Hello steemians and gamers wherever it is. This time I introduce one hard carry hero in dota 2 with its incredible thrust ability
Anti Mage
Introduction
Hi everyone. Welcome to my first ever guide in any game. Now before you exit this please know a bit about me and realize I'm not terrible at this game. I have played games such as LoL, HoN, and DotA for about 6 years now. I've also played WoW for about 5 and I'm at the moment a 2750 rogue for anybody who knows what that means. So as you can assume I'm pretty successful in most games I play. Now about the guide itself.
- I tried to write this guide for a bit more of a skilled player; not professional by any means but not noob either. I have created three different builds in this guide.
- One build is 'Traditional Pub' which is simply carrying your team to victory against some noobs in an un-ranked match.
- The 'Ranked Play' build is something I would like to go in depth into a bit later so just look for the heading 'Ranked Play In Depth' and you will find my reasoning behind it.
- The third and final build is the 'Safe Farm' build. This build is basically for newer players who haven't got much experience in Anti-Mage and aren't that great at farming. It allows you to be safe in your lane with a bit of extra hp and regen. I would highly recommend not using this build if you are good at farming or have played Anti-Mage more than five times. By then you should be getting the hang of it and a Battle Fury rush would be much more helpful for you.
- On a side note I ask that you read the whole guide before posting any comments. All constructive critics are welcome as well. This is a work in progress for sure! Thanks for choosing to read my guide and I hope it helps!
Backround on how the Anti-Mage Came To Be
The monks of Turstarkuri watched the rugged valleys below their mountain monastery as wave after wave of invaders swept through the lower kingdoms. Ascetic and pragmatic, in their remote monastic eyrie they remained aloof from mundane strife, wrapped in meditation that knew no gods or elements of magic. Then came the Legion of the Dead God, crusaders with a sinister mandate to replace all local worship with their Unliving Lord's poisonous nihilosophy. From a landscape that had known nothing but blood and battle for a thousand years, they tore the souls and bones of countless fallen legions and pitched them against Turstarkuri. The monastery stood scarcely a fortnight against the assault, and the few monks who bothered to surface from their meditations believed the invaders were but demonic visions sent to distract them from meditation. They died where they sat on their silken cushions. Only one youth survived--a pilgrim who had come as an acolyte, seeking wisdom, but had yet to be admitted to the monastery. He watched in horror as the monks to whom he had served tea and nettles were first slaughtered, then raised to join the ranks of the Dead God's priesthood. With nothing but a few of Turstarkuri's prized dogmatic scrolls, he crept away to the comparative safety of other lands, swearing to obliterate not only the Dead God's magic users--but to put an end to magic altogether.
Overview of Anti-Mage
Anti-Mage Is
- A hard carry with a blink.
- A hero beaten by Spectre with all of its item and levels.
- A counter to other hero's who have low mana pools but are reliant on them.
- Squishy early-mid game.
- Item dependent.
Anti-Mage Is Not
- A semi-carry.
- A Support.
- A Tank.
- A Counter to Outworld Destroyer
(I understand why you think this,but no.)
Skill Justification
Level 1 Blink
My reason for getting Blink at level one is that it stops the other team from having any chance at ganking you early. Blink at level one provides you with a 1000 unit escape mechanism for very low mana cost. This means that if you see the other team has decided to try and 5 man gank you before the game starts you can easily blink into the trees where they cannot get to you. All the while the tower should be beating down on someone meaning they will most likely have to go back to base. Even if the other team doesn't try to gank you early you will still have it for later on when you need it. Anything can happen and DotA and when it does you will be ready.
Level 2 Spell Shield I get Spell Shield at level two because it gives an absolutely insane early game bonus. This spell gives you 26% extra magic defense at level 1! Good luck ganking me without at least three committed players anytime soon. It allows you to go in and get a last hit without taking any extreme harassment from the enemy and even if they do try to make a move you have your Blink at the ready.
Level 3 Mana Break I get this spell at level three because it allows me to last hit ranged creeps with ease as well as harass enemy players. When you start beating them down with this and their early game low mana pool starts to drop to half or lower it scares the hell out of most people. They will almost always fall back allowing you to farm the next wave or so easily. They will most often come back and try to harass you again but by then you should have gained a level and can do even more damage to them.
Early Game Stats The one thing that makes my build different from those in other guides is my early game stats. Some of you may see this as simply foolish because everyone assumes you MUST have that Blink cd as low as possible. I understand that,but, the one thing you need to understand is that you should only have to use one Blink to get away and that if you for some reason aren't positioned well that the extra 200 or so hp is going to save your life. One Blink into the trees should be more than enough to get you to safety.
Now you may say ok well why not level up Mana Break early instead? It gives you more damage and more harass early right? My answer to this would simply be, "Yes it does." I'm not saying that leveling Blink or Mana Break early is bad, what I'm saying is that there are other things that are better. As Anti-Mage you will have the constant struggle against ganks and you MUST SURVIVE. One gank can put a monkey wrench into your whole game. That's is why I get stats early. They allow me to have not only more hp but also more damage and armor! With stats you will last hit creeps easier AND be more tanky!
Traditional Pub and Safe Farm Builds The only real difference between this build and the others is the Blink being leveled up early. I stated that this build is for people who don't play Anti-Mage often. It gives you a bit of help with escaping. I said earlier that you should only need one Blink and that is still true,but, some players that don't play Anti-Mage often may need more than one because they don't know the ideal spots to blink to inside of the trees. There are certain spots that are good and certain spots that the enemy can get to still. With a 5 second cd you should be able to find a good spot before they can kill you.
Item Justification
Key Items
The best items for Anti-Mage are always disputed. One person says Black King Bar while the other says Vanguard, it's just dumb. There are no best items on Anti-Mage for the same reason there aren't any on Bounty Hunter. He's to much of a versatile character for that. I will say this, however. I prefer to go with these items as my 'key items'.
Power Treads
Power Treads are my choice for boots simply because I love being able to switch from strength to agility in the heat of battle. If for some reason the other team isn't focusing me I can go onto agility,but, If they're raping me I'll just leave them on strength as normal. I prefer these over most anything else,but, if you're absolutely dominating there's no reason not to get Boots of Travel.
Battle Fury
This item is probably the most important item for Anti-Mage. He's a hard melee based carry. Is it not self explanatory on why this item is important? FARMING. You're item dependent no matter how much you may want to deny it. Use this item to your advantage and farm like crazy. On a side note this item also lets you cleave down idiotic enemy teams that stand close together. I've taken the whole enemy team down to half hp and killed both of their supports in 2 or 3 hits before. Yay cleave damage!
Vladmir's Offering or Satanic
Life steal is awesome on Anti-Mage. It allows you to jungle and also to grants you survivability during team fights or ganks. What's not to love about either of these? A heads up for anybody planning on grabbing Satanic. Get it last as far as items because your other items are more important and Vladmir's Offering will do you fine.
Butterfly
Self explanatory. By the time you get a Butterfly the other team should be crying for mercy at your feet. This item grants everything you need. Evasion, Attack Speed, Armor, and Damage.
Heart of Tarrasque
Heart is also self explanatory. It gives you that survivability you need as Anti-Mage and also lets you stay out of your base longer. When you're not in combat that huge hp regen can sure be helpful.
Skull Basher or Abyssal Blade
These two items are both extremely helpful on Anti-Mage. They allow you to stun enemies and generally when I stun them they don't survive through it. If a stun from abyssal blade procs then I instantly use the on use stun right after it and within that amount of time they die. Pretty sweet huh?
Hand of Midas
This item allows you to farm even faster than you normally would! I myself would not consider it core,however,if your farm is great early on then picking it up isn't a bad idea!
Items Not to Get
These items are the ones that I have seen throughout my various games and do not in any way approve of. Just please don't. :(
Mask of Madness
You're already squishy, why make yourself even more likely to die?
Divine Rapier
If you die then you just handed the enemy team 6k gold. You're done for in most ranked games. (In public matches this may be fine to get as long as you don't play stupid and try to fountain dive them!)
Blink Dagger or Force Staff
This puts me at a loss for words. It's so dumb that my little candle that represents my hope for humanity went out after having seen someone do this. Please never do this. Ever.
Medallion of Courage
You're not a character based around taking out their armor for damage. No need for it.
Dagon
Absolute waste of gold. You're not a ganker.
Blade Mail
You're a damage carry. Not a tank semi-carry like Axe. I can't even begin to understand why I've seen people do this.
Shadow Blade
You have a blink. You don't need this, you're not Sniper or Drow Ranger.
Refresher Orb
Why why why why why? Just so worthless. You have a decent ult, but it's not decent enough for 5300 gold. What the hell are you thinking?!
Animal Courier or Flying Courier
Again you're a carry. Don't even think about it.
Mjollnir
You are going to be building a Battle Fury. I can see the attack speed as being helpful but you don't really need anything else. You already have cleave damage. Other things are more important.
Explanation Behind Traditional Pub Build
When to choose this build
Obviously you want to choose this build when your playing pubs whether it be with friends or by yourself. It's great for anything other than ranked. In ranked play you will obviously want to use the other build.
Early Game Tactics
During the early game I generally take the short lane. This is obvious. You want to farm as much as possible. I ALWAYS rush my Ring of Health first so that I can stay in lane and farm longer. I then proceed to get a Claymore for ease when farming. Everyone makes mistakes and this item gives you more damage thus making farming easier. After the Claymore get some boots.
Mid Game Overview
During the middle of the game you'll want to farm like crazy. Getting a Battle Fury is your first priority. I'm not saying that if there's a planned gank for top and you're already there to keep farming during that. I'm saying that you should farm and not worry to much if at all about going to gank other lanes. You need to farm and anything outside your lane isn't extremely important, however, this doesn't mean that if your team is pushing a tower or there's about to be a team fight in mid to just ignore these things. Obviously don't just tunnel vision. You're a carry for crying out loud. The second item to get is Power Treads. Grab these after your Battle Fury and leave them on strength. Yes I know that agility is your primary but that extra hp helps, I promise. The last item I prefer to get in the mid game is Vladmir's Offering. This item helps with pushing and with Roshan. If you're playing with a good semi-carry then they should buy it though.
Late Game
Late game is your time to shine baby! Oh yeah. All that waiting has payed off now! You get to run around raping everyone and pushing towers. When 3 people on the other team are running from you it's a satisfying feeling. Hell, after the 60 minute mark, if they last that long, they'll probably all be running from you! Ah Yeah! Make sure you get farm when you can but don't skip out on a team fight or a gank for farm. That's just idiotic. Play smart and get yourself a win!
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Ranked Play In Depth
Things to read before trashing me for even making this build.
I know I know I know I know I know. The one unspoken rule of any game is to never ever ever make a guide for ranked play,but, I did. The reason behind this is for people new to ranked play to have somewhere to turn to. When I first stopped play pubs and started playing ranked games I had no idea what I was going to do. I tried using the same tactics I had used for pubs and got wrecked over and over and over. I eventually started to understand a bit more how people aren't as terrible in ranked as they are in pubs and began going more survivability than rape fest damage build. The whole point of this build is to help people make the transition from pubs to ranked play. It sucked for me and I don't want that for others. Also note that in ranked play no guide will ever fully set you up for success, there are just to many variables.
Early Game Tactics
Before mentioning much I wanted to say that I always have my support give me an extra 3 tangos. Super helpful. Know that the other team is coming for you and get ready, because they are gonna gank the living hell out of you. Every 3-5 minutes expect to be ganked. They are going to try,try, and try again to kill you and you just have to be ready for it. Now for how I generally build. I like to rush a Ring of Health just like in Pub Stomps, however, right after the Hp ring I always get boots. Without them I'm a target for sure; hell even with them I'm a target but the boots help, I promise. After I get the boots and ring I generally just finish off the Perseverance. If you're really doing good on farm then finish off your Power Treads. If not then grab a Claymore when you can and keep building up that Battle Fury. The whole reason behind getting Battle Fury before even finishing your Power Treads is that you want to start leveling your Blink about the same time you get your Battle Fury. Also don't forget to leave your Power Treads on Strength. This will help with those ganks that will be coming. As I mentioned earlier you don't want to be ganked early or at all if possible.
Mid Game
Your first order of business with the middle of the game is finishing off your Battle Fury. This item will ensure that you get good farm. After Battle Fury you have a few options. You can get a Vladmir's Offering for pushing and Roshan or you can build a Manta Style. The Manta Style will help with damage output and also a bit with survivability. I often times get a Manta Style now days, because someone else on your team can easily get a Vladmir's Offering and save you the cash. Getting that Manta Style earlier can give your team some leverage when entering a team fight or pushing a tower. Burning 3x the mana is never a bad thing either! One more route you can take after Battle Fury is Black King Bar. I really only get this item at this point if I can see that the enemy team is going to have a lot of mid game aggression and I need to be ready for it. This item will gives you survivability when entering a team fight and often times keep you alive for the whole duration of the fight! You will need to go into try-hard mode, however, because this item is going to prolong you getting your other items. Like Manta Style, Butterfly, or Heart of Tarrasque.
Late Game
Wait what?!? There aren't any late game items in this build!??! The reason for this is that nobody will ever ever be able to tell you what exactly will happen in the Late Game and what items you'll need. This is the part of the game where you've got to choose your own route. I also can't really tell you how to play this part of the game out. Simple things to note for late game in ranked games, however, is that you need to get towers downed and get racks. Obviously. For this to happen you will almost undoubtedly need aegis and a team wipe. Focus on getting farm when you can and last hitting every tower your team kills.
A little help I may provide on when to get certain items is that you really really want to get a Black King Bar if you're getting killed before you can get out of a stun. If you're dieing that fast then your team can never, ever win a team fight. You're the biggest damage input, or should be at least, and your team needs you.
Manta Style is a pretty solid item and quite self explanatory. It gives you even more mana burn and damage and is just great for you in every aspect. It's viable is most every game.
A Skull Basher, which I mentioned in the options category, is also quite great on Anti-Mage. The 1.4 second stun helps out a huge amount in 1v1 encounters or in just nuking down that enemy carry in a team fight. If you eventually upgrade it into an abyssal blade that's even better. Let the stun proc and then instantly after the proc wears off use your ability stun. Good fight Drow Ranger and Sniper.
Safe Farm
Things to note before using this build
This build is for players new to Magina who need that extra safety Vanguard gives you in lane. It makes farming a bit harder,but, should make it easier to stay alive early. Death is your worst enemy.
Early Game
I start this build a little differently that the others. I take two tangos and a Stout Shield out with me as starting items. I do this because as I said this build is for new players. New players will most likely need a little extra defense in the beginning to stop them from being harassed into an early grave.
Mid Game
This part of the game is still focused on farming. As always right? Rice your way to that Manta Style. You must get your Manta Style by at LEAST the 30 minute mark. After you get it you can start pushing with your team and playing much more aggressive than before. Remember though that Death is the enemy.
Late Game
This is undoubtedly the best part of the game with Anti-Mage. At this point you should be able to down a tower with your illusions and a wave of creeps in under 20 seconds. Keep moving with your team as often as possible but don't be afraid to split push. If the enemy makes a mistake capitalize on it by pushing like hell. With you downing towers at lightning speed nothing should be able to stop you from getting racks. Make sure that you always focus down their carry first. Squishy people must die First. It should be easy going for you in this part of the game though. Have fun!
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Laning Help (Survival)
This section is going to be based around helping you become a better player during the laning portion of the game. I will obviously not be able to prepare you for ALL situations,but I will try my best to cover what I can. Topics to be covered in this section include the following: Positioning and Avoiding Ganks. This section will most likely be quite controversial so your feedback will crucial to perfecting it.
Positioning
As you may have heard numerous times from all kinds of players,positioning is often times the difference between life and death during ganks or team fights. It is also very helpful during the laning portion of the game. If you position yourself well you can not only survive a gank,but also turn it around on the enemy team!
Now, most people will say that they have good positioning,but until you have had the experience of laning against people good position you truly have no idea how hard it is nor how bad yours most likely is. Often times people think that staying as far away from the enemy laners as possible is the perfect position. This can sometimes be the case,but often times is not. What you really want to do is take charge and abuse your Mana Break to force them back.
Last Hit Position: When last hitting you ALWAYS want to be on your own side of the melee creeps. Getting caught on the enemies side of creeps can be dangerous. They will often block you from running away forcing you to use your Blink. Early on you only have so much mana so you have to be very careful about how you use it. Staying on your side of the creeps will allow you to avoid being blocked and thus stops you from having to Blink out of deaths grasp.
Middle Is Missing: Now,in the situation that middle is roaming to gank somebody you should have wards up and know where they are. In a pub game you may not though. Often when I play in a public match I constantly check the mini map because I know my team will forget to call a missing at some point or another. This is a good habit to get into. If it turns out mid is coming to your lane you deffinately want to back up! Being pushed while mid is coming your way is an easy way to get yourself killed, especially if it is a Queen of Pain. Often times I back to my tower and stand on the side nearest trees. This gives me the ability to Blink farther into the trees without having to run. The farther in you are the better as it lets you avoid possible aoe damage.
Avoiding Ganks
This is the most common way of failing to carry as an Anti-Mage, failure to avoid the early game gank. Every team will focus you out and try very hard very often to kill you. This will most likely be their single goal from the early to mid game.
Awareness is the easiest way to avoid death. If you know where everyone is as often as possible then you should have no problem surviving. Your Blink will give you mobility,but not so much that you can just charge up a lane with middle missing and expect not to die. Check your mini map often, it's not hard, it's just annoying. Doing this annoying task will most likely raise your KDR at least one or two though simply because you won't die as often.
Where you Blink to is also very important. When being chased always try to Blink deep into the trees. This stops the enemy from getting to you too quickly. Often times if I'm being chased I Blink in the direction of the enemy team,but into the trees. They can't see where you Blink to,but this will surely help you when leaving your hiding place. Also try and Blink over ledges when no trees are available.(Not often but still). When running from an enemy keep in mind that you can Blink over the entire river. Remember though that if you click too far that your Blink distance will be reduced by 1/5. This can be the difference between life and death, trust me I know!