Lion - Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master

Yeah the Hex stuff wasn't as accurate as it should have been, have tidied up - although be aware it does temporarily remove things like passives, and auras over a few seconds.

While Force Staff as undoubtably a useful item on most intel heroes, I think you're over-selling it somewhat - it's not a core item on him in my book. If you end up as hard support (which he is capable of doing) then getting the farm together for that can be tricky, and you have other options like Mekansm which help both the team and your survivability. Eul's and Ghost Scepter can also be useful items for about the same price.

Really it depends on your role, and both your team and the enemy team composition. If you need to initiate ganks then you should be getting reasonable farm/levels early and get hold of a Force Staff or Blink Dagger, and using the secondary build at the top. If you're a follow-up stunner then you don't need this stuff. It can also be of limited use if the opposition has very mobile heroes who can chase you down easily.

the fact that you only mentioned the Force Staff in the item list of utility/situational and don't actually call it out is the reason I -1 this guide. Basically blink is a 'nice to have' item that can land solid ganks but force staff is much more powerful in a team fight/ganking situation and has a lot more utility revolving around survivability. Plus you can always force staff your teammate for the benefit of a gank.

Another thing that was forgotten within this guide is the fact that Hex is an INSTANT cast/INSTANT effect ability, no travel time like Earth Spike. This is extremely important to keep in mind against most heroes as they will have some form of escape, whether it's a blink, invisibility, or magic immunity (mostly thinking Lifestealer here) all you have to do is force staff up to them casting Hex while still being moved and they are instantly disabled. Just follow up that move with a Earth Spike BEFORE Hex's duration is over and other team disable/nukes and you have an instant kill from someone that would have normally got away. Force Staff is important here because you can cast while it is affecting you while Blink Dagger is powerful in this situation, it is much easier to dodge a Hex from a blink knee-jerk reaction than the smooth action of a Force Staff

ALSO YOU HAVE ONE MAJOR FLAW!!!! Hex in no real way removes any kind of armor! NONE. The only thing it does is reduced move speed to 100 and removes damage block (this is like Vanguard not like DR from armor) and evasion (pretty handy against Phantom Assassin and Brewmaster). Also another thing to note (which I just found out) is Hex disables a hero's ability to gain xp... strong laning potential vs a hard carry or when someone with a DOT is going to get a kill on you or a teammate.

This guide deserves more love, +1!

I play a lot of Lion now, it's basically my favorite support hero. When in team scenario's I basically don't bother with mana drain. I only use my one build though, lane support with heavy gank ability, so I basically build Arcane Boots followed by a Mekanism. These two will easily give whatever hero you're next to the ability to continue using all his/her spells fairly regularly and keep alive if you do get a bit close to a tower. Tranquil Boots have never quite cut it for me with Lion in my opinion. Also means you then don't need to level mana drain for a long time, giving u longer hexes and more destructive stuns. Otherwise, solid guide and would work well in pubs.

Well, I think we're talking about slightly different levels and styles of play here. Pro level is a slightly different kettle of fish from the games most of us play, and what you're talking about is more applicable as a solo-mid Lion (which is discussed somewhat in the guide) - and afaik, the only way the pros play him.

The rest of the guide (including the Mana Drain build is for support Lion, which is far more common in pubs. There are obviously good reasons why the pro's don't play him that way, but it can still work. The Drain/Spike harassment does work well against some heroes, in some situations, as do the Tranquil Boots etc.

It's another way of playing him, and applicable up a reasonably high level. Horses for courses.

In the context of a game as a whole, 4 seconds isn't very long, I agree. In the context of a minute by minute basis, however, that is pretty big. It only takes about 12 or so seconds for Pudge to show up from the mid lane and hid behind some trees, and about 2-3 more seconds (assuming a decent pudge) to make you smell his arm pits.

Also, spamming stuns isn't usually something that happens. Chain stuning yes, but that is only once per teamfight or gank or whatever. You don't have to have the mana to chainstun in every second of the game, just in the ones that count.

Fair enough comment - Lion tends to be used VERY aggressively in Pro games, but there you will also get the co-ordination to make that work. Usually I wouldn't recommend Arcane Boots on him as you don't really need them...however for utility on co-ordinated teams this can make sense.

Hex does have good duration, but it inflicts no damage, and Lion isn't going to have that much until level 6...so it does depend completely on having team mates who will take advantage - often asking a bit much in a pub :). Your spells are pretty expensive mana wise, so you can't afford to spam them without Mana Drain, or last hits to buy regen equipment.

Bear in mind that the channelling time for Mana Drain is only 4 seconds - even in the context of a 20 minute game that isn't very long :). More than anything it can be about which heroes you're up against - some will take advantage of you standing still, others can be really crippled by losing their mana (try running a support Lion with plenty of Mana Drain against a solo Weaver for example).

I disagree with mana drain but nothing more.

Not saying you shouldn't get mana drain if you really like it... just saying the points are more effectively spend early getting your stuns up to full duration.

I would rather be getting last hits and killing enemies (or dual disabling them for my teammates to do so) at the cost that I buy arcane boots over tranquils. The time I should spend standing around doing nothing to restore my mana... I might as well have gone to the fountain.

Not saying mana drain is bad... but any time lion has ever been picked up in a pro level game, stats are taken over mana drain... literally all game. Hell, a few weeks ago lion was picked up in a pro match and the skill build was 4 impale, 3 hex, 3 finger, and stats.

That said, Pubs are not pro matches and therefore don't last only 30-40 minutes each time and you can afford to stand around for a few seconds to get your mana up.

nice guide! I liked

I was about to say I would get 1 level of hex at four for ganking, then I saw your second build.

Absolutely flawless good job +1

I like it, no criticism from me.