Everyone is looking for a good Lina Dota 2 guide since she is the terror of patch 7.32d and now, 7.32e, even with nerfs. While her DPS potential is less, it doesn’t discount her lethality too much.
She is still a heavyweight in the meta-carry discussion, but other heroes are seeing picks. Magic or physical, Lina always has a place in a Dota team because of her versatility. It is this ability to adjust that made her a valuable pick in recent tournaments and leagues.
From a professional perspective, Lina the Slayer sees first-round bans for many regions. She joins Broodmother in most bans during the Winter Tour of the DPC in all leagues. Gaimin Gladiators picked Lina thrice to send Liquid packing and sweeping the major.
Her big problem is that with 7.32e, her passive received minor nerfs. The damage output of Lina relied on her builds and how players, pick her skills. How will we play Lina now?
Traditional Lina Dota 2 Guide
In tradition, Lina sees herself as a midlaner with high magic damage potential. Her combo consists of a one, two, punch combo that bursts a player from full health. Starting with a W stun, she then casts her Q, and after a few auto attacks.
After that, Lina throws in her R to finish. It’s a simple combo, but it is the standard Lina combo for many years. Her Aghanim’s upgrades also reflected this magic damage amplification.
Her first Scepter upgrade made her ultimate deal Pure damage. This got changed over time and now grants her a new ability called Flame Cloak. It grants her flying status and increases in spell Amp made her magic build even more dangerous.
Shard made it more powerful, enabling Fiery Soul to add flat damage to her spells with each stack. It also pierces a spell immunity for a bit, but that’s another discussion. However, as much as magic Lina is fun to play, another play style was gaining popularity.
Physical Lina
With the end of TI11 and the beginning of the TI12 season, Lina saw a drastic change. Teams began playing Lina with Falcon Blade and Maelstrom as starter items. Pros were quick to catch on, as Lina’s passive bonuses were overlooked by many.
Fiery Soul gives attack and movement speed to Lina if she hits enemies with her spells. Maelstrom gave her flash farm power, as well as DPS for early fights and skirmishes. It started looking like Lina was a must-pick and ban.
This playstyle of Lina started with one point in her spells and maxing out her passive. After that, she would try to max out her stats, which are accessible on the talent page. This allows her to hit fast and hard from a range not many players expect.
With a range of 670, Lina is one of the more far hitters, before buying range items like Dragon Lance. Her speed is unmatched, but she is still vulnerable to focus ganks without any defensive items. You might also consider buying a Black King Bar or BKB.
Lina is a fun hero to play and versatile with her play styles. If you can manage her early game problems, she will burn through everything.
