REXXAR THE BEASTMASTER

Rexxar the Beastmaster
When I started originally playing DotA, Rexxar was one of the first heroes I played. That was when Wild Axes and Primal Roar cost a lot more mana, so it was a lot harder then now. I also used to leave out Call of the Wild because I couldn’t micro manage. After some time when I got a lot better I started. I started playing him again and once again I fell in love with him. Then I saw Merlini’s replay as jungle BM against x6. I was amazed at how well it’s done if it is done correctly. I decided to create a guide on Jungle BM, but I didn’t have time to do it by myself. So I asked for help from someone else.
Basically, the kind of Beastmaster hero we want to bring into light is one that starts jungling between levels 1-3 with the aid of a bottle. Rexxar being a powerful ganker (due to Wild Axes and the imba cooldown of Primal Roar) will therefore jungle only till level 6. After which, he will repeatedly go on ganking missions everytime his Ultimate cools down while jungling when it isn’t. Necrominion is the next item of choice as Beastmaster is understandably a weak melee hero for tanking and dishing out raw damage. Being on the support role will fit him better early game. Continuous early game ganking will ensure good map control somewhere during mid-late game and this time is used to transform Beastmaster into either a DPS or a tanking machine if the team requires one.
Being a Strength hero, his strength gain is pretty weak. He will be needing a few bracers early game if he wants to lane against harassers. However, that is not required since Jungling is much safer. Gauntlets of Strength would be sufficient to cover for his hp weakness. Good base damage and Attack swing makes last hitting slightly easier though.
Beastmaster’s Skills
Wild Axes
Rexxar hurls his two axes outward, which then intersect and return to him. Each axe can only damage a unit once.
Level 1 - Each axe deals 90 damage.
Level 2 - Each axe deals 120 damage.
Level 3 - Each axe deals 150 damage.
Level 4 - Each axe deals 180 damage.
Cooldown: 13 seconds.
Level 1: 120 mana, 13 sec cooldown.
Level 2: 120 mana, 13 sec cooldown.
Level 3: 120 mana, 13 sec cooldown.
Level 4: 120 mana, 13 sec cooldown
Rexxar’s sole nuke, but an incredible one to say the least. Wild Axes is Rexxar’s main farming skill and his killing skill early game. When trying to damage enemies with Wild Axes never click on the enemy for the attack, but click in-front of him while assuming in which direction he will be going in. More explained later in the guide.
Call of the Wild
Rexxar calls upon wild beasts to aid him. The duration, strength and number of beasts increases per level. Previous summons are removed upon casting.
Level 1 - Summons a Scout Hawk. (60sec duration)
Level 2 - Summons a Scout Hawk and a Quilbeast. (70sec duration)
Level 3 - Summons a Greater Hawk and a Quilbeast. (80sec duration)
Level 4 - Summons a Greater Hawk and a Greater Quilbeast. (90sec duration)
Cooldown/Mana cost: 45/50/55/60 seconds/25 mana at all levels.
Another great skill of Rexxars. A super-movable-observer ward and an awesome slow all rolled into one spell. The Hawk can be used to scout runes and missing heroes, pretty straight-forward stuff. The pig is your greatest ally as he has a constant 35% slow. The advantage of having a your DPS’er and your slower as 2 separate units as oppose into one unit is it makes the opponent choose weather he must disable the slower or the DPS’er. Regardless of his decision, it’s a lose, lose situation for him and a win win for you

Beast Rage
When Rexxar engages an opponent, his animalistic nature grants him even greater proficiency in single combat. With each continuous blow on the same target, Rexxar gains understanding of the prey’s defences, and guides each strike with greater ease than the last. Maximum of 100% increased attack speed. If Rexxar changes targets, his rage counter drops to half of where it was.
Level 1 - Every continuous attack gives Rexxar 5% bonus attack speed.
Level 2 - Every continuous attack gives Rexxar 10% bonus attack speed.
Level 3 - Every continuous attack gives Rexxar 15% bonus attack speed.
Level 4 - Every continuous attack gives Rexxar 20% bonus attack speed.
Passive
The chink in Rexxar’s arsenal. Don’t get me wrong, this skill is good, but only as late game rolls in. It synergises very well with the slow from the pig. While this spell is considered to be given to Rexxar by god himself (Icefrog) to pubbers, it is not viable early since your damage is to low to make it effective, and even during mid game it’s not worth it, due to Rexxars low strength gain. Thus Stats are taken over Beast Rage mid game.
Primal Roar
The Beastmaster looses a deafening roar which deals damage and stuns its target. Enemy units near the roar wave take minor damage and have their movement speed and attack rate reduced. Due to the force of the roar, all units between the Beastmaster and his prey are shoved aside, creating an open path.
Level 1 - 200 primary damage, 3 second stun. 100 side damage, 2 second slow.
Level 2 - 250 primary damage, 3.5 second stun. 200 side damage, 3 second slow.
Level 3 - 300 primary damage, 4 second stun. 300 side damage, 4 second slow.
Cooldown: 60 seconds.
Level 1: 150 mana, 60 sec cooldown.
Level 2: 175 mana, 60 sec cooldown.
Level 3: 200 mana, 60 sec cooldown.
A very much misunderstood skill. Most players will just use it as a setup stun and during chases. The slow effect is often ignored. In team battles, a well placed roar can make the whole team move to a crawl. This is what Rexxar is truly known for. The damage from Primal Roar is quite negligible for levels 2 & 3 much like Spirit Breaker’s Nether strike. More information on Primal Roar later in the guide.
Skill Build
1. Wild Axes
2. Call of the Wild
3. Call of the Wild
4. Wild Axes
5. Wild Axes
6. Primal Roar
7. Call of the Wild
8. Call of the Wild
9. Wild Axes
10. Stats
11. Primal Roar
12 - 15. Stats
16. Primal Roar
17 - 20. Beast Rage
21 - 25. Stats
Item Build
Empty boltle
Gauntlets of orge streght
Necronomicon
Boots of travels
Item Build Justification
The cookie-cutter build for Rexxar. Bottle is taken so Rexxar can constantly have HP and Mana. It gives him the ability to spam Axes early game. Rexxar also works well with the runes which give 2/3 refill after using the rune. Bottle also lets Rexxar run around freely, to gank as he pleases. Gauntlets are taken over Bracers since they are a quicker way of fixing Rexxars low HP. Since our first major item is going to be Necrominion, we would just be delaying a very important item that gives us a relatively good strength boost anyway (+6/+10/+14 str for Necro 1/2/3). Anywhere between 2-3 gauntlets should suffice.
Necrominion is the core item of this build, much like in all Rexxar builds. In my opinion Rexxar is one of, if not the best carrier of Necrominion on the Sentinel side. The synergy with Necrominion and Rexxar is just amazing. The stun from Primal Roar gives you and your minions 3-4 seconds of free hitting. The MS buff synergises well with the slow from you pig for chasing. Obviously you need some decent micro to be able to make this build effective, but don’t avoid if you can’t, practice makes perfect.
Boots of Travel is taken over Treads since Rexxar needs the MS over the IAS. Think about it; Rexxar has a slowing move so he needs an MS to catch up to enemies. He won’t be dealing out much normal hits early game so IAS from Treads is not needed. The MS also helps you save allies. When an ally is being chased by more then one enemy, stun one opponent and slows the rest by 50%. If you can’t catch the enemies then it defeats the purpose Primal Roar. Oh and there’s a 60-second teleport for you to quickly arrive to a battle scene and provide support.
Early Game (11-16)
Item Order
Bottle (700)
Boots (500)
Stout Shield (300)
2x Gauntlets (300)
Staff of Wizardry (1000)
Complete Necrominion 1 (1750)
Mid Game (11-16)
Total Cost: 4550
(note: 1 space can be freed to carry tp scrolls)
Necrominion 2 (1300)
Necrominion 3 (1300)
Complete Boots of Travel (2200)
Total Cost: 4800
Late Game (17-25)
Item Order
Choice of After Core items depeding on -
Tanking: Heart (5500) or Assault Cuirass (6320)
Survivability: Hood of Defiance (2350)
Support: Assault Cuirass (6320)
Support(vs Warlork): Diffusal (3000) to Manta Style (+2500)
AoE DPS: Radiance (5325)
Total Cost: varies