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Tango
Healing Salve
Circlet
Animal Courier
Tranquil Boots
Null Talisman
Dagon 1
Aghanim's Scepter
Octarine Core
Ethereal Blade
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1 | 3 | 5 | 8 |  |
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10 | 12 | 13 | 14 |  |
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2 | 4 | 7 | 9 |  |
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6 | 11 | 16 |  |
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15 | 17 | 18 |
Before we go further you should know when and when not to pick lion.
This usually hinges on whether or not the enemy is picking very tanky heroes or not.
If a hero has high spell immunity, or a way to negate damage easily (TA, AM, Pudge, Meepo, Void), or if they are going to have a high amount of health mid and late game, Lion is generally a bad pick. If the enemy has a lot of silencer and the like, generally a bad pick.
If the enemy has a lot of low health heroes, or heroes who rely on spells but have limited mana pools (Tiny and WK obviously come to mind) then you can usually enjoy an advantage in lane. An important thing to understand is that this build is not about owning the entire team and carrying your team to victory, it's about destroying the enemy so hard early game that by the time late game rolls around you are the epitome of everything they fear and hate, and your teammates are nice and fat from pushing towers and farming off your poor victims.
This is a guide built by me from experience playing lion as a carry instead of a support. I still buy courier because as lion you don't need a huge gold advantage to be effective early and mid game. Now let's begin.
You'll want to max earth spike and mana drain first, prioritizing mana drain over earth spike. If you have to choose one or the other, pick mana drain. We'll get to the reason why in a second.
Lion is very good solo lane, but he's better with a laning partner. Sure, solo he will earn levels faster, but with a partner you have the potential to put more pressure on the enemy during the laning stage. We'll get into the basic steps of playing carry lion in lane.
Step one: Earth spike your enemy.
Step two: Right after casting earth spike, cast mana drain.
Mana drain is the linchpin of early laning as lion. Making sure your apponent is out of mana ensures that they cannot take the offensive against you or your laning partner. The goal of this in lane is to keep your enemy completely out of mana, and also doing damage to them without expending your own. Once mana drain reaches level 3 this will become extremely viable, and the enemy will not be able to cast spells. This absolutely cripples strength carries early game; people like DK, Tiny, WK, etc. Will not be able to cast their spells at all.
This is also why it is better to have a laning partner. You are a much jucier target if you are alone trying to channel the mana out of one of the enemy, whilst the other starts moving in for an easy kill.
As said before, you can lane with a partner or by yourself. The benefits of laning with another person include protection and the potential for early kills. The downside is decreased experience.
You may choose to lane by yourself. If so, you should play passively, going for last hits only when you think it's safe to. Be careful of ganks. Pick up boots ASAP if you are alone. Don't start spiking/draining until your mana drain is level three or else you are putting yourself at risk for little reward and harass.
Once you get your ultimate you can start going for kills. Make sure to monitor your enemy's health, and hit them with earth spike a couple of times before you finger them. This build strongly relies on burst damage, so make sure you kill them within a second or so of casting finger of death.
Once you get a couple of kills under your belt you should have tranquil boots and your null talisman, and be at least partially towards a level 1 dagon. You should have maxed earth spike and mana drain at this point, and if your laning enemy is being a bit too cautious, you can start ganking. This is where hex comes in handy. The steps are as follow:
Step one: Earth spike
Step Two: Mana Drain
Step Three: Cut Mana Drain short and use hex
Step Four: Finger if they are low enough to kill. Remember, you are a carry this game. You need the gold to get your items fast or else you fall off and stop being an asset to the team. Don't listen to your teammates telling you that you are "KSing". They get assist gold and they should be happy with it. They'll appreciate you more when you are combo-killing the enemy carry and teammates with Etheral-Finger-Dagon combos.
After ganking the lanes, getting more kills, and pushing some towers you should be pretty fed. Maxed out Dagon and scepter, moving towards Core. After Core you will be able to hit a 1K damage, Limited AoE nuke every 15 seonds. You will fall off slightly however, but you still have a hex/stun for their carrys, and mana drain from the enemy support in battle reducing their ability to help to nothing. In teamfights you have to be careful not to get focused by the enemy first. You're the burst damage, and you need to stay alive. Hide behind your tanks and know when to back off. You should be saving up for and working on an Etheral blade, but honestly if you had a good early game you won't need it. Getting kills early and punishing your enemy for being alive is the soul of Carry Lion.
That's the end of the guide. Thanks for reading, and I hope it helps you.
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