Tusk
Hero
Tusk
    23 + 3.9
23 + 2.1
18 + 1.7
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Ymir, the Tusk, is a melee strength hero whose array of icy disables makes him a very strong team initiator and ganker. He has a damage nuke and a disable in Ice Shards, which lets him precisely place a barrier in an enemy's path, inhibiting their movement and blocking off their escape path. Should his teammates need help closing the distance to enemies, Tusk can assist them with Snowball, which surrounds Tusk and any nearby allies in a protective shell of snow as he rolls at a target enemy, damaging and stunning everything in its path. Once in a fight, Tusk also has the ability to Tag Team, which allows all nearby allies to slow enemies they attack with physical damage. His ultimate, Walrus PUNCH!, sends a target enemy flying with a mighty uppercut, stunning and disabling them while dealing a critical strike and slowing them upon landing for a moderate amount of time. A strong initiator and powerful brawler, the Terror from the Barrier should never be bet against in a fight, as he can put his foes down for the count with his unique assortment of spells and disables.
Contents
Bio[edit]
Ymir, the Tusk▶️ "After a bar brawl it's customary, as a courtesy, to buy everyone who's still standing a round of drinks."
Lore:
It had been a brawl to remember. There stood Ymir, the Tusk, the Terror from the Barrier, the Snowball from Cobalt, the only fighter to have bested the Bristled Bruiser in a fair fight, and now the last man standing in Wolfsden Tavern. What started as a simple bar bet of supremacy ended with four regulars, a blacksmith, and six of the Frost Brigade's best soldiers writhing against the shards and splinters of almost every bottle, mug, and chair in the building. The Tusk boasted and toasted his victory as he emptied his brew.
No sooner had the defeated regained consciousness than the cries for double-or-nothing rang out. The Tusk was pleased at the prospect, but none could think of a bet bigger than the one he just conquered. Horrified at the damage to his tavern and desperate to avoid another brawl, the barkeep had an idea. As skilled as he was, Ymir had never taken part in a real battle, never tested himself against the indiscriminate death and chaos of war. He proposed a wager to the fighter: seek out the biggest battle he could find, survive, and win it for whichever side he chose. The stakes? The next round of drinks.
Voice:
Abilities[edit]
Tusk compresses shards of ice into a ball of frozen energy that damages all enemies it comes in contact with. When the ball reaches its target destination the shards are released, creating a barrier that lasts for 4/5/6/7 seconds.
Cast Animation: 0.1+0
Cast Range: 2000
Damage Radius: 200
Shards Spawn Radius: 200
Damage: 70/140/210/280
Shards Duration: 4/5/6/7
23/
17/14/11/8)
100/
Pathing block affects spell immune units. Does not attempt to damage spell immune enemies.Modifiers
modifier_projectile_vision: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_tusk_ice_shard: Undispellable. Persists death.In the frozen tundra near the Barrier, after the last sun of autumn has set, ice can form with alarming speed.
Notes:
- The projectile travels at a speed of 1200 and travels until reaching the targeted point.
- The ice shards are always created in the same formation.
- The shards' formation is a 200 radius circle with one open side, the center of the circle is 200 range before the targeted point.
- The first shard is always created at the targeted point, so it is always in one line with Tusk's position upon cast.
- The next shards are placed 40° further to the left and the right respectively, up to 7 shards. 9 shards would make a full circle.
- So the open side of the shards circle is always facing towards Tusk's position upon cast.
- The shards' collision radius is approximately 67, the distance between them is about 6, which is too small for any unit to move through.
- Units not controlled by any player do not try to path around the shards, but simply walk against them as if they are not there.
- This effectively causes them to get stuck until they change directions (e.g. when aggro-ing them).
- The projectile has 100 radius flying vision. This vision lasts for 2 seconds at the targeted point upon reaching it.
Tusk begins rolling into a snowball. Allies within a 350 radius can also be added to the snowball by right-clicking on them, even while the snowball is moving. Once launched, any enemies caught in the snowball's path will be stunned and take damage. Each allied Hero in the snowball will add to its damage.
Cast Animation: 0.1+0.5
Cast Range: 1250
Damage & Stun Radius: 200
Radius Increase per Second: 40
Gather Radius: 350
Max Stationary Time: 3
Max Chase Duration: 3
Base Damage: 80/120/160/200 ( 200/240/280/320)
200/240/280/320)Damage per Gathered Hero: 20/40/60/80
Snowball Speed: 600/625/650/675
Stun Duration: 0.5/0.75/1/1.25
21/ 13/12/11/10) 75
Cannot target spell immune enemies. Does not attempt to damage or stun spell immune enemies. Can pull spell immune allies inside.Modifiers
modifier_tusk_snowball_movement: Dispellable with death only. modifier_tusk_snowball_movement_friendly: Dispellable with death only.
modifier_tusk_snowball_target: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_tusk_snowball_visible: Dispellable with any dispel. modifier_stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.Tales are still told of the wild feat that ended the grand brawl at White Fields.
Notes:
- The snowball travels at a speed of 600/625/650/675.
- The Snowball chases the target for up to 3 seconds, so it can travel for up to 1800/1875/1950/2025 range.
- Allies can be added by right-clicking them at any point. Allies can jump inside the Snowball by themselves as well, by right-clicking it.
- Allies affected by Black Hole, Chronosphere, or Flaming Lasso cannot join the Snowball.
- However, attempting to load in an ally affected by these still adds damage to the Snowball.
- Can gather summoned units, except for wards.
- Can gather allies while they are invisible or invulnerable.
- Units inside Snowball are invulnerable, hidden and spell immune. Allies inside the Snowball are also fully disabled.
- Tusk himself is only muted and disarmed inside it, meaning he can cast his spells, but cannot use items or attack.
- The radius increases by 40 per second, starting immediately as it begins rolling, so the radius during each second is 240/280/320.
- Only gathered allied heroes (including clones) increase its damage. Other added units do not. Illusions do not count as heroes.
- Tusk cannot be forced out of the Snowball, while other units can still be forced out by teleporting spells, without reducing the damage.
- Dark Rift is the only abilty able to force Tusk out of the Snowball. Upon doing so, the spell gets fully canceled.
- When Snowball connects with its target, Tusk is given an attack order on the target.
- This means that Tusk will attack the target even if the player has "Auto Attack" option disabled.
- The disable help function prevents an allied Tusk from getting you inside his Snowball.
- The snowball destroys trees within its radius as it rolls forward.
- This is how much damage Snowball deals (before reductions) with a certain amount of heroes (counting Tusk):
- 2 Heroes: 100/160/220/280 ( 220/280/340/400)
- 3 Heroes: 120/200/280/360 ( 240/320/400/480)
- 4 Heroes: 140/240/340/440 ( 260/360/460/560)
- 5 Heroes: 160/280/400/520 ( 280/400/520/640)
- 2 Heroes: 100/160/220/280 (
- Snowball first applies the debuff, then the damage.
- The Snowball Visible debuff provides shared vision over the target until the Snowball stops. Does not provide True Sight.
Launch Snowball
W
W
Ability
No Target
No Target
Launch the snowball toward the target.
Cast Animation: 0+0
0Into the great wide white!
Notes:
- Replaces Snowball until the Snowball reaches its target or expires.
- Tusk may use Ice Shards, Tag Team, Walrus Kick and toggle autocast of Walrus PUNCH! during the launch time, other gathered units may not use any spells.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Radius: 350
Attack Damage Bonus on Proc: 25/50/75/100
Movement Speed Slow: 75%
Slow Duration: 0.4
Aura Duration: 5
Aura Linger Duration: 0.5
24/ 70
Slow persists if debuff was placed before spell immunity.Modifiers
modifier_tusk_tag_team_aura: Dispellable with death only. modifier_tusk_tag_team: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_tusk_tag_team_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.Even far from Cobalt, Tusk carries the 'Barrier Chill' in his very bones.
Notes:
- Interrupts Tusk's channeling spells upon cast.
- Grants Tusk a temporary aura. The aura's debuff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
- Only triggers on allied hero attacks (including illusions and clones, excluding creep-heroes.), and on any attacks done by units owned by Tusk.
- The damage is directly added to the triggering unit's attack damage, so it works with crit, cleave and lifesteal.
- However, it is added as a raw damage bonus, so illusions cannot use it, and it is unaffected by percentage-based damage bonuses or reductions.
- The slow from multiple attacks fully stacks, with each attack placing a separate debuff.
- Triggering attacks first places the slow debuff, then the attack damage.
Walrus PUNCH!
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Tusk connects with his mighty Walrus Punch, a critical strike so powerful it launches its victim into the air. The victim is slowed upon landing.
Proc Chance on Attack: 0 ( 12%)
12%)Critical Damage: 350% ( 430%)
430%)Move Speed Slow: 40%
Slow Duration: 3/4/5
Stun Duration: 1 ( 1.4)
1.4) 36/ 50/
Adds new ability: Walrus Kick. Kicks the target unit back, damaging them and slowing their movement speed.
The passive proc chance from the talent is not disabled.Modifiers
modifier_tusk_walrus_punch: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_tusk_walrus_punch_air_time: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_tusk_walrus_punch_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.It never matters who throws the first punch, only who throws the last.
Notes:
- The cast range of Walrus Punch always equals the caster's attack range.
- Despite being an active attack modifier, Walrus Punch does proc all on-cast effects like a regular spell.
- The victim is hurled 650 range (1200 if lethal) into the air during the stun duration. The speed adapts to changed stun durations.
- Walrus Punch cannot be overridden by any other upward movement.
- While in the air, other units may pass below the punched unit.
- The slow is applied right upon cast, so the effective slow duration is 2/3/4 seconds since the target is stunned for the first second.
- The punch first applies the debuffs, then the damage.
- Can punch everything, except wards, buildings, allied and own units. Tusk can attack those without wasting it when on autocast.
- Plays a sound as soon as the attack starts. The sound only stops playing upon landing the punch.
- Can be cast on Roshan, but only the stun and slow are applied.
- When the level 25 talent is chosen, Walrus Punch on the current level may passively proc on regular attacks.
- These procs are independent from the cooldown, they do not trigger the cooldown and work while on cooldown.
- They do not cost mana or proc on-cast effects either.
- Increases Tusk's attack damage by an average of 30% ( 39.6%).
- When a passive punch procs during a manual or auto-cast order, the proc takes priority, so that it does not go on cooldown or expend mana.
- The passive punches use pseudo-random distribution.
Walrus Kick
Kicks the target unit back, damaging them and slowing their movement speed.
Cast Animation: 0.2+1.3
Cast Range: 150
Knockback Distance: 1400
Damage: 350
Move Speed Slow: 40%
Slow Duration: 5
Stun Duration: 1
8 100
Modifiers
modifier_tusk_walrus_kick_air_time: Dispellable with death only. modifier_tusk_walrus_kick_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.Tusk may have made his name with his fists, but the wise enemy is wary of any and all limbs.
Notes:
- Requires Aghanim's Scepter to be unlocked.
- In Ability Draft, Walrus Kick can be unlocked by the player that drafted Walrus PUNCH!.
- Unlike Walrus Punch, Walrus Kick is not an active attack modifier.
- The target travels away from Tusk in an arc 1400 range far and 360 range high.
- Walrus Kick cannot be overridden by any other forced movement.
- While in the air, other units may pass below the kicked unit.
- The slow debuff is applied right upon cast, so the effective slow duration is 4 seconds since the target is stunned for the first second.
- The kick first applies the debuff, then the damage.
- Destroys trees within a 100 radius around the kicked unit during the knockback.
- Can be cast on Roshan, but only the stun, damage and slow are applied.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
| -8s Snowball Cooldown | 25 | 12% Chance Walrus Punch |
| +80% Walrus Punch Crit | 20 | -6s Ice Shards Cooldown |
| +120 Snowball Damage | 15 | +325 Health |
| +0.4s Walrus Punch Stun Duration | 10 | +8 Health Regen |
Notes:
- The health talent increases maximum health capacity, and keeps the current health percentage.
Recent Changes[edit]
Main Article: Tusk/Changelogs
Version
Description
- Talents:
- Level 10 left talent: +0.5s Walrus PUNCH! stun duration reduced to +0.4s.
- Level 10 right talent: +10 health regen reduced to +8.
- Level 15 left talent: +150 Snowball base damage reduced to +120.
- Level 15 right talent: +400 health reduced to +325.
- Level 20 left talent: +100% Walrus PUNCH! critical damage reduced to +80%.
- Level 20 right talent: -8s Ice Shards cooldown reduced to -6s.
- Level 25 left talent: -7s Snowball cooldown reduced to -6s.
- Level 25 right talent: 15% Walrus PUNCH! proc chance reduced to 12%.
- Increased base movement speed from 310 to 315.
- Increased Ice Shards damage from 60/120/180/240 to 70/140/210/280.
Recommended items[edit]
Starting items:
- Tango gives Tusk health sustain in-lane, allowing him to survive enemy harass and continue gaining gold and experience.
- Healing Salve also restores health to Tusk.
- Clarity allows Tusk to replenish his mana pool from casting spells, important since all of his basic spells are very expensive and will consume a sizable fraction of his small base mana pool. In particular, Ice Shards can consume almost half of Tusk's mana pool, so having enough mana to cast his full combo can make or break getting first blood.
- Iron Branch gives Tusk attributes, important for beefing up his health, base damage, and mana to increase his survivability in lane. It builds into Magic Wand later on.
- Enchanted Mango is a useful starting item to purchase, as it gives Tusk some passive HP regen, mitigating harass damage, and a way to instantly replenish mana for casting his spells in a pinch.
- Orb of Venom is a strong pickup in any situation, but particularly if Tusk is a roamer. Applying the slow debuff can reduce an enemy's chances of escaping, and stacks alongside Tag Team to help chase down fleeing enemies.
Early game:
- Boots of Speed is important to purchase early on, as Tusk relies on good positioning in order to make the most of his spells. He can more easily chase down enemies during ganks, or escape pursuers.
- Magic Wand's charge storage allows Tusk to immediately replenish his HP and mana, which can make or break fights or ganks given his powerful spells.
- Urn of Shadows gives Tusk many benefits for a cheap price. As a highly mobile ganker, Tusk can easily get charges with which to heal himself and teammates or deal more damage in ganks; as well, Urn charges can instantly put enemy Blink Daggers on cooldown from a distance. The item also provides strength, giving Tusk more HP and base damage, and scaling mana regen to help him to cast spells more easily.
Mid game:
- Phase Boots's bonus to attack damage increase damage done with Walrus PUNCH!. He can use the active to keep close to the enemies during Tag Team.
- Drum of Endurance gives Tusk attributes that give him more health, damage, and a larger mana pool to work with. The active improves his mobility and gives his team an edge when engaging the enemy.
Late game:
- Blink Dagger is powerful in many situations. As Tusk requires good positioning to use his spells, Blink Dagger can allow him to immediately get within range to cast a disable. In a pinch, it can also be used to jump on top of a beleaguered ally to protect them with Snowball, or as an escape mechanism after casting Snowball to protect himself long enough for it to come off cooldown.
- Aghanim's Scepter unlocks Walrus Kick, greatly increasing Tusk's impact in fights and ganks. The item also makes Tusk tankier and improves his mana pool to sustain his spell casting.
- Lotus Orb gives Tusk increased survivability when initiating against powerful enemies. Besides giving him more armor to aid survivability, Echo Shell allows Tusk to use the enemy's unit-targeted spells against them should they attempt to target him during initiations, and can otherwise give him a larger window to act while the enemy hesitates. The scaling mana regen also helps Tusk to maintain casting his spells.
Situational items:
- Bottle is very powerful on mobile initiators like Tusk, since he can roam and set up kills for his team, and as such benefits from always being at full HP and mana should a gank opportunity arise. As well, he can take advantage of runes to increase his ganking power.
- Desolator gives Tusk increased bonus damage, and allows him to apply an armor debuff to enemies, particularly when combined with Walrus PUNCH.
- Shadow Blade increases Tusk's physical damage output, and gives him yet another initiation ability. Shadow Walk can be used to deal tremendous physical damage to a gank target with Walrus PUNCH!, or can be cast to escape in a tight situation.
- Heaven's Halberd helps make Tusk a better all-around fighter through its various bonuses. It grants more strength, status resistance, and evasion for increased survivability, and a disarm to shut down enemy carries.
- Assault Cuirass is a strong aura and fighting item that, while expensive, can greatly improve Tusk's damage output. The increased armor makes Tusk much tankier, and the attack speed helps him to deal more damage. The aura can be easily utilized due to Snowball giving Tusk a way to get close to enemies, and its armor debuff can increase the hitting power of Walrus PUNCH!.
- Solar Crest gives Tusk armor and attributes to make Tusk tankier, and the mana regeneration helps to sustain his expensive but powerful abilities. Using the active on an enemy during initiation can increase the amount of damage they take from Walrus PUNCH! and allied attacks, as well as lowering their movement and attack speed.
- Silver Edge can greatly augment Tusk's initiating power. Besides improving Tusk's damage output, applying a break to an important target can disable their passive abilities, making them a much smaller threat in an engagement.
- Blade Mail is a powerful survivability item that fills in many of Tusk's deficiencies. The armor makes him tankier, the intelligence shores up his small mana pool, and the damage improves the potency of Walrus PUNCH!. Using the active can discourage enemies from attacking Tusk, and can allow him to use his HP pool offensively against gank targets who try to fight back.
- Soul Ring provides health regeneration, allowing Tusk to roam more independently, and lets Tusk dip into his HP pool to cast his spells, allowing him to be more active on the map.
- Arcane Boots increases the size of Tusk's mana pool and gives him a means with which to replenish it, along with that of his teammates. Being able to easily sustain his own mana pool allows Tusk to stay on the go and use his spells to set up kills for his team.
- Force Staff is a strong utility item that increases Tusk's mobility. It provides intelligence, improving his mana pool, and gives him HP regen to keep his health topped up. The active can be used as an initiation booster to help Tusk position himself to cast his spells, as a quick escape, or can be used on allies to re-position them for various purposes. It can also be cast on enemies to dis-position them, or to break an enemy Linken's Sphere during initiation.
Gameplay[edit]
| Roles: | Initiator Disabler Nuker |
|---|---|
| Complexity: | ★☆☆ |
| Playstyle: | Amidst broken stools and shattered bottles, the bewildered barkeep issued Ymir his greatest challenge. Find a proper battle, and win it for whichever side he chose. With that, the champion brawler strode forth, bringing with him the northern elements in the form of a frozen sigil. To make sure no opponent chickens out, Ymir throws down a field of Ice Shards, cutting off all retreat. Gathering both snow and allies, Ymir rolls into battle as an unstoppable Snowball, stunning foes in its path. For a finale, the Tusk winds up his drinking arm, and launches his opponent into orbit with one good, solid Walrus PUNCH! |
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- In DotA, Tusk's title is Tuskarr. The Tuskarr are a race of humanoid walruses in the Warcraft universe.
- His response ▶️ "Falcon Punch!" is a reference to Captain Falcon's signature move in the Super Smash Bros. franchise, which has also become a popular internet meme.
- His response ▶️ "Bang! Zoom! To the Mad Moon!" is likely a reference to The Honeymooners character Ralph Kramden, who would frequently say "Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!".
- His response ▶️ "Coulda been a contender." is likely a reference to the quote from the movie On the Waterfront.
- His response ▶️ "My fight money." is likely a reference to Balrog from Street Fighter who says the same thing whenever he loses a round.
- His response to missing a Walrus Punch, ▶️ "Well there's your problem." is likely a reference to Adam Savage from Mythbusters, who has made it a show catchphrase. Savage often jokes that the mustache of his co-host Jamie Hyneman makes him look like a walrus.
- His response ▶️ "Double Dragon Punch Punch!" is a reference to the game, "Double Dragon".
- In Tusk's lore, the Bristled Bruiser is Bristleback, who was ported to Dota 2 roughly a month after Tusk; Bristleback's lore makes mention of Tusk as well, and the two heroes share rival and ally lines with regards to this relationship.
- Before 6.80, where Walrus PUNCH! dealt higher crit damage to targets below 50% health, the floating text above the target would change:
- When landed on an enemy creep whose health was above 50%, the caption read "Penguin Punch!" in small blue letters.
- When landed on an enemy hero whose health was above 50%, the caption read "Polar Punch!" in medium blue letters.
- When landed on any enemy whose health was below 50%, it read "Walrus Punch!" in large letters.
- In the current version, it always displays "Walrus Punch", no matter what is targeted.
- Rubick's version of Walrus Punch would throw a projectile which uses Rubick's model and spins towards the target. When used on Tusk, it would read "Sucker Punch!" in green. On other targets, it read "Stolen Punch".
Gallery[edit]
Splash artwork
Trading card art
Ability icon progress [?]
Hero icon progress
Old Floating texts of Walrus Punch. [?]
