Dota 2 Hero Guide: How to Play Lion

Lion is a hero intelligence with ability disable and also nuke very strong. With skills he has, this hero has a fairly large attack potential throughout the game, especially early and mid game. Enter late game, even though his attack potential decreases, Lion can still be a useful hero in teamfight.

By gameplay This hero is also relatively simple and easy to use because it has combos skills to kill the opponent’s hero. Coupled with needs items which is not too much, and sustainability good one, Lion is a hero support relatively easy to master.

Excess

Have the ability single target disable very strong. One combo spell can give more than enough time to kill one enemy hero.
Complete disable that, this hero also has nuke or burst damage which cannot be taken lightly.
Always have availability where said Mana Drain.
Not too dependent on items. Blink Dagger is more than enough to maximize the role of this hero.

Deficiency

Totally useless against an opponent with spell immunity like BKB.
Like most heroes support, Lion is a slow hero and squishy aka fragile so it is quite easy to kill.

1. Earth Spike

Takes thorns out of the ground in a straight line area in front of Lion and gives effect stun.

Cast range: 500
Max distance of thorns: 825
Thorn Radius: 125 (along a straight line)
Damage: 80/140/200/260
Duration stun: 1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6 seconds
Where is the cost: 80/100/130/160
Cooldown: 12 seconds

Earth Spike is the only one skill disable Lion’s can hit more than one target. In teamfight, use skills This is to lock as many enemy heroes as possible, especially if you are the only hero who has disable or stun in the team.

One thing to know is, though casting time spell this is very fast (nearly instant or zero seconds), the spikes from the Earth Spike need time to get to their maximum distance. Indeed, the speed with which this thorn is moving forward is also quite fast, but the opponent still has time to dodge with items like Blink Dagger or Force Staff.

2. Hex

Turns opponents into small animals so they can’t attack, using items, or use skills. The opposing hero can still move, it’s just very slow.

Cast range: 500
Duration: 2.5/3/3.5/4 seconds
Movement speed Hex hit opponents: 140 (not added by shoes or items enhancer movement speed other)
Where is the cost: 125/150/175/200
Cooldown: 30/24/18/12 seconds

Unlike Earth Spike which could still be avoided, Hex could not be avoided. Once used, the opponent’s hero will immediately turn into a small animal. When doing gank, combo skills the most common and relatively safe starting from Hex. When Hex’s duration is almost up, use Earth Spike to lock up your opponent even longer, giving you more time to kill the enemy hero.

Also read: Know the Types and Differences of Disable, Part II (Slow, Hex, and Purge)

3. Mana Drain

Sucking where a large number of opponents in a duration of five seconds.

Cast range: 850
Duration: 5 seconds (channeling)
Distance for Mana Drain to be cut off: 1200
Where taken: 20/40/60/120 mana per second
movement speed slow: 20%/24%/28%/32%
Where is the cost: 10
Cooldown: 16/12/8/4 seconds

Skills this allows Lion to continue doing gank and teamfight without running out where. If maximized to level four, Mana Drain in full duration can restore at least half of where which you have used.

Don’t be afraid to use skills it’s in the middle teamfight. Especially in mid game, because sometimes you will run out where in the middle teamfight, and the only one to return where quickly is to use Mana Drain. But of course, keep an eye on your position before doing Mana Drain so as not to be interrupted by the opponent.

Mana Drain is also a pretty good tool to do harass in phase laning and early game. In phase laning alone, where is a tool to continue to survive in lane, and their number is very limited. When using Mana Drain, your opponent inevitably has to move away so that where hers is not sucked up to the end.

4. Finger of Death

Gives off energy that produces damage very big to the opponent. If the target dies from the Finger of Death or three seconds after being hit by the Finger of Death, spell this will get a bonus damage permanently. Can be stronger with upgrade Aghanim’s Scepter (becomes AoE, grants damage the bigger one, and cooldown shorter).

Cast range: 900
Radius: 0 (325 after upgrade)
Damage delay: 0.25 second
Damage: 600/725/850 (725/875/1025 after upgrade)
Bonus damage: 40
Where is the cost: 200/420/650 (200/420/625 after upgrade)
Cooldown: 160/100/40 seconds (100/60/20 seconds after upgrade)

Talent

Level 25: Hex to AoE of 325 units or +1000 Earth Spike distance
Level 20: +2 Mana Drain targets or +500HP
Level 15: +150 Gold per minute or +200 damage Finger of Death
Level 10: +90 damage or +100 cast range

In the initial two levels, it’s a good idea to take two skill disable main, namely Earth Spike and Hex in order to do roaming and gank in early game anywhere to kill the opponent’s hero. At level three, you can level up the Earth Spike to get damage additional, and needs to be maxed out when it reaches level seven.

Mana Drain you need to take at level four. Even if it’s not much, Mana Drain can still provide you with supplies where so you can keep doing roaming and gank. After that, you need to maximize your Mana Drain level as soon as possible after Earth Spike.

Hex itself should be left at level one until you have a maximum level for Earth Spike and Mana Drain. The reason is, firstly, the duration of Hex at level one is more than enough in early game. Second, where are the cost skills this is very large, which is 200 at level four. You will not have where enough to take it all out skills with Hex level four.

For the Finger of Death, you must pick it up as soon as possible, at level six, 12, and 18. There’s no reason to skip it nuke your main.

Thanks to Mana Drain, you only need to regenerate HP to last a long time in the lane. Because of that, Lion was always in charge of buying Couriers and ward early in the game (and so on). Use the remaining Gold to increase stats with the Ironwood Branch or the Gauntlet of Strength.

You can change everything items it becomes a Magic Wand, Bracer, and/or Wind Lace if you have time and Gold. Don’t forget to also buy flying courier plus keep buying and keep installing ward throughout the game.

The shoe of choice for the Lion is the Tranquil Boots. You have absolutely no problem for availability where with Mana Drain, and requires constant HP regeneration in order to keep rotating and gank at the start of the game. In addition, additional movement speed provided by Tranquil Boots is also useful for increasing mobility.

To truly maximize the potential and skills Lion has, the Blink Dagger is a very important item. With this item, you can do much easier initiation when doing gank. Plus the additional mobility that Blink Dagger provides throughout the game is also definitely very useful for relatively slow heroes like Lion.

After getting Blink Dagger, choice items The next one depends on the situation. If you feel the need to initiate or use spell in a safer distance, make an Aether Lens. Glimmer Cape and Force Staff can also be additional tools for initiation, as well as helping teammates or yourself to escape in the middle teamfight.

If you face many heroes who rely on physical attacks, Ghost Scepter must be purchased. Apart from that, you can also consider Eul’s Scepter of Divinity and Urn of Shadows if necessary.

A number of items others can actually increase the potential damage Lion, for example Aghanim’s Scepter, Dagon, or Scythe of Vyse. But all three are relatively expensive and you usually don’t have that much Gold as support to buy it. Plus other items like Blink Dagger or Force Staff are much more efficient for heroes to use support.

However build this is of course a super ideal case. If you find yourself left behind and having trouble collecting 2250 Gold for Blink Dagger, you inevitably have to make alternatives, such as Force Staff or Aether Lens that can be paid in installments.

Note: in this article’s screenshots, Lion is the player with the purple name

With Earth Spike and Hex, Lion has capability ganking which is great at the start of the game. Take advantage of this by doing roaming to lane others if you get the chance. Otherwise, look for level six as quickly as possible while repaying the Gold from creep pulling.

Make sure every gank fruitful success, because in general gank this is the source of your main level and Gold. Too often fail to do gank or being killed will leave you behind either in items and levels, and will make it difficult for you to use Lion.

Enter mid game, after getting Blink Dagger, Lion is a pretty serious threat to the opposing team. Look for opportunities to do gank and get kill for your team. To do this, don’t show yourself too often in folder. Don’t forget to keep installing ward to see the opponent, plus use Smoke of Deceit so that your intentions do gank unknown.

When doing gank in mid game using Blink Dagger, again, make sure you have a clear plan to kill the target hero. How many damage what you need? When should you sign in using Blink? Communicate with your team, because usually you will need one more hero as a follow up and source damage addition.

Enter late game your job to do gank will be a little heavier. You may need more help from your teammates after initiating. Always study the map situation when you want to do gank, especially if you are the main initiator in the team.

Identify who is the target to kill first, and how to kill him as quickly as possible before teamfight started or too chaotic. Choosing the right initiation target and executing it instantaneously is very important when starting teamfight in late game. Even though you’re the initiator, you’re still a hero support fragile.

If you fail to kill your target before his teammate reacts, you are automatically in a dangerous position, and can be easily killed. Therefore, in addition to being able to assess the situation well, make sure you keep in touch with your team to tell who the target will be attacked first.

If in the end you can’t kill your initiation target before the opponent reacts, immediately find a safe position. Reassess the situation. Who is the target you should lock next? When can you sign in with Blink Dagger?

If it turns out that you are not ready or your opponent uses BKB, wait for the duration to run out, then enter and use it spell which exists.

Survive as long as possible and keep using spell. Don’t forget, you have Mana Drain that allows you to continue using spell.