General strategy Top
The main thing to know about SAW is his heroic perk,
Spin Up. Each time a SAW attack lands, his attack speed greatly increases, but at the expense of his mobility. This makes him great to stop platoons of minions or siege towers! unfortunately, it is difficult to escape while in spin up mode.
But because SAW is so good at mowing minions down - arguably better than anyone else at this -
he can gather large amount of gold in the game and go for really expensive (and deadly) builds.
There are several things you want when developing a hero. Firepower, sure. But also defense, manoeuverability, autonomy or speed.
Firepower can be achieved through various ways. The most basic is through items that increase Weapon, such as the Sorrowblade. That increases the strength of regular attacks. A pure weapon SAW, though, still lacks in defense or autonomy - with no adequate way to heal, he cannot stay in the field indefinitely.
An alternative way is to go for Crystal, such as building Shatterglass(es). This will increase the strength of abilities, namely: suppressing fire. That would have to be coupled with items such as Clockwork to let SAW use such abilities more frequently.
The path the game recommends is more balanced: start by building weapon, then get mobility and defense.
So all of these path ask you to compromise at some point.
This strategy is about to build a lifestealing SAW by getting one, then two Serpent Masks early on. Serpent Masks increase weapon power - moderately but significantly. However, they also enable you to regain part of the damage dealt as HP. While one lifestealing item is nice to have, and makes you able to heal as long as you're not in the heat of combat, two (or more) is a game changer. This combined with Spin Up lets you deal a massive amount of damage to heroes or turrets while healing faster than they can damage you.
This build is based on regular attacks. While you will still enjoy the benefits of life steal using suppressing fire or mad cannon, you're just as efficient focusing on dealing regular attacks (but souped up with your heroic perk). Save your energy for being able to escape with roadie run.
Dueling SAW Top
In duels, if
SAW can target an opponent walking towards him, he will deal a lot of damage while healing, thus giving him an edge. However: if an opponent surprises him (ie attacks from behind while he is slowed or performing Suppressing Fire), appears out of nowhere (ie jumps from the jungle and melee him) or deals a massive amount of damage in a first attack (ie Petal's, Taka's or Koshka's ultimates) he is vulnerable. Likewise, SAW will not fare well against Krul's Spectral Smite.
SAW's pattern will also be thwarted by shield such as Catherine Storm Guard or Reflex Block. Slowing and stunning will also leave him especially vulnerable.
When overpowered,
SAW is not good at escaping to safety. Roadie Run will somewhat compensate but will not save him if slowed or stunned, leaving him at the mercy of melee characters.
In this build
SAW will have low HP and defense. That will be balanced by his ability to heal very fast. But that doesn't make him invincible at all!
Typically,
SAW will have gained more gold (and for the most part level up) than any other character. As long as he can buy items, he can use this to his advantage. The ideal SAW vs hero situation is if he can
pick up an individual opponent, or
fight the opposing team one by one. Every successful hit will make him stronger.
SAW is also really good at punishing heroes who take too much risk. His suppressing fire has a long range and a slowing effect, which makes it a great finishing move.
The beginning: SAW, master of the Lane Top
SAW is best suited for the Lane. How you will use it depends on the composition of both teams.
Each team could have 1, 2 or 3 lane specialists (SAW, Ringo, Skaarf, Petal, Adagio...).
Most often, teams have 1 or 2 lane heroes, and 1 or 2 jungle heroes.
If facing opposition in the lane (2 or more) be very careful. Remember that for most of the game, this SAW will NOT BE a strong dueler. DO NOT engage, DO NOT go forward too much or attempt to damage the turret.
In the first part of the game, your goal is
to get as much money as possible, and so to farm minions
while not getting killed.
Conversely, if the enemy is strong in the jungle, especially if it has a Joule, Taka or Koshka, stay in the upper part of the lane! you can very easily be ambushed and taken down.
It's worth noting that if you are 1 vs 2 in the Lane (which is the ideal scenario), you will grow much quicker than any of your 2 opponents. You may be one or two levels ahead and get much more gold. That doesn't mean you should engage them. However, if they take risks and one of them gets too close to your tower without support or protection, punish them with suppressing fire and take them down if possible.
If you have support (and especially a healing character like Petal or Adagio) you may push a little bit more ahead but you should still be careful! there is no need to try to go for the turret before mining begins. Your goal is still to kill as many minions as possible, only this time you can also try to put pressure on your opponents to prevent them from doing that (or at least from doing that quickly).
In the unlikely case that you are 3 in the Lane, especially 3 vs 1, you may want to go all out and take that turret down before mining. In that configuration you can forget about boosting minions and to a leser extent the mine, you will try to push forward as much as possible, getting money (and tactical advantage) through turrets while the opponent is ambushing you in vain in the jungle.
You will start by buying a
Book of Eulogies and two halcyon potions, which you should replace as needed. Your book will make you more autonomous - you can heal moderately by killing minions. Sure, a
Weapon Blade or a
Crystal Bit would give you an edge in case of a duel, but you don't want to do that now! Avoid fighting other heroes. Just keep them at a distance, but don't take unnecessary risks.
By the time mining begins, you could have made 1800 gold and reached lvl 4 or 5 - possibly more if enemy heroes let themselves be killed.
That money should go into a
Heavy Steel and
Barbed Needle. That would boost your attack power, and be your first lifesteal item. (get
Barbed Needle before
Heavy Steel if for some reason you access the shop before the 4 minutes). Near or around the 4 minutes mark enemies in the lane may switch or pull back, this is a good moment to go to the store anyway.
Minute 4 to 7 Top
You are now more capable and if let undisturbed you can take down an enemy turret. However, you'll also want to get a hold of your first
Serpent Mask when possible. Hold the Lane as in the first phase, push forward when it feels safe - your lane opponents will leave either to go to the shop, support their jungle teammates, or if they get killed. Each absence is a great opportunity to inflict significant damage to the turret! The turret can go down especially fast if you get support from your teammates. Conversely, if you die, you will lose a lot of time, leave your turret undefended and lose an opportunity to make money.
When taking down a turret, you will need the protection of your minions which will attack the turret as well. Opposing minions will try to kill your minions. If it is safe to do so, shoot them rather than the turret for more revenue (this will make your own minions last longer). Safe means - if there isn't a threat from enemy heroes. Start retreating when the turret is wearing down the last minion.
During that time you may be called by your teammates to take the gold mine. Go if you have enough minions in your lane to at least slow the enemy should they want to take your turret. Do not call it - go in for support, and by all means do not try by yourself.
The objective of this phase is to: take the first enemy turret and/or gain control to the gold mine, and get your first Serpent Mask.
minute 7 to 15 Top
With your first
Serpent Mask you will be much stronger in the Lane - where you can see opponents from afar. Also, due to the dynamic of this phase, it is now more likely to see a cluster of weakened enemy minions - which you can take down easily for several hundreds gold.
Your objective is now to get a second Serpent Mask. While doing so you may also want to increase your attack speed:
Swift Shooter is a cheap way to do so. Attack speed not only factors in the total damage you can deal per second, but also helps you to maximize your Spin Up perk faster, which is essential to your domination.
Your overall strategy won't change: kill minions for money and to keep your spin up perk high, move forward in the lane opportunistically and take down turrets as possible, strike enemies who take too much risk, but pull out when at risk.
To keep your spin up high, you will need to kill minions. When minions are nowhere to be found, though, your best bet is to find a bush to hide in (preferably NOT one that the enemy is likely to go through, such as the ones on the lower part of the lane towards their half of the field) and wait. If you manage to get an enemy hero stuck between you and one of your turret, they won't be able to escape. And with enemy heroes respawning or busy in the jungle, you can progress in enemy territory and take down their second or third turret.
Alternatively, when the mine is almost full, enemy heroes will logically try to take it. It's a great opportunity to ambush them especially if your team can support you.
By the end of minute 15 you should be lvl 10 to 12, and have two serpent masks, one
Sorrowblade and be on your way to getting the
Tornado Trigger.
Endgame Top
After minute 15, heroes will take a lot of time to respawn. So, taking one hero down will definitely tilt the odds in the favor of one team or the other. Besides, once one hero is killed, the remaining two are more vulnerable. If all three heroes are killed (Ace) the remaining team gets a health boost and has no opposition for up to a minute - enough time to unleash the kraken.
So after minute 15, you will want to stick with your teammates. Even if you are the strongest player on the field in 1 vs 1 (and maybe you aren't), you probably won't be able to defeat two enemies at full health, let alone three (one after the other, on the other hand...).
So. Stick with your team and try to weaken or take out the other team. Here is where you should expect the other team to be:
they seem to have the upper hand (especially with two minion mines)? Likely in the lane pushing forward. You will wait for them in bushes close to your base. Do not hesitate to be very defensive (if ambush sounds too dangerous, wait for them from inside your base). You want them to commit a mistake that would turn the tables.
If they are not in the lane when you'd expect them to be, they are probably going for the kraken, OR expecting you to go for the kraken - and will ambush you there. You should find a way to check if they try to unleash the kraken (and in this case, stop them or "steal" the final strike). If they are very weak (ie 4 or 5 turrets down) you may want to take that opportunity to destroy their base.
If they have cleared the field (after an ace, or even after defeating one or two heroes) they will go for the minion mines they don't control. If they are too confident, they might send just one hero to get a minion mine back. If you are still active, that's your chance to take that hero out.
If they are threatened (ie have zero minion mines and feeling pressure) they will probably try to get back their own minion mine. That's a good place to ambush them, alternatively that could give you enough time to unleash the kraken.
After unleashing the kraken, they will probably try the minion mine they don't control. Another good occasion to take one or two of the heroes down. Unless your base is very weak, the kraken doesn't demand immediate attention; turrets will eventually stop it. But this can be an occasion to wipe out the enemy team and gain a real advantage (plus 500 gold for killing the kraken).
Should you use flares? depends. If you have one open slot in your inventory and are really unsure where the enemy is, you might as well. But in many cases you can guess where they should be and the flare doesn't really last that long. Plus they might have changed positions.
Whatever you do, remain defensive and
avoid getting killed: that would put you out of commission for a long time. Towards the end of the game, you are able to destroy a turret in a matter of seconds, even without protection. You may be able to finish the game by having your team luring the enemy into your base, while you jump from bush to bush to the enemy base undetected, and destroy their remaining turrets / their crystal too quickly for them to be able to teleport back.
Once you have two serpent masks, one sorrowblade and one tornado trigger, what you put in your last two slots is a matter of preference. Let's be real though: that's already 11300 gold, and chances are you would only get much more in the longest of games. My baddest SAW had a third serpent mask and second sorrowblade in a game that last over 40 minutes. Alternatively, you may want to go for defense at this point.
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