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5 Dota 2 heroes for experts

Suggestions for gamers who have learnt the basics of Dota 2 and are looking for a bigger challenge and better heroes to master.

Written by Soham Rane

4 min readPublished on 10.10.2018 · 12:34 UTC

Okay, this isn’t really a list for Dota 2 experts. It’s for those players who have gotten an understanding of the game, worked their way through some of the beginner stages and are now looking to step up the matchmaking rankings. This can be done by mastering some heroes that have a steep learning curve and need attention, awareness and effort on your part in order to get it right.

Here are five heroes for accomplished Dota 2 players.

Lone Druid

Lone Druid is a unique hero in terms of possibility. He is a ranged agility hero who can summon a spirit bear; the bear has its own unique set of skills and can carry items like a hero. Lone Druid favours games that last long. The spirit bear can attack only when it is within 1100 units of Lone Druid; however, using the Aghanim's Scepter item removes this restriction. With the bear by his side and use of the Rabid and Battle Cry abilities, few can outsmart this hero. He is also most effective later in the game since he has twelve item slots. What makes him a challenge to play is that micro and macro skills are both required since you are effectively controlling two individual heroes.

Brewmaster

Brewmaster is an offlaner who is very difficult for opponents to counter early in the game. His Drunken Haze ability hampers the opponent’s targeting by 70% and makes them miss their spells. However, his full potential is realised in the mid-game during team fights, if his skills are utilized effectively. The best way to play Brewmaster would be to blink into the enemy team, use the Thunder Clap ability and then the ultimate Primal Split before an enemy can apply a debuff. But micro-managing Brewmaster’s abilities and getting the timing right is a huge challenge.

Invoker

Invoker has four principal abilities. Use of three of his abilities in various combinations can produce another 10 abilities, making it 14 spells in total. Since he has such a unique set of skills, playing with this hero becomes a challenge for the gamer’s memory and needs excellent mechanical skills. Invoker isn’t particularly useful early in the game so most players pick up the Hand of Midas item to increase his experience quickly. Once the Aghanim’s Scepter item has been collected, all of Invoker’s spells can be used in quick flurries since cooldown times are reduced, especially for his ultimate Invoke. A combination of his abilities Tornado, EMP, Meteor Hammer, Deafening Blast and Sunstrike can do massive damage, but needs precision in execution.

Chen

Chen is notoriously the most demanding support to play. He is incredibly difficult at the beginning of the game because he needs a lot of micro skills to be managed. His Holy Persuasion ability converts up to eight neutrals into his control. Taking over neutrals Dark Troll Summoner and Hellbear brings abilities such as Ensnare and Thunder Clap under Chen’s control. With these neutrals and their abilities, a kill is almost guaranteed in the mid lane as long as the combination is used well. Equipping Chen with the Mekansm item can allow him to heal creeps and allies, making it possible to take down towers quickly.

Meepo

Meepo is arguably the most challenging carry to master. His efficiency comes down to how well you can control five clones of Meepo at one time; an add-on to his Divided We Stand ability if you equip him with the Aghanim’s Scepter. The main hero can buy and wield items while his clones can only make use of the boots that he carries. What makes Meepo extremely difficult to master is that the game is usually decided in your favour or against you once a certain number of minutes have elapsed. By the 25th-30th minute, your Meepo should be at high levels and equipped with items, ready to take down the enemy base, or you can be certain of defeat. Meepo’s advantage is that every Meepo clone can gather experience and gold individually, making him excellent for farming early in the game. This means that you must spread the clones across the map and keep an eye on each one. The death of a single Meepo clone results in the death of every Meepo – the biggest downside to the hero.

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