Pangolier 7.07 - A first look to the new hero
Pangolier is a new Dota 2 hero introduced with the Dueling Fates update. Currently he is available in the test client, but will join the main one on November 1st.
“Eager to dash into danger at a moment’s notice, the Pangolier thrives on disrupting enemy movements and placing himself in the midst of chaos.
Artfully guiding his blade between cracks in armor and shrugging off attacks with his protective scales, this graceful swordsman is always ready to roll into battle.”
After studying all the skills, I can firmly say that Pangolier is a core hero. He will require farm when played as a carry, but he can still do his job as initiator even with almost no items.
The new hero has optimal survivability skills, a physical nuke damage, a slow on hit, and can transform in an amazing rolling ball with magic immunity. Let’s have a look at all his abilities.
Skills
Swashbuckle
Pangolier dashes along the target line, then slashes all enemies in the drawn direction with several quick swipes.
It is a vector targeted ability that inflicts 24/42/60/78 damage per strike.
The damage is Physical
4 strikes at every level
1000 dash range and 900 slash range
20/16/12/8 seconds cooldown and 70/80/90/100 mana cost
Heartpiercer has a chance to activate from this damage
The huge dash range of Swashbuckle makes it not only a great skill to join the fight and inflict AoE damage, but potentially also a viable escape.
It applies on hit effects:
A Desolator will reduce the armor of the entire enemy team
An Eye of Skadi will slow them all
A Maelstrom can potentially proc multiple Chain Lightning - 0,2 seconds proc cooldown.
Shield Crash
Pangolier jumps in the air and slam back to the ground, damaging all enemies in a radius. For each enemy hero hit, he gains a percentage of incoming damage reduction for a short time.
Inflicts 75/150/225/300 damage
Damage reduction per hero hit: 8%/10%/12%/14%
The duration of the reduction is 10 seconds at all levels
13 seconds cooldown and 90/10/110/120 mana cost
Shield Crash makes Pangolier a viable initiator as hitting five heroes will grant him a 70% damage reduction. Even when you are playing as a carry, the extra survivability will be handy during a teamfight.
Heartpiercer
Pangolier reads his enemies perfectly, deftly slipping his blade past defenses. Each attack has a chance to negate enemy armor and slow the target for a duration, activating after a short delay.
It can be activated by Swashbuckle
Pierce chance: 15%
Movement slow: 35/40/45/50
Debuff delay: 2 seconds
Heartpiercer is a slow that also negates the enemy armor. The 15% proc chance is sufficient to inflict extra damage in teamfight.
It is strong in the late game against heroes that stack up armor. In the early game it will be less efficient if compared to items and abilities that can reduce a hero’s armor to negative numbers.
Rolling Thunder
Pangolier curls into a magic-immune ball and rolls out. When rolling, he moves at an increased speed and can move through trees, but has a decreased ability to turn. Striking enemies knocks them back, inflicting damage and stunning them when they land.
Requires 1.2 seconds to transform in a magic-immune ball
Roll speed: 550/575/600
Radius: 100
Stun duration: 1/1.25/1.5
Knockback distance: 150
Duration: 6/7/8
Damage: 200/250/300
50/45/40 seconds cooldown and 100 mana cost
Colliding with a wall will cause a temporary pause while Pangolier reverses in direction
Rolling Thunder is a multi-purpose ability with a very low 40 seconds cooldown once maxed.
You can use it to escape from a nasty situation, thanks to the extra movement speed and the magic immunity.
In teamfight you can sow the chaos in the enemy formation, chasing the poor supports, stunning and knocking back any hero. Finally, Shield Crash also works while transformed, and if you don’t have survivability issues I suggest using it prior the end of the transformation.
Talent Tree
I think that the -12 seconds cooldown reduction to Rolling Thunder is quite strong. The ability already has a very low cooldown, so the talent will give you two uses of magic-ball in each minute of time.
Hero spotlight by DotaCinema
Credit: Images and videos by Valve
