Crystal Maiden Blue-blooded Hard Support

Ahah meta changes ;)

The thing with CM's ulti is you won't usually have enough mana no cast it in an engagement at level 6, if you prioritize the other spells - unless you remember to carry an Enchanted Mango, which I advice. You can skip it indeed, in many cases; but it's such a powerfull damaging and slowing spell specially when people's HP pool is still low, that I think you ought to get it asap if possible.

Uhm Hi Axyom! You seem to be rather new here!
Rylon explained why he does not like to skill it that early and you might want to explain your opinion.
I personally skill it sometimes at level 6 but in that case I want to get focused or am 100% sure it will pay off.

I think it's a huge mistake to not skill your ultimate at level 6

I took another turn and now am following my older skill sequence for Crystal Maiden, thus, maxing Crystal Nova first. :) So yeah, I guess Nova isn't so useless after all.

But to balance between the two nukes, I get Frostbite Lvl 2 as a kind of average (not too short-not too long) before maxing out Crystal Nova. :3

I originally started my build with maxing Crystal Nova a long, long time ago, even before the new skill buffs came out. I guess my judgment was affected by the overall teamplay and I ended up thinking that my skill build was the reason :( LOLOLOLOL

I saw this game, and I thought I should share it with you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rCnShvi52Q

Puppey's one of the best CM players there is now, as it's stated in the game. Notice his skill build: only one point in Frostbite and maxing out Crystal Nova to use in fights, not because of the damage, but because of the attack and move speed slow.

On the other team, the support Lina was completely useless, because as a #5 she doesn't find the items she really needs to be effective. Nah, I don't think Icefrog is in love with the fiery sister :)

@Chichi

LOL! Because Lina has a pure damage Aghanim's Scepter effect and her attack range is now 670! In-game you'd be okay with it, but when I first found out, I was like "WTF, Icefrog!" hahaha.

IF ONLY they'd buff Crystal Maiden's stats a bit, or at least increase the cast range of her Frostbite by a lil... but anyway, who knows. She's got an amazing 6-second Frostbite cooldown now anyway.


The new move speed slow is good, I guess... but lately I've been able to reach 4k MMR (in SEA Server, my goodness) with maxing Frostbite first (or simply looking at the current skill build of the guide as of now). I tried going Frostbite Level 2 and then maxing Crystal Nova, you know for the new trend everyone keeps saying, but I wounded up falling down the MMR ladder. I know that a factor was the hero draft and the stupid teamplay, but I can't help but think that somehow my maxed Frostbite contributed a lot (at least to hold the enemy hero long enough) for the team to win several battles in-game. :) IDK I'm just so happy I've reached 4K MMR for the 3rd time in SEA Server.

Thanks for your answer. I've been reading your updates, I see that you've been improving your guide and your understanding on the hero. Good luck with it and your games, and anything you need don't hesitate to ask :)

Btw I don't think Lina is the preferred sister here ahah they have completely different roles, as Lina is an aggressive core and Crystal Maiden a defensive support, and both are very good in the meta right now. But if you're yet to see the effect of the 50% slow (in attack speed but also, don't forget, in move speed) I promise you if you play more you will start to see it. It's one of those subtle things that makes a hero viable in competitive and in higher rank games.

I know that it's pretty weird for Crystal Maiden to be getting the Mekansm. If someone else is making it then obviously Rylai wouldn't need to make one anymore. That's why I mentioned that at the starting phase, the player using Crystal Maiden should already be asking the other teammates who is making the Mekansm because if nobody wants to, the job would be up to Crystal Maiden. :)


Also, about the maxing of Crystal Nova over Frostbite because-of-new-update debate... I've been testing and comparing both builds (max nova vs max bite) for months now. It's really hard to come up with a conclusion because victories don't come by easy at 3.9-4k MMR (so many tryhards and account buyers LOL). For one thing, a maxed bite gives you a great disable and the short cooldown of a maxed bite is great for spamming, but it also leaves your team with less of area nukes capability... a maxed nova is a good area nuke contributor but leaves the hold of frostbite really short and almost inconsiderable... so yeah, this build is gonna keep having edits about the skill sequence..

and about the new -50 ATKSPD effect of nova... i'm sad to say that i've found it useless, or that i can't feel its effect at all. It's more effective than it was before, but it could have been buffed a bit more. If only CM would get the same upgrade treatment as Lina. I'm sure Icefrog has favoritism on Lina.. :(

You're adapting your guide at any point in the game where you change your options right? I think that's interesting, it's something always under construction.

But at the same time, why don't you try to have more games with her first, and then you come up here with what you've learned? I'm asking this just because I was like you when I started playing Crystal, always changing items, until I settled for some things in some specif cases. At the moment, you seem to be doing various weird things, which I will now talk about, and I think they may be due to lack of experience.

First, you're getting a Belt of Strenght that will not be used in any later item of yours. The reason why high skilled players don't buy this for her (unless they are going for Power Treads) is that, if you're looking for those extra HP points for survivability in the early game, there are more viable options: Bracer and Gauntlets of Strength. They are better because they are items that you can use to build items later, and that's something very important to consider when playing Support, and any other hero for that matter - don't just waste money on items that you're not planning on updating later, unless we're talking about things that are very useful until a certain point and in the late game you can sell (like the Urn of Shadows).

More than that: Have you noticed that the Belt of Strenght costs 450 for 6 Strenght and two Gauntlets of Strength cost 300 and give exactly the same strenght?

SO, my advise on this would be: go for the Gauntlets of Strenght, because even if you don't want to follow them up with the Urn of Shadows or Drum of Endurence they are less expensive. The slots shouldn't be a problem in the early game.

The second thing: you're getting Freezing Field only at level 9, 4 levels after you could take if for the first time. With the last update, this really is a waste of one of the best ultimates in the game, with its cooldown now reduced since level 1. I get that you're problem with this is that you can't seem to use without being interrupted (you say "During team fights, I use Freezing Field to intimidate the enemy (...) The enemy will most likely try to run away, giving your allies a short moment to attack safely. If an enemy Hero quickly reacts and tries to stun/disable/kill you, then good. Because he would have wasted his time and the cooldowns of his skills just to stop your channeling.") The thing is, only 2 out of 10 times you will be using it for that intimidation factor, since the other 8 times you're only really capitalizing on it if you're able to channel it to deliver damage. Look at it this way: if you get CM in a game just for her slow plus stun, it's like you're playing a Lina only for her Light Strike Array and Dragon Slave - when you have one of the most damaging ultis in the early game.

Oh, but CM's ulti is really hard to land? Play more, watch more games in youtube. It's a question of skill and luck combined, but you're not supposed to be the one initiating in most cases, but the one entering a fight that has already started so you can channel at will and deliver an awesome ammount of damage.

Ah, but I have mana problems at this stage, because if at level 6 I Frostbite and Crystal Nova in succession I won't have enough mana for the ulti anyways. That's because you are not considering one of the new items: Enchanted Mango. If you get one or two of these, you can do all three spells in a teamfight with ease from level 6 onward. Of course you could just only use the stun to save mana for your ulti, since your Crystal Nova's level 1 is insignificant anyway. But if that's not your style, go for the Enchanted Mangos, and start trying to pull off your ulti from level 6 onward.

You may not have noticed it, but all the discussion about getting CM's ulti at later levels is pretty much outdated now, because of the changes I talked to you about - people would get it later, including me, because we couldn't aford the mana cost and it had a very long cooldown, which made it not so good in the early. Now that both these issues are solved, it is one of your biggest advantages as a hero, therefore reaching level 6 is so important in your power curve (the sooner the better, cause later it will lose his power).

Finally, at this moment you only take 2 points in Crystal Nova... I can get why you would pick it a level 3, I think that's the best also, but then nothing on it until you've maxed your Aura and stun is again something outdated from the last patch. You see, before this skill was all about the nuking damage, because its slow was not so good. Therefore, although in theory all nukes are better in the early game than in the late, some people looked at it as the less powerfull skill CM had (me included). I only took a point in it until later too, for the slow. Now, however, this has changed. A full maxed Crystal Nova gives you a whooping 50% slow and, in top of it, 250 damage. In the early game, this is incredibly powerfull, as with one ability you take 1/3 of someone's life and slow them to half speed at the same time. Everybody is now maxing this first, being her better skill to have as soon as possible. The only reason to be maxing Frostbite instead is if you're in a game where you need the lockdown extra time more, because your team lacks stunners or the other team has blinkers. Otherwise, just one point in Frostbite is more than sufficient for you to use it as a stun until later. The same goes for the Arcane Aura: I like to have it maxed as soon as possible too, but at the moment with just two points in it you're helping your teammates and yourself more than enough in the early, while this skill only gets really better in the late game (since it works with percentages).

Ultimately it gets to this: what is more useful for your team in the early game, a negligible mana regen aura (2.5 extra percentage on someone with low Int is nothing in the early game) or a 50& slow + 250 nuke in a AoE? If you try it, you will see that most times the lattar helps your team better.

By looking at your item choice, with Mekansm followed by Glimmer Cape, I can see that you will struggle for mana at least until the late game. This is a problem you should address, and not by trying to get the Aura to fill your mana for you, since it is percentage based and it only gives mana regen. If you're really a big Mekansm fan, try Arcane Boots instead of Tranquil Boots. It will boost your mana pool, and later you can convert your Mek into Guardian Greaves, which have no mana cost and even give additional 160 mana when activated. It's either this, or more Inteligence items - and somewhere along the way you will probably not have all this money because you're supporting.

I would suggest you tried these suggestions, regardless of your mmr progression. Mmr really means nothing in most cases, I see higher mmr players play worse than me all the time, and to play better with a support doesn't always means victory. The most level you have, the more you will have to deal with things like skilled players blowing you to pieces before you could use your Mek to help your team, or anyone else in your team doing Mek. What will you do then, build a Mek too, over a Viper or a Necrophos? No, you will have to adapt. You miss the extra armor and regen: try other armor and regen items. One thing I've come to know in Dota is: you have to distinguish between style and the hero specific characteristics and expected gameplay. If you're new to a hero, follow first all the builds people that play a lot have been telling you about, because they know why some options are usually better than others. There's a reason why almost everybody says a Mek's not good for CM and for position 5 supports in general: it's because they have other roles to be playing, needing other items, and they are not rich enough to buy it asap nor tanky enough to use it properly (dying most times too quicly at the beggining of teamfights). Try some heroes that fill the role of Mekansm carrier, so you see how Mek works for them: Viper, Shadow Fiend, Necrophos, Omniknight. Then try your CM with and without Mek. If you still prefer Mek, work on having enough mana to have it available after using your skills.

I hope this somehow helps! Dota fire's great to learn these kind of things, and I've been learning them here before and after writing my own guide, so I'm trying to pass on some of the wisdowm on the only hero I really know my way around :)

I don't agree with picking up Crystal Nova at level 1. Getting frostbite at level is much better on hard support CM because you can go to the jungle and kill and Large camp easily and get to level 2 quicker. Waiting till level 3 to get frostbite is also a mistake I feel. You kinda need frostbite to gank and get kills.