Hero Guide: Queen of Pain

Queen of Pain is easily one of the best solo heroes in the game, extremely strong in lane while offering some seriously scary ganks through her high burst damage. While mid is most likely the ideal lane to put her in, she can also function well solo in an off lane if necessary.

She is, however, very level dependent so it’s best not to put her in a duo lane situation. Her abilities offer some extremely strong midgame power, and she can even function as a right click damage dealer late game thanks to the mobility gained from her blink spell.

Abilities

Shadow Strike
Shadow Strike is an extremely potent spell in the early laning phase of the game, offering a substantial 200 damage over the course of 15 seconds at just level 1 for only 80 mana. A point or two in shadow strike early is a great way to ensure that you win your lane against some of the tougher solo opponents, such as Templar Assassin or Rubick. Late game the damage is still very strong, but it’s typically better to level up the blink and scream over this.

Blink
Blink is a very straightforward spell that does exactly what its name implies, blinks you a short distance towards the target point. It’s a very low cost spell, at only 60 mana at all levels, and it scales very well with levels by both increasing the distance and lowering the cooldown. If you are soloing the offlane, maxing blink first is a good way to ensure safety but will lower your effectiveness in the teamfights until you have more levels.

Scream of Pain
Scream is a fantastic, low cooldown, relatively low mana cost nuke that is a large part of what makes Queen of Pain such a large midgame threat. At max level it does 300 damage on only a 7 second cooldown for 140 mana. Maxing this first by level 7 is the most common way to skill Queen of Pain, as it offers scary amounts of burst damage that can easily kill heroes in the side lanes that are lower level than you.

 

Sonic Wave
Queen of Pain’s ultimate offers even more burst damage in a large frontal aoe cone. At level one the damage is 350, but its mana cost is very high. It’s also upgradeable by Aghanim’s Scepter, for even more damage and also lowering its cooldown. Putting points in this whenever possible is a good idea, but you can also wait till your mana pool is large enough to support it and grab the first point at a slightly later level after maxing Blink or Scream.

Stat Points
It’s worth mentioning stat points and when to level them for Queen of Pain, as there is a great reason to get them earlier rather than later. A lot of the time, it’s best to keep Shadow Strike at level 1 or 2 and put points in stats after maxing out blink and scream.

This is because Akasha benefits greatly from early stats as it increases her mana pool and health, things she desperately needs to be most effective in teamfights midgame. The int increase could be the difference between having that mana for a blink after a scream and sonic wave combo, and the health increase can help you stay in the fight longer. Every game of Dota is different, so make the best choices you can for your current situation.

Item Choices

As far as boots are concerned, there are a lot of good options for QoP, so it's important to explain the options and when you'll want to be buying them.

Boots

Tranquil Boots

If you are solo offlane, tranquil boots are a fantastic choice for survivability. They allow you to move up close for a few last hits, take some harass and blink away for healing while also offering good movespeed and armor.  They also can be disassembled late game  and transformed into a different pair, so for cheap early game lane regen tranquil boots are a fantastic choice.

 

Power Treads

Power Treads are also a good choice for any QoP, giving some attack speed and health or mana from the selected attribute.

 

Arcane Boots

Arcane boots can help alleviate mana problems early game, and can be disassembled for a Soul Booster to build into a bloodstone if you so choose. Also, it’s best to have a pair or two of these on your team every game so you can be a team player and build them for the utility if nobody else is able to.

 

Boots of Travel

Boots of Travel are always a fantastic choice on any hero. They allow for some serious split pushing potential on Queen of Pain, as she can clear creep waves very quickly with her Scream of Pain.

Other Items

Bottle /  Wards

Bottle helps Queen of Pain with rune control, and with wards only being 150 gold now if you don’t have supports willing to ward the runes doing it yourself will help you easily win your lane and other lanes.

 

Magic Wand

Magic Wand is a good choice for any hero, and this is no different for Akasha. The active could easily save you by giving some clutch mana for a blink to safety or help you net that kill with some extra health. Pick it up really fast if you are laning against heroes that like to spam spells, like Batrider with his sticky napalm or Rubick with fade bolt.

 

Scythe of Vyse

Scythe of Vyse is an amazing choice for Queen of Pain. The stats are great, and the active helps you shut down a member of the opposing team for 3.5 seconds. This could save yourself, your team, and easily help you pick off supports or heroes that are tough to catch like Morphling or Antimage.

 

Aghanim's Scepter

Aghanim’s Scepter is another great choice, as it brings the ultimate damage up to 725 and the cooldown down to only 40 seconds at max level. This helps her stay relevant later in the game when heroes can’t be bursted down so easily, and adds to the amazing teamfight potential in conjunction with the spammable scream of pain.

 

Linken's Sphere

Linken’s Sphere is a great choice for a defensive item. It’s stats are solid for Akasha, and the passive it grants you is amazingly useful as it makes you even harder to lockdown and kill. This is a great pickup if the game has gone very late, and you need to do some serious split pushing with boots of travel to take down the last few towers of the enemy team.

 

Bloodstone

Bloodstone used to be more popular on Queen of Pain than it currently is, but it’s still a solid item choice all around. The mana and health you get from the stats and the regen from the charges make it a very helpful item to get early on. If you are starting to snowball and can easily pick off a lot of squishy supports, rushing a bloodstone can be a great way to keep that lead secured.  Also, if you bought arcane boots you can disassembled them and use the energy booster to make a soul booster then convert the boots to treads or travels.

 

Veil of Discord

Veil of Discord is an often underrated item that synergizes really well with the high magic damage that Akasha deals. If your team also has a lot of magic damage, such as a Jakiro or Sand King, picking one up can help teamfights be even more devastating.

 

Monkey King Bar

Monkey King Bar is a good item choice if your team lacks a serious late game carry, as the blink allows for some good positioning in fights and Queen of Pain can be a pretty good right click damage dealer if needed.

 

Black King Bar

Black King Bar is another great item pickup for Queen of Pain. This is a great item to have on a lot of heroes when the enemy team has a lot of disables or rely heavily on big initiations or spell damage, such as Tidehunter ravage or Disruptor mass silence. A BKB would allow Akasha to stand in teamfights and get off all of her abilities without being stunned or bursted down, and potentially escape afterwards.

Queen of Pain is a very versatile solo hero that works well in many lineups. Her midgame burst damage is insane, and her late game potential is very strong given the right item choices. Keep in mind, however, that these aren’t the only items that work on Akasha. Dota 2 is an extremely dynamic game that changes from match to match, so feel free to experiment with item builds and be open minded to new choices!