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StrengthStrength · Melee

Axe

Taunts and forces enemies to attack him

CarryDisablerDurableInitiatorSimple to play
Axe portrait

Win rate

50.5%

B across all ranks

Pick rate

16.9%

of public matches

Public picks

570.5K

in the sample

Pro scene

7

5 bans · 0% win rate

Win rate by rank

  • Herald1Herald51.8%
  • Guardian2Guardian51.4%
  • Crusader3Crusader51.4%
  • Archon4Archon51.1%
  • Legend5Legend49.9%
  • Ancient6Ancient49.8%
  • Divine+7Divine+48.9%

Bars start at 50%. Sample sizes: Herald 11.5K · Guardian 41.6K · Crusader 83.9K · Archon 137.6K · Legend 155.1K · Ancient 86.9K · Divine+ 53.9K.

Last 6 days

50.6%

Popular item build

Starting items

Bought before the horn

  1. 1

    Gauntlets of Strength

    140g
  2. 2

    Iron Branch

    55g
  3. 3

    Ring of Protection

    175g
  4. 4

    Tango

    90g

Laning

The first minutes

  1. 1

    Boots of Speed

    500g
  2. 2

    Chainmail

    500g
  3. 3

    Phase Boots

    47%1,450g
  4. 4

    Splintmail

    950g
  5. 5

    Bracer

    505g
  6. 6

    Broadsword

    1,000g

Mid game

Core items

  1. 1

    Blink Dagger

    48%2,250g
  2. 2

    Blade Mail

    49%2,400g
  3. 3

    Black King Bar

    56%4,050g
  4. 4

    Aghanim's Shard

    56%1,400g

Late game

The full build

  1. 1

    Black King Bar

    56%4,050g
  2. 2

    Shiva's Guard

    4,500g
  3. 3

    Heart of Tarrasque

    5,300g
  4. 4

    Lotus Orb

    3,850g
  5. 5

    Yasha

    2,100g
  6. 6

    Kaya

    69%2,100g

Most-bought items for Axe in OpenDota’s sample of parsed public matches (1,588 purchases counted). Bars compare each item with the most-bought one in its phase. The percentage is the win rate in games where Axe bought the item by minute 30 (green or red when it is clearly above or below Axe’s average). Teams that are ahead buy items sooner, so a high number shows the item goes with winning games, not that it causes the win. Items with fewer than 100 games show no percentage. Cheap components are hidden from the mid and late game.

Best win rate by purchase time

Bought ≤ 12 min

  1. Blade Mail

    460 games

    56%
  2. Blink Dagger

    316 games

    54%
  3. Vanguard

    243 games

    52%

Bought 12–15 min

  1. Blink Dagger

    664 games

    51%
  2. Blade Mail

    519 games

    50%
  3. Phase Boots

    74 games

    34%

Bought 15–20 min

  1. Mithril Hammer

    141 games

    62%
  2. Aghanim's Shard

    332 games

    61%
  3. Blade Mail

    548 games

    51%

Bought 20–30 min

  1. Ring of Tarrasque

    80 games

    84%
  2. Reaver

    79 games

    73%
  3. Sange

    66 games

    73%

Final items compared within the same purchase window (at least 60 games each), so they are not simply ranked by how late or expensive they are. Still a correlation: a team that is far ahead can buy anything sooner.

What these items do

  • Gauntlets of Strength

    140

    • +3 Strength
  • Iron Branch

    55

    • +1 All Attributes

    Use: Plant Tree: Targets the ground to plant a happy little tree that lasts for 20 seconds.

  • Ring of Protection

    175

    • +2 Armor
  • Tango

    90

    Use: Devour: Consumes a target tree to gain 7 health regeneration for 16 seconds. Consuming an Ironwood Tree doubles the heal duration. Comes with 3 charges.

  • Boots of Speed

    500

    • +45 Move Speed

    Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

  • Chainmail

    500

    • +4 Armor
  • Phase Boots

    1,450

    • +50 Move Speed
    • +4 Armor

    Active: Phase: Gives 20% increased movement speed on melee heroes, and 10% on ranged heroes, and lets you move through units and turn more quickly for 3 seconds.

    Win rate when bought47.3% · 1,986 games

    • ≤ 12 min48%1.8k
    • 12–15 min34%74
    • 15–20 min46%46
    • 20–30 min–23
    Full description

    8s

    Active: Phase. Gives 20% increased movement speed on melee heroes, and 10% on ranged heroes, and lets you move through units and turn more quickly for 3 seconds. Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

  • Splintmail

    950

    • +7 Armor
  • Bracer

    505

    • +5 Strength
    • +2 Agility
    • +2 Intelligence
    • +0.75 Health Regen
    • +50 Health
  • Broadsword

    1,000

    • +15 Damage
  • Blink Dagger

    2,250

    Active: Blink: Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.

    Win rate when bought47.8% · 2,062 games

    • ≤ 12 min54%316
    • 12–15 min51%664
    • 15–20 min46%886
    • 20–30 min36%196
    Full description

    15s

    Active: Blink. Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.

    • Self-casting will cause you to teleport in the direction of your team's fountain.
  • Blade Mail

    2,400

    • +15 Damage
    • +7 Armor

    Active: Damage Return: For 5.5 seconds, return all incoming damage, increasing the percentage by 85%.

    Win rate when bought48.5% · 1,892 games

    • ≤ 12 min56%460
    • 12–15 min50%519
    • 15–20 min51%548
    • 20–30 min33%365
    Full description

    25s25

    Active: Damage Return. For 5.5 seconds, return all incoming damage, increasing the percentage by 85%.

    Passive: Damage Return. Everytime you are attacked, you return 10 damage plus 15% of the attack damage dealt to you.

    • Damage Return is calculated before any kind of reduction.
    • Returned damage type is the same as it was received.
    • Damage done by this item is considered reflected damage. Reflected damage does not provide any lifesteal and cannot be reflected.
  • Black King Bar

    4,050

    • +10 Strength
    • +24 Damage

    Active: Avatar: Applies a basic dispel. Grants 60% magic resistance and immunity to reflected and pure damage.

    Win rate when bought56.3% · 899 games

    • ≤ 12 min–2
    • 12–15 min–6
    • 15–20 min–24
    • 20–30 min57%867
    Full description

    95s50

    Active: Avatar. Applies a basic dispel. Grants 60% magic resistance and immunity to reflected and pure damage. For the duration of the effect, any negative effect from enemy spells has no effect. Duration: 9 / 8 / 7s Dispel Type: Basic Dispel

    • Purchasing another Black King Bar will not reset its immunity duration.
    • Avatar duration is not affected by increases to buff duration.
  • Aghanim's Shard

    1,400

    Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades an existing ability or adds a new ability to your hero.

    Win rate when bought56.4% · 1,070 games

    • ≤ 12 min–9
    • 12–15 min–11
    • 15–20 min61%332
    • 20–30 min55%718
  • Shiva's Guard

    4,500

    • +17 Armor

    Active: Arctic Blast: Emits a freezing wave that deals 225 magical damage to enemies and slows their movement by -40% for 4 seconds. Radius: 825

    Full description

    27s75

    Active: Arctic Blast. Emits a freezing wave that deals 225 magical damage to enemies and slows their movement by -40% for 4 seconds. Radius: 825

    Passive: Freezing Aura. Reduces the attack speed of all enemies by -40. Radius: 1200

    • The wave extends at a speed of 400 to a max size of 825.
    • The Arctic Blast follows its caster.
    • Multiple instances of Freezing Aura do not stack.
    • AoE bonuses from multiple Chasm Stones or its upgrades do not stack.
  • Heart of Tarrasque

    5,300

    • +40 Strength

    Passive: Behemoth's Blood: Your health regeneration is increased by 1.5% of your missing health.

    Full description

    Passive: Behemoth's Blood. Your health regeneration is increased by 1.5% of your missing health.

    • Multiple instances of Behemoth's Blood do not stack.
  • Lotus Orb

    3,850

    • +10 Armor
    • +6.5 Health Regen
    • +4 Mana Regen
    • +250 Mana

    Active: Echo Shell: Applies a shield to the target unit for 5 seconds which re-casts most targeted spells back to their caster.

    Full description

    15s175

    Active: Echo Shell. Applies a shield to the target unit for 5 seconds which re-casts most targeted spells back to their caster. The shielded unit will still take damage from the spell. Dispel Type: Basic Dispel

    • Targeted abilities from neutral items do not trigger Echo Shell.
  • Yasha

    2,100

    • +16 Agility
    • +15 Damage
    • +10% Move Speed
    Full description
    • Yasha-based movement speed bonuses from multiple items do not stack.
  • Kaya

    2,100

    • +16 Intelligence

    Win rate when bought69.4% · 124 games

    • ≤ 12 min–3
    • 12–15 min–3
    • 15–20 min–25
    • 20–30 min68%93
    Full description
    • Multiple instances of this item do not stack.

Abilities

Berserker's Call

18 / 16 / 14 / 12s90 / 100 / 110 / 120

Axe taunts nearby enemy units, forcing them to attack him while he gains bonus armor during the duration.

RADIUS
315
BONUS ARMOR
12 / 13 / 14 / 15
DURATION
2.1 / 2.4 / 2.7 / 3

Aghanim’s ShardBerserker's Call applies Battle Hunger to affected units.

Battle Hunger

20 / 15 / 10 / 5s50 / 60 / 70 / 80

Enrages an enemy unit, causing it to take damage over time until it kills another unit or the duration ends. The enemy is slowed as long as they are facing away from Axe.

DURATION
12
MOVEMENT SLOW
18 / 22 / 26 / 30
DAMAGE PER SECOND
12 / 16 / 20 / 24
  • Destroying buildings will also remove the debuff.

Aghanim’s ShardMultiple instances of Battle Hunger can stack on a single target.

Counter Helix

0.3s

After a set number of attacks, Axe will perform a helix counter attack, dealing pure damage to all nearby enemies.

DAMAGE
100 / 120 / 140 / 160
RADIUS
275
ATTACKS TO HELIX
7 / 6 / 5 / 4
DEBUFF DURATION
0
ATTACK DAMAGE REDUCTION
0
MAX STACKS
0
  • Counter Helix triggers when the attack hits.
  • Illusions' counters don't increase when they attack when you have a Scepter.

Aghanim’s ScepterCounter Helix now applies a stacking debuff to enemies hit by it that causes them to deal less total attack damage to Axe. Counter Helix no longer has a cooldown and its counter advances when Axe attacks.

Culling Blade

Ultimate80 / 75 / 70s100 / 125 / 150

Axe spots a weakness and strikes, dealing pure damage. When an enemy hero is killed with Culling Blade, its cooldown is reset, and all nearby allied units gain bonus movement speed and armor. Axe permanently drenches his blade every time he kills an enemy Hero with Culling Blade, gaining bonus armor for each stack.

DAMAGE
275 / 375 / 475
KILL MOVE SPEED BONUS
20 / 25 / 30
KILL ARMOR BONUS
10 / 15 / 20
KILL BUFF DURATION
6
KILL BUFF RADIUS
900
ARMOR PER STACK
1 / 1.5 / 2
  • Culling Blade death cannot be prevented with other abilities like Shallow Grave.

One Man Army

Innate

Axe gains Strength based on 50% of his Armor as long as there are no allied heroes within 700 distance from Axe. The effect fades over 3s after approaching an ally.

MAX BONUS STRENGTH
0

Talents

+85 Berserker's Call AoE

25

+150 Culling Blade Damage

+15 Strength

20

+40 Counter Helix Damage

+8 Battle Hunger Damage Per Second

15

+10 Berserker's Call Armor

+3s Culling Blade Kill Buff Bonus Duration

10

+8% Movement Speed per active Battle Hunger

Base stats

Attributes

  • StrengthStrength25+2.7/lvl
  • AgilityAgility18+1.7/lvl
  • IntelligenceIntelligence18+1.6/lvl

At level 1

Damage
56–60
Attack time
1.7s
Attack range
150 (melee)
Move speed
315
Armor
3
Magic resistance
25%
Health
670 (+4.5/s)
Mana
291 (+0.9/s)
Vision day / night
1800 / 800

Recent changes

latest 12 patches
  1. 7.41e
    • Base Agility decreased from 20 to 18
    • Battle Hunger:Damage per second decreased from 12/18/24/30 to 12/16/20/24
  2. 7.41d
    • Base Health Regen decreased by 0.5
    • Battle Hunger:Cast Range decreased from 700/775/850/925 to 600/700/800/900
  3. 7.41
    • Removed Coat of Blood innate ability
    • One Man Army:Now Axe's innate ability
    • Increases Axe's Strength by 50% of his armor, as long as there are no allied heroes within a 700 radius of him. The effect fades over 3s after an ally walks within range
    • Culling Blade:Now each hero kill made with Culling Blade provides a permanent stack, which provides 1/1.5/2 armor depending on the current level of Culling Blade
  4. 7.40c
    • Strength gain decreased from 2.8 to 2.7
    • Talents:Level 15 Talent Battle Hunger Damage Per Second decreased from +10 to +8
  5. 7.40b
    • Talents:Level 15 Talent Battle Hunger Damage Per Second decreased from +12 to +10
  6. 7.40
    • Berserker's Call:Duration increased from 1.8/2.2/2.6/3s to 2.1/2.4/2.7/3s
    • Cooldown increased from 17/15/13/11s to 18/16/14/12s
    • Battle Hunger:No longer has an armor-based damage multiplier
    • Damage type changed from Physical to Pure
    • No longer has reduced movement slow against creeps
    • Talents:Level 15 Talent +10% Battle Hunger Slow replaced with +12 Battle Hunger Damage Per Second
    • Level 20 Talent Counter Helix Damage increased from +30 to +40
    • Level 20 Talent +100 Culling Blade Damage replaced with +15 Strength
    • Level 25 Talent 2x Battle Hunger Armor Multiplier replaced with +150 Culling Blade Damage
  7. 7.39d
    • Berserker's Call:Mana Cost increased from 80/90/100/110 to 90/100/110/120
    • Culling Blade:Kill Armor Bonus decreased from 20/25/30 to 10/15/20

Lore

As a grunt in the Army of Red Mist, Mogul Khan set his sights on the rank of Red Mist General. In battle after battle he proved his worth through gory deed. His rise through the ranks was helped by the fact that he never hesitated to decapitate a superior. Through the seven year Campaign of the Thousand Tarns, he distinguished himself in glorious carnage, his star of fame shining ever brighter, while the number of comrades in arms steadily dwindled. On the night of ultimate victory, Axe declared himself the new Red Mist General, and took on the ultimate title of 'Axe.' But his troops now numbered zero. Of course, many had died in battle, but a significant number had also fallen to Axe's blade. Needless to say, most soldiers now shun his leadership. But this matters not a whit to Axe, who knows that a one-man army is by far the best.

Win rates come from public Dota 2 matches (OpenDota), 3.4M matches counted, refreshed Oct 24, 2026. Tiers use the win rate in the chosen rank: S 52.5%+, A 51%+, B 49%+, C 47.5%+, D below; heroes with too few games are left unrated. Hero data and patch notes are Valve’s. Builds Forge is an unofficial fan site, not affiliated with Valve.