't dealt with will take the tower at 6 minutes. Since you shouldn't be roaming, you should make your team aware that you're going to want a little assistance getting an early tower kill before you can join up for team fight goodness. Once you have Buckler you should be taking your first or second tower. Unless you maxed Ice Path, you contribute extremely little to a team fight until Level 9... and even then you should really be level 11 before you start focusing on Hero kills.

Once you're level 12, you suddenly become a monster. Not only do you have insane tower pushing ability, you can also push and counter push better than most Heroes in the game. It's at this point that you finish your Mekansm and pick up your Arcane Boots.

Jakiro is all about positioning and your team will have to position themselves correctly for sustained tower pushes. Jakiro's bread and butter is getting into tower range and forcing enemies to initiate or lose a tower. Since you've planned for it, you can prepare your abilities to make initiating on you extremely risky. Ice Path almost rivals Ravage as a counter initiation spell.

Your job is to apply Liquid Fire to the tower every 5 seconds and then back out of range. If the enemy thinks about initiating, drop your Macropyre and add in Ice Path if your ultimate doesn't scare them off. If a creep wave arrives, Dual Breath it and focus on the tower once more. This style of tower pushing is perfect for Heroes like Dark Seer and Earthshaker, who can zone enemies out of range with the threat of counter initiation. Add Jakiro in there and the threat is often too high to deal with.

By late game you need to be defending all towers or sticking with your team. It's pretty simple at this point. Stay at the back of team fights and unleash hell. If you hit all your abilities in the right order, you've done your job... there's only so much one Hero can do. By late late game, you won't be melting people anymore, but Ice Path and your attack & movespeed slows are still valuable. Furthermore, your natural survivability will ensure that you have more of a chance to help out than a Crystal Maiden or Shadow Shaman at the 45 minute mark.

Role - Teamfighting with Jakiro - Examples

Explaining positioning through text is often difficult, so here are a few situations from a single game I played with Jakiro (Match ID: 43463616). This game was a great example of the power of Faceless Void and Jakiro


The Early Game Counter Gank
Our team had just pushed top tower and our Faceless Void was alone on bot lane. Slardar and Phantom Assassin were chasing him down when I start to TP.

At this point, I'm kind of praying that Void can read my mind. I see he has his Chronosphere available and cast Macropyre directly in the path of the two pursuers. Thankfully, Void knows exactly what to do...



Phantom Assassin gets ripped to shreds (she was solo laning too, so outleveled us). Slardar foolishly decides to try and save his carry's life, and runs directly into the Macropyre



Slardar manages to sprint out of there but Batrider swoops in from the left side of the screen and we get them both.


Choke on Smoke - The Chokepoint Wombo Combo
In this battle, Chronosphere is down but we're fighting in an extremely favourable position for Jakiro...



Storm Spirit & Slardar catch Faceless Void in probably the narrowest part of the map. Fearing for the life of our carry, I decide to cast Ice Path first, just to ensure that there was the option of escape.



After Ice Path I follow up with Macropyre & Dual Breath



The enemy gets confused. Both Faceless Void and Batrider are obstructing the northern exit so they have no choice but to run south...



And this is exactly where Riki is hiding. He drops his Smoke Bomb and seals their fate. Leshrac was also coming from behind to reinforce, but Riki quickly dispatched of him.


Open Battle

In this example, Batrider bites off more than he can chew and is forced to use Flaming Lasso to survive. He drags Storm Spirit towards myself and Faceless Void... laying down his own path of fire.



Leshrac & Slardar come rushing to help their ally...



Macropyre is cast, cutting off Storm Spirit & Slardar from their allies...



Faceless Void drops his Chronosphere shutting 3 Heroes inside, just as Nature's Prophet finishes teleporting in. Slardar and Storm Spirit die inside the time bubble. Leshrac and Nature's Prophet are hit with Dual Breath, before Riki has his way with them.



Bad Chronosphere

This battle illustrates the importance of patience with Jakiro and his ability to prolong tower pushes. It's 3v3 on the Tier 2 Bottom Lane tower, with Faceless Void coming up from the rear.



Dire pop their Glyph and I begin using Liquid Fire on the tower every 5 seconds, making sure to back off as much as possible between hits. Slow and steady wins the race.



Unfortunately, Faceless Void goes flying beyond the tower and casts Chronosphere. No-one is ready. He catches 3 of them but all of us are out of range. About 3 seconds of Chrono are wasted as I fly into position



Knowing that Chronosphere is about to expire and it is no use with my Macropyre, I follow up with an Ice Path to prolong the stun and try to salvage something from the battle.



Void is eaten alive after his Mask of Madness combo, just as I drop Macropyre.



Feeling like they have the upper hand, the Radiant decide to chase after us... right through the middle of Macropyre. At this point, Riki is primed to strike with his Smoke Bomb.



Riki and Macropyre mutilate Nature's Prophet and Leshrac (see his health) as Slardar & Phantom Assassin charge towards Batrider and myself.



Riki takes a ton of damage from Diabolic Edict as I tank tower hits and Slardar hits his Slithereen Crush, but by this point the enemy have no choice but to flee. Slardar sprints to the north to escape us... I can't quite remember what happens to Phantom Assassin!

Video Examples

Match ID: 43463616
Radiant
Phantom Assassin
Leshrac
Nature's Prophet
Storm Spirit
Slardar

vs

Dire
Faceless Void
Jakiro
Batrider
Juggernaut
Riki

Used in the Teamfighting examples above, this battle shows off the power of Chronosphere and Jakiro as well as the extreme area denial combination of Smoke Bomb and all things Jakiro. It quickly turns into a stomp, but there are still some nice fights and examples of good positioning.


Match ID: 39551371
Radiant
Jakiro
Lifestealer
Pudge
Dragon Knight
Nyx Assassin

vs

Dire
Invoker
Venomancer
Chaos Knight
Alchemist
Kunkka

A shaky start against a Venomancer+ Invoker at the short lane quickly started to look terrible as the enemy team pushed towers as a unit while we were scattered across the map. Eventually we started working as a team and then it was teamfight central. Tons of great teamfights that showcase the strength of Macropyre at all stages of the game. Their team had 3 melee Heroes, who were always caught with the Macropyre Lockdown combo, made especially easy with Nyx Assassin's Impale.

Well worth a watch for tips on using Macropyre and delaying tower pushes.

Conclusion

I hope this guide helped you out and that you have as much fun playing Jakiro as me. I'm sure that he will see a LOT of play competitively in the next big tournament, because of his new buffs. When this happens, I will be adding a lot more content in the form of replays and analysis of pro players using Jakiro. It's likely that we'll all learn a lot when the pros start picking up previously unplayed Heroes, so look out for exciting new builds and ideas on this powerful Hero.

Please vote and comment. All feedback is welcome as long as it's constructive!