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See also: Hero complexity

This article is a guide mainly meant for new players to help choose heroes to learn. Note that a high rating on a hero does not mean that you should not try to play and learn that hero. Every player has different strengths and weaknesses. A hero with an Advanced rating might come easy to you while some heroes rated as Beginner might be difficult to you.

This article rates a hero's difficulty in six different aspects of the game. Those individual ratings get then added up and form a final rating. While reading this article keep in mind, that the final ratings are not a measure of hero strength. Dota 2 is a very well balanced game with most heroes being of about equal strength regardless of their difficulty rating.

If you do not agree with some of the content of this guide please use this articles discussion page to discuss what should be changed.

Explanation[]

As mentioned before, the heroes difficulty gets measured in six specific areas of the game. The difficulty gets displayed as a number from 1 to 5 with 1 requiring the least skill and 5 the most. Whilst this list is supposed to be as accurate as possible, keep in mind, that this guide represents the opinions of the people who edited it and does not reflect set values.

Knowledge[]

The amount of knowledge about heroes, abilities, items, … that is required to play the hero effectively.

  1. Requires basic knowledge about the game and the hero.
  2. Requires the player to know which heroes to jump.
  3. Requires knowledge about other players heroes, abilities and items.
  4. Requires advanced knowledge; adapting item builds to the game.
  5. Requires advanced knowledge about all heroes, abilities and items.

Awareness[]

  1. The hero requires basic awareness of the close surroundings of the hero.
  2. The hero requires basic awareness of the entire map.
  3. Needs to be aware of his surroundings to escape from ganks or to land long range skills.
  4. Needs to be aware of the state of the game, as well as the positions of enemies.
  5. Needs to be aware of what's happening around the map to land global skills or to gank enemies.

Positioning[]

  1. The hero has no special requirements in terms of positioning.
  2. The hero has abilities that rely on good positioning, but is useful even without them.
  3. The hero has abilities that rely on good positioning and are important to hit.
  4. The hero constantly has to be in the correct positions to save people/counter-gank
  5. The hero heavily relies on good positioning to stay alive (has no abilities to escape and is squishy)

Farming[]

  1. The hero needs no items to be relevant in the game
  2. The hero needs some farm in order to become relevant
  3. The hero needs a lot of farm; has an easy time getting it
  4. The hero needs a key item quickly
  5. The hero needs a lot of farm; has a hard time getting it

Mechanics[]

  1. Simple spells; no exact timing or quick reactions necessary
  2. Non-targeted spells; quick reactions necessary
  3. The hero relies on good item and ability usage to be effective.
  4. The hero needs to control multiple units.
  5. The hero needs to control multiple units with different abilities or relies on quick reflexes to stay alive.

Survival[]

  1. The hero can die without being heavily punished for it.
  2. The hero needs to stay alive long enough to get off a key spell.
  3. The hero needs to continually use abilities in fights to be useful.
  4. The hero gets punished heavily for dying
  5. The hero absolutely can't afford to die.

Final Rating[]

For the final rating these six numbers get added together. The final rating can range from 6 (the easiest) to 30 (the hardest).

Rating Difficuly Explanation
6–16 Beginner This hero is considered suitable for beginning players.
17–22 Intermediate This hero is considered suitable for intermediate players.
23–30 Advanced This hero is considered suitable for advanced players.

The Rating Chart[]

Hero Knowledge Awareness Positioning Farm Mechanics Survival Final Rating
Abaddon icon Abaddon 3 2 4 1 2 2 14
Alchemist icon Alchemist 3 4 2 4 1 5 19
Ancient Apparition icon Ancient Apparition 3 5 5 1 2 2 18
Anti-Mage icon Anti-Mage 3 3 3 5 2 4 20
Arc Warden icon Arc Warden 5 5 5 4 5 5 29
Axe icon Axe 2 2 3 4 2 1 14
Bane icon Bane 2 3 2 1 1 2 11
Batrider icon Batrider 2 3 3 4 3 2 17
Beastmaster icon Beastmaster 4 4 4 2 4 2 20
Bloodseeker icon Bloodseeker 4 4 1 3 2 3 17
Bounty Hunter icon Bounty Hunter 2 3 2 3 2 3 15
Brewmaster icon Brewmaster 3 3 4 4 5 3 22
Bristleback icon Bristleback 1 2 2 3 2 2 12
Broodmother icon Broodmother 2 4 1 3 4 4 18
Centaur Warrunner icon Centaur Warrunner 1 2 2 4 1 1 11
Chaos Knight icon Chaos Knight 2 3 1 5 3 5 19
Chen icon Chen 3 5 5 2 5 4 24
Clinkz icon Clinkz 2 3 3 3 2 3 16
Clockwerk icon Clockwerk 3 5 4 2 2 1 17
Crystal Maiden icon Crystal Maiden 1 3 2 1 2 2 11
Dark Seer icon Dark Seer 3 1 4 3 2 2 15
Dark Willow icon Dark Willow 4 3 3 1 3 4 18
Dawnbreaker icon Dawnbreaker 3 4 3 3 3 3 19
Dazzle icon Dazzle 3 1 3 1 2 4 14
Death Prophet icon Death Prophet 1 4 2 5 2 4 18
Disruptor icon Disruptor 3 4 3 1 2 2 15
Doom icon Doom 5 3 1 2 2 2 15
Dragon Knight icon Dragon Knight 2 3 2 3 2 4 16
Drow Ranger icon Drow Ranger 2 2 5 4 2 5 20
Earth Spirit icon Earth Spirit 5 4 5 3 5 3 25
Earthshaker icon Earthshaker 3 3 5 4 2 2 19
Elder Titan icon Elder Titan 3 4 5 2 3 3 20
Ember Spirit icon Ember Spirit 3 4 4 5 4 5 25
Enchantress icon Enchantress 3 3 4 3 3 3 19
Enigma icon Enigma 3 4 5 3 4 2 21
Faceless Void icon Faceless Void 3 3 3 5 1 3 18
Grimstroke icon Grimstroke 3 2 4 2 3 4 18
Gyrocopter icon Gyrocopter 3 5 4 4 2 2 20
Hoodwink icon Hoodwink 1 3 3 1 2 3 13
Huskar icon Huskar 2 3 2 3 2 3 15
Invoker icon Invoker 5 5 5 4 5 5 29
Io icon Io 5 5 4 2 3 4 23
Jakiro icon Jakiro 1 3 3 1 2 4 14
Juggernaut icon Juggernaut 1 2 3 3 1 3 13
Keeper of the Light icon Keeper of the Light 3 5 4 1 3 4 20
Kunkka icon Kunkka 3 3 5 2 4 2 19
Legion Commander icon Legion Commander 2 2 3 3 1 2 13
Leshrac icon Leshrac 3 4 4 3 3 4 21
Lich icon Lich 1 3 3 1 2 2 12
Lifestealer icon Lifestealer 3 3 3 3 2 3 17
Lina icon Lina 1 3 4 1 2 2 13
Lion icon Lion 1 3 3 1 1 2 11
Lone Druid icon Lone Druid 3 3 2 3 5 4 20
Luna icon Luna 2 2 4 5 2 5 20
Lycan icon Lycan 4 4 5 4 5 4 26
Magnus icon Magnus 4 3 5 4 3 2 21
Marci icon Marci 2 3 3 2 2 3 15
Mars icon Mars 2 3 2 3 2 3 15
Medusa icon Medusa 4 2 3 5 2 5 21
Meepo icon Meepo 5 5 5 4 5 5 29
Mirana icon Mirana 3 5 4 3 2 3 20
Monkey King icon Monkey King 3 3 3 3 1 2 15
Morphling icon Morphling 5 4 3 5 5 4 26
Naga Siren icon Naga Siren 4 3 3 5 4 4 23
Nature's Prophet icon Nature's Prophet 4 5 4 2 3 4 22
Necrophos icon Necrophos 3 3 3 3 2 4 18
Night Stalker icon Night Stalker 3 3 1 3 1 3 14
Nyx Assassin icon Nyx Assassin 4 5 5 4 2 2 22
Ogre Magi icon Ogre Magi 1 3 1 1 2 4 12
Omniknight icon Omniknight 3 1 3 2 2 4 15
Oracle icon Oracle 5 4 5 2 5 2 23
Outworld Destroyer icon Outworld Destroyer 3 3 4 5 3 3 21
Pangolier icon Pangolier 4 3 4 2 4 3 20
Phantom Assassin icon Phantom Assassin 1 3 1 5 1 5 16
Phantom Lancer icon Phantom Lancer 2 3 1 5 3 4 18
Phoenix icon Phoenix 3 3 3 2 3 4 18
Primal Beast icon Primal Beast 3 3 2 1 2 3 14
Puck icon Puck 4 4 4 3 3 3 21
Pudge icon Pudge 4 4 4 2 2 1 17
Pugna icon Pugna 4 2 4 2 2 4 18
Queen of Pain icon Queen of Pain 1 3 4 2 2 2 14
Razor icon Razor 3 3 3 3 1 3 16
Riki icon Riki 1 3 3 3 2 3 15
Rubick icon Rubick 5 4 5 2 3 4 23
Sand King icon Sand King 3 5 5 2 2 2 19
Shadow Demon icon Shadow Demon 3 3 3 2 3 4 18
Shadow Fiend icon Shadow Fiend 3 3 5 2 3 5 21
Shadow Shaman icon Shadow Shaman 1 3 4 2 1 5 16
Silencer icon Silencer 2 4 3 3 1 3 16
Skywrath Mage icon Skywrath Mage 3 3 4 3 2 3 18
Slardar icon Slardar 1 3 2 4 2 3 15
Slark icon Slark 3 4 2 3 2 4 18
Snapfire icon Snapfire 1 3 5 2 2 3 16
Sniper icon Sniper 2 3 5 3 2 3 18
Spectre icon Spectre 3 5 4 4 1 3 20
Spirit Breaker icon Spirit Breaker 2 5 1 2 1 3 14
Storm Spirit icon Storm Spirit 3 4 4 5 2 5 23
Sven icon Sven 1 3 2 3 2 3 14
Techies icon Techies 3 5 4 2 3 2 19
Templar Assassin icon Templar Assassin 3 5 4 4 3 3 22
Terrorblade icon Terrorblade 2 2 4 5 3 5 21
Tidehunter icon Tidehunter 1 3 5 4 3 2 18
Timbersaw icon Timbersaw 2 3 4 3 3 3 18
Tinker icon Tinker 4 5 4 4 3 4 24
Tiny icon Tiny 3 3 4 4 3 3 20
Treant Protector icon Treant Protector 1 3 5 1 1 1 12
Troll Warlord icon Troll Warlord 2 4 1 5 2 4 18
Tusk icon Tusk 1 4 4 3 3 2 17
Underlord icon Underlord 3 5 3 1 3 4 19
Undying icon Undying 1 1 3 2 2 3 12
Ursa icon Ursa 3 2 3 4 1 3 16
Vengeful Spirit icon Vengeful Spirit 1 4 4 1 2 1 13
Venomancer icon Venomancer 2 3 5 1 3 4 18
Viper icon Viper 2 3 2 3 3 4 17
Visage icon Visage 3 4 3 3 4 3 20
Void Spirit icon Void Spirit 4 4 3 3 3 4 21
Warlock icon Warlock 1 1 3 2 3 2 12
Weaver icon Weaver 3 3 3 5 3 5 22
Windranger icon Windranger 3 4 3 3 2 3 18
Winter Wyvern icon Winter Wyvern 3 3 4 2 3 3 18
Witch Doctor icon Witch Doctor 1 3 4 2 2 3 15
Wraith King icon Wraith King 2 3 1 3 1 3 13
Zeus icon Zeus 1 5 5 2 2 3 18

Conclusion[]

As you can see, there are more heroes and aspects with yellow and red rating than green rating! Now you know why they say DotA has a steep learning curve!

Sources[]

This guide is based on the Newbie's Guide to Heroes Difficulty by R.B.Economy from 2011. It has since been heavily modified to accommodate for changes in the game.

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