Akasha, Delightful Ganker

Introduction

Queen of Pain is a Inteligence hero that happends to be a very strong ganker, teamclasher, pusher and a effective semi-carry later on.
Her Blink offers her a lot of mobility which allows her to have above-average surviability late-game, couple that with her spammable Scream of Pain and even Sonic Wave once you got Aghanim's Scepter and you get on dangerous hero capable of demolishing squishy teams in seconds!

Skillset

Not one of her most important skills, I usually just get one level of this early game for the slow it gives, otherwise I ignore it until I am done taking status late-game. The poison effect from the skill allows enemies to deny their teammates so we don't want that up for long, Queen of Pain doesn't really need the slow as much either due to the fact that she has a spammable Blink. Status on the other hand helps a lot by adding some surviability and increasing your mana pool which is very restrictive early-game.


This is the reason why she truly is a worthy pick, a Intelligence hero with a spammable aoe nuke and a blink! This assures her late-game and ,together with Scream of Pain, makes early-game ganks a breeze. Second skill I max out.


The bread and butter of Queen of Pain, this skill allows for easy harrasement and farming early game, easy kills during ganks and fast pushes during lategame. The damage might not be too high, but it's the spammability it has which makes it so deadly. Hits invisible units! Max this skill out asap!


Some might argue that this is a weak ultimate but if you look at akkasha's other skills, then you realize this was a necessary nerf to not overpower her. I usually get it at level 10 so I can quickly follow with it's level 2 at level 11, the mana cost is too huge early game at level 6 and it's damage is quite average, but later on, it becomes a above-average teambattle ultimate that allows you to take care of enemy squishies even faster. Hits invisible units as well.

When to pick Akasha

Queen of Pain is quite squishy herself as a hero, it's her Blink that gives her the upper hand most of the time. Silences and stuns can easily run this hero into the ground.

She is very effective at taking out those casters that like to stay behind while the rest of their team engages the enemy, her Blink comes in very handy and her huge aoe damage makes short work of them.

Some of them are squishy and easily taken out, others lack the mobility to keep up with her so she can kite them and kill them easily. Most of the heroes she is effective against can turn around and own her as well, but the thing with Queen of Pain is proper timing, if you go in after an enemy while most of his abilities are in cooldown (in a teamclash for example), then it's not going to be hard killing it, and in most teamclashes, these guys except a few, will stand back and cast their skills as soon as they are off cooldown, that's the the time to strike at, the huge damage you come in with from Scream of Pain will make the realize the grave danger they are in and they will try to flee most of the time. Sometimes if they are a bit slow with reflexes, you can blink in in such a way that you can Sonic Wave the casters behind AND the whole teambattle in progress which in most cases will assure you a win.

Annoying heroes for Akasha

The Prime Evils

He is nearly as cool as you, he can kill you if you are not careful during the laning stage and he can hunt you down like you were some sort of rat duing nighttime... Crippling Fear coupled with his slow from Void and the movement and attack speed boost from Hunter in the Night will most certainely get you killed if you happen to face him alone... Queen of Pain is not such a good pick when the enemy has this hero.
Extremely annoying hero.


Doom... need I say more ? He is tanked as hell, he is hard to chase down due to his Scorched Earth and if you happen to be in his multiplier for lvl? death he will burst you down in two casts, if you happend to be a big threat to his team, he will most certainely Doom you allowing his teammates to pound you to the ground.
Can be extremely annoying.


A spammable silence Bloodrage and a ultimate Rupture that will keep you in place for a long while... very bad news for Queen of Pain.
If however he doesn't happen to be focusing you, he's not going to put much of a fight without his skills, but you should still watch out for that Bloodrage of his.
You can easily outlane this her due to your ranged advantage and Scream of Pain.
Average towards highly annoying hero. Staying out of sight before a fight and waiting for him to cast his skills first will most of the time give you the upper hand in most teamclashes.

The Lesser Evils

His Smoke Screen and Backstab will most probably destroy you if you get caught out of position... he isn't going to be much of a pain to you unless actually give him the chance. After he gets his Diffusal Blade it's a whole different story.
Averagely annoying hero, can easily turn in a big threat.


Maybe you can gank her early and kill her a couple of times, so what ? Once she gets some damage going and criticals, that Silence coupled with her autoattacks will destroy you in seconds. Watch out for this hero during mid-late-game, early game she is food most of the time.
Averagely annoying hero.


You are both kinda equal in the laning phase and later on, you are both quite effective at killing each other. His silence from Waning Rift coupled with the mobility and damage from Illusory Orb can prove problematic later on.

Irritating but not as deadly

He can outlane you with his Tidebringer and he can be annoying in teamclashes with his X Marks the Spot nulifying your Blink. He is generally tanked up and you won't be able to kill him before he initiates on your team with Torrent and ghost ship, most of the time you won't even see him.
Averagely annoying hero. It's not that he's very deadly to you, just that he's very deadly to your team and there isn't much you can do about it.
He's not a very annoying hero beyond the laning phase but coupled with a strong team he can become a nuissance.


We don't like getting our Queen of Pain bursted out like that ... Dragon Slave Light Strike Array and Laguna Blade combined will probably kill you or leave you nearly dead most of the time. Lina herself though is easy to take out once she wasted her ultimate.
Not a hero you should worry about too much, but she can be deadly if she's saving her skills just for you.

The thing with Pudge is that the enemy player has to be good with his Meat Hooks to be a threat to you, otherwise he isn't much to worry about. If he does happend to be good with Meat Hooks though, and catches you, chances are you will be dead or nearly dead in 1 combo.
Easy to outlane, not as easy to kill or escape from.


He is very easy to take out but not so easy to outlane, if you ignore him during teamfights he will most probably pound you with his range from Take Aim and ministuns from Headshot and then kill you with Assassinate.
Annoying if not focused.

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Truth be told, extreme burst damage and stuns generally counter most heroes with few exceptions, so with Queen of Pain you should mostly watch out for those two AND silence skills since they will get you killed most of the time because they are so spammable and you go down pretty fast.

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Runes

As a solo mid player/hero you want to keep a close eye on those runes, don't hesitate to scout top or bot if you manage to push the mid lane early game to the enemy tower.
If you happen to get a good rune like Double Damage, Haste or Invisibility you might even get a good gank if you happen to be level 3 or higher, before the regural ganking levels (which for me starts at 7 with Queen of Pain if I'm solo mid).

Illusion - not a really useful rune of Queen of Pain, you can try to use it for a gank in later levels but early on, they are only good for scouting and refilling bottles (if you happen to have one).

Invisibility - great rune, once you reach level 3 you can easily gank top or bottom lane for a easy first blood unless the enemy happends to have the runespots warded.

Double Damage - this rune coupled with your Blink packs quite a punch early game even if you don't have your level 2 Scream of Pain yet, you can easily get kills with this rune with the mobility from your Blink and damage from autoattacks.

Haste - very similar in usage with Invisibility except this actually saves you from wasting mana on Blink allowing you to get a lot of hits on the enemy with normal attacks and Scream of Pain.

Regeneration - more of a laning sustainability rune, can be helpful if you are in your ganking levels (5 or higher) if you want to go for gank and you're out of mana or hit points.

Item choice

Starting items
- 2 Healing Salves
- 2 Iron Branches
- 1 Circlet

The Healing Salves are there to help you sustain heavy lane harrasement if present.

The 2 Iron Branches are there to give you some some damage to have a easier time last hitting and should later on be turned into a Magic Wand.

The Circlet is there for the damage boost and should be later turned into a Null Talisman.

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Core items

- 1 Null Talisman
- Power Treads
- Magic Wand

The Null Talisman is there to fix your silly mana pool early game to help your ganks, I usually get this item after getting a Boots of Speed but before finishing Power Treads.

Power Treads are the boots of choice on nearly all of my heroes, in Queen of Pain's case I really like the hit points boost and the fact that you can swap them tp INT to get that extra mana for a Blink or a Scream of Pain.

Magic Wand is a all-around good to have item on Queen of Pain. The hp/mana replenish it gives can sometimes make a difference between making a kill or dying.

Total gold: 2464

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+ One of these items


- Aghanim's Scepter

A very nice item to get on Queen of Pain, gives a very helpful mana & hp boost and a very useful cooldown reduction to your ult (40 seconds!!) which assures that you'll always have Sonic Wave every teambattle in late-game.


- Scythe of Vyse

The mana regeneration you get in early-mid game from that Void Stone and the status you get from that Ultimate Orb in mid-game really help you a whole lot. Once the item finished, mana regeneration is gonna go through the roof and the disable will make it all more sweeter seeing how Queen of Pain has no way of canceling channeling spells.


- Orchid Malevolence

A early Oblivion Staff should fix most of your mana problems early game, the build-up for this item is easy so it's one of the most accesible items for Queen of Pain. I usually prefer Scythe of Vyse as a disable over this, but if you find that the enemy team if more vulerable to the silence from Soul burn then by all means go ahead and get it.


- Shiva's Guard

I would get his item if the enemy team happends to have a lot of armour reduction heroes like Slardar or Dazzle. The early Platemail can be a life-saver in some cases and later on once the item is finished, it will complement immensely your chasing power and already awesome aoe nukes.
Not a item I build often on Queen of Pain, I do get it as a secondary item though, if the game happends to last that long, after I finish my Aghanim's Scepter, Scythe of Vyse or Orchid Malevolence.


- Linken's Sphere

This is a very defensive item that gives decent mana regeneration and status, I never got to build this item on Queen of Pain but I guess it can be useful in some cases like if the enemy happends to have built a Orchid Malevolence or Scythe of Vyse just for you.
I'm usually ok with just having Blink though.

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In most of my games I get Aghanim's Scepter because I don't usually pick Queen of Pain in games where the enemy team has lots of annoying heroes to get me to build Linken's Sphere. Second favorite item on her is Scythe of Vyse because an extra disable is always welcome ;). I rarely build Orchid Malevolence (I usually opt for scythe instead), Shiva's Guard or Linken's Sphere but I can see the items working on her.

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Early game, laning phase and early ganks

I prefer to play Queen of Pain as a solo mid hero most of the time although she can make a good solo side-lane hero and even works on duals.
This guide will be mostly about the solo mid type of play though.

During the early levels, depending on your enemy, you should be able to survive the lane without too many problems especially with those two Healing Salves.

If the enemy is melee then the lane is yours, if the enemy is ranged though, you might have some minor issues if his range is bigger than yours or if he has some early burst that can take you down (like Tinker).

Focus on last-hitting and denying, priotirize last-hitting though. If you manage to pull some cheap shots on the enemy early on with your autoattacks and/or Scream of Pain, go ahead, maybe you weaken him enough to take him out later on with level 3 Scream of Pain.

Once you get your level 5 you can go ganking easily if enemy lanes (top or bot) are weak and/or you have strong lanes (dual stuns, at least one slow on a hero or a lot of nukes).

I usually check for runes since early levels if I manage to push the lane a bit, they can make a big different on your ganks/laning and severely weaken the enemy.

At level 7 you should be able to get kills on most of your ganks, this is when I usually fully leave mid (I usually ask a teammate to take it) and go roaming for the rest of the game.

When you gank, have (if possible) one of your allies initiate with a slow or a stun then Blink in and Scream of Pain then Shadow Strike (if leveled) the target you want to kill, keep chasing with Blink and spam Scream of Pain along with autoattacks until your target dies.

You should easily get your Null Talisman from these early ganks and proceed towards building your Power Treads.

Mid game, countergank, gank and push

Remember, ganking power does not win you the game, it gives your team an early advantage which should either be used to push early game or give a big boost to your carry allowing you to finish before the enemy heroes fully come online.

Ganking is nothing without pushing or a carry advantage.

At this stage of the game, you should be focusing on ganking a lot, helping your weaker lanes (esp the lane with your carry if he's having trouble) and shutting down enemy heroes with high bounty on their heads (killing sprees).

If possible after each gank attempt to push the tower, you generally need creeps with Queen of Pain to make a push worthwhile since you can easily clean enemy waves with Scream of Pain so having a pusher in your team can be helpful for getting those early towers.

You should be finishing your Power Treads and working towards or finishing your next big item during this stage of the game.

Watch out for enemy ganks, again, as I said in my Night Stalker guide always keep a Town Portal Scroll in your inventory and countergank!
Watch the minimap, see a enemy dot that just appeared on one of your allied lanes ? Quick, TP in and make the most of it! Don't let the enemy pick on your weaker allies, make them pay for it!

Lategame, teambattles and tricky choices

If the game lasted this long, you probably have your core items and working towards your secondary big item.

This is when carries are starting to shine a lot and when having Blink really makes a big difference.
You are a strong hero at this stage of the game as well, your insane aoe damage will make the enemy fear you and make you a top target most of the time.

In teambattles, wait for your initiator or theirs to initiate, stay out of sight and strike (with Blink) at their casters, which most of the time are staying behind the tanks, once you see each hero picking their targets.
Try to position yourself in such a way that you can get your Sonic Wave to damage the casters your are initially focusing AND their allies inside the teambattle, if you pull this off, half of the battle is won if the enemy is incapable of handling your damage (big aoe heals or extreme tankability).
Focus on the disablers first and then follow on their nukers and finally carries. Beware of Lion, Lina, they are are some of your top priorities (especially Lion) but most of the time you can't wait for them to waste their ultimates so watch out for that (that Linken's Sphere, Scythe of Vyse or Orchid Malevolence are really going to pay off now).

Proper timing is key to a good Queen of Pain player!!!

Once their main disabler is out, the nuker shouldn't be too hard to take out, the enemy carry is probably trying to kill your supports by now and the tanks are trying to be as disruptive as possible, but soon before they know it, their caster support will probably be dead by then and they will probably end being pounded by the remaining of your team and you.

Smart carry players will turn back as soon as they see you coming on his supports but that will leave his tank out of position, be aware of them, your Blink has a relatively low cooldown during lategame, if you manage to tank him and Blink out then your team should be able to follow up on the rest of the team now that their main tanks are out, if not, then you need to wait until the enemy carry is fully commited to the fight before you initiate on his supports, or you might as well focus him with the rest of your team once he commits.

You don't want to go melee with a melee hero when you have Queen of Pain so keep your distance during all stages of the game.

You have range so use it to your advantage.

Notes

• I have built Necronomicon on Queen of Pain a few times, I usually get it when we really lack pushing power, it's not a item I recommend getting on Queen of Pain most of the time though since it's not really that helpful for her, the item gives bellow average status gain and the summons don't help her as much, however at level 3, the truevision from the summon can really help you against enemies like say Riki.
• I never got to build Veil of Discord, it's an item I never got around using yet but it looks like it could be decent on Queen of Pain
• During lategame I have noticed Queen of Pain has decent damage from autoattacks, but don't let this foul you, she still is a caster, going dps items is not really the way to go.
• Some of you might have though about Ethereal Blade, but honestly, Queen of Pain is all about aoe damage, not single target nukes, if you want damage amplification I suggest you rather go Veil of Discord instead... or get a Pugna in your team.