Syllabear, the Lone Druid (not too lonely, if you ask me, since he has the Spirit Bear to keep him company at all times!)
There are many guides written on the net on Syllabear, and I have found the best resources on DOTA STRATEGY which can be found here. My guide mainly discusses the two guides (currently) that has been written on Syllabear, and how my strategy differs from that stated.
First of all, the usually statistics and details on Syllabear:
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 | Summon Spirit Bear (B) Summons a powerful Spirit Bear companion. It randomly Entangles enemies that it attacks, which immobilizes an enemy for 3 seconds, dealing 40 damage per second. Spirit Bear deals 28 - 38 normal damage. Spirit Bear will automatically teleport back to Syllabear if it attempts to attack a unit while he is more than 1500 range away from Syllabear Level 1 - 1400 hit points, Entangles 4% of the time. Level 2 - 800 hit points, Entangles 8% of the time, gains Return, which allows it to teleport to Syllabear instantly. Level 3 - 2200 hit points, Entangles 12% of the time, and has Return and Demolish. Demolish allows Spirit Bear to deal 1.33 times damage to buildings. Level 4 - 2700 hit points, Entangles 16% of the time, has Return, Demolish, 33% Spell Damage Reduction, and can carry up to 6 items. Mana Cost: 75 Cooldown: 180 | ||
 | Rabid (R) Syllabear can create an intense combative fury in either himself or any of his controlled unit. Lasts 10 seconds. Level 1 - Increases attack speed by 10% and movement speed by 5%. Level 2 - Increases attack speed by 20% and movement speed by 10%. Level 3 - Increases attack speed by 30% and movement speed by 15%. Level 4 - Increases attack speed by 40% and movement speed by 20%. Mana Cost: 50 Cooldown: 30 | ||
 | Synergy (Y) Increases the Lone Druid`s synergy with his Spirit Bear with each level: Spirit Bear - Adds 10 damage and 10 movement points. Rabid - Increases the duration by 10 seconds. True Form - Adds 100 HP per level Level 1 - Level 2 - Level 3 - Mana Cost: N/A Cooldown: N/A | ||
 | True Form (F) Syllabear learns to morph himself into a brown bear. He can morph freely between human and bear form. Level 1 - 250 bonus health. Level 2 - 400 bonus health and has Battle Cry. Level 3 - 600 bonus health and has One. Mana Cost: 25 Cooldown: N/A |
On Skills
Well, it is undisputable that 'Summon Spirit Bear' is the main focus of Syllabear. The important thing to note is that the Spirit Bear can use items as well, and how to assign the right items between Syllabear and the Spirit Bear. My strategy will be to upgrade Summon Spirit Bear as and when possible. For Rabid and Synergy, it is important to note that Synergy affects Rabid --> Synergy actually increases the duration of Rabid by 10seconds, and which means a total of 30seconds at level 3! This is not to be discounted. As such, it is important to juggle between the both. I would propose that focus be on Synergy to raise the stats up first then Rabid (but give first point to Rabid to use your mana effectively), and 1 point for Rabid for 2 points of Synergy in a 1:2 ratio. The other point to note is that Rabid only lasts 10 seconds without synergy, while Synergy will add the needed movement as well as attack speed upgrade.
For the ultimate True Form, it is important to know the impact of Battle Cry as well as One.
Details here:
Battle ( C )ry:
Give Lone Druid and his units under his control within 900 AoE 20 bonus damage and 2 bonus armor.
Duration: Lasts 10 seconds
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Mana cost: 50 mana
On( e ):
Links Syllabear and up to 2 of his controlled units by the soul. Damage that they take is distributed equally between 2 or 3 of them.
Mana Cost: 80 mana Duration: 35 seconds
Cooldown: About 12 seconds
Give Lone Druid and his units under his control within 900 AoE 20 bonus damage and 2 bonus armor.
Duration: Lasts 10 seconds
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Mana cost: 50 mana
On( e ):
Links Syllabear and up to 2 of his controlled units by the soul. Damage that they take is distributed equally between 2 or 3 of them.
Mana Cost: 80 mana Duration: 35 seconds
Cooldown: About 12 seconds
For true form, both strategies from DOTASTRATEGY differ:
Strategy 1: to keep Syllabear in ranged Druid form. Reason: to prevent problems from both large entities (Spirit Bear and Druid as a Brown Bear) in engaging the enemy. It can get clumsy to see two large bears trying to squeeze through the allied creeps to reach and then hit the target. In this case, True Form is only used to achieve the sudden increase in Bonus health (600HP at level 3, and then 300HP more from Synergy!)
Strategy 2: to keep Syllabear in melee Brown Bear form for that added Melee damage as well as for increased health (to an additional maximum of 900HP). There are two reasons to this strategy (one being my own) which we will discuss. The original reason is due to this:
With the Heart of Tarrasque, the massive HP gain as well as regeneration ability will make Syllabear a Tank to be reckoned with, and while he is an agility hero he will have beyond 3000HP, fit for a good tank.My Strategy: (which I'll cover in point form):
- Spirit Bear can use items, and if he dies the items do not disappear. This is an important consideration.
- The Spirit Bear acts as Syllabear's initial tank, so it is important to equip SB with items boosting attack speed and movement speed, and hence this will be essential:
- Don't forget the Syllabear will have to head back to Fountain for healing, escape from cloaked enemy heroes as well as stunners so get him a Boots of Speed:
- As it is expensive to equip both Syllabear and SB, consider getting items that can benefit both Syllabear, SB as well as the surrounding allied creeps. This will be useful:
I feel that Vladmir's Offering is often overlooked as a good item: this is very important as it grants a +12% lifesteal AURA (melee). This means that Syllabear in his Brown Bear form will get lifesteal and also passing this lifesteal to SB as well as the allied creeps. This will prevent unnecessary trips back to the fountain and the increased attack speed will ensure that both bears be in the best of condition to steal their life back. Brilliant!
- With the basics dealt with, the next key item to get for SB will be Radiance
. Radiance on SB will ensure a tremendous amount of damage to the creeps since SB will always be leading the pack in all the fights. This is also because SB will be moving faster, and there is less danger to losing SB to enemy heroes in a confrontation. Moreover, SB can easily teleport back to the safe location that Syllabear will be waiting at. Radiance is also important when it comes to chasing any heroes and the enemies will take damage passively.
- With SB going for the offence, Syllabear must be ready to defend against smart enemy heroes. It is almost certain that Syllabear will be a primary target (like Furion or Ezalor for their mega-summons). As such, there are 2 schools of thought as well in this area. One build is to move towards:
- price 5000, gives +300HP, +11HP/s and 35str
another suggestion is to move towards:
price 5075, gives +450HP, +400man, +110%mana regen and +5HP/s
a quick calculation will show that a heart is more critical for defence. (somehow Syllabear never really runs out of mana anyway).
- At this point in time, you should be doing pretty well, and honestly any other items are a good-to-have. I recommend these few expensive ones though:
for SB to stun and kill heroes
for SB to increase attack speed and damage, and evade.
for Syllabear, 4 bears are better than 1! 
for SB, need I say more? ;-)
On Hotkeys
Remember to note SB's hotkey to teleport back to Syllabear when necessary!
Conclusion
There are many strategies written on the Lone Druid, and honestly it is to each his down. The main point to note in my strategy are these items:
Ok, and
for the impatient one!Comments are appreciated.
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