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Animal Courier
Observer Ward
Tango
Healing Salve
Clarity
Iron BranchIron Branch
Boots of Speed
Urn of Shadows
Magic Wand
Arcane Boots
Force Staff
Eul's Scepter of Divinity
Mekansm
Pipe of Insight
Aghanim's Scepter
Ghost Scepter
Bloodstone
Veil of Discord
Dagon 1
Scythe of Vyse
Shiva's Guard
Ethereal Blade
Boots of Travel
Blink Dagger
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2 | 3 | 5 | 7 |  |
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1 | 8 | 9 | 10 |  |
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4 | 12 | 13 | 14 |  |
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6 | 11 | 16 |  |
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15 | 17 | 18 |
Lina is one of my favorite heroes for a couple of good reasons. She is one of the best nukers in-game with a stun, a quick burst of damage, something to boost her right-clicks and a finisher. Granted, her HP may be trash, but she is a hero who should never be in the front-lines taking damage, rather in the backlines raining hell on every enemy. This hero is heavily underestimated as a worthless piece of trash, but she can be one of the most useful supports in-game with a good team composition and communication. Once you get the chance to play her you will notice it's very rewarding to win with her.
Lore:
"The sibling rivalries between Lina the Slayer, and her younger sister Rylai, the Crystal Maiden, were the stuff of legend in the temperate region where they spent their quarrelsome childhoods together. Lina always had the advantage, however, for while Crystal was guileless and naive, Lina's fiery ardor was tempered by cleverness and conniving. The exasperated parents of these incompatible offspring went through half a dozen homesteads, losing one to fire, the next to ice, before they realized life would be simpler if the children were separated. As the oldest, Lina was sent far south to live with a patient aunt in the blazing Desert of Misrule, a climate that proved more than comfortable for the fiery Slayer. Her arrival made quite an impression on the somnolent locals, and more than one would-be suitor scorched his fingers or went away with singed eyebrows, his advances spurned. Lina is proud and confident, and nothing can dampen her flame."
Pros:
[*] Two powerful nukes.
[*] Built-in pushing capabilities with Fiery Soul.
[*] Not much farm needed.
[*] Game changing ultimate (if used properly).
[*] Really big mana pool.
Cons:
[*] Poor HP pool.
[*] Reliant in team composition and communication.
[*] Easy to gank if set up correctly.
[*] Early-game your full combo will deplete your mana pool, if you have enough mana to pull it off.
[*] (Without practice) Hard-to-land stun.
[*] Horrible attack animation.
Dragon Slave:
"Lina channels the breath of a dragon, sending out a wave of fire that scorches every enemy in its path."
Dragon Slave has an amazing radius of 275 and 200 (depending on the part of the animation), a range of 800 and a distance traveled of 1000, making it perfect to secure that first blood or kill that with any other hero would've been dreams. Any other except Zeus or Spectre at level 6, that is.
[*] Cooldown will always be 8.5 seconds.
It scales on +mana = +dmg. The stats are the following:
[*] Level 1: 100 Damage/90 Mana.
[*] Level 2: 170 Damage/105 Mana.
[*] Level 3: 230 Damage/125 Mana.
[*] Level 4: 280 Damage/140 Mana.
We max it first because as the game progresses it's value will degrade and we want to use it to it's fullest before the point where it's nothing arrives.
Light Strike Array:
"Summons a column of flames that damages and stuns enemies."
Light Strike Array is your bread-n-butter stun, mostly used as a follow up to Unit-Target stuns (like Vengeful Spirit's Magic Missile, Crystal Maiden's Frostbite, etc...) or to set-up ganks by stunning the enemy heroes. Oh, also to escape by dropping it on the enemies' faces and running like your life depended on it (it probably does). While he cast delay makes it a little predictable, it scales amazingly.
[*] Cooldown will always be 7 seconds. Cast delay will always be 0.5 seconds.
It scales on +mana = +dmg & +s.duration. The stats are the following:
[*] Level 1: 90 Damage/1.6 Stun/90 Mana.
[*] Level 2: 150 Damage/1.7 Stun/100 Mana.
[*] Level 3: 210 Damage/1.8 Stun/110 Mana.
[*] Level 4: 280 Damage/1.9 Stun/125 Mana.
We max it second because around the time it's taken, Lina's right-clicks are satisfactory enough to be a little threat. The stun is just enough to get around 3 right-clicks in, which are normally the right amount to kill a support with just Laguna Blade and a weakened carry with Dragon Slave + Laguna Blade.
Fiery Soul:
"Grants bonus attack and movement speed each time Lina casts a spell. Stacks with itself. Lasts 9 seconds."
With a maximum of 3 stacks which make up for a shocking 255 attack speed and 24% movespeed at level 4, Fiery Soul is a skill which in the mid-game makes Lina a pushing power, overall if you build bloodstone-travel, where it can even become a sort of rat-doto pusher with a lot of skill.
[*] The duration of this passive is always 9 seconds, and max stacks always 3.
It does not use mana, being a passive. The stats are the following: (Per Stack)
[*] Level 1: 40 Attack Speed Bonus/5% Movespeed Bonus
[*] Level 2: 55 Attack Speed Bonus/6% Movespeed Bonus
[*] Level 3: 70 Attack Speed Bonus/7% Movespeed Bonus
[*] Level 4: 85 Attack Speed Bonus/8% Movespeed Bonus
It is maxed last because now both skills that are needed for this passive to actually work are active at it's max power, and as mentioned above, make Lina a reliable pusher granted it is a safe split-pushing where not all the enemy team is missing, unless you have a bloodstone-travel/tp-BKB, where it would be safe to say you're just going pushing ham.
Laguna Blade
"Fires off a bolt of lightning at a single enemy unit, dealing massive damage."
Just one of the most powerful (and best) nukes in the game. Laguna Blade has a short cooldown in comparison to other ultimates of the same kind (
Finger of Death - 
Lion, Reapers Scythe - 
Necrophos, Thundergods Wrath - 
Zeus, Sanitys Eclipse - Outworld Devourer). It also is the only ultimate in-game that changes it's damage type when Aghanims Scepter is purchased, which makes it much more useful than it's counterparts (maybe except for Sanity's and Reaper's).
[*] It's cooldowns are 70/60/50, for the respective 3 levels, and the range is 600 (900*)
[*] Damage type: Magical (Universal*)
It scales on +mana = +dmg. The stats are the following: (* is used for Scepter stats.)
[*] Level 1: 450 (600*)/280 Mana
[*] Level 2: 675 (925*)/420 Mana
[*] Level 3: 950 (1250*)/680 Mana
Maxed last because it is the ultimate. It's medium cast range and high damage at all levels + the steep mana cost makes it an obvious finisher that shouldn't be taken lightly. What Universal Damage (Aghanims Scepter type of damage) implies, is that Laguna Blade will go through magic immunity but will also be reduced by magic resistance. Be careful, I've seen many people throw themselves for a kill they didn't get because they mixed those two concepts up.
The starting items are actually really basic, but take into consideration one thing:
[*] You should only buy Animal Courier OR Observer Wards. Take them both only if you want to forgo the clarity and branches, which I would never recommend.
Early Game:
[*] Urn of Shadows is taken because of a high roaming capability that Lina has, along with the gank set-up she can do on her lane. It also gives nice stats and HP regen in the form of charges.
[*] Only take Magic Wand if you have a reliable way of getting charges, if not it's pointless and you should save those branches for Mekansm.
Core:
[*] Arcane Boots are bought to replenish your mana pool just enough so you can cast that Laguna Blade which will probably score a kill for your team. It also supports. Remember to dissemble to use the Energy Booster if you're building Bloodstone.
[*] We take Force Staff for that extra escape and initiation. Who ever said you can't initiate with a Force Staff?
[*] Removing someone from a teamfight for 2.5 seconds in the right moment can and will win it. Hence why we take Euls Scepter of divinity.
[*] Mekansm is your bread-n-butter support item, if no other support is building it already then build it yourself.
Situational:
[*] Pipe of Insight is taken if there's a big burst of magic damage in the enemy team that you want to counter (
Echo Slam, 
Chain Frost, Finger of Death...).
[*] Aghanims Scepter is one of the best items for Lina, as it makes Laguna Blade pass through Magic Immunity (NOT the same as Magic Resistance) and adds a butt-load of damage.
[*] Ghost Scepter is taken if the enemy team has a lot of right-click damage that is NOT magical (you will take more damage if it is).
[*] We take Bloodstone if you want to be a semi-pusher along with Boots of Travel, or if you just want the extra survivability against strong nukes, like Thundergods Wrath or Finger of Death.
[*] Dagon: Killstealin' n' big damage dealin', aye? Burst down you enemies quickly with this little son of a b****.
[*] Veil of Discord: Dealing damage is always important on Lina, so we take Veil of Discord if you have a lot of magic damage on your team to burst the enemies quickly.
Luxuries:
[*] Scythe of Vyse is my favorite item in the game, definitely. The disable is insanely good, and with the right team assist will always be a kill. You might not need assistance always when getting a kill with it, though.
[*] Shivas Guard is picked up, because more armor, mana and damage along with the slows are always welcome.
[*] Do you know how much damage a Aghanims Scepter Laguna Blade with Ethereal Blade deals? I don't, but that guy just died.
[*] Boots of Travel are taken if you want pushing power with Lina along with a Bloodstone once you dissemble your Mana Boots, or if you just want the movespeed + the tps. Whatever rolls your boat.
[*] BLINK DAGGAR ( Blink Dagger). Use it to catch up, initiate, get in a fight... It is useful for most - if not all - teamfights, where the positioning will be golden.
Friends :) :
A friend of Lina is one who can set her stun up, deal high amounts of damage while the enemies are stunned or can set up disables with Lina's stun. Some examples are:
High DPS:
[*] 
Sven
[*] 
Faceless Void
[*] 
Wraith King
[*] 
Morphling
[*] ETC.
Set-Up:
[*] 
Crystal Maiden
[*] 
Vengeful Spirit
[*] Wraith King
[*] 
Shadow Shaman
[*] ETC.
Foes >:( :
A foe of Lina is anyone who doesn't need a lot of items to go online early game and can blow her up easily before she beefs up or just in any stage of the game. Examples of this are:
[*] Faceless Void
[*] Lion
[*] Wraith King
[*] Antimage
[*] 
Bane
[*] 
Viper
[*] 
Doom (Counter of everything)
[*] ETC.
In ranked I normally see Lina while in the highest tiers (I've watched some of the lower tiers, and she never shows up), because in those not many high damage early-game heroes are picked, players often choose one early-game hero that can go online for the mid-late game ( Faceless Void, 
Tiny for example).
In ranked, Lina's performance will always be determined by the laning phase. If Lina feeds the game is practically thrown, whereas if she doesn't, the game has a chance. The reason is really simple: The enemy will always go to the escape-less, squishy support. Between a 
Weaver and a Lina, they will go to the Lina because she has no escape, unlike Weaver.
Examples of good DUAL Lane Partners for Lina in Ranked are:
[*] Wraith King: The single target stun is perfect for Lina's AoE stun, a follow up along with some lucky crits from Wraith King and a well-placed Dragon Slave will end up in a kill. I suggest this lane if you need to shut down a enemy hero quickly in the early game.
[*] 
Dragon Knight: Dragon Knight's ranged stun in 
Elder Dragon Form along with Lina's stun will make a situation like the one with Wraith King, only you'll have two nukes instead of one, making the chances of a kill much higher.
[*] 
Slark: 
Pounce + Light Strike Array is a really powerful combination, I'd suggest this lane if you are in no hurry to shut down heroes, yet you want kills for Slark to go online quickly.
[*] 
Chaos Knight: Really good partner, the 4 second stun and rift will make landing all of your attacks easy. I recommend this lane if you want a really powerful mid-late game Chaos Knight. You'll need skill on both players to pull it off though.
[*] 
Alchemist: While a trilane with Alchemist would be in my opinion the best bet, a dual lane with Lina also works as you can force an enemy to tank 
Acid Spray.
Examples of good TRILANES with Lina in Ranked are:
[*] Any Carry + Crystal Maiden/ Vengeful Spirit/ Shadow Shaman/
Windranger: Setting up kills is easy granted this carry can actually deal a decent amount of damage.
[*] 
Naga Siren + 
Skywrath Mage/ Crystal Maiden/Alts.: Ever heard of perma-disable? Well, with 
Ensnare and LSA it will be very easy to follow up kills. The extra disable like 
Frostbite and 
Magic Missile is an added bonus to make it quicker.
[*] Weaver + 
Enchantress/
Disruptor/
Keeper of the Light: Sometimes Lina's stun may be the only disable, and thus used to initiate the kill. The partners Lina will have to complete the kill, however, will probably be high damage dealers to finish the hero off quickly.
If I didn't mention it before, the item build will change with each ranked game, so be flexible with the items. The ITEM build for this mode is yet to be added as of 7/30/14.
Rank is where you'll find more "Try-hards" using "cheap" heroes. No hero is cheap (not even 
Sniper), and by picking on supports to win the game and get fed is how it's supposed to be, it's not "try-hard"-ing.
Thanks for taking your time to read my first DotaFire guide, which I have yet to finish. As soon as it is finished I'll post it here. You can subscribe to the guide to use in-game.
If you find any typo or concept error, or you think there's any better build or that something needs to be changed, please let me know.
NOTE: Anyone know a reliable pic-posting site? I used Tinypic for the Skill images, but couldn't post more after those.
[*] 7/30/14: First version posted.
[*] 8/10/14: First revision. Changelog section added along with Veil of Discord, Dagon and edited "Pros & Cons" section.
[*] 8/14/14: Second revision. Modified the whole build adding quoted names & fixing typos.
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