Venomancer is currently being picked as a semi-carry or a greedy support hero. With powerful teamfight and push/anti-push, the hero can be a great asset to a team... if you can find somewhere to lane him.
My own experience with Veno is that without farm priority, the hero is extremely slow and squishy, similar to Crystal Maiden (CM), but without the early-game power that CM gives. This basically means that Veno ISN'T a support, and other than trying to get a very-early kill with, for example, Venomous Gale + Blade Flurry, the hero should be played as a snowballing semi-carry.
Nerfs to Venomous Gale:
It should be noted that Venomous Gale's early damage, and Veno in general, has been severely nerfed in recent patches. Check this out:
6.85: Damage = 75/250/425/600 (or 56/187/319/450 after typical magic resistance)
6.80: Reduced base attack damage from 24-26 to 19-21 (total attack damage is now 41-43), and reduced base health regeneration from 0.75 to 0.25
6.79: Rescaled damage over time from 15/30/45/60 to 0/30/60/90 (total damage from 250/500/750/1000 to 25/500/975/1450)
6.76: Reduced initial damage from 50/70/70/100 to 25/50/75/100, and increased damage over time from 10/20/40/50 to 15/30/45/60 (total damage from (200/370/670/850 to 250/500/750/1000)
What do these changes mean?
6.76 - Veno's Gale initial damage decreases, but total dmg increased. Target can be denied more easily.
6.79 - L1 Gale damage drops from 250 to 25. Veno a lot less relevant until Level 3. Midgame damage increased. Veno moves from a support to a greedy support or midgame semi-carry.
6.80 - Once again, Veno's ability to support is nerfed. Moves further towards semi-carry.
6.81 to 6.84 - little to no change. Poison Nova ultimate improved due to DoT change.
6.85 - Massive damage nerf to Gale. Total dmg decrease from 25/500/975/1450 to 75/250/425/600. While this brings Gale in line with a regular ability (rather than an ultimate), it further hurts Venomancer as a nuker-support.
How is Veno used now?
In pro games, Venomancer has been used in almost any lane, from solo offlane, to mid, to safelane carry. He is rarely used as a support - and if so, he gets a Midas ASAP. One mistake some teams make when using Venomancer is not allowing him to get the levels to get his ultimate online soon enough, or to get enough levels to keep his ultimate's scaling relevant.
However, Venomancer can shut down many mid-lane farming carries with a mixture of Plague Wards and Poison Sting (poison sting can deal 32/90/176/288 after reductions, with Wards dealing 16/45/88/144 after reductions, over 6-15 secs). Unfortunately, Veno's own Sting DoT does NOT stack with the DoT from his wards, nor with itself (if you want an obscene stacking DoT, I recommend Huskar...)
Veno as Ganker
What's interesting about Veno is that, by Level 9 (Max Sting, Max Gale, L1 Ultimate), you can do 288+(600*0.75)= 738+auto-attack damage to one target with 1 cast and 1 auto-attack. Add a Shadowblade onto this, and you get 175 extra (physical) damage, plus the auto-attack (assuming attack damage of 84 with L9 and only the shadowblade, and enemy phsyical resist of about 25%), for a total of 932 damage (over 15 secs).
Veno as Support
The problem with Veno as support is that you need levels, and you're very slow and squishy. To me, this says "Blink Dagger", or perhaps "Midas into Blink". However, you still don't want to jump into the middle of the fray - just close enough to get off your ultimate, and then perhaps catch a couple of heroes with Gale. Throw down a few Wards to slow fleeing enemies, and your job is done.
As support, you will generally Max Gale and 1 point in Poison Sting, then Max Wards, and always prioritize your ultimate.
So how should I build Veno?
There are two popular skill builds:
1) Sting + Wards (anti-mid or support)
2) Gale + Sting (semi-carry)
Good Luxury Items for Veno:
Aghs: Ultimate damage is already disgusting. This makes it more disgusting, and reduces the L3 cooldown.
Octarine Core: Again, you're trying to get your ultimate cooldown lower, and a lower cooldown on both Wards and Gale is nice, too.
Shadowblade: As a mid-game item, you can gank quite effectively. L4 Gale damage is very high for a non-ultimate, and combined with the slow + Shadowblade bonus damage + auto-attacks, you can solo-gank quite well.
Boots of Travel: Veno also makes a respectable split-pusher, but I'd recommend a Blink Dagger or Shadowblade for escaping. BoTs allow you to be where you need to be on the map.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Terrorblade Build (6.85) - Earlier Aggression
Terrorblade is a (somewhat) illusion-based hard agility carry. He's extremely squishy early game, especially against nukes, but has great damage both mid and late-game with Metamorphosis and high agility growth and hard-hitting illusions. His ultimate is a bit strange, but can be used both to weaken enemies and save both teammates and Terrorblade himself.
Tips:
- Don't pick Terrorblade against a heavy-nuke (magic damage) line-up!
- DO pick Terrorblade against heroes that like prolonged fights!
- DO pick Terrorblade if you are running a defensive Safelane tri-lane, or have a dedicated hard support to back you up in the early game!
Worst Enemies (by Dotabuff win rate):
- Timbersaw
- Sand King
- Axe
- LC
- Slark
- Zeus
The Pro Scene
In the current meta of 6.85, as of this writing, Terrorblade hasn't seen pro play due to the preference for early-fighting carries, or carries with absurd early-farming speed, such as Shadowfiend and Alchemist.
So if you DID want a Terrorblade who could fight earlier, how could you itemize?
Early-Aggression Item Build:
Start: Tango, Branch x 3, Shield, Gauntlet.
Early: Boots, Bracer, Shield, (leftover branches), TP
Midgame*: Power Treads, Ogre Club, Bracer, Shield, TP
Core**: Power Treads, Maelstrom, Bracer, TP
Core Ext***: BKB/S&Y (situational), HoD (once your hp pool and damage have been increased, add lifesteal - it's better if a teammate has a Vlad's, though - it works for your ranged form now with the recent change).
6-Slotted****: Boots of Travel, Butterfly, Deadalus, BKB or Manta, +2 situational (Heart, Satanic, Skadi, Mjolnir, MKB)
7-Slotted: Moon Shard
*This combination is largely to buff Terrorblade's terrible hp pool. The idea here is to get cheap items that will give him toughness. Because of high agility, he doesn't need armor, and a Vanguard is not a great choice because Terrorblade should be in ranged form whenever he is fighting. The ranged form is your raw damage boost, which gets boosted further with the addition of crit.
** This becomes your early-fight equipment. With L4 Metamorphosis and Agility Treads, you'll be doing 256 DPS, with 967 hp, or 1663 EHP / 1289 MHP (Magic EHP). Mael is also good for farming and wave-clearing either both melee and ranged forms.
***Given that you took the Ogre Club for toughness, you can go for early a BKB against lockdown/nukes, or an S&Y for better chase and damage. You can later disassemble the S&Y to create a Manta (sell the Sange eventually).
**** The order is which you get items is important, and depends on what composition you are facing. You will generally just get BoTs to free up a TP slot, but with the decent decrease in cooldown of BoT vs. TP, you may want to get them earlier for farming. You may also need another defensive item (Heart, Satanic, Skadi), or an MKB, depending on what you are facing). I personally favour Skadi + MKB.
Skill Build:
General: You want to maximize Metamorphosis, for the raw bonus damage. Given that you're going for cheaper toughness items rather than a drum for balanced stats, you can skip Conjure Image until later, and take some early Stats. One level of Reflection is taken for the slow. Sunder (ultimate) is delayed because of the lack of mana available to cast it when needed; the item build above skips the Aquila, meaning that you need a support with Arcane Boots, and/or you need to conserve mana for fighting.
*First Skill-up: You should generally NOT skill your first point until you need it. In some situations, having Reflection in an early engagement (especially 3vX or more) can make a huge difference.
Level 1* - Metamorphosis
Level 2 - Stats
Level 3 - Metamorphosis
Level 4 - Reflection
Level 5 - Metamorphosis
Level 6 - Stats
Level 7 - Metamorphosis (L4)
Level 8 & 9 - Reflection
Level 10 - Sunder
Level 11 - Sunder
Level 12 - Reflection (L4)
Levels 13-15 - Conjure Image
Level 16 - Sunder
Level 17 - Conjure Image
Level 18+ - Stats
** You should be level 4 before the mid-laner comes ganking, so delaying Reflection until this point shouldn't hurt you that much. When enemies' right-click damage is low, Reflection L1 isn't a great harass tool anyway (40% of their damage for 2 auto-attacks, taking into armor mitigation, is going to be somewhere around 65*2*0.75*0.4 = 40 damage total).
Tips:
- Don't pick Terrorblade against a heavy-nuke (magic damage) line-up!
- DO pick Terrorblade against heroes that like prolonged fights!
- DO pick Terrorblade if you are running a defensive Safelane tri-lane, or have a dedicated hard support to back you up in the early game!
Worst Enemies (by Dotabuff win rate):
- Timbersaw
- Sand King
- Axe
- LC
- Slark
- Zeus
The Pro Scene
In the current meta of 6.85, as of this writing, Terrorblade hasn't seen pro play due to the preference for early-fighting carries, or carries with absurd early-farming speed, such as Shadowfiend and Alchemist.
So if you DID want a Terrorblade who could fight earlier, how could you itemize?
Early-Aggression Item Build:
Start: Tango, Branch x 3, Shield, Gauntlet.
Early: Boots, Bracer, Shield, (leftover branches), TP
Midgame*: Power Treads, Ogre Club, Bracer, Shield, TP
Core**: Power Treads, Maelstrom, Bracer, TP
Core Ext***: BKB/S&Y (situational), HoD (once your hp pool and damage have been increased, add lifesteal - it's better if a teammate has a Vlad's, though - it works for your ranged form now with the recent change).
6-Slotted****: Boots of Travel, Butterfly, Deadalus, BKB or Manta, +2 situational (Heart, Satanic, Skadi, Mjolnir, MKB)
7-Slotted: Moon Shard
*This combination is largely to buff Terrorblade's terrible hp pool. The idea here is to get cheap items that will give him toughness. Because of high agility, he doesn't need armor, and a Vanguard is not a great choice because Terrorblade should be in ranged form whenever he is fighting. The ranged form is your raw damage boost, which gets boosted further with the addition of crit.
** This becomes your early-fight equipment. With L4 Metamorphosis and Agility Treads, you'll be doing 256 DPS, with 967 hp, or 1663 EHP / 1289 MHP (Magic EHP). Mael is also good for farming and wave-clearing either both melee and ranged forms.
***Given that you took the Ogre Club for toughness, you can go for early a BKB against lockdown/nukes, or an S&Y for better chase and damage. You can later disassemble the S&Y to create a Manta (sell the Sange eventually).
**** The order is which you get items is important, and depends on what composition you are facing. You will generally just get BoTs to free up a TP slot, but with the decent decrease in cooldown of BoT vs. TP, you may want to get them earlier for farming. You may also need another defensive item (Heart, Satanic, Skadi), or an MKB, depending on what you are facing). I personally favour Skadi + MKB.
Skill Build:
General: You want to maximize Metamorphosis, for the raw bonus damage. Given that you're going for cheaper toughness items rather than a drum for balanced stats, you can skip Conjure Image until later, and take some early Stats. One level of Reflection is taken for the slow. Sunder (ultimate) is delayed because of the lack of mana available to cast it when needed; the item build above skips the Aquila, meaning that you need a support with Arcane Boots, and/or you need to conserve mana for fighting.
*First Skill-up: You should generally NOT skill your first point until you need it. In some situations, having Reflection in an early engagement (especially 3vX or more) can make a huge difference.
Level 1* - Metamorphosis
Level 2 - Stats
Level 3 - Metamorphosis
Level 4 - Reflection
Level 5 - Metamorphosis
Level 6 - Stats
Level 7 - Metamorphosis (L4)
Level 8 & 9 - Reflection
Level 10 - Sunder
Level 11 - Sunder
Level 12 - Reflection (L4)
Levels 13-15 - Conjure Image
Level 16 - Sunder
Level 17 - Conjure Image
Level 18+ - Stats
** You should be level 4 before the mid-laner comes ganking, so delaying Reflection until this point shouldn't hurt you that much. When enemies' right-click damage is low, Reflection L1 isn't a great harass tool anyway (40% of their damage for 2 auto-attacks, taking into armor mitigation, is going to be somewhere around 65*2*0.75*0.4 = 40 damage total).
Friday, October 30, 2015
Spotlight on Chaos Knight (6.85)
Chaos Knight is a powerful carry, with both mid-game and late-game strengths. Unfortunately, he's not terribly strong in the early laning phase (no spammable nuke, no escape skill, not ranged), and can be countered by several currently-popular heroes, including Ember Spirit. He also lacks the ability to flash-farm and get the lead that he needs to dominate.
However, he's been given small buffs lately, namely that his Chaos Strike passive now gives armor reduction when it crits, and a few patches ago, his Phantom Steed ability also has a 50% chance to give an extra illusion.
This doesn't change Chaos Knight all that much, however - he still needs to be itemized the same way, for the same reasons, and his skill build is also unlikely to change much.
Phantom Steed + Rift + Chaos Bolt + Rift.
Done correctly, this should net him a kill in the early and mid game. The problem is that CK doesn't have enough mana from stat gain to cast this combo! This often leads to people delaying skilling up his ultimate until he can be itemized for additional mana.
At L1 Ult = 125 + 50 + 140 + 50 = 365 mana (CK barely has enough mana if he has Treads on Int)
At L2 Ult = 200 + 50 + 140 + 50 = 440 mana ( " " )
At L3 Ult = 275 + 50 + 140 + 50 = 515 mana ( " " )
Chaos Knight suffers from a small mana pool and terrible Int growth. This means that if he wants to cast his spell combo he needs some Int from items. He ALSO needs teammates with Arcane Boots or Mekanism, if he wants any sustain - otherwise he's back to the fountain after each fight.
Early Items for consideration include:
Big Items:
Items that CK really wants include:
Roaming Support:
CK saw a little bit of play in October 2015 as a roaming support. This choice is a high-risk, high-reward play that didn't pay off in the game I watched (link TBD), and leaves CK without any contribution in the mid and late game, and no catch-up mechanism. I think the issue is that CK really needs at least level 2 before he even starts to roam, and level 7 before he becomes truly dangerous.
However, he's been given small buffs lately, namely that his Chaos Strike passive now gives armor reduction when it crits, and a few patches ago, his Phantom Steed ability also has a 50% chance to give an extra illusion.
This doesn't change Chaos Knight all that much, however - he still needs to be itemized the same way, for the same reasons, and his skill build is also unlikely to change much.
Spell Combo:
Chaos Knight's spell combo is:Phantom Steed + Rift + Chaos Bolt + Rift.
Done correctly, this should net him a kill in the early and mid game. The problem is that CK doesn't have enough mana from stat gain to cast this combo! This often leads to people delaying skilling up his ultimate until he can be itemized for additional mana.
At L1 Ult = 125 + 50 + 140 + 50 = 365 mana (CK barely has enough mana if he has Treads on Int)
At L2 Ult = 200 + 50 + 140 + 50 = 440 mana ( " " )
At L3 Ult = 275 + 50 + 140 + 50 = 515 mana ( " " )
Itemization:
Chaos Knight suffers from a small mana pool and terrible Int growth. This means that if he wants to cast his spell combo he needs some Int from items. He ALSO needs teammates with Arcane Boots or Mekanism, if he wants any sustain - otherwise he's back to the fountain after each fight.
Early Items for consideration include:
- Wand - some stats, but not a lot; wand charges accumulate usually AFTER the combo.
- Bottle - replenishable regen, but no stats or mana pool gain.
- Null Talisman - cheap early mana, but no upgrade path.
- Power Treads - switch to Int before casting Phantom Steed, then switch to Str.
- Drums - solid midgame item, also benefits illusions (stats).
Big Items:
Items that CK really wants include:
- Heart
- AC
- Manta
- Skadi
- (Boots of Travel)
- Armlet (really good early damage, but needs a "health recovery" item)
- BKB (if lots of magic damage or stuns)
- S&Y (good only if finished early - can be disassembled for Manta + Halberd)
- HoD (good for early lifesteal if no Vlad's on team, Alpha Wolf companion)
Laning:
Because CK needs a good start, you should lane with a support that combos well with him, such as AA, CM, SS, Lion, Lina, Disruptor or Jakiro. I feel that using defensive supports with him (such as Dazzle) are a mistake, because it reduces the chance that CK can get kills and the early boost in farm that he needs to dominate other carries and snowball.Pro Scene
Roaming Support:
CK saw a little bit of play in October 2015 as a roaming support. This choice is a high-risk, high-reward play that didn't pay off in the game I watched (link TBD), and leaves CK without any contribution in the mid and late game, and no catch-up mechanism. I think the issue is that CK really needs at least level 2 before he even starts to roam, and level 7 before he becomes truly dangerous.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Team Creation by Item Preferences
Idea: Build a balanced team by the type of items that are most beneficial for those heroes, such that the team-based item purchases are also balanced and optimized.
Hypothesis: The value in this exercise is in DOING the exercise, not seeing the results.
Examples:
QoP --> Scythe, Orchid
Dark Seer, Ogre Magi, Doom, and Phoenix --> Shiva's Guard
Necrophos, Viper, and DK --> early Mek
Axe and Slardar --> Vanguard into Crusader
Abaddon, Centaur & Phoenix --> Pipe of Insight
Team ideas:
#1
DK mid
Centaur Offlane
Venge + Slardar roaming
QoP safelane solo
weakness: few teamfight ults
Hypothesis: The value in this exercise is in DOING the exercise, not seeing the results.
Examples:
QoP --> Scythe, Orchid
Dark Seer, Ogre Magi, Doom, and Phoenix --> Shiva's Guard
Necrophos, Viper, and DK --> early Mek
Axe and Slardar --> Vanguard into Crusader
Abaddon, Centaur & Phoenix --> Pipe of Insight
Team ideas:
#1
DK mid
Centaur Offlane
Venge + Slardar roaming
QoP safelane solo
weakness: few teamfight ults
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
6.86 Predictions
Okay, so I've watched a TON of pro games lately, and I'm getting good enough to predict wins fairly accurately based on drafts alone.
So.. I'm going out on a limb here, and giving my predictions for the future.
Last Edited: December 9, 2015.
Deadly combinations of Note in 6.85:
- Shadowfiend + Ember or Beastmaster usually heralds a win.
- Wyvern + Bane support combo.
Nerf bat incoming:
- Shadowfiend (Raze damage will likely be decreased, possibly to something like 80/140/200/260), to reduce his flash-farming ability. His win-rate at the pro level is too high right now.
- Ember spirit will receive a nerf (Flameguard damage absorption amount, probably. May also get a slight nerf to remnant recharge time).
- Tusk will have some of his nuke damage reduced, or cooldowns increased. His Ice Shard range may be decreased.
- Wind Ranger's Shackle Shot duration will be reduced slightly (currently rivals many ultimates).
- Winter Wyvern: ultimate cast range decrease. Cold Embrace will be nerfed.
- Slardar: Ult's armor reduction may get reduced slightly, and will only give vision of the hero itself.
Popular but balanced:
- QoP will not be buffed or nerfed. She's a strong laner, but very squishy and can be brought down.
- Broodmother: popular, but balanced and can be countered. Often countered by laning choices.
- Gyrocopter: will likely be untouched. Suits some team line-ups but not others.
Still needs work (buffs or re-tooling):
- Legion Commander: despite her recent buffs and popularity, picking her usually means a loss (in Pro games). Needs slight re-tooling to balance pub vs. pro play.
- Crystal Maiden: will receive a minor buff, probably to base strength or strength gain.
What you will see ( or see more of ):
- Armor reduction drafting strategies (also enables quick Roshan kills)
- Vengeful Spirit as a carry
- Keeper of the Light will be drafted more often in competitive games, especially for his Chakra magic and anti-push.
- More carries buying Desolator to gain an early fighting advantage.
- Pro teams picking Omniknight or Abaddon to protect against armor reduction and physical damage
- Elder Titan to counter Agility carries
- Huskar, because of trend towards early aggression (possibly dual-offlane or even dual-lane safelane until L6). Huskar with Maelstrom may be a thing (so he can farm / wave clear / push).
- Luna, with support picks to compensate for her low hp (Abaddon, etc).
- Warlock, especially in low-tier team games. His abilities, I feel, are underrated.
Trends that will continue:
- Early aggression and mid-game aggression
- Continued dependence on drafting heroes with "vision" abilities (at least in the pro scene), such as Nightstalker, Clockwerk, Beastmaster.
- Picking at least one "greedy" support, or a support that could transition to semi-carry
- Heroes such as Spiritbreaker and Beastmaster will still be strong picks
- Slardar will remain a "pocket pick" for many teams
- Dazzle & Witch Doctor will continue to be strong supports.
You'll see less of:
- Shadowfiend, after a nerf.
- Ember Spirit, after a nerf.
So.. I'm going out on a limb here, and giving my predictions for the future.
Last Edited: December 9, 2015.
Deadly combinations of Note in 6.85:
- Shadowfiend + Ember or Beastmaster usually heralds a win.
- Wyvern + Bane support combo.
Nerf bat incoming:
- Shadowfiend (Raze damage will likely be decreased, possibly to something like 80/140/200/260), to reduce his flash-farming ability. His win-rate at the pro level is too high right now.
- Ember spirit will receive a nerf (Flameguard damage absorption amount, probably. May also get a slight nerf to remnant recharge time).
- Tusk will have some of his nuke damage reduced, or cooldowns increased. His Ice Shard range may be decreased.
- Wind Ranger's Shackle Shot duration will be reduced slightly (currently rivals many ultimates).
- Winter Wyvern: ultimate cast range decrease. Cold Embrace will be nerfed.
- Slardar: Ult's armor reduction may get reduced slightly, and will only give vision of the hero itself.
Popular but balanced:
- QoP will not be buffed or nerfed. She's a strong laner, but very squishy and can be brought down.
- Broodmother: popular, but balanced and can be countered. Often countered by laning choices.
- Gyrocopter: will likely be untouched. Suits some team line-ups but not others.
Still needs work (buffs or re-tooling):
- Legion Commander: despite her recent buffs and popularity, picking her usually means a loss (in Pro games). Needs slight re-tooling to balance pub vs. pro play.
- Crystal Maiden: will receive a minor buff, probably to base strength or strength gain.
What you will see ( or see more of ):
- Armor reduction drafting strategies (also enables quick Roshan kills)
- Vengeful Spirit as a carry
- Keeper of the Light will be drafted more often in competitive games, especially for his Chakra magic and anti-push.
- More carries buying Desolator to gain an early fighting advantage.
- Pro teams picking Omniknight or Abaddon to protect against armor reduction and physical damage
- Elder Titan to counter Agility carries
- Huskar, because of trend towards early aggression (possibly dual-offlane or even dual-lane safelane until L6). Huskar with Maelstrom may be a thing (so he can farm / wave clear / push).
- Luna, with support picks to compensate for her low hp (Abaddon, etc).
- Warlock, especially in low-tier team games. His abilities, I feel, are underrated.
Trends that will continue:
- Early aggression and mid-game aggression
- Continued dependence on drafting heroes with "vision" abilities (at least in the pro scene), such as Nightstalker, Clockwerk, Beastmaster.
- Picking at least one "greedy" support, or a support that could transition to semi-carry
- Heroes such as Spiritbreaker and Beastmaster will still be strong picks
- Slardar will remain a "pocket pick" for many teams
- Dazzle & Witch Doctor will continue to be strong supports.
You'll see less of:
- Shadowfiend, after a nerf.
- Ember Spirit, after a nerf.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Team Ideas: Pub Winner Teams 6.85
Using Dotabuff's top heroes by winrate, I've once again put together some viable teams for pubs for patch 6.85.
#1: Top Tier, Balanced
Ursa, Abaddon, Lich
Undying (offlane)
Zeus (mid)
You get a bit of everything in this line-up; Roshan, Ganking, Healing, Teamfight.
This can be run as a 1-1-3 or 2-1-2.
Laning: I recommend Zeus mid, Undying (and Lich) offlane, and Ursa + Abaddon safelane. You could also jungle Ursa and solo Undying, leaving Abaddon+Lich in safelane, and use Abaddon as a third core.
#2: Ganking
Spectre + Omni + WraithKing
Zeus (mid)
Spiritbreaker (solo offlane)
This isn't a teamfight lineup - it's a gank lineup with Spectre as lategame carry. Send in SB, Haunt in Spectre, and use Zeus ult to soften up targets. Omni can keep the tough melee heroes alive in teamfights, but you need to be ahead by this point, because your early teamfight ultimates are underwhelming. You also might be able to get away with a jungling Wraithking if it's a low-level pub (he's not a bad jungler with Vampiric Aura).
#3: Armor Reduction
Slardar, Venge, Witch Doctor
Elder Titan or Tidehunter (offlane)
Medusa (mid)
This is an armor-reduction team, focusing on physical damage. (Don't run this against Omniknight!).
Laning: I would run dual lanes on this if you're low-tier (ET + WD). You can also roam Venge from the safe tri-lane (also stacking for 'Dusa). Medusa is actually quite a decent mid with the changes to Mystic Snake.
Itemization: Slardar needs a Blink to initiate, to enable Earthsplitter, which sets up a really good Death Ward (enemies are slowed). Medusa's Gaze, if she's in range, can also multiply the physical damage taken.
#1: Top Tier, Balanced
Ursa, Abaddon, Lich
Undying (offlane)
Zeus (mid)
You get a bit of everything in this line-up; Roshan, Ganking, Healing, Teamfight.
This can be run as a 1-1-3 or 2-1-2.
Laning: I recommend Zeus mid, Undying (and Lich) offlane, and Ursa + Abaddon safelane. You could also jungle Ursa and solo Undying, leaving Abaddon+Lich in safelane, and use Abaddon as a third core.
#2: Ganking
Spectre + Omni + WraithKing
Zeus (mid)
Spiritbreaker (solo offlane)
This isn't a teamfight lineup - it's a gank lineup with Spectre as lategame carry. Send in SB, Haunt in Spectre, and use Zeus ult to soften up targets. Omni can keep the tough melee heroes alive in teamfights, but you need to be ahead by this point, because your early teamfight ultimates are underwhelming. You also might be able to get away with a jungling Wraithking if it's a low-level pub (he's not a bad jungler with Vampiric Aura).
#3: Armor Reduction
Slardar, Venge, Witch Doctor
Elder Titan or Tidehunter (offlane)
Medusa (mid)
This is an armor-reduction team, focusing on physical damage. (Don't run this against Omniknight!).
Laning: I would run dual lanes on this if you're low-tier (ET + WD). You can also roam Venge from the safe tri-lane (also stacking for 'Dusa). Medusa is actually quite a decent mid with the changes to Mystic Snake.
Itemization: Slardar needs a Blink to initiate, to enable Earthsplitter, which sets up a really good Death Ward (enemies are slowed). Medusa's Gaze, if she's in range, can also multiply the physical damage taken.
Important: Slardar is NOT a late-game carry! Your Medusa needs to farm!
#4: Teamfighting
Sven, Disruptor, Silencer
Undying (offlane)
Queen of Pain (mid)
This is a team-fighting lineup, with a fairly nasty tri-lane. If you wanted to run dual-lanes, send Disruptor with Undying. Tombstone + Kinetic Field is quite strong.
#4: Teamfighting
Sven, Disruptor, Silencer
Undying (offlane)
Queen of Pain (mid)
This is a team-fighting lineup, with a fairly nasty tri-lane. If you wanted to run dual-lanes, send Disruptor with Undying. Tombstone + Kinetic Field is quite strong.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Spotlight on Doom - 6.85
With a recent buff to Doom's Scorched Earth, I expect to see him played quite a bit more in the 6.85 patch. His increased base attack damage and survivability give him a much needed boost as an offlaner, and while he makes a terrible mid, he could still be run as a jungler or safe lane farmer.
Doom Build (Solo offlane)
Doom as a utility hero (offlaner) is mainly about removing a high-impact enemy hero from the fight, using Doom. After the ultimate is cast, it doesn't even matter if Doom himself survives, although if he does well, he can easily move into a semi-carry role, or become even more annoying with a Refresher Orb and/or Agh's Sceptre.
Start: Tango, Boots
Early: Basilius or Stout Shield
Core: Power Treads, Halberd
Late: Refresher
Skill Build:
Scorched Earth
Devour
Scorched Earth
Doom Build (Solo Safelane)
Start: Tango, Health Potion, Branches
Early: Boots, Midas
Core: Phase Boots, Drums
Doom Build (Jungler)
Start: Tango, Stout Shield
Early: Quelling Blade, Basilius
Core: Phase Boots,Vlad's, BKB
Lategame:
Doom Build (Solo offlane)
Doom as a utility hero (offlaner) is mainly about removing a high-impact enemy hero from the fight, using Doom. After the ultimate is cast, it doesn't even matter if Doom himself survives, although if he does well, he can easily move into a semi-carry role, or become even more annoying with a Refresher Orb and/or Agh's Sceptre.
Start: Tango, Boots
Early: Basilius or Stout Shield
Core: Power Treads, Halberd
Late: Refresher
Skill Build:
Scorched Earth
Devour
Scorched Earth
Doom Build (Solo Safelane)
Start: Tango, Health Potion, Branches
Early: Boots, Midas
Core: Phase Boots, Drums
Doom Build (Jungler)
Start: Tango, Stout Shield
Early: Quelling Blade, Basilius
Core: Phase Boots,Vlad's, BKB
Lategame:
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