Brewmaster is usually played in the off lane, but can be played in mid quite effectively as well. He offers a massive amount of team-fight control to his team. He can be very hard to kill without true-strike, as he can easily evade most attacks.
Brew relies somewhat on a Blink Dagger as he can initiate well with Thunder Clap and has low mobility. He is very vulnerable to silences and stuns, as they prevent him from using his ultimate ability, which is where most of his team-fighting power comes from.
@ Valve
What Items to build on Brewmaster
Starting Items
- Stout Shield
- Tango
- Healing Salve
- Clarity
- Enchanted Mango
Early Game Items
- Soul Ring
- Bottle
- Tranquil Boots
- Phase Boots
- Arcane Boots
- Magic Wand
- Drum of Endurance
- Hand of Midas
- Blink Dagger
Mid Game Items
- Radiance
- Vladmir’s Offering
- Echo Sabre
- Aghanim’s Scepter
- Black King Bar
Late Game Items
- Shiva’s Guard
- Assault Cuirass
- Refresher Orb
- Octarine Core
- Moon Shard
Situational Items
- Pipe of Insight
- Heaven’s Halberd
- Lotus Orb
- Linken’s Sphere
- Scythe of Vyse
- Heart of Tarrasque
- Aeon Disk
- Drunken Haze
- Thunder Clap
- Drunken Brawler
- Thunder Clap
- Thunder Clap
- Primal Split
- Thunder Clap
- Drunken Haze
- Drunken Haze
- Talent
- Drunken Haze
- Primal Split
- Drunken Brawler
- Drunken Brawler
- Talent
- Drunken Brawler
- –
- Primal Split
Read Also: Guide to Warding in Dota 2
Brewmaster slams the ground, dealing damage to all nearby enemies and slowing their movement and attack speed. This is maxed first because the movement and attack slow as well as the damage increases with each level. This is Brew’s only nuke and can be used to clear creeps faster, harass enemies out of lanes and to initiate team-fights. You should use this spell if you are ganked during the laning phase as it slows nearby enemies and gives you a better chance to survive against melee heroes.
Drunken Haze
Brewmaster causes the target enemy to be slowed and miss most of their attacks. You should get a level of Drunken Haze at level 1 in most games, as you can use it to secure last hits and denies, and prevent enemies from harassing you. This spell is maxed secondly because you can use it to chase enemies more easily due to the increased slow and decreased cooldown. At level 4 you can maintain it on an enemy with no more than a second of downtime. In 1 vs 1 situations, you can use it to trade hits very well.
Drunken Brawler
Brewmaster has a chance to deal critical damage and dodge attacks. After a few seconds of not being attacked or attacking, he is certain to crit or evade the next attack. Use this to your advantage by getting a guaranteed critical hit off when you initiate, before using Primal Spirit. The color of the spell indicates whether either the guaranteed crit or evasion is ready, so keep an eye on it to use it effectively. You can use this passive to last hit more easily and to trade hits more effectively.
@ Valve
Primal Spirit
Brewmaster splits himself into 3 spirits, each with their own set of spells. If all 3 spirits die, so does Brew. Otherwise, Brewmaster will re-appear at the end of the duration at either the Earth, Storm or Fire spirit in that order, depending on which are alive. Any item you have that provides an aura is centered around the spirit in the same order as above. Aghanim’s Scepter gives your spirits one of your main spells each. Brewmaster is muted during the ultimate, which means you cannot use any items. For this reason, aura items fit Brewmaster the best, although certainly not exclusively.
You can use this spell in a number of ways, although it is primarily an initiation spell. It can be used to make sure you don’t die in a gank or team-fight too early, used to initiate team-fights through all of the control spells it grants you. It has a very long cooldown, so try to avoid team-fighting when its on cooldown if possible. You can use the hotkey assigned to switching between units to effectively control the 3 spirits. By default, this is Tab. You can use Blink Dagger as soon as Primal Split ends, regardless of whether any of your spirits have recently taken damage.
How to use it:
Earth has a decent stun with a very low cooldown, has magic immunity and deals bonus damage to buildings. This means that, although it’s not always effective to use Primal Split to push, it can be used to take towers very quickly, especially as it cannot be stunned by enemies. The best Dota 2 players will certainly take advantage of this.
Storm has a dispel, a cyclone and an invisibility spell. The dispel deals massive damage to summons and purges enemies of most buffs and has a very low cooldown. This spell is often overlooked by players, although it is incredibly strong against many heroes. In team-fights, you should use cyclone on tanky heroes as it prevents them from soaking damage and making their team vulnerable. You can also use it on carries with lots of damage as that prevents them from nuking down your team quickly. You need to identify which target is the largest threat and which hero is preventing you from killing that threat. This may also be a strong support hero like Omniknight or Dazzle. You can use Wind Walk to save Storm when threatened. Breaking invisibility with an attack also applies bonus damage.
Fire has no active spells, only a passive burn aura. It has much higher movement speed compared to the other 2 spirits and high attack damage, although also is the squishiest of the 3. Most enemies will try to focus down Fire, so be careful with where you move it. In situations where you are ganking or chasing an enemy, you can usually just have Fire attack an enemy and leave it to do so. You can also use Fire to block fleeing enemies as it has very high movement speed, although this can be challenging. Its health does not scale with level of Primal Split, unlike the other spirits, which means it will be more vulnerable the later the game goes.
What Talents to choose on Brewmaster
Level 10: +200 Health or +30 Damage
An extra 30 damage at level 10 is a lot, especially for a hero like Brew who can crit, so in most games you’ll want that. If you need to tank up against nukes, stuns or silences to help you live long enough to allow you to use Primal Split.
Level 15: +3s Thunder Clap Slow or +20% Magic Resistance
If you’re playing against a lineup that is particularly slippery or hard to kill, then the increased slow duration can be helpful. If you find that there is a lot of magical damage on the enemy team and if you’re being nuked down quickly, the extra magic resistance will probably help you more though.
Level 20: +100 Attack Speed or +1500 Primal Split Health
This talent choice depends largely on whether or not your spirits are surviving team-fights. If they are not, then the extra HP will make them last a lot longer, and give you time to re-position them if they are taking heavy damage. Otherwise, you can get away with the increased attack speed. This is a massive boost to your DPS, as you’ll be able to crit each of your attacks. Naturally, this is a stronger talent choice if you have gone for damage items like Radiance or Assault Cuirass and even a BKB as it will allow you to front-line and attack for longer.
Level 25: -65s Primal Split Cooldown OR +15% Drunken Brawler
The reduced cooldown will bring Primal Split down to a 35 second cooldown, which makes it a much stronger spell if your spirits are able to survive through the duration. This is more likely to be the case if you took the extra Health at level 20. Just because you took either the attack speed or extra spirit health, doesn’t mean you have to get the corresponding level 25 talent.
If you need more control in team-fights, then the reduced cooldown on Primal Split is probable better. However, if your spirits are unable to survive the duration, and you have items that increase your ability to carry, then the Drunken Brawler will bring your evasion and crit chance up to 40% at level 4, which is very significant in the late game. It’s more likely that enemy carries will have some item to deal with the evasion, but the extra crit chance is always nice. In general, the reduced Primal Split cooldown is probably a better choice, as most of Brewmaster’s strength comes from his ultimate, but it depends on each game.
Build these Items on Brewmaster
Starting Items
- Stout Shield
- Tango
- Healing Salve
- Clarity
- Enchanted Mango
Brewmaster is usually played in the off lane, but you can play him in the mid lane as well. Regardless of which lane you choose, you will almost always want a Stout Shield. You’ll also usually want both a Healing Salve and a set of Tangos, unless you aren’t facing much harass from your lane. A Clarity or a Mango will give you enough mana regen to use your spells when you need to.
Early Game Items
Soul Ring
If you go off lane, you won’t get as much use out of a Bottle and instead can turn to a Soul Ring for mana regeneration. It will also allow you to use your ultimate when you would be out of mana for it. Just be careful about you use Soul Ring if you think you’ll need to cast your ult soon.
Bottle
If you’re in the mid lane, you can control the creep-wave with Thunder Clap and effectively grab the runes. Runes are also particularly good on Brewmaster, as you can use most runes to gank and get kills very easily. It will also do a good job of healing some of the damage you take as a melee hero in the mid lane. Lastly, it will allow you to use Drunken Haze much more liberally and last-hit a lot more easily. This item makes Brewmasters one of the hardest Dota 2 heroes to play against in the early game.
Tranquil Boots
If you opted for a Soul Ring, you may want to get Tranquil Boots if you can dominate the lane through using Thunder Clap. This is because you can use Soul Ring whenever it’s off cooldown and proceed to harass and last hit with Thunder Clap, as you will regen any lost HP almost immediately. If you’re against a ranged hero for example, it may be hard to use Tranquil Boots effectively, as you may find it hard to move close enough to use Thunder Clap effectively. You can always use them to jungle more effectively, however. If you need more physical damage in the early game, you may want to get Phase Boots or Power Treads instead.
Phase Boots
Phase Boots will let you stay closer to enemies for longer and chase them down more easily in conjunction with Thunder Clap and Drunken Haze. It will also increase your physical DPS as you will crit a bit harder. These are generally the boots of choice on Brewmaster, as they really help you to close the gap against enemies and make you better at fighting in the early game, which is what Brewmaster does very well.
Arcane Boots
If your team needs another or a single pair of Arcane Boots, they are a decent pick up on Brew. This is because they let you use your spells much more freely, especially as you are a strength hero with a relatively small mana-pool.
Magic Wand
Brewmaster is very good at fighting in the early game and a team-fight is much more easily won when Primal Split is available. This means that you should be looking to team-fight a lot in the early game, and a Magic Wand is a very cost-effective item in terms of regeneration, especially if you are fighting a lot.
Drum of Endurance
A Drum is a good early game aura that is most effective when you are fighting a lot in the early and mid game. As far as aura items go, they are less effective because you need to activate them for their full effect, although they grant some decent stats and can be used before and after using Primal Split.
Hand of Midas
If your game looks like it will go into the late game, you can sometimes pick up a Hand of Midas. The problem with this is that you need items sooner rather than later, as you are most effective in the early and mid game and Midas delays those items. If you able to farm your lane very well, you can sometimes get it before a Blink Dagger, but you’ll usually want it afterwards and if you’re in a gem where it may be hard to get much farm for whatever reason.
Blink Dagger
Blink Dagger is considered a core item on Brewmaster, because it goes so well with both Thunder Clap and Primal Split. It lets you initiate with a powerful AoE slow, and Blink away when Primal Split ends. For these reasons, you’ll want to pick it up as soon as possible, after getting your boots of choice.
Read Also: Fantasy Dota 2
Mid Game Items
Radiance
A Radiance is a good item on Brewmaster because it gives him a second aura burn which follows the prioritized spirit. Given that Brewmaster is hard to kill during team-fights, you will usually be able to deal quite a lot of damage over time with it to all nearby enemies. When you’re not in Primal Split, you will have lots more damage to crit. It’s also a great spell against enemies with Blink Daggers because Earth will receive the Radiance aura and Fire will have the Burn passive aura. These 2 DoT auras prevent enemies from using Blink in quite a large area.
Vladmir’s Offering
A Vlad’s is a great item on Brew for several reasons. Firstly, it gives his spirits more armor, damage and lifesteal. This means that they will survive for longer and deal more damage. Secondly, Brewmaster usually lives a very long time, meaning that his allies will benefit from the extra damage and lifesteal for likely the full duration of the team-fight. He also passively benefits from the mana regeneration, although this is less significant. Overall , it suits Brewmaster’s play-style of strong team-fight in the mid game.
@ Steam Workshop
Echo Sabre
An Echo Sabre is a decent item on Brewmaster because it lets you attack a second time almost immediately after getting your guaranteed crit off when you initiate team-fights. This means that you will have a good chance to get 2 crits in a row to deal a large amount of physical damage to a hero. The stats it provides also help you a lot, as you benefit both from the strength and mana regeneration. Generally though, there are better items that you can get in most cases. It can be good if you are going for a physical damage build which doesn’t rely much on Primal Split.
Aghanim’s Scepter
An Agh’s is a good item on Brewmaster, because it increases your ability to control the enemy team during Primal Split. This is particularly strong when you lack much control in your lineup. It becomes a bit harder to micro all of your spells, as you will have an additional 2 more in your arsenal, although if you can use them effectively, your team will benefit overall. However, master this and you’ll be on your way to 10k MMR.
Black King Bar
In some games, you may find that you are being disabled for long enough so that you cannot use your ultimate. In these games, you will most likely need a Black King Bar. A BKB is also a great pickup if you are being stunned or silenced when you attempt to initiate a team-fight and as such cannot cast your ultimate in time. There are certain spells like Cold Snap and Battery Assault that also make it hard to cast Primal Split due to the cast animation, which BKB helps with a lot as well. When you use BKB, try to get some use out of it before you use Primal Split by attacking someone first and casting your spells. If you really must, you can go straight into Primal Split, although often you will be able to use BKB to survive a team-fight for longer.
Late Game Items
Shiva’s Guard
Shiva’s provides you with lots of armor in the late game, and emits an attack speed slow aura from the highest prioritized Spirit. You cannot use the active during your ultimate form, so make sure you use it when you initiate team-fights after using Thunder Clap. This will slow all nearby enemies even more. It’s a great choice if you need to deal with illusion or creep heroes.
Assault Cuirass
AC is a great item on Brew. You, your allies and your spirits can make use of the armor and attack speed buffs, and they are especially helpful for your spirits as it will tank them up against physical damage. When you are not in your ultimate form, you will also deal more damage through Drunken Brawler as the enemies’ armor values become lowered.
Refresher Orb
A Refresher Orb will let you use Primal Split twice in one team-fight, provided you can keep your spirits alive long enough. It’s a great late-game item, as it increases your team-fighting capabilities massively.
Octarine Core
An Octarine Core is a good item as it reduces the cooldown on Primal Split by quite a lot. It doesn’t synergize very well with your aura items, although it goes well with items like Shiva’s Guard and Radiance.
Moon Shard
If you are in the very late game, then you can consider picking up a Moon Shard, either for yourself or for a carry. It works very well with your crit chance, and sharply increases your DPS as a result.
Situational Items
Pipe of Insight
A Pipe of Insight is a great pickup against lineups with lots of magical damage. The aura it provides is also good as it applies it to all nearby allies, even during Primal Split.
Heaven’s Halberd
A Heaven’s Halberd can be a good item against heroes that rely on attacking. It will also tank you up through more strength and evasion.
Lotus Orb
A Lotus Orb will allow you to remove most negative debuffs, notably silences which prevent you from using Primal Split. You can use it on yourself when you initiate to deflect single-target spells, or you can cast it on an ally and then use your ultimate. It will always be ready to use when you come out of Primal Split, so there is no reason to use it before you ult, unless you have low mana.
Linken’s Sphere
A Linken’s Sphere will protect you from strong single-target spells that prevent you from using your ultimate. Spells like Primal Roar or Laguna Blade are good examples of this. Keep in mind that you will usually use Primal Split to initiate fights, so it’s not always great if you’re against spells like Rupture.
Scythe of Vyse
Having an additional Hex at your team’s disposal will prove very helpful against heroes that are hard to lockdown. Try to use it before you use Primal Split, as you won’t be able to use it for the duration. At level 3 Primal Split, if you use your Hex right before you ult, you will have to wait only 2 seconds after you return as Brewmaster.
Heart of Tarrasque
A Heart will tank your hero up, but do nothing for your ultimate. Generally, it doesn’t let you team-fight much better, but if you just need to tank up against lots of damage, it can be a good pickup.
Aeon Disk
If you find yourself getting locked down and burst before you have a chance to use Primal Split, then an Aeon Disk will help you to find a window where you can cast it more easily. The cooldown on Aeon Disk is as long as the cooldown of level 3 Primal Split, which fits very nicely.
Read Also: Is Dota 2 Dying?
Interesting Match-ups for Brewmaster
Mana drain
Heroes with mana drain abilities can drain Brewmaster of the mana needed to cast his ultimate. Brew has a relatively small mana-pool which makes him very vulnerable to this. With no ultimate available, he will go down much more quickly. You will most likely need a BKB against heroes with mana drain.
Tanky heroes
Brewmaster has a hard time taking down tanky heroes, as his nukes are much less effective against them and his spirits also lack the necessary physical damage. This is especially true if Fire dies.
Long range disables
Any spell that can either stun or silence you from a long range is a potential threat against Brewmaster, as it can be used to prevent you from using Primal Split to initiate or survive fights.
