From the Official Heroes of Newerth forum by WiLL`
Pollywog Priest
Pollywog Priest is a very powerful support hero, and can provide a vital role in many hero line-ups to achieve victory. Read on for a complete and detailed guide on playing Pollywog Priest to it's full potential and how you can become the greatest Pollywog Priest player of all time.
Index (Ctrl + F to jump to a section)
Introduction
- Background Story
- Hero Role
- Skill Overlook
- Skill Build
Item Builds
- Starting Items
- Core Item Build
- Late Game Item Build
- Other Item Notes
Gameplay
- Laning - Best Friends and Worst Enemies
- Ganking
- Pushing
- Defending
- Misc Notes
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Background Story
For centuries, every great Frog of the marsh peoples has wielded both political and magical power as the chief priest of the Wild Cults. Called upon by his Beast brethren in this time of war, the Pollywog Priest has come forth to use those powers in defense of his people and Newerth itself.
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Hero Role
Pollywog Priest is in essence a support hero. Keyword: SUPPORT! If you like to rambo/solo farm/or get last hits on heroes this probably isn't the hero for you. This hero is all about disable with a huge 8.25 seconds worth when all your skills are at max level. From the beginning of the game right until the very end you should be providing support to you team, there are several ways you can go about doing this. Rarely will you be alone in a game while you are playing pollywog priest you should always have a buddy preferably a hero with alot of dps so when you disable a enemy hero your buddy can come in and do as much damage as possible before your disables run out. Also Pollywog Priest does not need huge items to be effective, he has his skills and that is all he really needs. So when it comes to ganking you should always let your carry hero get the last hit so he gets the gold from the hero kill, do not kill steal with your Electric Jolt. We will go into more detail in the Gameplay section.
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Skill Overlook
Mana Cost: 95 / 105 / 135 / 160
Cooldown: 10.0 Seconds
Activation
Deals 75 / 150 / 225 / 300 Magic damage to 3 / 4 / 6 / 7 targets.
This is Polly's first skill, it's a powerful nuke especially in the early stages of the game, this skill can be used to damage enimes or to farm waves of creeps, remember the skill fires in a cone outward from the point of cast like <| so stand infront of big creep waves and use this on the the center of the creeps to hit as many targets as possible.
This nuke only has a 10 second cooldown so in the early stages of the game if you keep spamming this to farm creep waves you will quickly find yourself out of mana, which could be better searved using one of your disables, so use this skill wisely! Late game when you have alot of regen/mana you can use this all you like to farm huge creep waves and rake in the cash. (Unless your teams carry hero needs the gold in which case try not to kill all the creeps, remember you are a support hero and should support your teams carry)
Mana Cost: 110 / 140 / 170 / 200
Cooldown: 13.0 Seconds
Activation
Applies Morphed to target for 1.25 / 2 / 2.75 / 3.5 seconds. Instantly kills target if target is an illusion.
The ability to disable an enemy hero for up to 3.5 seconds early game the disable isn't that great for the mana cost but at max level can be a game turner especially if you use this on one of the enemy teams main heroes in a big team fight taking him out of battle for 3.5 seconds redering him useless. Also when ganking with a friend combine this with your Magical Bindings for a deadly combination.
Channeling Time: 0.3 Seconds
Mana Cost: 110 / 130 / 155 / 185
Cooldown: 16.0 Seconds
Activation
Applies Magic Bindings to target for 2.5 / 3.25 / 4.0 / 4.75 seconds or until spell is cancelled.
This is one of Pollys best skills, it's one of the longest target disables in the game with a huge 4.75 second disable at max level. Even at level 1 with 2.5 seconds that is huge, and the mana cost is not that demanding. The only drawback to this skill is that is it channeling which means if you get stunned or disabled yourself or even move this will cancel the disable letting anyone you have in your Bind go free. Combine this with your Morph skill for ultimate effect when ganking to provide 8.25 seconds of max disable!
Mana Cost: 200 / 350 / 600
Cooldown: 110 Seconds
If not to pick Pollywog for his wards alone he would be a worthy pick. One of the main reasons people pick this hero especially in the competitive scene is for the pushing and defending power that his wards bring to the table. With a 110 second cooldown at level 1 means your wards will always be ready in a flash to push out enemy towers or defend your own. You can even use your wards and place them down in the middle of big team fights to add extra damage to the battle and possibly turn the battle in your favour, also for advanced players you can take on players 1v1 by a technique called ward trapping where you place your wards in such a way that it surrounds them and they cannot escape leaving you to auto attack and nuke your way to victory, a less advanced technique is to place your wards next to the hero then disable them with your Magical Binding and leave your wards to do the work, if that isn't all you can finish them off with a nuke from your Electric Jolt to finish the job. We will go into more detail in the Gameplay
section. Another thing to note is your wards are selectable and you can choose who or what to attack. Vodoo Wards are also magic immune.
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Skill Build
A skill build can vary from game to game depending on what opponents you are versing I will detail the most effective and versitile general skill build below; one that I have found to be the more effective from playing years of dota and many matches.
lvl 1 – Magical Bindings
lvl 2 - Electric Jolt
lvl 3 – Electric Jolt
lvl 4 - Magical Bindings
lvl 5 – Electric Jolt
lvl 6 – Voodoo Wards
lvl 7 – Electric Jolt
lvl 8 - Magical Bindings........<>
lvl 9 - Morph........................on who you are versing, if it's a stun/disable
lvl 10 - Morph......................team that keeps cancelling your binds you're
lvl 11 – Voodoo Wards...........probably better off getting morph earlier.
lvl 12 - Morph
lvl 13 - Morph
lvl 14 – Magical Bindings
lvl 15- Stats
lvl 16 – Voodoo Wards
lvl 17-25 - Stats
Reasoning: Electric Jolt is maxed out first and whenever possible because it's Pollys only real damage spell it's really great for harassing in a lane and farming creep waves, also great burst damage to help get those early kills.
Magical Bindings is then leveled until level 8 some people like to max out jolt / bind first but I like to deviate from maxing out bind and go for Morph when you are level 9 because you start to roam around alot more and start having some team fights when pushing towers, so having two disables up your sleave over just the bind is great, also, when most of your team is around level 8-10 their damage is pretty good also so the 0.75 seconds that you gain from one more level of Magical Bindings isn't really needed as your team would probably kill the enemy in your bind in the 4 seconds, also getting getting morph allows you not to rely on your bind being canceled by a stunner or a disable when you are in a fight, with morph you can disable someone without having to comit yourself to staying in battle and you can just run away especially if you are on really low hp, you can also use morph to ward trap an enemy if the situation allows. You can also use Morph to cancel any enemy channeling spells like Magmus Ulti.
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Starting Items
Starting Items
2x Crushing claws , 2x Mana Potion , 2x Runes
The general starting build for alot of heroes, it's all about survivability in lanes this is why you go 2x claws for extra HP so you can take on some extra damage when you are channeling your Magical Bindings. These will later updrade to Fortified Braclets.
OR
1x Courier (later a flying courier), 2x Runes , 2x Mana Potion. 2x Minor Totem
More a competitive starting build, you are the support hero so you will be buying the courier to share with the team, you could also buy wards instead of the courier if someone else on your team buys the courier or vice versa. Support heroes don't need the extra items that a carry hero will need to spend his gold on, this is why support heroes usually buy wards/couriers.
OR
You could also get courier & Wards or upgrade straight to flying courier and only get 1x runes then use your courier to get you more runes if you need or straight for your bottle.
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Core Items
Core Items
Steamboots*Updated for 0.1.46, 2x Fortified Braclets, Bottle, Ward of Sight.
(If you are going really well and have lots of gold you could also get Post Haste instead of Steamboots)
(If you are versing a casting heavy team you could also get a Mana Battery
or Power Supply 
10 charges = 150 HP and 150 Mana that's more then 1 bottle use!)These are your core items, steamboots to get you in and out of battle quickly and the extra hp/mana, the braclets for survivability and when in battle or taking damage while you are using Magical Bindings (the longer you are in battle the more you can disable) the bottle to capture runes and to use to regenerate mana so you can use more disables on the fly. As the support hero you should also try and keep the map warded to spot rune spawns or find ganks with a buddy.
Homecoming Stone is VERY important as Pollywog your wards are vital to defence of your towers and having a Homecoming stone on you at all times should be your goal so you can tele in and place your wards down if you need to defend a tower. Having more towers then your opponent is a great advantage to your team and you should try to protect yours as long as possible.
Now, if you are playing a competitive match and you are doing all the warding and also dying alot this is probably as far in items are you are going to get, and is a solid build. Don't worry if this happens i've seen alot of games where this is all you need to support your team and achieve victory.
Alternate Core Items
Depending on the type of match you are playing and how good you are going in a lane and farming, you can go an alternate build and save your money and go straight for your late game items. If this is the case your core build will look something like this.
Normal marches, a bottle for Mana/HP regen and a Mighty Blade & Neophyte's book to work towards your staff of master OR any items that work toward Totem of Kulra/Restoration Stone depending on what build you want to go, I recomment staff of master first becasue it boosts your ultimate by adding 2 extra wards which is great for pushing / defending power. Also staff of master iteself gives you +10str for survivability and +10int for your mana pool/regen.
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Late Game Items
Late Game Items
Staff of the Master
Boosts your ultimate by adding 2 extra wards which is great for pushing / defending power. Also staff of master iteself gives you +10str for survivability and +10int for your mana pool/regen.
Totem of Kuldra
It's a rare occasion that you will farm both a Staff of the Master and a Totem of kulra but if the game does drag out, 2 disables are better than 1, you can combine this with your morph to disable 2 of the enemy team at once as well as your magical bindings for all your disabling needs, a double hex can really turn the tide of battle in your favour.
OR
Restoration Stone
If you are versing a really good team and you manage to farm up a Restoration Stone with your staff of master you can place 2 sets of 11 wards this is HUGE when pushing into the enemy base and can easily take down a tower and rax in no time at all, not to mention the defensive power this brings. The only down side to this item is the large cooldown of 210 seconds which is over 3x that of your wards.
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Other Item Notes
I can't think of any items to avoid other then a portal key which I have seen some Pollywog's get, the idea behind it is to blink next to the target hero in a gank so you can cast Magical Bindings so he doesn't have a chance to run away. In theory it seems like a good idea but never get this item, I think it's a waste of 2150 gold which would be better spent going toward one of your late game items.
Some other items to note generally seen on Pollywog would be Storm Spirit sure it's ok with the mana regen, movespeed as well as the 2.5 cyclone which you can use to ward trap people but I don't really think it's worth it, you can ward trap with morph if that's the reason you get it, but I think the gold is better spent towards your late game items such as Staff of the Master / Totem of Kultra. Pollywog's role is support/pusher/defender it's not really worth it to get an item for ganking by yourself. When you should buy items to help your team, in big team fights. It will be a rare occasion you're going to get a ward trap off in a big team fight anyway.
Another item I have seen on Pollywog for abit of a laugh is Puzzlebox, I wouldn't recommend this in a competitive match of HoN but if you are looking for something really different give it a shot either activate then Magical Bind or Ward trap combo and finish with a Jolt, people will be really suprised if you pull this off and get the kill.
Other Item Notes
I can't think of any items to avoid other then a portal key which I have seen some Pollywog's get, the idea behind it is to blink next to the target hero in a gank so you can cast Magical Bindings so he doesn't have a chance to run away. In theory it seems like a good idea but never get this item, I think it's a waste of 2150 gold which would be better spent going toward one of your late game items.
Some other items to note generally seen on Pollywog would be Storm Spirit sure it's ok with the mana regen, movespeed as well as the 2.5 cyclone which you can use to ward trap people but I don't really think it's worth it, you can ward trap with morph if that's the reason you get it, but I think the gold is better spent towards your late game items such as Staff of the Master / Totem of Kultra. Pollywog's role is support/pusher/defender it's not really worth it to get an item for ganking by yourself. When you should buy items to help your team, in big team fights. It will be a rare occasion you're going to get a ward trap off in a big team fight anyway.
Another item I have seen on Pollywog for abit of a laugh is Puzzlebox, I wouldn't recommend this in a competitive match of HoN but if you are looking for something really different give it a shot either activate then Magical Bind or Ward trap combo and finish with a Jolt, people will be really suprised if you pull this off and get the kill.
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Laning
Laning
Best Friends:
As pollywog you are going to be laning with a friend some of your best friends are ones that can do alot of damage in a short amount of time to make maximum effect of your Magical Bindings.
Some great laning parters include:
Swiftblade with his blade frenzy combined with your Bind is a great combo and almost assured of a firstblood.
Magebane with his mana combustion can blink right next to them as soon as you Bind them to do alot of damage.
War beast with his hellhounds and himself can also unleash alot of damage while the enemy is in a Bind.
Voodoo can use his cursed ground while the target is in your Magical Bind as well as taking damage from Magical Bindings he can auto attack for extra damage as well as stun if needed and if that wasn't enough you can add in your Electric Jolt into the mix and if he doesn't die from that cursed ground will surely get him guaranteeing you of a kill.
Magmus is good too (really any stunner), if going into a big fight you can disable a couple of key heroes that might try and disable Magmus while he is trying to cast his ulti, when in a lane, Bind / Stun Combo works really great too. You could even extend this to any ground target stunner such as Pebbles or Pyro, in combination with your Bind they is assured to land a stun.
These are just a couple of examples but really, when it comes down to it anyone works well with Pollywog. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!
Now that you have your laning partner sorted out you are going to want head into river to check the 0:00 minute spawn and see where the rune spawns either pick it up or give it to a team mate who has a bottle, or if the rune wasn't at the spawn you were at inform your team of where it is. Getting the first rune of the match could be the difference between you getting first blood or the enemy also if you carrying wards you should place them at one of the rune spawns or a pathway to give vision of incoming ganks.
When in the lane, you will usually be teamed up with a carry hero, your job in that lane is to harass the enemy as well as deny as many of your creeps are you possibly can, you SHOULD NOT last hit enemy creeps and take gold away from the carry hero. He is your late game hero and needs as much gold as possibly. You are there to support him and make sure he survies in that lane, and gets hero kills, you can use your Electric Jolt to harass but don't spam it as your mana pool and regen is low so use it wisely, also use your Magical Bindinds when the opportunity presents itself for a easy kill. The best time to do this and you should always be aware when this happens is, if you almost kill an enemy creep wave and the enemy hero hangs around a bit too long and abit too close use Magical Bindings as soon as possible so not only does your team mate attack him but your creep wave as well for maximum effect.
Heroes to Avoid:
Really Anyone who has a stun and can cancel your Bind is really annoying and should be avoidable, or targeted first. While you are using your Bind on a enemy you cannot move and leaves you open to attack, especially ground target stuns like Pebbles stun/toss combo or Pyro's nukes.
1 stun & 1 non-stun lane
When in a lane versus 1 stun/disable and 1 that has nothing that interrupt your bind always target the stun/disable enemy so you can get the kill without your bind being canceled.
Double stun lane
If you are in a lane and versing a double stun or a stun disable team this makes it really hard to get kills and use your Magical Binding effectively because if you cast it on one of them the other will just stun or disable you to save his team mate. You should be very careful when you use your Bind or even think about changing lanes.
Advanced laning at higher levels vs the double stun lane you can use your Morph on 1 of the stunner and use Magical Bindings on the other at the same time, to try at take one of them out. This is an advanced technique which you will get better at with practise.
Ganking 1 hero: With a buddy you just spotted a enemy all by himself pushing abit too far past the river, you should be the first one to go in because if he spots your team mate first he might run away before you get a chance to disable him, either you go in first or arrive at the same time. If you can get close enough go in and start with a Magical Bind this will give time for your team mate to get next to him and unleash the fury you can queue your next spell by pushing shift and clicking Morph which will cast Morph as soon as your Magical Bind runs out, for maximum disable time. By now your team mate should have got the kill if not you can always finish him off with a Electric Jolt although this isn't recommended as i've said before you are the support hero and should give the hero kills to the late game carry. This is why when you go in (if you have the mana for it) to cast Electric Jolt first, to bring down as much HP as possible before you go in for the disables, then allow your team mate to get the last hit and the extra gold (if he is the carry). The only time you would go in first with the disable is if you are running low on mana or don't have the mana pool to do both Jolt / Bind / Morph etc.
Summary: Electric Jolt -> Magical Binding/Morph
Ganking 2 heroes: This is abit more tricky then just ganking 1 hero but never fear you are the mighty Pollywog! Remember to target the stunner/Disable first or anyone that can interrupt your channeling of Magical Bind then focus on the other hero if he has not ran away. If you are versing 2 stunners, Morph one then Bind the other hopefully you will get at least 1 kill here or both. If you really wanted to you could place some wards down first but I wouldn't recommend it especially in the early stages of the game when your wards have a longer cooldown try to save them for defending towers and pushing towers.
Team Fights: In the big team fights you are going to want to target the enemy hero that poses the biggest threat to your team, this will vary from game to game, but some examples include Magmus if he gets his Ulti off this could hurt your team alot so try to keep an eye out for when he is casting and try to disable him asap, a Jereaziah might be casting shields and healing enemies that are hurting you in battle so you can disable him to stop that, also try to disable anyone who can disable your team such as AOE stunners or late game carry or huge dps heroes, really whoever is casuing you the most trouble in the big team fights is the one you should usually target first. If you are unsure just ask your team in game and they will help you out on who they need to be disabled.
Alot of times in big team fights you won't be able to get your Bind of without it being interrupted if you have a chance to do so, do it, but most of the time this will not be possible, so your best option is to use your Morph on the biggest threat to your team and try to place your wards down in the middle of the fight or just behind them where you think the enemy is going to retreat towards for maximum time of your wards hitting the enemy. Try to stay out of trouble until your morph cools down and use it again, remember if at any point you think you can get your Bind off without being interrupted go for it, you don't have anything to lose and it might go un-noticed in the heat of battle. If possible try to Bind a hero closest to your wards then control your wards and make sure they are targeting that hero, in some big fights with creeps your wards might not all attack the same thing, control of your wards is critical so make sure you aware of what your wards are attacking and what they should be attacking.
Some great laning parters include:
Swiftblade with his blade frenzy combined with your Bind is a great combo and almost assured of a firstblood.
Magebane with his mana combustion can blink right next to them as soon as you Bind them to do alot of damage.
War beast with his hellhounds and himself can also unleash alot of damage while the enemy is in a Bind.
Voodoo can use his cursed ground while the target is in your Magical Bind as well as taking damage from Magical Bindings he can auto attack for extra damage as well as stun if needed and if that wasn't enough you can add in your Electric Jolt into the mix and if he doesn't die from that cursed ground will surely get him guaranteeing you of a kill.
Magmus is good too (really any stunner), if going into a big fight you can disable a couple of key heroes that might try and disable Magmus while he is trying to cast his ulti, when in a lane, Bind / Stun Combo works really great too. You could even extend this to any ground target stunner such as Pebbles or Pyro, in combination with your Bind they is assured to land a stun.
These are just a couple of examples but really, when it comes down to it anyone works well with Pollywog. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!
Now that you have your laning partner sorted out you are going to want head into river to check the 0:00 minute spawn and see where the rune spawns either pick it up or give it to a team mate who has a bottle, or if the rune wasn't at the spawn you were at inform your team of where it is. Getting the first rune of the match could be the difference between you getting first blood or the enemy also if you carrying wards you should place them at one of the rune spawns or a pathway to give vision of incoming ganks.
When in the lane, you will usually be teamed up with a carry hero, your job in that lane is to harass the enemy as well as deny as many of your creeps are you possibly can, you SHOULD NOT last hit enemy creeps and take gold away from the carry hero. He is your late game hero and needs as much gold as possibly. You are there to support him and make sure he survies in that lane, and gets hero kills, you can use your Electric Jolt to harass but don't spam it as your mana pool and regen is low so use it wisely, also use your Magical Bindinds when the opportunity presents itself for a easy kill. The best time to do this and you should always be aware when this happens is, if you almost kill an enemy creep wave and the enemy hero hangs around a bit too long and abit too close use Magical Bindings as soon as possible so not only does your team mate attack him but your creep wave as well for maximum effect.
Heroes to Avoid:
Really Anyone who has a stun and can cancel your Bind is really annoying and should be avoidable, or targeted first. While you are using your Bind on a enemy you cannot move and leaves you open to attack, especially ground target stuns like Pebbles stun/toss combo or Pyro's nukes.
1 stun & 1 non-stun lane
When in a lane versus 1 stun/disable and 1 that has nothing that interrupt your bind always target the stun/disable enemy so you can get the kill without your bind being canceled.
Double stun lane
If you are in a lane and versing a double stun or a stun disable team this makes it really hard to get kills and use your Magical Binding effectively because if you cast it on one of them the other will just stun or disable you to save his team mate. You should be very careful when you use your Bind or even think about changing lanes.
Advanced laning at higher levels vs the double stun lane you can use your Morph on 1 of the stunner and use Magical Bindings on the other at the same time, to try at take one of them out. This is an advanced technique which you will get better at with practise.
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Ganking
Ganking with Pollywog can be alot of fun, but you can't do it alone. Well you can but it's not recommended. You should always have a ganking buddy with you at all times possibly a carry hero so he can get some extra gold for his late game items. When approching a gank there are several ways you can go about getting the kill.Ganking
Ganking 1 hero: With a buddy you just spotted a enemy all by himself pushing abit too far past the river, you should be the first one to go in because if he spots your team mate first he might run away before you get a chance to disable him, either you go in first or arrive at the same time. If you can get close enough go in and start with a Magical Bind this will give time for your team mate to get next to him and unleash the fury you can queue your next spell by pushing shift and clicking Morph which will cast Morph as soon as your Magical Bind runs out, for maximum disable time. By now your team mate should have got the kill if not you can always finish him off with a Electric Jolt although this isn't recommended as i've said before you are the support hero and should give the hero kills to the late game carry. This is why when you go in (if you have the mana for it) to cast Electric Jolt first, to bring down as much HP as possible before you go in for the disables, then allow your team mate to get the last hit and the extra gold (if he is the carry). The only time you would go in first with the disable is if you are running low on mana or don't have the mana pool to do both Jolt / Bind / Morph etc.
Summary: Electric Jolt -> Magical Binding/Morph
Ganking 2 heroes: This is abit more tricky then just ganking 1 hero but never fear you are the mighty Pollywog! Remember to target the stunner/Disable first or anyone that can interrupt your channeling of Magical Bind then focus on the other hero if he has not ran away. If you are versing 2 stunners, Morph one then Bind the other hopefully you will get at least 1 kill here or both. If you really wanted to you could place some wards down first but I wouldn't recommend it especially in the early stages of the game when your wards have a longer cooldown try to save them for defending towers and pushing towers.
Team Fights: In the big team fights you are going to want to target the enemy hero that poses the biggest threat to your team, this will vary from game to game, but some examples include Magmus if he gets his Ulti off this could hurt your team alot so try to keep an eye out for when he is casting and try to disable him asap, a Jereaziah might be casting shields and healing enemies that are hurting you in battle so you can disable him to stop that, also try to disable anyone who can disable your team such as AOE stunners or late game carry or huge dps heroes, really whoever is casuing you the most trouble in the big team fights is the one you should usually target first. If you are unsure just ask your team in game and they will help you out on who they need to be disabled.
Alot of times in big team fights you won't be able to get your Bind of without it being interrupted if you have a chance to do so, do it, but most of the time this will not be possible, so your best option is to use your Morph on the biggest threat to your team and try to place your wards down in the middle of the fight or just behind them where you think the enemy is going to retreat towards for maximum time of your wards hitting the enemy. Try to stay out of trouble until your morph cools down and use it again, remember if at any point you think you can get your Bind off without being interrupted go for it, you don't have anything to lose and it might go un-noticed in the heat of battle. If possible try to Bind a hero closest to your wards then control your wards and make sure they are targeting that hero, in some big fights with creeps your wards might not all attack the same thing, control of your wards is critical so make sure you aware of what your wards are attacking and what they should be attacking.
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Pushing
Pushing
Pushing General Outer Towers:
One of the main reasons you pick Pollywog Priest is for the brilliant pushing power his Vodoo Wards have to offer. Ward placement is crucial. When pushing an enemy tower make sure you place your wards behind your creep wave that is pushing on the enemy tower otherwise the tower will just attack your wards and they will be a complete waste. If you place your wards close to the enemy tower enemy, range heroes can also take out your wards so you want them in the best position so the tower and enemy heroes can't get to them. Also watch for what your wards are attacking they will switch to take out creeps over the tower and may also target enemy heroes so just be aware of that. You can control your wards by selecting them and clicking what to attack.
Pushing Main Base Towers / Bases:
When pushing into the enemy base ward placement again is critical it could be the difference between just taking the tower and taking the tower and the rax. If you are pushing into the enemy base and the tower is at FULL HP and the entire team is waiting to defend just place your wards behind your creep wave as you would if you were pushing the outer towers. Your team will go in and hopefully your wards will help take out a few heroes or the tower at the very least.
If the tower has been previously attacked and it at about HALF HP or if there are only a few enemies guarding the rax make sure after you creep wave has gone in to place your wards BEHIND the enemy tower, this way after the tower has been destroyed your wards can focus on taking down the rax! Remember to keep your disables on key enemy heroes (see Team Fights for more info on this)
Pushing Main Base Towers / Bases:
When pushing into the enemy base ward placement again is critical it could be the difference between just taking the tower and taking the tower and the rax. If you are pushing into the enemy base and the tower is at FULL HP and the entire team is waiting to defend just place your wards behind your creep wave as you would if you were pushing the outer towers. Your team will go in and hopefully your wards will help take out a few heroes or the tower at the very least.
If the tower has been previously attacked and it at about HALF HP or if there are only a few enemies guarding the rax make sure after you creep wave has gone in to place your wards BEHIND the enemy tower, this way after the tower has been destroyed your wards can focus on taking down the rax! Remember to keep your disables on key enemy heroes (see Team Fights for more info on this)
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Defending
Defending
General Defending of Outer Towers:
Defending is a very important part of the game, if you don't do it you lose. Pollywog is a great defending hero. You should always carry a Homecoming stone on your hero so you can teleport to any towers and get ready to defend them with your wards from any oncoming pushes.
To defend is to hold your ground so whenever an enemy team tries to push onto your tower place your wards behind your tower if they are really trying to take it, this means if they want to take that tower they not only have to take the tower on but your wards aswell which forces them closer to your tower and your team, you can vary this slightly by placing your wards to the side of the tower or if versing a range team you can place them slightly infront of your tower, for maximum effect try to place your wards in range so your tower and wards hit the enemy at the same time.
If you are going for a counter-push you can place your wards behind the enemy when they are close to your tower traping them between your tower and your wards then your entire team comes in and takes them out.
Be careful with this technique because if it fails they will kill your team, get gold from killing your wards and get your tower so only use this if you are certain you will take out their team.
Defending Main Base Towers / Bases: When defending your rax and base tower always wait until the enemy pushes into your base before dropping your wards, if you place them early they will see this and just retreat and wait for your wards to die then push into your base.
When placing wards ALWAYS place them behind your tower, this means they have to come uphill into your base if they want to take out your wards also coming closer to your team, if your team comes in to defend the extra support from the wards and the tower should be enough for hold your ground and take out a few of the enemy heroes. Remember to keep your disables on key enemy heroes (see Team Fights for more info on this) Also try not to place your wards too early, wait until they are pushing right up to your tower otherwise they will just run back and wait for your wards to die.
Misc Notes
- Pollywogs Wards are Magic Immune so only normal attacks can kill them.
- You can control what your wards attack by selecting them and choosing a target.
- If the enemy kill your wards they get on average 30 gold per ward so be careful where you place them.
- Place wards uphill so they don't miss when attacking targets.
- Remeber to disable the biggest threat to your team in big team fights.
- You are a support hero, don't kill steal and take gold away from your team's carry hero.
- Gank whenever possible and try to push towers as soon as your wards are off cooldown.
- Always have a buddy with you when ganking.
- Stay away from stunner/disable heroes that can interrupt your channeling spell, or target them first.
- You can use your wards to kill Kongor at level 11 if a few members from your team come to help tank it.
BONUS: WARD KILLS
I have spoken about ward kills/trapping throughout the guide although this is not a recommended technique for competitive play as it can be a really risky move and you can waste your wards, it can be alot of fun when you pull it off right and can easily get you a few kills if you don't need your wards for anything else or if your team is winning pretty good already, you can give this a shot.
If you had a storm spirit you can cyclone them then place wards on that spot when they come down you can then Bind / Morph / Jolt whatever to get the kill. But that's too easy and seeing as storm spirit is not in my item build you won't be using that anyway.
Another way to get a ward kill is to place the wards behind the enemy hero or where you think he will run to, then Bind / Morph / Jolt. This too can be really risky because if they see this they can easily run away before you get your Bind off, but that's not really ward trapping, and I do not recommended this technique at all, this is more of a what-not-to-do.
WARD TRAPPING: THE PRO WAY
Ok so if you want to be a pro Pollywog player you have to learn to ward trap with skill, this involves finding a target, using Morph then watching him for a second and predicting where he is moving towards, place your wards a tiny bit ahead of where he is moving and if placed correctly your wards should surround him trapping him so he can't move. You can then auto-attack him or Bind/Morph and finish with a Electric Jolt and get the kill. This technique takes some practise and won't work everytime especially if your opponent is trying to juke you, and you mis-predict where he is moving. At the very least if you miss the trap you can use Bind on him in the time he is still morphed allowing your wards to attack him and just finish with a Jolt.
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THE END! - HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO READS THIS GUIDE AND I HOPE YOU BECOME A BETTER POLLYWOG PLAYER BECAUSE OF IT, ROCK OUT!
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