Hello everyone. Today I will talk about Medusa as she is one of the late-game heroes that are considered to be strong, Although she needs time to come online, this Medusa Dota 2 guide will show you that the hero is extremely dangerous and worth the pick in your rank matches.
I’m a carry main booster here at Immortal boost’’s Dota 2 Boost squad and I will now try to teach you how to reach Top 500 as Medusa. Let’s dig in!
Introduction
Medusa is a late-game carry who can easily turn team fights around in her favor with the Stone Gaze. Mana Shield makes her one of the tackiest carries in the game, but her extreme item dependence requires her to farm quicker and more for much of the game before she turns to be effective in team fights. Split Shot allows her to farm faster in the jungle and deal decent damage to multiple heroes in fights. However, her early game is filled with problems, such as having the lowest base HP, mana dependence, and slow movement speed.
Type
Ranged, Carry, Disabler, Durable
LANE PRESENCE
| Period | Presence | Win Rate | KD | GMP | XPM |
| Safe Lane | 65.27% | 51.12% | 4.0 | 630 | 721 |
| Mid Lane | 24.73% | 51.38% | 3.74 | 599 | 714 |
| Off Lane | 8.61% | 49.63% | 3.14 | 506 | 618 |
Hero Attributes
| Movement speed | 275 |
| Sight range | 1800/800 |
| Armor | 2.08 |
| Base attack time | 1.7 |
| Damage | 48 – 54 |
| Attack point | 0.5 |
Pros and Cons
| Teamfight hero | Slow movement speed |
| Good against multiple heroes | Weak hero in the early game |
| Late game hero | Item dependent |
| Fast farmer | Weak against Mana burn. |
Item Build & Skill Build
According to the current patch 7.35d, this is the skill build you should make.
Skill Build
- Take the Split Shot on the level 11.
- Medusa magically splits her shot into several arrows. These arrows deal a lower percentage of her normal damage.
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- Further, upgrade the skill according to the following sequence (13,14,16)
- Mystic Snake should be taken on level 1.
- A mystic snake jumps from target to target dealing damage. Damage and speed increase with each jump. After it reaches its last target, it returns to Medusa to replenish her with mana. The snake returns 14% mana based on the targets’ total mana.
- There is an upgrade to this spell with Aghanim Scepter which provides a buff to Medusa in a way that when she casts, it causes Mystic Snake to turn enemies hit into stone. Stone duration increases with each bounce of the Mystic Snake.
- Further, you can upgrade the Blink Stike according to the following sequence (3,5,7)
- Mana Shield should be taken later on Level 2.
- Creates a shield that absorbs 98% of incoming damage in exchange for Medusa’s mana. Illusions absorb less damage per point of mana. Provides bonus mana capacity.
- You can upgrade this ability according to the following sequence (4,8,9)
Note: Mana burn is a big problem for Medusa. You can itemize against it or adapt the playstyle.
- Any enemy units looking at Medusa will have their movement and attack speed slowed. If 2 seconds of total time is accumulated looking at Medusa while Stone Gaze is active, that unit will turn to stone and take bonus physical attack damage.
- Always level up to this ability whenever it is up on level 6, level 12, level 18
Tip: Stone Gaze combines well with Magnus’s Reverse Polarity, Kotol’s Will-O-Wisp, and Axe’s Berserker’s Call.
Note: Get Aghanim’s Shard on Medusa which grants her a new ability called Cold Blooded, with that, if Medusa is targeted with a spell, a single-target Mystic Snake is sent back towards the enemy.
Talent Tree Choices
- Level 10 Select +15% Mystic Snake Turn and Movement Speed Slow.
- Level 15 Select -8% Split Shot Damage Penalty.
- Level 20 Select +3 Mystic Snake Bounces.
- Level 25 Select Split Shot Uses Modifiers.
Item Build:
Starting items
- 1x Magic Wand
- 1x Mango
- 2x Iron Branch
Early game items
- Arcane Boots
- Wind Lace
- Wraith Band
- Yasha
Mid-game items:
- Manta Style
- Dragon Lance
- Butterfly
- Disperser
- Eye of Skadi
Late-game items:
- Daedalus
- Scythe of Vyse
- Swift Blink
- Divine Rapier
Situational items:
- Silver Edge
- Khanda
- Aghanim’s Scepter
- Linken’s Sphere
- Aghanim’s Shard
- Black King Bar
- Desolator
- Satanic
- Monkey King Bar
Early gameplay / Mid game / Late game
Early gameplay (0:00 – 12:00)
Medusa is weak in the early stage of the game, you have to play safe and keep on securing the last hits as much as you can and once you kill the wave make sure to farm the side camps and communicate with your support to stack the ancient camps or the neutral camps. Secure ranged creep with Mystic Snake if contested. To get most of the mana back, Mystic Snake needs to hit heroes and ranged creeps. If a neutral camp consists of multiple creeps with mana pools, Mystic Snake can regain a lot of mana, always remember no fights nothing, until you are getting an easy kill.
Mid gameplay (12:00 – 25:00)
In this stage of the game, Medusa has some basic items to get the stacked ancient creeps make sure you have the fastest farm in the team as Medusa can farm much quicker as compared to many other carries due to her Split Shot ability. Try to join team fights at this stage when your team is in the front and make sure to use your Stone Gaze when you feel like you might be in danger or the team. Position yourself in the center of the fight to Split Shot multiple heroes. Medusa does mediocre single-target damag. In some scenarios when you feel like you can die use the Stone Gaze defensively and Teleport out to the base safely.
Late gameplay (25:00 – 60:00)
At the late game stage, you will be the main target for the enemies. They might get Diffusal Blade to kill you immediately if you get caught. So try to stick with your team for cover. You don’t need to rush Stone Gaze usage in the fights. Make sure opponents are committed to the fight before you pop it. Position yourself around the team so you won’t get kited in the team fights as Medusa has low movement speed. If things are going rough, consider purchasing Divine Rapier. Works well with Split Shot. Your mana pool acts as your HP pool. So remain aware of your current mana and use Mystic Snake on time to keep your mana high.
Counters of Medusa
Antimage
- Antimage can easily counter Medusa with his Mana Break which burns Medusa’s mana easily, especially when carrying a Manta Style and finishing off with Mana Void.
Huskar
- Burning Spear’s damage over time can rapidly burn Medusa’s mana and health.
- Inner Fire can slow and disarm Medusa.
Dark Seer
- Dark Seer’s initiation onto the Medusa with his Wall of Replica and Ion Shell can make Medusa weak in the team fights by receiving tons of damage due to illusions.
Sniper
- Sniper can outrange both Medusa’s arrows and Stone Gaze, allowing him to focus her down during a team fight.
Juggernaut
- Juggernaut with a Diffusal Blade and by using Omni Slash can kill Medusa easily and she receives mana burn and the damage within the Omni Slashe’s.
Invoker
- E.M.P. is a large mana burn nuke that can hit Medusa’s Mana shield with enough damage to lose even more mana.
Nyx Assassin
- Medusa lacks single target damage, making Nyx with Aghanim’s Scepter extremely hard to deal with if Medusa is the team’s main damage source.
- Vendetta burns a crucial amount of mana on hit, and the damage from the ability drains Medusa’s mana pool even further.
Axe
- Axe can take advantage of Medusa’s low HP to instant-kill her with the Culling Blade, making it extremely difficult for her to farm for items during early and mid-game.
Phantom Lancer
- Phantom Lancer with Diffusal Blade will very quickly burn Medusa’s mana, making Mana Shield significantly less effective.
Riki
- With Smoke Screen, Riki will silence and catch Medusa’s a surprise with high miss chance of flushing her from positions easily in team fights.
- Riki with early Diffusal Blade can shut down Medusa in the early stage of the game.
Wrapping it up
Medusa is a hero from which you will learn to farm quicker and the farming patterns on the map. You will go from being the weakest hero in the game to the strongest hero also you will understand how to play defensively and how to save yourself only with the help of this current meta guide.
Thank you for reading my Medusa guide, I hope you do great with her! Also, make sure to check out our Dota 2 MMR boosting services where I or my colleagues can help you reach any rank in Dota 2 with a little help from the pro players. Starting today!