• Introduction

• Pros and Cons

• Abilities

• Talents

• Drinking Guide

• Conclusion and Bonus Goodies

PROS

• One of the tankiest tanks in the game
• He's fat, so he can body block extremely well
• He's fat, so he looks funny when he walks
• Can catch people out and execute people with his Q and Wandering Keg
• Deals a somewhat decent amount of DPS to squishy targets
• You get to win by getting hammered

CONS

• Tank comes from standing still and channeling his drink, can be interrupted
• Damage is not so great as more time is added to the game
• Underestimated and an unpopular pick, people may get upset if you pick him
• Has a fairly large number of counters due to the current status of most tanks

Level 1

For the tank build, which is the standard way a Chen should build in hero league, Regeneration Master is a must for Chen in order to have his health regeneration scale better in to the late game. However, depending on the team you are facing, Keg Toss can be extremely helpful to help provide longer ranged cc for your team or to help catch people out.

Level 4

Level 4 is a very situational level for Chen, giving him a wide variety of talents to take. Since this guide is mainly for tank Chen, the only talent that you will be ignoring at this level is Deep Breath. At this level I typically take Deadly Strike for extra damage vs high priority squishy targets. Many discourage it due to the poor scaling that it brings in to late game compared to his tank talents Amplified Healing and Swift Reflexes. I only tend to pick Swift Reflexes when the enemy is highly auto attack oriented, and I never pick Amplified Healing despite its popularity due to the fact that you will end up getting good health regeneration from Brewmaster's Balance later on anyways. In the end, however, you can choose any of these three depending on your current situation.

Level 7

Brewmaster's Balance is one of Chen's best talents, providing you extra tank, extra escape potential, and extra chase/engage potential. All of the other talent's, even Combat Stance, do not compare to the versatility that this talent provides, and I highly recommend that you take this talent every game you play as Chen.

Level 10

Level 10 is where things can get a bit tricky, because both of Chen's ultimate abilities provide great tank and cc potential. Wandering Keg is my personal favorite of the two because it does many things that Storm, Earth, Fire cannot do. It makes Chen immune to cc, giving him the perfect opportunity to engage. It is also used for a very useful cheese strategy that involves pushing the enemies outside of the capture ring when they try to capture a mercenary or boss and, in turn, capture it for your own team. It also can act as a pull since every time your keg touches something it knocks the enemy back, allowing you to jump behind the enemy's DPS and contiuously knock them in to your team while your team unloads tons of damage on your new out of position target.

Storm, Earth, Fire is also an extremely good ultimate for Chen as it allows Chen to be played as a combat tank/bruiser. While damage from Storm, Earth, Fire allows for this, it's tank stats also help Chen soak more damage for his team. His jump abilities while using the ultimate also allow him to engage and disengage with relative ease and make it out alive. I will not go in to too much detail about this ultimate, however, as I tend to not use it and stick with Wandering Keg

Level 13

Again, another situational level for Chen, but mainly for only two talents. Relentless should be generally disregarded unless you took Storm, Earth, Fire, as Wandering Keg allows you to ignore all movement impairing effects. Brew Strike should also be disregarded because it is only good for continuous chasing of an enemy, which almost always doesn't work out for you, especially during the point of the game you'll currently be at when you get to level 13. I generally pick Enough to Share because it allows better clearing of camps for your team, and it allows your team to generally become tankier whenever you engage and begin drinking. A Touch of Honey can also be very good for added cc if you are trying to protect your DPS and you are the only tank, or to give you a way to catch low health targets earlier on. I tend not to pick this, however, since I will be able to get Pressure Point next anyways.

Level 16

This level for talents is pretty straight forward given your options. Bottomless Mug is unnecessary if you know when to drink and how to properly drink in fights, especially against people who can stun you or knock you back while you are drinking. I have also tried Combination Attack, and since your auto attacks don't do much damage to begin with, this talent doesn't really help with that to much, so much to the point where I barely even noticed a change. Pressure Point, in my opinion, is tank Chen's best talent, and makes his Flying Kick incredibly over powered, as he can catch people with a 90% slow plus his body blocking capabilities. However, if for some reason you find yourself not being able to tank enough damage, or you are not able to drink often during fights, Bolder Flavor can help you get some extra shielding prior to fights to help deal with extremely high damaging DPS's like Li-Ming or Jaina.

Level 20

At level 20, always take Hardened Shield. In my opinion, both of his ultimate talents are useless and don't buff his ultimate in any huge way, and your ridiculous engage potential makes Bolt of the Storm practically useless to you. Hardened Shield will make you literally unkillable when you fight. 'Nuff said.

Alright, I'm hooked on Chen; but how in the world do I weave drinking in to combat?

WHEN IN DOUBT, DRINK IT OUT

I cannot stress this enough. As Chen, your shield can withstand a lot of abuse, so if you feel like your going to get caught out, are waiting for your Flying Kick to come up to escape, or just don't want to die, start drinking.

There are two different moments you must consider that change the way you drink: lane fighting and team fighting. When in lane, your combo is quite simple and can help you harass the **** out of your opponent. Whether or not you drink before, during, or after the combo is up to you based on who your fighting and what you are going to do, but remember that if you are drinking before or after engaging, you should try to drink for the full 5 seconds or at least 3-4 to make sure that if you get ganked or your opponent pulls off something unexpected, you have your Fortifying Brew back up and ready to go for the sudden conflict.

Laning

Basic lane engagements typically involve either using Keg Smash in to Breath of Fire plus two auto attacks and begin drinking if to close or drinking before hand. The only time you drink while fighting during an engagement is if you open with Flying Kick into your Keg Smash-> Breath of Fire combo. As soon as you dump your whole kit on the laner, just start drinking and don't bother trying to get 2 autos in. Your opponent will be stupid and will start throwing abilities and basic attacks on to you allowing you to soak damage while not a single point of actual hp gets shaved off of your health bar, unless you did not drink for the shield before engaging. If you are in a 2v2 lane, engage on the squishiest target while your ally beats on one of them as they try to kill you (unsuccessfully). If in a 1v2 lane, drink often, poke with just Keg Smash-> Breath of Fire and if you get caught by one of them, drink until you find an opening to use your Flying Kick on a minion to escape.

Teamfights

In teamfights, your goal as the tank is obviously to soak damage for your team, but as Chen you have an extra goal. Because of your awesome dive power with Flying Kick and great cc potential from Keg Smash, Pressure Point, and Wandering Keg, your other goal is to catch out the enemy DPS and help your team instantly delete them. However, drinking can be quite tricky when you have 5 people ready to wail on anyone who is out of position. Although your shield is awesome, unless you have healing or bonus shields, your shield alone cannot allow you to tank the entire enemy team. So, whenever fighting in a teamfight, always drink when you are near your team or with your team, especially to give them the shielding from Enough to Share. Do not dive the back line and just stand there and drink, you will be to far for your team to help you. If you do dive them, dive somewhere near the center of them all and throw dps on to the healer or DPS, then start drinking. If your team is smart, your healer should be able to keep you alive long enough for your DPS to take down priority targets like the enemy healer or DPS, and then you can simply escape by running away or using Flying Kick, or engage again to clean up the remainder of the enemy team.

• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Abilities
• Talents
• Drinking and Fighting Guide
• Conclusion and Bonus Goodies