Lu Bu: The Unyielding

Build and Guide  Lu Bu: The Unyielding

Cheat Sheet
Skill build:

Start by placing a point into Impale. This will help harass opponents and clear creep waves. It also slows on contact, making it easier to take out those of venture too close to your tower. From here you’ll unlock Red Stallion and Conqueror (Lu Bu’s Ult) while focusing on leveling Impale. Basically, you’ll max Impale and Conqueror before Red Stallion; make sure to throw points into Conqueror whenever available.

Talents:

Roar – Lu Bu’s main attack is rather slow. This will speed things up.

Heal - Used to keep you and teammates in the fight.

Purify – Being locked down via control abilities is the worst. This will help free you up to continue fighting. 

Items:

Sonic Boots – supplies armor and speed.

Mantla of Ra – adds attack damage, armor and constant magic damage to enemies.

Gaia’s Standard – for magical defense, max HP, and speed boosts.

Fafnir’s Talon – Adds life steal while increasing Lu Bu’s attack speed.

Spear of Longinus – adds attack damage, armor, ability cooldown and more.

Rankbreaker – mainly used for its armor piercing passive and attack damage.

Arcana

Strength – raises attack damage

Leech – adds life steal

Willpower – adds magical defense



Introduction
Lu Bu is a Warrior who’s forever searching for a worthy opponent. His strength alone, makes this a challenging task; there aren’t many who can withstand his attacks. Unless of course they are properly geared up and/or are amongst their teammates. This is why it’s important to know when to engage. Red Stallion is unique in that it sends Lu Bu lunging forward. On a second and third activation, he’ll strike two more times with the third popping enemies into the air. By timing his jumps so that he enters a fight on the third strike, then following it by Impale to slow and his Ult for its life steal, it’s possible to take out multiple attackers at once. This can backfire if the timing is wrong or your teammates aren’t paying attention, though…

Skill Build
Martial Master (Passive)

Impale’s cooldown is reduced by 1 second whenever Lu Bu hits a target with an ability or normal attack.

This is one of the main reason I added Farfnir’s Talon to Lu Bu’s gear. Not only does it add to his life steal (boosted via his ult.) but also because it raises his attack speed. This allows him to use Impale more often, locking down an escaping opponent long enough for him to finish them off or follow up with Red Stallion – lunging forward to close the gap.

Red Stallion

Mana Cost: 0

Cooldown: 10 sec.

Lu Bu lunges forward, dealing 160(+146) physical damage to enemies in his path. Lu Bu will stop immediately if he hits an enemy hero. This ability can be used 3 times in a row, with the 3rd cast knocking enemies into the air.

Level 1: Base Damage – 160. Cooldown – 10 sec.

Level 2: Base Damage – 185. Cooldown – 9.4 sec.

Level 3: Base Damage – 210. Cooldown – 8.8 sec.

Level 4: Base Damage – 235. Cooldown – 8.2 sec.

Level 5: Base Damage – 260. Cooldown – 7.6 sec.

Level 6: Base Damage – 285. Cooldown – 7 sec.

Red Stallion is a good ability to use when starting a fight. If timed correctly, you can land the 3rd attack as you engage, knocking enemies into the air. This will help disorient them, allowing your teammates to attack briefly without worrying about targeting moving…um…targets. It’s also a great tool for chasing down fleeing enemies. 

Impale

Mana Cost: 0

Cooldown: 12 sec.

Lu Bu launches a mass of dark energy in the specified direction, dealing 240 (+156) physical damage and reducing enemies’ movement speed by 50% for 2 seconds. 

Level 1: Base Damage – 240. Cooldown – 12 sec.

Level 2: Base Damage – 300. Cooldown – 11 sec.

Level 3: Base Damage – 360. Cooldown – 10 sec.

Level 4: Base Damage – 420. Cooldown – 9 sec.

Level 5: Base Damage – 480. Cooldown – 8 sec.

Level 6: Base Damage – 540. Cooldown – 7 sec.

As you can see, Impale doesn’t do a whole lot of damage. That said, it’s slow combined with Lu Bu’s passive makes it a great skill to have. What’s interesting is that Lu swings cleave (meaning they hit more than one enemy by swinging in a wide arc). And because each hit knocks a sec off of Impales cooldown, you can seemingly call it out every few seconds - the more people around, the more get it, the more seconds fall off. It’s damage potential goes way up at that point. 

Conqueror

Mana Cost: 0

Cooldown: 30 sec.

Lu Bu powers up, boosting his attack damage by 80, life steal by 120(+69) and resistance by 20% for 8 seconds. 

Level 1: Attack Damage Increase – 80. HP Regen – 120

Level 2: Attack Damage Increase – 120. HP Regen – 180

Level 3: Attack Damage Increase – 160. HP Regen – 240

Conqueror’s life steal and attack damage boost is great, especially during team fights. That said, because Lu Bu attacks so slow, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by incoming damage. Raising his attack speed (even only a little) and properly positioning him so that he hits more than one enemy at a time will go a long way to keeping him alive. Something to note: it doesn’t matter what Lu Bu hits, he’ll always steal life. I found this out when I attacked a tower shortly after powering up.

Skill build:

2 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 2 > 2 > 1 > 3 > 2 > 2 > 1 > 3 > 1 > 1 > 1

Recommended Talents
Out of all of the Talents, these are the ones I like using the most – only one is available per match, so picking the best one for the playstyle/build is important. I’ve placed them in order based on how I play and when they are unlocked.

Roar

Cooldown – 60 sec.

Increases attack speed by 60% and attack damage by 10% for 5 seconds.

Roar, followed by Lu Bu’s ult., makes him feel unstoppable when going up against one or two enemies. As long as they can’t stun him, he should outlive the fight.

Heal

Cooldown – 120 sec.

You and nearby teammates instantly recover 15% HP and gain 15% movement speed for 2 seconds.

Heal should be used when things get hairy. It’ll allow you to flee as well as heal anyone near you.

Purify

Cooldown – 120 sec.

Removes all debuffs and control effects on yourself and gains immunity to them for 1.5 seconds.

You never want to be stunned or locked down as Lu Bu. His strengths come from his movement/knockup (Red Stallion) and his passive. Getting stunned will stop him from lowering Impale’s cooldown. It’ll also prevent him from landing hits after being powered up – negating his life steal perk. Knowing when to use Purify though, could change all that!

Items


Starter: Sonic Boots, Mantle of Ra

Lu Bu isn’t exactly slow, though everyone should get boots. I get them first because of the quick boost in armor. He already hits pretty well and since you shouldn’t be engaging multiple opponents at this point, it’s ok to forgo attack damage. 

Mantle of Ra will further increase Lu Bu’s armor as well as raise his attack damage. Ra’ passive is where it’s at though – it deals 100(+4 per level) magic damage to nearby enemies. This is doubled for minions and monsters, making a great tool when laning. 

Mid Game: Gaia’s Standard, Fafnir’s Talon

Gaia’s Standard gives Lu Bu magical defense, something he was lacking till now. It also raised his HP by 1100 and restores 8% HP over 2 seconds when damaged (with a 10 sec cooldown). Basically, it helps when dealing with incoming magical damage while boosting Lu Bu’s HP. This can be traded for another item if the opposing team is made up of all physical based attackers (but that’s a super rare occurrence).

I know what you’re thinking. Fafnir’s Talon? Hear me out. Lu Bu’s slow attack speed can make it difficult to capitalize on his passive and ult. Raising his attack speed, even a little, can help him get over this hump. At the same time, whenever giving him an item, I’m always looking to raise his attack damage. I believe, for the price, that Fafnir’s Talon is the perfect choice; plus, it boosts his life steal. 

Note: If things aren’t going your way (or you’re laning against powerful, physical based opponents like Valhein), you can switch this item for something like Shield of the Lost. It’ll raise your armor level, add 1200 HP and reduce the attack speed of enemies near you. 

End Game: Spear of Longinus, Rankbreaker

Spear of Longinus will raise Lu Bu’s attack damage, lower his cooldowns, and add more armor. It’ll also decrease an enemy’s armor by 50 on hit, stacking up to 5 times, for 5 seconds. This is very useful when going up against other Warriors. 

Rankbreaker further lowers Lu Bu’s cooldowns, allowing for Impale’s (seemingly) nonstop use. It also raises his attack damage and armor pierce by 100 and 100(+10 per level) respectively. At this point Lu Bu is ready to “box” with most anyone. 



Arcana
You’ll unlock tons of different Arcana through continued play; the pool will fill up over time. Early on, you’ll only have access to level 1 Arcana though. Here are three good ones to have when using Lu Bu.

Strength – Attack Damage + 0.9

Lu Bu uses his main attacks more than anything else. So adding more attack damage is always a good idea. 

Leech – Life Steal + 0.4%

Lu Bu gets a life steal buff when he ult’s. While this is great, having a life steal not tied to his ult. is always welcome.

Willpower – Magic Defense +2.5

Most of Lu Bu’s items grant physical defenses. Having more willpower adds magical defense without needing to change his build (though, you still should get SOME gear dealing with magical based attacks). 

Again, these are great for starting out. The pool holds more than just three of Arcana. For instance, I was able to add Indomitable (Armor +2.3, Max HP +33.7, Attack Speed +1%) which helps Lu Bu in just about every way.

Early Game
I would start with getting Lu Bu’s boots, building towards the Sonic Boots. It doesn’t cost that much to complete, and it gives him a decent amount of armor while reducing incoming attack damage by 15%.

At this stage, I’d focus on farming creeps using basic attacks and Impale. Be sure to toss Impale towards opponents – it’ll fly through creeps, hitting the rival hero – to poke. Once you’ve unlocked Red Stallion, then you can engage a bit more. Really though, you’re just looking to gain exp and gold. If someone gets too close or a teammate is available for a gank, then by all means go in. Once Mantle of Ra is built, then you can push for a tower and so forth.

Mid Game
At this point, Gaia’s Standard should be completed (unless you were forced out of your lane one time too many). Whatever the case, its low cost means it won’t be absent for long. This is good news as I’m sure you’ll end up running into a mage soon or later; this item will help combat them as well as giving Lu Bu a decent amount of health.

If you haven’t already, definitely start pushing the tower. Just be mindful of enemies with powerful controls as they’ll make things difficult. Ganking is optional, though I tend to stay in-lane as much as possible. Team fighting is a different story. You’ll want to literally jump into them to make sure your team has a fighting chance. Not that they’ll always need you. It just that, being a Warrior, your presence is valuable during larger fights.

Finish building Fafnir’s Talon to bolster your passive and ultimate abilities. Pop Roar and Conqueror right before engaging, making sure to position yourself so that your cleave hits multiple opponents. With the added attack speed and life steal, you should be a force to be reckoned with; you’ll either get a few kills or a few assists.

Late Game
If things have been going well, you should have already have bought Spear of Longinus. Team fighting will be your specialty. That doesn’t mean neglect the towers though. Lu Bu will become great at split pushing as Impale’s cooldown is melted away. Battling tanks shouldn’t be a problem either given Longinus’ passive.

Once Rankbreaker is added to your gear, all bets are off. You’ll be hitting pretty hard, piercing armor/Impaling foes left and right. Just be sure not to overextend. A few hard controls can quickly ruin your day. Make sure to ult as much as possible when team fighting to keep your health up!

FAQ/Tips
Red Stallion can be a bit unwieldly at first. This is because it tends to hone in on opponents when activated, which can be an issue when trying to escape. Long pressing the button will allow you to aim it of course.

Make sure to watch out for controls. Not so much when attacking but when activating Lu Bu’s abilities. Rival players will wait for him to leap or to Ult. before stunning him, reducing their effects; if you can’t hit anyone, then you can steal their life. It’s also hard to get jump away after being pinned down.

Matchups
Grakk and Arthur are your kryptonite. Grakk can pull you out of the air when using Red Stallion and Arthur…he’s just an all-around pain. His Righteous Fervor and Holy Guard make him hard to fight – he can chase you down and constantly attack, possibly outliving you even with life steal. Always bring help when dealing with these two.

When it comes to partnering up, Lu Bu typically works well with everyone. That said, I’d go with a mage with strong control abilities like Azzen’ Ka or Diaochan. By locking down an opponent, they’ll give you enough time to use Impale and/or ready Red Stallion. Peura is a good choice for her heals which will keep you in the fight. Again, Lu Bu works will with most.