I played this lane once as Lina almost by accident...but boy was it effective. It's not one I've really seen before or since, but it would seem to have definite potential as an off-lane spoiler.

The lynchpin of this strategy is Nightmare. It has a long disable time, even at low levels, and even inflicts a little damage (20 per second). It also makes it very easy for Light Strike Array to hit. Both heroes have a reasonable ranged attack too.

The big problem with Nightmare is that you can't auto-attack someone under it's influence without it transfering to you...HOWEVER, you can still target the person with spells...

Assuming both players max their nukes, even without their right clicks (safe to assume you would get a few in as the enemy tried to retreat):

- At level 2 their combo has 360 damage (270 MR)

- At level 4 it has 580 damage (435 MR)

- At level 6 it has 1660 potentially (1245 MR)

3 levels in Dragon Slave = 230
2 in Light Strike Array = 150
3 in Brain Sap = 230
…
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There been a lot of talk lately about overpowered heroes - new ones are coming in, existing heroes reworked and rebalanced.

DOTA is an incredibly difficult ecosystem to balance - there are so many heroes, powers and items - any hero can be overpowered in the right situation...the real key to whether something is OP or not is HOW MANY situations they're very strong in, and how easily/effectively you can counter them.

The other difficulty is the wide range of skills that the game has to fit across - some heroes with ridiculous micro or skill-shots might be overpowered in Pro games...but very ineffective amongst beginners. Some heroes only work well with good team-work and co-ordination from other players. At the end of the day the rules have to be the same for everyone though...

X Hard Carry is overpowered

We've all had those games where Faceless Void or Anti-Mage gets fed, or your team spends the whole time trying to outfarm him and fail massively. It can seem unfair where the …
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One thing I've noticed a lot recently is the number of players insisting on a solo or jungle role before the teams have been picked, or when they have and it's completely inappropriate.

Why have Junglers?

The main purpose of having junglers is to increase the amount of farm and experience that the team receives overall. This is because two players (the solo and the jungler) each receive their own supply and if things go reasonably well, it means they gain an overall advantage.

However, you need a proper solo hero for this to work. Someone who can actively benefit from the experience and survive the lane. Sometimes you can run a safe lane solo instead, and this increases the number of heroes who can do it successfully.

Not having a proper solo can make your jungle/solo combo a disadvantage for your team. Also beware of especially unpleasant lanes from the opposition. For example, if the enemy hard carry is freefarming their safe lane - while your solo just has to hang around th…
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Love it or loathe it, the Valve matchmaking system is probably the single most important aspect of making Dota 2 a fun game to play. Personally, I'd rather lose a close, exciting game, than win an easy stomp.

Matchmaking is so important in Dota because the differences in skill between players tends to make or break the game. Assuming the system gets it pretty well balanced then it comes down to team work, picks, good plays and maybe a bit of luck - hopefully making for a gg.

Did a bit of research and found out some interesting things about the matchmaking system:

- There are no actual skill brackets for matchmaking (you can see which category your games get placed in by going to "Watch", and then filtering by skill and your name), it's on a continuous scale. This is good to hear, as you'd think they'd be some pretty big variations by putting players into just 3 categories.

- Your usual role and hero choices aren't taken into account when matchmaking. This is a bit disappointing…
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Hi, I'm Sando - I've been playing Dota 2 about a year and a half and mainly play int/support heroes, thou I'm getting quite into randoming :)

This blog is going to be a series of musings on games I've played, thoughts about strategy and hero comments.

First up Timbersaw...now I'm happy to be corrected on this...but I've yet to see anyone play him effectively. Supposedly he's a ganker, but due to his powers he doesn't seem like a great mid, and he never seems to get going enough to really do very much from the sidelanes. Not really a carry or a support...where does he fit into a team? I can think of more effective gankers, team fighters and other non-carries. So, bad pick, or just bad players?
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