Pudge is a strength-based melee hero. He gained popularity because of his versatile playstyle and unique abilities. His specialty lies in the fact that Pudge can be played at any position because of his late-game scalability and ganking potential. His farming efficiency and high-damage output make him an ideal core. However, his initiating and disables make him a top-class support. This article will guide you on How to Gain MMR with Pudge in Dota 2 through different roles.
Mastering Pudge is hard, but once learned, he can change the game’s flow in an instant. Using Meat Hook to catch unsuspecting enemies, while Rot slows them and quickly depletes their health is enough to earn a kill. His passive gives him additional magic resistance and strength on every kill he’s a part of. His ultimate provides a massive lockdown to hold the enemy, while allies can move in to deliver the final blow.
This article will tell you all the proper techniques that will help you win all your future games with him.
Pudge
Pudge is one of the tankiest heroes in Dota 2 and can overwhelm enemies with his massive health pool. An experienced player can play Pudge in any role and easily stomp the enemy team. When his spells are used to their fullest, it is nigh impossible to kill him.
Meat Hook extends a Hook in front of Pudge in a straight line. Any unit it touches is pulled back towards Pudge, dealing tremendous damage to enemy units. The cast range extends to about 1300 radius catching anyone in a 100 radius of the hook. It can deal up to 360 damage which can go up to 480 with the right talent. It is useful in separating enemy heroes or rescuing weak ally heroes from a fight.
Rot is Pudge’s second ability. It’s an AOE move that slows and damages enemy units in a small area around him. It can deal 120 damage per second while slowing enemy heroes down by 32% of their movement speed. This is perfect to use against stunned enemies as they stand there helplessly, taking the damage.
Flesh Heap, on the other hand, is retroactive, making it a one-of-a-kind ability. It can gain charges before it’s learned, which become active after leveling it up. This can be advantageous to Pudge as it keeps upgrading his damage-dealing moves and racking up kills without losing progress. Every kill he’s a part of and around gets him a charge. The spell passively gives Pudge additional magic resistance, and each charge adds to his strength. Further boosting his HP regen and overall health pool.
Dismember, the ultimate ability is a three-second Spell Immunity piercing disable that damages the enemy and heals Pudge for the damage dealt. The damage is based on Pudge’s strength, so pairing up with Flesh Heap, this move is a threat to anyone caught by it. Additionally, since it grounds the hero for three seconds, ally heroes can use this to help land the kill.
Itemization
Being a flexible hero, Pudge is not as item dependant as other heroes. However, purchasing certain items for him truly enables him in the best way possible to fulfill whatever role is designated to him.
Aghanim’s Shard gives Pudge the ability to use Dismember on his allies and swallow them. They get healing while inside Pudge and are invulnerable to all moves and damages for the duration. This is a defensive ability, allowing Pudge to rescue his teammates and disengage from a fight.
Aghanim’s Scepter increases damage output and the radius of Rot. It also decreases the health regeneration of affected enemies, which is very useful in team fights.
Blink Dagger gives Pudge much-needed mobility and allows him to chase or flee from enemies. It makes the perfect initiator in his team as he can jump in on enemy heroes and use Dismember. Catching them off guard and allowing his team to position themselves for an easy kill.
Rod of Atos is another great item for Pudge. It allows him to stop enemies in their tracks and help land a perfect Hook on them. Giving him two ways to ground his enemies. This is why it’s important to build the right items in order to Gain MMR with Pudge.
Pudge as a Midlaner
Pudge on Midlane is never out of meta. All his moves favor him in the Midlane. His large health pool lets him soak damage from the enemy Midlaner, while he can easily take the last hits. Being on the Midlane means you will get a lot more experience, and you will reach level 6 before anyone. Not only making it easy to Gain MMR with Pudge but also for you to start ganking heroes in other lanes, and impact them all.
1v1 matchups are precisely where Pudge excels. His ultimate, along with his other high-damage dealing moves, allows him to take care of any hero against him. Melee heroes are especially weak in laning against Pudge. However, because of low armor, he is not good against ranged, physical damage dealing heroes. When matched up against ranged heroes, you can rush Bottle and a Ring of Health to increase durability. Upgrade the Ring of Regen to Hood of Defiance, further increasing your tankiness.
Itemization is key when playing Pudge on the Midlane. If you’re playing against a melee, your moves are all you need to dominate. Ranged heroes are the ones Pudge has trouble against. You can either go a more physical resistance build or magic resistance, based on the enemy midlaner. Overall, Pudge is a menace on the Midlane and can deal with most heroes easily.
Pudge as an Offlaner
Pudge is a natural Offlaner because of his high-harassing spells and huge health pool. He can stand his ground against any combo and is a nuisance to deal with. We use Meat Hook to separate the Support from the Carry to kill both of them easily. His health allows him to tank hits, while he denies ally creeps to keep the enemy Carry from farming.
Rot can quickly lower the health of the enemy Carry, forcing him to spend more on healing. This way, we can disrupt his farming and ruin the timings for his items, helping us in the late game. The AOE damage of Rot helps in farming enemy Jungle camps, which stop the secondary Gold source for the enemies.
Offlaners are playmakers and initiators of the team. All of Pudge’s spells make him great at this position. Charges in Flesh Heap make him tanky, enabling him to start team fights. Blink Dagger gives him high mobility, and pairing it up with Dismember can catch the enemy Carry off guard.
Eternal Shroud is an item that increases Pudge’s impact on team fights. He gains Spell lifesteal, which with Rot heals him for the damage he does. Aghanim’s Scepter and Eternal Shroud are a deadly combo and are go-to items when Pudge is played as an Offlaner.
Pudge as a Support
Pudge shines in the position of Soft Support because of his ganking abilities. His Meat Hook allows you to create openings for your cores to get early kills. These kills also count as charges for Flesh Heap, increasing his durability. After level 6, Dismember can be used as a lockdown to get your Core more kills.
Rod of Atos is a useful support item, as it gives another disable and helps in Hooking enemies. Pipe of Insight gives Pudge durability and magic resistance to the entire team.
Pudge is one of the few heroes who is played at all positions and excels in every role. Practice and timing are crucial factors in mastering Pudge. Hopefully, this article taught you How to Gain MMR with Pudge in Dota 2 and help you stomp your enemies.
