Team Ideas: Physical Spell Combos

Introduction:

Note that these teams are nearly impossible to draft - they use high-ban/pick heroes, and most of the time the opponent is going to see what you're doing and ban an appropriate hero.

However, in pubs, feel free to lolz.

Team Combos:  Physical damage “spells”:

Team #1:  

Medusa Stone Gaze + WD Death Ward + Death Prophet Exorcism + Dazzle Weave + Faceless Void Chrono

Lanes: 

Medusa + WD + Dazzle

DP mid

Faceless solo offlane

Team #2:

Troll + Dazzle + Shadow Shaman (or someone else with lockdown)

SFiend mid
Elder Titan solo offlane

Team #3:

Troll mid
Medusa safe solo
Aggro tri:  Juggernaut, Treant, Witch Doctor

Team #4:
DP mid
Magnus solo offlane
Ember + Dazzle + Shadow Shaman/Veno

Team #5:
DP mid
Medusa + WD + Venge
Undying solo offlane

Team #6:

Alchemist + Elder Titan + Dazzle

Magnus offlane (for setup RP + Empower)

Ember Spirit (or Death Prophet) mid

Read More

Team Idea: The Wraith King Sucker Punch

Dec 5, 2014 - Author's Note:  This post has gotten a lot of traffic, so I've added a few details recently.

Wraith King can be horribly abused for his ult, just as a means to slow the whole team and make them use abilities on him.

So... here's an idea (untested):

Using a support WK, push WK in by himself – rest of team waits nearby.  Opponents kill WK and are slowed when he resurrects.

Normally, it's tough to get opponents to focus WK in a fight, because they know that he'll just come right back.

Followup with a Blink-initiator (Dark Seer, Sand King, Earthshaker, Magnus, Enigma, etc), plus some followup area-damage (Invoker, Gyro, Kunkka, Disruptor, etc).

One of the keys to this concept is to use heroes whose ults are usually harder to land, due to delays, such as Gyro's Calldown, Disruptor's Static Field, etc.  Not only do these ults inflict big damage, but they also further debuff (slow/silence) your enemies.

Alternately, use Batrider/Venge to jump one of the heroes, and let WK delay the enemy team.  If they DO kill him, they will be slower to respond or counter-initiate (slowed).  You must, of course, kill your target and go rescue WK before they kill him again!

You will see some teams give Wraith King the Aegis of the Immortal, simply because it's very difficult for anyone to hold back from using at least SOME abilities/cooldowns on Wraith King, when he's hitting your teammates in the face.  The more damage he can soak and still keep coming back, the more annoying he can be.

Read More

Drafting Practice Day One - Analysis

I did a bunch of drafting practice today on the dota2draft site.  Below is an analysis of the drafts.

Prelude:  the current meta seems to favour Tide and Shadow Shaman as supports, and Doom and Faceless Void as carries.  Lyncan is, as always, a high-winrate hero, and is frequently picked or banned for his pushing ability and midgame power.

Last Draft (me as Dire):

I felt that this was the most interesting draft, with the most interesting lineups.  Happened with the 4th draft in a row against the same person.

Anyone know how a Lone Druid vs. Nature's Prophet mid matchup would go?  I have no idea...

I think both tri-lanes were strong - too strong for vs. solo laner.  Centaur would probably do better than Razor, but both would be likely to get zoned out. 

In all, I think it got to the point where both my opponent and I were trying to out-think each other too much, and this draft is the result.
  
3rd Draft (me as Radiant):

I got Lycan here, and wanted to exploit yet protect him, but the Ursa pick caught me off-guard.  My later picks reflected my need to shut down Ursa (with Razor as anti-carry), and also take a kiter/split-pusher/escaper in Weaver.  However, I ended up without a good place for Weaver to lane.  He MIGHT have been able to survive and soak up XP against the tri-lane, but it would have been a crappy lane for him.  Might have been better to jungle Lycan and have Weaver + Bane safe lane...


2nd Draft (me as Dire):


I think I broke even here - this might even be an even game.  I'm unsure how good his aggro trilane would have been, with only a Disruption as lockdown, and some slows - a Cask from WD would probably be enough to disrupt their initiation.   OD would get free-farm on his lane, but wouldn't be able to zone out DS, either.  Nyx would likely do well against Warlock, and would probably be able to kill him at level 6 quite easily.

1st Draft (me as Radiant):


As our first draft against each other, I think my opponent wasn't expecting a tri-lane at all.  I think I won this draft pretty hard, as Invoker would decimate Doom mid, and probably drive him right out of lane.  Batrider would be in no danger offlane, and might even be able to kill AA with a level advantage.  If AA left the lane, Void wouldn't be able to lane against Bat without a ton of regen, Backtrack nonwithstanding.  He has no good offlaner against my tri-lane; with the dual lane, Abaddon would have a bad day, though Windranger could probably stay in the lane and get some farm with Power Shot.  However, with three stuns in my tri-lane, she'd have to be really careful not to get caught out.

Conclusion:

I found that as I went along, my lanes became less predictable.  It's a lot easier to mess up your opponent's lanes if he has very little flexibility in how he lanes his heroes.  I don't feel at any time that my draft was hard-countered, although I did worse for sure on the 3rd draft.

Read More

More Wombo Combos

Team: Luna, Sand King, Kunkka, Jakiro, + Necrolyte/Omni/Dazzle/Witch Doctor

Combo:  Epi --> Burrowstrike into Ice Path into Ghost Ship/Torrent into Eclipse.  By the time the combo is over, Ice Path and/or Burrowstrike may even be off cooldown for a repeat!

Laning:  Very flexible.  Computer tends to send Jakiro mid, but I'd probably pick Kunkka or the +1.

Team:  Sand King, Kunkka, Jakiro, Dark Seer

+ carry with AOE:   Shadowfiend/Medusa/Luna/Gyro/WK/(solo DK w/roamers?)/Alchemist/Terrorblade

Laning:  Kunkka mid, (carry) + Jak + SK safe (& roam), DS solo offlane

The Combo:  Burrowstrike or Vaccum into Ice Path+Wall+Macropyre+Epi+Requiem

Team:  Magnus, Gyro, Kunkka, Jakiro, Shadow Shaman/Lion?

Lanes:  Magnus solo safe, SS + Jak + Gyro agro tri, Kunkka mid

Items: Veil, Mek, Arcanes.

Bans:  Centaur, Naga, Silencer, Pugna

Team:  Warlock, Tidehunter, Sand King, Leshrac, Luna/Sven/Gyro/Kunkka/OD/Ember

Lanes:  Warlock mid, Luna + SandKing + Lesh, Tide offlane

Items: Blink on SK & Tide; Veil on Warlock, Arcanes on Lesh, Mek on carry?

Ban:  Silencer/Rubick/Naga/Pugna

Team: 
Void solo offlane
Warlock mid
Gyro, Witchdoctor, Crystal Maiden safelane

Team:
Timbersaw offlane
Void, WD, Jakiro safelane
Leshrac mid

More Ideas, based on this link:

http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/guide/universal-guide-to-team-fight-powers-7197

#1: Puck, Gyro + AA,  Disruptor + Sven (AA & Gyro can anti-push from cross-map (Gyro w/Aghs).

#2:  Faceless + WD + SShaman, Phoenix solo, Magnus mid (RP into Chrono + WD ult + Wards/Shock + Supernova)

#3:  Faceless + Jakiro + Lich, Darkseer solo offlane, Tinker mid (Tinker for splitpush while teamfight powers allow 4v5 wins)

#4:  Medusa + Dazzle + SShaman, DSeer solo offlane, DP mid

#5:  Faceless + Warlock + CM/Lich/Jakiro, Gyro mid, DS/Mag/Elder solo offlane

#6:  Kunkka + Tide + Disruptor, Magnus mid,

#7:  Siren + Tide + Veno, Warlock mid, Dark Seer solo offlane

#8:  Faceless Void + Warlock + Skywrath/CM, Zeus mid, Phoenix solo offlane (Zeus Veil, Phoenix Mek)

#9:  Warlock, Dark Seer, Sven, Disruptor, Sniper/QoP mid

(Vacuum into Bonds + Upheaval + Wall + Static Storm, Sven Storm Hammer + Cleave, Sniper right-click or QoP Sonic/Scream).

Read More

List of Heroes with Auras or Buffs

Auras that increase right-click damage or attack speed:

• Elder Titan: Natural Order (base armor reduction to enemies)
• Luna: Lunar Blessing (fixed damage boost)
• Vengeful Spirit: Vengeance Aura (% base dmg boost)
• Shadow Fiend (armor reduction aura)
• Beastmaster:  Inner Beast (
• Drow: Precision Aura (Ranged only)

Auras with another benefit:

• Obsidian Destroyer/Devourer:  Essence Aura
• Necrophos / Necrolyte:  Heartstopper Aura
• Rubick:  Null Field (magic resist increase)
• Crystal Maiden: Arcane Aura (global mana regen)
• Doom:  Scorched Earth (damage)
• Wraith King:  Vampiric Aura (lifesteal)

Temporary Allied Group Buffs:

• Lycan:  Howl (flat attack damage buff)
• Ancient Apparition: Chilling Touch (magic damage to right clicks)
• Undying: Flesh Golem (+0-30% damage amp)

Items with Auras:

• Headdress (hp regen)
• Mekanism (hp regen)
• Pipe of Insight (hp regen)
• Radiance (damage aura)
• Shiva's Guard (attack speed slow)

Balanced Team Examples based around Stacking Auras:

#1: 

Chaos Knight safelane carry + Venge support/roaming + WK/CM support/roaming
Sfiend mid
Beastmaster/Elder Titan solo offlane

#2:

Drow Mid
Elder Titan solo offlane
Luna + Venge + Rubick Safe

#3:
Shadowfiend mid
Beastmaster solo offlane
Drow + Visage + Venge safelane
PS - you'll never draft this combo - one of the heroes will get banned.  It's also heavily countered by Omniknight's ultimate.

Ranged attack buffing

Carries that Give buff:  Drow, Troll (temporary), Shadow Fiend, Luna, Lycan (temporary)

Supports that Give Buff:  Ogre (Lust), Venge (Wave, Aura), Beastmaster (Inner Beast), Elder Titan (Aura), AA (chilling touch)

Buff beneficiaries:  Sniper, DragonKnight, Wind Ranger (all benefit heavily from auras)

Team Example - Ranged Attack Buffing:

BeastMaster / Elder Titan solo offlane

SF mid

DragonKnight solo safelane

Ogre + Venge Roaming

Read More

List of Level 1 Roshan Heroes by Lane/Role

This is a list of heroes that are better than others when used for a Level-One Roshan kill attempt.  In brackets is the level-1 ability that should be skilled to make the most of that hero.

See also List of Level 1 Roshan heroes by Function.

See my post on Viable and Lane-able early Roshan team ideas for some viable team combinations.

Carries:

Troll Warlord (Fervor)
Viper (Nethertoxin)
Lone Druid (Bear + Hero)
Morphling (morph Ag)
Huskar (Berserking)
Sniper (Headshot)
Clinkz (Burning arrows)
Lyncan (wolves; howl too obvious / giveaway). 
Bristleback (Nasal Goo)
Alchemist (Acid Spray)
Luna (Lunar Blessing Aura)
Juggernaut (ward)
Troll (Fervor)
Morphling (Morph Agility) 
Phantom Assassin (Blur)
Faceless Void (Backtrack)
Sven (tanky only)
Slardar (tanky + Crush = physical dmg, or Bash)

Junglers:

Ursa (Fury Swipes)

Ranged Supports:

Wisp (Tether heal)
Vengeful Spirit (Wave - Aura is better, but Wave won't auto-push the creep wave in lane) 
Witch Doctor (healing circle)
Dazzle (Shadow Wave, but not as good for sustained heal as other healer-types)
Lich (Frost Armor)

Melee Supports:

Wraith King (vamp aura)
Alchemist (Acid Spray)
Abaddon (passive)
Ogre Magi (Bloodlust)

Mids:

Brewmaster (Drunken Brawler for more tanky)
Drow (Precision Aura - ranged only)
Magnus (Empower)
Night Stalker (tanky only)
Shadow Fiend (Aura)
Spirit Breaker (tanky + bash)
Templar Assassin (Meld - but low duration)
Tusk (Ice Ward)

Solos:

Bristleback (Nasal Goo debuff)
Beastmaster (tanky + aura)
Centaur Warrunner (tanky only, minor dmg from Return)
Dark Seer (tanky only - Ion shell not very effective)

Read More

List of Level 1 Roshan Heroes by Function

The following Dota 2 heroes provide a lot of benefit when attempting a level 1 Roshan kill.

Obvious Heroes:

Ursa (Fury Swipes)
Io/Wisp (Tether heal)
Wraith King (vamp aura)

High-Damage Heroes:

Troll Warlord (Fervor)
Viper (Nethertoxin)
Lone Druid (Bear + Hero)
Morphling (morph Ag)
Huskar (Berserking)
Sniper (Headshot)
Clinkz (Burning Arrows)
Lyncan (Wolves; Howl too obvious / giveaway).
Lifestealer (Feast does not work on Roshan)

Armor Reduction:

Alchemist (Acid Spray)
Bristleback (Nasal Goo)
Shadow Fiend (Aura)
Templar Assassin (Meld - but low duration)
Vengeful Spirit (Wave - Aura is better, but Wave won't auto-push the creep wave in lane)

Right-Click Buffing Auras:

Luna (flat damage increase)
Beastmaster (attack speed)
Vengeful Spirit (aura; Base Damage buff)
Abaddon (attack speed buff vs. target)
Drow (Precision Aura - ranged only)

Healing Abilities:

Witch Doctor (healing circle)
Juggernaut (Healing Ward)
Dazzle (Shadow Wave not as good for sustained heal)
Necrolyte (poor early heals, but is ranged at least)

Other Good Damage Buffs:

Magnus (Empower - works especially well on Morphling)
Ogre Magi (Bloodlust)
Troll (Fervor)
Morphling (Morph Agility)

Defensive Buffs or Abilities

Lich (Frost Armor)
Tusk (Ice Ward)
Brewmaster (Drunken Brawler)
Phantom Assassin (Blur)
Faceless Void (Backtrack)

High-Armor and Tanky Heroes*

*(see table of EHP values)
Ogre Magi
Spirit Breaker
Night Stalker
Dark Seer
Sven
Beastmaster
Centaur Warrunner
Slardar
Tidehunter (also Gush, very low-duration armor reduction).


Links and Additional Information:

• My post on Viable and Lane-able early Roshan team ideas for some combinations.
• List of Roshan heroes by Lane / Role.
• Pro strategy called the King of Pain, using L1 Roshan with QoP & Lone Druid.

Read More