Finger Bangin'

Introduction

Demon Witch - Lion

Role: Roamer / Support

Lion is a Dire Intelligence Hero who is well known for his massive disabling abilities and epic ulti. His skills are fairly straight forward and easy to use, but still requires some knowledge to play ie. the right time to silence or stun. I will cover the basics behind Lion and explain his strengths and weaknesses. His friends and foes as well as certain items make a good, efficient build. I'm a massive fan of constructive criticism so leave feedback in the comments :) Enjoy!

Skills

Earth Spike - Lion's first skill. Great for harassing, lane support as well as being a great initiator. It is a AOE if timed and aimed correctly, able to stun multiple enemies. It's good to level this skill up first as it can save you, help you get early kills and do damage to everything it hits.

Hex - Lion's second skill which is a pure disable. Great for team fights in which you can disable carries like Invoker and stop enemies from fleeing. It is also to great to save yourself when being chased. Follow this with a Earth Spike and your safe.

Mana Drain - Lion's third skill, the most beneficial. Using intelligent/mana based heroes can be a pain because you have to waste your gold on mana boots etc. This skill is your walking regeneration rune. You can use it enemies to drain their mana as well as using it on creeps for yourself. The skill is best used on ranged creeps as they probably won't see you when your creeps around, allowing you to channel it the whole time.

Finger of Death - Finally Lion's ulti. IMO one of the most OP ulti's in the game. It deals a massive amount of damage and when upgraded it is a major gank skill. It's great for early game ganking. Earth Spike your enemies, hit em up and then use your Finger of Death on them. Let it charge and do it again!

Pros / Cons

Pro's:

Great disabler
Good early game ganker
Powerful support
Useful and powerful skills
Very diverse
His ulti

Squishy
Useless silenced
Can be picked off easily
His face!

Friends / Foes

Friends:

Invoker

Sven

Pudge

Rubick

Sand King

Huskar

Items

STARTING ITEMS:
Healing Salve - Immediate health.
Tango - Health regen.
Gauntlets of Strength - Towards your bracer.
Clarity - Not always needed with your mana drain.
Iron Branch - Fill some space.
Animal Courier - Only if you don't have one. Sacrifice for other items.

EARLY GAME:
Boots of Speed - Clearly for your boot builds.
Magic Stick - Good for some extra mana and health.
Bracer - Adding a few extra stats.

CORE: (Better to buy over Situational)
Refresher Orb - The best item for Lion, as it grants his ulti to be used twice, even a Dagon when you get one.
Aghanim's Scepter - Works great with your ulti.

SUPPORT: (If your aiming for support items)
Animal Courier - If you don't have one. You need one.
Mekansm - Great for team support.

BOOTS: (Health / Escape / Travel)
Tranquil Boots - Great for health regen early game.
Phase Boots - Great for roaming and escaping.
Boots of Travel - Great for support and getting around the map.

SITUATIONAL / LUXURY:
Dagon - Amazing for ganking. This + ulti = bliss.
Pipe of Insight - Either this or BKB.
Black King Bar - Great spell resistance.
Necronomicon - Bit of extra damage on your side.

Items are always based on what YOUR looking for. These are just suggestions :)

Summary

One of my favorite heroes in the game. Easy to play and can make a great ganker as well as support. When I find myself against him I always get pissed off at the stun, disable and massive ulti. He is easily killed though and easily countered with a silence. If you haven't played him, you should :p

Rate this guide and send feedback. Regards exToosey! :)