MARTAN's Guide To Medusa

Introduction

Yo, this is MARTAN here.
Medusa is a hard carry that off-lanes but can mid as well. She is very durable and all round hard hitting in a team fight. That's the qualities of Medusa that this guide focuses on. The two item builds let you play Medusa either more tank based or more damage based, but both guides allow for a durable all-round damaging Medusa. However, you must get as much farm as possible to be able to get all your items quick enough.

Summary

Attributes

Medusa is an agility hero, but is greatly benefited by each attribute, as every attribute will help make her more durable. This is because her ability Mana Shield reduces damage taken but costs mana, so intelligence helps her a lot. Strength increases health and Agility increases armor and damage, so with a lot of each attribute, Medusa will become a tanky, hard-hitter. Therefore, you buy all-stats items and skill early stats.

Skills and Items

Medusa's first ability, Split Shot, allow her to attack several targets, while reducing her damage output. Items that compliment this ability are damage and attack-speed items, not critical-strike items, as this only affects your primary target.

Her second ability is Mystic Snake, a targeted spells that jumps from target to target stealing mana and dealing increased damage with more jumps. A great spell that helps you win your lane.

Her third ability, Mana Shield, is toggled on or off like her first one. This reduces damage taken at the cost of mana, so it's benefited by items that increase Medusa's mana pool.

Medusa's ultimate, is called Stone Gaze and when active, any hero looking at her for more than 2 seconds is turned to stone. Stoned units take extra physical damage, so Medusa should focus more on her attack damage.

Type of Hero

Medusa is a ranged hard carry that must farm a lot to get enough money for her items. She is usually played off-lane or mid. She is one of the most durable agility heroes but can farm a lane quicker than a hero with battle fury -- once she gets all her abilities maxed out. With enough damage output and her ult, Medusa is extremely powerful in team fights and can chase heroes really well with a Skadi and lots of movement speed.

Items

Hard-Hitting Build

If you're going for the more damage oriented build, then you purchase items like this:

Get Wraith Band and Tango for your starting items
Then buy Boots of Speed from the side-shop
After this, get Ring of Aquila and Orb of Venom
You should definitely have all this before 8 minutes
Then start to build a Yasha
Get Phase Boots and build Manta Style out of Yasha
If the opposition have several very powerful targeted spells, build a Linken's Sphere first, and then Manta.
Then get Butterfly and Eye of Skadi. If you need some evasion and agility, go for Butterfly first. If you need to be a bit more durable and have trouble chasing enemy heroes, go for Skadi first.
This is your Core Late Game Items Contribute to every team-fight now, while continuing to farm.
Buy the components for a Divine Rapier and drop them in base. Pick them up if your team is in a crisis and you may lose the game. Basically have a Divine for emergency use.
Save up money for Buyback and build a situational item. Don't do this if you already built a Linken's Sphere.
If the game hasn't ended yet and your in super-late-game with nothing to buy, get Boots of Travel and consume a Moon Shard.

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Durable Build

For the more durable build buy items like this:

Start of with a Ring of Basilius and a Tango
In-lane, farm a Ring of Aquila and Arcane Boots
By Point Booster and Vitality Booster, then disassemble the Arcane Boots for a Soul Booster
Build Power Treads with the Boots of Speed that are left and then a Maelstrom
Then get a Bloodstone
Now, build a Yasha and get a Manta Style out of it
Buils Maelstrom into a Mjollnir and get a Reaver
Build Reaver into either Heart of Tarrasque or a Satanic
Heart of Tarrasque is better for durability overall, but you can get Satanic if your mana regenerates really fast and you deal decent damage
Get a Butterfly and Eye of Skadi and sell your Mjollnir. If you have a Satanic, don't get Skadi as they don't stack with each other. Keep the Mjollnir.
If you get everything, bet Boots of Travel and consume a Moon Shard