Loveless' Guide to Medusa

Introduction

Hello, I am Loveless and this is my guide on Medusa. Any and all of my guides are built around my personal opinion of the Hero and how they should not only be built, but played. It is built off what I have done myself, which is a mixture of my own ideas and what I have seen others do, to make it the best I will be able to put forward in game with that Hero.

I will be going over the Hero itself, my Recommended Items and the Play Style for each phase of the game. Again, these are all of my personal opinions and you can take them with a grain of salt. Start with the build and use it until you get used to the hero before you start to build differently for every match. My guides are simply a base you can use to develop your own style using a simplified, broken down version, of what I personally do. You can figure out how you want to stray from it as you see fit and develop your own build, using this as a guideline.

About Medusa

This is by far my favorite hero to have ever been introduced to DOTA. I just love her playstyle and find her extremely fun to play, but everyone hates me for that same reason. She requires an excessive amount of farm to really be worth her weight on a team, but once she has it, she really doesn't have any cons left to complain about. If you do not like long games and prefer a more offensive gameplay style, this is not the hero for you.

The first ability Medusa has is Split Shot, lowers her attack damage by a percentage and deals damage to a maximum of four additional enemy units within a small area of effect around her main target whenever she attacks. This ability can increase her damage output by 400% and is absolutely devastating if optimized. Medusa has been getting small buffs every few patches, a few years ago you wouldn't level this until later in the game, but it's too good to pass up now. Focus on leveling it in the middle stage of the game.

Mystic Snake is the only thing that keeps Medusa even slightly viable early game and continues to be good well into the mid game, even serving as a way to get mana late game. It bounces from target to target, behaving similar to Zeus' own Arc Lightning, but it steals mana on top of dealing damage and the effects increase with each bounce. Each unit hit increases the damage dealt on the next hit and every time it hits a unit with mana, the mana stolen increases as well. If used correctly, it can be extremely harassing in the lane and devastating to low mana pool heroes. I highly recommend Power Treads on Medusa because if you have it on Intellect before you use Mystic Snake, then switch it to Strength or Agility, you will actually be saving a good percentage of Mana overall. After casting Mystic Snake a handful of times, that little difference will add up.

The trademark ability that Medusa possesses, is Mana Shield. This ability used to belong to Anti-Mage a long time ago, but was later given to Medusa and has done wonders since. Whenever Medusa takes damage, it takes 50% of it and deals it to her mana. You are almost doubling your EHP with this skill, suggesting you have the mana to sustain it, although the damage taken into your mana comes before mitigation (before applying armor/resist). With sufficient mana regeneration and a decent mana pool, her effective health far exceeds any hero in the game as she gets items/levels. Even with the buffs to it's third and fourth ranks, I still shove it off until later in the game since it always divides it by 50% regardless of it's rank.

To finish off this hero, Medusa has Stone Gaze. A large area of effect ability that gradually decreases the movement, attack and casting speed of any enemy unit that is facing her within a decent area. The effects taper off after a short time period, but it is a devastating ability in a teamfight and deals a massive amount of damage to summons and illusions. These effects go through magic immunity. Note that you get the full effects of her ultimate from it's first level, but the cool down and mana cost are lowered with each level. For this reason, I put it behind ranking up her other skills until you can get the last two ranks of it back to back. You can change it up as you see fit in a game.

Item Recommendations

Foreword

I would like to start off by saying that you should always take into consideration how much gold you waste by getting an item you will just end up selling or something you do not really need. Such as, while Tranquil Boots or Magic Wand are great items on Medusa, you do not need to get them if you will make poor use of them. Another is if you do not need the early damage boost that Ring of Aquila provides, you do not need it either. Don't be skeptical about selling an item if you need the inventory space, which is a common problem on Medusa since she ends up being the one who needs to carry items like Cheese and Gem of True Sight, sometimes Dust of Appearance if you have to.

Early Game Items

Your early game selection of boots is entirely left up to preference, as just about any set of boots works on her and it is entirely situational. My personal preference is Power Treads because you can increase the overall mana you receive back from Mana Snake by casting it on Intelligence, then Strength or Agility before it returbs. If your lane is going to be hard, go ahead and pick up Tranquil Boots for the lane sustainment which you can break down into a Ring of Aquila and sell the Ring of Regen when you need the room. You should not be holding onto Tranquil Boots any longer than you can stand it, as they are merely to help you live through a tough lane. I do not get Phase Boots very often simply because they do not work well with my Manta Style-focused play style. Though as a Medusa-player, I know how good Phase Boots can be on her giving her much needed help in regards to positioning and escaping bad situations thanks to the active, the bonus damage also helps quite immensely with last hitting/denying.

Magic Wand is a must on Medusa. Pick it up before or after Power Treads, but you should at least be waving a Magic Stick around if you are against spell spammers. While Ring of Aquila is a great item on her, it is optional.

Sometimes you will need to spring for a Drum of Endurance for games where you will not be given the free room to farm out until you have Split Shot maxed with a Manta Style in hand fast enough to overwhelm your enemies. This will most likely be against teams with heavy pushing capabilities or some other really strong early game strength. The amount of stats and effects that you get from Drum of Endurance are the best in the game for it's price and availability in the early game. Alongside Magic Wand and your choice of boots

Core Items

Now comes the biggest decision that most Medusa players will face when they are starting out: "What item do I go for now?" I see most people go for a Linken's Sphere or Manta Style.

While Linken's Sphere is good because it gives her the two biggest things she needs which are stats and bonus regeneration, I will rarely get it and prefer not to. Instead, opt to get it late game if they pick up a Scythe of Vyse or have a Beastmaster. Always go for Manta Style because is far superior because of the damage output it provides without robbing you of those precious bonus stats. Since your Split Shot is considered a transformation, any illusions you create while it is active will have Split Shot giving them a total of 112% damage, versus the typical 28% that they would without it. When you build into any item that lists Ultimate Orb as an ingredient, you will always want it before the other parts if you are Medusa. It grants 190 health, 10 damage, 10 attack speed and 130 mana for 2100 gold. You cannot ignore how important items that grant bonus stats to all attributes are on Medusa as she benefits from all of them and taking priority to just one of them can easily cost you the game.

Getting a Helm of the Dominator isn't a bad choice on her by any means. The life steal, armor and damage is exceptionally good for Medusa in a lot of scenarios. You can use the active to get a creep for stacking and supporting you in lane/fight. This can be built into a Satanic later in the game, giving you quite a bit of additional health and the life steal doesn't quite work that well with Split Shot, but it still works. I would recommend getting Helm of the Dominator if you keep finding yourself with low health and high mana. The activated ability is priceless if you have the micro and awareness to use the dominated creep for stacking Ancients or in teamfights, though playing Medusa requires a lot of micro herself because she thrives on her positioning.

Extended Core Items

Later into the game, you can get items like Black King Bar and Heart of Tarrasque, are if you are doing enough damage, but you need the boost to your durability. If you are in trouble and another carry is scarier than you, Scythe of Vyse is far from a bad item on Medusa. It gives her more stats, a bigger mana pool and a lot of mana regeneration, using the active to disable a problematic enemy hero. Last but not least, is Butterfly, which is typically your only worthwhile damage item besides Divine Rapier, because it gives both damage output and reduces damage intake, increasing your effectiveness in many areas.

Medusa is one of the best heroes to get a Divine Rapier as an actual item because of her insane survivability and Split Shot makes the best use of it's raw damage. She takes it's 300~ damage and pushes it up to 1200~ overall damage with five targets being attacked. It's not always just a severely late game item or used to secure wins, it is an actual item that you will have to get at some point and thus, is an extended core item.

When you are looking for attack speed, I would recommend Mjollnir in just about every scenario. It gives great attack speed and it's active effect can be placed on yourself if the enemy attacks you more than another durable teammate. The alternate option would be Butterfly if the enemy team's carry has critical hits or they do not have any plans to make a Monkey King Bar. Last on the list is an Assault Cuirass which can be a great team item, if you have any heroes that create units like Enigma, Nature's Profit (which shouldn't be on your team, he takes too much farm), Dark Seer, anyone who builds Necronomicon or Beastmaster, you should definitely get it. The negative armor also helps you do more damage with Split Shot.

I personally like getting a Blink Dagger if your team's initiation just isn't good enough as to get the maximum use of your Split Shot and Stone Gaze. Of course, you shouldn't get it until you have at least one item that boosts your durability, but do not underestimate how useful it can be. This does not mean you can take the role of an initiator, it's only meant to follow him up and get the best effect possible.

Items to Avoid

I am adamantly against Daedalus and Monkey King Bar as run of the mill damage items, you should only consider the latter if the enemy carry has dodge. If you want the raw damage, grab a Radiance instead, it's overall damage outclasses both of them by a large margin with her base survivability. You want to maximize the hero, she is not your typical carry that you just slap a critical strike stick on. Overall, none of these items are ideal.

Never get a Vanguard, it is horrible on Medusa and does not work with her abilities/playstyle. You have the options of getting Tranquil Boots, Ring of Health to turn into Linken's Sphere and armor from a Ring of Aquila to support you should you need it. It does not have any affect on how much mana you lose to Mana Shield, since the block is taken into consideration after the damage is divided, not prior. The damage reduction after Mana Shield isn't worth it either. You would get more out of a Mekansm, or an Armlet of Mordiggian.

Loveless' Play Style (Early Game)

You basically want to place your undivided attention on farming from the start of the match, until you have at least two luxury items. The plan here is to immediately start getting as many last hits as possible, so judge your opposition and place yourself in the lane that will offer you the most farm. If you have to move to a new lane, don't worry about it, that's fine. You want to be where the farm is, plain and simple, anyone who fights you on this is an idiot.

By going with Stats and Mystic Snake with every level early game, you should have more than enough dominance in lane with decent support from your team. Far as items go, you want to make your decisions fast, what will you need? In what order? What benefits you the most right now? These are the thoughts you should be having, but limited to items like Ring of Aquila, Power Treads and Magic Wand for the most part. While you can deviate a bit, the end result should be the same, though you can skip Ring of Aquila in some situations (which is why I did not suggest it in her build at the top).

How to use Mystic Snake:
Note that it bounces to the unit closest to it and it has a small bounce range, you are also required to have vision of a unit for it to bounce to, so you have to ensure you throw it so it bounces properly. When you see two heroes and at least one ranged creep standing by each other, toss it out if your mana isn't too low. If there is two or more ranged creeps by one hero, three or more ranged creeps, or at least three heroes? Throw. The. ****ing. Snake.

Your Goals Early Game:

• Gold
• Maximizing Mystic Snake's potential
• You should be hugging your tower like a white girl hugs a toilet

• Pushing
• Over-extending

Lovless' Play Style (Transition/Middle Game)

Now that you are in the Middle Game, everything changes. You will now be farming more gold and hugging more towers! On a serious note, you will still be playing very defensively and making the most out of what you can. Don't push out when it is risky and stick to farming. Ask your allies to stack neutral camps for you so you can quickly farm them with Split Shot when the lane is risky or pushed too far. Keep a close eye on missing heroes, any deaths can seriously set you back and could very well cost you the game at this point.

Items you are looking at in the middle of the game is Manta Style and/or Linken's Sphere. They are both exceptionally good items on her, so decide which will be better against your opposition and get it. I personally fall on Manta Style most of the time, the damage output just isn't something you can ignore.

You shouldn't concern yourself with being aggressive since you are still winding up. Medusa takes the longest time to pick up compared to other carries since she is so item dependent. While you will start seeing how hard it is to kill you and notice your damage output going up significantly, do not get cocky. Without Petrifying Gaze going off and at least one luxury item, you will most likely be getting outclassed by the enemy carry at this point, keep that in mind.

You should always have a Teleportation Scroll on you, because wherever the farm is, you should be there. It's not just defending when you get two creep waves of gold in your pocket for the fraction spent on the Teleportation Scroll. While you are going to be heavily focused on farming, you still have the potential to be a devastating hero in a defensive situation. It is also important that you make sure the game can actually get to 40 minutes, so carry the damn Teleportation Scroll. You also have no real escape mechanism, so waiting for their stuns and tanking damage with Mana Shield can give you enough time to finish the channeling time.

Your Goals Middle Game:

• Carry a TP
• Farming
• Play Defensively

• Being Ganked
• Chasing
• Being overly aggressive

Lovless' Play Style (Late Game)

The time has finally come. At this point, you should just be a monster. I don't really think there is any explanation needed in this area of the guide. Just keep an eye out for what items you should be building to maximize your effectiveness in the current game. A quick check list that you should always read top to bottom when evaluating what you need, the higher they are, the higher the priority:

Are you both knocking at each others' barracks? Dangerous to farm? Stalemate? Boots of Travel
Do you need damage? Divine Rapier
Are you dying before you can do any damage? Heart of Tarrasque
Can't follow up your initiator very well? Blink Dagger
Is their right-click carry giving your team a lot of trouble? Eye of Skadi
Do you need faster attack speed? Do they auto-attack you? Mjollnir
Are you running out of mana faster than health? Do you need more CC? Scythe of Vyse
Getting stunned into the ground? Black King Bar

Your Goals Late Game:

• Right Click

• Be the person that loses with Medusa late game

Playing With and Against Medusa

If you are playing with a Medusa, carry a Teleportation Scroll for the love of all that is sacred. This is common sense normally, but you really should prioritize this if you have her on your team. She is a gank magnet and you should be protecting her as best you can. Most teams will try to go push heavy if they know anything about her, so keep an eye on that as so it doesn't get out of control. Alternatively, if you are against Medusa, just smash her into the ground. Push. End the game prior to forty minutes! Any hero that can build a Diffusal Blade is a great pick up against her.

Allies:

You want heroes on your team that can initiate and disable enemies, but can do so defensively and perform well in a turtle-focused game.


• Tauren Chieftan
• Magnus
• Tidehunter
• Undying
• Pudge
• Bane
• Earthshaker
• Bounty Hunter
• Dazzle
• Warlock
• Enigma

Anyone that can burn your mana or stun you for a long duration. I won't list any pushing heroes, but a team that is pushing oriented is something you want to stay away from.


• Anti-Mage
• Keeper of the Light
• Nyx Assassin
• Outworld Destroyer
• Naga Siren
• Bane
• Phantom Lancer
• Beastmaster

Outroduction

Well, that sums it all up for my thoughts on Medusa. As always, please leave any comments about the Guide with what was good and what was bad, it will improve this and any future Guides made by myself.

If you have any guides you would like me to make, please feel free to PM me or post in this guide's comment section to discuss it with fellow DOTAFIRE members.

With much love and hate,