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Hey I'm Twisted Logic and welcome to my guide to Squee, Spleen and Spoon, A.K.A The Goblin Techies.
Even though this is my first published guide, I have played this hero since his debut in DotA and think I can provide an adequate guide for beginners and advanced players alike. This guide is pretty thorough so I would suggest reading it all first, then coming back to parts you need more guidance on later.
Techies is a very unique semi-support hero who's main focus is countering pushes and enemy map control. If played correctly, your Techies will be a bane in the enemy's existence; feared by their carry and despised by their supports.
Enjoy and thanks for reading.
THE BUILD AND ITEM PORTION OF THIS GUIDE IS NOW AVAILABLE IN GAME HERE!
In the storied saga of Dredger's Bight, no business has ever been more reviled than Techies Demolitions. Then again, Dredger's Bight no longer exists. Nor does Toterin. Or even Trapper Town. In fact, if one were to track the history of Techies Demolitions they might notice that shortly after Techies appear, towns tend to disappear.
Like every inevitable disaster surrounding Techies, the obliteration of Dredger's Bight began with an invention. Tasked with designing a safer way of detonating explosives in the mines beneath the city, pyrotechnic prodigies Squee, Spleen, and Spoon developed their most outlandish creation yet: a button which, when pressed, would trigger a distant device to spark a fuse.
Overeager to test their invention, the trio stuffed barrel after barrel with flamesalt explosives, piling every corner of their tiny workshop high with the newly developed remote bombs. From this stockpile they plucked a single payload, burying it in a far away field. As they cowered in a ditch, Spleen pressed the detonator button. Yet after a moment, nothing happened. Confused, he stood up, pressing his button again and again until, finally, an explosion tore a hole in the field. Elated, Squee and Spleen turned toward home just as a massive wave of sound and force arrived to knock them over.
Bewildered, their ears ringing from the unexpected blast, they gathered in the dingy miasma to see a smoking ruin where their workshop once stood. Chunks of wood and stone continued to fall as the yawning crater before them slowly deepened into an expanding pit. The whole of Dredger's Bight shuddered, and then gradually started to slide into the mines below as its panicked residents fled.
Sitting at the edge of their sinking home they grinned and giggled, as giddy at the possibilities as they were oblivious to the scorn of their former neighbors. They wondered only one thing: how could they trigger an even bigger blast?
Very likely to achieve first blood Potential for best stun in game Massive nuke potential Long range of auto attacks Can suicide/deny himself (think Pudge) Potential to be very costly for enemy supports
CONS
Very mana dependent Very high skill requirement Low starting health/squishy Easily countered by silence effects & controlled units Has lowest base damage in game Requires excellent map awareness
PICK TECHIES IF:
Your team already has a hard support (e.g. Lich, Warlock, Dazzle). Your team needs a defensive support. Enemy team has non-micro junglers (e.g. Ursa, Legion Commander). Your team has an initiator (e.g. Magnus, Tiny). Your team comp is push heavy.
Plants an invisible mine that explodes when an enemy nears. The explosion deals less damage if the target is farther away. When a new mine planted exceeds the mine limit, the oldest mine will explode.
MANA COST: 125/150/175/205 COOLDOWN: 19/16/13/10
Range: 100
Max Mines: 20
Full Damage Radius: 200
Half Damage Radius: 500
Damage: 300/375/450/525
Activation Delay: .5
Notes:
Your first most used skill. Plant these to block neutral camps or in bottlenecks.
They last until they explode, or are replaced elsewhere (max 20 at a time).
Stack them on top of each other to increase chance of 1 hit 1 kill.
Land Mines DAMAGE BUILDINGS.
[W]STASIS TRAP
Plants an invisible trap that stuns nearby enemy units when detonated.
Techies is one of the most (if not THE most) mana reliant heroes in Dota 2. His effectiveness on the battlefield also relies heavily on map control and getting to an area first, so below are his starting, alternate starting, core, mid game and late game items. We will also go over situational, luxury and rejected items. All these will be accompanied by my justification for their purchase(s).
2. Starting Items
You will notice there is 150 gold left.
Use this to purchase a Soul Ring recipe or try to rush a Sage's Mask. Either way this will ensure you arrive at your mining spot first and that you have enough mana regen to keep planting Land Mines.
3. Alternate Starting Items
This starting setup will delay your Soul Ring, so only use it if you think you will be restricted to the jungle (via 2 camp pulling, spawn blocking, or dewarding). Quelling Blade falls off after Techies gets his Remote Mines at level 6 so this is a very situational build.
Note: Due to the removal of Composite Damage type from Dota 2, putting points into Suicide Squad, Attack! over Stasis Trap is now a viable option. Nevertheless, stick to the Standard Build to utilize Techies to his full map control potential.
4. Core Items
ALWAYS carry a Town Portal Scroll. Your whole hero revolves around map control and being first on the scene. Soul Ring and Arcane Boots should be your first items. This will ensure you have enough mana to keep mining. The reason I included Eul's Scepter of Divinity in core is for several reasons: it gives you tons of mana, it gives you higher movement speed (i.e. map control), it gives you an escape and lastly; it lets you set up a land/remote mine right under a Cyclone'd enemy.
5. Mid Game Items
By mid game, you should have at least one of your escape items ( Eul's Scepter of Divinity or Force Staff) online and ready to build your mid game items. Due to the recent changes to Bloodstone components via inclusion of Soul Ring and price drop, Bloodstone is highly recommended on Techies. The added Bloodstone active is also great when your Suicide Squad, Attack! is on cooldown. Aghanim's Scepter gives a 700 range cast and 150 damage boost to your Remote Mines, while also giving you some solid stats.
Ideally, this is what you want your boot progression to look like. Start with Boots of Speed and purchase Energy Booster from the side shop (usually, if offlane) to complete your Arcane Boots. Disassemble your Arcane Boots to make Bloodstone, while transitioning your brown boots into Boots of Travel. Once you have BoTs, you should have no issues farming up the Upgraded Boots of Travel by split pushing lanes.
If your team is dominating and you find yourself with high amounts of disposable income, Eye of Skadi is your ultimate luxury item. Combine it with Orchid Malevolence for a great disabling/slowing combo. Octarine Core is an AWESOME item on Techies as it gives 100% mana regeneration as well as 25% spell cooldown reduction, effectively making all your mines/traps have a 7.5 second cooldown. Upgraded Boots of Travel are a no brainer if you're rolling in dough.
8. Situational Items
Due to the 6.82 update to 2 runes spawning every 2 minutes, a Bottle is a viable item for Techies, as the Bounty Rune grants your Bottle a full charge as well. The 700 gold price tag is a bit high so only get if you're off to a great start and think you'll have enough map control to rune farm.
Tranquil Boots are good for the extra movement speed over the Arcane Boots, but it severely gimps your mana pool. Only build them if you have a mana battery hero on your team or you are rushing Orchid Malevolence.
Force Staff is VERY good on Techies. It's good for extra mobility (including escape) or pushing enemy heroes into mines. Although Force Staff is just shy of being a core item, it's still asituationalone, depending on team compositions. Definitely buy if enemy has a slowing hero like Viper or Drow Ranger.
Orb of Venom is a good damage boost to your weak right clicks while adding a slow effect as well. Effective with Techies long range.
9. Rejected Items
Dagon
Techies is not an initiator, (especially not via Suicide Squad, Attack!)! Anyone who plays Techies like a YOLO hero (as the kids these day say) is not playing him right, therefore Blink Dagger and Shadow Blade are a waste of money. For the 2250 gold a Blink Dagger costs, you can farm a Force Staff or Eul's Scepter of Divinity and have beneficial stats + better escape mechanism. Furthermore, with Arcane Boots (or Boots of Travel), Eul's Scepter of Divinity and Force Staff, you will have no mobility/move speed issues. Shadow Blade is a 2800 gold item which gives you damage Techies doesn't use (he doesn't last hit or farm via auto attack) and an invisibility he won't pull off (a good team will always carry dust/sentries/gem).
Techies is also not a hard support. Leave the Mekansm and Pipe of Insight to Dazzle and Omniknight. Drum of Endurance may seem attractive, but the extra move speed is not needed, and Techies is not near his team enough to fully utilize the aura. Again, leave this item for your hard supports, or a hero like Mirana and Chaos Knight.
Although Dagon does seem attractive due to intel components and easier kills, again: you will not be using Suicide Squad, Attack! to initiate. There are plenty of better items out there.
Although soft, survivability is not Goblin Techies' issue, especially after getting your Suicide Squad, Attack! and escape items online. Stats from Black King Bar are useless, and gold spent on Linken's Sphere is better spent elsewhere. Once your Aghanim's Scepter is online, your added range to Remote Mines will increase your survivability as well.
As you can see, general rule of thumb is placing Land Mines where the enemy CAN'T circumvent them. Access to secret shops, runes and bottleneck paths should strongly be considered.
Stasis Traps are mostly used defensively to ward off ganks or cover your retreat. Place them in between your tier 1 and 2 towers or in the offlane during the laning phase in groups of 2 for best results (more on that below).
Remote Mines placement greatly depends on how the game is going. If your team has map control, try and set up the mines offensively on the enemy side of the river. If your lanes are getting pushed, consider placing Remote Mines by your towers.
2. Early Game
Within 5 seconds of spawning, you should already be using your Town Portal Scroll
to get a head start on your mining. Techies has no set lane but hard lane mine rush is recommended. If the enemy team has a dedicated jungler like Chen or Enchantress, use your Tangos and Land Mines to block neutral spawns (see pictures).
First picture shows Techies using Tango to cut into the trees just below Dire easy camp.
Second picture shows Techies placing Land Mines in the cut tree location to block the camp spawn.
During the early game, your main objectives are to use Land Mines to block jungle camps, secure runes, mine secret shops and disable enemy's mid. Be careful when mining high traffic areas like rune spots due to enemy's potential Observer Ward placement.
Use Stasis Traps to counter ganks coming from the hardlane jungle or between tier 1 and 2 towers (see picture below).
Place your Stasis Traps in defensive positions where there is a high potential for a gank. Deploy them in the hardlane jungles/river entrances as well to protect your offlaner. Also, don't be afraid to stack a couple as there is a detonation delay.
After level 2, Techies should not die unless its suicide via Suicide Squad, Attack!. Use this skill only to deny yourself or if it'll net you a guaranteed first blood.
3. Mid Game
During the mid game, your Remote Mines should be online and ready to plant in abundance, especially to block neutral camps and to award vision. If your team is doing well and controlling the map, use your Remote Mines on the enemy side of the river. If your team is getting pushed, planting them around your own towers might be a good option (see picture).
Placing Remote Mines near your vulnerable towers ensures protection while simultaneously thwarts any chance of enemy counter with Sentry Wards.
During any pushes, secure your teams rear and sides by planting Stasis Traps. If the enemy team has an Ursa or Lycanthrope, strongly consider planting Remote Mines in the Roshan Pit (see picture).
Note the stack of Remote Mines near the entrance as well. I usually do this for any supports/ranged heroes who hang back a bit.
4. Late Game
By now you should have Boots of Travel and 3 points in Remote Mines. Use the two to split push by porting to a lane, detonating a remote for a couple of waves and porting to another. If ganked, either use your escape items such as Scythe of Vyse and Eul's Scepter of Divinity, or suicide with Suicide Squad, Attack!.
If you're pushing or defending with your team, Stasis Trap everything! It has a potential of stunning all 5 enemies for 8 seconds!!! That 8 seconds could make a difference between a win or a loss.
5. Conclusion
There is no "ideal location" to place mines. Every game will be different and every game will require mines to be places at different spots. Factors such as enemy warding, map control, skill and hero picks will all determine where you should focus your attention.
Below are some of my other favorite places which I didn't mark on the map:
Easy camp in the safe lane (same can be done on the opposite side). Heavy traffic while protecting from ganks. If the easy camp is capable of spawning, you will know there is no Observer Ward present.
Another high traffic area.
When the Dire tier 1 mid tower is down, I like placing Remote Mines here, as it is rarely warded and very high traffic.
Goblin Techies benefits from being a support who does not need to buy Observer Wards. At level 6 you should be effectively placing your Remote Mines on the rune spots, uber cliffs, high traffic areas and enemy neutral camps (the latter 2 not pictured below).
Note: As of patch 6.82, the Remote Mines vision has been reduced from 900 to 700.
Top Rune Spot
Bottom Rune Spot
Dire Uber Cliff
Radiant Uber Cliff
2nd Dire Uber Cliff
2nd Radiant Uber Cliff
3rd Dire Uber Cliff
---
Mining Common Juke Spots
Juke spots are paths on the Dota 2 map which experienced heroes navigate to either cut off an enemy or escape through loss of sight, effectively psyching out ("juking") the opponent. Listed below are some of the most commonly used juke spots in Dota 2. Stacking your Land Mines here offers a great escape or kill/bait point which most likely wont be warded.
Path between Dire tier 1 mid tower and Roshan pit.
Path just above Radiant medium camp, East of the Radiant tier 1 middle tower.
Path between Dire's top tier 1 and tier 2 towers.
Path just East of Radiant's tier 2 middle tower.
---
Chain Stunning Using Stasis Trap
(video)
Stasis Trap has the game breaking ability to stun for 12 seconds, provided you chain 2 of them together. You cannot simply place one and then the other because the cooldown is 10 seconds at its shortest. What you need to do is have one Stasis Trap planted and another one off cooldown, ready to be placed at 4 seconds into the stun of the first one. See video to get the idea.
---
Stacking Ancients With Remote Mines
(video)
At 53 seconds, toss/detonate Remote Mines in the vicinity of the ancient creeps. They will chase you, thus freeing the spawn area for next wave of ancients. You MUST be in the vicinity for the pull to work (i.e. can't pull by detonating from base).
---
Assigning Control Groups To Remote Mines
(video)
Assigning control groups to Remote Mines is easy and it insures you set them off at the right time. Just select/highlight all the Remote Mines you wish to place in a control group. Then while holding the Control Key, press any hotkey you want those mines assigned to. In the video below, I assigned Goblin Techies to 1 and the Remote Mines to 2, 3 and 4, respectively. To detonate, double click your Remote Mines hotkey, then click your hero hot key once and pressing Focused Detonate.
(For the step by step sake of this guide, this video is at about 30% of how fast you'd be doing this in game.)
---
Helpful Console Commands
Q: What is a Dota 2 console command? A: It is a (hidden by default) user interface that allows you to modify or customize your game via lines of text.
Q: Are console commands legal? A: YES. It is not cheating, it has been in Valve games since Half-Life.
Q: How do you enable console commands? A: Go to your Steam Library > right click Dota 2 > click Properties > click on General tab > click Set Launch Options > type in-console> launch Dota 2 > press\(default) to bring up console.
---
1. ENABLE RIGHT CLICK DENY
Type in dota_force_right_click_attack 1 in console for RIGHT CLICK DENIES!! Useful on all heroes but especially useful on Techies due to his long range and poor base damage. I have denied/robbed the enemy tower gold with Techies thanks to this.
---
2. ENABLE RANGE FINDER
Type in dota_disable_range_finder 0 in console to enable a SPELL RANGE INDICATOR. This one is a little trickier, as it requires you to create a text file in order to not have to type the command in every time you start Dota 2 (it doesn't get saved like right click deny after you exit the game). To do this, open up your notepad > type in dota_disable_range_finder 0 > save as autoexec.cfg > make sure to save the file as All Types otherwise it wont work > then put the text file in the cfg folder (steam/steamapps/common/dota 2 beta/dota/cfg).
When you are done, it should look something like this:
---
Day & Night Cycle
In Dota, the game clock or "Day & Night Cycle" is very important as it dictates rune, neutral/creep and Roshan spawn time, as well as change the vision range every 4 minutes. The latter is arguably the most important for Techies, as mining during the Night Cycle is easier as most hero vision is reduced to 800 (from 1800 during the day) with some exceptions. Therefore, try to mine during theNight Cycle, especially on top of high ground as it gives you the best chance of going undetected.
---
A FEW IMPORTANT TIMINGS IN DOTA FOR TECHIES
00:00 - Game starts. By this time you should have ~4 Land Mines down on the map. 00:30 - Neutrals spawn. If you're in the Offlane and blocking safe camp, make sure you mine before then. ~01:50 - Mid laner will have money for Bottle. Expect the courier to make his way down the middle lane at this time. ~3:00 - Ursa can solo Roshan roughly around this time (due to removal of Fury Swipes being an orb effect, it used to be ~8:00). Mine the pit! ~4:00 - Enigma can solo Roshan roughly around this time. ~7:00 - Lycan can solo Roshan roughly around this time.
Keep these timings in mind when deciding where to mine. Nothing worse than letting Ursa get Roshan 5 feet away from you when you could've prevented it.
Crystal Maiden's Arcane Aura is awesome for you, keeping your mana regeneration steady enough to be effective. Another great laning bro for Techies is Keeper of the Light. KOTL's Chakra Magic restores your mana so you can keep spamming, well...everything. KOTL's Illuminate is also excellent in keeping enemy creep waves at bay while you mine.
Although Goblin Techies himself will not initiate, Blink Dagger is highly recommended on the hero who will. Assault Cuirass, Desolator and Medallion of Courage all lower the enemy's armor, so having these items on your initiator, carry and support respectively is great. Before the game starts, I would suggest notifying your hard support (if you picked Techies you SHOULD have one) to purchase Veil of Discord, as it amplifies your Remote Mines damage. Force Staff on another bro? Why not.
FOES
Shhh
See a pattern here? Getting silenced sucks. Try to avoid these guys or rush your survivability items early, such as Force Staff or Eul's Scepter of Divinity. A good Quas/ Wex Invoker is very dangerous so try to gimp him early. Although a great bro, Keeper of the Light's Mana Leak can ruin your day. KOTL is also an effective minesweeper (see below) if carrying a Gem of True Sight so consider ganking asap if you see it on him.
Any hero who can appear behind you at any second (especially Riki with his Smoke Screen or Nyx Assassin with his Vendetta) is very dangerous. Consider placing a Stasis Trap close by if you're mining alone for a bit. Clinkz is a ganker who usually builds Orchid Malevolence but is very soft, so definitely have some fall back mines ready if up against him.
Imagine All The People
All of these heroes (as well as those who use Manta Style) can send in their images/illusions to sweep your Land Mines and Stasis Traps. Remember that these illusions do not grant kill gold, so try to avoid picking Goblin Techies altogether or at least focus more on Remote Mines when they are around.
Special Mention
As much as he's great to have around on your team, a good enemy Rubick is a headache. His Telekinesis can use creeps or neutrals to clear any suspected mine fields, as well as set you up on his minefield if he managed to Spell Steal your mines. If he managed to steal your mines, notify your team asap!! You will want to kill him right away either via gank or Suicide Squad, Attack!. Rubick's Null Field also reduces the damage of your mines. If Rubick is picked first, strongly consider not picking Techies at all. While in Firefly, Batrider does not trigger your Land Mines, so be wary of him. Due to recent changes to Lifestealer Infest ability adding Control to creeps, coupled with Rage not triggering Stasis Trap, view Naix as a VERY dangerous opponent. Try to deny early farm by mining up his jungle (if he's not in lane). Zeus's Lightning Bolt gives True Sight in a 750 radius, potentially revealing your mines. Thundergod's Wrath is a pain in the *** too as it reveals your position.
Foe Items
Even though it's a great bro item, Assault Cuirass on the enemy will diminish your damage/impact in game due to its aura. If possible, pick off or distance the AC carrier early in a team fight. Pipe of Insight and Orchid of Malevolence are pretty self explanatory: 400 magic damage reduction from Pipe & silence from Orchid = sad Techies. If the enemy team bought a Gem of True Sight, consider it a victory, then gank the Gem carrier. Good enemy supports will be popping Sentry Wards everywhere. They are not cheap (200 gold) so try and juke enemy supports into wasting them on areas you don't plan on mining. A level 3 Necronomicon gives its user true sight and solid mine sweeping abilities, usually built by your counters such as Lycan and Nature's Prophet. Necrobook has a long cooldown so try forcing the enemy to use it in a non mined area.
Goblin Techies is one of my favorite heroes due to his (their) very unorthodox play style and ability to get into the enemy's head.
No map or picture will be able to pinpoint exactly where your mines should go. Techies gameplay changes with each game and it'll be up to you to decide where he will be most effective.
I just hope this guides you in the right direction to figuring out your own way to victory with Squee, Speen and Spoon. Best of luck!
Bonus Video :)
If you have any suggestions or see any typos, please let me know. Thanks.
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Town Portal Scroll
Tango
Clarity
Soul Ring
Arcane Boots
Eul's Scepter of Divinity
Bloodstone
Aghanim's Scepter
Boots of Travel
Orchid Malevolence
Scythe of Vyse
Shiva's Guard
Bottle
Tranquil Boots
Gem of True Sight
Sentry Ward
Necronomicon
Smoke of Deceit
Force Staff
Orb of Venom
Eye of Skadi
Octarine Core
Boots of Travel 2
Very likely to achieve first blood
Pudge)
Very mana dependent
Lich, 
Warlock, 
Dazzle).
Ursa, 
Legion Commander).
Magnus, 
Tiny).
Nature's Prophet, 
Zeus, 
Spectre).
Anti-Mage, 
Rubick).
Dragon Knight, 
Lone Druid).
Stasis Traps destroy all other 
Remote Mines in the vicinity.
Focused Detonate but for just one Remote Mine instead of all in an area of effect.
Sage's Mask. Either way this will ensure you arrive at your mining spot first and that you have enough mana regen to keep planting Land Mines.
Energy Booster from your 
>
Bounty Rune grants your 
Viper or 
Drow Ranger.
Omniknight. 
Mirana and 
Chaos Knight.
Chen or 
Enchantress, use your 
Observer Ward placement.
Fury Swipes being an orb effect, it used to be ~8:00). Mine the pit!
Enigma can solo Roshan roughly around this time.
Lycan can solo Roshan roughly around this time.
Crystal Maiden's 
Arcane Aura is awesome for you, keeping your mana regeneration steady enough to be effective. Another great laning bro for Techies is 
Keeper of the Light. KOTL's 
Chakra Magic restores your mana so you can keep spamming, well...everything. KOTL's 
Illuminate is also excellent in keeping enemy creep waves at bay while you mine.
Meat Hook, 
Nether Swap, 
Skewer, 
Toss, 
Vacuum, 
Telekinesis and 
Boulder Smash enemies right on top of your mines. 
Snowball into heroes for a Land Mines Suicide Squad, Attack! initiation is pretty solid (remember not to abuse suicide too much).
Bane is currently the only hero in the game who enables Techies to pull off a perfect 
Fiend's Grip initiation...great for 2v1 ganks. 
Elder Titan is a great initiator via 
Echo Stomp and his 
Natural Order aura benefits Goblin Techies immensely.
Quas/
Wex 
Invoker is very dangerous so try to gimp him early. Although a great bro, 
Mana Leak can ruin your day. KOTL is also an effective minesweeper (see below) if carrying a 
Nature's Call Treants and 
Summon Spirit Bear can trigger your Land Mines and 
Centaur Warrunner , 
Riki with his 
Smoke Screen or 
Nyx Assassin with his 
Vendetta) is very dangerous. Consider placing a 
Clinkz is a ganker who usually builds 
Manta Style) can send in their images/illusions to sweep your Land Mines and 
Spell Steal your mines. If he managed to steal your mines, notify your team asap!! You will want to kill him right away either via gank or Suicide Squad, Attack!. Rubick's Null Field also reduces the damage of your mines. If 
Firefly, 
Batrider does not trigger your Land Mines, so be wary of him. Due to recent changes to 
Lifestealer 
Infest ability adding 
Control to creeps, coupled with 
Rage not triggering 
Lightning Bolt gives True Sight in a 750 radius, potentially revealing your mines. 
Thundergod's Wrath is a pain in the *** too as it reveals your position.
Tusk as a Play maker in Bros Before Foes chapter.
Naga Siren, 
Phantom Lancer and Soul Keeper to Bros Before Foes chapter.
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