Timbersaw Overview

Lore & Bio

"I'm not a lumberjack. This is personal."

In his mind, Rizzrack could still hear the screams. He worked furiously, turning wrenches, twisting screws, constructing, carving, and forging. Sleep eluded him; all he did was build. Months had passed since he'd locked himself away in his uncle's workshop, and his deliverance was almost complete. As his eyes closed, he saw a blanket of flowers floating on the calm waves of Augury Bay before exploding into a cloud of pollen that silenced lives as it seized the lungs. With a choking start, he awoke. The rhythmic sound of a whetstone filled the shop for hours as he sharpened a set of massive blades, his mind racing with images of strangling vines garroting neighbors and enwrapping homes. Augury Bay's flooding had been nothing compared to the violent horrors that had taken root beyond the city walls.

But, he reasoned, the saw-suit would make him strong and safe, allowing himself this glimmer of hope before the full force of his fear slammed into his fading mind. Branches, bark, and blood Rizzrack fled the city as trees that walked, fought, and killed. The gates had been shattered, and trees had swarmed into the city. Trees had crushed, thrashed, and stomped the last defense Augury Bay had, and stalked the few fleeing refugees. Rizzrack unspooled the thick chain from the suit's arm in hushed silence, his hands trembling as he inspected each link and ran a trembling finger along the claw attached at its end. The saw-suit was all set.

He sparked the bladed machine with his trembling hand. Terror drove him, terror of what lay ahead and of what he would have to face in order to have any hope of calming his mind. He knew he had to face this fear as the saw-suit shuddered to life, and he knew he wouldn't like it one bit.

Attribute & Stats

Level: 0 1 15 25 30

Health: 200 700 1580 2460 2820

Health regen: +0.25 +2.75 +7.23 +11.63 +13.43

Mana: 75 351 795 1263 1455

Mana regen: +0.5 +1.65 +3.54 +5.49 +6.27

Armor: 0 2.67 6.4 11.07 12.73

Damage Block: 16 (50%)        

Magic Resistance: 25%    

Status Resistance: 0%    

Damage: 27-31 52-56 96-100 140-144 158-162

Attack Rate: 0.59/s 0.68/s 0.81/s 0.98/s 1.03/s

Attack Range: 150 (600)

Attack Speed: 100 (1.7s BAT)

Attack Animation: 0.3+0.64    

Projectile Speed: Instant.

Movement Speed: 290

Turn Rate: 0.6    

Collision Size: 24    

Vision Range: (G)1800 • 800    

Legs: 2    

Gib Type: Motor.    

Ability Upgrades:    

• Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter - Chakram.

                                                                  - Second Chakram.

• Upgradable by Aghanim's Shard - Flamethrower.

Abilities & Talents

Skills building guide

Build a durability item immediately after Bloodstone, which is useful in the mid-game (mek, drum, vanguard, blade mail). After that, get BoTs and Necro. If you have a lot of gold, you can get a good late game durability item or an orchid if you really need one.

Abilities

Whirling Death

Mana: 80 

Cooldown time: 7.5/7/6.5/6 

Radius: 325

Base Damage: 80/120/160/200

Duration: 12/13/14/15

Effect: Timbersaw whirls extremely sharp edges, injuring enemies and destroying trees in the area around him. When an enemy hero is affected, it loses some of its primary attribute for a brief period of time. Whirling Death will deal additional damage for each tree destroyed.

Timber Chain

Mana cost: 60/70/80/90

Cooldown Time: 4 seconds.

Cast animation: 0.3+0

Cast range: 750/900/1050/1200

Damage Radius: 225

Damage: 70/120/170/220

Effect: Timbersaw fires a chain that embeds itself in the first tree he hits, luring him in. Any enemy in the way is damaged.

Reactive Armor

Max Stacks: 6/12/18/24

Armor Bonus per Stack: 0.9/1/1.1/1.2

Stack Duration: 10/12/14/16

Effect: Timbersaw gains increased health regen and armor every time he is attacked.

Second Chakram

Mana cost: 80/140/200

Cooldown Time: 8 seconds.

Cast Animation: 0.15+0

Cast Range: 1200

Effect Radius: 200

Damage per Second: 110/155/200

Duration: 0.5

Effect: A second independent Chakram is launched.

Flamethrower

Mana: 100

Cooldown Time: 20 seconds.

Flame Length: 400

Damage: 80

Move Speed Low: 30%

Effect: A flame is released in the direction Timbersaw is facing. A debuff that deals damage per second and slows enemy movement speed is applied. Reduces the damage to buildings.

Chakram

Mana Cost: 80/140/200

Cooldown Time: 8 seconds.

Cast Animation: 0.15+0

Cast Range: 1200

Effect Radius: 200

Damage per Second: 50/75/100

Duration: 0.5

Effect: Fires your main saw blade at the target location, spinning in place and dealing damage in the area around it. For every 5% of health lost, enemies caught in the saw blade will move more slowly. When fired and retracted, the blade deals damage and cuts down trees in its path. The ability costs mana while active, and you lose the ability to attack.

Effective items guides

Early game

Soul Ring

Soul Ring: Timbersaw needs strength and mana to survive and use his abilities.

Arcane Boots

Arcane Boots: Timbersaw prefers these boots because they increase his overall mana pool and provide him with a periodic boost of mana for both himself and his team. He can disassemble them to use the Bloodstone Energy Booster.

Magic Wand

Magic Wand: Increases Timbersaw's attributes and restores health and mana.

Mid game

Hood of Defiance

Hood of Defiance: Timbersaw is immune to magical damage. Hood, in conjunction with Reactive Armor, makes Timbersaw difficult to kill in the early to mid game.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity

Eul’s Scepter of Divinity: Gives mana regeneration, increased movement speed, and a way to remove disables like silences

Bloodstone

Bloodstone: Timbersaw's abilities can be sustained due to his excellent mana regeneration. Furthermore, it grants him slightly more health, health regeneration, and the ability to heal himself, which is always beneficial for a hero who must go deep in battle.

Late game

Lotus Orb

Lotus Orb: Gives you good armor, disables enemy heroes, and discourages them from casting spells on you. In times of need, it can also be used on other allies.

Shiva's Guard

Shiva's Guard: Timbersaw is significantly more durable as a result of the large amount of armor it provides. The high level of intelligence it provides is also very useful, as Timbersaw requires a lot of mana and mana regeneration to function properly. Timbersaw's active ability also assists him in killing his opponents because the slow allows him to be more precise with all of his spells and adds another nuke on top of that. Timbersaw can also be a good initiator with Shiva's help.

Aghanim's Scepter

Aghanim's Scepter: Timbersaw now has a second Chakram, allowing him to scale much better into the late game with even more damage output. However, the mana cost of a second Chakram will quickly deplete his mana; thus, a mana item such as Bloodstone or Scythe of Vyse is required before picking up this item.

Situation items

Aghanim's Shard

Aghanim’s Shard: Unlocks Flamethrower for additional area damage and a slow to keep enemies within reach.

Blade Mail

Blade Mail: Timbersaw can use his enemies' damage against them. It also provides him with some armor and 22 attack damage.

Holy Locket

Holy Locket: Adds bonus magic resistance and increased health regeneration to Reactive Armor The item also provides some mana, allowing Timbersaw to continue using his abilities.

Eternal Shroud

Eternal Shroud: To improve his survivability, he builds from Hood of Defiance and gains mana from blocked spell damage and spell lifesteal.

Octarine Core

Octarine Core: Increases Timbersaw's teamfight presence by allowing him to spam his low-cooldown spells with greater ease.

Scythe of Vyse

Scythe of Vyse: Timbersaw's ability to disable a single enemy hero allows Timbersaw and his team to completely destroy the targeted hero.

Linken's Sphere

Linken's Sphere: Can be useful in certain situations against heroes with powerful single target spells.

Pipe of Insight

Pipe of Insight: Provides Timbersaw with a significant boost to his magical resistance, which can be very useful against a team that can deal a lot of magical damage. Furthermore, this item provides a good amount of health regeneration.

Orchid Malevolence

Orchid Malevolence: If an enemy is disabling, silencing, or blinking away from you, this can be a good pickup. In addition to the silence, the item grants Timbersaw more mana regen and a larger mana pool, as well as increased damage output with the burst at the end of the silence. Timbersaw becomes extremely fearsome when combined with a Blink Dagger and can easily punish anyone out of position.

Rod of Atos

Rod of Atos: The increased Intelligence attribute intelligence allows him to cast more spells that deal more damage, and the health increases his survivability. Timbersaw's spells will be more effective with the help of Atos' root.

Heart of Tarrasque

Heart of Tarrasque: Timbersaw gains additional health and strength. Timbersaw benefits from passive health regeneration as well, as it allows him to use Timber Chain to flee his enemies and then gradually regenerate his health back to full.

Enemies & Allies

Allies

Bounty Hunter

• Timbersaw can avoid and prepare for ganks thanks to Bounty Hunter's scouting abilities.

• Track can help Timbersaw in the early to mid-game by increasing his ganking and fighting potential.

Crystal Maiden

• The abilities of Crystal Maiden slow enemies and aid Timbersaw in landing his abilities.

• If Timbersaw is nearby, Frostbite is one of the best abilities to set up an easy kill.

• Arcane Aura assists Timbersaw in meeting his mana demands early on, making his laning stage much easier.

Enigma

• Chakram's slow keeps enemies inside Enigma's Midnight Pulse for a longer period of time.

• A Black Hole on a few enemies followed by Timbersaw's combo almost always results in a complete team wipe.

Magnus

• Reverse Polarity is a fantastic ability for clustering and preparing the enemy team for a Timbersaw burst combo.

Faceless Void

• Chakram's slowness allows Faceless Void minimap icon.png Faceless Void to hit enemies more easily.

• When used on enemies trapped inside the Chronosphere, Chakram can deal massive damage.

Counters

Bane

• Brain Sap's pure damage ignores Reactive Armor stacks.

• Timbersaw is unable to use Timber Chain due to Nightmare, leaving him vulnerable to chain stuns and burst damage.

• Enfeeble significantly reduces the regeneration provided by reactive armor.

• Timbersaw is immobilized and his low mana pool is drained, making escape impossible. It pierces Black King Bar as well.

• Timbersaw or his teammates are frequently forced to spend gold on a Linken's Sphere due to Bane's multiple disables.

Doom

• Doom completely disables Timbersaw, negating his mobility and preventing him from doing any damage. It also nullifies Aghanim's Scepter's passive bonuses to Reactive Armor.

• During a fight, Infernal Blade can stun Timbersaw several times, potentially disrupting Timber Chain. It's also useful because Timbersaw has a high HP due to the damage scales being based on maximum HP.

Ember Spirit

• Searing Chains eliminates the need for Timber Chain.

• Timbersaw is susceptible to magical burst damage, which Ember Spirit can mitigate with Fire Remnant and Flame Guard.

• Because Timbersaw's abilities deal pure damage, they cannot dispel Flame Guard.

Faceless Void

• Time Dilation is similar to a long period of silence, rendering Timbersaw ineffective in team fights or forcing him to change his build.

• Timbersaw's burst damage is negated by Time Walk.

• Time Lock deals magical damage and locks down targets, and it works against both Reactive Armor and Timber Chain.

• Chronosphere, in conjunction with Time Lock's magical damage, can destroy Timbersaw before he has time to react, and it also creates a large obstacle that obstructs Timber Chain's mobility.

Invoker

• Due to the frequent stuns interrupting the lengthy cast animations, Cold Snap can prevent Timbersaw from using both Timber Chain and Chakram, as well as stopping him mid-chain. This can either negate Timbersaw's attempts to flee or deal additional ability damage.

• Invoker's heavy magical and pure damage can be difficult to avoid later in the game, making Timbersaw's armor less useful.

Lion

• Furthermore, Lion can use his Earth Spike and Mana Drain combo to prevent Timbersaw from escaping with Timber Chain. And if Timbersaw's HP is low enough, he can finish him off with Finger of Death.

Necrophos

• Timbersaw's large HP pool and HP regen are effectively negated by Heartstopper Aura.

• Necrophos and his teammates can survive Timbersaw's burst damage thanks to Death Pulse and health and mana regeneration from killed creeps.

• Timbersaw is an easy target for Reaper's Scythe because he is a tanky hero who stays in the middle of teamfights.

Outworld Destroyer

• Timbersaw's Reactive Armor is bypassed by Arcane Orb's constant pure damage.

• Outworld Destroyer can use Sanity's Eclipse to hit targets inside Astral Imprisonment, allowing him to finish off Timbersaw before he escapes with Timber Chain. It can also sap his mana, limiting his ability to flee if he survives.

Pangolier

• Timbersaw's escape with Timber Chain is made more difficult by Rolling Thunder's stuns.

Pugna

• Timbersaw can be punished by Nether Ward because he is a spellcaster with short cooldowns. Furthermore, Timbersaw frequently appears during battle, putting himself in range of Nether Ward's Mana Flares.

• Timbersaw does not have any stuns or silences to stop Life Drain. Because all of Pugna's Spells are magical, the damage to Timbersaw can be devastating, especially when combined with Decrepify.

Shadow Shaman

• Timbersaw's mobility is greatly reduced by Hex.

• Shackles' stun and damage over time reduce Reactive Armor's HP and armor regen.

Skywrath Mage

• Timbersaw can be easily harassed out of lane by Skywrath Mage's long range and low cooldown magic damage spells.

• The Ancient Seal not only provides long-lasting silence (one of Timbersaw's major flaws), but it also makes him more vulnerable to magical burst damage.

Silencer

• Timbersaw takes repeated stacks of damage from Arcane Curse because he relies on his abilities constantly.

• Glaives of Wisdom deals pure damage and, when cast manually, prevents nearby creeps from attacking the silencer, making it an effective harassment tool.

• Although it takes some time to activate, Last Word will break Timbersaw's ability combo and can be used to silence him.

• Timbersaw will be silenced no matter where he is on the map thanks to Global Silence. This can be used to assist allies in getting a kill on Timbersaw or to prevent Timbersaw from killing someone.

Storm Spirit

• Storm Spirit is a difficult target to pursue, even for a hero as mobile as Timbersaw.

• Storm Spirit's high mobility, combined with the magical damage from Static Remnant and Overload, allows Storm Spirit to jump on Timbersaw and burst him down, even if he tries to flee.

Viper

• Timbersaw cannot gain stacks on Reactive Armor while under the influence of Nethertoxin.

Zeus

• Zeus deals massive amounts of magical damage and is one of the best heroes for taking down Timbersaw early in the game.

• Timbersaw's mini-stun from Lightning Bolt can prevent him from escaping a fight with Timber Chain.

• Timbersaws are used to craft health-boosting items, causing Zeus' Static Field to deal massive damage.

Items Counter

Spirit Vessel

Spirit Vessel: Timbersaw's healing from Reactive Armor is reduced by this effect.

Orchid Malevolence

Orchid Malevolence: Timbersaw's mobility and damage are negated by its silence. This can also be upgraded to a Bloodthorn to help you pierce his thick armor.

Black King Bar

Black King Bar: Because none of his abilities pass through Avatar, he's a good pick for carries.

Scythe of Vyse

Scythe of Vyse: Because its cast time is instantaneous and difficult to counter, is an effective way of quieting Timbersaw.

Diffusal Blade

Diffusal Blade: Timbersaw's mana is depleted, negating nearly all of his strengths by removing his abilities.

Silver Edge

Silver Edge: Timbersaw is unable to build stacks because Reactive Armor's passive bonuses are broken. It should be noted that this will not remove any stacks he has already obtained.

Favorable Matchups

Broodmother

• Spiderlings are almost impervious to Reactive Armor. They also perish quickly as a result of Timbersaw's AoE abilities.

• Broodmother has no mobility abilities aside from Spin Web's movement speed buff, allowing Timbersaw to easily escape her Silken Bola with Timber Chain.

• Timbersaw's ability to cut down trees makes it difficult for Broodmother to hide, especially near the map's edges.

Axe

• Whirling Death reduces Axe's strength by 15%, making him less durable, particularly in the early game. It can also be stacked.

• Blade Mail are ineffective against attribute changes, and Timber Chain can wait for the duration of Blade Mail icon.png to expire.

• Reactive Armor makes it more difficult for Axe to finish Timbersaw with the Culling Blade.

• Chakram disables Timbersaw, rendering Axe's Counter Helix ineffective against him.

• All Timbersaw skills deal pure damage, bypassing Axe's high armor or Berserker's Call bonus armor.

Chaos Knight

• Timbersaw can survive the damage from Chaos Bolt and Reality Rift with the help of Reactive Armor.

• Timbersaw's large amount of pure damage AoE nukes quickly clear Chaos Knight's illusions, significantly reducing his damage.

Meepo

• Because multiple Meepos clump together, they make an easy target for Timbersaw's various area abilities.

• However, if Timbersaw is rooted from Earthbind, he cannot use Timber Chain to escape.

Monkey King

• Timbersaw can easily cut down the tree on which Monkey King is standing, stunning him for an extended period of time.

• Timbersaw can easily avoid Wukong's Command and Primal Spring's slow by using Timber Chain.

Nature's Prophet

• Timbersaw can easily cut down trees from Sprout, making Nature's Prophet's ability to teleport away or trap enemies extremely difficult.

• Timbersaw's abilities allow him to quickly eliminate treants.

• Timbersaw can often allow himself to be attacked in order to heal himself, and Reactive Armor negates most of Nature's Prophet's treants' damage.

Phantom Assassin

• Timbersaw can withstand Stifling Dagger harassment as well as ganking attempts with Reactive Armor.

• Phantom Assassin is a hero with a moderate HP pool who usually fights on the front lines. Blur is vulnerable to Timbersaw's abilities because she has no defense against spells.

• Timbersaw's Timber Chain allows him to easily flee Phantom Assassin.

Phantom Lancer

• The Phantom Lancer's lack of burst damage and constant attacks will immediately increase Reactive Armor to max level.

• When combined with Timber Chain, it allows Timbersaw to flee and makes it nearly impossible for Phantom Lancer to kill him.

• Although Phantom Lancer usually builds Diffusal Blade icon.png Diffusal Blade, Whirling Death and Chakram can instantly destroy large groups of illusions, negating Phantom Lancer's advantage. It can be an issue in the late game.

Razor

• Razor primarily deals physical damage later in the game, and Timbersaw is also very mobile, making him a difficult kill to obtain.

• Timbersaw rarely uses attacks, so he is unaffected when his damage is stolen with Static Link.

Slark

• If Timbersaw tries to Pounce into the trees, he can use Chakram as a scouting tool to find Slark.

• Timbersaw's abilities do not require a target to be cast, allowing him to strike Slark while inside Shadow Dance.

• Because the strong armor and health regen cannot be stolen by Essence Shift, Reactive Armor can provide effective protection against a Slark who attacks quickly.

• Timber Chain allows Timbersaw to move quickly, making him one of the few heroes capable of pursuing a fleeing Slark.

Terrorblade

• Timbersaw's area damage burst can destroy Terrorblade's illusions.

• Terrorblade's damage is reduced significantly by Reactive Armor and another armor item.

Treant Protector

• Timbersaw can use his tree cutting abilities to level entire sections of the forest, making it more difficult for Treant Protector and his team to hide in the trees.

• Once Treant Protector's team has detected him, Timbersaw can easily cut down his eyes in the forest. Because of the destructive and chaotic nature of his abilities, he may even do it unknowingly.

Game plan

Early game

You'll have some mana to use after you get your Arcanes and level 6, and hopefully your gank went well and you're on your way to Perseverance. Make sure you have a tp scroll and get stuck in some farm, take a couple camps, preferably in the enemy jungle if you can do it safely, but don't try to rinse the jungle because you'll just have to base.

Because you are all AoE, you should be stacking camps in your jungle if you go there to farm, as you can clear them with the same amount of mana and in the same amount of time as a normal camp. If you have some mana to spare, and you can definitely pick up a clarity or two to do so, stack a large camp in your jungle once or twice and clear it. This can help you farm faster and get your Bloodstone faster; however, don't take too much farm from your carry.You should alternate between being in lane getting exp and farming, ganking, or possibly taking a stacked camp if there is no other option. If you're close to your bloodstone, you won't be able to do much or help much at the moment, so finish up your stone in the jungle.

If possible, use the opportunity to clear an enemy camp. (Definitely take enemy stacked camps by a tinker or a tiny wisp - these are probably worth dying for if you can clear them.)

Mid game

When you have your bloodstone, hopefully within the next 20 minutes, you can begin bombing around clearing spare camps, ganking and fighting, and clearing creep waves to push. Always look for opportunities to be productive; if none exist, stack a camp and clear it. You won't have to base with this item, so you can move around the map looking for ganks or pushing lanes while also contributing to what your team is trying to accomplish. If necessary, obtain an appropriate durability item.

Mid-game team fights are the most influential parts of the game. You can decimate them with your AoE pure nukes flying everywhere with no mana concerns, just don't start clicking buttons, think about what you're doing before and during a fight, hit as many as possible with your nukes, and move to and from good positions. You'll often be able to flee if the fight goes badly; look for when the fight is lost and can't be saved and get out of there, but don't just abandon your team in a close fight. Simply deny yourself with bloodstone if you are truly bugged.

Late game

You must participate in every fight in the middle and late game. If you encounter magic immune targets, such as an enemy carry with bkb, simply target someone else for the duration. Keep in mind that your necronomicons have true sight and can cripple casters with mana burn. In fights, you will be able to quickly take down support, so do so.