Lina Dota 2 is an intelligence-based hero usually played in the Mid lane. This hero excels at lots of different tasks, which is why so many players love her.
Later into the game, Lina is played as a physical damage dealer and is generally equipped with powerful items, such as a Daedalaus, perfect for dealing massive damage to the enemy team. In this Dota 2 guide, you will learn more about her.
Lina’s Pros and Cons
These are the pros and cons of picking Lina in Dota 2.
Pros:
- Very powerful nukes (used against a single enemy unit)
- Lots of AoE damage
- Significant physical damage thanks to her attack speed bonus
- Insane movement speed thanks to Fiery Soul
- Phenomenal attribute increase per level: +2.4 str. / +2.4 agi. / +3.8 int.
- Great attack range
- Stuns enemies with ease if you’re skilled
Cons:
- Poorly equipped to escape certain death
- Weak without Fiery Soul stacks
- Slow attack and cast animations
Lore
Lina is the older sister of Crystal Maiden. She and her sister gave their parents a hard time, destroying their homes with fire and ice. In the end, they got separated because they were constantly fighting each other, causing great damage all around. Lina was sent to live in the desert of Misrule with an aunt, where she continued to perfect her fire skills.
Attributes and Stats
These are Lina’s general stats:
| Win Rate | 48.3% |
| Level | 1 – 30 |
| Health | 560 (at level 1) |
| Health regeneration | 0.25 |
| Mana | 525 (at level 1) |
| Mana regeneration | 0 |
| DMG | 51 – 59 |
| Armor | 2.7 |
| DMG Block | none |
| Magic Resistance | 25% |
| Status Resistance | 0% |
| Attack Rate | 1.6 |
| Movement Speed | 290 |
| Attack Speed | 130 |
| Attack Animation | 0.65 + 0.6 |
| Projectile Speed | 1000 |
| Attack Range | 670 |
| Turn Rate | 0.6 |
| Collision Size | 24 |
| Vision Range | 1800 / 800 |
| Gib Type: | – |
Ability Upgrades:
Lina gains Flame Cloak if you purchase an Aghanim’s Scepter. The rest of her abilities are also upgraded by her talents.
- Level 10 talent: -3.5s Dragon Slave cooldown / +20 damage
- Level 15 talent: +130 Light Strike Array damage / +350 health
- Level 20 talent: +15/1% Fiery Soul per stack / +11% spell amplification
- Level 25 talent: Laguna Blade deals pure damage and pierces spell immunity / -25s Laguna Blade cooldown
Roles Lina Can Take On
Lina is a natural Mid hero but can also be played as a Support. Her roles are Carry, Nuker, Support, and Disabler.
The general recommendation is to play Lina Mid and build her into a physical damage dealer. Some players like the magic-oriented builds, but those builds make poor use of the hero’s natural attack speed.
Lina Item Builds
These are the most important items that you should consider buying when playing Lina. Keep in mind, however, that Dota 2 heroes can be very versatile, and that particular in-game situations require you to adapt to what your opponents are doing. But in general, you’ll want to build your Lina into a quick farmer and a heavy physical damage dealer.
Lina Dota 2 – Early Game
For the early game, consider buying these items:
- Magic Wand
- Falcon Blade
- Bottle
- Null Talisman
- Boots of Speed
- Dragon Lance
Mid Game
During the mid-game, you will usually be buying several of these items:
- Boots of Travel
- Blink Dagger
- Silver Edge
- Black King Bar
- Aghanim’s Shard
- Eul’s Scepter
Late Game
In the late game, this hero thrives if you have some of these items:
- Daedalus
- Gleipnir
- Satanic
- Monkey King Bar
Abilities
Lina has 4 starting abilities, but she can gain a 5th if you buy an Aghanim’s Scepter. These abilities are explained below:
Dragon Slave
Dragon Slave is Lina’s primary weave-clearing ability. It sends a wave of fire that touches enemies in a 275 – 200 radius and deals 85 – 310 damage at a distance of up to 1075 units.
Mana cost: 100 – 145
Cooldown: 9s
Light Strike Array
This is another AoE ability that allows Lina to stun and damage multiple enemies at once. The radius is 250 and the damage is 100 – 250.
Mana cost: 100 – 115
Cooldown: 13s – 7s
Fiery Soul
Fiery Soul is one of Lina’s best late-game abilities. It gives her a 1.5% – 3% movement speed bonus and a 10 – 40 attack speed bonus per stack. The maximum number of stacks is 7, and the duration of a stack is 18 seconds. This means you can have a bonus of up to 21% movement speed and 280 attack speed.
If you purchase an Aghanim’s Shard, Lina’s abilities will also deal 15 bonus damage per stack.
Fiery Soul is a passive ability that requires no mana to cast. It also has no cooldown.
Laguna Blade
Laguna Blade is Lina’s ultimate ability and deals 500 – 900 damage.
Mana cost: 150 – 450
Cooldown: 70s – 50s
Lina Dota 2 – Flame Cloak
You gain this ability when you purchase an Aghanim’s Scepter. You can only cast it on yourself and will give you +35% magic resistance and +30% spell amplification for 6 seconds.
Mana cost: 50
Cooldown: 25s
Ability Build Guide
When you play Lina Dota 2, you should almost always follow this ability build order:
- Dragon Slave: levels 4, 13, 14, 16
- Light Strike Array: levels 1, 8, 9, 11
- Fiery Soul: levels 2, 3, 5, 7
- Laguna Blade: levels 6, 12, 18
Depending on your preferences, you can prioritize Dragon Slave over Lightstrike Array, or simply leave Fiery Soul at the end. But it’s better to maximize your abilities in this order because you’ll deal more physical damage in the laning phase and you’ll depend far less on your mana pool.
Combo
When playing Lina, the primary combo is Lightstrike Array into Laguna Blade into Dragon Slave into basic attacks. If you have a Eul’s Scepter, landing the full combo becomes much easier. However, that build will delay your Black King Bar, so you might want to think about it carefully before purchasing this item.
As a hero, Lina works in perfect combination with heroes like Lion, Shadow Shaman, Rubick, and other stunners. Also, if you have a Faceless Void on your team, your attack range will allow you to kill one or two enemies during his Chronosphere.
Game Plan
This is what good Lina players do every game in terms of strategy and tactics.
Early Game
In the early game, your goal should be to farm as much as possible and harass your opponent out of the lane. Attack creeps only when they’re low on HP. Use the rest of your attacks to harass the enemy.
Do not use your Dragon Slave unless you can kill at least one ranged creep that would otherwise get denied. Most Dota 2 heroes need to be careful about putting too many enemies creeps on low HP because such situations give the enemy hero the chance to deny some of them more easily.
But in Lina’s case, you don’t need to worry about that because you can kill several creeps with Dragon Slave.
Buy your early-game items as fast as possible and rotate with smoke to kill enemy heroes in the other two lanes or jungle farm as much as you can. Most players prefer to farm at the highest competitive level because it’s safer.
Mid Game
During the mid-game, you will be one of the main damage dealers on your team. Never stay in front because you can get killed relatively easily. Use your attack range to your advantage and wait for the right moment to strike.
With just several attacks and a few spells, Lina can kill an enemy hero. This is why you should play Lina the way you play Sniper. Maintain a safe distance between yourself and your opponents, and use your Laguna Blade to secure kills.
Having a Blink Dagger or a Silver Edge is extremely useful during this portion of the game because they allow you to escape dangerous situations and get solo kills. Another critical item to have is the Black King Bar. Without it, you can get chain-stunned and killed very quickly.
Late Game
In a late-game scenario, Lina’s primary source of damage is her basic attacks. But it would be best to cast your spells whenever possible to stun enemies and gain Fiery Soul stacks. These stacks disappear rather quickly, so you need to refresh them constantly. Because of the latest nerfs, doing that requires you actually to hit creeps and enemies.
The recipe for success is simple: stun an enemy or wait for your team to do that for you and then attack. Use your ultimate to secure the kill. Repeat this tactic as often as you can.
Counters
Lina is naturally countered by heroes with AoE stuns, such as Enigma, Magnus, and Faceless Void.
Advantageous Matchups
For Lina, any matchup against a melee hero with no stuns is advantageous because she can use her range to get the kill and her movement speed to escape.
Most Used Skins
There are plenty of cool-looking Dota 2 skins that you can use when playing Lina. Three of the best ones are presented below:
Fiery Soul of the Slayer
This is Lina’s Arcana set. It significantly changes the hero’s clothes and the effects of her abilities, making everything a lot fierier. This is easily the best if you want to own just one great Lina set.
Ember Crane Set
Lina’s Ember Crane Set is another excellent skin that gives the hero a much fancier hairstyle. If you like adornments, this is the set for you!
Divine FlameDivine Flame is a set that gives Lina the witch look she deserves. This set changes the aspect of the hero almost completely by dressing her with some terrifying witch clothes and a superb mask.
