Tinkering about - An in depth guide to Tinker (Post 6.82)

Up until very recently, instead of stacking Battlefury comp players would rush Vanguard on Ember Spirit.

Moral: Pros live in their own little world of DotA. That's why Dendi acts the way he does :P

I noticed a lot of stuff about Ganking Tinker that was incorrect just because of my perspective of the competitive Tinker being a bit outdated, but I'm fixing it.

Also watching a ton of recent competitive Tinker games Bloodstone and Euls ftw

For the first part, the difference is +75 damage vs +80 which is only a 5 damage difference in favor of Laser, but Missiles have a chance to hit 2 targets meaning that it can be +150 vs +80 damage. (Maybe if there's a lot of potential to dodge missiles or you're planning on staying in solo midlane)

I personally don't play ganking Tinker as often so I wasn't sure whether to add the Healing Salve or not just because you get a slower Bottle for the most part, but I guess if you weren't playing as gank heavy before BoTs (Like ~10 minute ganks) then yeah you're right, I'll fix that

Also the Bloodstone is actually really important in intense ultra-lategame, because when you're defending all lanes of megas and constantly spamming out active items/abilities, especially during a teamfight situation in the enemy base, mana becomes a serious issue because once you run out you're useless and the amount of time it takes to TP back to fountain, regen more than half of your mana, and then return is just way too much, and Bloodstone just becomes like a constant bottle that lets you stay out of the fountain sustainably. I find that through this it can increase efficiency, and it should at least be built as a 5th/6th slot item at the very least (while saving for buyback).

Basically a really late Bloodstone does help, and if you prefer other core items first then you should at least invest in ultra lategame (Which will happen often as a Tinker on the losing team defending)

Just a small thing:

For the ganking build, wouldn't it be better to have the Laser level at 7 instead of 8 because it deals more damage?

Also, I find that I never use a healing salve when I play mid, that money could be used to get a faster bottle. And please remove that Bloodstone, he can just go back to fountain whenever he wants to regen.

Basically, wtf why the hell are you building Bloodstone :)

Thank you! And thats a really good idea to get the Rearm level a bit later, but the reason I get soul ring after BoTs is just to come online with BoTs faster so that you can support another lane with BoTs, teleport to bottom lane and farm the area there, and you'll have to take a few trips back to the well but you should be able to farm your soul ring that way. It can also be really helpful for quick trips to base for regen while in lane, but I don't think soul ring is needed until you really start splitpushing and spamming March>Rearm. Used to have to get it in pre6.82 to farm ancients, but now you don't need to
Also the level in rearm is also for farming the jungle camps mid on the radiant side when the lane is too pushed/dangerous.

I think getting Soul ring before BoT will be better. Ring helps you sustain your mana and hp. I take Rearm about lvl 9-10 or after i get my BoT, because you will almost kill yourself if you are using the ring early. Apart from that your guide is pretty good.

I fixed the title for a start ;)

I'll be adding a lot more detail and Tinker's checks/counters later, just wanted to explain basics for newer players first

i would suggest reading a sp12 guide.

Oh man, I would bash this guide but I dont know where to begin. Will do when I finish reading, more as a constructive criticism though.