When it comes to neutral NPC's there are none tougher and more valuable than Roshan. Not only is he bigger, stronger, and boast more health than any of the other neutral creeps combined, he also has his own set of abilities that both protect him and deal damage to you. Why would you want to tangle with such a formidable character then you may be asking.

Well if you do manage to take down Roshan you can equip one member of your team with the Aegis, a powerful item capable of reincarnation after death. You'll want to be prepared before you rush off to take on the big guy, which is why we've prepared this all inclusive look at Roshan, and the rewards he offers.

Roshan, the Legend

Roshan is the most powerful neutral creep found on the battlefield, and in most cases can only be defeated later in the game by a full team equipped with a good selection of late game items. These items are needed not only to boost your heroes damage output to put a dent in his massive health pool, but also to protect yourself from his offensive abilities which pack a sizeable punch.

The Pit -  The pit is where Roshan calls home and the only place he spawns. Vision on Roshan is limited to his spawn point, meaning if you want to see if the enemy team is attempting to kill him you need to send someone in. If that doesn't make things hard enough, wards cannot be placed in the spawning pit either.To kill Roshan you must enter the pit he calls home to get within range. If you try to kite Roshan, once you are outside of his pit he will become invulnerable until you lead him back in. If you do manage to kill Roshan, he has a respawn timer of approximately 10 minutes. Roshan's abilities are as follows:

Bash - A passive ability that causes all of Roshan's attacks to have a chance of stunning the target.

Spell Block - Roshan will randomly block one spell every 15 seconds. This is a passive ability that is always on. [glossary_exclude]

Slam - [/glossary_exclude]Roshan slams the ground, damaging and slowing all nearby heroes within a radius of 250. Cooldown of 10 seconds.

Strength of the Immortal - Roshan's defensive passive. Causes him to halve an armor value that scales as the game progresses, the ability to dispel illusions and a flat 75% magic resistance.

Roshan Rewards

We've just finished going over how dangerous this guy is, now it's time to tell you what prize you get for defeating him. In addition to the 200 gold all members will receive for killing Roshan, the hero to land the killing blow will receive an additional reward of between 100 and 600 gold. Like other creeps, Roshan also gives experience when he is killed, only at a much higher rate.

Aegis of the Immortal - The real prize, one hero of the team that kills Roshan can pick up the Aegis of the Immortal. When placed in the heroes' inventory it acts as a sort of second life. If the hero dies while holding the aegis, they will be respawned five seconds later at full health and mana. There is one caveat however, the aegis can only be held by a hero for 6 minutes after it has been claimed, or when Roshan Respawns. Roshan drops an Aegis every time he is killed.

Cheese - If Roshan has been killed twice in the same game, on his third spawn he will begin dropping cheese every time he dies for the rest of the game. The cheese is a very powerful item in it's own right as it instantly restores 2500 HP and 1000 Mana when used. It can also be sold at the store for 500 gold, or shared with your teammates.