Claude/Guide

## Recommendation Set

* Default Build
* User Build

DPS, Sustained DPS
Demon Hunter SwordSwift BootsGolden StaffCorrosion ScytheHunter StrikeBlade of Despair

DPS, Burst
Demon Hunter SwordSwift BootsWindtalkerBerserker's FuryScarlet PhantomBlade of Despair
DPS, Durable
Haas's ClawsSwift BootsBerserker's FuryScarlet PhantomHunter StrikeImmortality

## Recommended Spell

* Inspire (To Increase **Attack Speed**)
* Aegis (To gain **Shield** for extra protection, Claude is very easy to kill)
* Flicker (To increase the chance of escaping)
* Retribution (To buy Jungle items choose  Flame or  Ice)
* Purify (To remove all **CC** except **Supressed**  effect that is caused by  Franco,  Kaja, and  Barats)

## Recommended Emblem

* Marksman Emblem (Electro Flash/Weakness finder)
* Assassin Emblem (Killing Spree/High and Dry)

## Pros and Cons

**Claude** is a hero who masters in trickery though he possesses technology that allows him to scale greatly in the late game, Battle Side-by-Side Battle Side-by-Side, which deals damage based on **35%** of Claude's attack damage while triggering **Basic Attack Effects**, making certain items like  Demon Hunter Sword and  Golden Staff a great asset for him or even items that grant **Critical Damage** are very valuable for him.  Art of Thievery is an ability that allows him to temporarily steal his enemies' speed and uses them for his own, making him a speedy hitter in many cases.  Battle Mirror Image is his mobility tool, that deals damage based on his passive while allowing him to switch places when possible for a certain duration and its own cooldown.  Blazing Duet, both a wave-clearing and powerful **ultimate** that grants him a **Shield** while it triggers **Basic Attack Effects**, making him a great scaling carry that if left unattended, he could destroy any enemy once he gets his items. However, he is also extremely weak in the early game due to his high item dependency in order to start dealing damage and very squishy in all stages of the game, requiring great judgement and good positioning to execute **Claude**, a very tricky hero.

### Pros

* High burst damage with  Blazing Duet.
* High carry potential with Battle Side-by-Side Battle Side-by-Side.
* Has high attack speed and fast movement speed with  Art of Thievery.
* Can juke enemies with  2nd skill.
* Can deal an insane amount of damage once he has  Demon Hunter Sword and  Golden Staff.

### Cons

* Very dependent on  Demon Hunter Sword to start dealing damage.
* Very vulnerable, when  Battle Mirror Image is on Cooldown.
* Can be shut down easily in the early game.
* High Mana Usage.
* Requires great gold acquisition.
* Somehow dependable on  Blazing Duet
* Ultimate can get Interrupt  if affected by Airborne, Suppression, Transform or Freeze effect.
* 2nd skill can be blocked blink by  Minsitthar's  ultimate.

### Cons after Nerfed

* Art of Thievery does no longer grant double extra stacks if it hits Creeps.
* Max stacks in  Art of Thievery has decreased from 10 stack to 5 stack instead.
* Decreases Movement Speed on the  Art of Thievery.
* Due to Golden Staff being revamped, his damage is much lower, this can be clearly seen especially in the late game.

## Tactics using Claude

**Claude** is a very weak hero in the early game due to his low attack damage and very dependent on gaining a great amount of gold, so he is normally played at the **Gold Lane**, although he can play mid due to his wave-clearing  ultimate.

* Don't fight. **Claude** is very weak especially without his  Demon Hunter Sword, so don't even think about coming out unless you are sure you can get kills.

1. Max your  1st skill for two main reasons, first is to gain more speed, thus you can roam faster while second is to deal a bit more damage with each cast, slowing all enemies in its radius.
2. If you don't have  Demon Hunter Sword, use  ultimate to clear any minion waves as minions take more damage from your ultimate.
3. Try to get 5 stacks of  1st skill in order to dish out more damage with your basic attacks.
4. Farm until you get 2 items like  Demon Hunter Sword &  Golden Staff.
5. Use your  2nd skill to reposition yourself whenever you are in a tight situation or when you need to come in teamfights.

* The player may need to keep using the  1st skill when it's available to keep its buff active most of the time, since this ability's buff only lasts for 6 seconds.

* His  ultimate, is extremely powerful in the late game, especially with items. This ability shines the most in teamfights or skirmishes that usually allows **Claude** to burst any lone heroes.
* **Corrosion Scythe** is a good follow up item for a **Claude** who uses the **Golden Staff** build, allowing him the capability to slow enemies in his vicinity and reducing their chances to remain alive as his attack speed is extremely high when coupled with **Corrosion Scythe**.
* **Claude** has two item builds that go well in certain situations, such as the **Golden Staff** build, which focuses mainly on improving the damage of  Demon Hunter Sword, allowing him to easily tear down **high HP** enemies in only a matter of seconds, pushes fast and very powerful in teamfights, however this makes him somehow lacking in damage to finish off enemies as  Demon Hunter Sword deals damage based on **current HP**, usually starting to hit weaker once they are already lowered down enough. This means that this build allows him to participate in teamfights easier, however falls off in the late game against more powerful late-game heroes that deals **Critical Damage**.
* The alternative, **Critical** build, focuses on improving Claude's already low attack damage to a better stage as he gets **Berserker's Fury** instead of **Golden Staff,** increasing his damage output that however makes him reliant on RNG, randomly proccing attacks to gain the better advantage. Not only that, but his pushing power is weaker, and lowers his teamfight potential than the **Golden Staff** build, as it will surely trigger all of the time. This build is only useful if you need more damage to kill enemies that deal damage and are usually heroes that deal burst damage.

## Must team-up someone

* Tigreal could cover **Claude** when **Claude** is in danger using his  2nd skill.  Tigreal is quite hard to kill because of  passive.
* Yu Zhong could make the enemies busy while **Claude** hit because of  passive that can dealing **40** **(+30% Extra Physical Attack)** + **2% of the target's lost HP** as **Physical Damage**, **restoring 6% of  Yu Zhong lost HP**).
* Estes is just a low-damage  Support,  Estes could easily heal **Claude** at a very high amount anytime using  1st skill that heals **Claude** **325 / 350 / 375 / 400 / 425 / 450 (+30% Total Magic Power)** **Heal** for **3 seconds** while empowering the heal of  1st skill by using  ultimate that makes  1st skill **Heal** immediately and regenerate **1170 / 1260 / 1350 / 1440 / 1530 / 1620 (+105% Total Magic Power)** health.  Estes's 2nd skill 2nd skill slows enemies who attempt to escape from it in a large area, allowing **Claude** the time to get close and personal with his  ultimate.
* Khufra  1st skill can deal **50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100** + **7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 (+1.5% Extra Physical Attack)%** **of his Max HP** **Physical Damage** to nearby enemies and **knocking them up** for up to **1.1 seconds**. his  ultimate could **pulls back** all enemy targets around him towards the front, dealing **300 / 450 / 600** **(+100% Total Physical Attack)** points of **Physical Damage** and **slowing them down** for **1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 seconds**.
* Johnson Is one of heroes that could make Claude rotation faster (If u don't know what rotation means click **here**) using  ultimate. If  ultimate Upon hitting an enemy hero, Johnson will crash, dealing **300 / 400 / 500** **(+160% Total Magic Power)** - **700 / 875 / 1050** **(+280% Total Magic Power)** **Magic Damage** to enemies in the area, **stunning** nearby enemies for **0.5 - 1 second** (Damage and stun duration scales with speed and distance traveled), and electrifying the crashing site for **4 seconds**, **slowing enemies** and continuously dealing **80 / 100 / 120** **(+20% Total Magic Power)** **Magic Damage** to enemies in the crashing site. Enemies can be electrified up to 9 times and take a maximum of **720 / 900 / 1080** **(+1080% Total Magic Power)** **Magic Damage**.  Johnson also capable of stunning the enemy using the  1st skill
* Atlas could gather enemy heroes using  ultimate that could Atlas hurls chains at all nearby enemy heroes and starts to channel dealing **225 / 350 / 475** **(+75% Total Magic Power)** **Magic Damage** to the enemies hit and **slowing them by 40%**.
Use again: Atlas will leap to a designated location, **dragging** the targets towards him rendering them **airborne**, and dealing **360 / 560 / 760** **(+120% Total Magic Power)** **Magic Damage**.

 Atlas also can stun the enemy using  2nd skill, dealing **320 / 340 / 360 / 380 / 400 / 420** (+80% Total Magic Power) **Magic Damage** to enemies nearby and **stunning them** for **1 second**. Also Atlas and the **Mecha Sentry**, **share the same HP bar** and gains **50% Damage Reduction** in this state.

## Countering against Claude

* The exact counter for **Claude** is  Natalia because of her silence, backstab, invisibility, ultimate and gap closer. But the most match up doesn’t go like that.
* Another counter is  Alucard, due to Claude's durability is low,  Alucard must have more Life-Steal and damage items to beat **Claude** easily
* Layla can kill **Claude** in the early phases of the match due to  Layla's high damage from  Malefic Bomb and  Void Projectile. Also because **Claude** is a Very very squishy Hero
* Because Claude Is a very Squishy Hero so most  Assassin like  Saber,  Lancelot, and more can easily Kill Claude

### Claude can easily get Countered

* Although  Johnson is just a  Tank  Johnson still could do huge amount of damage if has been crashed by his  Car (ultimate) (Deals more damage the more **Physical Defense**). Also  Johnson could possibly solo kill Claude (Solo kill mean Killing any heroes or anything without any help from allies) Because  Johnson has a high continuous Damage if Claude doesn't have  Purify
* Saber is a  Assassin **so  Saber has a high chance of winning a 1v1 with Claude. Because of  Ultimate that can cause** 120 / 150 / 180(+100% Extra Physical Attack) **points of** Physical Damage **and the** 3rd blow **dealing** 240 / 300 / 360(+200% Extra Physical Attack)Physical Damage**. Also can enhanced  Saber  Basic Attack by using  2nd Skill.**
* Layla can kill **Claude** in the early phases of the match due to  Layla Higher damage from  Malefic Bomb and  Void Projectile. Also because **Claude** is a Very very squishy Hero
* Karina is another type of  Assassin who can deal a insane **Damage** in the Early or Late Game.  Karina can also become Immune, to  **Basic Attack** because of Her  1st Skill which can block and deflecting the damage of the  **Basic Attack** by dealing **100 / 120 / 140 / 160 / 180 / 200** **(+30% Total Magic Power)** **Magic Damage** at her attacker.  Karina also can reset Her  Ultimate by Killing the Target or Assisting
* Hayabusa as a very strong  Assassin could easily solo kill Claude with few of his combo.  Hayabusa skill set are designed to do a 1v1 example: His  Ougi Shadow Kill deals allot of Damage. Also as said Claude is a very squishy hero
* Although  Odette is just a  Mage,  Odette still can solo kill Claude. Because Claude doesn't have any CC so **Claude**, can't cancel  Odette  Ultimate. Specially if  Odette hit Claude with his  2nd Skill, and her  1st Skill.
* If your a  Zilong user your gonna notice how easy it is to kill  Marksman,  Mage's, and even some  Assassin.  Zilong Skill are mostly Single Targeted (Can only give Damage to **1 Hero**) so that means  Zilong with the Combo of  2nd Skill and  1st Skill can already make **Claude** quite low because of how squishy **Claude** is.
* Harley is one of some heroes to have a hybrid  Assassin /  Mage that means  Harley can deals allot of Magic and have a fast Mobility.
* Nana is one of the most annoying  Mage, because of her high Burst Damage in the Late game.  Nana can easily Kill **Claude** or delay **Claude,** farm because of her  2nd Skill that can transform **Claude** on hit, dealing **250 / 275 / 300 / 325 / 350 / 375** (+50% Total Magic Power) points of Magic Damage to the target, slowing them by 50% / 54% / 58% / 62% / 66% / 70% for **1.5 seconds** and reducing their Magic Defense by 25%, after that  Nana usually finish Claude of with her  Ultimate which deals **400 / 540 / 680** **(+180% Total Magic Power)** and Slowing Claude for 2 Seconds