Asian Girls | Dota Guide and Strategy

I. Introduction
1. Foreword
2. Hero Stats
3. Quick Overview

II. Skill Information
1. Hero Skills
2. Skill Overview
3. Skill Build
4. Justification for Skill Build

III. Item Build
1. Introduction to Item Build
2. Core Item Build
3. Core Item Build Justification
4. Items after Core Build
5. Justification for Items after Core Build
6. Rejected Items

IV. Strategy
1. Early Game
2. Mid Game
3. Late Game

V. Using Nether Swap
1. Basic Nether Swap Information
2. The Purpose of Nether Swap
3. Who do I Swap?
4. Stun + Swap VS. Swap + Stun
5. Tower Swap
6. Save Swap

VI. Miscellaneous Information
1. Replays
2. Conclusion
3. Acknowledgements
4. Changelog

1. Foreword

This guide has come a long way since the 3rd HGC. This is my first guide that I take pride in and I hope it will change how people play VS. The main focus of my guide is for a more competitive setting like scrims and inhouses. I will warn you from this point on so please read this before you move on; you will not get godlike by following this guide. What you will get instead is heightening your chance of winning the game for your team. So I recommend against using this build if you’re in a pub game. The important thing with my build and strategy is teamwork. In pubs, teamwork rarely exists so you’ll be frustrated because you’ll die horrible deaths because of your noob teammates and you can’t do a thing without your teammates taking advantage of your support. This guide is more of an introductory guide towards players who wants to play VS in scrims and league games. No one starts off as a pro and this guide will help those people to step up their game from pub/tda to scrims/league games.

This guide is now updated for 6.43b and as such, I have also changed the concept a little from a ganker/support hero early to mid game to a backup carry hero late game. I hope to find a middle ground between those who plays a pure support VS and pure DPS VS into a more balanced gameplay that will hopefully prove to be more effective. Now, let’s move on to the real stuff.

2. Hero Stats

Base movespeed is 295.
Base STR is 16 + 1.8 per level.
Base AGI is 22 + 2.35 per level.
Base INT is 15 + 1.75 per level.
Base Damage is 34-48.
Base HP is 454.
Base Mana is 195.
Base Armor is 3.1
Attack Range is 400.

3. Quick Overview

Her stats are weak and mediocre at best, not as good as jakiro’s stats, but definitely better than weaver. She has decent starting armor, soso range, slightly below average movement speed, and somewhat average base damage. One of her biggest disadvantage is the fact that she can’t use blink dagger, or rather, she drops it after one use to prevent abuse. With only a 1.75 second stun and swap which can only be an escape mechanism under certain circumstances, not being able to use blink makes it tough for VS.

To make up for her mediocre hero stats, her skills are simply great. Magic missile is a high damage stun/nuke that makes her potent early game; command aura is a great skill that helps you push and deal damage. Terror is great contrary to popular belief because it goes hand in hand with your command aura and boosts your teams’ survival to some extent and nether swap is perhaps one of the best team skill there is.

One quick look at her skills tells people two different things. A high damage stun nuke with nether swap screams out GANK and with that, she naturally became a support hero in the sense that she exclusively ganks and buys wards. On the other spectrum, a damage boosting aura and a skill that lowers armor screams out CARRY, mostly in pubs and lower level inhouses. Hopefully with this guide, I can find a middle ground that incorporates both aspects, fully utilizing her powerful early and mid game while salvaging her late game so that she can keep up with the game’s pace and hopefully not just feed horribly in every team battles.

II. Skill Information

1. Hero Skills

Magic Missile

A magic missile is thrown at an enemy unit, causing damage. Stuns for 1.75 seconds.

Level 1 – 100 damage
Level 2 – 175 damage
Level 3 – 250 damage
Level 4 – 325 damage

Mana cost: 95 / 110 / 125 / 140. 10 second cooldown at all levels.

Terror

Shendelzare lets loose a wicked cry, terrorizing nearby enemy units. Their armor and damage are reduced.

Level 1 – Reduces base armor by 2 and damage by 5%
Level 2 – Reduces base armor by 3 and damage by 10%
Level 3 – Reduces base armor by 4 and damage by 15%
Level 4 – Reduces base armor by 5 and damage by 20%

40 mana cost and 15 second cooldown at all levels.

Command Aura

Increases nearby units’ damage.

Level 1 – 12% damage
Level 2 – 20% damage
Level 3 – 28% damage
Level 4 – 36% damage

Nether Swap

Instantaneously swaps positions with a target Hero.

Level 1 – 600 range
Level 2 – 900 range
Level 3 – 1200 range

Mana cost: 100 / 150 / 200. 45 second cooldown at all levels.

2. Skill Overview

Like I explained in the quick overview section, her skills scream out two roles that conflicts with each other. Magic missile is a very potent stun, dealing above average damage all the while stunning your target. Going hand in hand with magic missile is nether swap, perhaps one of the best ganking spells in the game. Magic missile allows you to fulfill two things: nuking and chasing. Nether swap works with magic missile by immobilizing your target after a swap or swapping after a stun.

Command aura and terror allows her to be a damage dealer by boosting her damage and lowering the target’s armor. Terror creates a gap between VS and the target by lowering their armor and lowering their base damage. While both of them separately seem to be insignificant, a combination of two allows VS to easily overwhelm targets that are stronger than her.

While the two sets of skill do seem to be contradictory, they do work together nicely. Stun allows you to catch up to your target or create a gap in which you can deal more damage. Terror can also be used as a support skill, lowering your target’s damage and armor while your own damage dealer takes advantage of that gap terror creates. While it is somewhat silly to assume you will always stay in 300 range of your allies, command aura does have the possibility to boost your allies damage in a team fight, also fulfilling its role as a support.

3. Skill Build

Level 1 - Magic Missile
Level 2 - Stats
Level 3 – Magic Missile
Level 4 - Stats
Level 5 – Magic Missile
Level 6 – Nether Swap
Level 7 – Magic Missile
Level 8-10 - Stats
Level 11 – Nether Swap
Level 12-15 – Command Aura
Level 16 – Nether Swap
Level 17-20 - Terror
Level 21-25 - Stats

4. Justification for Skill Build

Maxing out magic missile first is a no brainer since it is your very own stun nuke.

Stats are gotten at level 2, 4, and 8-10 in place of command aura because there is no need to boost your damage by a small amount when it can be done with stats. Stats also gives you health and mana which you will desperately need early game. Also command aura affects your creeps, which makes them push farther into the enemy’s base.

Nether swap is gotten whenever it is possible. Command aura is maxed out next so your teammates and you can benefit from the 36% boost in damage during mid game when you won’t have to worry about pushing too far.

Terror is maxed out from 17-20 as it is most effective late game. It lasts around 20 seconds which is very nice and if done right it can affect all 5 of your opponents. My original opinion about terror was absolutely wrong; the AOE of terror is nice (around 700 or so I believe) and it works well with your command aura since terror reduces their armor whereas your command aura boosts your team’s damage.

I would like to emphasize that there should never be a variation in this skill build. Magic missile must be maxed out by level 7 and you absolutely need the stats early game more than command aura. Command aura comes first before terror and I believe getting terror earlier than level 17 is a waste. The only possible variation I would think of is getting more stat points from level 12~15 if you are having a very difficult game.

1. Introduction to Item Build

The main goal of my item build is to incorporate my basic concept: early ganker, late game damage dealer. With this build, your survivability and support as well as damage dealing elements are all fulfilled.

2. Core Item Build

- Bracers

Circlet of Nobility x 3 - 185 gold x 3
Gauntlets of Strength - 150 gold x 3
Bracers recipe scroll - 175 gold x 3

+18 to strength
+9 to intelligence
+9 to agility

Total cost: 1530 gold

- Hood of Defiance

Ring of Regeneration x 2 - 375 gold x 2
Planeswalker’s Cloak - 650 gold
Helm of Iron Will - 950 gold

+30% magic resistance
+8 HP regeneration

Total cost: 2,350 gold

- Boots of Travel

Boots of Speed - 500 gold
Boots of Travel recipe scroll - 2,200 gold

+90 movement speed
Active ability: Teleport to any ally unit, excluding ally heroes, 60 second cooldown

Total cost: 2,700 gold

3. Core Item Build Justification

The three bracers early on will take care of any mana problems you will encounter and most of all, offer a cheap boost to HP. The agility boost is also very nice. You need exactly three, no more, no less. The pieces are all very small so you can get them on your chicken and have a consistent boost instead of waiting for one big item.

Hood of defiance is the next logical choice. It offers 30% magic resistance, boosting your survivability up a notch, making you beefy and hard to take down. So with the bracers and hood of defiance, we have taken care of our HP problem and nuke problem. Next is taking care of our mobility and map control. BOT allows you to move around the whole map to participate in quick team battles and ganks, all the while allowing you to jump lanes to farm and escape ganks and it allows you to push and defend. BOT quickly takes care of everything you need all in 2,200 gold (you always need boots so I took off 500).

4. Items after Core Build

- The Butterfly

Eaglehorn - 3,400 gold
Quarter Staff - 1,150 gold
The Butterfly recipe scroll - 1,800 gold

+30 agility
+30 damage
+30% increased attack speed
30% evasion

Total cost: 6,350 gold

- Assault Cuirass

Plate Mail - 1,400 gold
Hyperstone - 2,300 gold
Chainmail - 620 gold
Assault Cuirass recipe scroll - 2,000 gold

+10 armor
+5 armor aura
+40% attack speed
+15% attack speed aura
-5 armor aura

Total cost: 6,320 gold

5. Justification for Items after Core Build

The Butterfly is the best item on VS for two reasons: huge improvement in DPS and survivability. The +30 agility boost works with your command aura, giving you a total of 41 damage (I rounded up, correct me if this is the wrong way to calculate damage). So that’s +71 damage, +60% attack speed, and the best part, 30% evasion. This item takes care of every problem VS faces in dealing damage. It gives her good damage, improves her low attack speed, and improves her survivability with the evasion. With the HP from bracers, magic resistance from hood of defiance and the evasion from the butterfly, your survivability has been taken care at every possible way.

Your build should have ended at the butterfly or even earlier at BOT, but in case the game drags on, the assault cuirass is the next best option. The assault cuirass takes care of your survivability and damage, just like the butterfly. The armor helps you take physical damage and the attack speed improves your DPS. The -5 armor aura works with terror, reducing a total of 10 armor to everyone around you, making it one of the best luxury item you can get.

6. Rejected Items

- Lothars Edge

Lothars edge works only a few times, after that your opponents will grab some sort of true sight to counter your windwalk, making it almost useless. You pay a big chunk of your money on the windwalk and wouldn’t you feel awful when you pay for nothing? The agility boost and damage boost is hardly any good considering the huge price tag. You can do better than this.

- Eye of Skadi

Great stat benefits and consistent and useful orb effect. But why avoid it? Skadi is great when you can finish it. However, this item is too expensive and while I do have other expensive items in my build, those two items are cheaper than eye of skadi and they work much better in the sense that they boost your survivability and damage without any unwanted benefits. Eye of skadi gives you a good boost to HP, damage, and mana but why do you need that huge boost to mana? The frost orb works but you already have two spells that takes care of anyone that tries to run away so why do you need the slow? You’re better off with a butterfly or assault cuirass after your core build.

- Mekansm

Mek is great in the sense that it gives you a quick 250 HP AOE heal. But guess what? You’re strained for mana using magic missiles and nether swap during early to mid game. It is kind of funny I use the mana argument to go against eye of skadi yet I use the same argument but I flip it over to say I don’t have enough mana to use the AOE heal. However, here’s the thing. Eye of skadi can be completed mid/late game when your mana problems are no longer existent and mek is the most effective from early/mid game. You will suffer mana problems IF you get the mek and by the time mana won’t be a problem, mek’s efficiency has just dropped a notch. You’re better off letting someone else get a mek and work on quick HP boosters.

- Heart of Tarrasque

With aegis gone, many people would think that HOT is the best item to get for VS. After all, a 1k boost to HP sounds good for a hero who does swaps right? Well my answer lies in my strategy. With this guide, you will no longer do “suicide swaps” late game. HOT would be great if you’re going to continue just swapping but now this guide will cover a new aspect where you will be a backup carry in your games.