Overview

Feng Mao is an incredibly powerful fighter and I would argue one that requires more skill than both Grux and Khaimera to play effectively. His kit is varied and offers a great deal of utility to not only allow him to protect himself, but to also engage the enemy and deal huge burst damage. What makes Feng Mao particularly strong is that his kit combined allows him to escape easily should he need to or remain in a fight for a little longer than a fighter typically might. 

Feng Mao is a melee Fighter capable of engaging enemies at range, diving enemy back lines, and bursting down key targets.

In the current Meta Feng Mao is probably considered lower standing than Grux or Khaimera simply because his kit is all about dueling an opponent where as Khaimera can assassinate near instantly, while Grux brings a lot more utility (he can for example defend a Tower). Despite these shortcomings, Feng Mao is a lot of fun and still more than capable of dealing high damage when he positions himself right. 

Updated: 06 April 2017

Pros

Cons

Excellent burst damage from his Ultimate ability

He struggles to compete against Grux and Khaimera

Has a kit ideal for dueling opposing players 1 on 1

His RMB shielding is a bit rubbish

His kit has a valuable disengage in Reaping Dash

His Ultimate ability can be easily avoided and leaves him open to attack

Hamstring provides an invaluable slow

Crowd control from Heroes such as Dekker or The Fey really neuter his potential 

Order affinity provides some excellent hybrid cards

Has to flank or he'll die near instantly in a team fight

Lore

  • Once ransacked an entire village searching for his pipe.
  • Has never worshipped the Jambakka, despite the pleas of his parents.
  • Denies the rumor that he "lost" three apprentices in a single day.

Abilities


Sweep (LMB) - Sweep allows Feng Mao to attack quickly in a wide arc. The length of his blade allows him to easily cleave multiple enemies enemies and while its damage at source (64.5) isn't extended to those on the edges of his swing (usually less than a quarter of the damage) it's still a valuable attack for clearing Jungle camps easily and is your primary source of damage throughout the course of an entire match.

Tip - Sweep cleaves all enemies in front of Feng Mao by default. Position yourself alongside minion waves to hit them all at the same time. 

Conversion Shield (RMB) - Your only form of mitigation and defence, Conversion Shield provides Feng Mao with a high value shield. When fully upgraded the total amount of shielding is around 450 damage. That's not a lot, but it does serve to mitigate damage against you when farming jungle camps or if you're low health, to buy you a little bit of breathing space as you try to escape. Against the likes of Morigesh or Murdock and their Ultimate abilities, a well timed Conversion Shield can save your life. 

Tip - If you can, use Conversion Shield as you dive into an enemy tower. It'll mitigate the tower shots and buy you enough time to secure a kill. 

Reaping Dash (Q) - Providing Feng Mao with some much needed mobility, Reaping Dash is an invaluable teleport. Although its range by default is short, it can be used to teleport to anywhere that you can normally stand. This skill alone makes Feng Mao particularly slippery as he can use it to evade others - especially in the jungle. Although Heroes who can leap will be able to follow you, against anyone else who lacks mobility it can gaurentee your survival. I will also add that the damage it causes, although not great, is reasonable for clearing minion waves. Simply aim Reaping Dash so that your image is past the wave and all those inbetween you and your projection, once you leap, will suffer damage. 

Tip - Reaping Dash has its range increased upon every upgrade. By level 5 it can teleport you for over 925 units. 

Hamstring (E) - Your primary skill when it comes to wave clear and holding enemy players near you, the slow and damage of Hamstring is invaluable. The movement speed reduction as you level it is significant and allows you to keep enemies close to you for a lengthy period. The only caveat to Hamstring is that the slow doesn't last long, meaning you really need to deal high damage during its window. It's also worth noting that because Hamstring is an AOE attack, if you find yourself in the middle of a group of enemies you can easily slow them all before using Reaping Dash to teleport out. Unsurprisingly the AOE nature of Hamstring and its initial damage (which scales well as it's leveled) means you can also use it to clear minion waves in lane should you need to.

Tip - As tempting as it is to use Hamstring to quickly clear jungle camps, save your mana. It's much more efficient to use your Sweep and kill them slightly slower than eat a large chunk of your resources. 

Earth Shatter (Ultimate) - Earth Shatter is a huge burst Ultimate ability that causes Feng Mao to leap into the air before striking down in front of him. Feng Mao can change his direction when in the air, prior to him swinging down, but won't physically move. This allows him to position Earth Shatter just right but also leaves him vulnerable for a few brief seconds. You should also be aware that despite its damage, the fact you're unable to move when using Earth Shatter means Heroes with mobility can often evade it if you aren't close enough to them.

Tip - If you want to speed clear a minion wave, use Earth Shatter on it. It'll kill the entire wave instantly allowing your minions to rush forwards. 

Skill Order

There are a couple of variables when it comes to upgrading Feng Mao skills. It's best - as far as I'm concerned - to maximize his damage as much as possible before taking defensive skills such as Conversion Shield. If you do find you're taking too much damage however, upgrade Reaping Dash last (and replace it with Conversion Shield).

1. Hamstring

2. Conversion Shield

3. Reaping Dash

4. Hamstring

5. Earth Shatter

6. Hamstring

7. Reaping Dash

8. Hamstring

9. Earth Shatter

10. Reaping Dash

11. Reaping Dash

12. Conversion Shield

13. Conversion Shield

14. Conversion Shield

15. Conversion Shield

Recommended Cards

Full build (including active link)

Tactics

Early Game (Level 1-9)

This is all about farming jungle camps and early ganking while carry is weak. You want to head straight for the white camp (right side) and secure the Green buff quickly. Once you have it, do the remaining two white camps. You can then secure the River Buff on 3 minutes (if possible) before attempting a gank on right or mid lane. At this stage return back to base, pickup your new cards and move towards the left side of the map. 

Mid Game (Level 10-12)

You should, by this point, have secured multiple kills and have most of your cards online (especially your armor). You should be maxmizing your ganking to the point where if you take someone down at mid - hypothetically - that you then help to push a Tower. It's worth noting at this stage however that carries are beginning to hit hard and enemy support's are difficult to deal damage to. If you have lost a Tower or the enemy has, there are also fewer opportunities to gank easily as teams tend to begin to ball up. 

Late Game (Level 13-15)

Late game is risky for any melee Hero. Teams tend to ball up and reduce the chances of any opening for you. This poses a real challenge for Feng Mao - just like Khaimera - because without a clear "in" you'll die easily or be unable to kill. The best thing you can do at this phase of the game is push lanes, follow your team and hang in the jungle in order to wait for an opening. During any team fight, just hang back and only attack when your team do. 

Matchups

These god threat levels (1 being lowest threat and 10 being highest threat) are to help you determine which enemy gods can give you a headache. For the heroes listed here, take extra care as they're particularly dangerous for Feng Mao. 

Hero

Threat

Dekker: Simply because of her ability to slow, stun and trap you, she's a threat. She can interrupt you before you do anything and if you have engaged, she'll ensure you can't leave. 

6/10

Grim.exe: His slow is incredibly annoying and when he's late game, the combination of damage and crowd control make it very challenging to fight him. He can shield against your attacks to mitigate them. 

8/10

Riktor: His pull combined with his Ultimate ability and silence can make life very miserable for you. In a team fight, he can single you out and there's little you can do besides try to teleport away. 

7/10

Khaimera: His ability to build armor combined with his health regeneration and huge burst from Cull and Ambush can make life very difficult for you. He'll usually always win a 1 on 1. 

7/10

Greystone: He can build "tanky" and if you do kill him, he'll respawn with his Ultimate and wear you down incredibly quickly. 

7/10

Gideon: His slow, teleport and Ultimate ability can quickly kill you especially if he sees you coming. If he doesn't, you've a good chance of killing him but he'll usually escape more often than not. 7/10

Tips

This list of tips and tricks are just a handful of things we think will help your Feng Mao play. We'll continue to add to the list as required and if you have any tips you'd like to share, let us know in the comments below and we'll place them here. 


1. I can't stress this enough - never engage with Reaping Dash. Good players will always use their "out" skills when you do. They'll then have created distance you can't do anything about. 

2. You'll cause a delay between your Sweep and your next attack when triggering Conversion Shield. Only ever use Conversion Shield after a full Sweep otherwise you'll interrupt the animation of your next swing. 

3. Don't forget that you can turn while using Earth Shatter. If someone thinks strafing around you will protect them, just turn to face them while they're in the air. 

4. Feng Mao is mana intensive, especially considering you need to use all your skills to effectively burst someone down. Only use your skills on players, no jungle camps or minion waves (unless you really have to). 

5. Try to always position yourself on the edges of a fight, approaching it from the sides or behind. If enemies can see you, you're almost always gaurenteed to die first. 

6. Your highest burst combo Hamstring > Reaping Dash > Earth Shatter

7. Feng Mao can utilise his Reaping Dash to evade enemies easily in the Monolith jungle. Look for platforms other players can't reach if you need to escape.

8. Your job is to gank and gank often. Use your early game strength (mobility and Ultimate) to bully any solo laner as often as possible. 

9.  If you can, try to solo the Orb Prime once you've got both armors fully upgraded with your life steal. It'll stretch the enemy team and allow your Mages to push a lane while you distract. 

10. Always use your Conversion Shield if you're about to Tower Dive. It'll mitigate the first few shots. 

11. The Jungle Buff can be stacked with your Conversion Shield, allowing you to elongate its life-span before it detonates. 


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Last Updated: Apr 06, 2017

About The Author

Lewis is a long standing journalist, who freelances to a variety of outlets.

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