Happy Holidays!

Hello Everybody! I'm back again to posting new guides and strategies for DOTA. I know it's been a long time since I last posted.

Stay tuned...

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Dynamic Duo for the Week

Hello guys! Sorry I haven't been able to post some guide lately. I've been busy with work. So to start my first post in like after a year now, is to share with you another dynamic duo. This one is very effective on the latest versions of DOTA.

Our dynamic duo would be Maiden and Axe. This combo is so imba right now...

First is to get frostbite for maiden and Berserker's Call for axe. You can attempt to go for first even as early as level 1. Let maiden use bite on your target hero then while she is attacking, let axe go near the target hero and use berserker's call. It's like an early double stun. It's ok if the enemy hero gets away. At least you have done some damage early on. Don't worry about mana too because when maiden will get brilliance aura right away when she becomes level 2. Axe will get counter helix. Maiden then gets frost nova when she reaches level 3 and axe gets level 2 berserker's call. This time, try attempting for another kill. It's best to go for the hero with disabling spell like stun or slow. If none then go for the hero with lower hp. Most probably int heroes. First is to cast frostbite on the target hero then berserker's call after frostbite is over then cast frost nova while hero is attempting to escape. What makes this combo very strong is first the hero is frozen. Maiden and axe have time to do some normal attacks during this time. Then axe casts berserker's call forcing the enemy hero to attack axe. This time axe has counter helix which deals additional damage to the enemy. This is even better if there are nearby creeps that are attacking axe. And if the enemy hero manages to survive, there is still frost nova to deal additional damage and slow the escaping hero then finish him off with a few attacks. Just keep repeating this process every time your skills are ready and you have enough mana.



At level 6, maiden should have level 1 frost nova, level 3 frostbite, level 1 brilliance aura and level 1 freezing field(you can also get level 2 brilliance aura instead of this. It depends on your current mana and your allied heroes if they are dependent on mana). Axe should have level 3 berserker's call, level 2 counter helix and level 1 culling blade.

Now, this is even better. The enemy hero has no way of escaping this one. After doing the combos stated above, axe can finish off with culling blade. You can do the kill for sure! :D If you have a hard time executing this combo, just keep on practicing. It's not that hard. heh. I recommend axe to have a stout shield as one of his first items. This is so that axe can take more attacks while doing this combo. The rest goes to branches and tangos. Maiden should get a few tangos too and some ironwood branch. I assume this is for 5v5.

What even makes this combo so good is that while you are owning your lane, maiden is also helping the rest of her teammates by giving them mana regen because of brilliance aura(brilliance aura is global!).

Let me know what you think of this one. I hope you guys love this. I expect you to be killing a lot of heroes with this combo soon. :)

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King Leoric Guide

Once a noble knight protecting his kingdom, the man was thrown into Hell, where he was ripped apart over and over for centuries. Now, Lucifer has thrown him back onto the soil, corrupted and mindless, as King Leoric, the Skeleton King. He marches on, leading his minions with an unfaltering gaze, knowing only one thing: the orders given to him by the dark lord himself. Able to cripple his opponents with a powerful magical hammer, King Leoric is a major threat on the battlefield. His mighty blade allows him and others in his presence to drain the blood of their enemies. It is said that he is unkillable, and those who are struck down by his hammer don't wake up again.(From Warcraft III: Frozen Throne)

Hero Skills

Storm Bolt - A magical hammer is thrown at an enemy unit, causing damage and stunning the target for 2 seconds.

Level 1 - 100 damage.
Level 2 - 150 damage.
Level 3 - 200 damage.
Level 4 - 250 damage.

Vampiric Aura - Nearby friendly melee units gain hit points when they hit enemy units.

Level 1 - Gains 5% of attack damage.
Level 2 - Gains 10% of attack damage.
Level 3 - Gains 15% of attack damage.
Level 4 - Gains 20% of attack damage.

Critical Strike - Gives a chance to do more damage on an attack.

Level 1 - 15% chance, 1.25 times normal damage.
Level 2 - 15% chance, 1.75 times normal damage.
Level 3 - 15% chance, 2.25 times normal damage.
Level 4 - 15% chance, 2.75 times normal damage.

Reincarnation - When killed the Skeleton King will come back to life.

Level 1: 100 mana, 300 sec cooldown.
Level 2: 150 mana, 220 sec cooldown.
Level 3: 200 mana, 140 sec cooldown.

Hero Builds

MVP Build I - Best MVP build for King Leoric.

• Starting Items - 4 tangos, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - boots, relic, town portal
  
• Late game items - radiance, heart of tarrasque, boots of travel, sange & yasha( the rest you can choose between another heart of tarrasque, cuirass, dagger of escape, eye of skadi )
  
• Skill Build : storm bolt, stats, storm bolt, stats, storm bolt, reincarnation, storm bolt, vampiric aura, critical strike, vampiric aura, reincarnation, vampiric aura, critical strike, vampiric aura, critical strike, critical strike, reincarnation, then the rest to stats.

Gameplay :

King Leoric is best if he has a good support hero(like warlock) or another stunner (like lina) with him on the lane. He should be given priority to creep kills since he needs to secure his items and later on in the game he will be a very dominant hero when he has the items that he needs.

On the early part of the game, just try your best to get the creep kills. Don't worry about denies so much. Just focus on killing enemy creeps. Get as much gold as you can. With this build, you need to have another hero watching out for you. If it is a support hero, he will take care of healing/protecting you and with denying your own creeps. If it is another stunner like lina or leshrac you can start being aggressive when you reach at least level 3. You need to cast storm bolt first then have the other hero do a chain stun for you. If you do this right, the target enemy hero will most likely die unless he has a healer with him or another stunner. If that's the case, target the healer or stunner. It's up to you on which hero is easier to kill.

From early part to middle part of the game, you are just going to do some farming. You will not engage in clashes. You will not help defend your outer towers. Let your teammates do all that. If you need help, they should respond quickly to help you. Remember to have enough mana so when you get killed you still have your reincarnation. At this point, your teammates should have responded or tped to your tower to help you so you won't get killed without the reincarnation.

King Leoric is very hard to kill on lanes once he reached level 6 if you make sure he is protected like having wards on enemy gank locations and by responding quickly when there is an attempted kill. You should be patient too on farming. The hard part is just getting relic straight away but when you have it, it would be easier from then on since it's not hard to do last hits with a very high damage. When you already have relic, don't make radiance right away. Farm for reaver. Radiance will affect your farming with last hits and it's good if you have reaver after that so you can at least help your teammates on clashes at this point and for your own survival too. If you only have radiance and boots at a stage where your enemies have around level 2 ultimate, you can be killed quickly. With reaver you have more health points, more hp regen, higher damage...and get higher life steal. :)

When you already have at least radiance, boots, town portal and heart of tarrasque you are ready to go to battle. You will serve as a tank for your team. With heart of tarrasque you can sustain high amount of damage and even if you die, you still have your second life(with full hp and mana). This is what I like about King Leoric, if your enemies decided to focus their attacks and spells on you, you still have another life then at that point your enemies have used all their spells on you without harming your teammates. You will win clashes for sure if they do this. The key to playing leoric is to go into clashes first, take whatever damage, stun one opponent(best if it is a weak hero or a support hero) then keep on attacking. Don't stop attacking even if you have low hp. Remember that you have life steal and even if you die you still have your second life. :)

Late game items are for you to decide. If a tank is what your team needs then you might go for more heart of tarrasque. If you need more fire power or you need to kill a hero immediately after stunning then you might want to get sange and yasha for more damage and faster attack. If your enemies have blinkers then you can get dagger of escape. It's really up to you.

MVP Build II - Alternative MVP build for King Leoric. Use this if you have a hard time getting relic because it's really hard to farm for it with the pace of the game or if you think you need splash damage to overcome your enemy's heroes like chaos knight and naga siren, etc.

• Starting Items - 4 tangos, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - boots, battlefury, town portal
  
• Late game items - eye of skadi, boots of travel, sange and yasha, hear of tarrasque, the last one is up to you whether it would be dagger of escape, another heart of tarrasque or cuirass
  
• Skill Build : storm bolt, stats, storm bolt, stats, storm bolt, reincarnation, storm bolt, vampiric aura, critical strike, vampiric aura, reincarnation, vampiric aura, critical strike, vampiric aura, critical strike, critical strike, reincarnation, then the rest to stats.

Gameplay :

Just the same with the first build. You are still going for lots of kills(for gold) as early as possible. The only difference with this build is you might have a hard time farming for relic, it could be an adjustment for countering an enemy or it could be another. With battlefury as your first item choice instead of sacred relic, it is definitely easier to secure and you even have hp and mana regen. You can spam bolt on the lane and you can even go to creep camps earlier because of perseverance. Well you will be forced to go to creep camps anyway since you will push the enemy creeps back with your splash damage. But it's easy to farm creep camps because...well you have splash damage. lol. Just be careful not to be ganked your enemies while farming on creep camps so your teammates should protect you as much as they can(with wards, a support hero with you, etc.)

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Dynamic Duo for the Week

It's been a while since I made a post on this blog. I have been very busy with other stuffs I didn't even have the time to play DOTA. lol. Anyway, I will start this year's post with a very fun dynamic duo, a classic. My friend and I never get tired of doing this one public games...well, even on LAN games. :)

So our first dynamic duo for the year is the Vengeful Spirit - Goblin Techies combo. Most of you might already have an idea at this point on what will happen with this combo. Some of you might even have used this one a long long time ago but I posted it here anyway because this still works very well until now and it never fails to tick off people when used properly. ;)

First, get magic missile as a first skill for Vengeful Spirit(I will refer to this hero as venge later on) and suicide for Goblin Techies(I will refer to this hero as techies later on). Get boots as a first item for techies and the rest goes to consumables. Get branches and consumables for venge. As soon as you see an enemy hero on your lane, cast magic missile then let techies suicide on the target. And there you have it....first blood! :D Do some normal attacks if there is a few hp left on the enemy hero. If you see two heroes on the lane, choose the one with the lower hp. Don't worry with techies not catching up with the target hero. There's a reason why you bought boots as a first item. heh. At this very early part of the game, you already ticked off your enemy but don't stop there. Keep repeating the same process each time techies gets back to the lane. Be sure to check the enemy's remaining hp before you do the combo to be sure that the target hero dies. Just to be sure, deduct 200 damage from the total damage of suicide and magic missile then compare it with the enemy hero's hp. If the damage is greater or equal to the enemy hero's hp then it is safe to do the combo. I deducted 200 because of the hero resistance. It is not accurate but it is safe and fast to compute.

With techies always doing suicide, the experience goes to venge so you should expect techies to be below venge's level. So when venge gets to level 6, techies is still below that. What you should do is plant lots of land mines on a blind spot(or any open spot which is not on the enemy creeps pathway). 5-7 land mines would do. Then have venge position on the land mines and wait for an enemy to swap. When you see one, have venge swap right away then..boom! Enemy dies. If the enemy survives somehow, cast magic missile or even cast suicide. He has no chance at all.

By the way, techies should get suicide and land mines. Get stasis trap later part of the game. Maybe around levels 9-10. Get remote mines when you get to levels 6, 11 and 16. Get lots of void stone for your items so you won't run out of mana. (The rest of the build is not covered on this guide) For venge, I suggest getting lothar's edge. So when you see someone coming your way, just use lothar's edge so he won't see you standing there waiting for him.

When techies reaches level 6, plant 5-6 land mines on blind spots. This will surprise your enemy when he passes by that place. Then use your remote mines to plant on open spots. 5-7 remote mines will do. Then have venge do the swapping again. :) You can even do this during clashes. Specially when defending your base. Plant lots of mines near your tower and when your enemy pushes, swap one to the mines. This will really scare them making them push each other on who will go first.

In case your enemies buy sentry wards, buy sentry wards too. You should have more money than them considering that they always die on the mines/suicide. Do not stop buying sentry wards until they do. Don't ever give them a chance to stop your killing spree. Keep repeating this until their heads explode. :)

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Sven Guide

Sven (Rogue Knight)
A follower of the great God of Order, Paladine, Sven has sworn to uphold the rights of all. Born of a Knight and a Night Elf and ostracized since birth, Sven has lead a solitary existence of meditation and training. He has come out of his wanderings determined to guard the innocent against evil. Armed with his blessed cleaving blade Justice, and harnessing the power to strike down his enemies with the might of God's Strength, Sven's wrath toward the unjust is a sight to behold.(From Warcraft III: Frozen Throne)

Hero Skills

Storm Bolt - A magical hammer is thrown at an enemy unit, causing damage and stunning the target for 2 seconds.

Level 1 - 100 damage.
Level 2 - 150 damage.
Level 3 - 200 damage.
Level 4 - 250 damage.

Great Cleave - Sven strikes with such force that all nearby enemies take damage.

Level 1 - 10% damage is splashed.
Level 2 - 20% damage is splashed.
Level 3 - 30% damage is splashed.
Level 4 - 40% damage is splashed.

Toughness Aura - Sven is here to pump you up!

Level 1 - Increases base armor by 2.
Level 2 - Increases base armor by 3.
Level 3 - Increases base armor by 4.
Level 4 - Increases base armor by 5.

God's Strength - Sven gets pumped up! Adds bonus damage for 25 seconds.

Level 1 - Adds 100% damage.
Level 2 - Adds 125% damage.
Level 3 - Adds 150% damage.

Hero Builds

Semi-MVP Build - This build is best if you have another option to be a primary mvp in your team

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - power threads, 2 bracers, town portal
  
• Late game items - black king bar, mask of madness, heart of tarrasque
  
• Skill Build : storm bolt, stats, storm bolt, stats, storm bolt, god's strength, storm bolt, great cleave, stats, great cleave, god's strength, great cleave, toughness aura, great cleave, stats, toughness aura, god's strength, toughness aura, toughness aura then the rest to stats.
  

Gameplay :

During lane battles, concentrate on making last hits. Don't worry about denies too much. Let your teammate on the same lane with you worry more about that. It is best that you get most of the last hits(therefore getting the gold) so you can secure your early items. While doing last hits, keep an eye on your enemies if they go out of position while doing last hits or denying or even harassing your lane themselves. At any chance one of them is exposed, cast storm bolt right away then follow up with some spells from your teammate. Always try to go for the kill if this happens but don't go in their tower yet.

Once you reach level 6 or so, go back to regenerate your mana and health. Shop for items too like boots and bracers. Go for power threads if there is enough. Once you have at least 2 bracers and power threads, you are now ready to do some hunting. Try to visit every lane possible and go for the kill. Be aggressive. Sven is very strong early game with just 2 bracers and power threads together with level 1 god's strength and level 4 storm bolt. With good team play, you are sure to get the kill. Make sure that you always come from the blind side for surprise. Always check for rune from time to time. When going for the kill, don't hesitate to use god's strength. At the early stage, one storm bolt and 2-4 attacks kills an enemy with god's strength enabled. Slowly get black king bar and mask of madness while repeating the process. This is very helpful for your team because it pressures the enemies and at the same time you are preparing yourself for middle to late game clashes. Get black king bar first. When you have this item you can now go inside clashes without being interrupted of any disabling spells like bolt or voodoo. And if you have mask of madness, it will just make things quicker for you to kill enemies.

During later game, get heart of tarrasque so you can still endure physical damage in case the enemies decide to focus on you with their physical attacks. If you still have extra gold after that, try to experiment what items are best for your gameplay. You can get another heart of tarrasque, sange& yasha, eye of skadi or dagger of escape. Just try it out what works best and it also depends on what are the enemy heroes. If they are blinkers, get dagger of escape...you get the idea. :)

MVP Build - This build is best sven is your primary option for mvp and you really rely on him for the late game

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - boots, black king bar, mask of madness, town portal
  
• Late game items - heart of tarrasque, sange & yasha (or another heart of tarrasque if you have lots of gold)
  
• Skill Build : storm bolt, stats, storm bolt, stats, storm bolt, god's strength, storm bolt, great cleave, stats, great cleave, god's strength, great cleave, toughness aura, great cleave, stats, toughness aura, god's strength, toughness aura, toughness aura then the rest to stats.

Gameplay :

Lane battles is the same with semi-support build. Sven gets the priority on all kills would it be creeps, heroes or structures. The main difference on this build is sven focuses on farming and securing his items early. He will not go hunting but will stick on the lane. He will also be fully supported with wards and support heroes by his side if really needed. You can go for the kill but on enemy heroes on the same lane. Use your town portal to escape gank attacks and to help your teammates from other lanes if you are absolutely needed or else just keep farming. You don't need threads early part. Boots is enough but you can get power threads if you want. The important thing is to secure black king bar as early as possible then at this point you can help on clashes and then go back to farming your next items. You will come out middle to late part of the game with good items. If done correctly, you will have way better items compared to other heroes making you a very big threat to the enemies.

Note : On clashes, remember to cast black king bar first before casting god's strength. Casting god strength first will cancel it out when you cast black king bar after that.

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Dynamic Duo for the Week

This week's dynamic duo is a fun one. I like to play with this with a close friend specially on public games like battle.net. This is best to use if you play DOTA games for fun and for the sake of doing trash talks with your friends. :)

So this week's dynamic duo goes to Lion and Lina. I think you already see where this leads. heh. But I will discuss it deeply here so you will know how make this combo really work. Thus making your friends very annoyed. :)

First, buy mana regen items for both heroes and starting items that will boost their stats. These are most probably ironwood branches and clarity potions. Other one can also make ring of basilus for mana regeneration on both heroes. The best you can do is equip Lion with the ring of basilus and then have Lina buy sobi mask. This way Lina can spam her two offensive spells, Dragon Slave and Light Strike Array. Lion only needs to cast one offensive spell during the early part of the game which is impale. Let Lion get mana drain too so he can absorb mana from enemy creeps or heroes when he is almost out. At this point, both heroes will have the ability to spam their spells.

During lane battles, always cast your spells in combo. It is important that Lion will cast impale first then Lina will follow it up with light strike array and then dragon slave. Keep doing this to harass your enemies on the lane but be sure that you will have enough mana to cast level 6 when you are almost leveling up from level 5. This way your enemy will be very pressured of getting killed so he has to go back to heal. At this point concentrate on farming while harassing the remaining enemy with seasonal attacks(if there are two enemies in the lane). When you reach level 6, you can go back to the base to purchase items and heal or you can attempt to kill an enemy on the lane with low hp. When both Lina and Lion are level 6, this is the fun part. Choose one hero then let Lion cast impale. Lina will cast light strike array after that for chain stun while lion is doing a normal attack at the same time. Lina will then cast dragon slave then Lion will do the finish with finger of death and if the enemy is still alive, Lina can make sure of it by casting laguna blade. :) The best scenario is if you are able to kill one enemy with only one ultimate like finger of death. If this happens, you can harass the remaining enemy on the lane with normal attacks while getting creep kills and denying at the same time. When Lina has enough mana to cast laguna blade and one spell at least, you can attempt to kill the remaining enemy. Keep repeating this process killing enemy heroes alternately unless they will switch to another lane. lol.

At this point, Lion and Lina are near or about level 11. Get dagon for both heroes as their next items. This is will make them more deadly doing chain stuns and then making sure that the target hero is dead because even though the enemy has higher health points at this point because of item and level, Lion and Lina have additional offensive which is dagon and if they reach level 11 their ultimate is deadlier. With both heroes having dagon, always go together for the kill. Visit enemies who have been farming for long to kill them and waste a portion of their gold. Push every time you killed a hero. You don't want the game to take so long that the enemy will have the time to recover and the mvp heroes will get their desired items.

If the game lasted long enough to reach level 16 or more, get aghanhim's scepter and refresher orb for both Lion and Lina. This will make their ultimates' damage even greater and also reduce their cooldowns. And with refresher orbs, Lion and Lina can cast dagon, minor and ultimate spells twice ensuring death to the enemy. :) If you still have enough gold, experiment with other items. You can buy heart of tarrasque if you have problems on staying alive during clashes or you can buy guinsoo to increase damage, mana, mana regen and to be able to disable a target enemy making chain stun even longer. You can also choose to upgrade dagon to max level at this point.

Note : For advanced gameplay, you can get dagger of escape for proper positioning, good element of surprise therefor executing attacks effectively and for escaping death.

So there we go. I hope you like this week's dynamic duo. Now try it out with your friends or against your friends. :D

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DOTA Lane Control Guide

Today, I was going to post a comprehensive DOTA guide to lane control but I found this very good guide by Blaow which pretty much said it all and it is complete with screenshots and advanced techniques. But the you must have at least a basic understanding of DOTA to fully understand the guide. Here is a part of it :

Preface: This is a guide to early game lane dominance. I assume the reader has a basic knowledge of DotA and can refer to other sources to look up heroes/items/abilities. If I use an abbreviation or term you do not understand please refer to Malle's excellent DotA game commands and common abbreviations list. I will be focusing on non em since lane control in em is less important, although I will try to point out some points for em as well. If you disagree or have something to add please post and back up your points with a valid argument, I'll try to include other's view points with credit if they are good even if they disagree with me. Sometimes there is more than one right way, or different things work in different situations. Please post your comments, opinions, and disagreements, constructive criticism is welcome! Anyway, on to the guide.

What will I learn from this guide?
This guide is an effort to comprehensively cover every aspect of lane control and early game strategies within reason. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of lane control I suggest you read all of it. However more advanced readers will certainly be familiar with some or many of the ideas covered so if you belong to that group feel free to skip sections. If you wish to explore a certain aspect of lane control use the table of contents - hit ctrl-f and type in the section you wish to go to.

Brief Table of Contents

1. What is Lane Control?
2. Your Hero
3. How to Build a Lane Controller
4. Choosing your Lane Control Style
5. Harassing
6. Map Awareness and Ganks
7. Creeps and Towers
8. In-Depth Scenarios
9. Secret Paths and Juking
10. Replays and Other Reading Material

To read the rest of the guide, visit this link. This guide is very helpful. I assure you that it will improve you lane gameplay when you read this guide.

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Dynamic Duo for the Week

This week's dynamic duo, which is one of my favorites, is Omniknight and Tormented Soul. The reason that I like this combo is because it is strong on lane battles, very good for early push if you that's your team plan, they are a strong combo during clash and they are also strong on any part of the game even during late game. Maybe the only drawback on this combo is it is not very good when it comes to ganking heroes on the map. That is compared to other hero combos where you have double stun combo, etc.

From the start to the last part of the game, Omniknight will play as a full support hero giving his all out support to Torment Soul while Tormented Soul will act as an mvp(most probably secondary mvp because of the usual case of having a main str hero or agi hero). During lane battles, Omniknight will just keep getting xp from a distance letting Tormented Soul spam his skills on the creeps and enemy heroes so get mana or mana regen items. When creeps go up to the enemy's side, let Omniknight pull the neutral creeps from the nearest creep camps to fight with your next creep wave(also known as creep pulling). That way, the enemy creeps will go again to your side balancing the control of the creeps and at the same time getting more experience than the opponent because Tormented Soul gets the experience on the lane while Omniknight gets experience from the neutral creeps and your enemies will not get that much experience because some of your if not all creeps will be killed by the neutral creeps. At this point, you are on the advantage during the lane battles. Just keep doing this and let Omknight heal Tormented Soul once in a while if needed.

The important items for Tormented Soul on this combo are Aghanhim's Scepter and Linken's Sphere. You can get the next items of your choice. I suggest boots of travel and dagger of escape then items to boost your health points to stay longer on clashes. If you still have extra, get guinsoo to increase your damage, increase mana, increase mana regeneration and to disable a target enemy. Omniknight might have boots and mass bracers because he won't have that much gold due to dedicating full support giving creep and hero kills to teammates and at the same time providing sentry and observer wards during the game.

During clashes, cast repel on Tormented Soul then he can just go in the middle of the battle spamming all skills while having pulse nova activated. With Aghanhim's Scepter on your inventory, this can deal quite an amount of area effect damage. If you also have Linken's Sphere, you automatically counter the enemy's chance of dispelling repel through Medusa's purge and Diffusal Blade. If the enemies focus on you with their normal attack, you have Omniknight to cast Guardian Angel. This will drive them crazy taking away their hope of winning the clash. lol. But remember to keep Omniknight on a safe distance and guarded by the other heroes. This is very crucial because if they are able to cast Eul's or worst kill Omniknight first before he can even cast Guardian Angel then this combo won't work. Don't worry about Omniknight a being few distances away from Tormented Soul because level 16 Guardian Angel has a wide affected area and ha a 9-second duration(this might change on next versions).

Do the same during pushes. If the enemies just wait from a distance, cast diabolic edict on the structures(most probably tower) then go back to Omniknight before repel wears off and have it casted on you again then keep repeating until they're forced to engage in a clash. Tormented Sould should not be afraid being alone in the front line for a while because he is immune to magic and you have Guardian Angel if they do physical attack so there is a little chance of killing you and you will have your teammates to back you up anyway in a flash when the enemies go near. :)

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Lich Guide

Kel'Thuzad (Lich)
Forcibly raised from the dead by the Lich King to serve as his elite magical guard, the Lich has the burning cold of Northrend in his realm of control. Evoking numerous freezing blasts, his talent in life still remains in death. Delving into the essence of cold magic, he has the power to cause ice to condense into an orb that bounces from foe to foe, causing tremendous pain in its wake. Sacrificing his allies for magical power, the Lich is a murderer without a trace of warmth.

Hero Skills

Frost Nova - Blasts enemy units around a target enemy unit with a wave of damaging frost that slows movement and attack rates for 4 seconds.

Level 1 - 50 target damage and 75 nova damage.
Level 2 - 100 target damage and 100 nova damage.
Level 3 - 125 target damage and 125 nova damage.
Level 4 - 175 target damage and 150 nova damage.

Frost Armor - Creates a shield of frost around a target friendly unit. The shield adds armor and slows attacking melee units for 2 seconds.

Lasts 40 seconds.

Level 1 - Adds 3 armor.
Level 2 - Adds 6 armor.
Level 3 - Adds 9 armor.
Level 4 - Adds 12 armor.

Dark Ritual - Sacrifices a target friendly unit to convert its hit points into mana.

Level 1 - 15% of hit points to mana.
Level 2 - 30% of hit points to mana.
Level 3 - 45% of hit points to mana.
Level 4 - 60% of hit points to mana.

Chain Frost - Releases a jumping breath of frost that jumps 6 times.

Level 1 - Deals 280 damage per hit.
Level 2 - Deals 370 damage per hit.
Level 3 - Deals 460 damage per hit.

Hero Builds

MVP Build - This is not a good build for lich if you are looking for good team play. Use this build only if there are no other options for mvp or you are playing with random players and your teammates suck at playing.

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - bracers, boots of travel
  
• Late game items - Eye of Skadi, Aghanhim's Scepter, Heart of Tarrasque
  
• Skill Build : dark ritual, nova, nova, dark ritual, nova, chain frost, nova, dark ritual, stats, dark ritual, chain frost, frost armor, frost armor, frost armor, frost armor, chain frost, the rest to stats. (Note: if you plan on being aggressive at level 1 like getting a first blood, you can get nova first but it's best to get dark ritual first for early creep control)
  

Gameplay :

The moment the creeps starts to spawn, cast dark ritual on on melee creep. That way, you have one less creep so your enemy on the lane will automatically have less xp and gold. Cast dark ritual every cooldown and keep harassing the enemy with your frost nova and occasional normal attacks. You have almost unlimited mana because of dark ritual so don't be afraid to cast nova every cooldown. Just be careful to have enough mana to cast dark ritual again. Keep doing this to keep giving your enemy a hard time. When you reach level 6, if he has low hp it is a sure kill. If the hero with you on the same lane(teammate) is a stunner, it would make things easier to get a kill. If the enemy goes back to base to heal, it is also good because it means that he is now behind on experience and that also means easier farming for you and your teammate. It will also affect the hero he left on the lane. That hero can't afford to get himself exposed so he will most definitely hide behind their tower. Keep doing this until you're forced to go back to base and buy items. When you do, buy boots and bracers first. Boots of travel if you have extra. When yo have these items, you can easily support your teammates or go anywhere on the map for the kill. As much as possible use chain frost to go for a kill every cooldown.

Late Game you go for Eye of Skadi, Aghanhim's Scepter and Heart of Tarrasque. Eye of Skadi is a good item for lich for the slow effects. It also adds health, mana and damage. Get Aghanhim's Scepter after this to increase your ultimate damage and decrease its cooldown giving you more chances on casting chain frost with also an improved damage. Get Heart of Tarrasque after this to make you harder to kill. Expect that by this time, your enemies have good items too so you need lots of health if you want to stay long in combat. You can experiment for your next items after this. You can go for refresher orb or anything you like. Just try things out.

Support Build - best build for lich for team play. Lich is one of my favorite support characters. It is the very thing that Lich is good at while also having the ability to do massive damage

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - observer wards(or sentries if you need it more), bracers, town portal
  
• Late game items - dagger, mekansm, Eul's Scepter of Divinity
  
• Skill Build : dark ritual, nova, nova, dark ritual, nova, chain frost, nova, dark ritual, stats, dark ritual, chain frost, frost armor, frost armor, frost armor, frost armor, chain frost, the rest to stats. (Note: if you plan on being aggressive at level 1 like getting a first blood, you can get nova first but it's best to get dark ritual first for early creep control)
  

Gameplay :

As soon as the creeps spawn, cast dark ritual on the melee creep right away. Remember to cast dark ritual every cooldown. Your role is to support your teammate's hero on the lane. Give all creep kills to him as much as possible and focus on denying your creeps and harassing the enemy heroes. Use frost nova every now and then but be sure to reserve mana for dark ritual. If you get constant visits from other enemy heroes, go home and buy observer wards. Buy sentry wards if your opponents have skills like vendetta and windwalk. Remember to always support your team's mvp hero. Buy lots of wards if you have to. Don't worry about your item too much. All you need is to be in a safe distance then cast spells every now and then every cooldown. If you are having a hard time, buy 1 to 2 bracers to give you more health. Buy boots and town portal too so you can also help your other teammates whenever they're being attacked. You can leave the mvp hero every now and then to harass other enemies on the other lanes but be sure to bring tp so you can always go back to your lane whenever you are needed by the mvp hero. Keep doing this until you have extra money to buy items of your own like dagger of escape. Dagger of escape is a good item to help you escape the enemy's mvp heroes. Get mekansm too if you still have extra gold so you can heal yourself and your allies during clashes.

During clashes, the most important thing is for you to cast chain frost before you die. Always make sure that you casted chain frost on the clash. You also need to have good timing for maximum effect. Don't go out front before clashes. Avoid being caught by the enemy first thing like being stunned or swapped then get killed before you can even cast chain frost. Be sure to cast frost armor on your teammates too. This is good specially against melee opponents. If you did all this during the clash, you are already good. It's ok to die as long as you have casted all the spells that you needed to cast.

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Dynamic Duo for the Week

I will be posting once a week what I call as dynamic duo. They are two good combo heroes. It could be that they are a good pair during lane battles, during clashes, etc. So our dynamic duo for the week is sven and chen.

It's not because they are both knights(rogue knight and holy knight ^_^) but it is because they really a very good pair in every aspect of the game. They are good during the early part which is the lane battles. Chen should get possession and sven should get storm bolt at level 1. As soon as the creeps spawn on their side, chen should get 1 creep immediately. The best creep to get is the centaur or the fulborg. Both have area effect stun so when sven throws a storm bolt, the creep should immediately go and follow up a stun. This is a very good combo and can get hero kills most of the time. Specially when chen has penitence too which makes the enemy take additional damage and slow him at the same time making it hard to escape. If there is no fulborg or centaur, get satyr as second priority. It helps a lot because it can cast mana burn up to 4 times which burns 100 mana and damages 100 health. Imagine how much it would hurt the enemy being drained 400 health and 400 mana so early in the game.

During clashes, chen and sven provide a good chain stun. By the time chen should have around 3 stunners so when sven storm bolts a hero. Those creeps will get near to that hero stunning alternately for maximum effect while sven attacks with god strength on him. Sven should have a black king bar by this time so he can go to front lines without worrying of being disabled or casted high damaging spells. And if sven has low hp, chen can cast mekansm then hand of god to heal him. :)

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Viper Guide

Viper (Netherdrake)
A malicious Drake tamed by the Lich King himself, Viper is a fierce, acid-spitting beast whose speed and agility surprises the most hardened of warriors. Cursing himself into a maddened rage, Viper charges into battle without regard of his own safety. His salivary glands produce stinging poison that causes enemies to writhe in pain, severely damaging their nerves. Be careful when facing this powerful monster...its dark silhouette may be the last thing you will ever see.(From Warcraft III: Frozen Throne)

Hero Skills

Frenzy - Increases attack speed for 20 seconds, at the cost of taking additional damage.

Level 1 - 25% increase, 5% damage taken increase.
Level 2 - 50% increase, 10% damage taken increase.
Level 3 - 75% increase, 15% damage taken increase.
Level 4 - 100% increase, 20% damage taken increase.

Poison Attack - Coats Viper's attack with poison. Slows movement and attack speeds and lasts 2 seconds.

Level 1 - Slows speed by 10%, deals 6 damage per second.
Level 2 - Slows speed by 20%, deals 12 damage per second.
Level 3 - Slows speed by 30%, deals 18 damage per second.
Level 4 - Slows speed by 40%, deals 24 damage per second.

Corrosive Skin - Viper's body is covered with poison. Any unit that attacks it becomes infected. Reduced movement and attack speed and minor damage for 3 seconds. The poison also absorbs some of the damage from spells.

Level 1 - 5% reduction, 5 damage per second. 5% magic reduction.
Level 2 - 10% reduction, 10 damage per second. 10% magic reduction.
Level 3 - 15% reduction, 15 damage per second. 15% magic reduction.
Level 4 - 20% reduction, 20 damage per second. 20% magic reduction.

Viper Strike - Strikes with a vicious bite, slowing movement and attack speeds significantly and dealing poison damage over time.

Lasts 5 seconds.

Level 1 - Deals 60 damage per second and slows speeds by 40%.
Level 2 - Deals 100 damage per second and slows speeds by 60%.
Level 3 - Deals 145 damage per second and slows speeds by 80%.

Hero Builds

Semi-Support Build I -This is best if you want viper to hunt around the map looking for kills early game

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - dagger, boots of travel, dagon, wraith bands(not necessary if you have gained lots of gold)
  
• Late game items - Sange and Yasha, Monkey King Bar
  
• Skill Build : poison attack, stats, poison attack, stats, poison attack, viper strike, poison attack, corrosive skin, stats, corrosive skin, viper strike, corrosive skin, frenzy, corrosive skin, stats, frenzy, viper strike, then assign the rest.
  

Gameplay :

Keep harassing the enemy hero/es on the lanes. If you are with an mvp hero, give the creep kills to the mvp hero and concentrate on denying your own creeps. When you reach level 6, attempt a hero kill by using viper strike. When you reach level 7, go back to base and shop for items. You should be able to buy boots of travel by this time if you were careful or if you made the hero kill. If not, buy boots, some circlets and town portal then farm for your boots of travel. Be sure to watch out for enemies trying to kill your teammates. Always help them when you have the chance by using your town portal on the nearest tower. You can also earn lots of gold if you are lucky and were able to kill a hero when doing the rescue.

When you already have dagger, boots of travel and dagon it would be a lot easier to kill enemy heroes. You can even do a combo attack like when you have a teammate who is a stunner, make him stun the opponent while you travel on the creeps near to them. By the time the enemy recovers from stun, you will be there and cast viper strike on him then attack him with poison attack. If the enemy can almost escape, cast the dagon on him. lol. Just keep doing while slowly buying your next items. This is a good way of supporting your mvp heroes because you divert the enemy's attention on your constant visits and killing attempts. You can also help anywhere on the map as long as there is a structure to creep to use your boots of travel on. Your hero is still very useful late game if you got Sange & Yasha andMonkey King bar(or perhaps more).

Semi-Support Build II -This is best if you want viper support the team's mvp hero on the lane

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - dagger, power threads, mekansm, wards(if needed), wraith bands(not necessary if you have gained lots of gold)
  
• Late game items - Sange and Yasha, Monkey King Bar
  
• Skill Build : poison attack, stats, poison attack, stats, poison attack, viper strike, poison attack, corrosive skin, stats, corrosive skin, viper strike, corrosive skin, frenzy, corrosive skin, stats, frenzy, viper strike, then assign the rest.
  

Gameplay :

When you choose this build, you are most probably with another hero(most likely an mvp hero) in the lane. Just keep harassing your enemies with poison attack while denying your own creeps. Give all the creeps kills to the mvp hero as much as possible...even the hero kills. If you are constantly ganked in your lane by enemy heroes, provide wards. Keep your mvp hero safe while maintaining a safe distance so the enemy heroes can't attack you directly with ease. When you already have dagger, it's time for you and the mvp to be aggressive. Always try to go for the kill whenever you have your viper strike ready. And when you already have the mekansm, you can even hunt the enemy even if he is hiding behind his team's tower. You must have town portal with you every time so you can also support your other teammates. With mekansm, you save them lots of time and yourself too specially that you have your dagger. If you play this very well, you can buy Sange & Yasha, Monkey King Bar and others later on and still become very useful late game.

MVP Build -This build is best if you will rely on viper to be a strong killing machine on your team

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - relic, power threads, wraith bands(if you have hard time getting relic but go for relic after this)
  
• Late game items - Radiance, Sange & Yasha, Heart of Tarrasque or Black King Bar(if enemy has lots of stunners and/or very damaging spells), Monkey King Bar
  
• Skill Build : poison attack, stats, poison attack, stats, poison attack, viper strike, poison attack, corrosive skin, stats, corrosive skin, viper strike, corrosive skin, frenzy, corrosive skin, stats, frenzy, viper strike, then assign the rest.
  

Gameplay :

Farm for items from early game to mid game. Even in late game depending on the sitution. Focus on getting your items specially relic because this is the most difficult part. When you have radiance, it will be easier after that. Always get the creep and hero kills and ask for your teammates' help if you are having a hard time. You can even switch lane or go to creep camps if that is what it takes to get your items. Always bring town portal so you can use it to escape enemy attacks. You can also use it to help your teammates from other lanes but only do this if there is a little chance that you will die specially if you can kill at least 1 enemy enemy hero when you go for the rescue. Aside from that, just keep farming. You will come out later on....very strong. :D

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DOTA Heroes Guide Part I

I will start my guide on hero builds and strategy. This is very important because before you can actually play together with a team, you must at least know what hero to use and how to use it effectively. This guide will not only help you teach the best strategies but can also help you decide what hero suits you best. Are you better as a support hero? Or an MVP hero? You will know.

Here is a list of heroes that I will include in part I of my heroes guide. They will not be posted in the same order but their guide will be posted first before the others that are not listed :

1. King Leoric (Skeleton King)
2. Kel'Thuzad (Lich King)
3. Sven (Rogue Knight)
4. Rigwarl (Bristleback)
5. Nortrom (Silencer)
6. Mercurial (Spectre)
7. Razor (Lightning Revenant)
8. Viper (Netherdrake)
9. Demnok Lannik (Warlock)
10. Leshrac the Malicious (Tormented Soul)

I will also be posting a team strategy guide like team lineups, team lanes, etc. in between hero guides so just keep checking.

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