Dota 2 - Temperature Rising: A Guide to Lina

Why Lina?

She's hot. But really - she's an item independent support that, when played well, can output a lot of AoE damage in a teamfight. Her ultimate gives her the ability to pick off or severely damage carries that would otherwise prey on supports, and the AoE stun of her Light Strike Array can turn the tides in your team's favor quickly.

Although she's been in the game since prior to the first International, Lina has been slept on for much of the competitive Dota 2 scene. With a low-duration, hard to aim AoE stun and good wave clearing as her main strengths, she often paled in comparison to heroes such as Leshrac, who offers the same AoE control with much more damage and a stronger push, or Lion, who's crowd-control abilities are much more reliable.

Recently, however, the Chinese teams have begun picking her up as a 4th or 5th position support in lineups featuring strong, single-target leading stuns. She's often seen sharing a lane with Chaos Knight or Dragon Knight (both extremely popular heroes in the Chinese scene) and European teams (particularly Na'Vi) have started looking towards her as well.

This guide will be looking at a full support Lina build. While there are niche builds that can play her as a semi-carry type hero, that build won't be covered in this guide.

Primary Goals

Lina is very item independent, but slightly level-dependent. Ideally, you want to hit level six as soon as possible. Lane with someone that can provide a lead in stun for you and use your high burst damage potential to bully the enemy out of lane. Once you are level six, landing your combo should be a guaranteed kill provided you have any sort of support in the matter. Your job in teamfights is to pick off supports who wander too close to you, and lay down artillery fire through the entire enemy team with your strong AoE skills. Once you get Fiery Soul, you can also be a surprising source of damage.

Spells

Dragon Slave (Q, D) - In the scorched barren of Misrule, Lina learned to manipulate the fiery breath of the Desert Wyrm as a form of entertainment.

- Mana Cost: 90/105/125/140
- Damage: 100/170/230/280
- Cooldown: 8.5
- Range: 600, Distance: 1075, Starting Radius: 275, Final Radius: 150
- Damage: Magical

A straightforward linear shockwave-style nuke that does damage. It's your most reliable form of damage. The mana cost is somewhat high, but it has a low cooldown and can be very potent in team fights. I get it at level 2 and max it first because of its reliability, and because the stun duration on Light Strike Array doesn't scale. The damage comes out in a somewhat inverted cone, being wider close to the cast and tapering off slightly towards the maximum range.

 

Light Strike Array (W, T) - Lina's essence allows her to focus the sun's energies, causing air to combust at will.

- Mana Cost: 90/100/110/125
- Damage: 90/150/210/280
- Cast Delay: 0.5
- Stun Duration: 1.6
- Cooldown: 7
- Range: 600, Radius: 225
- Damage: Magical

A spell that hits a small, circular AoE, dealing damage and stunning enemies caught in it. There is a rather large delay between when the spell is cast and when the pillar hits, so it's rather difficult to land on targets trying to escape it. It works best with a strong slow or a leading stun. Hitting multiple targets with this is extremely strong in team fights. I get it at level 1 and max it second, as the stun duration doesn't scale.

Fiery Soul (E, F) - Dancing flames embody Lina's playful nature, bringing out her true blazing self.

- Attack Speed Bonus: 40/50/60/70
- Move Speed Bonus: 4%/5%/6%/7%
- Max Stacks: 3

A passive ability that grants Lina a stacking buff every time she casts a spell, increasing her attack speed and movement speed. The stacks last 7 seconds each, which, if you open up with Light Strike Array or Dragon Slave, should give you enough time to keep yourself at maximum stacks throughout a teamfight. The attack speed bonus means that Lina can produce a surprising amount of damage (at level 1, being at three stacks is an additional 120 attack speed, which is nothing to laugh at.) The skill scales poorly, so I get one level at level 10, and then forgo the remaining three levels until 23/24/25.

 

Laguna Blade (R, G) - The air around Lina becomes so intensely torrid that it scorches a foe that comes too close with white-hot lightning.

- Mana Cost: 280/420/680
- Damage: 450/675/950 (600/925/1250 with Aghanim's)
- Cooldown: 120/90/55
- Range: 600 (900 with Aghanim's)

A very straightforward skill - it hurts. It's a huge damage, single target nuke. At level 6, with three points in Dragon Slave, two points in Light Strike Array, and one point in Laguna Blade, you're looking at a total of 830 magical damage to a single target. It's a good way for deterring enemies from attacking you while you provide artillery fire in a teamfight, or a good way of picking off an enemy support.

Recommended Skill Build

1) Light Strike Array
2) Dragon Slave
3) Dragon Slave
4) Light Strike Array
5) Dragon Slave
6) Laguna Blade
7) Dragon Slave
8) Light Strike Array
9) Light Strike Array
10) Fiery Soul
11) Laguna Blade
12-15) Attribute Bonus
16) Laguna Blade
17-22) Attribute Bonus
23-25) Fiery Soul

As mentioned above, Dragon Slave is your most reliable source of damage, so you want to max it out first. The stun duration for Light Strike Array stays the same at all levels, so take one level early in case you need to participate in a level 1 fight, but otherwise leave it for after Dragon Slave. Take your ult when you can. Fiery Soul scales poorly, but it's a great one-point wonder for mobility and extra damage in teamfights.

Items

Starting items:

 x3  ( or 

You want to leave the base with your typical set of support items. Lina's very item-independent, and she makes a great babysitter. Carrying consumables will make your life in lane easy, and you can always pass them to your lane partner if they really need them. Buy the courier if no one has it, or buy wards if you already have a courier.

Core items:

 -> 

As a typical support in Dota 2, you will likely not have the opportunity to buy many items throughout the game. Your primary goals in each fight are to stay alive, stun enemies, pick someone off with Laguna Blade, and use the money you saved by not dying to buy wards. Good ward coverage makes or breaks games! Pick up a Bracer for survivability and cheap stats and a Magic Wand to free up inventory space and give that burst of healing or mana in a hectic teamfight. Arcane Boots are the boots of choice on Lina, thanks to her stat independency and expensive skills.

Situational items:

( or )

If your team has been doing well, and you've been not dying, and should you find yourself some extra gold, one of these items might be right down your alley. If your team doesn't have a Mekansm carrier, Lina makes a fine one. Drum of Endurance is a natural buildup from the Bracer you should already have. Blink Dagger is great for making sure you land a Light Strike Array - you can do a good job of initiating if you have a Blink Dagger. Force Staff is a more defensive item, used for supporting your teammates or maneuvering yourself in the middle of a teamfight to land another Light Strike Array.

Luxury items:

Normal luxury items for an Intelligence-based support. Fiery Soul, even at level 1, makes Lina output a surprising amount of DPS. A good Intelligence item (perhaps on top of a Force Staff) is surprising amounts of damage. A Black King Bar will allow her to stay alive and continue the damage output.

Closing Thoughts

Although she used to be overshadowed by other supports, such as her sister, Crystal Maiden, Lina has recently come into her own as a viable choice in competitive matches. In your average matchmaking game, her ability to scale with her passive and high-damage dealing ultimate offers her the option of eclipsing other supports in damage output. She can slide seamlessly from a full-support role into a semi-carry role if your team is doing well or if you find the gold to do so.

This gives Lina a very interesting role compared to other supports, and can result in a completely different playstyle. If you find yourself playing support heroes a lot, and you want to spice up your picks a bit, look no further than Lina.