Monday, October 01, 2012
Opinions on the lack of open-mindedness of Dota players.
Far too often, I see Dota players who immediately dismiss their teammates on the basis of disagreement with the gameplay decisions their teammate has made. They will condemn and rebuke their teammate's choice of items, spec, lane, etc, without giving any thought the idea that their own conceptions of what is viable/unviable may not be based on perfect information. Such a hostile reaction is doing far more harm to your chances of success than the choice your teammate has made.
Everyone comes at a game of Dota with a different set of experiences that have influenced their playstyle. If you have played consistently in the past with a victory-oriented mindset, and you are not currently in low priority, there is a good chance that the people you are being matched with are also aiming to win the game. As such you can make the reasonable conclusion that despite your impression of their decisions, they are most likely making them in an attempt to win. Now, I am not here to dissuade player's from giving advice to teammates, but I am trying to dissuade pre-emptive dismissal of teammates.
When you begin a game, there are a lot of unknowns. Since Dota relies heavily on team play, not knowing your teammates is probably the biggest source of concern for most players. When you see a teammate who has made what you consider to be a bad decision, and you immediately rebuke them for it, that teammate will use that limited interaction to categorize you as hostile and will probably respond with hostility as well. Now you have two players on the same team who hold poor opinions of each other. They will be distracted with typing and they will hesitate to make sacrifices to aid each other. The whole team suffers as a result.
Now unless the decision they have made is clearly intended to lower your chances of winning (ex: feeding), the best response when you disagree is to either ignore it, or comment in a constructive way, perhaps offering an alternative. Your teammate may agree with your assessment or they might not. If they choose not to alter their gameplay, the best thing you can do is to adjust your own gameplay to work around what you see as a potential problem. At worst, your teammate will contribute to a loss, but after that game you will probably never see them again.
However, there is always the possibility that the decision they have made is actually a good one, but you are lacking information that would allow you to understand why. In this case, if you rebuke them, they will view you as inexperienced due to your lack of understanding of their strategy, and this may also lead to hostility and a breakdown of team play. If you just go along with their decision, you might learn something that will allow you to improve your own game.
TL;DR
If your teammate is doing something you disagree with, you're better off just dealing with it than responding with hostile commentary. If you must say something, keep it constructive, and be prepared to accept that they might not change their mind.
Friday, July 06, 2012
Why I want All Random in Matchmaking
Note: All of this is predicated on the addition of swap functionality to the game. I feel that swap is the biggest missing piece from the Dota experience.
All Random is a mode that I enjoy playing quite a bit. However thus far it is a mode that has not been added to matchmaking. There are several reasons that I believe AR should join the other modes in matchmaking.
Firstly, All Random is a mode that allows players to experience a wide variety of match-ups and situations. AR throws heroes together that would only rarely be seen together in high skill competitive games. By having a random assortment of heroes at your disposal, you are able to discover new synergies and counters between heroes. Hard counters will also play less of a role in AR games, so heroes will be better able to perform their intended duties.
The fact that every hero and ability will see some play in AR allows newer players to learn the general rules of Dota's mechanics. By being able to see and learn the effect of a variety of abilities, a player can use this knowledge to understand the mechanics of abilities they are less familiar with.
AR will also be a place where lower tier heroes can shine, as they will be much less likely to be in a game mostly comprised of powerful high tier heroes. A hero like Phantom Lancer would almost never be seen in a competitive game due to most high tier heroes being able to end a game early. However in AR he is more likely to be in a game where the enemy team composition is less able to prey on his weaknesses. I enjoy every single hero in the game and am disappointed that some are excluded due simply to being non-viable in the metagame of my skill level.
Finally, the picking stage will not determine the outcome of matches as often as it seems to in other modes. There are several reasons why the importance of the pick stage is something that I would enjoy cutting out of matchmaking.
It is difficult to pick a coordinated team composition in solo matchmaking due to the lack of communication between team members. In competitive games, players will go into a match knowing that they need to pick a balanced team to win the game. In solo matchmaking most players are only interested in playing a hero they enjoy playing.
For many players, the most enjoyable heroes to play are carries. Despite having relatively high win rates, we see that heroes like Treant Protector, Warlock, and Necrolyte are seldom picked. A team can quickly falter when players fast pick carries, and a player who picks later on is also in the carrying mindset.
In addition, players will often have different ideas about the correct picking strategy. I'm sure we have all been in games where a player will assume a game is a loss simply due to the hero picks their team has made. This can lower morale and have a large negative effect on the performance of the team. In AR, this is not a problem you will encounter. You are simply presented with five random heroes, and you can offer swaps for heroes you might want to play more than the one you received. Personally I like to try to make any swap that will give me a hero I have a greater win rate with.
So Valve, wont you please consider adding All Random (and swap) to matchmaking?
All Random is a mode that I enjoy playing quite a bit. However thus far it is a mode that has not been added to matchmaking. There are several reasons that I believe AR should join the other modes in matchmaking.
Firstly, All Random is a mode that allows players to experience a wide variety of match-ups and situations. AR throws heroes together that would only rarely be seen together in high skill competitive games. By having a random assortment of heroes at your disposal, you are able to discover new synergies and counters between heroes. Hard counters will also play less of a role in AR games, so heroes will be better able to perform their intended duties.
The fact that every hero and ability will see some play in AR allows newer players to learn the general rules of Dota's mechanics. By being able to see and learn the effect of a variety of abilities, a player can use this knowledge to understand the mechanics of abilities they are less familiar with.
AR will also be a place where lower tier heroes can shine, as they will be much less likely to be in a game mostly comprised of powerful high tier heroes. A hero like Phantom Lancer would almost never be seen in a competitive game due to most high tier heroes being able to end a game early. However in AR he is more likely to be in a game where the enemy team composition is less able to prey on his weaknesses. I enjoy every single hero in the game and am disappointed that some are excluded due simply to being non-viable in the metagame of my skill level.
Finally, the picking stage will not determine the outcome of matches as often as it seems to in other modes. There are several reasons why the importance of the pick stage is something that I would enjoy cutting out of matchmaking.
It is difficult to pick a coordinated team composition in solo matchmaking due to the lack of communication between team members. In competitive games, players will go into a match knowing that they need to pick a balanced team to win the game. In solo matchmaking most players are only interested in playing a hero they enjoy playing.
For many players, the most enjoyable heroes to play are carries. Despite having relatively high win rates, we see that heroes like Treant Protector, Warlock, and Necrolyte are seldom picked. A team can quickly falter when players fast pick carries, and a player who picks later on is also in the carrying mindset.
In addition, players will often have different ideas about the correct picking strategy. I'm sure we have all been in games where a player will assume a game is a loss simply due to the hero picks their team has made. This can lower morale and have a large negative effect on the performance of the team. In AR, this is not a problem you will encounter. You are simply presented with five random heroes, and you can offer swaps for heroes you might want to play more than the one you received. Personally I like to try to make any swap that will give me a hero I have a greater win rate with.
So Valve, wont you please consider adding All Random (and swap) to matchmaking?
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
The Alchemist Dilemma
Introduction
Alchemist is a hero that does not have a good reputation. He consistently ranks last in win percentage in matchmaking and is almost never seen in competitive play. One reason that may contribute to his dismal matchmaking record is that Alchemist is a difficult hero to play. Despite several drawbacks, Alchemist also has several strengths to be exploited.
Alchemist is a tanky hero who has strong counter push, a long duration stun, deals decent right click damage, and can farm gold at an accelerated rate. However his base stats are noticeably low for a right click damage hero, his stun requires precision to use correctly and punishes misuse heavily, and he is unable to hold targets in place long enough to damage them significantly. For these reasons he is a very item dependant hero who must choose his build carefully in order to actually contribute in games. He will do best in games where your opponents are light on disable, and he is strong against minion pusher heroes like Nature's Prophet.
Abilities
Acid Spray is a large area of effect spell that deals damage over time and reduces the armor of any enemy units in its area. I consider this spell to be Alchemist's best for several reasons. It has quit a long cast distance so it can be used from a safe distance, and it deals composite damage so it can be used on magic immune units. Spray is quite useful for pushing and counter-pushing, as well as in teamfights. It can also be used to farm creeps more rapidly. The only problem Alchemist has with this spell is not having enough mana to spam it as much as he would like. More often than not I am maxing this spell first. I would recommend conserving mana as much as possible early on so you can get spray off in engagements.
Unstable Concoction is a ranged, targetable stun that can be charged up to deal more damage and stun for a longer duration. There is a cap on the time you can charge the spell though and reaching it will cause the damage and stun to be applied to Alchemist himself. This spell is the one that Alchemist is probably most well known for. It requires skill to know when to start charging a stun and when to throw it, as many disables can be used to prevent Alchemist from throwing in time. I find the most useful times to use this spell are when you are chasing down a hero who doesn't have reinforcements nearby, when running away from a hero and near your team or towers, and when ganking. Later on in the game the stun becomes easier to use in teamfights as you will most likely be a low priority target. I usually only put one point in this ability at level 1, then ignore it until I have finished off all my other abilities. Doing this will help to minimize the punishment for misfiring.
A couple points about using Unstable Concoction: Concoction is a spell that gives Alchemist power even before you have started charging it. An alchemist with Concoction off cooldown will encourage enemy heroes to save disables, and to watch their positioning more carefully. This can be used to control the flow of teamfights to your advantage. I find that delaying your concoction in teamfights will give alchemist a greater chance of a successful throw, and it will help you to maintain a higher threat level for a longer period of time. It also does physical damage so it will synergize with the armor reduction from Acid Spray. Additionally the damage from an unthrown concoction can be used to self-deny.
Goblin's Greed is a passive ability that will boost the gold Alchemist gains from killing creeps and heroes. The gold gain will also increase based on the number of creeps Alchemist has recently killed. This ability is useful for allowing Alchemist to farm the large amount of gold he needs to purchase items. It synergizes quite nicely with Acid Spray. I find that this spell is only of minimal use in the early game. Alchemist will no be able to chain creep kills very easily until he is better able to farm the jungle and his Acid Spray is leveled up, so Goblin's Greed takes a back seat to Acid Spray for me. Mid-late game jungling is a great way to get the most out of this skill.
Chemical Rage, Alchemist's ultimate, is a long duration buff that will increase his attack speed, movement speed, max hp, and his hp and mana regeneration. It has a low mana cost and can be spammed due to the additional mana regeneration outweighing the cost at all levels. This spell will allow Alchemist to farm the jungle earlier, and to bolster his power in teamfights. Do not hesitate to use this spell often. Unless you are expecting an engagement in the near future you should be popping his ultimate, if only for the mana and hp regeneration. Ideally you will use the ultimate to farm creeps or in an engagement. The movement speed will allow Alchemist to be better position for his Concoction, and there is a great boost in Alchemist's offensive capability while enraged.
I won't give an exact skill build, because I find that Alchemist is a hero who must customize his skill build for the compositions present in the game. However as I mentioned above, I prefer a build that will focus on Acid Spray, leaves Unstable Concoction at level 1 for a long time, and incorporates early stats until Alchemist can farm enough to make good use of Goblin's Greed. Investing one or two points in early stats can help Alchemist to avoid getting shut down in the early game.
Items
Early Game Items: Tango, Healing Pot, 3 Ironwood Branches, Stout Shield
Alchemist will spend most of the early game trying not to die because of his low stats. The branches and shield will allow him to get a small amount of farm in lane, and the shield will transition nicely into ring of health and then vanguard. There are three items you are often going to want to get as soon as possible: magic wand, ring of health, and boots. You need to decide whether or not it is worth it to save for the ring, or to get boots earlier. This mainly depends on how your laning goes.
Core Items: Magic Wand, Phase Boots, Vanguard
Vanguard will help Alchemist to survive teamfights and to farm the jungle more easily. Phase boots are good for allowing Alchemist to get position for concoction, and will boost his damage output nicely.
Situational Items: Every item in the game
Once you have gotten your core items, you will find that you are able to get strong farm by spraying creep waves and jungling. The items that you build will depend heavily on the team compositions present in the game. Try to choose the items that will have the greatest impact on teamfights and pushes. Some common choices are Assault Cuirass, Black King Bar, Pipe of Insight, Drum of Endurance, Urn of Shadows, Radiance, Armlet of Mordiggian, Sange and Yasha, and Mjollnir. Items that only increase your damage are luxury and should be gotten only if you have already secured a decent advantage.
Strategy Overview
Early Game: Alchemist is at his worst in the early game. You must be extremely cautious and careful in order to avoid getting ganked in lane. You will want a lane partner with strong disables and you should mention to them that defensive play is necessary. Focus on obtaining any creep kills you can, and watching the map for ganks. Sometimes the enemy heroes in your lane will play extremely aggressively due to alchemist's poor presence, which might allow for some great gank opportunities for your mid hero. Your main goal for early game is to not die.
Mid Game: Once you hit level 6 and get your ultimate, your ability to farm increases greatly, and your power in teamfights gets a minor boost. Mid game for Alchemist is all about farming as much as you can, while still being present at every engagement. Alchemist is one of the best counter push heroes in the game so you should also be defending towers as often as possible. Carry lots of tps and farm anything you can get your hands on. Depending on compositions you should be helping your team with ganks and pushes.
Late Game: If you have made it this far without feeding heavily, congratulations. It's time for you to start buying any items you need to win the game. Your farm will increase dramatically and you should have one or two situational items already. If you aren't sure what the best item to get would be ask your team for suggestions. Sometimes they will really benefit from an item you can purchase that they would not be able to afford.
Alchemist is without a doubt a difficult, punishing hero to play, however in the right game he can be a strong force. Let's see if we can boost his win percentage a little bit.
Check out Alchemist on Dota 2 Wiki for more information.
Alchemist is a hero that does not have a good reputation. He consistently ranks last in win percentage in matchmaking and is almost never seen in competitive play. One reason that may contribute to his dismal matchmaking record is that Alchemist is a difficult hero to play. Despite several drawbacks, Alchemist also has several strengths to be exploited.
Alchemist is a tanky hero who has strong counter push, a long duration stun, deals decent right click damage, and can farm gold at an accelerated rate. However his base stats are noticeably low for a right click damage hero, his stun requires precision to use correctly and punishes misuse heavily, and he is unable to hold targets in place long enough to damage them significantly. For these reasons he is a very item dependant hero who must choose his build carefully in order to actually contribute in games. He will do best in games where your opponents are light on disable, and he is strong against minion pusher heroes like Nature's Prophet.
Abilities
Acid Spray is a large area of effect spell that deals damage over time and reduces the armor of any enemy units in its area. I consider this spell to be Alchemist's best for several reasons. It has quit a long cast distance so it can be used from a safe distance, and it deals composite damage so it can be used on magic immune units. Spray is quite useful for pushing and counter-pushing, as well as in teamfights. It can also be used to farm creeps more rapidly. The only problem Alchemist has with this spell is not having enough mana to spam it as much as he would like. More often than not I am maxing this spell first. I would recommend conserving mana as much as possible early on so you can get spray off in engagements.
Unstable Concoction is a ranged, targetable stun that can be charged up to deal more damage and stun for a longer duration. There is a cap on the time you can charge the spell though and reaching it will cause the damage and stun to be applied to Alchemist himself. This spell is the one that Alchemist is probably most well known for. It requires skill to know when to start charging a stun and when to throw it, as many disables can be used to prevent Alchemist from throwing in time. I find the most useful times to use this spell are when you are chasing down a hero who doesn't have reinforcements nearby, when running away from a hero and near your team or towers, and when ganking. Later on in the game the stun becomes easier to use in teamfights as you will most likely be a low priority target. I usually only put one point in this ability at level 1, then ignore it until I have finished off all my other abilities. Doing this will help to minimize the punishment for misfiring.
A couple points about using Unstable Concoction: Concoction is a spell that gives Alchemist power even before you have started charging it. An alchemist with Concoction off cooldown will encourage enemy heroes to save disables, and to watch their positioning more carefully. This can be used to control the flow of teamfights to your advantage. I find that delaying your concoction in teamfights will give alchemist a greater chance of a successful throw, and it will help you to maintain a higher threat level for a longer period of time. It also does physical damage so it will synergize with the armor reduction from Acid Spray. Additionally the damage from an unthrown concoction can be used to self-deny.
Goblin's Greed is a passive ability that will boost the gold Alchemist gains from killing creeps and heroes. The gold gain will also increase based on the number of creeps Alchemist has recently killed. This ability is useful for allowing Alchemist to farm the large amount of gold he needs to purchase items. It synergizes quite nicely with Acid Spray. I find that this spell is only of minimal use in the early game. Alchemist will no be able to chain creep kills very easily until he is better able to farm the jungle and his Acid Spray is leveled up, so Goblin's Greed takes a back seat to Acid Spray for me. Mid-late game jungling is a great way to get the most out of this skill.
Chemical Rage, Alchemist's ultimate, is a long duration buff that will increase his attack speed, movement speed, max hp, and his hp and mana regeneration. It has a low mana cost and can be spammed due to the additional mana regeneration outweighing the cost at all levels. This spell will allow Alchemist to farm the jungle earlier, and to bolster his power in teamfights. Do not hesitate to use this spell often. Unless you are expecting an engagement in the near future you should be popping his ultimate, if only for the mana and hp regeneration. Ideally you will use the ultimate to farm creeps or in an engagement. The movement speed will allow Alchemist to be better position for his Concoction, and there is a great boost in Alchemist's offensive capability while enraged.
I won't give an exact skill build, because I find that Alchemist is a hero who must customize his skill build for the compositions present in the game. However as I mentioned above, I prefer a build that will focus on Acid Spray, leaves Unstable Concoction at level 1 for a long time, and incorporates early stats until Alchemist can farm enough to make good use of Goblin's Greed. Investing one or two points in early stats can help Alchemist to avoid getting shut down in the early game.
Items
Early Game Items: Tango, Healing Pot, 3 Ironwood Branches, Stout Shield
Alchemist will spend most of the early game trying not to die because of his low stats. The branches and shield will allow him to get a small amount of farm in lane, and the shield will transition nicely into ring of health and then vanguard. There are three items you are often going to want to get as soon as possible: magic wand, ring of health, and boots. You need to decide whether or not it is worth it to save for the ring, or to get boots earlier. This mainly depends on how your laning goes.
Core Items: Magic Wand, Phase Boots, Vanguard
Vanguard will help Alchemist to survive teamfights and to farm the jungle more easily. Phase boots are good for allowing Alchemist to get position for concoction, and will boost his damage output nicely.
Situational Items: Every item in the game
Once you have gotten your core items, you will find that you are able to get strong farm by spraying creep waves and jungling. The items that you build will depend heavily on the team compositions present in the game. Try to choose the items that will have the greatest impact on teamfights and pushes. Some common choices are Assault Cuirass, Black King Bar, Pipe of Insight, Drum of Endurance, Urn of Shadows, Radiance, Armlet of Mordiggian, Sange and Yasha, and Mjollnir. Items that only increase your damage are luxury and should be gotten only if you have already secured a decent advantage.
Strategy Overview
Early Game: Alchemist is at his worst in the early game. You must be extremely cautious and careful in order to avoid getting ganked in lane. You will want a lane partner with strong disables and you should mention to them that defensive play is necessary. Focus on obtaining any creep kills you can, and watching the map for ganks. Sometimes the enemy heroes in your lane will play extremely aggressively due to alchemist's poor presence, which might allow for some great gank opportunities for your mid hero. Your main goal for early game is to not die.
Mid Game: Once you hit level 6 and get your ultimate, your ability to farm increases greatly, and your power in teamfights gets a minor boost. Mid game for Alchemist is all about farming as much as you can, while still being present at every engagement. Alchemist is one of the best counter push heroes in the game so you should also be defending towers as often as possible. Carry lots of tps and farm anything you can get your hands on. Depending on compositions you should be helping your team with ganks and pushes.
Late Game: If you have made it this far without feeding heavily, congratulations. It's time for you to start buying any items you need to win the game. Your farm will increase dramatically and you should have one or two situational items already. If you aren't sure what the best item to get would be ask your team for suggestions. Sometimes they will really benefit from an item you can purchase that they would not be able to afford.
Alchemist is without a doubt a difficult, punishing hero to play, however in the right game he can be a strong force. Let's see if we can boost his win percentage a little bit.
Check out Alchemist on Dota 2 Wiki for more information.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Bringing Chen to the Masses
Introduction
Chen, the Holy Knight, is a very versatile hero who can contribute greatly in almost any game as a pusher, early game ganker, and mid game hard support. He is listed as a Tier 1 hero on ESFI World, a hero that is picked or banned almost every game in competitive play. Despite that impressive reputation, Chen’s play stats reveal he is one of the least played heroes in matchmaking. The reason for this disparity is likely the fact that Chen is a difficult hero to play. It would appear that any player who wants to successfully play Chen must know how to micro multiple units, which can be especially difficult for inexperienced players. However, I believe that Chen’s power is great enough that even players at lower skill levels would benefit from considering him in their games.
Chen is a jungler who is particularly powerful in three areas: early game ganking, mid game hard supporting, and pushing throughout the game.
Abilities
Penitence is an ability that will slow an enemy and will amplify the damage it receives. This is a great skill for ganking and to use in team fights. I usually only put one point in this spell until all my other skills are maxed.
Test of Faith is an ranged nuke spell that will deal a random amount of damage to an enemy. To get the most out of this spell use it on a target that you have just used penitence on. I usually max this skill out after holy persuasion.
Holy Persuasion is the ability that allows Chen to permanently control creeps. It can also be used to teleport friendly heroes back to the fountain after a short delay. The best times to do this are when they are about to die, or when they are going back to base anyways. If the situation is not urgent it is nice to ask a teammate’s permission before sending them back to base. I usually max this skill before all others.
Hand of God, Chen’s ultimate, is a global heal. It will heal all friendly heroes and will restore any creeps under your control to full hp. This spell is very strong and should be used any time one or more of your teammates is taking a lot of damage in a fight. The scepter upgrade will cut the cooldown immensely and allow for multiple uses in a single fight. This spell has quite an expensive mana cost and necessitates the use of mana regeneration items.
Here is the skill order I usually use: 3,1,3,2,3,4,3,2,2,2,4,1,1,1,S,4,S... which follows my recommendations above.
EDIT: I have received a lot of feedback suggesting that the ideal opening is 3,1,2,3,3 due to the fact that persuade will not allow you to get an additional unit until 3rd rank.
If you find yourself having trouble microing all your units, I would recommend focusing on using Chen primarily and trying to dominate creeps with passive abilities.
Neutral Creeps
Chen will live in the jungle for most of the early game and the creeps that spawn will dictate his play style. The main four creeps I recommend trying to get are:
Dark Troll Warlord: Trolls are ranged creeps with a ranged targetable snare and the ability to create skeletal warriors from corpses. This creep is very good for ganking and pushing. The snare is great because it can go through Black King Bar. The skeletal warriors are quite weak but having them in a mass of pushing creeps can really bulk up a push and discourage the opponents from defending.
Centaur Khan: Centaurs are moderately tanky melee creeps with an aoe stun similar to Slardar’s stun. They are very good for ganking. Try to come out behind the enemy heroes so they have to run through your Centaur’s path to get back to their side.
Wildkin Warchief: Wildkin is a moderately tanky melee creep with an armor aura and a spell that creates a tornado that deals damage over time to nearby enemies. Wildkin is a very useful creep during early game because they can harass enemy heroes in lane quite well. If you encounter a wildkin early on you can dominate it and send it to a lane to help. Simply hide it in the trees near the lane, and then use its tornado. Select the tornado and move it onto the enemy hero you wish to harass. The tornado will slowly but surely move towards the enemy hero, causing them to have to constantly avoid it or take a lot of slow damage. This will greatly increase your team’s chances of winning the lane. Later on in the game the Wildkin can be use to bolster a pushing army with its aura.
Ursa Warrior: Ursa is a tanky melee creep with an aoe damaging slow, very similar to the one used by the hero Ursa. He is a strong pusher and can help in a gank. His clap can be used in a push for extra damage, as well as when farming neutrals. In team fights and ganks he can slow enemy heroes as well.
There are also a few other useful creeps:
Kobold Taskmaster: Kobold is a low hp melee creep who has a movement speed boosting aura. He can be quite useful in ganks and team fights as movement speed boosts are always useful.
Alpha Wolf: Wolf is a melee creep with a crit chance and a damage increasing aura. The aura is very nice to have for any right click damage based heroes on your team.
Ogre Magi: Ogre is a low hp melee creep with an ice armor buff. The ice armor is nice to have when facing any right click damage based heroes.
There are many more creeps in the jungle to use as well, with their own abilities and strengths. Don’t be above grabbing the enemies basic lane creeps to fill any slots in your army when not in the jungle. The melee creep has more hp but the ranged creep does more damage.
Items
I almost always build Chen the same way. The fact that he is so mana dependant and has multiple units to worry about gives him a very clear item progression.
Starting Items: Ring of Basillius, Tango or Healing Pot
The ring will grant him enough mana regen to use holy persuasion as often as needed, and the armor aura will allow your creeps to tank more damage.
Early Game Items: Arcane Boots, Wards
Arcanes are necessary on Chen and I usually speed them out as fast as possible. Having mana will allow Chen to use his heal often which is a very good thing. The more you heal the less your team will die. Wards are also necessary, as you will need vision to avoid any ganks coming your way. If the other team is good they will try to gank you.
Core Items: Mekansm, Aghanim’ Scepter
Mekansm should be your first item after arcane boots. Having the second heal will enable your team push to last longer and push harder. Try to use the mekansm heal first in a fight because of the armor buff it also grants. You will usually be able to use mekansm twice and your ultimate once in a fight before you are faced with cooldowns restricting your healing. Try to hit as much as possible with your mekansm. After that you can build your scepter which will give you insane mana and survivability. This item is pretty much Luxury but it is such an amazing pickup I consider it core. Once you have scepter, you can use your ult as often as you want. Save the mekansm heal for when you start a team fight or are pushing towers.
At this point Chen starts to lose power. As heroes’ levels increase his creep armies become relatively less powerful, and his heals scale back in power as well. You should try to end the game before this point by pushing hard early on.
Strategy Overview
Early Game: Chen should jungle, and use creeps he finds to put pressure on nearby lanes. Keep wards up to avoid ganks.
Mid Game: As soon as you can have three creeps in your army you should fill it with strong pushers and start taking towers. Try to get your team to push all together and you will overwhelm the enemy. Use your abilities and items to support your teammates in fights with disables and heals. Add extra damage if you have the mana.
Late Game: Try to push their barracks before 40 minutes. As late game arrives you will lose a lot of power. Focus on building items the team needs and doing your best to support your teammates. Before late game you will dictate the flow of the game, after it arrives you will not.
I hope this guide has convinced you to give Chen a try, he is a great hero that can be used to great effect with a little practice.
Chen, the Holy Knight, is a very versatile hero who can contribute greatly in almost any game as a pusher, early game ganker, and mid game hard support. He is listed as a Tier 1 hero on ESFI World, a hero that is picked or banned almost every game in competitive play. Despite that impressive reputation, Chen’s play stats reveal he is one of the least played heroes in matchmaking. The reason for this disparity is likely the fact that Chen is a difficult hero to play. It would appear that any player who wants to successfully play Chen must know how to micro multiple units, which can be especially difficult for inexperienced players. However, I believe that Chen’s power is great enough that even players at lower skill levels would benefit from considering him in their games.
Chen is a jungler who is particularly powerful in three areas: early game ganking, mid game hard supporting, and pushing throughout the game.
Abilities
Penitence is an ability that will slow an enemy and will amplify the damage it receives. This is a great skill for ganking and to use in team fights. I usually only put one point in this spell until all my other skills are maxed.
Test of Faith is an ranged nuke spell that will deal a random amount of damage to an enemy. To get the most out of this spell use it on a target that you have just used penitence on. I usually max this skill out after holy persuasion.
Holy Persuasion is the ability that allows Chen to permanently control creeps. It can also be used to teleport friendly heroes back to the fountain after a short delay. The best times to do this are when they are about to die, or when they are going back to base anyways. If the situation is not urgent it is nice to ask a teammate’s permission before sending them back to base. I usually max this skill before all others.
Hand of God, Chen’s ultimate, is a global heal. It will heal all friendly heroes and will restore any creeps under your control to full hp. This spell is very strong and should be used any time one or more of your teammates is taking a lot of damage in a fight. The scepter upgrade will cut the cooldown immensely and allow for multiple uses in a single fight. This spell has quite an expensive mana cost and necessitates the use of mana regeneration items.
Here is the skill order I usually use: 3,1,3,2,3,4,3,2,2,2,4,1,1,1,S,4,S... which follows my recommendations above.
EDIT: I have received a lot of feedback suggesting that the ideal opening is 3,1,2,3,3 due to the fact that persuade will not allow you to get an additional unit until 3rd rank.
If you find yourself having trouble microing all your units, I would recommend focusing on using Chen primarily and trying to dominate creeps with passive abilities.
Neutral Creeps
Chen will live in the jungle for most of the early game and the creeps that spawn will dictate his play style. The main four creeps I recommend trying to get are:
Dark Troll Warlord: Trolls are ranged creeps with a ranged targetable snare and the ability to create skeletal warriors from corpses. This creep is very good for ganking and pushing. The snare is great because it can go through Black King Bar. The skeletal warriors are quite weak but having them in a mass of pushing creeps can really bulk up a push and discourage the opponents from defending.
Centaur Khan: Centaurs are moderately tanky melee creeps with an aoe stun similar to Slardar’s stun. They are very good for ganking. Try to come out behind the enemy heroes so they have to run through your Centaur’s path to get back to their side.
Wildkin Warchief: Wildkin is a moderately tanky melee creep with an armor aura and a spell that creates a tornado that deals damage over time to nearby enemies. Wildkin is a very useful creep during early game because they can harass enemy heroes in lane quite well. If you encounter a wildkin early on you can dominate it and send it to a lane to help. Simply hide it in the trees near the lane, and then use its tornado. Select the tornado and move it onto the enemy hero you wish to harass. The tornado will slowly but surely move towards the enemy hero, causing them to have to constantly avoid it or take a lot of slow damage. This will greatly increase your team’s chances of winning the lane. Later on in the game the Wildkin can be use to bolster a pushing army with its aura.
Ursa Warrior: Ursa is a tanky melee creep with an aoe damaging slow, very similar to the one used by the hero Ursa. He is a strong pusher and can help in a gank. His clap can be used in a push for extra damage, as well as when farming neutrals. In team fights and ganks he can slow enemy heroes as well.
There are also a few other useful creeps:
Kobold Taskmaster: Kobold is a low hp melee creep who has a movement speed boosting aura. He can be quite useful in ganks and team fights as movement speed boosts are always useful.
Alpha Wolf: Wolf is a melee creep with a crit chance and a damage increasing aura. The aura is very nice to have for any right click damage based heroes on your team.
Ogre Magi: Ogre is a low hp melee creep with an ice armor buff. The ice armor is nice to have when facing any right click damage based heroes.
There are many more creeps in the jungle to use as well, with their own abilities and strengths. Don’t be above grabbing the enemies basic lane creeps to fill any slots in your army when not in the jungle. The melee creep has more hp but the ranged creep does more damage.
Items
I almost always build Chen the same way. The fact that he is so mana dependant and has multiple units to worry about gives him a very clear item progression.
Starting Items: Ring of Basillius, Tango or Healing Pot
The ring will grant him enough mana regen to use holy persuasion as often as needed, and the armor aura will allow your creeps to tank more damage.
Early Game Items: Arcane Boots, Wards
Arcanes are necessary on Chen and I usually speed them out as fast as possible. Having mana will allow Chen to use his heal often which is a very good thing. The more you heal the less your team will die. Wards are also necessary, as you will need vision to avoid any ganks coming your way. If the other team is good they will try to gank you.
Core Items: Mekansm, Aghanim’ Scepter
Mekansm should be your first item after arcane boots. Having the second heal will enable your team push to last longer and push harder. Try to use the mekansm heal first in a fight because of the armor buff it also grants. You will usually be able to use mekansm twice and your ultimate once in a fight before you are faced with cooldowns restricting your healing. Try to hit as much as possible with your mekansm. After that you can build your scepter which will give you insane mana and survivability. This item is pretty much Luxury but it is such an amazing pickup I consider it core. Once you have scepter, you can use your ult as often as you want. Save the mekansm heal for when you start a team fight or are pushing towers.
At this point Chen starts to lose power. As heroes’ levels increase his creep armies become relatively less powerful, and his heals scale back in power as well. You should try to end the game before this point by pushing hard early on.
Strategy Overview
Early Game: Chen should jungle, and use creeps he finds to put pressure on nearby lanes. Keep wards up to avoid ganks.
Mid Game: As soon as you can have three creeps in your army you should fill it with strong pushers and start taking towers. Try to get your team to push all together and you will overwhelm the enemy. Use your abilities and items to support your teammates in fights with disables and heals. Add extra damage if you have the mana.
Late Game: Try to push their barracks before 40 minutes. As late game arrives you will lose a lot of power. Focus on building items the team needs and doing your best to support your teammates. Before late game you will dictate the flow of the game, after it arrives you will not.
I hope this guide has convinced you to give Chen a try, he is a great hero that can be used to great effect with a little practice.
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