Belerick

The regen-thorn wall. The recovery loop is the multiplier: Blade Armor plus thorns punish every basic exchanged, Guardian Helmet (effectively 2340 HP: 2.5% max-HP regen plus big-hit conversion) heals him standing still, Radiant Armor stacks 5-plus-level magic defense to 6 off DoT drafts: the mixed-resistance wall that never recalls. Brute Force Breastplate (800 HP, effectively 1040, 20 PDef, 10% CDR): the per-second +8 adaptive and +2% MS to 6 stacks plus 25% control-duration cut at full - mixed resist and MS on the brawl. Dominance Ice: Fortress plus heal-cut for the face-tank. Quantum Charge: his Strike-plus-follow-up basics restore 75-180 HP plus 30% MS on heroes - per-trade sustain under the regen. Tenacity: +5% damage reduction below half HP - the thorn-diver lives in that band. No Cursed here: the balance variant concedes the burn for the resistance spread. 6th slot Brute Force Breastplate: mixed resist, MS, and control-cut in one slot - the wall that walks.

Counter Builds

Vs Belerick: his thorns fire on damage TAKEN (25% per 50-plus instance, 0.4s gate): burst-and-disengage starves the rate - sustained trades are exactly what he wants, and his own attack speed is irrelevant (his damage is passive). His S1 taunts 1.2s (80% bonus vs minions): never brawl inside the vine line. His ult (50s) taunts plus slows 1.5s across 4 waves: spread before the Dryad blooms. His Strike heals 240 (+10% lost HP) with cooldown refunded per thorn proc: heal-cut (Sea Halberd, Dominance Ice) halves the loop. His equipment HP inflates 30%: percent-HP damage (Impure Rage, DHS) bypasses the pool math. He is 55/75/80 - the late thorn-tank; long-range marksmen (Lesley/Beatrix-style) plus photo-trap divers (Marcel-style) are his wall; divers who commit into the field are his food.