Legion Commander: A Definitive Guide

should I avoid aghanim's scepter on LC?

I didn't mention Overwhelming Odds] but indeed you should use it before your combo.

As for initiation, I always use to think that you never have enough initiators, and having several initiators in your team never hurts. Man, even 5-man Blink Dagger gaming can actually be extremely strong :)

Actually I was worried about LC's cast point and giving the enemy time to react, because just like Ursa, LC is very vulnerable to instant disables when she goes in. I've seen many LC players going really wrong with the combo so that I could Scythe of Vyse them instantly to counter them for example. But indeed as you say you can make an instant initiation combo with Shadow Blade so i guess it's viable. Thanks, I'll try it then :)

What you have there is a bit off, you want to cast Overwhelming Odds after PtA before you blink in, regardless of your items. Its a lot of damage.

Medallion of Courage is one of the best items you can get on Tresdin for two reasons: 1. even without the active, its a cost and slot efficient source of early through mid game armor and mana regeneration (which LC desperately needs), and 2. Moment of Courage purges the -6 armor debuff off yourself (your target still gets -6 armor), making the item basically a Desolator for 1k gold. I hadn't realized PtA purged the debuff which is why I didn't include it in as many builds. Its an item so it has no cast time, and has about the same range as Blink Dagger. To be explicit, generally cast it just before PtA if you aren't worried about giving the enemy 0.3 seconds more of reaction time (cast it just before Duel or Blink Dagger if you are).

You get Shadow Blade when you expect you have to hunt (eg. the enemy has a jungler, but you don't know exactly where; they would see you as soon as you see them so Blink Dagger wouldn't work out well) or you think you'll have to carry a bit harder and need the AS/damage. If you do get a SB, you can still just as easily do the combo you mentioned: Just walk up to them, cast PtA (you will be invisible until the cast point), activate your items, and Duel. If your target has no escape and a bad turn rate and/or cast point, you can even break invisibility with an autoattack from behind (which will have 150 bonus damage) and use Medallion before PtA.

You often don't need Shadow Blade or even Blink Dagger, but it depends on the game (I've successfully ganked by cutting through trees with a Quelling Bladeto get right up to the target through a treeline). This is particularly true if you have allies with good disables (eg. Nightmare) or gap closing (eg. Snowball). If you want to initiate or counterinitiate, you almost always need Blink Dagger, but if you have another initatior (and you really should) you can just follow up by walking in usually.

The Shadow Blade and Medallion of Courage pickups are pretty confusing to me. They are good on paper, but I don't think you can use them practically in a gank.

I've always played LC as:
- activate Armlet of Mordiggian
- activate Press the Attack
- activate Blade Mail
- Blink Dagger in
- Duel

This combo allows you to burst down any single target in the 4 second Duel duration, and this is what ganking with LC is all about : having enough burst damage to kill your target from full HP in the (relatively short) Duel duration.

However, if you go Shadow Blade, then how and when do you use Press the Attack? If the answer is "you don't", then what's the point of buying an item that gives you 30 attack speed and 22 damage if you don't use a skill that gives you 120 attack speed? And how and when do you use Medallion of Courage? Items are muted while Doomed, and you can't use them during Shadow Blade.

Everyone I play with agrees on the fact that rushing Blink Dagger is the only way to play LC. I completely understand that other builds could be viable but in that case this deserves more detailed explanations. What is your combo for ganking? How do you initiate teamfights? What item do you use at which point?

I am absolutely brand new to Dota 2 (I've been playing for three days). I do, however, play a bit of LoL, so most of the basic mechanics aren't hard for me. My main issue is understanding the itemization. I don't really know what does what, and could use some help. Plus, I've never been that great at actives (makes me terrible as some LoL champs. On a champ like Legion Commander, what really works best? Is she more of a tank? a brawler? or does she focus almost flat damage/speed? or is she able to do all of these effectively? If you know LoL items, could you maybe compare them to help me understand. I really like the look of this hero, but without more info I'm afraid I'll have a super steep learning curve and never be able to use her to her full potential.

This is the best LC guide ever, I'm just going to put that out there.

I've won 10 games in a row and only died 5 times.

Praise to you, my friend.

Thanks!

Counter Helix works as normal during duel (as does Return). This makes Axe a bit more dangerous than most heroes early, and the most important thing to do is not fight him near friendly creeps (which will attack him, proccing Helixes). Mit-to-late you should have enough armor and HP that Helix doesn't matter.

One thing to note is that Duel is bugged to hell right now so many abilities that aren't supposed to work during it are. For example, I've Dueled Abaddon and Borrowed Time, which was recently patched not to work while muted/doomed, triggered.

Hey ReAlChemist. TY for the great guide. I wanted to ask; does Axe's Counter Helix still work during Duel? (Sorry if this has already been answered) Cheers.

That is correct. No forms of critical strike work, and the only bash that works is an activated Walrus Punch. The section "Important Notes About Mute (AKA Doom)" gives more details about what is disabled in Duel.

Greate guide. I have you question: I've read buriza and skull basher do not work while dueling.. is it right?

Thanks! I'm not preparing any guides right now because I'm finishing up this one still (primarily need to add the synergies/counters section and some replays). I'll probably do some guides for upcoming/unreleased heroes that I find interesting like Pheonix, Wyvern, and/or TB but it looks like Valve is going to add Pit Lord/Abyssal Underlord next, then Oracle (might do a guide for him) then techies or maybe Pheonix.