Sins of a Dark Age Beroth Guide

Sins of a Dark Age Beroth The Mandrake Guide by Ghanni

Abilities:

Passive:

Renewing Carapace: Damage Shield: 10%

Beroth’s passive is definitely one of the best early on and scales very well into late game. During the early game think of it as a free potion that you receive after every 10 seconds of not being attacked. This allows you to be a little more aggressive when trying to land either your Vine Grab[Q] or Power Crush[E]. Going into late game it scales with your health, armor and magic resists so it will become a lot more durable in taking hits from all sources.

Actives:

Vine Grab [Q]:

This is the ability which defines Beroth, it is a long range skill shot which if landed will pull the target into melee range. It will pull the first target which falls in its path so always take this into consideration when opponents are hiding behind minions. You’re able to pull through all obstructions such as walls and gaps in the ground so don’t be afraid to get creative.

Flailing Vines [W]:

This is a channeled ability will deals damage in a small area of effect. Early on does not deal enough damage to make the sustained mana cost worth it although if you find yourself in a situation where you’re chasing someone down it’s a good way of dealing damage without having to auto-attack. At later levels when you have some mana regeneration items and have put some levels into it creep waves will clear very quickly.

Power Crush [E]:

Beroth’s one two punch in combination with Vine Grab[Q] make him an early game threat for opponents who push their lanes too much.

Sap Flood[R]:

Opponents must always keep a tab on whether or not this ability is up when facing a low health Beroth because of the immense healing it brings. Additionally slowing the escape capabilities of opponents stuck within melee range.

Ability Sequence:

Q – E – W – Q – Q – R – Q – W – W – W – R – E – E – E – R

Reasoning:

I choose to max my Vine Grab[Q] first because I want to get the cooldown low as fast as possible. I follow up with Flailing Vines[W] because by that point I should be able to manage the sustained mana cost and start clearing creep waves. Power Crush[E] is maxed last because I mainly use it for the stun effect which I chain with Vine Grab[Q]. The default recast time for Power Crush[E] is already 16 seconds so Vine Grab[Q] is just catching up since you always want to combo them. Put a point in Sap Flood[R] every chance you get.

Glyphs:

Blink (Recommended) :

Beroth does not have any natural escape mechanism so having a get out of jail free card is definitely never a bad idea. Although it is usually going to be used defensively since the recast time is high, it can be used on the offense to blink toward an enemy and follow up with either a Vine Grab[Q] or Power Crush[E].

Cripple (Recommended):

As a hero which is often used in a support role Cripple will allow you to slow down and cripple the opponent’s damage allowing your carry to either finish them off, deny them of escaping or allowing your carry to escape.

Anguish:

If you’re going a more offensive route this is a viable choice and will give you an extra active to seal the deal when an opponent is about to make it out with a sliver of health by dealing pure damage and reducing their health regeneration.

Starting Items:

Commoner’s Boots/Health Potion/Mana Potion/Blink/Cripple

Early game:

Bead of Inspiration
Charger’s Sabatons
Health/Mana Potions & Vision Wards upon each shop visit

Reasoning:

I usually start with either tier 1 boots or Renewing Amulet along with some pots. If I start with Renewing Amulet I make sure to buy boots second. First item that I complete is the Bead of Inspiration to resolve mana issues. Second is the Charger’s Sabatons for the additional movement speed, armor and active movement bonus for either chasing or escaping.

Mid game:

Crystalline Barrier
Rampager’s Cuirass

Reasoning:

Depending on whether my opponents are mostly physical or magic damaged based will affect which item I get next. I will purchase either Mail Armor or a Cloak of Protection and continue to build either the Crystalline Barrier or Rampager’s Cuirass.

End game:

Shroud of Corruption
Revenguard
Glacial Scepter

Reasoning:

The first of these items that I purchase is the Shroud of Corruption. This will give me additional magic resists and special power along with an aura that reduces surrounding opponent’s magic resists. Afterward it’s situational. If I find myself needing more armor I grab Revenguard otherwise spoil yourself again with Glacial Scepter for the beautiful passive. Although the armor, special power and health/sec is awesome on Revenguard I find myself once again attracted to the passive which has a chance to damage and slow opponents that strike you.

Overall Combined Stats:

+925 Health
+4 Health/Sec
+825 Mana
+2 Mana/Sec
+130 Armor
+125 Magic Resists
+175 Special Power
+7% Movement Speed
10% Cooldown Reduction
Actives:
+30% Movement speed for 5 Seconds
Passives:
50 Magic damage/sec in a 1.7 radius
Block 15% of magic damage and restores twice that much as mana
-20 Magic resists to opponents in a 7.0 radius
Damage dealt by abilities apply a brief slow
30% chance to deal magic damage which scales on special power, slow attack speed by 67%, slow movement by 35% for 3 seconds

Build Synergy:

I find this build gives Beroth a lot of even stats across special power, armor, magic resists, health, mana, health regen, mana regen, movement speed along with 5 passives and an active.
My favorite combination comes from Flailing Vines[W] + Rampager’s Cuirass(Passive) + Shroud of Corruption (Passive) + Glacial Scepter (Passive). In this situation you’re dealing a lot of damage by not even attacking your opponent but also as long as you can stay around them they will have to at least burn their Blink in order to get away from you due to Glacial Scepter’s passive. If they do Blink you can follow up by using Vine Grab [Q] and Power Crush [E] to bring them back for good.

Strategies:

Early Game:

You want to play passively and get a sense for how your opponent plans to lane. Since you should be laning with someone that is ranged you’ll still collect gold from their last hits. If your opponents push the lane hug the tower and try to land Vine Grab[Q] and Power Crush[E] as often as you can (Due to the high cost of Vine Grab[Q] only use it when you have at least ~80% certainty of landing it.) If you end on pushing the lane stay in the bushes and try to deny your opponents experience and gold.

Mid Game:

Your goal as Beroth in the mid game is to feed your carry as much as possible while picking up the assists. By this time you should have sufficient mana regen to keep up your Flailing Vines[W] for a sufficient amount of time. Whenever possible don’t be afraid to roam and help gank mid should the lane be pushed in your favor.

Late Game:

At this point the enemy should fear your mighty pull. With every successful pull you should be ensuring either a kill or burning someone’s Blink. Follow that up with the Charger’s Sabatons active and you should be able to catch up in no time. With the additional armor, magic resists, health and mana you receive you should be able to eat a fair amount of damage for your team and then regenerate it all using Sap Flood[R].

Conclusion:

I find this to be a very rewarding build on Beroth that definitely plays to his strengths. With just about the right amount of offensive and defensive capabilities combined with his Vine Grab[Q] he is a definite asset to any team.