Skill Info: Summon a group of goblin to the battle field. As they engage the enemy, more will be splitted. (total 5 times of splitting)
Mana cost: 120 +40x level
Number of goblin summoned: 2 +1x Level Reset every 3 level
Duration: 60+ seconds
Goblin gets stronger every 3 level. The strongest Goblin have ~600 hp and ~50 damage, with the passive skill crit master/ drunken brawler.
Background information: After the release of 3.0, because of the nerfstick of skeletal army, GOBLIN HORDE HAS NOW replaced Skeletal army as one of the best skills early game. Again, i haven't seen anyone in the clan uses it but myself, and i am kicking ass with it.
General Infomation: This is now the best misc farming skill in early game. Goblin has a slightly higher hp and damage than a normal skeleton. Although it surely has a lesser number than skeletal, it will be healed every time it splits! As a result, the goblin will not die easily compared to a skeleton if you can do a little bit of microing. Just like the skeletons, using a ranged hero with this skill will be great, as the goblin has some armors to take hits for you. However, you will have to be the tank for the goblin until it starts to spilt because a single goblin can be killed really easily even they're fighting level 1 creeps. Last but not least, the other thing that make it better than skeleton is that you only need to invest 3 skill points on it instead of 4 compared to skeletal army, which allow you to put more points on your offensive skills in early game. Also, since it will upgrade every 3 level, just like the skeletal army, their upgrade aren't worth enough for another 3 skill points.
Skill Usage: I am gonna spilt this part into 3 sections. Hero selection, tricks for goblin horde, and skill combination.
Hero Selection: First of all this skill requires a huge amount of mana, its mana cost is even higher than flame strike! As a result, if you want to use fire orb as a starting item, you have a very limited choice of hero. Hero with 23 int will be able to use this skill, and so far for agi hero there are only 3 heroes with enough mana to support this skill without purchasing any item that gives int. They are Runner, Panda, and the other mage panda. For str hero, mountain king, black smith, etc. If you really want the goblin to tank for you though, int hero will be your best choice, since int heros are the only ranged hero that have enough starting mana for summoning these goblins without getting any items.
Anyway, I use goblin horde in agi hero mostly, so panda has become my personal perference, panda has a good str and int gain to enable you to farm early game.
Tricks for goblin horde: There are a TON of tricks to use this skill, i am only gonna talk about some of it. The first basic would be double summoning. Goblin horde has a very fast cool down, 30 seconds, as they can be killed very easily if they don't last long enough to spilt, but they can last for more than 60 seconds on the field! Why more than 60 seconds? The first group of goblin that you summoned will last for 60 seconds, but the goblin that got splitted by the first group will also last 60 seconds. As a result, the goblin will last for more than 60 seconds on the field, though their number will start to decrease after 60 seconds have passed. The concept of double summoing is simple, you should start summoning the goblin once you finish picking the skill, if it takes another 30 seconds for your opponent or teammate to pick their skills, you can summon the goblin once again. That way you could have 4 goblin in starting level, which will be a huge assist to you!
The second trick will be triple farming. Goblin will spilt in total of 5 times, meaning 2 goblins in starting level will eventually give u 10 goblins in total. As i mentioned the trick of double summoning, you essentially will have 20 goblins staying with you. 10 goblins are more than enough to solo a creep spawn in early game, you can simply command another group of goblin to mid-spawns for more GOLD. Also, with the help of 4 goblins, you should be able to get levle 3 very soon, put a point to goblin as soon as possible, then run back to base heal up your mana. REMEMBER always summon inside of base, because goblin costs a lot of mana, and lot of heroes don't have the mana to cast it twice on the field. Summon the goblin inside the base, and get ur mana filled up again, then run out with the goblins. Command the 3 goblins you summoned to the first spawn, with the helps of the other goblin, that 3 goblins will be able to spilt very soon. You can then run to the other spawn, as the 30 seconds of cool down of goblin will be done soon, you can then summon the other 3 goblins on the other spawn. Essentially if the creeps level are under 4, you can simply get another group of goblin to stay with you and you can go to the lower mid spawn and triple farm!
Skill selection: If you can follow the steps i mentioned above, you can always get level 9 before first duel and huge tons of gold. But if you want to maximaze the performance of the goblin, i highly suggest you to pick slow ward as your defensive ability. Slow ward can slow the creeps a lot even it is at level 1, and it doesn't cost much mana. Slowing the creep will allow your goblin to spilt without taking much damage or risk dying. You don't even need to micro the goblin if you got a slow ward on the field! Plus, slow ward is just great for team games, ain't they? With the help of slow ward, your goblin will be able to handle creeps that are 6-7 levels. But without the help of it, goblin will fail very easily once the creep hits level 5.
