DOTA 2 is an extremely difficult game to play and some of its heroes are just there to make your life harder. That said, there is still enjoyment in playing them, once you’ve mastered them, these heroes can do wonders for your team but they just need so much effort to work with.
Previously, we’ve done a piece regarding the easiest heroes in DOTA 2 and this time around, we’ll be covering 10 of the hardest heroes to play in this highly competitive game. Also, don’t let this list discourage you from trying these heroes out. With enough practice, we’re sure you’ll get it right in no time.
Let’s get started.
1. Meepo
Controlling one hero is difficult enough, imagine controlling 5 more. The worst part is, if one of your Meepo clones dies, all of them go down with it. Don’t know what you’re doing and you’ll most likely see a double-digit death on your K/D/A with Meepo.
To play Meepo well, you’ll need to have an insanely good micromanagement skill. You’ll need to constantly monitor your Meepos positioning and health to ensure you don’t get pick off. However, if you do play well with Meepo, you can seriously snowball the entire game and can solo-carry your team to victory.
Easier said than done though.
2. Tinker
On paper, Tinker seems to be extremely busted and overpowered. This is because he has very high-nuking skills and his Ultimate allows him to reset the cooldown of his spells and items. It is very abusive and good players can cause insane havoc with this hero.
Problem is, executing these actions is pretty tough and you’ll need to be pressing a lot of buttons, and do them correctly. Not only that, Tinker’s positioning and item prioritisation are very important. Without them, he will be a very lacklustre mid-hero and will not be able to contribute much to the team.
3. Invoker
Invoker is many DOTA 2 players’ favourite here due to his huge array of spells under his arsenal. His spells are really flashy and executing a combo with these spells can easily become a highlight reel. Again, this is by no means an easy feat to achieve and you’ll need pianist-like fingers to pull them off.
Adding to that, Invoker is also about pressuring the mid-game and his farming tools are very limited. This means if an Invoker player falls behind, they will be in for a hard time. This is a hero that demands mechanical knowledge of the game to be good at.
4. Arc Warden
Arc Warden might not have the most demanding micro-skills to play him but his requirement of sky-high map awareness and hero knowledge is absurd.
Arc Warden’s dependency on items and farm awareness are things that beginners tend to struggle with. His skill kit is not normal and will require some getting used to which is also the same as his item flowchart which is not definite for every game.
This is a hero that requires good theorising as in every game, you might need to build him differently.
5. Broodmother
One of the OG snowballing heroes in the game still remains one of the most difficult to play. Broodmother is a mechanically-demanding hero that requires you to know a lot about the laning stage and hero matchups. When correctly played, she can solo crush a lane with ease.
Besides having ample knowledge, Broodmother players will also need to have good micro-skills. Her spiderlings can be difficult to control if you are not familiar with MOBA games. To play her well, you’ll need to have in-game experience and along the way, some losses are to be expected.
6. Chen
In the lower ranks, rarely will you encounter a Chen in both your or the enemy team. This is because this hero is a pain to play and not many players can fully utilise his strengths.
Chen’s strongest asset is not himself but the units that are under his control. His ability to control neutral units means you’ll need to know the skills and abilities of these units. And yes, you will also need to manually control these controlled neutral units and also manually casting their spells. Easily one of the hardest Support heroes to play.
7. Visage
Visage is a very strong hero and it can delete structures very quickly. It is a very unique hero and is also one of the hardest to play due to its demanding mechanical skill requirement. Controlling your familiars can be a daunting task for beginners and ensuring their survival is also a skill that requires a lot of practice.
Ultimately, to play Visage correctly, you need to understand your hero’s timing really well. Knowing when to apply pressure to enemy towers and to push the lanes are all essentials to playing an optimal Visage. Definitely a hero that needs effort and time to play well.
8. Io
This little ball of light is often hailed as the ultimate Support hero. In competitive play, Io is a beast and can easily turn someone from zero to hero. But such a great hero will have a trade off and that Io is a very difficult hero to master.
In some instances, you might be able to get away with just tethering and overcharging your ally but at a higher level, this is not enough. Higher ranked matches will demand more from Io like its Relocate ability and even sometimes its Spirits to a certain extent. Both of these are very situational and will need good decision-making skills.
9. Morphling
This water boy is a fan favourite also. Morphling is an extremely powerful hero and if everything goes according to plan, he can single-handedly take on an entire team. Even so, Morphling suffers a lot during the early-game and getting over that line can be really tough.
Adding to the fact that Morphling’s main strength is his ability to alter his Strength and Agility stats and doing it wrongly can prove fatal. Basically, Morphling is a high-risk-high-reward hero and if you are new to the game, often you’ll find yourself dying a lot with this hero.
10. Earth Spirit
As one of the more active-roaming Support heroes, Earth Spirit is tremendously hard to play. His skill kit is very complex and even veteran players might not be accustomed to his combo and general gameplay.
We do like to stress that Earth Spirit is a very versatile hero who can do almost anything and has almost everything a Support hero needs. The caveat is that you do really need to put in a lot of time and effort into even just playing him. Once you’ve got the hang of him, he is super reliable and can even set the tempo of the game by himself.
And that marks the end of our list of the 10 most difficult heroes to play in DOTA 2. Remember, practice makes perfect, in time, you’ll be good at these heroes. For more guidance and assistance, you can also subscribe to DOTA Plus using our Steam Wallet Codes here!
