Starting Off: level 1-5 Top
Your going to want to head straight to the jungle until around level 4 with this build, rinse the mobs here with a mixture of pots and the Stormguard ability, once you've acquired Merciless Persuit you can drop into the lane and turn the odds in your teams favour.
What I've found with Catherine is I feel like she was created for pure assistance, any class can be built into damage or tank etc. but I guessed her best build would be a combination between spamming her disabling moves and keeping herself alive, add in a little movement speed and you have the ability to chase or retreat, this effects the battle in many ways, with a strong Catherine presence the enemy team see a hard to kill tank that can defend its own team and disable theirs all at the same time, plus with a 7 second cool down on merciless Persuit, you can move across the map and get to locations a lot quicker.
Now once your around level 5 you'll have started building in one of two ways:
1st Path: Eve of Harvest, this is vital to any Catherine build in my opinion, it grants +25% Crystal Lifesteal, giving you constant energy, it also grants +50 Crystal Power, +250 Energy and +5 Energy Recharge.
Crystal Lifesteal heals you a % to crystal damage dealt.
2nd Path: Aftershock, this is almost as vital as the EoH, however, in an all together different way, it comes with +25% Cooldown, 2.4 Energy Recharge and +35 Crystal power.
The main selling point of this item is however, After using an ability, your next basic attack deals 15-20% (based on your level) slice damage with +50% Lifesteal (damage capped at 300 vs non humans) 2s Cooldown.
(Note: Merciless Persuit activates this passive meaning your stun attack WILL Lifesteal, amazing I know!!)
Getting chased by an enemy hero? Either use merciless Persuit to escape or try disabling them with it, and gaining back some Health instantly, pop your Stormguard and then attack again, you've just disabled, damaged and healed all within 3 attacks.)
I usually decide around level 3 or 4 which path I'll start with but they are both vital items in making your Catherine unstopable.
Journey Boots Top
Journey Boots should be invested in throughout the duration of the Battle, grab your basic boots early on and upgrade them as and when you need to, remember they're there to benefit all, but with a +200 Max Health boost, 8 Health Recharge, +25 Armor and +25 Shield, it's almost like they were designed for Catherine.
Remember Catherine gains 1 Armor for every time she stuns or silences an enemy hero, so it's advisable you spam Merciless Persuit whenever you can, even if it's just for the +1 Armor, every little helps.
Mid-Game: level 6+ Top
This is sadly make or break for most teams, it's in this vital time that you want to be everywhere at once, Catherine has the ability that most DPS characters have, which is the ability to scare the hell out of the enemy team just by poping out of a bush using Merciless Persuit, try waiting in the bush for the enemy team to get just a bit too cocky near one of your turrets, with a combo of Merciless Persuit, Stormguard and your turret you can wipe out heroes with ease, add your team mates into the equation and you can single handedly begin the demise of the whole enemy team, they will split up, panic, etc. just focus on the low health, high damage dealers and the enemy team won't have a leg to stand on.
Always remember that Catherine isn't designed for the glory of kills, she's designed to hold her whole team together and make the impossible, possible.
By now your going to want to have a nice amount of CoolDown, Stormguard is godly for farming gold, especially with as little as a 3s Cooldown (my lowest Cooldown so far) this skill combined with Aftershock compensates for not stacking in Health. Use this as often as you like, try and position Catherine into the centre of an enemy mob and watch the gold rain in.
Items to invest in:
Clockwork: If you haven't already invested in this, you may need to soon, with a +50% Cooldown, +2.4 Energy Recharge and +35 Crystal power, it turns an Average Catherine into a Fast Catherine.
War horn: working in a slightly different way to Clockwork, Warhorn swaps out the +35 CP of Clockwork for +10 Health Regeneration, you also lose the +50% CD for a +30% CD, however you gain 0.6 on Energy Recharge.
(Stats) +30% Cooldown, +3 Energy Recharge and + 10 Health Recharge.
But who's to say you can't buy both?
Finally we have Shatterglass: +115 crystal power.
I chose this because I think the only thing this build was missing was the added damage, along with the spammed abilities your using every 4 and 7 seconds, you not only warp the battlefield to your liking, you also pack a punch.
level 12 (Overall) Top
Following this build and also using your own initiative you should be able to slide into Catherine's play style easily, Remember she's humble and a protector at heart, compensate for the low damage output by stacking in Cooldown, The amount of times my Merciless Persuit and a well timed Blast Tremor have pretty much ended the game there and then is countless.
Always stay vigilant, you can sometimes start believing your God until the enemy team hits you with all 3 heroes and your teams no where to be seen, she was built for a team, keep her with the team, Catherine can turn a 3 vs 1 into an even match if you play her right, focus on the damage dealers and once they're gone, nothing can hurt you.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this guide, it's my first ever and it does need some tweaking, any feedback and criticism would be greatly appreciated, lemme know how this works out for you guys, thanks.
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