User blog comment:Nuclrdmntr/Lvl 2 kill potential of champions/@comment-8379657-20130424010700/@comment-8379657-20130424034934

Well, he is very mana hungry indeed if you play aggressive. But those "few combos" are usually enough to bully most opponents out of lane or at least to make them play passive unless they have very good sustain. And if they are passive or out of lane you can restore mana in hammer stance.

His base damage is not high, but while most other champs have only three abilities till level 6, he has six, of which only one deals no damage. So one combo of 5 abilities will most likely deal more damage than a combo with only 3. Means since he is not based around his ult like many other champs, he has near to full potential at level 3.

I usually take one point in Q, E, W, then I max Q first. So no, I don't take W at level 2. But this blog is about theorycrafting.

U can only dodge his cannon stance Q and avoid getting damaged by his hammer stance W by walking out of it. Since his hammer Q is a gapcloser with slow, this can be difficult for champs that lack the ability to dash.