After his first five weeks in Dota 2, we take a look at how Primal Beast has been adjusting to life in Dota 2.

Primal Beast was released in Dota 2 along with patch 7.31 a little over five weeks ago. While he looked formidable and had etched a terrifying image in the minds of players because of his role in Aghanim’s Labyrinth: The Continuum Conundrum, Primal Beast’s entry into Dota 2 was quite underwhelming. He wasn’t the easiest hero to get used to, and the fact that his abilities were in desperate need of some buffs didn’t help. In the first few days of patch 7.31, Primal Beast had the lowest win rate of any hero in the game.

However, he received a few buffs and players got used to the hero over the days, which has led to Primal Beast Onslaughting to greener pastures. Let’s take a look at how his journey has been in the first five weeks of being in Dota 2. All images are taken from Dotabuff.

Ever since the hero was released, he was touted as an offlaner. He is a tanky beast with the highest strength gain in the game (4.3 strength per level) and good ways to initiate onto and disable opposition heroes. The Dotabuff numbers tell a similar story, with over 76% of his lane presence in pubs falling in the offlane. He can be a decent mid hero as well, as Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen has shown in his pubs, and while not the best, can also be played in the safe lane as a carry. But once he is added to Captain’s Mode, offlane is where he will most like ply his trade in professional games.

Although Primal Beast’s average win rate is below 50%, it has seen a rise in the past month. His daily win rate for the last week or so has been above average, and it can be attributed to two factors. One is that people have gotten used to the hero and figured out the best way to play him. The second can be explained by looking at the pick rate. The pick rate has declined over the past month, weeding out the players who were just playing him for the sake of playing the new hero, or the ones who didn’t find him interesting, which has resulted in fewer losses. Not that that should be the case with a hero, but with a new hero, it often does happen before an equilibrium is reached.

 

Skill Build

According to Dotabuff, the most popular skill build involves maxing up Trample, followed by Uproar and then Onslaught. In fact, all five of the most popular skill builds for Primal Beast involve getting level 4 Trample at hero level 7, which is an intriguing change from the early days of the hero, where players prioritized Uproar over Trample. Trample is not only good in team fights, but it also helps a lot in farming; especially farming stacks. And in the scenario that it happens, Trample with a Haste Rune is completely broken. If a mid Primal Beast, who is two to three levels ahead of enemy heroes in the side lane, gets a Haste Rune, it is almost a guaranteed sprint to the side lanes to get a quick couple of kills with Trample.

Talents

The talents prioritized by Primal beast players are-

Level 10: +12% Magic Resistance
Level 15: +3 Uproar Armor Per Stack
Level 20: +30% Trample Attack Multiplier
Level 25: +100% Pulverize Duration

Even with talent selection, Trample gets the nod. The additional Pulverize duration at level 25 takes it from 2.3 seconds to 4.6 seconds, which is a great way to take a hero out of a team fight in the later stages of the game.

Item Build

Black King Bar is an absolute necessity for Primal Beast. Offlane initiators like Tidehunter or Mars can get away with not making a BKB because they can get their ultimates off pretty quickly, but in case of Primal Beast, he has to stay there, smashing the opponent hero to the ground. Any disable interrupts Pulverize, so to ensure it is used to its fullest potential, a BKB is required.

The other popular item for Primal Beast is Kaya and Sange. More magic damage, more tankiness and increased status resistance – seems like a no brainer, right?! The increased strength also gives him more damage for his right clicks, which also amplifies his Trample damage.

Blink Dagger is a great purchase, which reduces Primal Beast’s dependence on Onslaught to get the perfect initiation. Blink Dagger can later be upgraded to Overwhelming Blink, who’s damage depends on the hero’s strength. Not bad for the hero with the highest strength gain in the game!

Other popular items on the hero include-

●        Heart of Tarrasque

●        Blade Mail

●        Eternal Shroud

●        Shiva’s Guard

The final verdict on Primal Beast, is that even though he had a rough start to life in Dota 2, things are definitely starting to look up. The hero is built as a tanky disabler, and it will be interesting to see how teams make use of him in professional games when he is introduced in Captains Mode.

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