In this guide, I’ll give you a rundown on how to play the lane with Axe, which items to build, and the situations in which you should build them.
Axe is a relatively simple hero who fulfills the role of the offlaner (Position 3), acting as a tank and initiator for the team. He specializes in quickly killing high-damage safelaners and has a reliable disable that pierces debuff immunity, such as the immunity provided by BKB, and cannot be dispelled.
Axe Abilities — Briefly
Axe has 4 abilities
Berserker’s Call: Taunts nearby enemies, forcing them to attack Axe while giving him bonus armor.
Battle Hunger: Deals damage over time and slows the target. The effect ends when the target gets a last hit or kills a unit.
Counter Helix: Gives Axe a chance to counterattack when attacked, dealing damage to nearby enemies.
Culling Blade: Axe executes an enemy below a certain HP threshold. If the enemy dies, the ability resets its cooldown, Axe and nearby allies gain a movement speed bonus, and Axe gains permanent armor.
How to lane as an Axe
Axe has a relatively simple laning phase that revolves around his second and third skills, Battle Hunger and Counter Helix. You’ll want to put one skill point into Battle Hunger and prioritize maxing Counter Helix along with Berserker’s Call.
When you enter the lane, use Battle Hunger on the enemy safelaner and start attacking them, even if it means taking a few hits from the creeps. This will make it harder for the enemy to secure last hits while also dealing a significant amount of damage, making it difficult for them to safely walk up and farm the creeps.
While you’re doing this, the enemy support will likely try to pressure you into leaving the lane or attempt to kill you. Your support should be able to prevent them from dealing significant damage by stunning, slowing, or healing you.
You want to play aggressively while making good use of the regeneration from items such as Tangos and Magic Wand, while making sure you don’t get yourself killed.
If this is working for you and you’re able to get your farm while pushing the enemies out of the lane, then you’re doing a good job. Supports that pair well with Axe in lane include Witch Doctor, Windranger, Mirana, Hoodwink, Dazzle, and others.
The first item you’ll want to build is Vanguard. It will help you sustain yourself in lane and allow you to play much more aggressively, even letting you dive under towers without dying.
Vanguard provides HP regeneration and bonus HP. It also gives you a chance to block incoming damage, making you much more durable in lane.
Next, you’ll want to buy Phase Boots to help you close the gap on enemies more efficiently during the early game.
Phase Boots: Provide movement speed, armor, and damage. When activated, they grant additional movement speed and allow you to move through units.
During the laning stage, if the enemy safelaner doesn’t return to the lane because they’re afraid of being killed, you can go behind their tower and pull the incoming creep wave toward the small camp. You can then tank both the creep wave and the neutral creeps while clearing them at the same time using Counter Helix.
Now that the laning stage is over, you’ll want to get two items that are a must-buy on Axe: Blink Dagger and Blade Mail.
Blink Dagger: Allows Axe to quickly close the gap and initiate fights by blinking directly onto enemies.
Blade Mail: Reflects a portion of the damage you take back to the enemy, making it especially effective when you use Berserker’s Call to force enemies to attack you.
You’ll use these items to roam the map and make your presence known by killing any enemies you can catch. However, don’t forget to farm camps so you don’t fall behind. Don’t just run around the map aimlessly looking for kills; make sure you’re farming while moving around and looking for opportunities.
If there are tanky enemy heroes that you’re having trouble killing, ask your supports to join you as you move around the map, making space for your carry.
You’ll be the initiator for your team throughout the game, making it extremely easy to catch heroes such as Slark, Phantom Assassin, Lifestealer, Storm Spirit, Queen of Pain, Puck, and others. With the assistance of your team, successfully initiating on these heroes will almost certainly result in a kill.
Combo that will be used throughout the game
Activate Blade Mail and BKB, then blink directly on top of the enemy or enemies you’re trying to kill—the more enemies, the better. Activate Berserker’s Call as soon as you blink on top of them. Use Battle Hunger on one of them, and as they attack you, their HP will fall rapidly. Once they are within the damage threshold for your Culling Blade, use it to finish them off.
The order is important because each item has a specific purpose during Axe’s initiation:
- Activate Blade Mail – Use this before you blink in so enemies start taking reflected damage as soon as they attack you.
- Activate BKB – This protects you from enemy disables and spells, allowing you to stay in the middle of the fight.
- Blink Dagger – Blink directly onto the enemy or, ideally, multiple enemies.
- Berserker’s Call – Activate it immediately after blinking to force nearby enemies to attack you.
- Battle Hunger – Apply it to an enemy while they are attacking you.
- Counter Helix – Your attacks and enemy attacks will trigger Counter Helix, dealing additional damage to nearby enemies.
- Culling Blade – Once an enemy reaches the execution threshold, use Culling Blade to finish them off.
Items u can consider buying during the game
Aghanim’s Shard: Upgrades Berserker’s Call and applies Battle Hunger to all enemies affected by the call.
Shiva’s Guard: Gives Axe additional armor and increases the area of effect of Berserker’s Call. Its active ability also deals damage to nearby enemies and slows them.
Heart of Tarrasque: Gives a massive amount of HP and HP regeneration, making Axe much harder to kill. It is useful when you need to be extremely tanky and survive for longer during team fights.
Aghanim’s Scepter: Upgrades Counter Helix by removing its cooldown and allowing Axe’s attacks to count toward triggering the spin. It also applies a stacking debuff to enemies hit by Counter Helix, reducing their attack damage.
Bloodstone: Provides HP, mana, and spell amplification, while its active provides spell lifesteal. This can give Axe significant sustain and damage when fighting multiple enemies, especially when using Counter Helix.
Kaya and Sange: Provides strength, spell amplification, mana regeneration, and status resistance. The status resistance helps Axe recover from enemy disables faster, while the spell amplification improves his ability damage.