Basic-attack jungle Fighter who snowballs Fighting Spirit stacks into a duelist.
Aulus is a basic-attack-reliant jungle Fighter who builds up to four stacks of Fighting Spirit for bonus attack speed, penetration, and a damage spike, then locks in permanent power through his Undying Fury axe upgrades. Aulus, Charge! purges slows and grants frontal damage reduction, letting him force fights on his terms instead of kiting around problems.
Aulus's power depends on landing repeated Basic Attacks to build Fighting Spirit and timing Power of Axe resets, which takes practice but has no complex cancel combos.
Level The Power of Axe first for damage and healing, max it before Aulus, Charge!, and take Undying Fury at 4, 8, and 12.
Aulus adds a stack of Fighting Spirit to his axe per second for 3 seconds after dealing damage to any enemy (up to 4 stacks). Each stack grants 9-15% extra Attack speed and 1-4 Physical Penetration (scales with Undying Fury level). Aulus also gains 10% extra Movement Speed and 42-210 Basic Attack Damage at max Fighting Spirit stacks (scales with level).
“A war axe that fights more fiercely as the battle continues.”
Always active — no cooldown
Aulus removes all slow effects and gains 30-50% extra Movement Speed and 20-50% Damage Reduction against attacks from the front for 5 seconds.
Aulus brandishes his axe, dealing 150–550 (+120% Extra Physical Attack) Physical Damage to enemies in a fan-shaped area, and enhancing his next Basic Attacks for 3 seconds after hitting enemy heroes or Creeps. Aulus recovers HP by 50-100 (+1% Total HP) Basic Attack.
Passive: Every time Undying Fury is upgraded, Aulus crafts a part for his axe in order. Blade Craft: Permanently increases his Basic Attacks' Physical Damage by 50. Handle Craft: Permanently increases his Attack Range by 65% and the range of The Power of Axe. Hammer Craft: Permanently increases his Physical Penetration by 20%.
Signature combo
Core items in buy order, with the emblem, talents and battle spell that go with them.
7,060g total
Default pick into a mixed physical/magic enemy team for jungle clears and skirmishes.
Battle spell
Retribution35s CDA well-timed Retribution on a low-HP objective — a 'smite steal' — can snatch Turtle or Lord away from a team that appeared to be securing it, often the single biggest swing play of the early-to-mid game.
Swap in when needed
Queen's Wings — Against burst assassins or dive comps threatening to kill you before Fighting Spirit ramps.
Immortality — When you are the primary engage and need a second chance after a bad Aulus, Charge! commitment.
Wind of Nature — Versus a physical-damage-heavy team that bursts you down before you can stack Fighting Spirit.
6,970g total
When the enemy stacks physical defense and you need scaling penetration to keep dueling.
Battle spell
Flicker120s CDThe 'Flicker combo' — blinking in right as a hook or stun lands, or blinking out the instant an enemy ultimate is cast — is the single most common high-elo outplay moment in the game.
Swap in when needed
Sea Halberd — Against enemy lifesteal or healers who out-race your Fighting Spirit damage.
Blade Armor — Versus crit-reliant Marksmen picking you off in extended trades.
Dominance Ice — Cuts the healing of the lifesteal carries you charge into, and stacks Hybrid Defense as they surround you.
The heroes that make this matchup hard, and the mechanic that does it.
YveMageHardYve's ranged zone control and slows keep Aulus outside Basic Attack range, so he can never accumulate Fighting Spirit stacks before her poke wears him down.
NolanAssassinHardNolan's overlapping Dimensional Rifts pull Aulus into their centre and burst him in the opening seconds of a fight, before his stacking Fighting Spirit passive has time to matter.
AtlasTankHardFatal Links yanks Aulus into the enemy team the instant he tries to charge in with Aulus, Charge!, turning his own engage into a guaranteed pick against him.
AuroraMageHardAurora's Frigid Glacier freezes and slows through Aulus's slow-removal window, stopping his stack-building Basic Attacks before he closes distance.
BenedettaAssassin · FighterHardAn Eye for An Eye blocks damage from any source for 0.8 seconds with Control Immunity, so she eats The Power of Axe outright and stabs back for a 1.5-second stun before Aulus's stacks matter.
ArgusFighterSoftEternal Evil clears Argus's debuffs and converts everything he deals during it back into HP, so he simply heals through a full Fighting Spirit rotation, and Demonic Grip's stun-and-pull interrupts Aulus mid-trade.
GordMageSoftGord's long-range poke chips Aulus down before he is close enough to land a single Basic Attack toward Fighting Spirit.
BaxiaTankSoftBaxia Mark's flat reduction blunts every one of Aulus's ramped-up hits, and Shield of Spirit's mark halves the HP regen The Power of Axe heals him with, so he loses the extended trade he needs to win.
HanzoAssassinSoftKinjutsu: Pinnacle Ninja sends Hanekage in through terrain while Hanzo's real body waits invincible somewhere else, so he can burst Aulus and simply return to it before Fighting Spirit stacks reach full value.
Luo YiMageSoftLuo Yi's Rotation zones slow by 60% and her Dispersion cones chip from outside axe range, so Aulus arrives late and separated from his target and Fighting Spirit decays before it builds.Dominance Ice40 Physical Defense plus Fortress Shield blunt his ramped-up Fighting Spirit attacks, and Lifebane cuts the lifesteal he sustains on.Blade ArmorReflects damage on the Basic Attacks Aulus relies on to build stacks, punishing him for auto-attacking.
Winter CrownNegates the burst window right after The Power of Axe lands, when Aulus's enhanced Basic Attacks hit hardest.Heroes whose own counter list names Aulus — the same matchup, read from the other side.
ChipSupport · TankHardAulus, Charge! shrugs off slows and cuts the damage he takes from the front while he closes, and Chip has no hard CC to stop him if he's caught outside Shortcut's portal range.
ClaudeMarksmanHardAulus, Charge! strips his own slows and adds 50% Movement Speed plus heavy frontal damage reduction, so he walks through Art of Thievery's slow and deletes Claude's low HP pool whichever body he swaps into.
UranusTankHardAulus, Charge! strips any slow Ionic Edge lands on him and grants frontal damage reduction, letting him close distance freely and duel through the chip damage, while his passive's stacking physical penetration eats into whatever defense Uranus builds alongside his HP.
ZhaskMageHardAulus's Basic-Attack-fueled Fighting Spirit stacks up on both Zhask and the Spawn if he gets in range, killing whichever he targets first.
AldousFighterSoftAulus, Charge!'s speed boost and frontal damage reduction carry him through Soul Steal's wind-up, and The Power of Axe heals him off every Basic Attack while he punishes the recovery if it misses.
AliceTank · MageSoftHis own lifesteal-driven dueling combo can win an extended sustain race against Alice's Blood Banquet regen.Duo partners whose kit completes this one.
GlooTankSticky stacks slow a target with every skill hit and Slam, Slam's Goo explosion immobilizes them, giving Aulus a stationary target to stack Fighting Spirit on safely.ChipSupport · TankShortcut drops the Main Portal onto an enemy hero and opens Connecting Portals beside allies, so Aulus can step straight onto the target and start stacking Fighting Spirit instead of walking in.
EsmeraldaTank · MageEsmeralda's shield absorbs poke that would otherwise stop Aulus from closing distance to start stacking.AtlasTankAtlas's ultimate group-pulls the enemy team into a cluster Aulus can farm with The Power of Axe's fan-shaped area and enhanced basics.
TigrealTankTigreal's Implosion stun locks a target down long enough for Aulus to land the repeated Basic Attacks his Fighting Spirit needs.
ArlottFighter · AssassinDauntless Strike's stun keeps an enemy pinned next to Aulus and Demon Gaze marks anyone it catches, extending the window he has to ramp attack speed and penetration.
GrangerMarksmanGranger's burst finishes off targets Aulus's Fighting Spirit stacks have already worn down, punishing anyone who survives the initial trade.
ChouFighterThe Way of Dragon kicks a fleeing target back and lets Chou chase it down, holding it in Aulus's Basic Attack range instead of letting it escape once his stacks are built.
GuinevereFighterSpatial Migration knocks a group airborne and Violet Requiem keeps re-launching anyone already in the air, giving Aulus a free window to land uninterrupted stacking Basic Attacks.
Yu ZhongFighterSoul Grip slows a whole line by 60% and Dragon Tail pins them inside its area, holding a cluster still so Aulus's fan-shaped Power of Axe and enhanced basics hit multiple targets at once.Open trades with The Power of Axe to guarantee an enhanced Basic Attack instead of a raw auto
Save Aulus, Charge! to cleanse an incoming slow rather than only as a pure engage tool
Undying Fury crafts its parts in a fixed order, so Handle Craft — the +65% Attack Range — always lands on the second ult point. That level is his real laning spike, not the first one
Fight in extended skirmishes, not quick pokes — stay on target so Fighting Spirit doesn't fall off
Aulus is moderate difficulty — his damage comes from landing Basic Attacks rather than tight combos, but timing The Power of Axe and reading when to commit Aulus, Charge! takes practice.
A physical attack-speed build with Endless Battle, Blade of the Heptaseas, and Malefic Roar covers most games, giving penetration, lifesteal, and cooldown reduction for repeated Aulus, Charge! engages.
Ranged poke and zone-control heroes like Yve, Aurora, and Gord counter Aulus by keeping him out of Basic Attack range before he can stack Fighting Spirit.
Aulus is a jungle Fighter who clears camps for early stacks, then rotates to skirmish and force extended trades where Fighting Spirit can ramp fully.
