Item Builds

(I'm a noob k)

So I took a few glances at the suggested items and other player builds, and they look kind of complicated. Is there a lot of selling going on during the game? I'm new to Dota, but I've been playing a bit of league for the past few weeks to understand mobas better, so I'm not really used to selling my items later in the game (except for the Doran's stuff).

Oh, and this might seem kind of random, but would you recommend Viper for a noob? I've tried him out and he seems pretty simple.

Hello, are you trying to understand that how to manage your item inventory during the game?

As for Viper, since he has only 1 active and 1 UAM, it's pretty easy to play him. Though you need to know how to play him correctly as he has no escape mechanism, and also know how to constantly gank your enemies because he has very strong killing power in early-mid game.

Hm, I guess you could say that. The way item builds work here are definitely more complicated than league.

I tried that practice 1v1 mode, and yeah its hard to get away from things, especially that pudge dude.

Being a starter it's ok to follow the item suggestion, though I encourage you to understand every items in game and what can they do 1st before move onto real match. Generally you only sell items when your inventory are full or you need that few golds immediately.

Let's say you are Viper and you have:

• Power Treads
• Bottle
• Wraith Band
• Shadow Blade
• Dust of Appearance
• Town Portal Scroll

You are trying to get Manta Style as an extension, but your inventory is already full. At this moment you can choose to sell Wraith Band to free up space. What can you do afterward:

Situation 1 :
If you have enough golds for Yasha, sell and replace the Wraith Band with Yasha.

Situation 2 :
You doesn't have enough golds for Yasha, it's a good idea to purchase and put Yasha's materials into stash until you have enough golds to buy Yasha, then go situation 1.

After you have your Yasha, your next step will be:

Situation 1 :
If you have enough golds to buy Manta Style, upgrade Yasha to Manta Style.

Situation 2 :
If you have enough golds to buy Ultimate Orb only, sell Bottle or keep the Ultimate Orb in stash depends on the situation, then go situation 1 when you have enough gold for Manta Style.

Situation 3 :
If you don't have enough golds to buy Ultimate Orb, just save up your golds until you can get it, never ever buy recipe 1st because you will lose some golds if you changed your mind for something else!

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Generally you sell the item which benefit you the least on the current stage of the game. I hope I helped.

Viper is a decent choice for a starting hero.

My issue with him is that he drops off a lot mid and late game, and that he lacks a stun ability and his abilities are all to easy to use.

While it's good to play an easy hero, the best starting heroes are ones to learn the game with. Heroes with lots of disables and stuns.

You want to start out with starting items, usually Tangoes and Healing Salves for healing and Iron Branches which build into a Magic Wand (burst heal and mana, very good item). Sometimes you might get a Quelling Blade for last hitting or Stout Shield if you are getting harassed.

After that you usually get Boots of Speed which can build into many kinds of otter, better boots. Once you have your boots you will get a fairly cheap item depending on what your hero needs most.

A Carry (The guy who gets all the kills and gold and makes you team win) will get a good farming item like Maelstrom most of the time. He might also get a Drum of Endurance.

A Support will get a Mekanism nearly every game. Possibly an Urn of Shadows which is also very good.


If you want an easy to play hero, I would recommend Abbadon or Slark whose ultimate abilities basically protect you from ****ing up too bad, and their regular skills are pretty easy to understand and use. Also they are very farm efficient so they don't need a whole lot of items to make them good.

As for selling items, only sell them when you are six slotted (all your inventory space is full). Good items are made of other items, so you can purchase items and have them in your stash at base where you cannot use them. Put the stash to good use and work on building larger items in stash. Once they are fully built then sell an item you dont need anymore like Stout Shield or Quelling Blade and fill that space with the item you have stashed. The alternative is to sell that and carry around the components, which is better if you aren;t doing as well, and since you are a noob this is the better option.

Always carry a TP Scroll.

Actually no. Viper is a very good mid game fighter. He only starts falling off late game against hard carries. Viper has very good right click and the ability to slow enemies with ease. He can even go get a scythe as a later item for some control.

Most carries don't have a stun, especially those in the current meta. Also some of the best supports don't have stuns either. Am I right Omni?

The problem with Viper is that if your laning partner lacks a stun or disable then you won't be able to make any early-game kills/moves unless the offlaner is brain dead and pushes the lane too far to allow you a window for your DoT and minor slow to have an effect.

A hero like Shadow Shaman or Lion really helps you in lane.

EDIT: Then again, if you're the #1 then your job really isn't to gank early, it's to farm - and Viper does give you a great deal of harassment potential.

It depends, some games, you'll never be 6-slotted and thus. will never have a reason to sell Items, whereas you may buy an Item that you only intend to use during the Early Game, e.g. Stout Shield, Quelling Blade to make your life easier until you get bigger, better items.

Yep, you don't need that much game sense or knowledge of other Heroes in order to get some mileage out of him.

If you're looking for a good guide on him, these 2 are pretty good.

http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/guide/grims-guide-to-viper-8578

http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/guide/the-best-offense-is-a-good-defense-4945

Mekansm isn't good on most Supports, but is good on Viper. If you feel that no one on your Team is going to be able to build it before 20:00, you should consider building it yourself. It isn't Core though.

Maxing Corrosive Skin 1st is a must, although take at least 1 point in your other Skills early on.

You should generally aim for Aghanim's Scepter every game, either after your Bottle and Power Treads/ Phase Boots, or your Power Treads/ Phase Boots + Mekansm. Getting it by 20:00 will allow you to take most 1 vs 1 encounters and lock down troublesome Heroes quite easily. In higher skill games it can be easy to deal with, but you won't have to worry about that for now.

If you get Hooked, Viper Strike him. Between that and Corrosive Skin, you can easily get a little distance, then turn and Poison Attack him into oblivion.