I realise that some of you will scream for pretty screen shots - tough. At the moment, I can't be bothered and this isn't meant to be a comprehensive guide.
Read about Lina's skills here.
Table of Contents
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Alt Tab Guide
Hero Analysis & Introduction
| Back in the .48b era, (and then again in .59d?) she was a hugely popular and strong pick, generally used in a dual stun lane with the likes of CM and Sven. These days, with the focus on disables, she is overshadowed by Lion - who also has high burst damage with Impale/Finger of Death, but scales much better into late game with Voodoo and can Solo well with a superior attack/casting animation and base damage. Lion's stun is also much easier to land! However, as this guide is not for competitive gaming (as I have no experience in that area, other than watching replays) I can confidently say that Slayer is a very enjoyable hero to play; roaming around at level 7 insta-gibbing fragile agility carries is excellent fun. |
Skill Justification
| Languna Blade is taken whenever possible for obvious reasons. Fiery Soul is left until midgame as a) the other two spells are your main nukes and need to be maxed asap for you to fully exploit their fixed damage and b) you only begin to get damage items later in the game and thus can actually take advantage of the added Attack Speed. Depending on the circumstances, feel free to level Stats over Fiery Soul. |
Item Justification
| Starting Items As you're a non carry INT hero, you're a support player to a degree. You should sub in Observer Wards if someone else on your team buys a Courier, obviously. This said, Lina isn't a ward b*tch - she needs a quick-ish Dagon or Dagger for her to be fully effective. The branches are for cheap stats and to be turned into a Wand; the consumables for obvious reasons. With regards to warding, there's not much better than Lycan's peemp guide. Early Game Boots and Wand are awesome for all heroes, 'nuff said. The Null Talisman is to pad out your mana pool just a little, in order to support a LSA -> Slave -> Blade combo, much like with NA. I list both Bottle and Urn as optional items; much as Lina lurves burst regeneration and most runes, there may be other Bottle carriers on your team - Lina should also never be mid, so often she cannot take full advantage of the runes. Urn is a great item too, but there may be other better carriers on your team and it's unwise to have more than two. Note: if you don't get either item, I'd definitely recommend taking Arcane Boots over Treads. Both items also slow down your Dagger/Dagon, which isn't so good. Mid Game Most games I get Dagger for Lina - in my opinion it's the core item for Lina. As with Lion, it means you can gank much more easily, getting off your combo without being disabled and focused to death. It adds a lot of mobility, making up for her below average movespeed - it also enables you to do cool stuff like dodging spells. However, if you are mopping the floor with your opposition or going some sort of mass nuke strategy, a rushed Dagon can be overwhelming in terms of sheer damage - assuming basic hero resistance and a level 9 Lina, the full combo does (280+280+450+400)*.75 = 1057.5 damage. Upgrading your boots after either of these items is the natural progression. Boots of Travel are too prohibitively expensive at this stage in the game, and Lina doesn't need the added damage from Phase Boots - basically Power Treads for HP or Arcane Boots for burst Mana (hurdur). I normally get Treads with Dagger and Arcane with Dagon, but feel free to mix and match depending on your ingame needs. After these, feel free to splurge on Wards/Dust for your team. Late Game Guinsoo's is always a good choice, meaning you have a little more presence late game. Boots of Travel give you even more mobility for counter/pushing. Aghanim's is an item I'm not personally fond of, but it's a good upgrade if you got a midgame Point Booster. Ghost Sceptre is a purely defensive items against the horrendous physical DPS the hard carries dish out - if you're feeling really lulzy, it can be upgraded to an Ethereal Blade. Finally, if you haven't gotten it yet - a Dagger is always great. |
Your Role
| You should head off to lane, though be willing to take part in any firstblood rune attempts your allies want to try - the 1.6s stun from LSA is rather large early game. Try and lane with another stunner, preferably one with a ranged stun who can benefit from the aggressive babysitting you provide (Skeleton King, SK & Sven spring to mind). Once you hit level 3, you can harass with Dragon Slave - try to use it to cancel salves/clarities and at the same time last hit a few creeps; your mana pool should never be full. Upon hitting level 6, try and get a kill with your ally - at worst your combined damage will drive them back to the fountain, giving you freefarm. You're at your peak from levels 6 - 11, especially at 9, so try and take advantage of that by ganking hard! Mid Game Hopefully, you have your core item by now - if not, you can farm waves very quickly with LSA/Slave combination. A Dagger/Dagon means that you can now gank without an allied stunner; try and search the map for heroes farming at 60 - 75% HP; they're food. By now team battles will be happening; unless it's a gank, you should never initiate - due to the low cooldown on her spells, Lina can often get off two LSAs/Slaves if her mana allow. Blink in/Stroll up and focus on the squishier heros - most preferably fragile agility DPsers like Drow, Sniper and Gondar. Although you're powerful - you're not invincible; play it safe(-ish). Late Game At this time, the power of your spells is decreasing as heroes get tankier and carries begin to shine. Not to worry; you still do substantial damage, just not insta-gibbing as previously. Like other casters, play it carefully and stick to periphery of the team battles - hopefully you have a Guinsoo, so can actively contribute a bit of DPS with Fiery Soul. Ideally, your contributions via ganking should mean that your team cruises to an easy victory against cowed, underleveled opponents  . |
Allies and Enemies
Good Allies
On top of being an all round great hero, Puggles also has special synergy with you. His Decrepify means that you can easily land your LSA and likewise for his Nether Blast. Not to mention that the added damage is beyond description <3
Because, y'know, all heros go well with Stunners.
Bad Enemies
Just as he's your bestest friend, he's also a horrible enemy. Two words; Nether Ward. At level 4, Nether Ward deals 1.5* mana used; against a level 16 Slayer's combo, that's (125+140+680)*1.5*0.75 = 1063 damage. almost as much as her own combo (1132).
Like other combo nukers, Silencer is a real pain to play against. With three active spells, Last Word messes you up - if you can't cast spells, you're not much use. Thankfully, his CotS spam in the laning phase isn't such an issue - you can just harass back with well placed Dragon Slaves.
Ironically, Lina is also at risk from other heroes with high burst damage, due to her low starting Strength and gain.
Scawy! Especially after he gets Armlet/Dagger.
Scary Items
You're a spell caster - if you can't cast spells, you're useless.
Need I explain?
Unlikely in public games, especially just to counter you. But, if you're playing against competent opposition - it messes you up, hard.
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