Dota 2’s competitive meta can change at the drop of a hat. Professional players bring out fresh ideas and new schemes all the time, leading to an ever-evolving roster of heroes that seemingly change day-to-day.
In this Dota 2 hero tier list, heroes are roughly arranged in three tiers to signify their importance in the pro scene. About forty heroes are represented, though Dota 2’s balanced nature means that many more heroes are viable.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of the good heroes—they’re ranked by their popularity in the pro scene, where execution matters as much as the draft.
The current meta is largely influenced by the Stockholm Major, and should likely persist for a bit in what should be a small, promised 7.31d patch.
The current meta is largely influenced by the Stockholm Major, and should likely persist for a bit in what should be a small, promised 7.31d patch.
Tier one heroes appear in almost every draft, whether they’re banned or picked. Their strength can either come from their flexibility, allowing teams to easily slot them into lanes as they see fit, or overpowering might that no other hero can quite reproduce or counter.
Chaos Knight
Chaos Knight, once a niche pick known for his ganking prowess but poor farming ability, has transformed into one of Dota 2’s fastest-farming and durable carries.
The change that really skyrocketed Chaos Knight’s viability was in 7.31, where Chaos Strike now deals 50 percent extra damage to non-hero units. A farming Chaos Knight will find himself practically at full health, even with Armlet of Mordiggian turned on — an essential and efficient item for the hero.
What’s more, while many carries’ first item is a farming supplement that rarely increases the hero’s effectiveness in fights, Armlet is powerful on Chaos Knight since it serves both purposes. A bonus 60 damage, 500 health, and 10 bonus armor allow him to constantly join fights even as position one. It’s what makes him viable as an offlaner too, though it can be considered a greedy pick.
At level 20, Chaos Knight gains access to the Reality Rift pierces spell immunity talent, making him one of the few heroes in the game with an innately BKB-piercing spell, further improving his late-game matchup strength.
It’s a hero with so much going for it, and that’s without even getting into ultimate Phantasm one-shotting supports, and having a reliable stun that makes him a menace in any ganking squad. Expect this hero to receive more nerfs — but it might not be enough to keep him down.
Mars has become the quintessential offlaner for the 7.00 generation of players. The god of war is ready for battle, anytime and anywhere, thanks to his low cooldowns—even Arena of Blood, at 90 seconds, is low for that impactful of a team fight ultimate.
He also scales well later into the game, with many players favoring a carry build-up like Desolator and Satanic. It’s why pro teams have experimented with shifting this hero into different roles, with mid and even safelane viable choices in the current meta.
Yet, he’s still flexible enough to go pure utility. Even when stuck in the offlane, without a great lane, he can always contribute with his hard lockdown, and retain edge case usefulness against ranged carries with Bulwark and Arena’s projectile-blocking.
Pugna
Once mostly played as a core, Pugna has quickly become the game’s premier defensive support. His array of spells, at the cost of his own health or having some drawback, are immensely effective in the right situations, and can even function as a sieging hero from a support position.
The reworked Nether Ward, which now reduces spell damage in an area, is an incredible tool against Blink initiators like Sand King. A Shard upgrade improves its cast range, and allows Life Drain to refract off the ward to all eligible targets. The recent surge in Wraith Pact’s popularity means support Pugnas’ are often tasked to buy this item, setting both down to create heavy damage resistance.
Decrepify is also a fantastic save in the right hands, countering cores with heavy physical damage. Life Drain is used mostly as a save, and can even restore mana to enable aggression on mana-intensive heroes like Storm Spirit and Leshrac.
While he’s squishy enough to die to a light gust of wind, cast range items and having proper frontliners help mitigate those immensely.
The Null Talismans nerf were not enough.
Though first-phase pick and bans are almost always reserved for flexible, versatile picks, or respect banning your opponents’ strategy, Storm Spirit is just so rewarding that it is on the top of the draft boards for practically every pro team.
Unless Raijin Thunderkeg is completely shut down in the lane, the game tends to proceed as follows: buy several Null Talismans, get Power Treads and Black King Bar, then gank enemies with a mana pool that never seems to deplete.
After 25 minutes, when Nulls’ bonuses double, most pros even opt to sell their Power Treads in favor of another Null, or even go straight for an Aghanim’s Blessing so that they could save the slot. That’s how broken mana cost reduction is on this hero, and it’s not even locked behind an inaccessible item—a single Null Talisman costs 505 gold. Combined with his Scepter and Shard upgrades that allow him to practically solo entire enemy lineups.
The Wisp never really goes away, having been favored by pros since time immemorial. But instead of being just a buff bot for a late-game carry, Io has become a much more active hero.
The hero gives a boost of spell amplification with Overcharge now, making his companion’s spells that much more painful. He’s often paired with magic-focused midlaners like Storm Spirit and Leshrac, who benefits greatly from the spell amp and the increased mana regeneration. Plus, Io mitigates their squishy natures with health regen, and brings heroes around the map to fight any battle.
Then, later in the game, Io can be paired with the carry again, making for a synergistic relationship with his cores throughout a match.
Donté Panlin only received slight buffs in the latest patch, but other factors have turned him into an adaptable two to four.
The new Diffusal Blade, which now costs 1,000 less gold, has become the item of choice for Pangolier. With Swashbuckle’s multi-hits, he can easily take out 160 mana—and deal 160 damage—making it a lethal, damaging combo.
Pangolier is arguably even better in the midlane, where his relative laning weakness is alleviated by the presence of Bottle and Water Runes. He’s also free from having to go for utility items, with many pros opting to rush Diffusal Blade.
In a lot of ways, he functions as a pseudo-Ember Spirit—but Rolling Thunder’s team fight capabilities and role flexibility can be more valuable to certain teams. Lucky Shot can also be extremely annoying, but isn’t reliable enough to be counted on as a hard counter to right-click carries.
Tier two heroes are safe and stable picks that don’t usually warrant instant bans or picks. While not as oppressive as the heroes in tier one, they can equally be strong in a match that favors their skillset.
Of the heroes here, several of them are threatening to close in on tier one status. Keeper of the Light, often played as a support, is earning a fearsome new role in the midlane. He’s capable of pushing out entire waves, before retreating into the jungle to farm stacks and get an early Boots of Travel, leveraging his mobility to be everywhere at once. He’s let down by his immense squishiness, which can mean your overleveled, high net worth mid dies to initiation—but the reward of running over your enemy from minute 10 is worth it for many teams.
Underlord is another relatively popular offlaner that’s miserable for carries to play against thanks to Atrophy Aura. Players are favoring a heavy stat-based build for the hero, going Bracers, Power Treads, and Rod of Atos to be an immensely tanky frontliner that can scale into a right-click core, in the same vein of Mars. With players getting more used to the new myriad uses of his Fiend’s Gate, it’s no longer just a get-out-of-jail-free-card, but can be used potently as an offensive tool.
Underlord is another relatively popular offlaner that’s miserable for carries to play against thanks to Atrophy Aura. Players are favoring a heavy stat-based build for the hero, going Bracers, Power Treads, and Rod of Atos to be an immensely tanky frontliner that can scale into a right-click core, in the same vein of Mars. With players getting more used to the new myriad uses of his Fiend’s Gate, it’s no longer just a get-out-of-jail-free-card, but can be used potently as an offensive tool.
The heroes in tier three appear only occasionally compared to those in tiers one and two, but are popular enough to be recognized as powerful additions to a team’s draft. They can be cheesy last picks that are impossible to deal with, mesh perfectly with a player or team’s play style, or serve as niche counters to some popular heroes.
Visage could become a prime offlane or support pick, though remains a little obscure because of demanding micro. With auras like Drums of Endurance and Vladimir’s Offering regaining popularity, he’s a prime candidate to pick them up and rove around the map looking for kills with his Familiars. When paired with a high damage support, he can destroy squishies with Soul Assumption, but his slow right click can mean outright losing lanes against bulky enemies. He’s a tad reliant on his Familiars, which can be an issue against lineups that deal well with them
Nature’s Prophet is seeing a comback once more, after an extended stay out of the meta. Teams who favor the hero tend to prefer it as position one, where his high base attack and summons can destroy lanes. The tradeoff for his global mobility, pushing power with Shard-upgraded Greater Treants, and speedy farming is that it requires the hero to stay ahead to be relevant, a bit like Meepo or Alchemist. Any death can be extremely punishing, but a good Prophet will frustrate any team trying to kill him.
