Hello everyone! Today, I will guide you about Mars Build in Dota 2. I work hard to keep my Dota 2 builds and guides updated, and I will help you craft the best Mars build for this meta. I have 700 games with Mars as off-lane, with my expertise I will guide you on how to own lanes and win ranked games easily, Let’s dive in.
Introduction
Mars is best served in the Offlane, you don’t want to teleport away unless the enemy team is diving your team and you can get a decent Arena of Blood out. Mars is very strong at killing heroes early with Spear of Mars and Arena of Blood, keep an eye on how often you are using these spells for kill attempts. Overall, Mars is a strong laner capable of surviving even the hardest of matchups while pushing and dealing consistent damage to enemies.
Type
Melee, Carry, Disabler, Durable, Initiator
LANE PRESENCE
In this meta, Mars has been played a lot and the following are the statistics of Mars in this patch.
| Period | Presence | Win Rate | KD | GMP | XPM |
| Off Lane | 90.59% | 47.14% | 2.82 | 449 | 609 |
| Mid Lane | 5.95% | 48.21% | 3.51 | 522 | 695 |
Hero Attributes
| Movement speed | 310 |
| Sight range | 1800/800 |
| Armor | 1.8 |
| Base attack time | 1.8 |
| Damage | 49 – 57 |
| Attack point | 0.4 |
Pros and Cons
| Strong durable hero | Low mana pool |
| Good wave clear | Weak against magical damage |
| High burst damage | Landing spears requires skill |
| Stong initiator | Requires good team coordination |
| Several disables | Require items to be impactful |
Item Build & Skill Build
According to the current patch 7.35d, this is the skill build you should make.
Skill Build
- Take the Spear of Mars on the level 2.
- Mars throws his legendary Spear with deadly precision, damaging each enemy unit it strikes. The first enemy hero it hits is skewered on the spear, pushing it back. If a skewered hero hits a tree, building, or cliff, they will be impaled to it and stunned.
- The Spear of Mars is difficult to use due to the spear’s slow travel time and conditional stun. Good practice and prediction are mandatory to stun enemy heroes with it.
- Further, upgrade the skill according to the following sequence (3,5,7)
Tip: Use Spears of Mars to hit invisible heroes. Stunning an invisible hero will reveal them.
- God’s Rebuke should be taken on level 1.
- Mars smashes enemies in front of him with his shield, knocking them back and damaging them with a critical hit based on his attack. Bonus damage is added when hitting heroes. Has True Strike.
- God’s Rebuke works as attack modifiers you can build items accordingly to put an effect, Use it inside Arena Of Blood to push enemies into the undead warriors.
- Further, you can upgrade the ability according to the following sequence (4,8,9)
- Bulwark should be taken later on Level 11.
- Mars wields his massive shield to block a portion of each physical attack when hit from the front or sides.
- It can be toggled, granting phased movement, removing Mars’s ability to attack, and locking the direction he is facing. When active, it reduces movement speed and re-directs 70% of the attack projectiles aimed at Mars’s allies towards Mars instead.
- You can upgrade this ability according to the following sequence (13,14,16)
- Arena of the Blood, After a short formation time, Mars summons an arena lined with the undead warriors of the Ash Legion, who block enemy attacks and movement. Enemy heroes near the inside edge of the arena will be attacked by spears, dealing damage and knocking them back
- Many abilities cannot go through the Arena of Blood. However, abilities that are considered flying can go over it without being knocked back and damaged.
- Use Arena Of Blood to block tower and fountain attacks when diving.
- Always level up to this ability in the following sequence (6,12,18 )
Note: Abilities can still be cast in Blood of Arena, so be careful who you are trapping inside it as they may force you to run out.
Note: Buying Aghanim’s Scepter on Mars buffs his Bulward ability which creates 4 invulnerable soldiers on both sides of Mars front while Bulwark is toggled on. Soldiers move alongside Mars, dealing with his attacks that provide bonus damage, knockback, and slow-approaching enemies. An enemy can only be attacked by one soldier at a time.
Tip: Get Aghanim’s Shard on Mars which enhances Spear of Mars that impales up to two units and leaves a fire trail behind that deals damage over time and slows movement speed.
Talent Tree Choices
- Level 10 Select +100 God’s Rebuke Distance.
- Level 15 Select -3s God’s Rebuke Cooldown.
- Level 20 Select +0.6s Spear of Mars Stun.
- Level 25 Select God’s Rebuke +65% Crit.
Item Build:
Starting items
- 1x Quelling Blade
- 1x Tango
- 1x Gauntlets of Strength
- 2x Iron Branch
- 1x Circlet
Early game items
- 1x Bracer
- Orb of Corrosion
- Phase Boots
- Magic Stick
Mid-game items:
- Blink Dagger
- Octrine Core
- Eul’s Scepter of Divinity
- Aghanim’s Shard
Late-game items:
- Black King Bar
- Wind Waker
- Scythe of Vyse
- Refresher Orb
- Overwhelming Blink Dagger
Situational items:
- Desolater
- Assault Cuirass
- Silver Edge
- Linken’s Sphere
- Deadlus
- Aghanim’s Shard
- Pipe of Insight
- Satanic
- Lotus Orb
- Kaya and Sange
- Arcane Blink
- Heaven’s Halberd
- Solar Crest
- Shiva’s Guard
Early gameplay / Mid game / Late game
Early gameplay (0:00 – 12:00)
Players should equip a Quelling Blade, as well as some regeneration and stat items, at the start of the game. Making a bracer will increase Mars’s durability. He has good base damage, and with the bracer, he can easily battle last hits and denies with the opposition carry.
Spearing enemies back into Mars’ tower is one method to win in the lane. In Dota 2, the tower is one of the most powerful sources of damage in the early game. It is a certain kill if an opponent can be impaled into it. Supports with a disabled/stuns ability work well with Mars since their abilities can be combined. Because Mars has a small mana pool, a clarity/mango or Soul Ring can help you farm more quickly.
Mid gameplay (12:00 – 25:00)
The best utility item for Mars is Eul’s Scepter. It’s one of the few items in Dota 2 that ignores Status Resistance, which makes it possible to combine with other abilities. In the case of Mars, Eul’s setup is suitable for Spear of Mars to surprise enemies. With his ultimate, he may even combine Eul’s and Spear’s abilities.
Another utility item for Mars is the Blink Dagger. It enables him to get the upper hand on opponents and prevents them from getting escape. The Shard-upgraded Spear of an Aghanim may force two enemies at once, making it extremely effective in team fights. One of Mars’ only weaknesses is magic immunity, which Black King Bar provides. If the Mars team is lacking in damage, Desolator is a good option, while other situational items include auras like Vladimir’s Offering and Pipe of Insight.
On this hero, Solar Crest is also fantastic, and during mid-game, the Mars objective should be to initiate for his team and carry to win fights and take control of the map.
Late gameplay (25:00 – 60:00)
In late-game cores are scarce on Mars. All late-game items are situational, depending on the team’s needs. Mars is one of Dota 2’s toughest heroes, and a Heart of Tarrasque or Shiva’s Guard may help him stay even longer. Blink Dagger may be upgraded to Overwhelming Blink, which increases the Mars strength and deals additional damage. During a team fight, an Assault Cuirass or Lotus Orb can benefit both Mars and his team, while an Aghanim’s Scepter greatly buffs his damage output. Mars players should focus their efforts in the late game on capturing the enemy carry in their arena and ensuring the safety of their carry. Arena is one of Dota 2’s strongest abilities, and a successful Arena may decide the game’s result. Mars, being one of Dota 2’s most popular off-laners, may be used in a variety of roles. He can be a tank, an initiator, or a damage dealer. Arena of Blood may be utilized for everything from killing opponents to saving teammates.
Counters of Mars
Outworld Destroyer
- Arcane Orb’s pure damage ignores Mars’ Bulwark.
- Sanity’s Eclipse deals high damage to Mars, due to his low intelligence pool
- To learn how OD can counter Mars, you can read the guide here.
Viper
- Poison Attack and Viper Strike’s slows make it difficult for Mars to put impact into fights due to his low mobility.
Necrophos
- Necrophos’ largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
- Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from God’s Rebuke but more importantly, stops Mars from being a threat in the lane.
- To understand how Necrophos can Counter Mars, read the whole guide.
Venomancer
- Venomancer’s spells all deal magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
- Venomancer’s multiple slows are especially effective at kiting Mars
Storm Spirit
- Ball Lightning makes it almost impossible to catch Storm Spirit without someone else initiating it for Mars.
Undying
- Decay reduces Mars’ natural strength and therefore his health pool, which is what he relies on to trade effectively in the lane.
Shadow Fiend
- Shadowraze deals magic damage and ignores Bulwark.
- Requiem of Souls deals magic damage and can fear Mars away, forcing him to turn around and therefore become vulnerable.
- To learn how Shadow Fiend can counter Mars, read the SF guide here.
Pangolier
- Pangolier can roll in and out of Mars’ Arena Of Blood thanks to Rolling Thunder, which provides him magic resistance.
- Shield Crash, which has been improved with Aghanim, is an automatic strike that ignores Mars’ Bulwark
Ogre Magi
- Because of his strong base health, resistance, and Ignite, Mars has no chance to trade with Ogre Magi in the early game.
- Later in the game, when it comes to dominating Mars, Fireblast may be insanely powerful.
Lina
- The combination of Eul’s Scepter of Divinity and Light Strike Array can stop Mars from being disruptive for a while, leaving him weak to follow-up stuns.
- During the laning phase, Dragon Slave deals consistent magic damage to Mars.
- To check how Lina can counter Mars, read the ultimate lina guide here.
Wrapping it up
No matter how you are playing Mars, Arena Of Blood is your most powerful presence and you should be looking to fight with it. This is why Mars is a very good hero in the majority of situations, So pick your deadly shield, choose your warrior, and bring your enemies to their knees with Mars only with the help of this guide. Try this out and let us know in the comment section.