Easiest Hero

Lich, viper, or Lina/Lion.

Bane or Lich. Hands down. If you can't go positive with them, then... idk what to say.

Easiest heroes? hmm, Pudge, Mirana, Nevermore and ... ehh ... definitely Invoker!

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Just trolling, on a serious note ...

For a DotA newb, I'd recommend TANKS like Leviathan, Abbadon, Skeleton King, Axe, Ogre Magi etc.


In terms of learning curve IMO Tanking < Supporting/Carrying as...

... Supports and hard carries are generally the target in a team fight.

... Proper support play takes quite some time to learn (eg. warding, surviving with just a boot :P)

... Most late-games boil down to the carries, if you are confident that you can last hit extremely well, know when to enter a team fight, know whom to target, know when to escape, know what item build to follow, know it all; then pick a carry, else be prepared to be mocked at, ridiculed and scorned upon by your team as well as your opponents.

... Tanks generally do not need a lot of micro in order to be played well (Brewmaster is an exception), you simply need to learn how to initiate a fight properly (important!).

^ There are no real tanks in Dota 2 besides Axe.

Jug and Skeleton King. Huskar too.

Edit: Now that I think about it, Phantom Assassin is also an easy hero to play.

Not at all, beginners do not know how to farm, and if PA doesn't get a proper farm, she's useless.

The reason why I said PA is because she has evasion, a short cd gap closer and attack speed boost, a short cd slow that is good for farming, and amazing damage potential (although its somewhat unreliable xD).

Still, if she doesn't get farm, she doesn't get gold, she doesn't get level -> she will be useless.

^Yup.

I still think nuker-supports are the way to go. Espicially Lina, since her Q,W,R combo is almost a guaranteed kill.

Depends on the role

SK is an easymode carry. He only has one active, a free aegis and lifesteal, crits etc. He's not a hard hero to execute with or understand.

Slardar is a fairly easy semi-carry to use as well.

Lich is an easy support. He rarely runs out of mana, doesn't need many items, straightforward skills, easy lane control.

Tide is a pretty easy initiator. He has naturally high tankiness with a passive purge, and an easy to hit ulti that is also devastating.

NS is an easy ganker. He is naturally tanky, has a phenomenal nuke, and high MS/AS. Pretty easy to perform well with. He's not even that mana deprived.

Some of the heros that people recommend for starting players I am completely useless at. I cannot play Axe to save my life, I cannot play Witch Doctor, I am so-so with Tidehunter and meh with Sven. But I can play a complex hero like Invoker and tricky supports like Vengeful Spirit.
To me, the easiest heros are the ones who basically consist of passives and right-clicking the enemy to death. My biggest examples of this are Drow Ranger and Viper. The only way you can be bad at those heros is if you don't know how to turn your auto-cast on. My first days of DoTA I had no idea how to even play and I was getting 15+ kills. Woe was me when I tried heroes that actually require skill.
Skeleton King is a pretty good example, but I had big issues with him until I figured out which skill build to use.
Riki is ultimate easy mode if you have a basic understanding of the game. Know when you should attack your opponent, know where to land your smoke bomb, and know who your easy targets are, ie go for the squishy defenseless mage, not the tank.

Ultimately my biggest example of pubstomp easy mode a-monkey-pooping-on-the-keyboard-can-play-this-guy hero is Ursa. And how. Solo Rosh by level 3, (lvl 1 if you got an SK buddy) two shot everything in the game by level 6 (three shot if they're kind of bulky) and effortless jungle from the start of the game. Granted you need a basic understanding of how to play, but I can't stand people who play Ursa for easy-mode-feel-good-about-myself win, or the people who complain how easy he is to counter when he's their most successful hero and they get 20+ kills with him every game.