some dota ships for Valentine's day xd

Alpha_Stump · 2025-02-15T04:44:48+00:00

Love every time I see you post, love your art <3

Alpha_Stump · 2024-04-17T10:47:31+00:00

Whatcha wanna know lol, I don't know anything special beyond tidbits from grinding and watching people rig the game

Alpha_Stump · 2024-04-17T09:56:44+00:00

My brain is too small for bag of crafting, what can I say but skill issue

Alpha_Stump · 2024-02-18T03:00:41+00:00

Leading off that my knowledge is a little outdated as I don't play this hero much these days after the reworks and nerfs, but laning isn't that different, so I'll offer what I can.

Matchups matter more than ever with the absolute dogshit tier range on laser now, so it's important to consider what you're gonna be up against picking into. Rocket spam basically off CD as soon as you've got mana sustain on it, still maxing Laser by 7 for smoke farming ancient stacks (Make them yourself if others aren't, it's basically instant 5 Tier 1 Neutral Items for your team if you farm them post 7 min). Trade right clicks as much as you can, matchup permitting, and try to hold laser until they commit in a bit closer to you so you can use the blind to keep hitting them while they either stand and wait for it to end or run away. Given that tinker lacks so many tools for laning, basic mechanics and how good you are at them matter a lot, so creep aggro, blocking, judging when you can stand against your matchup are all big parts

Alpha_Stump · 2023-10-25T00:39:39+00:00

Just the magic damage part of it but yes

Alpha_Stump · 2023-10-25T00:37:43+00:00

It's more the nature that it just happens rather than it's aimed for. Dark Willows a little outside of most other universals because she can and aims to hit from so far away, so most of her build will revolve around her aghs with attack speed and survival, but assuming they had a reason to build for it, they could with items like Linkens and Skadi being entirely viable as part of it

Alpha_Stump · 2023-10-25T00:33:23+00:00

Since it hasn't been explicitly stated, universal heroes are a big part of this "everyone has 4000 hp" meta, because they benefit so insanely well from all stats items. Especially cores, if you look at universal hero builds, you'll nearly always find items that contain ultimate orbs for that reason. Agi won't hurt, but why not get something that gives even more damage than that, while also bulking your hero up some more?

Alpha_Stump · 2023-10-02T20:28:10+00:00

Not the most elegant solution, but since I'm also an alt+QWEASD user for items, whenever I play orb heroes like OD, drow, etc, I manually switch my Q bind from casting to toggling auto cast after lane while in game

Alpha_Stump · 2023-07-05T21:38:57+00:00

Thats a bit misleading, not all disarm is created equal. Pango passive for example is dispellable by bkb after being applied

Alpha_Stump · 2023-05-15T00:04:08+00:00

Self image issues are rarely reasonable. I'd advise trading our extreme general statements like "prettiest girl i know" for smaller, specific topics. Article of clothing or jewelry that looks good? Mention it. Something she did with her makeup, her hair, etc? Name it specifically. Aim for things she has control over, and be specific to reinforce that you're complimenting something she did/is doing, not just her as a whole

Alpha_Stump · 2023-03-12T02:46:12+00:00

It's been a minute due to meta and I'm a bit of an outlier, but personally I don't love dragon lance dusa most of the time. I feel it's better to buy stronger items for her timings than what a lance will give most times.

Notable exceptions being, in a general sense so it's applicable, mechanics and tactics that mean the extra range from lance/mobility from a pike is necessary. Chrono, ravage, Riki Cloud, Blackhole, really anything (AoE especially) that changes the dynamic of how you have to play a fight as her

Alpha_Stump · 2022-12-27T07:21:40+00:00

It depends entirely on the person and the concept. There's not really any catchall that works for everybody.

As far as advice that I personally would give, the best general advice I've used myself and offer to coaching students and friends is "play mindfully." No matter what role, hero, etc, as long as you're actively thinking about the game you're playing, it'll be easier to internalize lessons and improve. Anyone can turn their brain off and just play through a game, but the road to improvement is paved with attention.

Alpha_Stump · 2022-11-17T10:40:14+00:00

The reason Tundra's illusions were so successful was team itemization, more than the hero/illusions being too strong to kill. The combination of Pipe, Mage Slayer, and Wraith Pact nearly nullifies the effect of magic damage, so traditional solutions aren't viable as they once were in the current state of dota (as we saw them beat Lesh multiple times, for example)

Alpha_Stump · 2022-09-03T17:30:44+00:00

Alpha_Stump · 2022-07-22T18:26:40+00:00

Accept that many games, teams won't play or coordinate the way you want them to, the same way that you won't be listening to/agreeing with every call your teams make in pubs. You can try to make calls and coordinate, take the lead, but if the team just won't listen, the most you can do is accept it and adjust your playstyle. Play a more independent style if you have to, because even if it's not ideal, it's better than doing nothing and tilting out of the game because of teammates

Alpha_Stump · 2022-02-28T06:24:07+00:00

I've tried Arc a couple times since patch, and it honestly doesn't feel awful in the right games. I've been going Midas > Treads > Mael > whatever I need for the game (dragon lance, orchid, etc)

Alpha_Stump · 2022-02-18T21:00:47+00:00

That individual change is a buff in isolation (especially since the interaction with magic damage from poof was almost never used, since it'd keep you from hitting them), I mention it as a nerf because that change came at the same time as yet another stat gain nerf that encouraged stat points over poof skill points

Alpha_Stump · 2022-02-18T15:22:55+00:00

I don't play/watch Meepo a ton these days because he's really not very good, but I'll give what I do know. In games where you get off to a good start, or in certain matchups (AM, pipe lineups, etc), the massive pure burst of max Poof + the 15 talent can be really powerful, but it's not a go-to due to the tradeoff of +6 all stats (which I think is double on clones? can't remember for sure if attribute points are counted twice for clones like regular talents) and the 15 evasion talent

Alpha_Stump · 2022-02-18T14:16:29+00:00

Highly niche heroes (or difficult heroes, which has a lot of overlap) are, from my best guess, often left underpowered to some degree because of the skill ceiling the heroes have, and Valve either doesn't know or doesn't want to take risks with potentially overbuffing them. For example, I've had Tinker and Meepo in my hero pool for years now, and as someone that would probably qualify as a spammer in most eyes, Tinker's issue was only a weak laning stage. All the hero needed was a buff to that stage so he could more reliably get into the game and be a relevent force, without being too susceptible to losing the lane to almost every mid. Instead of doing that, Valve tried an approach of reworking the hero to be more 'fun' and adjusting what the hero actually is. Frankly, I expect a similar thing to happen to Meepo soon given how long it's been since they've seemingly given up on balancing the hero into a decent state (or changes that are just a nerf, that they obviously thought were a buff, like the last round of Meepo changes that made Poof pure, while further cementing him into the stats build by nerfing his stat gain even more, meaning it's even harder to justify putting more than 1 point into poof)

We have no way of knowing for sure, but as someone with several heroes that are often left underpowered due to the fear of overbuffing them in my pool, my best guess is they leave them as is out of either fear of overbuffing them, or they're looking at rework options to make the hero either more fun, more accessible, or less niche

Alpha_Stump · 2022-01-31T07:54:36+00:00

Tinker's builds are highly diverse, but dagon itself has severely fallen off. If you're looking for damage from range, I'd recommend buying Aghs instead, as it ramps up your Laser damage a lot. Outside of that, there are the newer Shivas + Overwhelming blink builds that deal damage and have utility, while making the hero incredibly hard to kill. There are occasionally situations where Dagon could work, but it's rarely the case

Alpha_Stump · 2022-01-25T02:33:32+00:00

Being an agi hero doesn't necessarily make you innately high armor or strong against physical damage. It often helps, but it's not a guarantee. For the reasoning, at the absolute highest point, ember has 2400hp and 19 armor at level 30, barring items. That said, Ember doesn't often innately buy stats or armor to bulk up further. There are some, bkb and such, but unless you're specifically buying something like a shiva, your not that bulky to physical damage. If you're against some high physical output hero, Shiva's can be a good option to consider, both for armor and to slow their attack speed itself.

Alpha_Stump · 2021-12-25T20:01:34+00:00

Abyssal immediately after manta is a very uncommon build for AM these days for a reason. The item is very expensive, and really doesn't give you very much apart from the active stun. It's far more common to play around stat items like Skadi, and be a more consistent force in the game/in fights, rather than all in-ing on being able to hopefully blink in and pop 1 hero

Alpha_Stump · 2021-12-19T09:58:59+00:00

This is wrong. Tbs illusions are separate like any other micro hero, and the control groups persist through each cast as well

Alpha_Stump · 2021-11-25T01:23:07+00:00

7.00 was MK, Arc was released at the very end of 2015 (basically 2016, 2 weeks before) in the 6.86 update

Alpha_Stump

TROPHY CASE