Playing Pudge in Dota 2 patch 7.35b

Ever since Dendi made Pudge famous at the first three editions of The International, this hero has remained beloved by the Dota 2 community regardless of how weak or powerful he is in a given meta.

Right now, Pudge is a pretty strong hero and his win rate of 50.3% reflects this.

Why Pudge is strong in Dota 2 patch 7.35b

When you play Pudge, if you get a good start you become very hard to kill. And his abilities allow him to force favorable fights as long as he’s tankier than his opponents. All you need to succeed is a bit of mobility, which can be gained by purchasing a Blink Dagger.

Pudge is currently picked in 28% of all Dota 2 matches, which basically means that if you play 3-4 games in a day, you are almost guaranteed to encounter him either on your team or on the enemy team. Usually, you’ll want him on your team and you might even want to pick him yourself.

Playing Pudge is harder than it seems. But it’s considerably easier than it used to be. His Hook now travels faster than before and its damage is substantial. At level 15, thanks to the associated talent, a simple Pudge Hook deals 500 pure damage. Against most heroes, that’s a huge amount.

Combine this initial burst damage with Rot, which deals 120 damage per second and slows movement speed by 32%, add to it the 120 DPS + 90% of Pudge’s strength as damage that comes from his Dismember and you will quickly realize that the Butcher is extremely good at killing heroes.

When you play Pudge, a bit of sustain combined with a bit of tankiness and mobility is all you need. By the 15-minute mark, this hero is ready to fight every 30 seconds. This means that you can make a lot of space for your other cores and put constant pressure on the enemy cores by sieging towers and invading their jungle.

Pudge’s natural weakness is his low armor and low movement speed. But you can correct both of them with the right items. When choosing your talents, it’s up to you what you want to build. If tankiness is not a big issue, go for the 16% Rot slow and the +140 Meat Hook damage. These two talents greatly upgrade Pudge’s natural toolkit.

At level 20, your Meat Hook can have a cooldown of 8s!

Header: Valve