Alpha and Akai builds and tips?

Lincoco

I realize that I could find builds for these two all over the place, but I like to play Alpha a bit differently and I am also just curious of how others are building Akai. Keep in mind that I only play normal match-up and 99% of the time I am solo-queueing, so I never know when I am going to get good or bad teammates.

Alpha.

I think we all know that Alpha has caught quite a few nerfs. I now have problems securing kills with him, so I like to build him as more of an off-tank/supportish/hybrid? role. I don't know what term is used. It may be a complete garbage idea, but I am doing quite well carrying a team with it. "Then why change the build?" I am honestly no good with builds. I just tossed two defensive items on him and went with it, but I feel like he could do a lot better with different items. As I said, I only play solo-queue match-ups, so people don't really have a set lane they run or anything. I usually take the jungle item and try to take mid if someone better suited for the role doesn't beat me to it. I rotate between laning, jungle, laning, jungle, laning, and so on. After I hit level seven or eight I am already a good deal ahead of most and have my first item and boots built.

I feel like the armor I build first is too expensive, and it may be best to build a cooldown item first, but since I start to roam at that point and assist lanes I like to have the extra armor first. If I see a lane where enemies are getting too cocky and over-extending then I rush there. With the bush set up right at top and bottom I find it quite easy to gank an enemy, which is why I run Alpha with a mix between armor and cooldown. I am just curious as to what would be the best defensive items to put on him. I would like two different builds; one for facing off against a team with a fed ADC, and then another for facing off against a team with a fed mage. If anyone else plays Alpha the way I do then tips are more than welcomed. Not gonna bother posting my build since as I said, I just randomly put things on.

Akai.

I just purchased Akai with tickets and then got off. I've honestly never even played him, but I had the tickets and went with it anyway. It'd probably be quite easy to find builds for him right now, but I'll ask anyway just for the fun of it and sake of hopefully getting some discussion going on. So, what builds do people put on him? What items do you exchange for magic resistance items against a fed mage and what magic resistance item/items do you use? Again, tips are also welcome. I am going to assume that I should use my first skill to jump behind enemies and then push them towards tower in the early stages if possible and then in late game jump in and try to scatter the team.

I probably rambled quite a bit, so apologies for that and thanks in advance.

Liith

My Akai build:
Rapid boots
Cursed Helmet
Bloodthirsty King
Blade armor
Dominance ice
Immortality

Cursed Helmet and bloodthirsty king gives u a lot of AoE damage.
Blade armour and dominance ice gives a lot of armourImmortality just being immortality :)
I have a more detailed commentary on http://www.mlcodex.com/guides/2

Lincoco

Liith replied at 2017-3-13 13:25
My Akai build:
Rapid boots
Cursed Helmet

Mucho gracias. Your guide was very informative. I'll have to give the build and plays a try tomorrow to see if I have any questions. Much appreciated.

Liith

I wouldn't say im super pro, but I've played around 50 games and have 75% win rate

Lincoco

Liith replied at 2017-3-13 14:14
I wouldn't say im super pro, but I've played around 50 games and have 75% win rate

Sounds pro enough for me. I played a few matches with him, but they all ended rather early so I didn't get to try him in team clashes, but purify definitely seems like a must for him. The moment I go rolie polie I instantly become a target for stuns. His rolling is going to take some getting used to, because right now it is a tad bit awkward to control. The build is working wonders, so thanks. He is definitely fun to play as. Glad I purchased him over Franco. Franco is good and all, but you pretty much just spend the whole game waiting for hook opportunities by staying behind everyone. Makes it hard to feel like you are actually a tank.

Liith

Lincoco replied at 2017-3-13 23:50
Sounds pro enough for me. I played a few matches with him, but they all ended rather early so I di ...

Yeah, I never really wanted Franco, cuz Akai is so much more aggresive. And a strong Akai is seriously scary. His tower dive capabilities are also amazing, and his damage is off the charts (for a tank).

Akai has good poke, good wave clear, good engage, good durability, good escape, good cc, he basically has everything!
Also unlike most Tanks, Akai has a good chance of winning a 1v1 against a marksman, if he manages to pin them against the wall.

I wish I could help with Alpha, but I don't have and don't play Alpha. T.T

puregamer

Watch my Akai videos on my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaqksYJOntoB5BYG5XbL-iA

For the item build I just use the standard durability build set, and slightly tweaked it with a Cursed Helmet early in the game. I think the item build is secondary with Akai (the standard build sets are fine). The primary focus should be on how to actively use him to initiate fights, bank and harass heroes, and divide & conquer groups. I'm still in the learning process though.

The purpose of this channel is to record how I play with Akai. Learn from my style and improve from my mistakes. I think there isn't much emphasis being put on him in team games. Most of the games I played were made up of marksman and assassin type heroes.

A bit of background:
I just started playing this game last Feb 27th, so as of now I have accumulated 2 weeks and 1 day experience (about 15 days). I started with Layla on my first game (same as everyone else) and surprisingly I got MVP on my first game :D 11 kills, 0 deaths, and 10 assists. Not sure how that happened (I was a noob back then).

I have a Master I with 4 stars now. I should be a Grand Master level over the weekend but got teamed up with bad laggers. My win rate with Akai is 64% with 85 games I think, and I started using Akai around March 6th 2017.

I used to be a Dota expert (I had a Nerubian guide that won the contest in DotaPortal before). I'm at a Master level in chess (the board game) if you're curious.

Lincoco

Liith replied at 2017-3-13 23:57
Yeah, I never really wanted Franco, cuz Akai is so much more aggresive. And a strong Akai is seriou ...

Yeah, I was having a hard time believing that it was going to be possible to take a jungle creep alone as a tank without wasting a ton of time, but Akai managed. I can definitely see the potential in playing him with a team that knows what they are doing. Had a Nana that did quite well in securing the kill while I pinned a fed Alice to the wall. Repeatedly in the same game. She'd prevent Alice from ulting and I'd keep her pinned. She probably hated us after that game. Anyway, yeah, there are so many plays you can make with him. There were also a few times I managed to push the enemy team away from my teammates with low health and then use the first skill to disengage and retreat. The range is honestly quite insane.

Don't worry about the Alpha bit, I have started to shift into playing tanks, so it isn't as important. I just find him fun to play around with which is why I still use him.

Lincoco

puregamer replied at 2017-3-14 00:50
Watch my Akai videos on my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaqksYJOntoB5BYG5XbL- ...

Yeah, I am doing quite well supporting the team and initiating with him. Only problem I am having trouble with is controlling his ult so I am not making any useless movements. I've only played a few games, so I am sure I'll catch on eventually. I'll definitely be checking out your channel later today. Mucho gracias.

Sounds like you are doing quite well. Have you considered maining an extra hero or two just in case Akai catches an extreme nerf? I climbed to Master IV in a day or two myself with the Alpha build I was using. Once you get a win streak going you are practically getting an extra star every match, so it didn't take too long. After that I stopped playing ranked. I may climb to Grandmaster and then stop just for the extra tickets and BP. I haven't played chess in years.

puregamer

Lincoco replied at 2017-3-14 02:20
Yeah, I am doing quite well supporting the team and initiating with him. Only problem I am having  ...

If Akai gets nerfed (which I doubt why but then I'd been wrong before), I'll switch back to Layla.

I'd been practicing Kagura, Fanny, Balmond, and Franco just in case that massive nerf happens. I'm more of a killer hero but I realize in this game everyone wants to be a killer. Everyone wants to be an MPV but few want to support and tank. So I guess that's why I like Akai.