Dota 2 Overview : Centaur Warrunner

Centaur Warrunner used to be famous for being one of the tankiest yet most boring heroes in the game. With recent changes to his ultimate (from a passive strength gain to an active global speed buff/root) he still retains his reputation as a tanky team-fight oriented hero, but better, and certainly more fun to play.

Stats & Skill Overview

Centaur is not a very strong supportive character being melee and his stun requiring close range, but in a strong dual lane, or even as a solo he does just fine. He has a fairly survivable lane presence with his high strength and the option to skill Return making trades undesirable. His goal is to get levels and some farm going into the mid game where he can transition into a significant source of aoe damage and crowd control.

Centaur’s function is to get into the middle of a group of enemies, Hoof Stomp as many as possible, and then Double Edge for a great deal of damage to multiple targets. To better accomplish this, a Blink Dagger is nearly core on the hero. Past the Dagger, most of Centaur’s other items come down to making him a greater nuisance in team fights by making him a harder target to kill. Already possessing high HP, a Hood of Defiance is popular to reduce magical based damage, as well as giving him the regen he will likely need from using Double Edge on a regular basis. For boots Tranquil are a good early game option for the regen, which allows him to spam Double Edge even earlier. After that transitioning into Phase for the positioning or Treads for the survivability are both viable options. The extra Ring of Regeneration from the Tranquil Boots can also be used for the aforementioned Hood. Blademail is also a popular choice since centaur will often be in the middle of fights. In the luxury items department lie typical tank items like a Heart of Tarrasque or Assault Cuirass.

Skilling Centaur is a pretty simple affair which comes down to how hard the lane is. In a very defensive lane, putting lots of points into Return is worth it as it allows you to trade in situations where you normally couldn’t (2 ranged vs. Centaur solo eg.), making the lane safer. In a more typical lane however, leveling Double Edge primarily in conjunction with Hoof Stomp is the way to go. While receiving the damage from Double Edge as well may seem unappealing, Centaur also has a lot of HP and the comparative loss between him and say, a Dazzle, is substantial. Not to mention Double Edge is a very powerful damage dealing spell. In a normal situation Return is still picked up, just it is picked up as your last ability instead of your primary one. Stampede > Double Edge > Hoof Stomp > Return > Stats. Or for an unsafe lane Stampede > Return (as needed) > 1 Hoof Stomp > Double Edge > remaining Stomp > Stats.

Centaur Warrunner is one of the easiest characters in the game to play. He has easy to understand abilities, is naturally very tanky, and even has somewhat of an escape with his ultimate. There is some depth to the positioning and spell use of the hero, but new players should have no difficulty grasping how the hero operates. (1/10)

Centaur Warrunner Tip of the Day

Stampede is a very powerful ability both for positioning and as a disable that can be used on a global scale with a low cooldown. Don’t be afraid to use it often, but keep in mind that due to recent changes Stampede does not actually provide a stun or root, but mechanically speaking reduces a hero’s movement speed to 0. Stampeding into a Witch Doctor channeling Death Ward is no longer such a great idea unless you plan to Hoof Stomp him out of it.