Everything you need to know about Dota 2’s newest hero, Primal Beast.
After lot of anticipation, patch 7.31 landed, and it introduced tons of new changes. Our first article regarding the new patch highlighted some important things we had to know about the general changes and the new items. Although all those things are important, the star of the new patch is Dota 2’s newest hero called Primal Beast.
According to Valve, the hero is “rushing savagely through enemies and allies alike and is an unavoidable threat amidst any fray”. The hero definitely looks interesting on paper and in-game because it is one of the few heroes that were not present in the original DotA. With that being said, this article will try to provide you with everything you should know about him.
Stats
The first and definitely the most important thing you have to know about this hero is his stats. Primal Beast is a Strength-based hero that Valve considers to be easy to play. Consequently, Primal Beast has only one complexity “star”.
Like almost any STR hero, this one is melee, and he has significantly higher damage than most other heroes. Interestingly, he also has more movement speed and decent armor.
His abilities
Experienced Dota 2 players will notice that Primal Beast’s main position will probably be in the offlane because he is hardy and can initiate. Speaking of initiation, it is time to look at his abilities and why the hero can fit in many scenarios.
Onslaught
Primal Beast’s first ability is called Onslaught and it allows him to charge up and then run in the given direction. If the hero hits any enemy units on the way, he will knock them back. On impact, Primal Beast will do damage and stun his targets. The maximum damage is 380 on level four and the stun duration is 1.6. This spell does physical damage, it does not pierce spell immune targets, and it is dispellable. Furthermore, Onslaught has a 16 seconds cooldown on level four.
Trample
The second ability that Primal Beast can use to cause havoc is Trample. Unlike the first ability, this spell does magical damage, it is not dispellable and it does not pierce spell immunity. Once you get it to level 4, it will have a 5.5 sec duration a 21-sec cooldown, and it will do 65 base damage + a 40% attack damage multiplier on every pulse. Interesting, Primal Beast will be disarmed during this ability’s duration, which means that you have to be careful how you are using it.
Uproar
The next ability is very interesting because it combines a passive and an active spell. The passive aspect allows Primal Beast to gain bonus damage when he takes damage from enemy heroes. Uproar will provide the hero which stacks, and once he decides to use them, it will release a roar that will slow down his enemies, granting him additional damage and armor for seven seconds. This could be a very dangerous ability if used correctly.
Pulverize
This is probably Primal Beast’s most interesting spell in terms of animation, primarily if you use it on specific heroes. Once you press the ability’s hotkey, your hero will grab an enemy target and slam it into the ground a couple of times. Needless to say, this will deal damage and mini-stun all enemies that are nearby.
Pulverize is an ability that lasts for 2.3 seconds and deals 270 magical damage on level four. Its AoE is 600, and the stun duration is 0.3. Furthermore, you need 130 mana to cast and it has a 24 seconds cooldown.
Rock Throw
The hero’s ultimate does exactly what it says. If you decide to use it, the hero will throw a tock at a given location that will deal damage and stun the targets. This ability costs 85 mana to use, it has a 25 seconds cooldown and deals physical damage. However, the ability’s effect does not pierce spell immunity, which is important to know.
Once you use Rock Throw, the ability will stun the given target for 1.8 seconds and it will deal 2750 damage on impact.
Gameplay
Usually, every new hero in Dota 2 is considered overpowered, which is why Valve quickly releases a couple of minor updates whose purpose is to nerf him. This was the case with heroes, such as Void Spirit and especially Money King.
However, it seems like the company paid too much attention when creating Primal Beast because the hero was too weak. In fact, this is probably one of the few times when Valve had to release an update that buffed the hero.
Everyone expected the hero to dominate in his games, but this wasn’t the case. Even some of the best players in the world were unable to make him work, which was a clear sign that something was wrong. Thankfully, Valve’s hotfix made Primal Beast more robust and positively affected the hero’s win rating.
Like every new hero in Dota 2, it will take some time before people learn how to utilize Primal Beast’s full potential. The hero doesn’t look that strong on paper, but it is just a matter of time before we find out how to utilize his full potential. Until then, picking the hero in ranked games is not a good idea unless you don’t care for your MMR.
Primal Beast can also work as a support, but we are yet to see in which positions he will shine the most.
You can find more about the other changes in Patch 7.31 in our breakdown.
You can keep up with all the latest Dota 2 and esports news, right here on ESTNN.
