Beat the Meat - Butcher's Way by Gorkzilla

Beat the Meat - Butcher's Way

By: Gorkzilla
Last Updated: Jul 3, 2015
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Build 1 of 2

The Butcher

Build: M A X I M E A T

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20

Threats to The Butcher with this build

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Threat Hero Notes
1
Abathur If you ever catch Abathur by himself, just straight up butcher 'im.
2
Malfurion Butcher doesn't give a crap about roots. Charge right through that stuff and blow him up. Watch out for silence when applying brand.
2
Tyrande Similar to Malfurion. Avoid getting stunned and kick her arse. She might blow stealth if desperate.
2
Sgt. Hammer She'll try to run with her mount. If you have slaughterhouse, she can't do that and she's easy pickings. Mines hurt, even if you're unstoppable.
3
Gazlowe His bombs can make getting caught in slaughterhouse relatively okay for him. Other than that, he doesn't really pose much of a threat.
4
Zeratul He has good damage and a good escape, but has to come into your range. Hamstring is a good revealer. Just make sure not to charge when he's blinking or you'll get taken for a ride.
4
Falstad Barrel Roll is a decent escape, try to use charge whilst it's on cooldown. You tend to be slightly ahead in the damage war.
4
Diablo Tanky with repositioning abilities. Can keep you away from your target, and he can keep you away from himself too.
4
Nova Good damage. Has no reliable escape aside from stealthing, so just use Hamstring and laugh.
4
Tyrael Tanky, and deals a fair amount of damage. Not an optimal target.
5
Li Li You have no CC aside from hamstring slow, so don't expect to catch her. If you do manage to bodyblock her she goes down quick.
5
Brightwing Squishy, but has good CC. Pushback ult can ruin all your hard work.
5
Azmodan Can harass you from range. You can interrupt his E with your E, so make sure to do so. He can bodyblock with his minions.
6
Muradin Has multiple instances of CC, and a good escape. Tanky to boot. Preferably avoid.
6
E.T.C. Knocks you back. Tanky warrior, and thus is not optimal meat beating material. Find a squishy instead.
6
Sylvanas Annoying escape, but not very capable of taking you in a 1v1.
6
Raynor You win the damage war. But, ability to knock you back can turn fights in his favour.
7
  No Threat
8
Valla Annoying. Damage just as good as yours and great escaping and kiting ability. Don't chase her before 13, she'll just kite you to your demise.
9
Illidan This guy. THIS GUY. He loves to jump around and evade our basic attacks which means no healing from butcher's brand. Not a nice guy to meet.
10
  No Threat

The Butcher

Build: Going HAM(string)

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20

Meat Beating 101 Top

Butcher is the most handsome assassin hero in HoTs. He wants to serve you delicious meats, and you will oblige. He excels at singling out targets and taking them out 1v1. However, if a target isn't within melee range, he's in for a world of trouble.

Pros
- Sustain for days
- Decent initiation with E
- Great damage with Q, AA's and Furnace Blast
- 1v1's are very often in his favour
- Good variance of useful talents, only 1 real "must have" talent
- Good utility on Lamb To The Slaughter
- Best one-liner in the game


Cons
- Heavily reliant on Meat for AA damage and sustain
- Lackluster chase until level 13 Crave Flesh
- Can be kited very easily
- Dies very quickly if not actively attacking Branded target

How to Meat Top

Butcher wants meat. You must get meat quick.
Meat gives Butcher the fuel to make most of his encounters in his favour. If you're underfarmed, you'll find your damage output lacking.

MANAGING YE' MEAT


- If you want the sick sustain





Victuals is the go to talent for this. Shrug off lane harassment. Take camps, eat creep waves and act like nothing ever happened.
If fights are taking place near minion waves, eat some creeps with Q.


- If you want to hit max sticks quickly due to repeated deaths/time out of lane





This talent allows you to get meat faster off of fewer minion waves.



This talent allows you to keep your stacks (some of them) after death, so it's good for getting back into the fray immediately after a death.



This syncs really well with Abattoirs, otherwise it may be worth getting something else. If your max stacks and don't feel like you'll die anytime soon, go for it and become unlimited.

THE TOOLS Top

Butcher has a really neat tool set. He's at his best when he's up in a single targets face, consistently dealing out damage and sustaining himself. He struggles dealing with CC and multiple targets.



The default range on this is pretty good, and the damage ain't half bad either.
It's never going to be your main source of damage, but it's integral to keeping targets in range.
It's low cooldown, even without the reduction talent, makes it a really good revealer.



This is what makes you such a beast in 1v1 situations. The sustain it gives is ridiculous. It means that despite being rather squishy, Butcher is a pain to take down as long as he's attacking his branded target.
Apply it immediately after charging to your target if you've got them in a 1v1.
Do be careful with it's use, however. If your target gets away from you, especially during teamfights, Butcher goes down like a sack of bricks.




Initation ability. You can use it as a gap closer but the cooldown is so long you'll probably get to only use it once or twice in a fight. It's also the closest thing butcher has to an escape. Charge to lane minions if you need to disengage. It's no Vault, but we make do with what we have.

Careful when using this against heroes with blinks/teleports. They can drag you along for a ride that you didn't agree to.

THE TOOLS 2: ULTIMAX Top

Now, we look at the ultimates.



This is the one. You want to kill things.
VERY straightforward.

Butchers best source of damage to multiple targets, so if they have multiple squishies, don't be afraid to pick this up.

You CAN use this to clear camps solo very quickly. It may not be the best use but you can do so to steal the opponents camps and quickly get out.

It's crucial to learn how to time it depending on charge range and whether or not you have lunge talent.

Do take if:
- You need/want burst damage.
- You need damage dealt to multiple targets.
- You want to clear camps very quickly.


Loses to
- Knockback/Pushback (Raynor/Brightwing come to mind)
- Burst Damage.
- Targets that can run away.


Is worth it?
- If you can honestly see fights lasting long enough for both procs to get their full damage.
- Even better camp soloing, but the other level 20 talents are a stronger choice.






There's a bit more subtlety involved in this one, the choice of the discerning butcher.
It's most obvious use is stopping targets from leaving an area and then proceeding to cut 'em up.
However, it's got a lot of great utility that varies from map to map.

- Use to trap enemies in areas where they will get hit by neutral creep abilities/map hazards.
E.g Immortals and Grave Golems.
- Use to stop enemies from approaching an objective and secure it for your team.
E.g Temples, Captain Blackheart, Tributes
- Keep problematic enemies from entering a fight. Universal tactic across all maps.

Do take if:
- You want to secure kills.
- You can use it to manipulate control of key map objectives.

Loses to:
- Poorly timed/planned use.
- No clear weaknesses otherwise.


Is worth it?
- Dependant on team formation and map.
- Can zone/control entire teams if used properly, so very powerful. Use it in conjunction with AOE abilities.
Team up with a Nova or something. Do awesome wombo combos.

TALENTS Top

The Butcher was blessed with a pretty good arsenal of viable talents.


TIER ONE



Get more Q's off, and faster.
If you find that you really need the slow and the range of Q, not a bad choice.
If you do take it, consider getting other Q talents and maximising it's potential.


Survivability. A bit awkward on an assassin that loves to go HAM, but okay.
Not recommended, but can help survivability in the early game.


If you need stacks, and you need them fast, this is the talent for you.
Good for situations where you may be losing stacks repeatedly.


The to go talent for this tier. The sustain it offers in lane and after kills is great.
Really shines on Tomb of the Spider Queen, making winning lane and collecting gems a breeze.


TIER TWO


MAXIMUM POKE. If you're going the hamstring route, possibly grab this. Makes it's much easier to confirm kills on targets attempting to leave your range.


Considering the lengthy cooldown of E, this is a worthwhile investment. With this, you can use E once to engage and then possibly keep it reserve to chase down a runner, flee or interrupt something.


If your team has slows and other CC, you can potentially grab this. I find the range of Flail Axe to be preferable.


Apply this targets as they try to run away/are close to death and go kill something else to beat up. If you know how to use it well, a good choice.


TIER THREE


Not really worth it. Sure, it makes ONE AA stronger. Not a real noticeable damage increase.


You've got enough sustain on Butcher's Brand already. Pass.


Useful in a variety of situations. Increase in AA damage, and is insurance so that if you die you won't be left with pitiful damage potential. Scales great with Blood Frenzy.


Makes E a better initiation tool. The range helps closing gaps against fast enemies. The lunge may change the timing of your Furnace Blast > E combo slightly.

TIER FOUR

Covered in a previous section. Moving right along...

TIER FIVE


This is really the best choice here. It makes following up from E MUCH easier, and allows you to actually chase targets.

The other talents here are superficial damage boosts or a survivability talent that really doesn't help Butcher than much. , does however, make Iron Butcher look really metal.

TIER SIX


If you took Flail Axe, this makes your Q a much better tool for keeping targets in range.


Butchers one defence against CC. Pretty useful, since the effect stays on you once your HP is reduced, so you can heal up with Butchers Brand afterwards.


Snowballing. If you took other meat talents like Abattoirs, it's worth it. Without the increase in max meat, it's not as useful.

TIER SEVEN

We've already gone over the Heroic Ability upgrades so...


Make your AA's even more damaging. Slow helps keep targets in range.


I'll say the same thing as I say about envenom, if you can use it properly then it's worthwhile. It can save your life or confirm the end of someone-elses. Given Butchers lack of a true escape, a good idea to pick up.

testimonials (closing words) Top

Quoted:
playing butcher made me much more desirable to other members of my species, thank you blizzard and handsome internet author


No, but seriously. I hope y'all have as much fun playing Butcher as I have, because he's fun as hell (pun completely intended)

This is my first guide-thing I've put up here, so be gentle. Suggestions welcome and I'll try to update the matchups based on what I see in future matches.

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