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Hey Guys, its Blinks, and this is how you play Pudge.
Pudge is a strength-based melee ganker. His Q is a hook that does damage to and pulls
a target enemy to pudge. His W is an small aura that does damage to enemies and to pudge
himself. His E grants pudge strength and magic resistance based off of how many kills pudge
has, and his Ultimate is a channeled stun that does damage over time.
Pudge is a very strong mid hero, and his ganking potential and ability are maximized if he
goes mid. Your goal early-game is to get level 6 as fast as possible, and then go gank. Rush
a bottle as fast as you can so you can establish rune control, as runes will likely get you
early kills.
What separates a good pudge player from a bad pudge player is their ability to land
hooks. Remember that while your hooks go through trees and towers, they do not go through allied
creeps or allied heroes, so make sure to remember this when setting up your hooks.
Your core Combo when ganking is Q into W into R. If you forget to activate your W before
casting your ultimate, you can cast it without interrupting the channeling effect. Also remember
that you can hook allied heroes who are in danger to you, effectively saving them. If
you cannot land your hooks mid-game you will not be effective late-game, so be patient
and make sure to land them.
Late-game, Pudge’s role transitions to that of an initiator. Keep landing your Q’s,
start teamfights by Q’ing unsuspecting enemies, and you should be able to win fairly easily.
When leveling pudge, prioritize R > Q > W > E, but start off by putting 1 point into
W. Grab the starting items, and then focus on last-hitting so you can get a bottle as
fast as possible. After that, build your core of Wand, Phase Boots, Urn, and Hood of Defiance.
Depending on the game, Drums of Endurance or a Force Staff can be useful as well. Late
game options include Aghanims Sceptre, Heart of Tarrasque, Pipe of Insight, or Shiva’s.