Mid heroes are a pretty crucial part of the game. Generally, most teams will have a solo mid. The interesting part about mid is that almost any hero can do it, especially if there is a large difference in player skill. Most would say Solo Mid takes the most "skill" in the game, by which I mean mechanically the best with last hitting, timing, etc.
You put heroes at mid for different reasons. Sometimes it's to hit level 6 quickly, sometimes it's to farm fast, some heroes are good gankers and can use the runes to amplify that. Occasionally, some heroes are picked up as a direct counter-pick to the other mid.
Generally, you're going to see the "#2" role at mid (that is second highest farm priority). This is a pretty wide category, but notably encompassing Utility heroes and Semi/Mid Game/Snowball-Carries.
Sometimes, you'll also see Dual Mids. This is not as common, but can be done for a few reasons:
- Shut down a strong mid player, especially on one of their signature heroes
- Give a carry additional farm/XP by not running them in a Trilane
Lastly, there aren't exactly tiers of mid heroes, but there are stronger mids, situational mids, and more common / "trendy" mids. That's how I'm going to approach this Analysis.
Note: I'm generally not a mid player, this is for my own benefit / personal notes, so don't take this all as 100% accurate
Trendy Mids
- Puck
- Put mid for fast levels and ganking
- High survivability due to Phase Shift, Silence, and Illusionary Orb
- Able to harass with Illusionary Orb
- Can have difficulty last hitting due to base attack damage
- Queen of Pain
- Excellent Rune Control with Blink
- Excellent Survivability with Blink
- Able to clear waves quickly with AoE spells around rune time to force opposing mid to choose between Gold/XP and Runes
- Very good ganker
- Want to reach level 6 quickly to get her ult and use it for ganking
- Outworld Devourer
- Put mid against Intelligence mids (generally) due to Astral Imprisonment sapping INT/attack damage
- Put mid to farm and for fast levels / played as a carry/semi-carry
- Damage scales well with farm / items (based on mana pool)
- Especially deadly when combined with Treant Protector's Living Armor (popularized by DD/Quantic)
- Dragon Knight
- Put mid to farm and semi-carry, but also to push
- High survivability due to Dragon's Blood (regen + armor)
- Able to farm and clear waves with Dragon's Breath
- Hitting level 6 quickly helps DK a lot
- Decent ganking skills due to his long stun
- Using his ult, he is able to push towers quickly (the level 1 ult gives Green & Red Dragon a DoT that works on towers)
- Relies a bit on Bottle-Crowing
Good, But Less Common Mids
- Warlock
- Put mid to get levels fast (get ult ASAP)
- Excellent harass due to Fatal Bonds
- Decent Creep Clearing from Fatal Bonds
- Decent Survivability from Shadow Word (healing)
- I would argue he's still a good mid, but he's out of style and potentially bad against heroes like Queen of Pain (blinks and burst damage), Templar Assassin (he could get rid of her shield with Fatal Bonds, but she still has the higher kill potential)
- Windrunner
- Utility mid hero
- Ability to harass and clear waves with Power Shot
- High Survivability due to Windrun
- Good rune control with Windrun
- Good ganking due to Shackle Shot
- Put mid for fast levels and ganking potential
- Mirana
- Able to farm well and clear waves with Starfall
- Decent ganking skillset, but unreliable due to Arrow being a skill shot
- Getting a fast Ult allows for ganking, saving allies, etc.
- Decent survivability due to Leap (but slow turn rate hurts her escape mechanism)
- Invoker
- Spells scale with levels moreso than other heroes
- Able to farm well with Exort (Damage) Builds
- Able to survive well with Quas (Regen + HP) and Wex (Move Speed)
- Able to gank well with Wex (Move Speed) Builds
- High Utility hero, very adaptable
- Does not rely on Runes
- Fairly farm dependent
- Templar Assassin
- High Survivability due to Refraction
- Ability to harass with Psy Blades
- Getting her to level 6 is a priority because Refraction bonus damage is better the earlier you get it
- Getting her Ult is a priority for rune control and ganking
- She's able to use all runes effectively
- Batrider
- Very powerful harass with Sticky Napalm
- Want to get level 6 quickly for powerful ganking
- High Survivability with Firefly
- Extremely potent early-mid game
- Having farm is good for Batrider because he becomes much more deadly with Blink Dagger
- He can use runes very effectively
- Somewhat considered a counter to TA due to ticks of damage getting rid of TA's refraction shield
- Tinker
- Put at mid for fast levels and farming
- Able to clear waves quickly with March of the Machines to secure runes and/or screw over opponent's farm
- Able to stack and farm Ancients (big neutral creeps) on Radiant side with March of the Machines
- With Boots of Travel, Bottle, and Soul Ring, Tinker can use his ult to move around the map with ease to gank, split push, and farm
- Hard to gank due to March of the Machines
- Good counter-pusher due to March of the Machines
- Brewmaster
- Put mid to farm and hit level 6 quickly (excellent team fight ult)
- High survivability due to natural Tankiness and from his abilities (built in evasion and miss chance)
- Needs farm to initiate well
- Mediocre rune control and creep clearing
- Mostly a "farming" mid
- Shadow Fiend
- Put mid to farm fast and carry
- Decent rune control due to ability to quickly clear waves with Razes
- Low survivability (easily gankable and best dealt with by ganking due to squishiness, lack of escapes, and he loses damage when killed)
- Able to use all runes effectively
- Storm Spirit
- Put mid to hit level 6 quickly, farm, and gank
- Excellent ganking skillset
- Excellent rune control after level 6
- Farm Dependent semi-carry
- Excellent anti-split push due to his ult
- Able to clear waves with Static Image
- Mediocre survivability before level 6
- Often picked for his synergy with Lifestealer's Infest
- Death Prophet
- Put mid to hit level 6 quickly, farm, push, and semi-carry
- Able to clear waves quickly with Crypt Swarm
- Able to use Runes effectively
- Mediocre survivability other than move speed from her passive and silence
- Skywrath Mage
- Put mid to farm, level, and gank
- Able to harass with Arcane Bolt
- Low ability to creep clear
- Able to rune control with high base move speed and Concussive Shot
- Low survivability if ganked (some if you can manage to silence before they get to you)
- Magnus
- Farm Dependent Initiator (needs Blink to be most effective)
- High Survivability due to Skewer and being a STR Hero
- Able to farm and harass well with Shockwave
- Want to get level 6 quickly for his huge AoE disable ult
- Night Stalker
- Put at mid to get fast levels and some farm, levels are crucial on him because his spells are extremely good early-mid game
- Once night hits, NS becomes an amazing ganker (and much of his success is determined the first night)
- Slark
- Put mid to farm, level, and gank
- With early Essence Shift harass, he can gain some lane control
- Snowball mid-game carry
- Good survivability due to Dark Pact and Pounce
- Outclassed by many ranged mids
- Some ability to creep clear
- Decent Rune control
- Beastmaster
- Able to farm, harass, and clear waves with his Boar and Wild Axes
- Hitting level 6 fast is beneficial for ganking and team fights
- His attack speed aura is valuable to the team
- Able to scout, control runes, and detect ganks with his Hawk
- No escape mechanisms
- Viable in the off-lane makes him less of a priority for mid
- Kunkka
- Put mid to farm and get fast levels
- Works well against heroes like OD mid because Tidebringer is unaffected by INT loss and requires no mana to work
Good, But Rare Mids
- Nature's Prophet
- Hitting level 6 quickly allows him to farm faster and gives him a good team fight ability
- Able to farm and push with Treants
- Sprout + Teleport give him a decent escape mechanism
- Fast levels make him a deadly ganker, especially with Teleport allowing him to bipass normal routes for ganking (e.g. the river)
- Less of a priority for playing mid due to ability to Jungle and Off-lane
- Bane
- Put mid for fast levels and ganking
- Excellent rune control due to Nightmare
- No ability to clear creep waves hurts him
- Some survivability due to Nightmare
- Able to kill nearly any hero at level 6
- Excellent harass after he gets mana regen/soul ring due to Brain Sap being Pure Damage (i.e. ignores all forms of armor)
- Less common mid because he also is a viable support hero and unable to control the creep wave
- Lone Druid
- Put mid for fast levels and farm (ganking is unreliable due to Entangle being chance based)
- Bear gives him excellent lane control, harass, and farming (it's basically like having 2 heroes mid, but only one gets the XP)
- Able to clear waves quickly to some extent due to the bear
- Low survivability due to lack of escape mechanisms (other than speed and Entangles) and low base HP
- Viable Jungler and Off-Laner contributes to being seen less at mid
- Pudge
- Put mid for ganking and fast levels
- Wave clearing from Rot
- Able to semi-carry if he snowballs in farm or kills
- Mediocre Rune Control (dependent on hitting hooks)
- Unreliable due to skillshot (Hook)
- If played well, adds a huge strain on the opponent because of Hook's ganking potential / constantly worrying about positioning and where Pudge is
- Rubick
- Utility mid hero
- Able to clear waves with Fade Bolt
- Put there to hit level 6 quickly and farm
- Good ganking hero with Telekinesis
- Some survivability due to Telekinesis and Fade Bolt (reduce damage)
Situational Mids
- Axe
- Put mid against certain heroes, to farm and level quickly, some gank potential
- Can be very good against melee mid heroes due to his ability to zone them out with Spins
- Able to clear waves quickly with Spins
- Some survivability due to Call giving temporary bonus armor, and naturally high HP; however, he has no escape mechanism
- Able to harass well with Battle Hunter and good zoning
- Mediocre rune control other than wave clearing
- More kill potential with fast farming of Blink Dagger
- Shadow Shaman
- Put mid for fast levels, some farm, and pushing (also gank potential)
- Some survivability due to his Polymorph spell, but other than that he has low HP and is easily killed
- If Blink Dagger is farmed quickly, he's able to gank well (otherwise he's too slow)
- Viper
- Sometimes put mid to counter Templar Assassin (his poison damage ticks deplete Refraction shield)
- Put mid for countering, fast levels, farm, and ganking
- Some survivability from natural tankiness
- Low ability to clear creep waves
- Low rune control
- Enigma
- Put mid to farm, get fast levels, push, and gank at level 6
- No real escape mechanism / low survivability
- Excellent farming and harass due to Eidelons
- No instant creep clearing ability
- Not common due to working well as a Jungler and Second Support
- Sand King
- Put mid against some melee heroes, to farm fast, get levels, and gank
- Caustic Finale serves to harass and creep clear
- Excellent survivability due to Burrowstrike and Sand Storm
- Decent rune control due to Burrowstrike
- Rare because he is outclassed by ranged heroes, works well as a second support and sometimes off-laner
- Nyx Assassin
- Put mid to farm, level fast and gank
- Outclassed by many mids because he's melee
- Farm Dependent
- Some survivability due to Spiked Carapace
- Dark Seer
- Put mid to hurt the opponent's farm with Ion Shell
- Scales well with items and farm
- Level dependent
- Good wave clearing with Ion Shell
- Good Rune control with Surge
- Rare mid because he is a very good / top-tier off-laner (and can Jungle)
- Lich
- Put mid to deny enemy farm, get fast levels, and gank
- Able to sacrifice a creep, which leads to less farm for opponent and outleveling
- Able to spam spells due to replenishable mana pool
- No escapes lead to easy kills against an aggressive mid hero or ganker
- No anti-push
- Works well as an off-laner and support
- Doesn't really need farm to be effective (so that's lost on him at mid)
- Alchemist
- Put mid to farm (and gank to some extent)
- Decent creep clearing with Acid
- Decent harass / zoning with Acid
- Low survivability until he gets his ult
- Needs to be against a melee hero like Dragon Knight so he can get CS
- Weaver
- Put mid to farm and semi-carry
- Works well when paired with Treant's Living Armor
- Is able to zone and harass with Shukuchi & Geminate
- Lifestealer
- Put mid to farm against melee heroes
- Still basically plays the carry role at mid
Out of Style / Rare Mids
- Razor
- Put mid to farm, gank, and outlevel the enemy
- He's a mid-game snowball carry
- Able to creep clear and harass with Plasma Field
- High Kill potential with Static Link
- Weird attack animation is a put off to some
- Low survivability
- Doesn't necessarily scale as well as others with farm (he mostly needs to tank up and keep Static Link on someone as long as possible while his ult hits them)
- Clockwerk
- Put mid for fast levels, farming, and ganking
- Decent survivability due to Cogs
- Low creep clearing ability (Rocket Flare works to some extent)
- Low kill potential if creeps are around (Battery Assault works better in 1v1 scenarios)
- If he doesn't get farm, Clock is fairly useless
- A lot of players complain that he doesn't play the same in DotA 2 or that his abilities don't work the way they should
- Morphling
- Put mid to farm (as a carry)
- Mid-High Survivability from Wave Form and Strength Morph (though it was nerfedin 6.75 patch)
- Good rune control from Wave Form
- Decent creep clearing with Wave Form (you lose your escape by using it though)
- Less common due to nerfs in 6.75 patch
- Dazzle
- Rarely seen (at this point, I think only Dendi of Na'Vi has taken him mid in a pro game)
- Good creep clearing from Shadow Wave
- High survivability from Shadow Wave and Shallow Grave
- Some ability to harass with Shadow Wave (if melee opponent)
- Decently ganking skillset
- Necrolyte
- Put mid for fast levels and farming, and pushing to some extent (via Death Pulse)
- Decent creep clearing with Death Pulse
- Decent harass with aura
- Some survivability due to Death Pulse and Sadist
- Primarily a farming mid
- Leshrac
- Put mid for fast levels, farming, pushing, and ganking (to some extent)
- Able to clear waves decently fast with his Stun and Ult (or Lightning if picked up)
- Low-Medium Rune control (he has a stun and above average move speed)
- Low-Medium survivability (squishy, no escape mechanism, but dangerous to dive him because of Edict)
- Able to quickly take down mid Tier 1 Tower
- Able to Semi-Carry with enough regen
- Ancient Apparition
- Was a popular mid in The International 1
- Put mid for fast levels and ganking
- Able to gank from the mid lane with his ult
- Low ability to harass
- Low ability to clear creeps
- Low ability to rune control
- Fairly farm independent (arguably wasted on him)
- Works well as a support, so rare to put him mid now
- Pugna
- Put mid to farm, level, and push (gank to some extent)
- Excellent creep clearing
- Low survivability (easy to kill, no escapes other than Decrepify, but that amplifies magic damage --> potentially hazardous)
- Low rune control
- Similar to Leshrac in that he can support or be a very item dependent INT carry
- Similar to Tinker in that he can get Boots of Travel and be used to gank and push / split push
- Situational pick-up because Netherward and Decrepify might not be useful with or against certain lineups
Pub Mids
- Bloodseeker
- Considered the bad version of Nighstalker (who is more reliable and his skills synergize better)
- Put mid to level and gank
- Unreliable kill potential
- Med-High survivability due to regen from creep killing, but no escape mechanism
- Low ability to creep clear
- Low ability to control runes
- Pudge
- (same as above)
- Lion
- Put mid to level and gank (farm to some extent)
- Decent creep clearing
- Decent rune control
- Good ganking
- Poor survivability (he has disables, but no escape mechanism and is very squishy)
- Viper
- (same as above)
- Huskar
- Put mid to farm, level, and gank
- Snowball mid-game carry / reliant on getting kills
- No ability to clear creeps
- Low Rune Control
- Low-Medium Survivability (he has Inner Vitality, also Berserker's Blood makes him risky to gank unless you have good disables)
- Decent Harass with Flaming Spears
- Keeper of the Light
- Put mid to Push and screw opponent's farm
- Excellent creep clearing
- Decent rune control (from high movespeed and Mana Leak)
- Illuminate forces the opponent to last hit under the tower which is more difficult
- Illuminate also works well to harass
- Low Survivability (very squishy, no escape mechanism)
- Item Independent (farm is arguably lost on KotL)
- Sniper
- Put mid to farm (and push to some extent)
- Low survivability (slow, low HP, easy to gank)
- Medium ability to clear creeps (Shrapnel to some extent)
- Decent Harass (long ranged attacks)
- Drow
- Fairly similar to Sniper
- Put mid to farm and level (ganking to some extent due to Ice Arrows)
- She's more of a mid-game carry versus Sniper who is more late game
- Low survivability (she has Silence, but that's about it)
- Low creep clearing
- Decent Rune Control (due to Ice Arrows)
- Silencer
- Put mid for farm and fast levels (his ult is a huge part of the reason to pick him up)
- Primarily a farming mid
- Can soft counter some mids that cannot spam spells
- Low survivability and easily gankable
- Low Rune control
- Low Creep Clearing
- Broodmother
- Put mid to farm, level, and push
- Decent rune control from move speed and webs
- Decent creep clearing due to Spiderites
- Decent survivability due to web regen and ult regen, plus invisibility
- Problems with her:
- Many heroes can clear her Spiderites for massive bonus farm
- Easily countered by Sentry Wards
- Works very well as an Off-Laner
Dual Mids
This is sort of a sub category of mid heroes. Some heroes are potent mids if they have a support to back them up. Again, the benefits of doing this are:- Shutting down the opposing mid (lane control, rune control, higher kill potential)
- Spreading farm around (earn more XP because you're not in a Trilane)
- Kunkka + Shadow Demon
- Guaranteed Torrents w/ SD's Disruption
- Juggernaut + Venomancer
- Spin + Gale
- Naga Siren + Leshrac
- Net + Split Earth = guaranteed stun
- Chaos Knight + Leshrac
- Chaos Bolt + Split Earth = guaranteed chain stun
- Chaos Knight - high early game kill potential with another stunner
- Venomancer - very good against Templar Assassin (poison DOT burns her sheild)
- Crystal Maiden - lots of disables and slows
- Brewmaster - guaranteed farm with a support harassing
- Jakiro - lots of good disables and pushing abilities
- Rubick - Telekinesis gives the damage dealer a lot of time to get hits in, Fade Bolt is useful for making the enemy hit softer
- Leshrac - paired with a stunner, Split Earth will hit; Edict will allow the Dual Mid to take the tower quickly
- Lina - same as Leshrac w/ her stun, but she pushes creeps better and has more burst damage
- Morphling - out of style at the moment, but with a support he is guaranteed farm
- Night Stalker - guarantees farm, but slows leveling if he has a support there
- Templar Assassin - (don't know for sure, but guessing that she dual mids when the opponent dual mids against her)
- Lich - used for guaranteeing farm, harassing opponent, and destroying their farm by denying creeps with his spell
- Shadow Demon - has a lot of spells that combo well with stuns, plus Soul Catcher adds a lot of kill potential
- Ancient Apparition - stun that works well with other stuns, able to amplify magic damage
- Naga Siren - net is very deadly in combination with other stuns; high kill potential with Rip Tide
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