A guide for ZSMJ like Medusa.

Introduction

Medusa is one of the underestimated hero especially in pubs as many player find her boring because of constant gold farming. If you have ever heard of ZSMJ then you must have known the potential of Medusa in a very team oriented game. This simple guild will show you how to utilize the skills of Medusa with correct items and the actual build of late game items by ZSMJ as the title says!

I would not include any situational build because this build main aim is to show the very Chinese way of playing her and the videos below the guide (Medusa in League games...) shows that in action!!!

Main Pros

- Can effectively wipe an entire team
- Durable and very beefy
- Gaining strength as the game goes on
- Does not need Monkey King Bar for evasion heroes because of Split Shot's mechanics
- Good early game lane harassment that replenish mana thanks to Mystic Snake

Main Cons

- Needs a team with good coordination
- Mana burn counters her (but if you are over-farmed then you don't have to worry about this)
- Takes time to be effective
- Right click heroes who farms in early/mid game may not appeal anyone

Explanations for everything!

I have shown all the items and skill build for Medusa. I will explain it all. I hope you are familiar with DotA 1 items as you may know, Medusa is not released yet in Dota 2 and will be released very soon!!!

Starting game

Medusa needs to solo mid. She is a hardcore carry that can solo mid thanks to mana shield and mystic snake. Still, Medusa is just prone to enemy gank so just have map awareness and go tower hug if you sense something bad. Of course you can also line up with other players on top or bot lane but that is if someone is actually have to stay in mid (the ganker heroes). Anyway in order to have a successful starting game, a set of items is definitely needed (support hero should get a courier for you). You are aiming to build Magic Wand, Ring of Aquila so for starting game you have to get:

3 Iron branch
1 Circlet
1 Slippers of Agility
1 Tango

Early Game

With good creep lasthitting, upgrade the items that you have got from starting game into Ring of Aguila and Magic Wand. Get Boots of Speed afterwards since your movespeed is just so slow. When you reach level 5, spamming Mystic Snake is great but be sure to aim it well so that it can hit the long range creeps as well as the enemy hero to replenish your mana. Still the same as the early strategy; be careful to enemy gank and don't worry if you are not getting the amount of gold you need as you can catch up pretty fast. Your team should understand that you don't have much early game role (except for lane harassment with Mystic Snake).

Mid Game

Now when you reach level 9, you have max Mystic Snake and Mana Shield. You are slightly durable now and can harass lanes better. This is the time when the mid game phase starts. You should have got one of you core items by this time.

If you are planning to get the entire creepwave then go for Boots of Travel immediately. I always try to rush this especially if my enemies always gank so that you can farm safe plus it gives you the mobility. Also if you want to participate with teams then use Boots of Travel to gain experience and gold from enemy kill. Together with Yasha (+10% movespeed), Medusa's movespeed is 429 and this is really fast and it scales well with Stone Gaze when escaping a gank because it only slows the enemies looking at you so Stone Gaze + fast movespeed = Survive!. If needed to defend and to go back to fountain, use the boots!

Getting Power Threads is still good as it gives way for your other core items (low gold cost) but be sure have at least a Town Portal Scroll. You should have more map awareness as with power threads, you have slower movespeed so you should immediately use your Scroll if you sense a gank coming because enemies may still catch you even with Stone Gaze activated.

Linken's Sphere is Medusa's best friend as it give you a more meat for tanking as well as right click power. Not to forget the spell block of Linken's Sphere which is a huge help in terms of some enemy team's initiation to you.

Manta Style is what gives Medusa the AOE arrow shower of power like a tower who acts as a browler similar to Bowser who always kills the loser (hehe sorry I can't think of any good rhymes). The illusions gains the Split Shot skill as long as it was active before you pop up Manta. This will be of more use as game goes on especially with damage items. Don't underestimate as Illusions becomes stronger as well as in late game.

The photo below shows your stats when you completed your core items at level 15. In this state, you are starting to pack up some heat but you are not there yet ^.^

Late Game

After getting Manta Style, late game phase is about to start. Getting Butterfly is such a smart choice and the benefits you gain is very very useful. More DPS plus 35% evasion scales well with you and your illusions. This time, you can feel the breeze of Split Shot and can kill creepwaves very very fast! This can help you get your luxury items faster.

Building a Satanic maximizes your tanking ability. Be sure to be wise when activating Satanic as you might get disabled. This allows you to Split **** the entire enemy for longer duration and tank your entire team because of the health you gain.

Taking to account your massive EHP and your mana shield, Divine Rapier is a very wise choice especially if your team is loosing as this can turn the tides. Plus if you have satanic, the lifesteal amount is immense! With good supporting team mates the game will surely turn to your side now. Still you do know the risk of getting this item. The photo below shows the benefits you can get if you followed the late game option 3 items.







You can get Eye of Skadi if you don't want to take the risk. It will still give you some damage as well as a lot of EHP and more mana for mana shield. The cold attack is a good benefit as well to chase the low health enemy and will scale well with your high move speed if you chose to get Boots of Travel. The photo below shows the stats you would get if you choose to follow the Late Game Option 1 items. The total movespeed with that build is 429!





If you are still not pleased with Boots of Travel then just get Power Threads as a core and retain it for late game. It is also good as it give +30 attack speed and +8 stats of your choice so there are more DPS and few health. Attack speed will be a good source of damage for you as well.

Here are the benefits if you planned to follow option 4 Late Game item build. Movespeed with this build is 379.





Here is the option 2 Late game benefits. Movespeed is 379.




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Notice that a change in boots you choose can affect Medusa's gameplay. Anyway its your choice what items you choose

Why I or ZSMJ don't get Mjollnir

You already have Split Shot (5 arrows) for God's sake. You can already kill the entire creep wave if you get the suggested items + Split Shot. The Static Buff isn't really essential and what's the use of it if you are too far from the enemy? If you get more SURVIVAL items (like Eye of skadi or satanic) then it will boost your tanking ability in team clashes. K fine the Attack speed is a good boost but still your damage output would still prove insufficient in a pro scene and the chain lightning doesn't really proc often (25% chance). Why not just improve the skill that you already have???

Linken's Sphere vs Bloodstone

Definitely Linken's Sphere. Linken's Sphere gives the stats, health regen, mana regen and +25 damage that Medusa needs as well as the Spell Block which is very good so that an enemy hero cannot initiate on you. There would be no space for Black King Bar with the item build but Linken's Sphere does the job already.

Bloodstone only give HP and mana boost. Too bad it does not contribute to Medusa's right-click power and no Spell Block like Linken's Sphere. You won't gain that many charges because you will be away in team fights early, farming your gold and when you die, some charges are lost. MEDUSA IS NOT A CASTER! Period. SEE ALL ZSMJ's Medusa build and you would not see Bloodstone as it render you in danger in enemy team initiation and who cares for lower time of revival if you can buyback immediately? Of course buyback gold is very easy to get by Medusa.

Skill explanations

Why Mana Shield At Level 1?

Mana Shield will give you some surviving ability at level 1. This is a matter of life and death when being ganked so early. Level 1 Mana Shield absorbs 0.75 damage per 1 mana. If you have the starting items then you have 312 mana so you have 234 bonus effective hp overall in addition to your 511 hp. That seems not much but it helps at start. Some do level attribute bonus as well at level 1 so it is your choice.

Maxed Mystic Snake at level 7?

Mystic Snake is your only early game harassing skill. Also you can replenish your mana with it so you can constantly spam it without worrying about your mana but just be sure that you are able to hit the creeps with mana and the enemy heroes. If you want to play safe then max Mana Shield instead.

Why not Stone Gaze at level 6 and skill it at level 10/11/16?

Stone gaze is a good and underestimated ultimate. But at level 1, it cost 200 mana which is very high for early game and the effect is not on per with Tidehunter's level 1 Ravage. You can the skill point for mana shield instead and it will give you more EHP. You don't participate in team clashes most of the time in an early game so it is slightly pointless. At level 9 you should have maxed mana shield and have 1 attribute bonus.



Notice that you have 810 hp and 533 mana. Mana shield at level 4 absorbs 2.25 damage per mana so it will absorb approximately 1200 of damage. You would have like 2010 hp already at level 9 (not including your armor reduction) and this will play its role for your safety in ganks. So if you cast stone gaze then your EHP would have reduced by 450 (200mana x 2.25 =450). If you still want Stone Gaze at level 6 then get it because it's your own choice anyway.

Why Split Shot at level 12/13/14/15?

Split shot is not that effective early on and you would need to get some of your core items to see the breeze. At level 12, you should have got or getting some of your core items helping your right click ability. This is the time or level when you would start to see an improvement with split shot especially when you reach level 15 even with just Yasha and Linken's Sphere and your early game items in your inventory.

The photo shows Medusa at level 15 with her core items. So if you have level 4 Split Shot at this time then you can feel the benefits from your items. This is why never skill Split Shot early as it is not effective without your items!

GOOD ALLIES

The Aura givers

The Disablers

Keeping you alive

NOTE: Heroes that gives damage and attack speed aura buffs are effective in any phase of the game especially in teamfights. Vengeful and Beastmaster gives a great boost to Split Shot because of the damage and attack speed aura (not to mention their disabling skills). Crystal Maiden's seducing brilliance aura can help you stay in lane longer. Disablers just helps you to get the kills you definitely need while the healers helps you to keep on going :)

ENEMIES YOU MAY WANT TO AVOID

Heroes with Mana Burn Skills

Special mention for Diffusal Blade users

Note that if you have map awareness and good right clicking skills then you can still outfarm these heroes and still manage to win! For Illusion users, stone gaze and split shot is a good counter solution but be wise in every decision. Remember that good skill is needed for every hero to be effective.

Medusa in league games...

As usual videos will explain more than words.. feel free to watch!!!

Here is a good League game of Medusa. The version of DotA in this video is v6.69 so Medusa haven't received her skill buffs yet (like 5 split shot arrow, mana shield, and mystic snake damage increase). Divine Rapier only gives +250 damage (now +300) in this version. The LGD was about to lose but DK wasn't worried about Medusa early in the game and see what happens. This only shows the highlight of the game and notice the cooperation of Medusa's (ZSMJ) team!
Play Video

Below is the legendary game of Medusa in history (played by ZSMJ). This is the DotA v6.67 Medusa so her skills are slightly weaker than the current and Divine Rapier only gives +250 damage. 700+ creep kills in 60 mins! Video courtesy by LuminousInverse.
Play Video

NOTICE THAT ZSMJ DOES NOT BUILD MJOLLNIR AS HE IS MORE CONCERN OF HIS OWN SURVIVAL AND AS WELL AS RIGHT CLICKING POWER. YOUR SURVIVAL and DAMAGE INCREASE IN SPLIT SHOT IS A MATTER OF WINNING ESPECIALLY IN LATE GAME AS YOU MEDUSA IS A HARDCORE CARRY

Final Words

Not a lot of players choose Medusa in pub games. If you are planning to use her then be sure you are brave enough and have a good last hitting skill as you will have to carry the team to victory. Don't choose Medusa if you are looking for more early game action or if you are bored with right-clicking. Have fun guys!

Thanks for reading BTW! It's my first guide so please be considerate :)