DOTA Guide - Treant of the Forest

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nitromon
Treant
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DOTA Guide - Treant of the Forest

Postby nitromon » Fri Feb 08, 2019 12:05 am

The heroes I'm picking to write these guides for are heroes I want to see more in the game. They're often heroes that are actually extremely powerful, but completely underrated b/c not enough people are playing them or know how to play them effectively. Treant is no doubt one of those heroes. Perhaps if more people know how to play these heroes well, we'll see less techies, slark, LC, SB etc... in these games. ;)

Hero Guide to Treant:
Treant is a hard hero to write a guide for because there are just SO many different styles of playing him and he can fit so many different roles - healer, disabler, lane controller, tank, global controller, lategame DPS carry, to name a few. When I use to play him in the past, I favored tank or DPS carry, but now my preferred build is global controller. So unlike other heroes where I will write base on the game stage, I'll separate the parts here by his different possible roles.

Tank:
The last time I checked the DOTA guides, Treant was in the top 2 STR gainers (other being Doom). It means he gains more STR per level than other STR heroes. There has been newer STR heroes since, so he might not ranked top 2 anymore but still a formidable STR hero. His healing abilities and his STR gain makes him a natural tank. In all his roles, it is recommended that he gets a soulring (one of the few heroes I recommend this item). After that you just stuff him with tank items such VG, heart, skadi, satanic, shiva, cuirass, etc... The recommended boot is STR tread early, BoT late. Now, BM is also required and it is unique for him b/c the animation of the spikes are extremely small on him. This means, if your opponent doesn't have a keen eye, they won't see it on.

Skill: Leech Seed (LS), Armor, LS, Nature Guise (NG), LS, ult, LS, armor rest of the way then NG
Items: Tread, BM, Skadi, Satanic, Cuirass, Shiva/heart/Mjolnir or whatever the game demands. (Soulring for start)
Strategy: Use your spells on yourself. Gotta play selfishly to tank. Ult when you gank but don't use it to solo.


DPS Carry
This is probably the build most people are interested in. Sadly that is how DOTA is nowadays, people all want to be the big kahoona. Because of his natural abilities and the AOE ult stun, he can be a very dangerous tank carry. The fastest and easiest way to become effective is actually going MOM+Basher, BM if you need to. Rest is just more damage items. If you are facing tough enemies lategame, then you want to go satanic with proper IAS. This build is similar to tank, but with more emphasis on damage. Use your heals on yourself to stay alive.

Skill: Leech Seed (LS), Armor, LS, Nature Guise (NG), LS, ult, LS, armor rest of the way then NG
Items: Tread, Basher/Abyssal, Skadi, Crit, cuirass/butterfly, then any combination of radiance/battlefury/Mjolnir if you want more damage or go satanic if you need to take on biggies like LC, Spec, etc.. Early game, a MOM is helpful, also soulring for start.
Strategy: Use your spells on yourself. Basically once you ult, you can easily take out 1 or 2 enemies and with the team, you can do massive damage. Satanic is only necessary if you are facing huge heroes. What makes him good as a DPS carry in comparison to say any other STR heroes? He has invisible for gank, LS for slow and nuke, and of course the AOE stun.


Healer/Support:
He has naturally 2 healing abilities and you can stack it with an early Meka. Healer build is usually combined with other support builds. The difference is in the skill set and strategy. Now I've almost never seen a good healer Treant b/c people tend to play selfishly. Treant's best ability is actually the armor. In the healer build, you want to level armor first before LS. The armor is a key counter to many heroes such as slark or LC. I've frustrated many LCs with my Healer Treant. Example: LC finds a CM alone in lane and duel her at early game. That armor will save the CM's life during the duel in which she then can cast her frostbite and nova to run away. LC denied level, gold, and damage gain. Starve those heroes to delay their growth while your teammates survive so they can buy counter items.

Skill: Armor, LS, Armor, NG, Armor, ult, Armor, LS rest of the way then NG
Items: Manaboot, Meka, Guinsoo, Shiva, Book, and whatever support items or what game demands, again soulring for start.
Strategy: Keep your eye on the minimap especially early game. When you see a fight going on, armor your teammates. Check them constantly also and armor and heal them. The longer your teammates survive in lane instead of dying or healing, the faster they level and farm. Use LS for your partner in the lane, save armor for your teammates elsewhere. Also, NG can be cast on your teammates to help them escape or gank.


Global Controller:
This is my preferred role these days b/c it is more a casual play style. However, this role should not be underestimated. My global controller Treant has a high 90%+ win rate (estimate from my various accounts). In short, I rarely lose in this build. Why? Because this is a "fundamental" build that focuses on the fundamentals of the game. "Vision" wins games. The strategy is similar to healer, you must play "selflessly." Use your global heal to keep your teammates alive. The difference is after armor is leveled, you want to level NG as 2ndary for your "mission" after getting agh scepter. Also, you do not want to upgrade your boot, instead go directly to BoT right after scepter. After this, you can then go any other item you wish, such as support or tank or DPS.

People underestimate the vision the scepter gives your team. You can rush the scepter within 20 mins, which by midgame, you can start revealing the map. The CD for the Eye of the Forest (EF) is extremely short along with low mana usage. Within a matter of a few minutes you can have many of the key areas already revealed. It is recommended you first reveal the area around the river, so your teammates can see the enemy crossing over to gank. Afterward, depending on the game momentum, either reveal your own forest to prevent ganks or reveal their forest for your team to gank. I prefer to be more offensive. The EF also gives damage to your ult if they're near, but I rarely get a chance to use it.

Skill: Armor, LS, Armor, NG, Armor, ult, Armor, NG rest of the way then LS.
Items: Scepter, BoT, then anything you want. You need a soulring to start. Also, radiance not recommended since you are doing recon in enemy territory. You don't want to be discovered.
Strategy: While you lay EF across the map, keep your eyes on your teammates and keep armoring them. Neutral or farm lane while you wait for EF CD. If there's a gank in progress, you can use your BoT to get there and join the fight, or just walk there if you tend to stay close to them. For some reason, players tend to get wards and gems for invisible heroes, but not for Treant. I suppose it is because they're afraid an invisible LC, slark, etc... would kill them, but since Treant is just laying eyes, they again underestimate the importance of this skill. Now, more and more players are starting to realize this and in almost every game now, they would be trying to remove the eyes. That is not a problem. EF CD is extremely low, you can easily replace those eyes faster than they can remove them. Also, if they're focused on removing your eyes? They're not farming, not ganking, and distracted. If your teammates are smart, they would take this opportunity to gank them and take them out since you can see where they are going.


Summary:
I absolutely love these kinds of heroes that can be played multiple ways. I highly recommend you go out there and try a few. And don't be discouraged when noobs don't recognize which strategy you're using and complaining. I get that lot. Most people only know 1 way to play certain heroes and get upset when they see something different. But this hero is extremely powerful and completely underrated.

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