Medusa

Hero

 

Strategy

 

Counters

 

Equipment

 

Gear

 

Relics

 

Responses

 

Sounds

 

Lore

 

Old Abilities

 

Changelogs

 

Known Bugs

 

Medusa
15 + 1.3 22 + 3.4 19 + 2.1
Level Base 1 15 25 Health 200 470 794 1028 Health regen 0 1.5 3.32 4.62 Magic res. 25% 26.14% 27.9% 29.16% Mana 75 303 651 903 Mana regen 0 0.95 2.42 3.47 Spell dmg 0% 1.33% 3.39% 4.86% Armor -1 3.4 12.92 19.72 Att/sec 0.59 0.75 1.1 1.35 Move sp amp. 0% 1.38% 4.35% 6.48% Damage 24‒30 46‒52 93‒99 127‒133
Movement speed 275 Turn rate 0.5 Vision range 1800/800 Attack range 600 Projectile speed 1200 Attack animation 0.5+0.6 Base attack time 1.7 Collision size 24 Legs 0  Gib type Default

Medusa the Gorgon is a ranged agility hero. Highly item-dependent, she acts as a carry who can potentially strike down entire teams at once while protected by tank-like survivability. Split Shot allows her attacks to hit multiple targets, greatly increasing the potency of damage-granting items. Mystic Snake grants Medusa some presence in the lane and skirmishes, and its mana stealing refunds part of the cost to boot, making it an excellent farming and harassing tool. Mana Shield protects her from the opening damage of teamfights, and if supplemented with items makes killing Medusa a fatally time-consuming process. Stone Gaze acts as a fantastic defensive mechanism against ganks and initiations alike, with crippling effects on all who dare face the Gorgon.

Bio

Medusa, the Gorgon

Play "The only real beauty is power."

Lore:

Beauty is power. This thought comforted Medusa--the youngest and loveliest of three beautiful Gorgon sisters, born to a sea goddess--because she alone of the sisters was mortal. It comforted her, that is, until the day masked assailants invaded the Gorgon realm and tore the two immortal sisters from their home, unmoved by their beauty or by their tears. One of the invaders seized Medusa as well, but then cast her aside with a disgusted look: 'This one has the mortal stink upon her. We have no use for that which dies.' Humiliated, enraged, Medusa fled to the temple of her mother and cast herself before the goddess, crying, 'You denied me eternal life--therefore I beg you, give me power! Power, so I can dedicate what life I have to rescuing my sisters and avenging this injustice!' After long thought, the goddess granted her daughter's request, allowing Medusa to trade her legendary beauty for a face and form of terrifying strength. Never for a moment has Medusa regretted her choice. She understands that power is the only beauty worth possessing--for only power can change the world.

Voice:

Jen Taylor (Responses)

Abilities

Split Shot

Play

Q

T

Ability
Passive

Affects
Enemies

Medusa magically splits her shot into several arrows. These arrows deal a lower percent of her normal damage.
The extra targets will not receive other attack effects (such as critical strike).

Secondary Arrows Range Bonus: 100

Bonus Attack Targets: 3 ( 10)

Secondary Arrows Outgoing Damage: 30%/45%/60%/75%

All who encounter the cursed Gorgon will feel her rage.

Notes:

• Causes Medusa to perform instant attacks on a certain number of enemies whenever she launches an attack projectile.
  • This means all projectiles are released at the same time together with the main attack.
  • Therefore, it does not matter whether the primary attack misses or not, the extra arrows are still released.

• The primary attack target is not affected by Split Shot. It is only hit by the primary attack, which deals full attack damage to it.

• The extra arrows travel at the same speed as the primary arrow.

• The search radius is based on Medusa's attack range + 100, resulting in a search radius of 700, considering her default attack range.

• The instant attacks of Split Shot may not proc any attack modifiers or on-hit effects, unless the talent which allows them to do so is chosen.
  • However, they still count as regular attacks. Damage done by Split Shot does not count as spell damage.
  • They are also affected by armor type, and blocked by damage block like regular attacks.
  • If Medusa is blinded, Split Shots can miss, unless she has True Strike. They can also miss to evasion.

• Does not target wards, buildings, invisible units, attack immune units, or units inside the Fog of War, but does target couriers.
  • However, attacking wards or buildings still causes secondary arrows to hit valid targets within the radius.
  • Secondary arrows are not released upon attacking allies.

Mystic Snake

Play

W

C

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies / Self

Damage
Magical

A mystic snake made of energy jumps from target to target dealing damage and stealing mana. After it reaches its last target, it returns to Medusa to replenish her with mana. The snake deals more damage per jump and steals 11%/14%/17%/20% of the targets' total mana. Deals Pure damage to units petrified by Stone Gaze.

Cast Animation: 0.4+0.57

Cast Range: 700

Bounce Radius: 475

Number of Bounces: 3/4/5/6

Base Damage: 80/120/160/200

Damage Increase per Bounce: 35%

Max Mana Stolen: 11%/14%/17%/20% ( 46%/49%/52%/55%)

Base Stone Duration: 0 ( 1)

Stone Duration Increase per Bounce: 0 ( 0.3)

11

140/150/160/170

Causes Mystic Snake to turn enemies into stone for 1 second, increases by 0.3 seconds per bounce.

Cannot be cast on spell immune enemies. Can bounce on, steals mana from and attempts to damage spell immune enemies.

Blocked fully when primary or secondary target. Blocked upon impact. When blocked, stops bouncing and returns to Medusa to restore her mana if stolen.

Modifiers

Stone Gaze Stone: Dispellable with strong dispels.

The Gorgon's curse is her greatest strength.

Notes:

• Mystic Snake travels at a speed of 800.

• Applies the mana loss first, and then the damage ( and then the Stone Gaze debuff).

• The snake always bounces to the closest valid target around its current target. Cannot hit the same unit more than once per cast.

• Upon returning to Medusa, she receives exactly the amount of mana all targets lost to Mystic Snake.

• The snake does not steal any mana from illusions it jumps on.

• Mystic Snake needs to hit units with a combined total mana pool of 1273/1072/942/851 ( 305/307/308/310) in order to fully reclaim its mana cost.

• Each successful hit on an enemy increases the damage of the next bounce by 35% of the ability's base damage.
  • This means its damage grows not exponentially but linearly, dealing 28/42/56/70 damage more per bounce.

• This is how much damage Mystic Snake deals ( and for how long it petrifies) per bounce when all bounces successfully hit (before reductions):
  • Level 1: 80/108/136 damage, 324 total damage (1/1.3/1.6 seconds petrified)
  • Level 2: 120/162/204/246 damage, 732 total damage (1/1.3/1.6/1.9 seconds petrified)
  • Level 3: 160/216/272/328/384 damage, 1360 total damage (1/1.3/1.6/1.9/2.2 seconds petrified)
  • Level 4: 200/270/340/410/480/550 damage, 2250 total damage (1/1.3/1.6/1.9/2.2/2.5 seconds petrified)

• The snake can bounce on units in the Fog of War, but not on invisible, invulnerable or hidden units.

• If the snake's current target dies or turns invulnerable, hidden or invisible, the bounce neither counts, nor increases the damage.
  • The snake continues bouncing to nearby valid targets in these cases.

• The snake provides 100 radius flying vision around itself. The vision does not last.

• The Aghanim's Scepter upgrade requires Stone Gaze to be learned.
  • It applies the same modifier as Stone Gaze does, so their effects do not stack. The debuff also always uses Stone Gaze's icon.

Mana Shield

PlayPlayPlay

E

E

Ability
Toggle

Affects
Self

Creates a shield that absorbs 60% of the incoming damage in exchange for Medusa's mana.

Cast Animation: 0+0

Damage Absorption: 60%

Damage Absorbed per Mana: 1.6/1.9/2.2/2.5

0

While spell immune, Mana Shield does not react on magical damage.

Modifiers

Mana Shield: Undispellable.

While Medusa was not gifted with eternal life upon birth, her curse bestowed her with impressive defensive powers.

Notes:

• Mana Shield does not interrupt Medusa's channeling spells upon cast.

• Absorbs damage before any damage reduction takes place, including damage block or reduction from spells (e.g. Aphotic Shield).
  • This also affects everything which works directly with damage dealt after reductions (e.g. Orchid Malevolence).

• Increases Medusa's effective health by 150% when toggled on, assuming she has enough mana.

• Mana Shield persists through Medusa's death. If Mana Shield was active upon death, she respawns with it active.

• Mana cost/loss reductions from items ( Kaya, Yasha and Kaya, Kaya and Sange ) and Arcane Rune decreases the mana consumed per damage, making Medusa more durable.

Stone Gaze

Play

R

G

Ability
No Target

Affects
Enemies

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. Petrified units are stunned, and take bonus physical damage.

Cast Animation: 0.4+0.5

Radius: 1000

Move Speed Slow: 35%

Attack Speed Slow: 35

Turn Rate Slow: 35%

Physical Attack Damage Amplification: 50%

Gaze Duration: 5/6/7 ( 7.5/8.5/9.5)

Stone Duration: 3

90

200

Modifiers

Stone Gaze: Undispellable.

Stone Gaze Facing: Undispellable.

Stone Gaze Slow: Undispellable.

Stone Gaze Stone: Dispellable with strong dispels.

The beauty of Medusa is legendary.

Notes:

• Every enemy unit that faces Medusa within 85 degrees in front of them within a 1000 radius around Medusa gets the facing and the slow debuff applied.

• The facing debuff counts for how long the unit faces Medusa. If it accumulates 2 seconds of facing time, it petrifies the unit.
  • The facing debuff lasts for either as long as Stone Gaze does (ending whenever Stone Gaze ends in any way), or until getting petrified.
  • Looking away from Medusa does not reset the the 2 second facing counter.
  • Facing Medusa while invulnerable or hidden still counts towards the 2 second counter.
  • This means the petrifying can be avoided by being invulnerable as the spell attempts to petrify.

• The slow debuff only slows affected enemies while facing Medusa. Units that turn away are not slowed, but keep the debuff.
  • The slow debuff lasts for either as long as Stone Gaze does (ending whenever Stone Gaze ends in any way), or until getting petrified.

• Once the petrify debuff expires, the unit can be affected by Stone Gaze again, repeating until Stone Gaze ends, so long the unit faces Medusa.

• The petrification is a simple stun, which also freezes animations, and amplifies incoming physical attack damage.
  • Does not amplify magical or pure attack damage, and does not amplify physical spell damage.

• Stone Gaze does not affect neutral creeps.

• Stone Gaze ends when Medusa dies, but already petrified enemies stay petrified for the duration.

Talents

Hero Talents
Split Shot Uses Modifiers	25	+7 Split Shot Target
+2.5s Stone Gaze Duration	20	+700 Mana
+35% Mystic Snake Mana Steal	15	+30 Attack Speed
15% Evasion	10	+20 Damage

Notes:

• The evasion talent stacks multiplicatively with other sources of evasion.

• This attack damage talent is added as raw attack damage, so it does not benefit illusions, and is not affected by most percentage-based damage increasing or reducing effects.

• The mana talent increases maximum mana capacity, and keeps the current mana percentage.

Recommended items

Starting items:

• Tango for a bit of regeneration in lane.
• Healing Salve's flat heal will go a long way to keep Medusa healthy, considering her abysmal starting health.
• Iron Branches provides early attributes needed for last-hitting creeps and a small boost in your hit points and mana. On top of that, planted Iron Branches increase the total healing from Tango.
• Enchanted Mango gives passive health regeneration and burst mana.

Early game:

• Magic Wand is one of the most cost effective survivability items on Medusa early on. The instantly restored health and mana you get from charges is doubly effective on her thanks to Mana Shield.

Mid game:

• Phase Boots give movement speed, even boosted with the Phase ability for escaping ambushes early game. The additional damage also contributes to her Split Shot skill. It also helps her position herself better for a successful Stone Gaze, as her otherwise low mobility can make this difficult.
• Mask of Madness is good for increasing your farming speed and being slightly active in the mid game. Her Mana Shield pretty much negates the increase in damage taken from it, it gives her the movement speed and attack speed she needs for both farming and team fights, and it lets her be active early on. However, be careful with the active as the silence will prevent your ability to toggle Mana Shield.
• Town Portal Scroll is crucial to escape early game ganks, which can be devastating against Medusa due to her high item dependence.

Late game:

• Eye of Skadi gives both killing power via slowing enemies and survivability because of attributes and mana for Mana Shield.
• Butterfly offers bonus damage, attack speed and armor, and its evasion gives you even more survivability.

Situational items:

• Drum of Endurance is a great cost effective attributes item on Medusa. It gives her both intelligence and strength which is needed on her, and the slight movement and attack speed it gives are great for farming or pushing.
• Hurricane Pike gives attack range, damage and overall attributes - very effective item for Medusa.
• Linken's Sphere can be purchased before or after Eye of Skadi. If fights are not in your favor early on, you're farming rather slowly, or enemies have stuns to keep you down fights, consider a Linken's Sphere.
• Manta Style's bonus directly increases Medusa's movement speed, and the illusions hit for a total of 56% of your base damage. In addition, the illusions can be used to farm multiple places at once, and benefit from Split Shot.
• Mjollnir can be bought to deal with summons or illusions.
• Monkey King Bar can be needed if the enemies have evasion items or heroes.
• Black King Bar is considered if the enemies are keeping you locked down before you can get Stone Gaze off.
• Bloodthorn gives intelligence and mana regeneration to make you even tankier, and it effectively gives you a Crystalys and Monkey King Bar in one slot.
• Moon Shard boosts attack speed further, a handy item in the late game as you can consume it to save a slot for reduced bonuses.
• Scythe of Vyse for an extra disable, attributes, and mana regeneration which may help Mana Shield.
• Aghanim's Scepter allows Mystic Snake to petrify any enemies it hits, giving the ability a hard-disable utility that allows for more strategic employment. It also provides attributes in all departments, as well as adding a respectable amount of health and mana to Medusa.
• Divine Rapier is the best damage item on Medusa. She's tanky enough that, even with Mask of Madness, the odds of her dropping this are extremely slim, and it'll help you massacre a whole team with Split Shot. That being said, if against heroes that can burn through your Mana Shield like no tomorrow, it may be too risky to consider this unless absolutely necessary.
• Satanic should be picked up when building Divine Rapier. Due to the extremely high damage provided by Divine Rapier, Satanic's passive lifesteal and its active skill become effective in terms of healing yourself, decreasing the chances of dropping the Rapier.

Gameplay

Roles:	Carry Disabler Durable
Complexity:	★☆☆
Playstyle:	The youngest Gorgon was also the most beautiful, but looks alone could not rescue her kidnapped sisters. Therefore, Medusa traded her beauty for terrible new powers, and has never regretted it since. Each arrow she fires divides into multiple Split Shots, striking several targets at once. Foes bitten by Mystic Snake are sapped of energy, a resource that returns to Medusa for her defensive use. Encased in a Mana Shield, she survives against even the most unfavorable odds. Heroes who lay eyes on her may find it hard to turn away. Petrified, none could hope to approach Medusa before the Gorgon's legendary Stone Gaze turns their bodies to statues.

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio

Responses

Sounds

History

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment

Medusa Equipment (expand sets) Sets Eye of the Beholder Forsaken Beauty Set Serpent of the Emerald Sea Weapon Bow of the Serpent Twin Serpent Bow Armor Daughters of Hydrophiinae

Trivia

• While the lore of Medusa is heavily inspired by its ancient Greek counterpart it should be noted that in the early versions of the myth, Medusa was born hideous to primordial sea deities Phorcys and Ceto who are described as cthonic monsters from an archaic world.
• The mythology that describes Medusa as having incomprehensible beauty was introduced later by the Roman poet Ovid and in that version Medusa did not exchange her beauty for power. Rather after being attacked by Poseidon in the temple of Athena the enraged goddess twisted Medusa's beautiful visage to the point that merely looking at her would turn the onlookers to stone.
• Medusa's response upon killing Gyrocopter Play "Snakes on a plane", refers to the movie of the same name.

Gallery

• 

  Model

• 

  Early alpha model, based on the leaked concept art

• 

  Early minimap icon

• 

  Leaked concept artwork

• 

  Splash artwork

• 

  Hero icon progress