Asian Girls | Dota Guide and Strategy

Introduction

Lina Inverse is a hero that I have been playing since her implementation some years ago. Since that time I have fought against and alongside heroes that today have drastically been changed or removed entirely from the world of DotA, although some remain largely the same. Lina herself has changed little yet my view of how to maximize her power has altered greatly parallel to how I and my play environment has changed.

At this time I believe that I am able to play this hero with maximum effectiveness. The build I used has been changed drastically over time and now I am under the impression that I can play Lina Inverse at her best. I wish to share my build and experiences with others so that they may also develop a better understanding of the potential that this hero holds.

This guide was not meant to be short. I try to be as concise as possible as I do not like to ramble but, simply put, you can’t just skim through this and expect to get everything out of it. Before commenting on this guide or even playing the build outlined please read the guide in its entirety. Thanks in advance.

Table of Contents

I. Hero Overview

• Stat Overview
• Skill Descriptions

II. Skill Build

• Skill List
• Skill Explanations

III. Item Build

• Item Build
• Build Explanation
• General Concept
• Alternatives
• Items Not To Get

IV. Strategy

1. Early Game

• Levels 1-2
• Levels 3, 4 and 5
• Levels 6-9

2. Mid Game

• Levels 10-12
• Levels 13-1

3. Late Game

V. Notable Enemies

VI. Misc. Notes

VII. Replays

VIII. Closing

I. Hero Overview

Stat Overview

Refer to this reference for Lina’s statistical information, as well as a second reference for her skill information.

To put it as swiftly as possible, Lina’s stats are mediocre. Her movespeed is above average, her Strength gain is poor as well as her Agility gain and her Intelligence gain is extremely high. Her attack animation is exceptionally slow along with her spell animations and her base armor/Strength are both low.

Skill Descriptions

Dragon Slave

AoE nuke that moves out from the hero like Shockwave. Relatively self-explanatory. However, many players underestimate the size of the spell’s radius. In order to quell these false beliefs, I’ve constructed a crude diagram to show the actual range of Dragon Slave.

The first line perpendicular to Lina with the X through it shows where I targeted the spell. The second line shows how far the spell actually goes. Like Carrion Swarm, Dragon Slave goes a lot farther than one initially expects. This is important to note, especially when using it to finish off a fleeing hero or to harass the enemy in your lane. The two lines running parallel to Lina’s sight simply show how large the area of the spell is. The area stays relatively constant, although the animation looks as though it would be much smaller coming out of Lina then becoming bigger as it moves.

As you play Lina you should learn that simply clicking on the hero that you wish to strike with Dragon Slave is not the most efficient way of using the spell. Rather, by learning how far the spell goes relative to where you target it you should be able to cast it from a much safer distance. By using the image given above and practicing this will soon come easy to you. When first I played this hero I underestimated the range of Dragon Slave, then as time went on I began to overestimate it instead. I do pretty well with it now but it’s taken me a while to get used to it. It will for you too.

Level 1 - Deals 90 damage. (68 with hero reduction) 90 mana cost.
Level 2 - Deals 150 damage. (94 with hero reduction) 105 mana cost.
Level 3 - Deals 210 damage. (158 with hero reduction) 125 mana cost.
Level 4 - Deals 280 damage. (210 with hero reduction) 140 mana cost.

8.5 second cooldown.

Light Strike Array (LSA)

Light Strike Array is Lina’s only disable. It’s characterized best by it being one of the very few aimable AoE non-ultimate disables and its relative difficulty of use. Here’s an example of the spell’s range:

What does this show? This is the farthest you can cast Light Strike Array without forcing Lina to move from her initial position. It’s the farthest the spell can go. This is a useful thing to keep in the back of your mind as you play. You’re obviously not going to memorize the range of this spell BUT this will give you a good mental image.

First I want to say that screenshots will not help you learn this spell. Replays will not help you learn this spell. Text will not help you learn this spell. Electroshock to your brain will not help you learn this spell. Practice is the only way you will become proficient with Light Strike Array. Period. That’s it. With every game you will improve, at first quite noticeably and then marginally as you practice. Practice is the word. It’s a beautiful word and it’s a beautiful thing.

As you play you’ll be able to hit with this spell with almost perfect consistency. Only by playing will you be able to gauge how fast your enemy is moving relative to where you are, how fast it takes Lina to cast the spell and how far away is too far away to hit with Light Strike Array. I have the potential to post dozens of screenshots showing me aiming, hitting, and missing with this spell and none of them will help you in the least. It’s just too intuitive to be learned by example, it can only be acquired through practice.

The only thing to keep in mind is that early it’s very difficult to hit with this spell, as your foe is going to be most alert at this point in the game. The best way to score an LSA hit early is to chain it with an allied disable or slow or to use it defensively when an enemy is attacking you. Otherwise it’s very difficult to do.

Light Strike Array destroys trees, which means you can use it to dismantle Eyes in the Forest or to eliminate Furion’s Sprout. On the other hand, be careful that you don’t cancel out ally Furion’s 5 second disable with your 1.5 second one.

Practice.

Level 1 - Deals 90 damage. (68 with hero reduction) 90 mana cost.
Level 2 - Deals 150 damage. (94 with reduction) 100 mana cost.
Level 3 - Deals 210 damage. (158 with reduction) 110 mana cost.
Level 4 - Deals 280 damage. (210 with reduction) 125 mana cost.

Stuns for 1.6 seconds. 10 second cooldown.

Ultimate

Ultimate is what sets Lina apart from most heroes of her kind. Once this spell is sufficiently leveled it becomes a permanent (and sizeable) IAS increase as long as you remember to keep it activated.

Level 1 - 10% increase for 20 seconds.
Level 2 - 20% increase for 25 seconds.
Level 3 - 30% increase for 30 seconds.
Level 4 - 50% increase for 30 seconds.

Laguna Blade

A simple spell that deals extremely high damage to a single target, Laguna Blade is a powerful fixture in Lina Inverse’s arsenal. This spell will be the source of many of your kills for a large portion of the game. Note that there is a significant cooldown decrease when levels 2 and 3 of Laguna Blade are learned, and a very minor one (not listed here) when Aghamin’s is purchased.

Level 1 - Deals 450 damage. (338 with hero reduction) 2 minute 30 seconds cooldown(!!). 280 mana cost.
Level 2 - Deals 675 damage. (506 with reduction) 1 minute 30 seconds cooldown. 420 mana cost.
Level 3 - Deals 950 damage. (713 with reduction) 55 second cooldown. 680 mana cost.

II. Skill Build

Skill List

Level 1- Light Strike Array
Level 2- Dragon Slave
Level 3- Dragon Slave
Level 4- Light Strike Array
Level 5- Dragon Slave
Level 6- Laguna Blade
Level 7- Dragon Slave
Level 8- Light Strike Array
Level 9- Light Strike Array
Level 10- Stats
Level 11- Laguna Blade
Level 12-15- Stats
Level 16- Laguna Blade
Level 17-20- Ultimate

Skill Explanation

Dragon Slave and Light Strike Array are Lina’s primary early game abilities. They’re necessary in order for her to establish lane control, gank enemy heroes and basically do anything throughout the entire game. Hence, they are maxed first and foremost.

Ultimate is taken during the latter part of the game, as up until very late you’ll want Stats over it in order to increase your mana and HP. IAS is only useful when you have damage, remember that. Laguna Blade is obviously maxed as quickly as possible; although the mana cost is high the obscene amount of instant damage it does allows us to easily nab a kill early, albeit by sacrificing a good deal of mana. This is why it’s taken at level 6 and not 10.

III. Item Build

Item List

4x Ancient Tango of Essifation, 1x Mantle of Intelligence, 3x Ironwood Branches, 2x Clarity Potion

Aghanims Scepter

Item Explanations

The early game itembuilid gives a nice amount of mana for a couple of stuns + slaves before your bottle. Later on Nulls are made, or bracers if the enemy are packing heroes like NightStalker and Pudge.

After this a bottle is purchased, although it was nerfed in the last patch, the usefullness is not diminished if you are rune camping, and this is what I do with my Lina.

The blink nerf makes the dagger a lot less useful to Lina, as such, a fast set of Travels are the best aid to your ganking, meaning you can be all over the map and are faster than most other heroes.

A pointbooster and a voidstone provide you with some necessary mana regeneration and augments your manapool and hitpoints, both items lead on to your lategame build.

Guinsoo uses Ultimate orb and Mystic staff, and as such gives you a massive manapool, aswell as some necessary hp. Obviously the 3 second hex is the main point of the item, and this allows you to initiate more easily, disable key DPS heroes, instantly cancel channelling spells, and stop teleports.
General Concept

The idea of these items is to augment Lina’s power as a ganking hero. Bottle-camping runes is somethign we’re probably all familiar with, but it allows for very powerful ganks and almost permanent lane staying. She needs little if anything to perform her job well but the added mobility of Travels allows her to zip around the map and land her stun more easily, also allowing her to escape more effectively.

Guinsoo provides your team with hex and gives your hero more mana (which you really, really need).

Items after these can vary immensely, from physical damage builds (desolator + buriza), to a build more focused on taking heroes out fast (refresher). However, two things remain relatively constant:

You will need a platemail at this stage of the game.
Aganhims is going to make you pretty Nasty

As with all item builds this is very situational, if you’re not going to get your guinsoos then turn that voidstone into a euls. If the 2200 gold isn’t coming fast enough; build some cheaper items instead. If your team has mass-caster and you can push early, go for an arcane ring. However, this build is good enough to be staple, and should do you well most of the time

This post has been edited by banjkan3: Mar 28 2008, 05:41 AM