Dota 2 Hero Guide: How to Lionize your Support game

Lion is the most consistently picked support in Dota 2. A simple cursory look at Dotabuff statistics will reveal that he features in 25% of all Dota 2 games ever. This comes as no surprise. Lion is the archetype of Dota 2 supports, with two hard disables, self-sufficiency in resources and a big nuke.

A rework in Dota 2 patch 7.20 upgraded Lion’s Finger of Death to get a permanent increase in damage with kills. This puts Lion in the rare breed of Dota 2 heroes with scaling nukes. It also temporarily gave birth to the mid-Lion.

The viability of Lion as a core, however, is mostly based around the Finger of Death stacks. The meager scaling it has means that Lion is best utilized in his intended place for the current patch: a support.

---

When is Lion a good pick in Dota 2?

With his burst-damage potential, Lion excels against heroes with a low HP pool. This is the case with many agility-based carries. Moreover, he does well against right-clickers who can be kited easily. Two good examples would be Ursa and Terrorblade, both popular picks in the current meta.

Early Game

Lion should start with plenty of regen to trade. Wind Lace is an alternative initial purchase if the lane is not a favorable trade. Incorporating a mango into the starting build is also a good idea since Lion does not have a rechargeable mana battery until lvl 2. The general plan does not change whether Lion is position 4 or position 5. In the early game, his job is to pull or contest pulls when necessary. He can also leverage his Earth Spike (Q) and Mana Drain (E) to waste the enemy core’s time, zone them, or disrupt their farm.

The skill build for Lion at lvl 3 should be a point in Q, W and E. Most players generally opt for two more points in Q after this, although points in W are equally viable depending on the game.

Mid to Late Game

Lion’s biggest power spike is at his lvl 6. It is worth sticking around the lane to hit 6 and get Finger of Death (R) as soon as possible. With 600 damage, it is the biggest nuke 10 minutes into a Dota 2 game.

If there is no kill potential in Lion’s lane, he should purchase a Smoke of Deceit and a ward to gank other lanes immediately after hitting level 6.

In a teamfight, Lion’s greatest asset is his Q and W. A nifty trick Lion can do is ground-target the Q, extending its stun further than the tooltips show. Positioning is key for Lion. He needs to be at the edge of the fight, using Q and W to disable key targets. Then he needs to kite out while skills are on cooldown. Standing in the middle of a Dota 2 teamfight as a support generally results in death.

Item Build

The point of playing Lion is to wreak havoc in fights with two low-cooldown disables. With AoE Hex, Lion also becomes almost as disruptive as a Ravage - except that it comes every 12 seconds. For this purpose, Lion needs movement and positioning items: Tranquil Boots and Blink Dagger. Generally, he should also build the usual Dota 2 support items: Glimmer Cape and Force Staff, for example.

Other potential items include:

• Aether Lens (Octarine Core)
• Ghost Scepter (Ethereal Blade)
• Aghanim’s Scepter
• Aghanim’s Shard
• Eul’s Scepter
• Spirit Vessel