MOBAs are some of the most mechanically demanding games in the world, and Dota 2 is no exception. It takes commitment to master all aspects of the game. If you’re looking to climb up the ranks, simply being mechanically gifted won’t cut it.
While outplaying your opponent can look like the only way to come out on top of any match, the real battle starts right after you load into the picking stage. Each player pick resembles a chest move, and you need to think carefully before locking in your hero. Considering the enemy team’s weaknesses and how your hero stacks up against them is a vital part of any game, which can increase your odds of winning.
Each hero will have weaknesses, but some will undoubtedly be tougher than the rest. Huskar is one of the few heroes that requires an outstanding level of effort to counter. The more health points he loses, the more powerful he gets. The extra health regen he receives from Berserker’s Blood makes it extremely hard to land that killing blow to Huskar.
Dedicated Huskar players may make him feel like an unbreakable wall, but even titans can fall. Here’s everything you need to know to turn Huskar players’ games into a nightmare.
Pick the right hero
Huskar feeds off prolonged fights. When a teamfight starts dragging on, Huskar regenerates faster and initiates back in as if nothing happened. You’ll need heroes that can either finish him off or counter his healing to make sure he doesn’t recover.
The best candidates for this job are Axe, Ancient Apparition, Templar Assassin, Necrophos, Timbersaw, and Ursa. You can check out this list of Huskar’s counters to better understand what works and what doesn’t.
Though each of the listed heroes looks and plays quite different than each other, they have one thing in common: burst damage. Axe, Timbersaw, and Necrophos all have spells that easily one-shot Huskar when he’s low on HP. The trick to beating Huskar will always be taking him down fast, so he doesn’t get to stack up his Burning Spears on your teammates.
Ancient Apparition’s ultimate cancels all healing and health regen on hit targets, and he’s the only hero that can achieve such a thing. Huskar suddenly turns into a weakling when he gets hit by an Ice Blast since he loses all the health regeneration effects that make him the beast he’s.
Ursa’s a natural counter to Huskar since he can just pin him down with his Overpower+Fury Swipes combo. This doesn’t mean there aren’t any heroes that can do the same, however. Heroes like Juggernaut, Phantom Assassin, and Wraith King can also achieve similar results, with Wraith King taking the crown among all of them.
Wraith King takes the spotlight as one of the best carry heroes against Huskar because of his ultimate that allows him to respawn into a fight. Huskar can dish out a lot of damage, but he needs a breathing room to make sure he can take another swing. While he can take down Wraith King once, he may not have enough left in him to stand his mighty critical hits.
Here are all the other notable heroes that work well against Huskar:
- Viper
- Bristleback
- Pudge
- Riki
- Phantom Lancer
- Lion
- Witch Doctor
- Death Prophet
- Weaver
- Centaur Warrunner
- Windranger
- Skywrath Mage
Itemize to counter Huskar
While most heroes will change up their item build depending on the game, Huskar has a pretty standard item build that he has to go through to hit his power spikes. Huskar players will always build an Armlet of Mordiggian as their first major item, and complete a Heaven’s Halberd, Power Threads, Black King Bar in the order they see fit.
Veil of Discord
Since you’ll always know what he’s most likely to build, it’ll give you enough time to consider your options. Buying a Veil of Discord on one of your cores that can use the item to its fullest can catch Huskar off guard since it increases damage targets taken from spells by 18 percent.
Be careful while casting Veil of Discord’s active ability, though, since Huskar can easily dispel it with his ultimate, Life Break. Try to cast it right after he uses his ultimate, so you can get the most out of your Veil of Discord.
Heaven’s Halberd
You can give Huskar a taste of its own medicine with a Heaven’s Halberd, which prevents ranged targets from attacking for five seconds. The Talisman of Evasion used while building a Halberd will grant the owner 20 percent Evasion, which is a great tool to dodge Huskar’s attacks.
Glimmer Cape
Squish support heroes like Crystal Maiden and Keeper of the Light tend to have the most challenging time while dealing with Huskar. While most heroes will have stuns and slowing spells to keep their distance between him, Huskar can quickly close the distance with his ultimate. One item that Huskar players hate buying is Dust of Appearance, however, and building a cheap Glimmer Cape should both help you get to safety and save your teammates from Huskar’s wrath as well.
Monkey King Bar
Considering how Huskar can sustain his HP pool throughout all stages of the game, your cores will need a consistent damage source to keep Huskar under pressure. While heroes like Wraith King and Phantom Assassin will have their crit abilities to keep up the pressure, the evasion percentage Huskar will stack up in the course of a single game may cause them to miss one too many times.
Monkey King Bar gives each attack a 75 percent chance to pierce through evasion and also provides 100 bonus magical damage. A couple of back to back successful Monkey King Bar procs can suddenly melt down Huskar when he least expects it.
Play around Huskar’s weaknesses
Huskar may look like the toughest guy in Dota 2’s hero pool, but he’s quite fragile during the early stages of the game. Huskar won’t be as tanky and will rely on keeping his distance to dish out his damage.
Try to be even more aggressive than the average Huskar player during the laning stage and walk up to his face when you feel like you have the upper hand. We recommend cooperating with heroes that have slowing spells and stuns to close the distance. Any hero that can dish out loads of physical damage will be ideal since Huskar starts the game with -1 Armor.
As fragile as he can be at early levels, Huskar will still have the potential to turn around any fight with his Burning Spears, meaning that you’ll need to make sure that you don’t overextend while trying to take him down.
Isolate Huskar from his team
Huskar players tend to make a lot of mistakes since the hero has the potential to kill almost anyone during his power spikes. While it’s easy to capitalize on mistakes, Huskar’s team will work toward making sure he doesn’t step out of line and throw the game in the process.
If you’re dealing with a Huskar paired with Dazzle, Oracle, or any support hero that can make up for his mistakes, you’ll want to draw him out and finish him before his team can react. The best way to do it is by baiting him into fights that look just too good to pass.
Let your team hide in the shadows while you take the bullet with your half HP. Huskar’ll instantly use his ultimate on you, thinking you’re an easy kill, but your team should be able to avenge you in seconds.
Using blink abilities and blink daggers is also a great way of causing Huskar to overextend since he’ll follow you in the air if you blink after he uses his ultimate on you. While experienced Huskar players won’t buy this trick all the time, even the best can make mistakes, and it only takes a single one to turn a game around.
Don’t let him secure an early Roshan kill
Once Huskar starts completing the first parts of his build, he becomes powerful enough to secure a Roshan attempt with a little help from his teammates. An early Aegis of the Immortal on Huskar can be problematic since he can use it to play hyper-aggressive before you have any answers for him.
The best way to prevent him from killing Roshan is always warding the area and paying close attention to which enemy heroes are showing on lanes. If you notice more than three heroes missing at the same time while enemy towers are under pressure, it may be a good idea to check the Roshan pit.
