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Timbersaw Guide Header

Gameplay[]

Playstyle
Timbersaw minimap icon Timbersaw is an armored brawler who relies on cutting down trees as a mechanic for rapid movement and dealing damage. Whirling Death icon Whirling Death does pure damage (and even more depending on how many trees it cuts down) and it also reduces opponents' attributes. Timber Chain icon Timber Chain is a great mobility spell that is useful for chasing opponents or escaping from them. In the early and mid stages of the game, Timbersaw can be surprisingly durable with Reactive Armor icon Reactive Armor, as enemies' spell damage isn't that large during that period. Chakram icon Chakram is a devastating spell that slows enemies even further based on the amount of missing health, although it disarms him in the process. His pure damage penetrates armor and magic resistance, making him deadly against all opponents. However, Timbersaw lacks any true disables, and must rely on his mobility to keep up with his enemies.
Pros Cons
  • Highly mobile.
  • High armor.
  • High health regeneration.
  • Deals pure damage.
  • High mana capacity.
  • No disables.
  • Entirely dependent on abilities to deal damage.
  • Low health in early game.
  • Needs mana regeneration.
  • Dependent on trees at times.
  • Debuff immunity completely blocks Timbersaw's pure damage.

Ability Builds[]

Generic Timbersaw
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Reactive Armor iconWhirling Death iconReactive Armor iconTimber Chain iconReactive Armor iconChakram iconReactive Armor iconTimber Chain iconTimber Chain iconTalent iconTimber Chain iconChakram iconWhirling Death iconWhirling Death iconTalent iconWhirling Death iconUnknown iconChakram iconTalent iconTalent icon

Talents[]

Hero Talents
+1125 Timber Chain icon Timber Chain Range25Second Chakram icon Second Chakram
+4% Chakram icon Chakram Slow20+20% Magic Resistance
+6 Reactive Armor icon Reactive Armor Stacks and Duration15+2.5% Whirling Death icon Whirling Death Stat Loss
+1.5 Mana Regen10+200 Health
Notes:
  • The health talent increases the max health capacity and keeps the current health percentage.
  • Stacks diminishingly with other Magic Resistance magic resistance sources.
    • Increases Timbersaw's magic resistance to 40%.

Tips & Tactics[]

General[]

  • One of Timbersaw's weaknesses is his lack of disables; he suffers against heroes that excel at channeling spells to harm their opponents. In this case, equip him with an item that has a quick disable, like Eul's Scepter of Divinity icon Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
  • Aside from escape, Timbersaw's skill set also makes for good chasing. Cut down trees that get in your way to widen your path and even prevent juking.
  • The trees summoned by Nature's Prophet minimap icon Nature's Prophet through Sprout icon Sprout are still standard trees. As an enemy, you can easily cut them down to escape, or free allies who are trapped within it. As an ally, this can be used to your advantage when escaping (as Nature's Prophet can summon trees in a convenient location for you to use Timber Chain) or when fighting (Nature's Prophet can summon trees closer to you when no other tree is present, so that you can deal extra damage when casting Whirling Death).
  • Cut down trees around towers when pushing to spot enemies teleporting in to defend.

Abilities[]

Whirling Death icon Whirling Death[]

  • Use Whirling Death during or right after Timber Chain to deal burst damage.
  • Try to use Whirling Death next to trees to deal extra damage.
  • The primary attribute reduction from Whirling Death is particularly devastating to strength heroes, who will lose a large amount of HP from strength reduction, on top of damage taken.
    • This makes Whirling Death deceptively powerful against strength heroes, especially in the early game.
    • Whirling Death reduces both base attributes and bonus attributes.
    • The attribute loss also hurts the opponent's ability to get last hits, so make sure to hit them with it whenever possible.
  • Use Whirling Death in the early game to harass and farm creeps at the same time.
  • Try to use Whirling Death more if you get an early Soul Ring icon Soul Ring, as you can potentially do a lot more damage after getting Whirling Death to higher level.

Timber Chain icon Timber Chain[]

  • Timber Chain gives Timbersaw high mobility, and has low cooldown.
  • Use Timber Chain to chase or escape from enemies.
  • Use Timber Chain on trees across impassable terrain and elevations to pull Timbersaw past them.
  • Timber Chain makes Timbersaw one of the best tower divers, finishing off enemies and pulling himself out before taking much damage.
  • Timbersaw can use abilities and items like Shiva's Guard icon Shiva's Guard while being pulled by Timber Chain.
  • Positioning is important when dealing damage with Timber Chain. Move Timbersaw until the enemy is lined up in the middle, between Timbersaw and a target tree.
  • If Timbersaw is stunned during the cast of Timber Chain, the ability will be cancelled, even if it has already latched onto a tree or Timbersaw is already moving.
  • Timbersaw may cut down trees with other abilities to open a clear path for Timber Chain.
  • The talent that increases Timberchain's range removes the need for Timbersaw to carry boots in the late game, enabling him to buy a more impactful sixth item that further contributes to his team effort.

Reactive Armor icon Reactive Armor[]

  • An early point in Reactive Armor helps Timbersaw stay in lane.
  • Aside for tanking damage in team fights, Reactive Armor can also be used as a quick health regeneration boost. You can either visit the small creep camps since they do little damage and come in groups, or tank lane creeps when no enemy hero is present. As long as there are multiple targets attacking you in quick succession, the spell will stack faster, and you will be able to heal faster. Make sure you're receiving damage that is lesser than what you are able to regenerate.
  • Aggro lane creeps during the laning stage to gain Reactive Armor stacks.
  • With Reactive Armor, play Timbersaw aggressively during the laning stage. Harass the enemies with attacks since he does not mind creep aggro.
  • Beware sources of break such as Silver Edge icon Silver Edge, as it will disable Reactive Armor. Stacks of Reactive Armor will not be lost upon the break being applied, however new stacks cannot be gained.
  • Don't be afraid to dive, as Reactive Armor will activate from tower hits.
  • Three points in Reactive Armor may provide enough health regeneration and armor for Timbersaw to tank towers during pushes for a while.

Chakram icon Chakram[]

  • The Chakram travels somewhat slowly, so make sure to predict your target's path and cast it ahead of time.
  • Use Chakram to slow down a fleeing enemy, or leave it behind to deter pursuers.
  • Use Chakram to cut down entire areas of trees. This has numerous functions.
    • To find enemies juking in the trees.
    • To destroy any potential Eyes In The Forest icon Eyes In The Forest.
    • To clear vision in order to spot potential ganks. This is especially useful when laning in the early game, and when attacking a tower.
  • If you are ready to gank in a side lane and are behind trees, use Chakram to destroy the trees in front of you, then use Timber Chain on the other side of the lane; after this, a well placed Whirling Death can almost ensure a kill in many situations.
  • When a hero is escaping through only one potential exit, use Chakram to block that path; if successful, the enemy hero will either be forced to run through the blade, losing health immensely and get slowed, or the enemy has to take another route.
    • To further slow the hero down, cast Whirling Death while the hero is in the middle of the Chakram.
  • Once the Chakram is deployed, position Timbersaw so that the Chakram will hit as many enemies as possible on its return path.
  • To lengthen the time an enemy spends in the Chakram, try to body block the enemy by standing directly in their path. You can easily get close to the enemy to do this if there is a tree nearby to Timber Chain to.
  • Chakram synergizes well with multi-target abilities that disable free movement, such as Black Hole icon Black Hole, Overgrowth icon Overgrowth, or even Kinetic Field icon Kinetic Field.
  • Chakram works very well against heroes with long channeling abilities, such as Shadow Shaman minimap icon Shadow Shaman or Witch Doctor minimap icon Witch Doctor. By casting Chakram while they are channeling, they either have to move and cancel their channeling, or stay and take damage.
  • Chakram can be used while Timbersaw is being pulled with Timber Chain.
  • If an enemy is trying to escape the Chakram return it right before they do to instantly deal return damage.
  • More tips needed.

Items[]

Starting items:

  • Clarity icon Clarity restores mana to Timbersaw, useful throughout the game.
  • Tango icon Tango provides ample regeneration for Timbersaw in the early game.
  • Healing Salve icon Healing Salve helps Timbersaw stay in lane.
  • Iron Branch icon Iron Branch gives a small boost to Timbersaw's attributes, and can build into a Magic Wand icon Magic Wand later in the game. Iron branches can also be planted as trees to use in combination with his abilities.
  • Enchanted Mango icon Enchanted Mango provides a source of mana in the early game.

Early game:

  • Soul Ring icon Soul Ring provides strength and mana for Timbersaw to survive and use abilities.
  • Arcane Boots icon Arcane Boots are the boots of choice for Timbersaw, as they boost his overall mana pool and provide him with a periodic increase of mana for both him and his team. He can disassemble them to use the Energy Booster for Bloodstone.
  • Magic Wand icon Magic Wand increases Timbersaw's attributes, and gives health and mana restoration.

Mid game:

  • Hood of Defiance icon Hood of Defiance protects Timbersaw from magical damage. Along with Reactive Armor, Hood makes Timbersaw difficult to kill in the early to mid game.
  • Eul's Scepter of Divinity icon Eul's Scepter of Divinity gives mana regeneration, movement speed, and a way to dispel disables such as silences.
  • Bloodstone icon Bloodstone provides excellent mana regeneration allowing Timbersaw to sustain his abilities. Furthermore, it provides him with a bit more health, health regeneration, and the ability to heal himself, which is always good for a hero who has to go deep in fights.

Late game:

  • Lotus Orb icon Lotus Orb gives you good armor, dispel disables, and discourages enemy heroes from casting spells on you. It can also be applied on other allies in times of need.
  • Shiva's Guard icon Shiva's Guard makes Timbersaw considerably more durable due to the large amount of armor it provides. The large amount of intelligence it provides is also very beneficial as Timbersaw requires a lot of mana and mana regeneration to do well. The active ability also helps Timbersaw kill his foes since the slow allows him to be more precise with all of his spells and it adds another nuke on top of that. Shiva's can also make Timbersaw a decent initiator.
  • Aghanim's Scepter icon Aghanim's Scepter gives Timbersaw a second Chakram, allowing him to scale much better into the late game with even higher damage output. However, the mana cost of a second Chakram will deplete his mana very quickly; therefore a mana item like Bloodstone icon Bloodstone or Scythe of Vyse icon Scythe of Vyse is mandatory before picking up this item.

Situational items:

  • Aghanim's Shard icon Aghanim's Shard unlocks Flamethrower for further area damage and a slow to keep foes within arm's reach.
  • Blade Mail icon Blade Mail allows Timbersaw to use the damage of his enemies against them. It also provides him with a small amount of armor and 28 attack damage.
  • Holy Locket icon Holy Locket compliments Reactive Armor with bonus magic resistance and amplified health regeneration. The item also gives some mana so Timbersaw can keep using abilities.
  • Eternal Shroud icon Eternal Shroud builds from Hood of Defiance and gives mana from blocked spell damage and spell lifesteal to further improve his survivability.
  • Octarine Core icon Octarine Core improves Timbersaw's teamfight presence by letting him spam his low-cooldown spells even more readily.
  • Scythe of Vyse icon Scythe of Vyse allows Timbersaw to disable a single enemy hero, allowing both Timbersaw and his team to completely destroy the targeted hero.
  • Linken's Sphere icon Linken's Sphere can be situationally good against certain heroes with powerful single target spells.
  • Pipe of Insight icon Pipe of Insight provides Timbersaw with a large boost to his magic resistance, which can be very good against a team that can output a large amount of magical damage. In addition, this item provides a nice amount of health regeneration.
  • Orchid Malevolence icon Orchid Malevolence can be a good pickup if you are having issues with an enemy disabling, silencing, or blinking away from you. On top of the silence the item brings, it gives Timbersaw even more mana regen and bigger mana pool, as well as extra damage output with the burst at the end of the silence. In combination with a Blink Dagger, Timbersaw becomes incredibly fearsome and can punish anyone out of position with ease.
  • Rod of Atos icon Rod of Atos synergizes very well with Timbersaw, since the increased Intelligence attribute symbol intelligence will allow him to cast more spells which deal more damage and the health will increase his survivability. The root from Atos will assist in landing Timbersaw's spells.
  • Heart of Tarrasque icon Heart of Tarrasque makes Timbersaw tanky with additional health and strength. The passive health regeneration is also very beneficial for Timbersaw as it means he can use Timber Chain to escape his enemies, and then he can gradually regenerate his health back up to full.
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