Lina for Newbies

Where's Blink Dagger?

On further thought I've moved Bloodstone to pure luxury category. It didn't belong on the same level with Aghanim's.

You may be right about bottle crow, but it's another thing to try and learn at a point where just staying alive and getting a feel for the basic mechanics tends to be enough to think about. The higher cost might make it a better choice though, I think its easy to forget how hard it can be at first to make money even with a ranged.

Re Bloodstone, I was just going for the simplicity. I must admit I've never tried rod of atos on Lina, I'll give it a play tonight. Good to hear some new ideas, as I'm still fairly new myself.

I am curious why you suggest going for aghs or bloodstone if you are new, sure you don't need to click them to use it, but things like a rod of atos or ghost scepter go much further in helping keep someone alive against the mass riki and ursa in low level pubs.

Additionally, instead of telling people to get a perseverance, I think you should just tell them how to bottle crow as its much cheaper (1700 vs 950).

Overall besides the weird item selection and progression well done.

Magic stick can be a really useful early item for Lina. The little hp boosts can be an absolute lifesaver, especially if you're playing her quite aggressively.

As for Voidstone, I explained above that it's fairly easy build into Perseverance makes it a great way for a new Lina to not have to seriously worry about mana or HP regen. Most of the items here are intended to remove the complexity from the early game for players who don't have the experience to be juggling items or thinking about 6 things at once.

As for a build a 'new player would probably make', this build is more than sufficient for a player to dominate a fair number of pub rooms. The problem with trying to share 'advanced tactics' is exactly the one I spelled out above. For many people the majority of guides are barely understandable, and the item combinations end up being more confusing than useful.

...

Why on earth would you put magic stick as a core starting item for lina, even in a New Players build.

1) Most New players will be up against a team of 5 carries (often something like Riki Sniper Drow Ranger Viper Bloodseeker being the team comp. In this case. the idea of getting a magic stick just doesn't make sense to me.

2) Ironwood Branches.

3) Something you wouldn't try to explain here is the RARE occasions you would want a magic stick start ( Batrider/ Bristleback), in a new players guide I would do something more along the lines of just say "don't get a magic stick at the beginning of the game" (or "Please for the love of God and the sanity of the members on your team, don't get a Boots of Speed/ Tango starting item build")

Also, switch the position of Voidstone and Arcane Boots. Voidstone provides less mana regen per second than arcane boots early on, doesn't benefit the team in any way, and only builds into luxury items. Arcane Boots are made from an Energy Booster which can be dissembled later when you do want luxury items and are likely making that Bloodstone. Voidstone MIGHT build into something eventually, but that depends on if you even get to the luxury items stage.

I mean I know this is a guide for new players, and all, but sharing "advanced" tactics isn't always a bad thing. Sharing a build a new player himself would probably make doesn't help the cause...