Aldous Guide

Aldous: The Contract Enforcer - A Comprehensive Guide

Aldous is a fighter hero specializing in burst damage and scaling. His primary strength lies in his ability to accumulate stacks with his first skill, 'Contract: Soul Steal', significantly increasing his damage output in the late game. He excels at picking off squishy targets and can provide global presence with his ultimate, 'Chase Fate'.

Lane Assignments

• Primary Lane: EXP Lane
• Secondary Lane: Jungle (Situational, but viable with adjustments)

EXP Lane Aldous

Role: Damage Dealer, Split Pusher, Objective Contester

Playstyle: Focus on farming stacks early, surviving the lane, and transitioning into a burst damage dealer in the mid-to-late game. Prioritize split pushing when ultimate is up.

Build 1: Balanced Sustain & Damage

• Item Build:
  1. Tough Boots: Reduces control effects and magic damage.
  2. War Axe: Provides Adaptive Damage, HP, and Cooldown Reduction; boosts damage and movement speed with consecutive attacks.
  3. Endless Battle: True Damage after skill use, HP, Mana Regen, Physical Attack, Movement Speed, and Physical Lifesteal.
  4. Brute Force Breastplate: HP, Physical Defense, reduces slow effects, and increases Movement Speed & Physical/Magic Defense with each skill/basic attack cast.
  5. Blade of Despair: Massive Physical Attack boost when attacking enemies with low HP.
  6. Immortality: Resurrection and temporary shield upon death.
• Emblem: Fighter
  • Talents:
    • Tier 1: Bravery: Physical Attack +4 per level.
    • Tier 2: Invasion: Physical Penetration +2 per level
    • Tier 3: Killing Spree: Restore 8% HP and gain 15% Movement Speed after taking down an enemy hero.

Explanation: This build focuses on providing Aldous with sustain through lifesteal and HP, while also offering decent damage output with Endless Battle and Blade of Despair. War Axe and Brute Force Breastplate help with sticking to targets and surviving ganks.

Build 2: Pure Damage & Burst

• Item Build:
  1. Tough Boots: Reduces control effects and magic damage.
  2. War Axe: Provides Adaptive Damage, HP, and Cooldown Reduction; boosts damage and movement speed with consecutive attacks.
  3. Blade of the Heptaseas: Physical Attack, HP, and Physical Penetration. Passive: Deal extra physical damage on basic attack after not taking damage for a short time.
  4. Blade of Despair: Massive Physical Attack boost when attacking enemies with low HP.
  5. Hunter Strike: Physical Attack, Physical Penetration, Cooldown Reduction. Passive: Increases movement speed after hitting an enemy.
  6. Immortality: Resurrection and temporary shield upon death.
• Emblem: Assassin
  • Talents:
    • Tier 1: Agility: Movement Speed + 2% per level.
    • Tier 2: Invasion: Physical Penetration +2 per level
    • Tier 3: Killing Spree: Restore 8% HP and gain 15% Movement Speed after taking down an enemy hero.

Explanation: This build aims to maximize Aldous's burst damage potential. Blade of the Heptaseas and Blade of Despair provide significant physical attack boosts. Hunter Strike helps with chasing down targets after using ultimate. This build is riskier but rewards aggressive play.

Counter Items (EXP Lane)

• Against High Magic Damage (e.g., Chang'e, Pharsa):
  • Replace Brute Force Breastplate or Hunter Strike with Athena's Shield or Radiant Armor.
• Against High Physical Damage (e.g., Paquito, Yu Zhong):
  • Replace Brute Force Breastplate or Hunter Strike with Dominance Ice (also helps counter healing) or Antique Cuirass.
• Against High Crowd Control (CC):
  • Consider replacing Tough Boots with Warrior Boots if physical damage is more prevalent, but stick with Tough Boots if CC is heavy, and consider purchasing Rose Gold Meteor later in the game if you are getting focused down with magic burst after the CC.
• Against Immortality/Winter Truncheon:
  • Consider buying Hunter Strike

Jungle Aldous (Situational)

Role: Assassin, Ganker, Objective Taker

Playstyle: Focus on fast farming to reach level 4 and obtain stacks. Gank lanes aggressively using your ultimate to secure kills and snowball. Secure objectives like Turtle and Lord.

Build 1: Standard Jungle

• Item Build:
  1. Hunter's Knife (Upgrade to Raptor Machete later for enhanced farming and burst damage)
  2. Tough Boots: Reduces control effects and magic damage.
  3. War Axe: Provides Adaptive Damage, HP, and Cooldown Reduction; boosts damage and movement speed with consecutive attacks.
  4. Blade of the Heptaseas: Physical Attack, HP, and Physical Penetration. Passive: Deal extra physical damage on basic attack after not taking damage for a short time.
  5. Blade of Despair: Massive Physical Attack boost when attacking enemies with low HP.
  6. Immortality: Resurrection and temporary shield upon death.
• Emblem: Assassin
  • Talents:
    • Tier 1: Agility: Movement Speed + 2% per level.
    • Tier 2: Invasion: Physical Penetration +2 per level
    • Tier 3: Killing Spree: Restore 8% HP and gain 15% Movement Speed after taking down an enemy hero.

Explanation: Raptor Machete helps with early game farming, and the rest of the build focuses on burst damage and assassination potential.

Build 2: Sustain & Objective Focus

• Item Build:
  1. Hunter's Knife (Upgrade to Raptor Machete later for enhanced farming and burst damage)
  2. Tough Boots: Reduces control effects and magic damage.
  3. War Axe: Provides Adaptive Damage, HP, and Cooldown Reduction; boosts damage and movement speed with consecutive attacks.
  4. Endless Battle: True Damage after skill use, HP, Mana Regen, Physical Attack, Movement Speed, and Physical Lifesteal.
  5. Malefic Roar: Physical Attack and high Physical Penetration against high-defense targets (great for taking objectives and killing tanks).
  6. Immortality: Resurrection and temporary shield upon death.
• Emblem: Fighter
  • Talents:
    • Tier 1: Bravery: Physical Attack +4 per level.
    • Tier 2: Invasion: Physical Penetration +2 per level
    • Tier 3: Killing Spree: Restore 8% HP and gain 15% Movement Speed after taking down an enemy hero.

Explanation: This build provides more sustain for extended fights and objective taking. Malefic Roar ensures you can damage tanks and turrets effectively.

Counter Items (Jungle)

• Against High Magic Damage (e.g., Chang'e, Pharsa):
  • Replace Blade of the Heptaseas or Malefic Roar with Athena's Shield or Radiant Armor.
• Against High Physical Damage (e.g., Paquito, Yu Zhong):
  • Replace Blade of the Heptaseas or Malefic Roar with Dominance Ice (also helps counter healing) or Antique Cuirass.
• Against High Crowd Control (CC):
  • Consider replacing Tough Boots with Warrior Boots if physical damage is more prevalent, but stick with Tough Boots if CC is heavy, and consider purchasing Rose Gold Meteor later in the game if you are getting focused down with magic burst after the CC.
• Against Immortality/Winter Truncheon:
  • Consider buying Hunter Strike