As someone who’s been playing Dota 2 for years and has seen countless matches, I can confidently say that mastering Lina is a journey worth taking. She may be squishy, but she packs quite the punch with her fiery abilities!
In Dota 2, there are characters who inflict immense damage with their spells and those who pack a punch in the later stages of the game with the right equipment. Lina offers you the best of both scenarios. Equipped with an array of destructive spells, and a passive ability that boosts her attack speed every time she casts a spell, Lina, the powerful mage, is among the strongest characters in the late-game roster of Dota 2 currently.
While selecting the hero doesn’t guarantee victory for the team, it’s important to note that this hero is vulnerable, similar to Windranger, and thrives on an early advantage. If you decide to incorporate this hero into your strategy, here’s a comprehensive guide detailing her optimal items, playstyle, and spell sequence to help you effectively utilize her strengths.
Dota 2 Lina Hero Overview
Lina, in essence, is a character who excels in casting spells from afar, with Intelligence being her key attribute. She possesses two active skills, one passive, and an ultimate that becomes accessible at level 6. Her attack range is impressive, but her initial attack speed, animation time, and agility growth are all moderate to low. To add to this, she starts with a meager health pool of 560 points, and her early defense, represented by her starting armor, is also on the weak side, making it simple for opponents to exploit her during the initial stages of the game.
Here’s a quick breakdown of Lina’s abilities in Dota 2:
| Ability Name | How it Works |
|---|---|
| Dragon Slave (Q) | Lina fires a wave of flame in front of her, damaging every enemy unit it hits. |
| Light Strike Array (W) | Lina summons a column of flame in a small AOE that damages and stuns enemies. |
| Fiery Soul (Passive) | Gives Lina bonus attack and movement speed each time she hits an enemy unit with a spell. Can stack up to 7 times. |
| Laguna Blade (R) | Lina shoots a bolt of lightning at a single enemy unit dealing massive magic damage. |
Other than these abilities, Lina has an Aghanim’s Shard and Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade.
- Aghanim’s Scepter: Grants Lina an additional Flame Cloak ability that gives unobstructed pathing, increases her spell damage, and provides bonus magic resistance. It also maxes out her Fiery Soul Stacks when activated.
- Aghanim’s Shard: Upgrades Fiery Soul. Lina’s other abilities deal 20 extra damage for each passive stack.
The latest update for “Dota 2”, named Crownfall, has introduced two new features and an inherent skill for Lina. This inherent skill, called Combustion, enables Lina to inflict extra damage on enemies whenever she inflicts 175 damage on an enemy hero. Her two newly added features are as follows:
- Thermal Runaway: Casting Laguna Blade gives Lina additional stacks of Fiery Soul that can exceed the maximum amount.
- Slow Burn: Lina’s abilities get an extra damage-over-time effect.
Dota 2 Lina Build Guide
In most games, Lina is positioned in the middle lane as a Position 2 character for her team. However, there are certain matchups where she can also take on the role of the Position 1 Hard Carry. For this guide, we’ll focus on her Performance 2 build because it’s currently proving to be the most effective in the game’s current strategy (meta).
Instead of relying on her physical damage through items, it’s smarter to play the hero as a mage by focusing on her spellcasting in the middle lane. This strategy lets you deal damage quicker since fewer items are required initially. There’s nothing more thrilling than swiftly obliterating an enemy hero with your spells using Lina, and that’s precisely what this build helps achieve.
Here’s a complete breakdown of how the build works:
Ability Order & Talent Build
As you control the mage character Lina, prioritize starting with her initial skill, Thermal Runaway. This ability increases the number of Fiery Souls stacks from your ultimate, which, in conjunction with your Aghanim’s Shard upgrade, enhances your magic damage considerably. During the early laning phase, select Dragon Slave as your first skill to effectively capture the ranged creep and farm efficiently.
The following image will give you a complete idea of her spell order and talent build:
Prioritizing the upgrade of your Dragon Slayer early on will enable you to easily take down minion waves and conquer stacked neutral jungle camps. Even though you’re a spell-casting character, remember to prioritize leveling up Fiery Soul second due to its added movement speed bonus. At level 4, invest one skill point in Light Strike Array and aim to acquire your ultimate as soon as it becomes available.
To maximize her magical abilities, choose the skill that boosts her damage output or reduces her spell cooldown. When you reach level 25, opt for the talent on the right to acquire a shield that blocks damage whenever you use your ultimate ability.
Item Progression
In Position 2, Lina can quickly join the game due to her skill at swiftly capturing camps with her spells. Keep in mind that each game of Dota 2 is distinct and necessitates adjusting your item selections based on the opponent and circumstances. However, here are some essential items you should aim to acquire throughout the game for this hero.
- Starting Items
To get started with Lina, it’s best to begin with a Tango set, three Ironwood Branches, and a Faerie Fire during the laning phase. This setup provides you with the necessary stats and attack damage to effectively farm in the early game as you progress towards your Bottle. Consider requesting an Observer Ward or purchasing one on your own to maintain awareness of the enemy Midlaner and their Runes.
Instead of using a Tango directly, take an Ironwood Branch from your stock first before consuming it. This will provide you with extra healing during the early stages of the game, particularly in the laning phase.
- Early Game
In the initial phase of the game, focusing on Bottle is crucial if you’re positioned in the middle lane because it provides enough regeneration for frequent spell usage against your lane adversary and allows you to control minion kills. Don’t forget to grab the early Water Runes to refill your Bottle.
The Bounty rune at minute 3 can also be used to refill the two charges of the Bottle.
Once done, grab the Null Talisman and Footwear (Boots). If you have a pair of Ironwood Branches stored, purchase the Magic Staff and its Recipe to finish crafting your Magic Wand.
- Core Items
Lina enjoys being actively engaged in the game’s map, and Boots of Travel is her top choice for this. If your lane is progressing favorably, it can be beneficial to prioritize this item so you can quickly teleport to other lanes and engage in battles. Subsequently, it’s generally wise to opt for an item that provides mana regeneration. Aether Lens and Kaya are two solid choices for this purpose. Typically, you should choose one of these items.
If you plan on creating an Ethereal Blade later, opt for the Aether Lens. On the other hand, if your preference is to combine Yasha and Kaya, then choose Kaya.
Approaching the 15-minute milestone and accumulating 1400 Gold, it would be wise to purchase Aghanim’s Shard as your next priority. Aghanim’s Scepter is the essential last component for your hero that you should aim to obtain.
- Situational Items
After ensuring you have essential items, your character build becomes more flexible. If the opposing team has numerous silences or disabling abilities, Eul’s Scepter of Divinity is an excellent pick for Lina. It can be further upgraded to Wind Walker in late game. Black King Bar is another superb defensive item that aids in counterplay against enemy disables. Linken’s Sphere proves very effective when facing off against Legion Commander or Winter Wyvern with lock-on abilities.
Regarding offensive items for Lina, Blink Dagger is frequently effective. It helps her swiftly close distances or swiftly retreat if the situation becomes unfavorable. Octarine Core is beneficial for decreasing cooldowns on abilities, while Scythe of Vyse can be a strong choice in the late game against powerful enemies. In specific matchups, Dagon 5 can be a useful item because it provides additional damage and spell lifesteal.
How to Play Lina in Dota 2
Lina is a charming yet soft hero, and mastering her gameplay involves understanding the right moments for aggression and caution. During the initial phase of the game, she primarily focuses on harvesting minions in the lane and jungle. However, it’s crucial to avoid joining unfavorable battles as a single defeat can significantly impact the momentum. She typically ganks when her ultimate ability, Laguna Blade, is ready for use.
In the early game, aim to finish your initial items for the laning phase, plus an additional item such as Boots of Travel or Aether Lens/Kaya. Having these items ready will enable you to move around the map effectively for farming. Keep an eye on your minimap to catch any skirmishes that might be happening, and use your Boots of Travel to quickly join the fight if necessary, potentially scoring a kill which could significantly increase your gold.
During team fights, you want to go after the squishy heroes. Since you’re using the Thermal Runaway Facet, you’ll want to start the fight with Laguna Blade. After that, stun with your Light Strike Array and follow up with Dragon Slave. Throw in a few right-click auto attacks in between, and the enemy hero should go down pretty quickly. While fighting, try to play around map vision. Ask your supports to secure vision using Observer and Sentry Wards. Lina is extremely easy to focus down, and your opponents will likely try to remove you from the fight when the battle begins. Stay near the backline and use your Flame Cloak from Aghanim’s Scepter to position properly during team fights.
Mana management is critical for Lina, especially in the early game. Ferry out Clarities and Mangoes when needed. You don’t want to stay on the map without mana for too long. Since all your abilities have pretty low cooldowns, you want to always be fight-ready. If you’re playing against a physical damage carry like Alchemist, don’t hesitate to use your Ethereal Blade defensively. Since you’re immune to physical attacks for the duration, you’ll be able to use the bonus move speed from Fiery Soul stacks to get away quickly.
In essence, mastering Lina in Dota 2 is about getting comfortable with her abilities, which might require some initial adjustment. With a good amount of practice and an understanding of the game dynamics, you’ll soon find yourself playing like a seasoned pro, rapidly advancing through the rankings.
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2024-10-20 23:44