Dehaka - Change is Survival (November Patch) by Cooler39140

Dehaka - Change is Survival (November Patch)

By: Cooler39140
Last Updated: Nov 21, 2021
18 Votes
Build 1 of 4

Dehaka

Build: Dark Swarm

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Level 20

Threats to Dehaka with this build

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Threat Hero Notes
1
  No Threat
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  No Threat
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  No Threat
4
Malfurion Malfurion is strong in the current meta, but your tongue can disrupt him. Just remember to NEVER use Burrow while on his Living Roots! ...Unless when necessary...
4
Murky His 1st ult is a serious punishment to you, because you don't like to get hurt by sustained damage as Dehaka. Otherwise, he shouldn't be much of a threat.
5
Ragnaros Yes, Raganros can serve quite a chaos to you; you don't like high sustained damage against you as Dehaka. He can deal a pretty good damage to you, especially with that 2nd ult. If Varian in the cinematic was kinda able to beat Raggy, so can your team, but you by yourself.
5
Chromie Your Burrow can easily evade a lot of her abilities, most notably Time Loop. However, you have quite the trouble reaching her, and she can punish your Burrow with Slowing Sands, akin to Malfurion.
6
Li-Ming A smart Li-Ming will stay in backline and just poke you, so you have a harder time in teamfights. She also has her Teleport to hop around the battlefield. She's so squishy to reconpesate that, so if you manage to cast your tongue or Isolation on her, she's mostly dead.
6
Kharazim Don't mess with Kharazim! He's full of brutal punches, pretty much like... hmn... Geralt, I guess? But anyway, don't trade with him 1v1 as he has absurdal attack speed to make sure you made a bad decision. If you're with team, then he's less dangerous, as one Q and he is usually dead.
6
Sgt. Hammer She's got her crazy long attack range to check if you will go away from her, don't forget her Q and W! At least she's vureable to sneak-ups, so try to grab her from a place where you can set your ambush. With your team, of course.
6
E.T.C. You know what thing you DON'T want to do... it's getting onto enemy team without allies. He can just check if you are near his allies. He's also got his Mosh Pit, but you can avoid that for some time with Burrow.
6
Lunara Lunara is like a better Murky, because she can do sustained damage at all times. She can hop over you, so you can't grab her. She can even scout the area with her Wisps and stutter step with ease! Tho, if she gets dragged and focuses, she's dead.
7
Samuro Samuro is finally toned down a bit, but that doesn't mean you should not watch out for him. He has many ways to make you feel like a fool. Though, a smart Dehaka can get Samuro even when he's Stealthed thanks to Q+W combo or also Isolation. The fact that most Samuro players don't go for E build is nice for you! Still, watch out for his damage and his clones, then you should be fine.
7
Zarya Alexandra Zaryanova is not the girl you'd like to face. She's indeed one of the strongest women in the world, and she's also one of strongest champs for now. Grabbing her can make no sense since she can absorb damage and deal more than she normally would. What else to say... ah yes, it's her first ult.
7
Yrel She's pretty hard to lane against due to her sustain and quite good damage, although you might go even versus her. She's also very durable in teamfights, but your Drag will interrput her channelled abilities.
7
Sonya Of course, she's probably the best hero at solo laning, but you can go even at times versus her. She might also get in trouble when you Drag her, forcing her to either waste her first ult or to make her pick up that lvl 13 talent which lets her Q be used as an escape tool.
7
Blaze Also a good solo laner due to his 4.5 range and pretty good sustain when tanding on ignited oil. He also got his bunker, which does kinda prevent you from making any impact.
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Hogger Aside from his power level, he possesses a threat to you, as he can deal a bit more upfront damage and has ways to avoid your Drag or Isolate. But that doesn't mean you are as behind him, as you can have comparable sustain, especially later on with proper talents.
8
Alarak You need to be careful with this leader of whatever-he-leads. He's got that damaging silence to disrupt you. Good luck when around his teammates too, as they go for you because you are silenced and you can't escape.
9
Stitches Well, Stiches be hungry! Stiches go for Dehaka! Stiches use his hook onto Dehaka! Stiches eat! Stiches do good job!
10
  No Threat

Dehaka

Build: Speedy Drags

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Level 20

Dehaka

Build: Auto Attack

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
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Level 20

Dehaka

Build: Pro Build

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
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Level 20

Greetings Everyone! Top

It's Cooler39140 here, and I welcome you to my Dehaka guide. It's been almost a year since I changed this guide, and now I'm feeling ready to sweep the dust of the past. He's changed a fair bit since the last time, with Burrow now having movement speed as baseline, on top of talent changes. But despite all odds, I'll play him, because he is this powerful warrior who can carry games easily if played well. Enjoy the lecture! :)

Abilities Top

Your Q ability is Drag. It's a short-ranged skillshot that grabs the first enemy hit, stunning and dragging it for 1,75 seconds. Getting silenced or stunned during the Drag effect cancels it.

How to Use

Your W ability is Dark Swarm. After casting, you start to deal damage to each enemy near you. While active, your hero ignores unit collision. This can be used during Drag or Burrow.

How to Use

Your E ability is Burrow. Upon casting, your hero burrows into the ground, giving you Statis and Invureable for 2 seconds. During that time, you cast cast Dark Swarm and Essence Collection.

How to Use


Your D ability is Essence Collection. Nearby enemy minions grant 2 essence when dying, and Hero Takedowns grant 10. Upon casting, your hero heals himself for each point of Essence he has collected. He can store up to 50 Essence at the same time (60 with Essence Devourer).

How to Use


Your first ultimate is Isolation. After a little delay, your hero throws biomass that delas damage to the first enemy hero hit. The enemies hit by Isolation are silenced and slowed by 30% for 3 seconds, they also have their vision greatly reduced for 6 seconds.

How to Use

Your second ultimate is Adaptation. Upon casting, your skin turns blue for 4 seconds. After that time, your hero heals for 100% of the damage taken during that period of time.

How to Use


Your Z ability is Brushstalker. Upon casting, Dehaka burrows to target bush after a brief delay. After another brief delay, your hero comes at target bush. The ability has global cast range and replaces your mount.

How to Use

Talents Top


It's not a bad talent, but it is situational. This can ensure you will stay longer if the enemy team comp deals tons of spell damage. It does increase Dark Swarm's duration, though, so it's technically also a damage talent, but still gate-kept by providing Spell Armor.
This is ultimately the talent that you will pick most of the time due to it's versality. It lets you store more essence, it grants you passive regen, it lets you solo lane better with the globes giving you essence. All in all, a very good talent.
Ok, now I find this talent actually good at some point. The increased movement speed can let you escape or gank better. I prefer to pick this talent with another tank, less often when I'm a solo tank, but only on maps with bushes near objectives, like Braxis Holdout.

Man, how far the talent had gone. From merging Stealth and Knockback, reducing cooldown of Burrow to 14s, and now dealing damage on top of Burrow letting you move as a baseline? Easily the most overloaded talent right now, but it gives you safety and disruption.
I actually used this talent before I started to love Hero Stalker a lot more. It's a lot safer than that talent, but a lot less powerful if your team can snowball the game. What it has, however, is bonus Mercenary damage on W, which improves Dehaka's teamplay at taking those before the first objective.
Hero Stalker is preferably the go-to pick most of the time. It increases the amount of essence you get from Hero takedowns to 20, which lets you snowball further. Also, it now allows your Dark Swarm to grant an essence when damaging an enemy hero - good for more survivality.

It's obvious you should go for this on AA Dehaka build, but even then, this talent is incredibly powerful simply because you have your Drag more frequently, and so you can grab more of your foes.
This talent is actually nice; not a go-to option, but still a nice one. I usually tend to pick this talent against mobile enemies and the enemies that can kite Dehaka out, because against those, you don't AA them often, and the added slow now keeps them at bay. It also grants damage, too.
Well, I eventually stopped picking this talent because of Feeding Frenzy, which is more powerful. Still, you can never go wrong with this talent, and it synergises so well with other talents for Dark Swarm.

This was my go-to ability before the rework, and it's still revelant as a great disruption tool in your kit. If you need to counter something like Mosh Pit or to get the enemy faster and make them regret playing against you, go for this heroic!
This heroic sucked before the rework, but now it's great! It's now a lot better way to self-sustain more. The boost to 100% is a huge difference. It now also has 60s cooldown, which lets you tank for much longer!

A very good talent that you don't feel bad taking. It gives you better teamfight damage and better Mercenary clear. Sure, having to heal with Essence loses the buff, but at this point you should shrug off your shoulders and be glad to survive.
This one is obviously good if you planned to go the Speedy Sanic build, because it will increase your damage potency from your gank. Otherwise I recommend to not even think of it.
This talent got some nerfs, but its still a talent hard to pass up if you don't plan going on AA Dehaka. It provides tons of damage increase that can swipe teamfights.

It's hard to pass up the increased range on your Q, because it can grab key targets you wouldn't normally catch, and so reducing the risk that comes with dragging the right foe.
Previously, it was only after taking this talent that you could move while Burrowed. Now it's baseline for 50% of your movement speed, but this talent now essentially gives you 25% increased movement speed, letting you escape further than before or set up Lurker Strain with better success.
I haven't tried out this talent yet, but it helps you being the main frontliner for your team on maps with a lot of bushes to sneak in and out of. Otherwise, the other talents are better in more situations. It also grants attack speed, so a tad more damage overall.

I haven't really taken this talent at all, simply because there aren't enough situations for me where an AoE Isolation is needed. If it is, though, it can do wonders sometimes.
Having Adaptation every 20 seconds is absolute nuts, and you might sometimes benefit from increased healing. Just the reduced cooldown makes your hero so strong at tanking damage for your team in the late game.
If I gave up on bashing "Change is Survival", I'll bash this instead. I can't find a reason to pick over anything else. I don't say that less CD on your Brushstalker is bad for more global presence, it's the fact there are better talents to consider.
Guess I love this talent now for Dehaka! It's a must for AA build, but you can always pick it for other builds aswell! The slow allows for easier Drags or more damage from Dark Swarm, and the granted essence can sometimes save you! My new go-to talent. ;)

Gameplay Top

Early Game


Right after the game starts, there is a 90% chance everyone in the match will go mid lane and try to achieve first blood and gain a small experience lead. Luckily, you're one of the best heroes at securing kills thanks to your Drag. Just remember to pretty much never use your Z button just to get earlier inside the bush. While it grants early information about the enemy team's position, you're still not a main tank, and without essence, you will likely die or at least be forced to back off way too early.

Next stop in your early game is laning. Dehaka is one of the strongest solo laners in the game. While he's not on the power level of Sonya or Hogger in terms of laning, he's still very powerful. Soaking experience is very important in the early game, but if you have made cold calculations, use Brushstalker (either utilize its passive or active) to another lane and ambush your prey. I can guarantee you will at least force the enemy to retreat. Just remember to have some essence backed up when something goes wrong.

Dehaka is a hero that grows stronger with talents, with lvl 4 being the first one. Hero Stalker is ridiculously good at snowballing the game further and will ensure you will contribute to teamfights for more time. Lvl 7 talents also improve Dehaka quite a lot. You can never go wrong with either a CD reduction on Drag/ Dark Swarm or a longer duration on your Q.

Mid Game


This is the time at least every team will have their ults. And yours can do some incredible work. Isolation will disable one of the enemy's threats for a long time with it's silence, slow and vision reduction. Adaptation will be great if your team needs frontline for more time, and the enemy team can often drop you to low health.

At this point, you are also much better at clearing camps, especially if you took Primal Rage at lvl 13. Try to take some camps by yourself and then Z to join the rest of the fight, or help your team with that task. You'll generally try to stall with taking the camp until some seconds before the objective spawns so the enemy team has to make more complicated decisions.

You're pretty weak if your team falls behind at this point, because you can be kited easily. Even if, you can still try to set up some kills with your Drag to try to get closer to the same experience as the enemy team. Just watch out for CC, and if your Q won't help your team get even, soak lanes and get camps.

Late Game


Dehaka is alright in the late game, but his toolkit starts to dimminish a bit, because the later the game goes, the more the action will be focused on either team's base, exposing Dehaka's lack of range and mobility outside of bushes. But that doesn't mean that he cannot contribute to late game teamfights, as your Drag is still deadly, and one pick can lead to a long death timer. This is also the time where your level 20 talents give you even more bulk, so you can withstand fights for a longer period of time. Still, you're not a main tank, so be mindful when becoming your team's meat shield.

Closing Remarks Top

I want to thank everyone who was glad to check out my guide! While it wasn't updated for quite a while, I still hope it's good for you, and you've learnt something from it. Check this guide for new changes. For now, see you next time!

PS: Btw, if you want to link dehaka's Adaptation, just type "adaptation dehaka" in [this box]. Otherwise you'll get Adaptation - one of Kerrigan's talents.

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