Ultra Hard Carry Guide

Intro

Hello guys, this is my first official guide so any comments are encouraged. This guide is meant to be a in-depth guide to the hardest carries in the Dota 2 game, the carries that outfarm and scale into the ultra late game the hardest. This guide will be especially useful to beginners. I will be exploring the reasons behind them being the hardest carries, a rating on my own hard carry scale, pros/cons (based on late game), and the best hard carry builds for each. I will also link imo, the best Dotafire guides for each respective hero.

I will be updating this guide as patches arise, as the metagame adjusts, and possibly other ultra hard carries emerging.

NOTE: Scales are represented on a 1-10 basis, 1 being poor, 5 being decent and 10 being exceptional (in comparison to the other heroes in this guide).
Farm rate refers to the heroes' capacity to maintain gold, whether for items or buyback.
Possible Damage Output refers to the heroes' possible amount of damage which can be dealt in the late game, influenced by itemisation.
Survivability refers to the heroes' ability to sustain during teamfights, or the ability to avoid death through mobility
Siege Ability refers to the heroes' capacity at split-pushing, constricting/expanding map pressure, performace during siegeing, or damage output onto base buildings.
Overall rating is a combination of the average of the above conditions, scaled to indicate more clearly where the hero lies along the 'hard carry spectrum'.

The Hardest Carries

I will be exploring these carries, who are arguably the hardest of them all:
- Alchemist
- Anti-Mage
- Chaos Knight
- Dragon Knight
- Faceless Void
- Gyrocopter
- Lone Druid
- Luna
- Medusa
- Naga Siren
- Outworld Devourer
- Phantom Assassin
- Phantom Lancer
- Spectre
- Tiny

Alchemist

Alchemist is well known for his insane rate of farm, mainly through his E ability, which allows the player to reap extra gold for creep kills. As a result, Alchemist can farm items much quicker than other carries. His ulti, which gives HP/mana regen, attack speed and movement speed, is the core of his late game performance, amplifying his item set into a destructive force. Alchemist performs well if given space, but can also do relatively well in the mid game with his Q (armor reduction) and W (channeled stun) skills.

Pros
- Insane rate of farm; can enter late game much quicker, can farm reasonably well for buyback.
- Insane damage output/attack speed through ulti and item progression.
- Somewhat versatile skill set

Cons
- Somewhat ultimate-reliant, relatively squishy when it is on cooldown
- Single-target focused, no natural AOE damage output.
- Relatively easy to kite.

Rating
Farm Rate: 8/10
Possible Damage Output: 6/10
Survivability: 5/10
Siege ability: 4/10
Overall: 5.5/10

Tips
Going for a Hand of Midas is pure greed, but with lots of space, allows you to almost eventually triple your farm rate.

Building attack speed items (such as Mjollnir, Assault Cuirass) alongside bash items (such as Skull Basher, Abyssal Blade), allows Alchemist to perma-bash other carries into submission. This is especially useful against carries with escape mechanisms, such as Anti-Mage. This build is also great for completely destroying buildings. Even without your ultimate, you still do reasonable DPS and can still somewhat perma-stun targets. Mjollnir is great for the fact that it gives Alchemist AOE damage, and with the rate he is attacking in the late game, lightning procs cause severe damage.

Most players (especially in pubs) overlook tanking items, mostly depending on Alchemist's ulti. However, without Black King Bar and his ultimate, Alchemist is somewhat squishy, and building extra tanking items do help against competent lineups.

Playstyle for Alchemist is straight-forward; lead with Acid Spray for armor reduction, prep Unstable Concoction for stun and launch when necessary, activate ulti and right click away. In a usual 6-slotted scenario, and with RNGesus on your side, you should be able to perma-bash heroes. If they manage to escape your stun locks, follow up with more Unstable Concoction.

In7.Gankers guide to Alchemist

Anti-Mage

Anti-Mage is a commonly picked carry. In my opinion, he is not the hardest carry, but is exceptional for his ability to reach the late game before other hard carries do, thus allowing earlier online activity time. His main focus is his ability to destroy mana off heroes, amplifying his damage over each successive hit, finishing with his ultimate, Mana Void, which deals AOE damage based on how much of the target's mana is missing. As a result, Anti-Mage is a popular counter to many casters, intelligence-based carries, and mana-dependent heroes (such as Wraith King, whom Anti-Mage can prevent the former's ultimate).

Pros
- Highly mobile, with a great escape mechanism through his blink. Allows him to kite other carries during teamfights, farm at a tremendous rate (albeit with a Battle Fury), and semi-global presence.
- Decent split-pusher, coupled with his mobility, allows him to pressure other lanes.
- Very effective against mana-dependent, intelligence-based heroes.
- Spell Shield improves survivability against nukers/casters, further enhancing his effectiveness against those types of heroes.

Cons
- Comparatively less tanky than other carries, his survivability arising from his mobility.
- Generally gets outcarried by other hard carries eventually.
- Rubbish laning stage/early game presence, although Mana Break is decent for harass.

Rating
Farm Rate: 7/10
Possible Damage Output: 3.5/10
Survivability: 7/10
Siege ability: 6/10
Overall: 7/10

Tips
Getting Battle Fury is almost a must on Anti-Mage, which will spearhead your farming stage. Aim to get it around 10-15 minutes, allowing you to get online with basic fighting build with Power Treads & Manta Style by the 20-25 minute mark. Simply jump around from lane to lane and jungle to jungle with ease with your blink. Avoid items with unique attack modifiers as these do not stack with Mana Break. If lifesteal is needed, go for Vladmir's Offering.

Tanking up with Anti-Mage is advised, especially with no Black King Bar. A Butterfly is nice for its evasion, slight armor and extra damage, but generally a Heart of Tarrasque is the usual item for pure tankability.

Playstyle is somewhat more of decision making. During teamfights, you can initiate and act as the tank, doing as much damage as possible before blinking out. Rinse and repeat. OR, you can target supports/squishy heroes and jump in once someone else initiates, allowing your team to focus enemy carries whilst you clean up the supports. Be careful of being stun-locked, which is arguably the most efficient way of defeating an Anti-Mage.

In 1v1 engagements, the usual approach is to right click an enemy until his mana pool is sufficiently low for a kill-secure through Mana Void. Note that Mana Void is AOE and also ministuns, allowing you to interrupt TP's.

Beaver's Anti-Mage build, influenced by DK.BurNing's AM. I believe this is the most effective, pure farm AM build in this meta.

Chaos Knight

Chaos Knight is a real hit or miss. His skill set and overall nature, based on chance and randomness, renders him unreliable as a hard carry, but otherwise his potential output is absolutely INSANE.

Chaos Knight is decently mobile (second highest movement speed), has a stun Chaos Bolt, a chasing/initiating mechanism Reality Rift, a massive crit Chaos Strike, and an ultimate Phantasm which basically gives him illusions to deal even more insane damage. Collectively, Chaos Knight is a versatile hard carry, but definitely not the hardest.

Pros
- Insane damage output through chance. Can obliterate heroes very quickly. One of the highest critical strikes in the game.
- Versatile skillset.
- Good early-game/mid-game presence.
- Great pusher with his Phantasm illusions.

Cons
- Damage output limited by randomness.
- Mediocre carry without Phantasm ulti.
- Rubbish mana pool, somewhat redundant in the late game, but can still affect the sustainability of this hero.
- Comparatively slow farm rate.

Rating
Farm Rate: 2/10
Possible Damage Output: 9/10
Survivability: 4/10
Siege ability: 4/10
Overall: 3/10

Tips
Itemisation is extremely versatile on Chaos Knight, but tanking and attack speed is usually the way to go. Just avoid crit items. Armlet of Mordiggian is a core item, as it allows good damage output and also affects his Phantasm Illusions. Early game Drum of Endurance is useful for extra mobility, but vital for improving the dreadful mana pool.

During teamfights, activate the armlet before popping ulti; this will give the armlet buff to the Phantasm illusions (note, they don't lose hp unlike on the main hero). Initiating with Chaos Bolt or Reality Rift is generally interchangeable. Reality Rift during ulti is a good way to choke enemy carries into a cloud of Chaos Knight illusions. Just hope you get lots of crits through your passive, and you will mow down heroes with ease.

Chaos Knight is still very underpicked in the competitive scene as a hard carry for its innate randomness and unreliability, but pairs up well with Io, giving it massive buffs and allowing global presence.

Pretty much spot on guide. Maxing Q+E first + core items.

Dragon Knight

Dragon Knight is a very popular hard carry, with reliable late game potential. He mostly excels at durability during late game teamfights, but can also dish out respectable damage. Known for his ease of use and versatile skillset, Dragon Knight is a hero that can survive the early, mid game well before becoming a ridiculously unkillable monster in the late game.

Pros
- Very tanky. With his base stat gain, and also his passive Dragon Blood, DK's natural tankiness scales well into late game.
- Above average damage/slow in late game with his Elder Dragon Form ultimate.
- Versatile skillset; a nuke, stun, durability-increasing passive and ulti that makes him ranged.
- Strong laning stage, can even mid effectively.

Cons
- Low mobility and teamfight presence without ulti up; ultimate-reliant.
- No escape mechanism
- With relatively lower damage than other carries, many teams will avoid Dragon Knight during teamfights and kill off the rest of his team instead.

Rating
Farm Rate: 3/10
Possible Damage Output: 5/10
Survivability: 8/10
Siege ability: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

Tips
Tanking and attack speed are the most common itemisations for Dragon Knight; most common late game item choices are Mjollnir and Assault Cuirass. DK is very versatile and does well with most items in late game anyway. The tanky or DPS route should be taken based on enemy lineups.

Dragon Knight's late game teamfight presence solely revolves around Elder Dragon Form, make sure you have this ready for teamfights (it has a 60 second cooldown between ulti end and next activation, so it is not a big problem). Popping ulti and Black King Bar will allow you time to right click away. Dragon Knight is best used to soak up nukes and damage on the frontline, and can easily 1v1 other carries by outtanking them. Just make sure to play wisely when ulti runs out, retreat if necessary, although Dragon Knight still has respectable potential even in melee form. Also note Dragon Knight in his ulti form is ridiculously strong against buildings; keep note of this when siegeing.

Pano's Guide to DK. Has two alternative builds; DPS and Tankability.

Faceless Void

Arguably one of the hardest carries in the game, Faceless Void is a cruel and destructive carry for his ability to eliminate multiple heroes, change the course of teamfights or even the game, through his ulti Chronosphere. Although his early game is probably the worst of any carry, his entire skillset allows him to deal massive damage quickly, as well as somewhat survivable with an escape and block passive skill.

Pros
- Ridiculous crowd-control ability with Chronosphere.
- Has 25% chance to block any incoming damage, through Backtrack (stacks with evasion, e.g. through Butterfly), and Time Walk as an escape/initiating skill, making him relatively survivable.
- One of the, if not the, hardest carry in the game.
- Good comeback mechanic, can be relevant in the game even if underfarmed.

Cons
- Rubbish laning stage (arguably the worst); requires alot of babysitting.
- Lack of HP makes him susceptible to focus fire and nuke, especially if RNGesus is not on your side.
- Chronosphere can work both ways, unfortunately.

Rating
Farm Rate: 6/10
Possible Damage Output: 8/10
Survivability: 5/10
Siege ability: 3/10
Overall: 7.5/10

Tips
The best late game build would be a Battle Fury rush into pure damage (as opposed to the mid game build, with Maelstrom). In early laning phase, getting a Poor Man's Shield and a quick Ring of Health will solidify your presence. After getting Battle Fury, most players opt for damage through Daedalus and the risky Mask of Madness. As a result, you should be aiming to deal as much damage as you possibly can during Chronosphere (if done correctly, you should be relatively invincible to dish out the DPS).

Mask of Madness is still arguable as it makes you susceptible to getting nuked and focused, but works amazing during Chronosphere with the attack speed bonus, and also allows you amazing cleave when used in tandem with Battle Fury. Aghanim's Scepter is also a nice item; give you extra tank through stats and also upgrades your ulti (longer duation, lower cooldown), however takes up an item slot which could otherwise be invested in more damage.

During teamfights, Time Walk is an amazing skill for initiating, following up with a well-placed Chronosphere. Once the enemy team is locked in, right click away. You should also avoid locking your team in the ulti, as they can provide supporting fire from outside. Wombo combo's can be done with Witch Doctor's Death Ward or Phoenix's Supernova, for example.

Facless not Maceless Guide to FV. The "Standard (Competitive/Serious Carry Build)" is the most efficient build for late game FV.

Gyrocopter

Gyrocopter is one of the more versatile hard carries in the game, with exceptional mid game dominance. Nevertheless, his late game potential is huge, arising from the fact he can DPS over entire enemy teams with Flak Cannon. He is notorious for his effective use of the Divine Rapier and Satanic ultra late game tactic, made famous by Na'Vi.XBOCT.

Pros
- Great mid game presence; early game kill potential very high with Rocket Barrage and Call Down.
- Decent farm rate with Flak Cannon, able to clear out creep waves and jungle camps with ease.
- Great counter to illusion-based carries(e.g. Phantom Lancer or Naga Siren), and overall decent anti-push capability.

Cons
- One of the more squishier hard carries; low tankability coupled with lack of escape mechanisms.
- Very susceptible to early game pressure; does poorly with bad start. Can be easily countered.
- 3 of his skills basically become redundant in the ultra late game.

Rating
Farm Rate: 6/10
Possible Damage Output: 6/10
Survivability: 2/10
Siege ability: 1/10
Overall: 4/10

Tips
Black King Bar is quintessential on Gyrocopter, as this will allow him to attack freely with Flak Cannon. However, once BKB is down and without Flak Cannon, Gyrocopter becomes a very squishy, single target damage-dealer. He should not be on the frontline tanking the enemy team.

Ultra late game, Gyrocopter can harness Divine Rapier to good use, as Flak Cannon will cause equal damage to all units in a massive 1000 range. Satanic is also great alongside Flak Cannon, and usually allows Gyrocopter to sustain well as a Divine Rapier carrier. Gyrocopter is a good Aegis of the Immortal user as he often dies pretty quickly against other carries, allowing him possibly another Flak Cannon massive DPS round.

Bootem's Gyrocopter guide

Lone Druid

Two heroes, two words: Spirit Bear. Lone Druid has been made especially popular as a ultra hard carry through [A]lliance's [A]dmiralBulldog. Nevertheless, Lone Druid's late game potential is based on the fact he is essentially two heroes, thus theoretically twice the damage output. A 6-slotted Spirit Bear and 6 slotted Lone Druid is menacing in the ultra late game, increased by the fact Lone Druid can resummon his Spirit Bear if it ends up dying.

Pros
- One of the best jungling hard carries in the game.
- Essentially two heroes; great survivability. Spirit Bear also great sieger.
- Decent farm rate with Spirit Bear.
- Spirit Bear can be resummoned during teamfights, providing sustained damage output.

Cons
- Requires higher micromanagement than other hard carries.
- Low possible damage output comparative to other hard carries.
- Tanky, but slow during True Form, quick but squishy in the other.
- No escape mechanism.

Rating
Farm Rate: 5/10
Possible Damage Output: 4/10
Survivability: 7/10
Siege ability: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

Tips
The usual late game build is to beef up Lone Druid himself, with tanking items such as Heart of Tarrasque, whilst putting damage and attack speed items onto the Spirit Bear. An early Radiance rush onto the bear will greatly amplify the farm rate of Lone Druid.

During teamfights, the Spirit Bear is the key frontline tank and damage dealer; you should not be exposing Lone Druid himself. If the bear dies, you can resummon, and once the fight dissipates you can begin to use Lone Druid as a secondary source of damage. Note that Summon Spirit Bear has a very long cooldown time, so you should aim to have it readily available during teamfights for at least two Spirit Bears. Spirit Bear is also a great sieger, having amplified damage against buildings with Demolish.

Great Lone Druid guide with both Jungling and Laning builds.

Luna

In this current meta, Luna is one of the most picked hard carries, especially in the competitive scene. Because of her high late game DPS rates, multiple target focus with Moon Glaives, good mobility (highest base move speed) and her ability to pressure lanes and split push quickly Luna is a popular, strong hard carry.

Pros
- High damage output from Lunar Blessing, alongside a semi-ranged cleave with Moon Glaive. Late game DPS is absurd.
- Fastest movement speed of any hero in the game.
- Adept lane presence, with spammable Lucent Beam nuke. Also performs well during mid-game.

Cons
- Somewhat squishy and fragile comparative to other carries.
- No escape mechanism; all skills revolve around damage.
- Heavily item dependent.

Rating
Farm Rate: 7.5/10
Possible Damage Output: 7/10
Survivability: 4/10
Siege ability: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

Tips
Helm of the Dominator into Manta Style is the standard core rush, which will begin the rapid farming stage of the game. Late game, she is an absolute beast with damage items, but do not overlook tank as she is still fragile. Butterfly is usually core for its evasion plus agility for Luna's DPS output.

During teamfights, a good initiation with Eclipse usually invokes fear and surprise factor, allowing you some decent time to glaive the **** out of the enemy team. Be careful to note use Eclipse during enemy activations of Black King Bars, as this will negate the damage. You can use your ulti after BKB runs out if needed. Popping your own BKB and right clicking is core, spamming Lucent Beam constantly is also key. Keep note that you are relatively fragile as well, and should play as a glass cannon.

Luna has amazing siege and anti-building capability, as the glaives will actually bounce from buildings. This allows you to destroy barracks in mere seconds.

Guide to Luna by D3n1eD, standard DPS carry build.

Medusa

Medusa is a vicious late game damage dealer, one of the hardest carrying heroes in the game. She is terrible in the early stage, below average in the mid game, but excels heavily in the late game stage. Relatively tanky and immune to damage, through Mana Shield, high AOE DPS with Split Shot, and a good crowd-control ultimate with Stone Gaze. Nevertheless, if given enough farm, she is pretty much unkillable and has the potential to wipe out entire enemy lineups.

Pros
- One of the strongest late game presences for carries; tanky, high DPS.
- Very sustainable through Mana Shield in late game.
- High average DPS output in the late game.

Cons
- Relatively sluggish and cumbersome; no escape mechanism.
- Does extremely poor in early game (bad attack animation, slow farm rates), does not provide enough during mid game. Terrible stat growth.
- Entirely item dependent, offers nothing if underfarmed. Poor comeback potential.
- High mana usage, especially to sustain Mana Shield, and can be countered by such heroes as Anti-Mage.

Rating
Farm Rate: 3/10
Possible Damage Output: 8/10
Survivability: 9/10
Siege ability: 3/10
Overall: 5/10

Tips
Because Medusa is too susceptible to early game pressure and only excels in the late game, she should be given priority farm and maximum babysit support. If possible, she should entirely disregard teamplay (team should be focused on creating space), and focus on farming. Ancient stacking/farming with Split Shot is a great tactic as it allows Medusa to mind her own whilst reserving jungle farm for other teammates.

By late game, you should have adequate mana regen to constantly fuel Mana Shield; this will make Medusa virtually invincible. Spearhead teamfights with Stone Gaze, and spam Split Shot at will. Once given enough momentum, Medusa will outcarry any other hard carry, especially in the ultra late game stages. She is also an amazing Divine Rapier carrier.

Gorgonzola Medusa Guide.

Naga Siren

Naga Siren has quickly been revived as a massive carry potential through the competitive meta, especially through Scythe.Meracle and EG.Arteezy. With Radiance and Boots of Travel, Naga Siren has global presence to constantly assert almost unbearable pressure onto the enemy team, making her the best hard carry sieger currently. Her cheesy but notorious Song of the Siren ultimate is also a great initiation or escape tool. On the contrary, she does little to teamfights damage wise, but can act as a nice tanker or anti-escape and armor reducer.

Pros
- Amazing farm rate with Radiance and Boots of Travel. Can simultaneously farm all 3 lanes and jungle camps with good micro.
- Insane map pressure; can simultaneously split push 3 lanes with the above items. Exceptional late game sieger.
- Amazing crowd control/bail-out tool with Song of the Siren.
- Generally played mobile and elusive in this meta; as a result hard to kill. Mirror Image illusions create more confusion.

Cons
- Requires good micromanagement to be played effectively.
- Relatively less tanky than other carries (somewhat circumvented by her elusiveness and through itemisation).
- Offers little DPS in ultra late game comparative to other carries.
- Susceptible to anti-push and AOE nukage.

Rating
Farm Rate: 9/10
Possible Damage Output: 2/10
Survivability: 7/10
Siege ability: 10/10
Overall: 9/10

Tips
Rushing Radiance before 20 minutes is vital, following onto Boots of Travel. This will open the semi-global phase for Naga Siren, allowing her to start asserting map pressure and increasing farming rates. Make sure to micro your illusions; sending them to jungle camps and lane creep waves to farm, whilst spamming Rip Tide to quicken gold income. Core items from here includes Manta Style, giving her even more illusions to work with, and Heart of Tarrasque to make her illusions very tanky and hard to kill.

In teamfights, Naga Siren can be a great initiator with Song of the Siren, allowing easy initiation setup into Sand King's Epicenter or Tidehunter's Ravage for instance. She can also use this in the reverse, to disrupt a teamfight to allow everyone to escape. Make sure to use Rip Tide as armor reduction, and Ensnare to prevent TP's or blinks. Alternatively, she can even disregard teamfights altogether by TP'ing to a different lane to split push.

Carry Naga Siren Builds with Meracle/Arteezy's build, Lod[A]'s build or EternalEnvy's build.

Outworld Devourer

Outworld Devourer is one of the few Intelligence-attribute hard carries that can perform reasonably well in the late game. He excels at being able to field much more intelligence than other carries (who focus on strength and agility gain), which translates into his insane DPS from Arcane Orb or Sanity's Eclipse.

Pros
- Strong presence in every stage of the game if momentum is maintained.
- Super huge DPS from Arcane Orb as pure damage.
- Arguably one of the most destructive AOE ultimates with Sanity's Eclipse.

Cons
- Very little durability throughout any stage of the game.
- One of the more gold-reliant hard carries; falls off hard otherwise.

Rating
Farm Rate: 4/10
Possible Damage Output: 8/10
Survivability: 2/10
Siege ability: 2/10
Overall: 5/10

Tips
Grabbing intelligence items is quintessential to fuel the DPS of Outworld Devourer into the latter stages of the game, as well as amplifying his Sanity's Eclipse ulti. Force Staff is a crucial core item as it gives OD some survival through escape.

During teamfights in the late game, you can almost disregard your mana pool and spam Astral Orb. Use Astral Imprisonment constantly during teamfights as a small way of crowd-controlling; disrupts enemy teamfights as well as stealing intelligence. Once enemy BKB's are down and most heroes are low enough, fire down your ultimate.

Guide to OD as a Hard Carry

Phantom Assassin

Phantom Assassin is infamous for her devastating crit; the highest in the game at 450%, and the ability to one-shot heroes. She is one of the hardest carries for her damage potential, but lacks overall survivability in 1v1 manfights against other carries.

Pros
- Decent laning-stage and mid game presence. Comes online much quicker; can usually fight reasonably earlier than other carries.
- Has natural evasion with Blur, and a decent, but conditional escape mechanism with Phantom Strike.
- Highest critical damage strike in the game, a whopping 450% with Coup de Grace.

Cons
- Somewhat item-dependent. Performs mediocre when underfarmed.
- Very fragile; one of the least durable hard carries. Her evasion is influenced by randomness.
- High damage output comes from pure luck (15% chance on Coup de Grace).

Rating
Farm Rate: 5/10
Possible Damage Output: 10/10
Survivability: 4/10
Siege ability: 1/10
Overall: 4.5/10

Tips
Phantom Assassin performs well with an early Battle Fury pick up (imagine her 450% crit cleaving), allowing her to farm at a faster rate. Nevertheless, she is still reasonably slow to farm items, rather, comes online with her skills. It might seem wise to get attack speed, but this is already alleviated by Phantom Strike's bonus buffs, so getting pure damage items to amplify her crit is more advised. Avoid crit items, and surprisingly Butterfly as the evasion does not stack with her Blur, as a result it becomes an expensive +30 agility item.

Phantom Assassin is the pure definition of glass cannon; she lacks the durability of other carries, which is why Black King Bar is essential on her to sustain her right click. In teamfights, she can either out-damage the enemy carry in a manfight, with multiple critical strikes, or can simply be a walking piece of meat that does mediocre damage.

Playstyle is fairly straightforward with PA, start off with a Stifling Dagger to slow down enemy heroes, then Phantom Strike onto them then hope for crits. Rinse and repeat. If under threat of death, Phantom Strike onto allied units to escape.

This is a fairly well-made and in-depth guide on PA.

Phantom Lancer

Phantom Lancer, commonly dubbed as "cancer lancer" for his ability to multiply like cancer, is a infuriating-to-play-against hard carry that excels at completely overwhelming the enemy with multiple illusions. His innate ability and creation of illusion armies makes it almost impossible to fight into him, and deserves recognition as one of the hardest carrying agility heroes in the game for this reason.

Pros
- Complete overwhelming of enemy heroes in teamfights; illusion creation is central to this hero's success during teamfights.
- Can enforce decent map pressure and split push capability.
- Difficult to target during teamfights as a result of elusiveness through illusions and decent escape mechanism with Doppelwalk.
- Quick farming rates with illusions, enhanced with Radiance.

Cons
- Very item dependent.
- Trash laning stage, requires babysitting. Low mana in early stages of the game.
- No disables/crowd control.
- Can be countered by anti-invisbility and AOE.

Rating
Farm Rate: 8/10
Possible Damage Output: 7/10
Survivability: 5/10
Siege ability: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10

Tips
For true late game pressure, getting a Radiance is key, as it will increase your farming rate for you to get more items. Diffusal Blade is very nice on PL; gives some nice agility, it allows you and your illusions to drain mana and finally allows you to Purge and slow enemy units or yourself to remove debuffs (such as Dust of Appearance). Manta Style is also optional, amplifying your cancerous nature by spawning more illusions. Tanking up with a Heart of Tarrasque is almost necessary in late game teamfights.

During teamfights, Phantom Lancer should spam Spirit Lance as well as right click onto enemy heroes, which should hopefully spawn even more illusions. This combined will decimate enemy mana pools, preventing escape or teamfight contribution. Use Doppelwalk to escape when in danger of death; however be wary of Dust/Sentries or Gem of True Sight.

Alternatively, Phantom Lancer can pressure other lanes whilst space is created by your team. Split pushing is very simple as long as your illusions are spawned. These make good buffer and damage dealers towards towers and buildings.

Guide to PL. Note maxing Q+E skills before getting in any points in illusion-based skills.

Spectre

Spectre is an extremely viable and strong hard carry, with amazing teamfight capability in the late game. Her greatest attribute is her rather large strength gain in proportion to her primary agility gain, making her one of the tankiest ultra hard carries. As a result Spectre is a versatile hero with an adaptive skillset allowing her to offset lots of damage with little worry for survival. She excels at 1v1 manfight scenarios with her Desolate.

Pros
- Tanky and highly durable in the late game, due to tremendous strength gain for an agility carry. Also Dispersion helps her mitigate some damage, and becomes a strong factor in the late game.
- Semi-global presence with Haunt and ability to Reality to illusions allows Spectre to quickly join teamfights.
- Can dish out respectable late game damage, especially on single targets with Desolate.
- High mobility and elusiveness with Spectral Dagger. Also enhances her farming rate.

Cons
- Somewhat item dependent. Low agility gain means her damage output is limited and thus increases the need for items.
- Very weak laning stage; requires babysitting supports. Dreadful farming rate until Radiance is picked up.
- Limited contribution to mid game.

Rating
Farm Rate: 6/10
Possible Damage Output: 5/10
Survivability: 8/10
Siege ability: 6/10
Overall: 7/10

Tips
Radiance + Diffusal Blade Spectre is the most common build, allowing her to flash farm and somewhat snowball from early kills during the mid game. Prioritising defensive/offensive items will depend on the game and enemy lineups. Kills can be achieved in the mid portions by using Haunt to find unsuspecting or retreating targets.

In the late game, Spectre will be tanky and mobile enough to be pressuring single lanes herself, whilst her team creates space or achieves other objectives. With Haunt she can join any resulting teamfights and wreck havoc. Spectral Dagger is an extremely effective chasing/escaping tool, allowing her to traverse otherwise immovable terrain.

Yasatsuna's guide to Spectre. Features 4 core builds; Radiance, Manta Style, Diffusal Blade or Maelstrom.

Tiny

The stone giant that is Tiny is a fun hero with massive scalability into the late game. He is an exceptional fighter against other carries, and is one of the most efficient siegers in the game due to his building destruction and wave clearing properties. Tiny is one of the hardest carries simply due to his sheer damage and momentum based playstyle.

Pros
- One of the most destructive heroes in the late game; insane damage from his Grow ultimate coupled with Aghanim's Scepter, and teamfight disables with Avalanche & Toss. Great overall burst damage.
- Amazing counter against squishy agility carries.
- High sieging properties, especially with Aghanim's Scepter; allows increased damage against buildings and cleave effect to clear waves.

Cons
- Weak early game; slow attack animation, mana issues.
- Very low base armor.
- Slow attack speed, further reduced by his ultimate.

Rating
Farm Rate: 5/10
Possible Damage Output: 8.5/10
Survivability: 6/10
Siege ability: 9/10
Overall: 8/10

Tips
Boot choices on Tiny are often a point of argument; I personally prefer Power Treads for mid game attack speed and tread switching for his nukes. Arcane Boots to help is dreadful mana and Phase Boots for extreme movement speed are perfectly viable options. Core items on Tiny include Aghanim's Scepter, which gives him a cleave for flash farming, and Assault Cuirass to alleviate both his attack speed and armor problems. A late game Mjollnir will also work wonders for your attack speed.

Tiny should be central in teamfights as a relatively durable tank and teamfighter. Start with Avalanche & Toss combo for carries and right click away. Your cleave and massive damage will destroy teamfights. Black King Bar is advised if the enemy has many disables. Against buildings, Tiny will have no trouble pummeling down the base during sieges.

Probably made most famous by Fnatic, Tiny + Io combo is absolutely absurd and has great synergy, giving Tiny semi-global presence for ganks and sieges, as well as giving him massive attack speed during teamfights. Otherwise, Tiny should grab a Blink Dagger.

Steamtrain Tiny Guide.

Other Hard Carries

These other hard carries are not included in this guide for the following reasons:

• Bloodseeker is a nice ganker and has some decent late game, but generally gets outcarried too hard by other agility carries, making his ultra late game redundant.
• Doom Bringer for many is considered one of the harder carries. IMO, he scales well for his Doom ultimate and durability, but his DPS is lackluster.
• Drow Ranger is not a super hard carry simply because she is really squishy. Even with items she still fails miserably in ultra late game teamfights.
• Ember Spirit may be a harder carry in future changes. He has amazing burst damage, but is too squishy for the ultra late game.
• Juggernaut simply gets outcarried by other carries too easily. He is too ulti-dependent in the later portions of the game.
• Kunkka's cleave is his greatest asset in the late game, but otherwise offers little in focused manfights.
• Legion Commander is too dependent on damage gain from Duel to be viable as a super hard carry.
• Lifestealer generally gets easily outcarried by other strength heroes. His farm rate is not adequate and he does not scale that hard. A 6-slotted Lifestealer can be easily defeated by a 6-slotted hero from the above list.
• Meepo has respectable hard carry potential in the right hands, but is too easily countered and has fallen off in the current patch.
• Morphling has great late game DPS, but questionable durability. Also offers little during sieges.
• Shadow Fiend is a beast when it comes to damage, but can fall of easily in ultra late game due to survival problems. His comeback mechanic is also vastly limited and is dependent on his souls for damage.
• Slark is great in the mid game, but will fall off drastically in the late game. By then, teamfights will be vastly less drawn-out and not the same style as was seen in the mid game.
• Sniper has respectable damage, but depends too much on items and is easily nuked down in the late game.
• Sven is an absolute beast of a hard carry, but the other carries seem to farm much more quickly and have more of a decisive impact in teamfights and sieges.
• Templar Assassin gets too easily disabled and nuked down out of her Refraction, her main source of durability. She should not be exposed to the ultra late game and excels at ending games much sooner than that stage.
• Weaver has terrible stat gains, and as such naturally does not scale well into the late game. Usually picked for his mobility and elusiveness, it is somewhat countered in the ultra late game by vigilant true sight usage and focus.
• Wraith King has nice DPS output, but gets too kited easily. He also has one of the slowest farming rates of any hard carry.

Conclusion

Hope you guys found this useful for differentiating between the truly harder carries in this metagame. I will be updating as the game changes and more heroes are shifted in and out of late game viability. As such, it is still fairly opinionated, but I have tried to base my understandings on professional games, my own experience and the current state of the heroes.
Any suggestions to improve this will be greatly accepted.