Tusk — The Multipurpose Snowball

By Flourish^

Simple general guide to improve your Tusk's gameplay 

Now with Item builds !

Introduction

As everyone knows Tusk is a very versatile hero , he can be pretty much played in any role ..preferably support or offlane . middle lane is fine too , but there are some heroes that could "mid" better than Tusk

-Tusk is a great roaming supporter/ganker due to his abilities such as Snowball that can very easily catch the enemy hero (with Ice Shards )

-Tusk benefits from farm, therefore putting him into the offlane isn't really a bad idea . Tusk is capable of dishing a great deal of damage during the early/middle game ,assuming you manage to get deso/shadowblade of course.

Laning phase (Crucial)

If you're supporting and doing a 3-1-1 lane , always make sure you're the one who's pulling because you can't really zone the enemy offlaner ,why? because tusk is melee . But always keep in mind you and your fellow supporter can always kill the enemy offlaner because you do have the second skill advantage 

Always help out the middle lane if you're doing a Roaming support , start ganking mid when you've reached level 2 . Your second skill Snowball allows you to catch enemy heroes that doesn't have an escape mechanism in the early game such as Shadow Fiend and Storm Spirit etc

There isn't much else to say about Offlane Tusk , however :

-Stay alive 

-Always carry a TP scroll to help out other lanes

-You can rotate to middle lane if you want to (when you've reached lvl3-4)

-Stop farming and start moving around once you've reached lvl 6

Which ever lane that you choose, make sure you have sufficient health regeneration which comes in the form of tangos and healing salve. Allowing you to stay in lane longer.

Late Game

Late game pretty much comes down to you and your team's early game performance , decisions and item choices

Example:

-You don't really need to go All in on damage as a Tusk . That said, if you see enemy heroes that have a high Physical DPS..why not getting a Vladimir's Offering and Assault Cuirass? those items are generally good and could help out your team by a ton thanks to the additional +10 armor

Bonus : Ways to slightly increase your winning rate

-Always setup a 2-3 man smoke when smokes are available , pickoffs does win you the game 

-Always communicate with your team 

-ALWAYS carry a TP Scroll

Skill Build

Skill Build is always the same in every scenarios . Except when you're level 1 trying to contest the rune , You'll probably prefer Snowball over Ice Shards . You can deal 160 damage to the enemy hero and possibly kill your enemy with the help from your team mates

Item Builds

Offlane / position #3

-STARTING ITEMS 

-A stout shield and 2 sets of regen (Salve and Tango) is highly recommended to deal with the harassment from the enemy supports 

-2 branches to build into a Magic Stick 

-EARLY ITEMS

-Phase Boots gives you the maximum damage output also allowing you to gank constantly because of the movement speed 

-Getting Bottle and a Magic Stick helps with your resources a lot that means you do not need to go back to base often 

-Core items to get if you're offlaning (you can easily afford these items because you do have the money)

-These items deals a lot of damage also work well with your ultimate 

-SITUATIONAL ITEMS

-Most of these items are very situational . You get these accordingly to the enemy heroes , you only get these items because you needed it not because you wanted it

Safelane/Roaming support / Position #4/5

-STARTING ITEMS

-2 Clarity Potions to help your mana going (zoning the enemy offlaner/roaming)

-2 branches to build into Magic Stick 

-EARLY ITEMS

-Supportive Tusk is all about supporting your team so getting these items is generally a good idea 

-Mekasm and Arcane Boots to build into GG boots 

-SITUATIONAL ITEMS

-There isn't much else to be say about these items . All of these are very situational depending on your team / enemy heroes

Source: Official Dota 2 Guides