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3 Votes

Crystallis - A Build for Crystal Maiden

April 13, 2014 by Spoony le Bard
Comments: 3    |    Views: 9567    |   


Nova Crystallis

DotA2 Hero: Crystal Maiden




Hero Skills

Crystal Nova

1 6 7 12

Frostbite

2 9 10 11

Arcane Aura

3 4 5 8

Freezing Field

13 14 16

Talents

15 17 18

Introduction

Let me preface this by saying, this is my first DOTA 2 hero guide. Crystal Maiden is my personal favorite hero, and this is my ideal build for her.

I'm relatively new to the game, so any constructive feedback would be greatly appreciated.

~Thanks


Crystal Maiden is an intelligence hero that excels in the roles of Support, Disabler, and Nuker. This build generally combines the three to make her great in any situation.

Pros & Cons

Pros
- Great support character.
- Powerful and global passive ability.
- Great in ganks.
- Good disabler (and possible nuker with the right timing and/or items).
- Good babysitter and harasser.

Cons
- Slower than molasses going uphill in January.
- Very squishy; typically first to be targeted in team fights.
- Early-game screw-ups inevitably result in severe late-game uselessness.
- Poor escapability (save Frostbite, which can be used as a sort of "escape" in the right situations.

Friends & Foes

FRIENDS
Anti-Mage
Because Anti-Mage is dependent on mana, your Arcane Aura and harrassing can help him get VERY fed VERY quickly. Stick with Anti-Mage if he's on your side. If you're playing against him - RUN THE HELL AWAY or team up and go for a gank to quickly put him down.

Storm Spirit
Don't lane with him, but your Arcane Aura is a great boon for Storm Spirit.

Ursa
Great to go with as a lane partner - sacrifice yourself if need be. In general, it's good to lane with a melee character with high HP. Don't lane with escapes, as they'll typically leave you high and dry (and dead).

Pudge
Pudge is great to go with for ambushes. Wait for him to use his meat hook, then Frostbite the enemy hero. There's no escape for them then...

Juggernaut
Juggernaut's abilities are particularly effective if his enemies are slowed or stunned. Luckily, Crystal Maiden is very effective at doing both of these. Juggernaut's problem is that enemies get away from him too quickly. Slow them down with Crystal Nova or simply Frostbite them, and they'll be 6-feet-under before you could say "Nature's Prophet".

Earthshaker
Stick with Earthshaker in a tri-lane - both you and him are great at ganking.

ENEMIES
Spectre
Spectre can kill you very easily with her ultimate. Only take on Spectre if she is alone and you have allies you can back up.

Tiny
If Tiny is fed enough, he can stun you, then take you out with only a few hits.

Chaos Knight
Frostbite is useless on him if he uses his ultimate, which will definitely kill you.

Centaur Warrior
Has two slow abilities, which are VERY effective against you.

Pudge
The best way to defend against Pudge is with wards. His hook can bring you in, and you will most likely not be able to escape.

Vengeful Spirit
Has a slow ability, which can destroy Crystal Maiden very quickly because she's already so slow.

Venomancer
Once again, has a slow ability.

Starting Items

Observer Ward
Before the battle actually begins, you should be out throwing up wards in the rune-locations. This way, your allies will know for sure when enemy heroes are missing and where they are going so that they can prepare. As the game progresses and as tower fall, you'll need to be constantly throwing up wards.
Have a teammate purchase the courier - you need to ward. If nobody does, purchase the courier at your earliest opportunity.
*NOTE: If the opposing team has a character with any sort of invisibility (such as Riki), be sure to switch our Observer Wards for Sentry Wards because they give true sight.

Tango
Start with only one tango. In early game, you're going to be stacking and pulling creeps for maximum efficiency and to help you carry, so you won't see a lot of hero-on-hero fighting (largely due to the fact that you're going to be far back into your own territory). While you're waiting for neutral creeps to respawn, you should be helping your lane partner by harassing enemy heroes and denying your creeps. This should effectively shut down enemy heroes quickly, giving your team an edge later in the game.

Clarity (x2)
Until you've leveled up Arcane Aura 2 or 3 points, your mana regeneration will be very slow. Clarity is necessary for the occasional situation where your lane partner wants to go for a kill.

Ring of Protection
RoP is smart for Crystal Maiden because you're so squishy. In addition to adding a +2 bonus to your armor, you can use it later to craft an essential early-game item: Tranquil Boots.

Iron Branch
Great for any hero, an Iron Branch will give you a tiny boost to mana regeneration, HP regeneration, movement speed, and attack speed. More would be ideal, but the money spent on Ring of Protection will pay off later, as you will use it to craft Tranquil Boots.

Early-Game Items

Boots of Speed
Buying these boots is essential to playing Crystal Maiden. Because she's so slow, they should be the first thing to purchase. Also, they'll come in hand when you go to craft your Tranquil Boots (Which, if you bought the Ring of Protection from the get-go, you should only have to buy a Ring of Regeneration to complete them!).

Ring of Regeneration
Buy this immediately after the Boots of Speed to complete the Tranquil Boots - a Crystal Maiden essential. The boots will give you a +12 bonus to HP regeneration, as well as a +50 bonus to movement speed - allowing Crystal Maiden to last longer in the lane and providing her with some added survivability.

Flying Courier
By now, your teammates are getting to the point where your courier is in high demand. Upgrade him for optimal delivery speed!

Magic Wand
Great for any hero, use the Magic Wand when you're in a team fight and desperately need either mana or HP.

Core Items & Late Game Items

Mekansm
Once you procure a Mekansm, it's time to start joining in on team fights. Now you'll shift from a babysitter and lane supporter to an all-around support. Remember to use this when you're going to take a tower and your creeps or allied heroes are low on HP or during team fights when you need a little extra push or need to desperately escape.

Blink Dagger
The Blink Dagger is great for Crystal Maiden because it serves dual purposes:
1.) It allows her to escape if she desperately needs to.
2.) It gives her team a greater chance in team fights because she can blink in, use Freezing Field, then get back.

Aghanim's Scepter
The Scepter gives Crystal Maiden some much-needed extra HP, as well as a +10 to all attributes and extra mana to boot (which can be helpful when she needs to use the mana-intensive Freezing Field).

Luxury Items

Hood of Defiance
The hood can be helpful in this way:
1.) Activate Hood of Defiance
2.) Blink into team fight
3.) Channel Freezing Field
It gives her a higher chance of surviving while using her ultimate.

Shiva's Guard
Gives you a HUGE books to Intelligence and to Armor, as well as giving Crystal Maiden a secondary slow ability and added Nukage.

How to Play this Build

Early Game
Before the battle even begins, you should throw up wards on the rune areas. This way, your allies will know when enemy heroes are coming, where they're headed, and what areas they've left exposed.

Once the battle begins, you should focus on stacking and pulling neutral creeps. You'll completely deny enemy heroes in your lane from getting any EXP, and you'll give your lane partner a chance to farm both EXP and Gold. Also, you're not taking last-hits from your lane partner, which gives you some Gold in return.

Typically, try to use Crystal Nova on a fresh batch of creeps to weaken them for your laning partner. Then, go to town harassing enemy heroes and denying your creeps. Be careful though - don't overuse Crystal Nova otherwise you'll end up being too low on mana, which can lead to you or your laning partner being utterly destroyed.

Purchase Tranquil Boots ASAP. They'll help you to avoid team fights when necessary and give you longer survivability in the lane.

Generally avoid conflict with enemy heroes until you've got some decent items (Tranquil Boots, in particular) and a several levels - then it's time to join your laning partner.

Mid Game
Work on getting a Mekansm, but also roam to help allies to gank. You've got great ganking potential, especially if you show up out of the blue when they're low on HP and trying to escape, Frostbite, then Crystal Nova. Be careful not to steal kills though, and remember than positioning is everything for Crystal Maiden.

Late Game
Stick with your group and/or your hard-carry. Never go anywhere alone - you're still very squishy. Help your allies to gank on solo heroes, particularly junglers. Helping to gank on junglers is particularly helpful to the team because you're not only giving your allies Kills, you're preventing their jungler from getting too fed. You're also (usually) stealing the neutral creeps they were fighting, giving you or your allies additional EXP and gold.

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