3 | 8 | 13 | 14 |
1 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
2 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
6 | 11 | 16 |
15 | 17 | 18 |
Thanks for checking out this guide! This guide is intended for those who wish to learn everything there is to know about Meepo, the Geomancer, as well as those who already understand how Meepo works and are looking for a new way to build his army.
MEEPWND!
So, here are a few games I've played with the naked mole rat. I will have video of some of these highlights relatively soon, so stay posted.
Pros:
|
|
Cons:
|
Geostrike |
|
Meepo's Earthbind traps enemies in a radius for 2 seconds. The great part of this ability is that it can heroes from a great distance (1250 at level 4), its range is abysmal until then. Another benefit of Earthbind is that prevents heroes trapped from going invisible or blinking away (i.e. Shadow Blade or Blink Dagger) However, abilities like Slark's jump and Faceless Void's time lock can escape from the net (technically). Once they land, they are still trapped by the net if the 2 second duration has not expired, although the net does not impede their movement when using their abilities. Earthbind also interrupts any channeled ability (including teleportation scrolls). Although, enemies may begin channeling once inside the net. About the mechanics of the net: it is VERY difficult to master. The animation for the net is in a sense awkward. The net floats in the air as it travels, so the farther the net is thrown, the longer it takes to reach its destination. Practicing Earthbind is essential for using it correctly. Poof is Meepo's burst damage ability. It does damage on the way out AND on the way in. So, this makes Poof very effective in farming creep waves mid/late game. It also does serious damage to heroes that are in the radius when a Meepo teleports in and out of the same general area. Yes, it is weird that a Meepo can teleport to itself, but get over that fact and use it to your advantage. Poof can be used as an initiation tool, teleporting all Meepos to one specific Meepo in a team fight. Poof can also be used as an escape mechanism, by teleporting a Meepo with dangerously low health to a Meepo that is out of the midst of battle. The main use for poof, though, is farming creep waves and jungle creeps. With two Meepos, a full health creep wave can be destroyed with two well placed Poofs. The farming capabilities will be analyzed further in the Farming / Jungling tabs. Geostrike is a passive ability that gets increasingly more dangerous with more Meepo clones. This ability procs a 2 second slow and a damage over time effect for each hit landed on enemy unit. The best part about this ability is that Geostrike from multiple Meepos stack!!! So, at level 4 and 4 Meepos hit the target once, the targets movement speed will be reduced by 80%, while taking a total of 224 damage over those 2 seconds. Once you have a few Meepos, targeting one hero in a teamfight almost ensures that they will not get away. And we come to Meepos ultimate, Divided We Stand. Every point in this ability produces a clone of Meepo, which carries Meepo's boots. These Meepo clones receive 25% of Meepo's Strength, Agility, and Intelligence bonuses, and they also receive gold for Meepo, as well as experience. This extra experience gain is what allows Meepo to snowball out of control When two heroes are in the same lane, they each receive half of the experience from the surrounding units. If two Meepos are in the same lane with a one hero, then each of the Meepos receive 1/3 of the experience (2/3 total) and the other hero receives 1/3. So, in teamfights, Meepo receives about half of the total experience from the fight, which makes it a common occurrence if Meepo gains a full level or more from a successful team fight. However, if any Meepo, clone or hero, dies, all of the Meepos will perish. So managing all of the Meepos is extremely important for the survivability and success of Meepo. |
This section will go through each item that I have used and think is (at some point) viable on Meepo. They will be separated by early game, core, and situational/luxury items.
EARLY GAME:
Ring of Protection - I always start with this item because it gives Meepo extra armor (he starts with 5) and it can't be bought at the side shop. The main theme with Meepo early game is survive until level 6. This item builds into Tranquil Boots and Ring of Basilius, both of which are important for efficiently building Meepo early game.
Ring of Regen - This helps Meepo survive early game, as well as building into two important items later, Tranquil Boots and Vladmir's Offering. The constant regeneration in the first few minutes of the game, along with bonus armor and block will help you make it to level 6.
Tranquil Boots - These are ESSENTIAL early game. It gives you health regeneration every minute, and is especially important after level 6 when you send your clone into the jungle to farm the early camps. It is very dangerous when any Meepo is at low health, so because the boots give regen to each Meepo, this item can/will save your life.
Poor Man's Shield - This item and the Sage's Mask are interchangeable in order depending on how much harassment Meepo is taking. If you are constantly being hit, this shield will help mitigate the damage you take from heroes. Because Meepo is always a high-priority target, this shield will be vital to have against any hero that does most of its damage through basic attacks.
Sage's Mask - This builds into Ring of Basilius and eventually Vladmir's Offering. If you have been using Poof because of trouble farming, or if you have been harassing with Poof (which you shouldn't be unless you are guaranteeing a kill), you will need some sort of mana regeneration. By dis-assembling your Tranquil Boots you can build into Ring of Basilius without buying an extra Ring of Protection, and freeing up your Boots of Speed for your eventual Power Treads.
MID GAME:
Vladmir's Offering - This gives a bunch of aura bonuses to all of your Meepo clones, which they wouldn't be able to receive otherwise (Meepo clones only receive a percentage of the three attributes, not bonus damage, armor, etc). This also gives bonuses to other heroes in the area, which your teammates will appreciate. (Remember though, the lifesteal aura only applies to melee units) Some people believe that Vlad's should be left to another hero, but for the clones to get the most damage output and survivability, Meepo should pick it up. With this build, Vlad's will only cost 1200, because of the previous purchases and reconstruction of items. (It is OK to disassemble Tranquil Boots to buy Vlad's).
Ogre Club - Giving Meepo health is very important to his survivability. And since the club upgrades into the most important item on Meepo, it is definitely the first piece to buy of the Scepter. I buy this before Point Booster because the Meepo clones don't receive the benefits from this item, unlike the Ogre Club.
Power Treads - Because each Meepo clone wears the boots Meepo has equipped, Power Treads give the Meepo clones extra health and attack speed. This boost is significant compared to building another set of Tranquil Boots, which diminishes over time, or rushing Boots of Travel which are at best situational late game. As a side note, if you feel that your survibability is not a problem, try switching the to agility on the treads on some of the Meepos for a little extra punch.
ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY:
Aghanim's Scepter - The most important item on Meepo. Hands down, no question. Not only does it give you an extra Meepo clone, but it also increases the attributes bonuses granted to the clones from 25% to 100%!!!!! You have more Meepos, and they are all stronger. GAME OVER. I always buy Ogre Club first, followed by Blade of Alacrity, and then the last two pieces interchangeably depending on how much gold I have. I like to keep Staff of Wizardry and Point Booster either in the courier or in the stash so I can keep the items from early game with me.
SITUATIONAL:
Heart of Tarrasque - I get this item about 95% of the time. That 5% is when I know the game will end before I finish it, or we are really behind and a buyback could turn the tide in battle. But otherwise, GET THIS ITEM! Not only does it give each Meepo clone 40 strength (with Aghanim's Scepter), but it also gives Meepo a very good health regen out of battle. My suggestion is when you solo Roshan (if you already have heart) let the main Meepo take the hits so afterwards all Meepos will be at full health.
Mekansm - This is for those games where everyone on the team picks a carry. Leave this item to the support otherwise! This is a great item when you get countered with heroes like Jakiro and Earthshaker who do tons of AoE damage and can stun all Meepos at once. ADVICE: Don't ever use your Mekansmto heal that one Meepo at extremely low health after a battle. JUST SEND HIM BACK TO BASE! You have at least two other Meepos at the is point who can be productive and they might need that extra health boost in the next minute.
Shadow Blade - Personally I have only built this as troll item. It is just hilarious when you can walk up to somebody, net them and teleport all Meepos to that hero in less than 2 seconds. Don't build this early game. Don't build this mid game.. But if you are up and you feel like having fun, go ahead and get a few laughs in.
Ethereal Blade - This gives the Meepos a huge boost to Agility, which will boost the total damage output into triple digits. It also allows you to make sure you can land your Earthbind and get in position for Poof. With 25% magic resistance, using this on an enemy will in total amplify magic damage by 15%, so a full-fledged Poof bombardment has a potential to do 1610 damage! Also, you may use it on a dying Meepo clone so that heroes cannot attack it for 3 seconds, which may give it enough time to escape, or time for the rest of the Meepos to take down the attacker. Ethereal Blade is a great item for Meepo, but personally I like to build after Heart of Tarrasque because the longer Meepo survives, the more gold and experience he amasses. But if you need extra damage that will turn the tide in battle, go for Ethereal Blade first.
Boots of Travel - these are great for swooping in on a lonesome enemy hero who thought they were safe clearing a creep wave away from a turret, or for pushing a turret or two while the enemy is preoccupied with your teammates. It also provides for an escape/initiation mechanism for your Meepo clones. Use your best judgment before you trade in your Power Treads, because losing the strength bonus too early in the match may put a few more tallies in the death column than you would like.
Dagon - I included this for the LOL factor. Its just really funny. Gives Meepo the potential to do over 2,000 burst damage before resistance.
Desolator - This item is very situational. Only build if you, for some reason, need to keep all of your Meepos in one place (examples would be constant ganks on your Meepos in the jungle, or you are just being out-laned and one Meepo is getting harassed too much) Also, only build if there are some extremely tanky heroes on the enemy team who will kill one Meepo before you can kill him in 1v1 bout. A perfect example is a Viper who builds tank items like Vanguard. It will allow you to do a little bit more damage (with each Meepo) that turns into a very bad day for the opponent who decided to take on Meepo (theoretically) 1v1.
Assault Cuirass - This item is nice to give your Meepo clones more aura bonuses. I prefer Heart of Tarrasque to this because of its massive health increase. In a typical game, you would have to choose between the two. I choose Assault Cuirass when their team make-up consists of high-health, high-armor heroes that build tough items. It is more expensive than Desolator, but its aura gives armor reduction in a radius rather than on the specific target the original Meepo is attacking.
Medallion of Courage - I usually solo Roshan right after I hit level 16 or buy Aghanim's Scepter (whichever comes first). This could help if you feel that you need Aegis of the Immortal earlier on. You just may need a little help from a teammate. NEVER BUY AFTER LEVEL 16. This is extremely situational, and DON'T WASTE GOLD that could go towards something more important.
Manta Style - another item that I don't ever buy unless I'm trying to have fun. The more Meepos, the better. Don't ever buy this before the Scepter or Heart. The enemy team's reaction when they kill one Meepo and the rest survive is hilarious though.
Although I've heard about Meepo going mid, I don't recommend it. Yes, it is important for Meepo to reach level 6 as fast as possible, but because Meepo is so weak during the first few levels, you will get harassed and not receive as much needed farm as you would get with a support that could keep enemy heroes at bay while you (hopefully) farm with little harass.
If at all possible, play Meepo in the "safe" lane. This is the lane that is adjacent to the jungle on your side of the river (bottom for Radiant and top for Dire). This allows you to farm more freely during the first few levels without fear of an early gank, and it also allows you to send your first Meepo clone into the jungle to receive even more gold/experience for you at level 6.
Sometimes, it will be beneficial for your support to pull a line of creeps into the jungle, so that Meepo receives full experience from an enemy creep wave, and the support still gains experience from the jungle camp, while it denies enemy heroes the experience from allied creeps that die in the process. DON't do this if you are facing heroes that can harass you well, or can initiate on you together for a quick/effortless kill (like multi-stun or nuke-heavy lanes)
Early game, your last-hitting ability (the ability to lay the final blow on a creep, receiving gold) is HORRENDOUS. So, it will take practice learning the timing on how to get last hits efficiently. If you are having trouble, try taking an early level in Geostrike which applies a small amount of DoT to the target, so even if you mis-hit, you still have a chance of getting the gold a second later.
So, here we will learn a few tricks/timings of when to use abilities within the control groups.
The Poof bomb - This method may begin with an Earthbind to trap the enemy hero, before the carnage ensues. Basically, this involves Poofing with every single Meepo. So, first select the control group that contains all the Meepos. Then, using one of the patterns from the above section to cast Poof efficiently. If done correctly, you will Poof with all five Meepos (at level 16 with Aghanim's Scepter) before the enemy can escape from the net. As mentioned early, the base magic damage inflicted is 1400 with perfect placement and positioning.
The Perma-Net - This strategy spams Earthbind in correct intervals to keep the enemy hero in place for as long as you see fit. With 4 points in Earthbind, the cooldown is 8 seconds. Again, select the All Meepos control group, and cast your first net. However, you do not go through the entire control group as fast as possible; You must wait about 2 seconds after casting the first net to cast the next (remember, the net lasts 2 seconds after contact). After completing this process 4 times, the first Meepo's Earthbind will be back up, and you may start the process over. This is great for keeping someone in place until the rest of the team comes to the rescue, or for trolling someone who cannot get away (The longest I've done it before going for the kill was about 20 seconds, or 10 nets)
Leap Frog - This is an escape tactic. If you have all Meepos selected and are running away, it will most likely be a straight line (they paid attention in elementary school). Enemies like to pick off the Meepo in the back, so to counter this, select the Meepo in the back, and Poof him to the front. You can keep doing this to make sure the last Meepo is not going to be caught by chasers.
The Retreat - In the heat of the battle, it is important to remember to get a low health Meepo out of battle. Sometimes the best way is to simply select him from the portraits on the screen, and run him out of battle. However, stuns and disables may prevent him from getting out on his own, so you must rely on you other Meepos. This needs to be done quickly, but the best thing to do in this situation is to take the next most vulnerable Meepo and run him out of the battle. At this point, select the Meepo in trouble and attempt to Poof to the position of the retreating Meepo. If successful, you are still contributing to the fight with 3 other Meepos, while saving 2 that may have perished if they had stayed in the fight.When any Meepo clones leave battle, I like to set the rest of the clones being used in battle to control group 3, so that I don't accidentally call low health Meepos back to their doom. This can easily be done by selecting the main Meepo and repositioning him away from the rest of the group (leaving the rest of the clones grouped together for easy grouping)
So now that we (sort of) understand how to use control groups, this is what we should do directly after hitting level 6 with Meepo.
Set your control groups, then do the following: if a creep wave is just arriving, Poof with the clone and send it to an easy camp in the jungle. Otherwise, just send it directly to the easy camp. Once there, Poof once, and attack the rest until it is cleared, then move out of sight, and repeat. The hard camps will take two Meepos, and what to do will be discussed later in the section.
You can always bring the clone back to you by selecting its control group, casting poof, and clicking on you. This is useful for initiating on enemy heroes who forget there are two of you now. You will be using Poof to clear all but the Golems in the jungle. Listed below are the creeps in the jungle and how to most efficiently farm them using Poof.
The best way to engage with Meepo (without Blink Dagger) is Earthbind. This allows your Meepos to get in position for a devastating Poof bomb. Make sure you right-click on the target before going through your Poof method, because this will allow you to get a few hits on the target before the final Meepos actually use the ability. After the Poof bomb, continue to trap the target with Earthbind so that they are immobile. Even after they can escape, you geostrike continues to slow them, up to 80%.
So basically, remember to always paying attention to all of your Meepos all of the time. Sounds easy, right? It will get less difficult as you practice and play with Meepo, and eventually you will be able to pull off combos with Blink Dagger. But until then, keep practicing, and ask any questions or give feedback so I can update the guide accordingly, or expand a section that you want more information on. Thanks for reading, and thanks to all of the people who provided information that helped me make this guide.
After a while, I'm sure you will be yelling "MEEEEEEEPO" every time you get a kill. Or at least do something hilarious. Please comment on combinations with other heroes that you find while you are playing, so I can add them to the guide, and get some creative ideas of my own.
DOTAFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new hero, or fine tune your favorite DotA hero’s build and strategy.
Copyright © 2019 DOTAFire | All Rights Reserved
Quick Comment (9) View Comments
You need to log in before commenting.