Dawngate Freia Guide

Dawngate Freia Guide by ErikDread

Introduction

Red is a very scary shaper at this point in the game, able to deal massive amounts of burst early game while scaling well in to late with her ultimate, as well as offering both crowd control against key targets and a gap closer to get onto those pesky casters. But the key thing to remember here is this: This is only a guide. It is not the be all and end all of Red, do not follow it religiously. I will be wrong in sometimes, that is inevitable. All i ask is you keep an open mind and play your own way!

Background

A commoner from the mountainous north, Freia bonded with the Spirit of Rage when she discovered her village razed by Fenmore and his spirit-wolves. Now consumed by the Vitality she bears, she pursues the warlord relentlessly, intent on revenge.

Freia is a melee Bruiser with a highly versatile and powerful range of abilities. Using Rage as her primary resource, Freia can reactivate any of her core abilities a second time for additional effects. The key to being successful with Freia is managing when to use each of her reactivations. Her late game mobility, burst, crowd control and powerful execution steroid make Freia the ultimate clean up crew and a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Abilities

Mounting Fury

Freia uses Rage to cast her abilities.

Freia gradually generates Rage when she has less than 50 Rage, and loses it gradually if she has more than 50 while out of combat.

Additionally, Freia gains 5 Rage with each attack, as well as one stack of Mounting Fury, which increases Freia’s Haste by 5?(Needs verifying) per stack for 4?(Needs verifying) seconds (maximum 6 stacks.)

This skill is incredibly underrated! Not only does it help you clear jungle creeps faster, but it allows you to build your rage up quicker. If used correctly in lane on creeps before jumping someone, you will be able to have 100 rage and full stacks, allowing you to stun and nuke the enemy, or simply nuke the enemy and jump back. It also scales incredibly well with her ultimate, as well as with items, such as one of my personal favorites on her, Ruin. Lastly, this skill is amazing when it comes to bursting down towers, and makes her excel at pushing lanes.

Soul Rend

CD: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5

First Cast: Freia gouges target enemy open, dealing 65 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+0.75) physical damage over 0 seconds as they bleed.

Recast: Freia can recast Gouge for 50 Rage. If she hits the Gouged enemy with the second cast, she instantly deals Gouge’s remaining damage plus an additional 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 (+1.2) physical damage.

The lifeforce of Red’s burst, this is what will strike fear into your enemies, specifically Fenmore. I max this first due to the fact it is your damage earlygame. Note that i say is, not some. Until you hit level 6, your autoattacks will not do much, and your stun and dash do minimal damage, whereas this skill will decimate your opponents. It also makes for very fast clears in the jungle, as you can burst the big creeps down fast. I skill first and max first.

Blinding speed

CD: 14 / 12 / 10 / 8 / 6

First Cast: Freia leaps to a target, dealing 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+0.35) physical damage to each nearby enemy.

Recast: Freia can recast Blinding Speed for 50 Rage, dashing and attacking again, then increasing her Movement Speed by (Unknown scaling, will append)% for (Unknown scaling, will append) seconds.

Range is Melee.

A nice little skill for gap closing, this skill has a lot more potential then people would believe, all because of its second cast. Because of its second cast, you can close large gaps if used correctly. Enemy escaping in lane? Jump to a creep then to them, cripple them and autoattack to build up enough fury to kill them with your Q. Enemy standing under tower with relatively no health? Jump at them and finish with your q, before jumping back to the minion wave outside tower range. If used correctly, this skill will save your life and destroy your enemys more then just jumping in and instantly using rage on your Q.

Crippling blow

CD: 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9

First Cast: Freia bashes target enemy with the flat of her axe, dealing 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120(+0.25) physical damage and reducing their Movement Speed by 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45% for 1.2? seconds.

Recast: Freia can recast Crippling Blow for 50 Rage. If she hits the Crippled enemy with the second cast, she stuns them for 1.2? second.

This CC may not seem like much, but used correctly can seal ganks that otherwise will not have worked if you just blew your rage on your Q. The slow is nice and somewhat noticeable, and i usually open with it after jumping. The stun is also very nice, and if used correctly can allow your teammates to deal more damage then would have been done than you would have done yourself. Now when ganking, here comes your most important decision. Do you use your stun, or do you burst? Now most people would go “Use the stun, hit them to build rage and then burst”. Sadly, most of the time early game, this is not the case. Most of the time early if you stun first, they will manage to escape before you have enough rage to use your Q again, which as stated previously, is most of your damage.

Wrath

CD: 80 / 70 / 60

Freia goes berserk, releasing a shout of rage that fears all nearby enemies for 1 second. For the next 3 seconds, Freia gains 100% more Haste from Mounting Fury, and her basic attacks deal up to ?/?/? +(?) bonus physical damage, depending on the target’s missing Health.

This is what makes Red scale so well into late game, as not only does it give her a stupid amount of haste on top of her passive but it increases the damage to to shapers the lower their health, which synergies greatly with the Ruin item. The fear on it also makes it great to initiate with, as managing to jump into the middle of them before activating will allow you to fear the entire team. However this is generally ill advised unless you have the entire team behind you who also has a fair amount of cc, otherwise they will focus you down and you will die.
Roles

Red is obviously built for one thing. Killing. And killing pretty fast at that. So really her role should reflect that, right?

1.Hunter

I prefer Red in the woods for three reasons. Firstly, her clear speed is relatively fast due to her passive. Secondly being in lane reduces the amount of farm you will receive, and she is definitely not a babysitter. Sure you can go predator and roam, but your still losing overall farm, and she is very item dependent. And lastly, you need to be hunting down Fenmore and his wolves with your woodsman’s axes as much as possible (Lore, get you some!). I usually start orange (armour) with Red as your cooldowns from your abilities are just too high even with blue to be useful farming and Haste buff just seems like a waste at the start because of this and the fact you gain inherent haste from your passive. I usually then work towards green, picking up blue which by now is rather useful for ganks due to your amount of abilities you now have and speaking of which you should be picking up one or two ganks on your way towards green. Once you have acquired green, rush to the closest bacon buff (Money pigs/Piggybanks/etc) to get the large amount of gold and xp they offer. Trust me when i say that bacon buffs should not be underestimated, if you kill them regularly as they spawn you will easily get a gold/xp lead on the enemy jungler. Don’t be afraid to pull ganks off before 6, why i love Red so much is because you can do it easily, just know when to ragecast your e and q (See skills).

Note on double jungle: After trying double jungle last beta, i can safely say that this is viable, especially with Red. There is easily enough jungle creeps to keep both junglers sustained on gold, especially if one of you starts by stealing the other teams Orange/Green. Junglers i suggest working with are Cerulean, Kel & Moya. All 3 pack powerful cc as well as burst, other then Kel who i like due to the sheer amount of cc. With Kel’s slows and stuns, you can easily get max mounting rage stacks on the enemy and kill them. I do not however suggest jungling with Voluc as Red. Although he is very nice to jungle with as other shapers, You just lack the CC other junglers bring to the table that synergise better with him.

2.Predator

The backup hunter. While the Hunter is in the jungle farming up, you will be there to pick up the slack. This is the role where you will kill as much as you can, and while you may not get as much gold as a Hunter most of the time, sometimes if you excel at killing (Which red does by nature) you can almost cut even with them. While as i said red is quite item dependent, she still scales relatively well without a lot of gold due to the extra damage from her ultimate. Still, i just prefer the fluidity of the jungle with her, but thats just me. Truth be told, both Predator and Hunter work well on her, it just comes down to personal preference and fitting with the team.
Items

For those that are new to the game, items can be a very dizzying prospect, which means its good that there are very few properties you need to worry about. However, item builds are what seperate the good players from the bad players, and one build can work wonders while another may just fall flat. Here i will detail what i believe to be good items on her, and how i generally build her.

NOTE: These are generalizations and to be good at this game you will need to learn what to build at what times, which is why i list the items which i believe are good rather then go: Build this. Learn for yourself people, and you will be better then the rest. 

My priorities for Red are:

1.Power: You focus on killing people. This helps you kill them faster.
2.Vitality: You are an up front bruiser, you’re going to want health if you want to live.
3.Haste: Allows you to get stacks up faster and maximize your damage from Wrath.
4.Hunger: Life from death, whats not to like?
5.Mastery: Can swap this in priorities for hunger, even in small amounts this can make a huge impact due to your haste level.
6.Armour/Magic resist: At the moment there is only one type of defense penetration, which kinda renders building armour somewhat useless, your better off stacking health. Still a small amount does help a bit.

Starting items

For the start your going to want one of 3:

1.Hunger, 2 pots. Gives very nice sustain considering your as buff.
2. Power, 3 pots. This helps you kill creeps faster, makes your ganks hit harder. Generally a nice start.
3. Life, 2 pots. If you want a bit more health in the jungle, or when you run face first into the enemy.

I then rush Resolve and consumption, which gives you the power, health and tower diving potential.

The Legendary items i consider Core on Red are:

Ruin

Cost: 3290
Effects: +30 Power, +35 Haste, +10% Lifedrain
Passive: Expose Weakness II: Dealing damage reduces the target’s Armor or Magic Resist by 5% for 4 seconds, depending on if the damage dealt was physical or magical. This effect stacks up to 4 times.
Passive2: Giant Killer: Basic attacks deal 4% of the target’s maximum Health as bonus physical damage (max: 240 bonus damage vs minions and creatures).

My personal favorite item on her, gives haste, power and lifedrain, the 3 core properties of her build. But mainly i get it for both the passives. Due to how Fast she attacks, Red shreds armour and health, making even the tankiest of shapers fear her in combat.

Adamance

Cost: 2925
Effects: +70 Power, +45 Armor
Passive: Diehard II: On taking damage that would drop you below 30% Health, you first gain a shield that aborbs 350 health for 5 seconds. This effect has a 60 second cooldown.
Passive: Lockdown: Taking physical damage builds a stack of Lockdown. At 5 stacks Lockdown will activate, reducing any nearby enemies’ movespeed by 30% and attack speed by 40% for 3 seconds.

An incredibly solid item, this grants you damage and resistance. It also gives you a handy shield that will save your life on occasion, with the passive last stand working nicely with it too. I also count Diehard towards the effects as basically flat health, making it the first item i rush.

Ambition

Cost: 2250
Effects: +35 Power, +25 Haste, +30 Armor, +10% Lifedrain
Passive:Grants bonus Haste and Lifedrain based on your missing health, up to a maximum of 30 Haste and 10% Lifedrain.

Another relitively cheap item, Gives you all round stats which is very cost effective, and the passive picks up well with valor and a more Survival based build.

The offensive items i consider on Red are: (Note, if you have bought the 3 core items already i suggest you only purchase one of these otherwise you will die quickly in fights)

Voracity

Cost: 3180
Effects: +55 Power, +12% Lifedrain, +15 Mastery
Passive: Rising Hunger: Dealing damage grants 4 Power and 1% Lifedrain. This effect stacks up to 5 times for maximum bonus of 20 Power and 5% Lifedrain.

One of the few mastery items i use, it allows for a lot of damage and sustain when used with your ultimate, Wrath. I usually get this after Ruin, which in conjunction with this brings a lot of hurt and self sustain.

Pursuit

Cost: 3095
Effects: +50 Power, +30 Haste
Passive:Frost 1: Dealing damage will slow the target based on the type of attack used.
Ranged attacks: 12.5%, Melee attacks: 20%, Spells: 17.5%, AOE and DoT: 7.5%

I like this item due to its sticking power, as no matter how well you jump someone, and how soon you cripple them, they will begin to escape you eventually. This slows them down enough to continue autoattacking them, giving you the rage you need to execute your abilities.

Destruction

Cost: 3260
Effects: +90 Power, +25 Defense Penetration
Passive: Guard Break: Increases Defense Penetration by 25.

All the damage. Where hope is all out defense, this is all out damage. If you’re getting fed early, this is a very nice item to get, as the +25 armour pen is more viable then than the +40% from rage. Just remember, if you are getting fed early, don’t mess up and forget about survivability and throw it all away! Unless your some suicidal glass canon, in which case, go right ahead.

Chaos

Cost: 2910
Effects: +40 Haste, +20 Mastery, +5% Movespeed
Passive: Chain Lightning II: Dealing damage causes a chain lightning, dealing 100 (+10% of the damage dealt) as magical damage to up to 4 nearby enemies. This second has a 6 second cooldown.

This item provides a lot of damage in teamfights, especially if you crit with the attack that sets it off. Also gives you that little extra movespeed for the sticking power, and the passive itself is very effective at clearing enemy wells.

Rage

Cost: 2110
Effects: +50 Power
Passive: Guard Crush: Your basic attacks and abilities passively penetrate 40% of your target’s defenses.

“I’ve built a load of power, but for some reason i still don’t do much damage!” Well thats because they have probably built armour, which is predictable. Which is also why we build this. The +50 Power is ok, but what i love is the penetration of 40% of their defences. 40%!

Defensive items i like on Red: (I usually buy at least 2)

Glory

Cost: 2440
Effects: +400 Health, +38 Armor
Passive: Blazing Aura II: Deals 35 (+1.2% of Maximum Health) damage every second to nearby enemies.

A very nice item in the way of survival, which is always welcome! And i really love the passive. Love it to pieces. Sure it would go great on a tank, but on a more survival orientated build, it is a really nice addition.

Inevitability

Cost: 2900
Effects: +475 Health, +50 Power
Passive:Frost II: Dealing damage will slow the target based on the type of attack used.
Ranged attacks: 25%, Melee attacks: 40%, Spells: 35%, AOE and DoT: 15%

While pursuit focuses on making you faster and the enemy slower, this just wants to put them to an all out crawl. Also gives her a lot of health and power which will both increase survivability and damage. A very solid item on a more beefy build, and probably a core defense item for any type of build for her.

Rebirth

Cost: 2465
Effects: +460 Health, +35 Haste
Passive: From the Ashes: Dropping below 30% Health will cause you to recover 30% of Maximum Health over 5 seconds. This effect has a 120 second cooldown.

If they have a team thats focused on sustained damage and you’re building survivability, this is a nice little addition to your build. If they have a nukey team, just don’t bother as they will kill you outright before the 5 seconds of regen is over. Both a lot of health and haste, this makes a very solid item from Red.

Hope

Cost: 2430
Effects: +60 Armor, +40 Magic Resistance
Passive: Divine Intervention II: Using an ability grants you 30% damage reduction for 3 seconds. this effect has a 8 second cooldown.

Your deciding on your second to last, or even your last item and you suddenly realise why your dying. You have health, you just don’t have the amour and magic resist to back it up. This. This thing is godly when it comes to protection you and the passive is beautiful for if your initiating a teamfight. One of the only armour items i think is actually viable in the current game due to how much of both resists it gives.

Stability

Cost:2860
Effects: +335 Health, +40 Haste, +30 Magic Resistance
Passive: Tenacity II: Reduces the duration of disabling effects by 40%.
Passive: Unstoppable: The movespeed reduction effect of slows is reduced by 35%

Gives you a load of health and haste, this is an extremely viable option for Red and thats before the passives are taken into account. With this item, you’ll be shaking of Cerulean and Desecrator while you screw with the ADC’s and Mages.

Situational items or ones that need testing:

Decay

Cost: 3085
Effects: +40 Power, +25 Haste, +10% Defense Penetration
Passive: Expose Weakness II: Dealing damage reduces the target’s Armor or Magic Resist by 5% for 4 seconds, depending on if the damage dealt was physical or magical. This effect stacks up to 4 times.
Passive: Spririt Burn: Dealing damage with abilites will deal 4% of the target’s maximum Health over 4 seconds as magical damage. This damage is doubled for single target abilities (max: 320 total damage vs minions and creatures).

Now, you guys are probably thinking “But isn’t Ruin more viable on Red due to her AS steriods?” Generally speaking yes, i agree with you. However that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve a mention. This thing is, you need to get your ult off and your passives stacked etc. before Ruin really gets going. However say you have 100 rage and jump an enemy, you’d do 4% damage and then another 8% from your other 2 single target spells. But then you also have the ability to use those other 2 again! In total? 36% of their max health (ignoring use of ult and not using a second w), on top of what you already did. This item makes your ganks godlike in damage. Still, I’d rather take Ruin any day of the week but thats just my playstyle.

Hostility

Cost: 2740
Effects: +210 Health, +35 Power, +10 Mastery
Passive: Violence Aura: You and all nearby allies are granted 20 Power and 10 Mastery.

A nice item that grants you lots of power and mastery, and the team part of it too. Its a more offensive version of Protection, and i do prefer this one as the tanky shapers usually pick up that up and you benifit a lot more from the effects to the individual holding it.

Pain

Cost: 2990
Effects: +60 Power, +25 Mastery
Passive: Mortal Strike: Dealing damage to an enemy will Mortal Strike them, reducing the effect of Heals, Regen and Lifedrain by 50% for 3 seconds.

A hell of a lot of power and mastery, making you a hell of a lot more stronger. But thats just the nice addition. Why i mainly get this item is because of that little passive there which helps counter a few of shapers. Specifically? Fenmore! (Lore, get you some!). Or Voluc. Screw Voluc.

Fate

Cost: 2790
Effects: +200 Health, +60 Haste
Passive: Collateral Damage: Dealing damage with basic attacks fires projectiles at up to 3 enemies near the target, each dealing 60% of your basic attack damage as basic attack damage.

Well with this item when you pop your Wrath your going to go into one hell of a fit of rage. This is a nice little alternative to chaos, which also gives a little bit of survivability. “But theres no extra damage!” Well, kinda. “And chaos hits 4, not 3!” Yeah. But this thing doesn’t have a cooldown, whereas chaos does, And with the amount of swings you will be doing, i think its a worthwhile addition. Go with chaos if you’re a glass cannon though, as you wont have the time to do many swings with this if your focused. This item also procs items such as ruin on each of the targets, making it incredibly nice in teamfights. And as far as the Effects go, It’s an incredibly solid item to use on Red.

(Note: also testing if the passive procs Red’s ultimate damage as well as ruin. If so, this will be bumped up to a priority offensive item.)

Rampancy

Cost: 2450
Effetcs:+625 Health
Passive: Consume III: When a nearby enemy dies there is a 100% chance that you will be healed for 25 Health

A nice item that helps you heal in jungle as well as give you tonnes of health. Thats about it.

Loadout

By far my favorite loadout on Red, this grants you stacking damage on hit per hit, which between your passive and you’re ultimate, makes you deal a lot more damage mid and late game then the bonus +18 power loadout. Even early it works nicely just because of your passive. If your team is rather squishy however, the Bruiser loadout can be rather handy. Still, first pick goes to resonance.

Spells

Vanquish

You’re a jungler.

Bastion

Due to the fact you have your w, you should do fine without blink. If however you like using it swap it for Bastion and then take either Bastion or Wither 3rd. I like taking this second as it increases your tower dive potential, allows you to pull off ganks at low health and survive in fights in general.

Wither

An incredibly nice spell that not only allows you to walk up to the enemy and auto them to death, it also decreases their AS as well. Very nice late game against hard carries.

End Comments

For the moment that is my guide, but it will be changing as the beta does! And if i’ve got something wrong? Criticise the hell out of me people, i want this guide to be as good as it can be, so anything is appreciated!
Well other than my use of english such as the word “Armour”, I’m british, i’m not changing it to american english.