Underrated Pub Heroes

[Letbell]

I rarely seen these heroes in ENT bot and saw them a lot in BK and AUS bot.

1) Batrider - A pretty good - late utility hero that can pull out any heroes during a push or a gank. In BK bot, a lot of people pick this guy abusing the urn + oil bug dealing tons of damage. Even in late game a huge stack of oil + 1 urn can deal up to 1,500 damage alone. The bug is bannable in AUS bot.

2) Beastmaster - A good BM can lock down or pick off any isolated enemy hero, and can push very efficiently without getting caught.

3) Morphling - A godly unkillable carry before slark came out, and can literally one shot anyone with shotgun build.

4) Tauren Chieftain - Another good utility/support heroes that can destroy all base armor stats heroes. If I remember correctly, BK players tend to pick this hero and build dagon. It's pretty stupid with EB blade + Natural Order

5) Shadow Demon - Ending game within 15 min if duo with a terroblade or luna. I hate to admit, but this combo is very overrated in AUS bot. Literally, every game in AUS bot is always a luna + sd rushing 0/4/4/0 and push to the 3rd tower before 9 minutes.

6) Io - AUS players tend to pick Io + Tiny and it's always a mess for the enemy team, because you can't kill tiny when there's an io on the team. BK players picked this with a witch doctor, and it's super OP with a medusa on the team.

7) Chen - a god chen will probably carry his team with 5 harpies. Trust me, those harpies need nerfs. He also can tower dive with agh + ancients + blink dagger. I've tried getting 5 harpies before (with luck). A charge bara is a dead bara, and he died while charging.

8) Razor - He's a tank carry that can build tank items without reducing his damage as much. I saw people in BK pick him against a slark him, and slark has to switch and rotate to another lane.

9) Viper - Similar to razor, but tankier. Some people max out the corrosive skin to fight certain match up.

10) Naga Siren - An alternative lane pusher that can pressure all 3 lanes.

Other special mention: Tusk, Jariko, Lycan, Dark seer, and Bane.

[Zeratul]

I woulnd't call them underrated, but least picked - In all random games, u'll see those heroes being played more frequently (except Io or Chen perhaps)

Out of that list, my least favourite would be beastmaster - Doens't matter what items go, i never end well with him ^^ (Yes i get the right items, i ulti, get assists, and all that, but i dont "rape" with him as ive seen many do - mb its me, i'll give you that, but me and beastmaster don't work along xD same goes for me and nerubian assassin - i simply dont like him; Now give me a techies, for example, and you can be sure ill have a lot of fun same goes for AA, Invoker, Rylai, Dazzle and many others)

Chen is fun (either creep strat or dagon strat)

TC with dagon/ethereal blade/refresher is just pure fun If you have enough carries in your team, this one can pretty much turn into a nightmare for your enemies carries building him that way (and it is funny tbh - spirit stun, ulti, get close, dagon, ulti explodes bam ur dead xD)

Io is a great hero, and can be played in a somehow semi-carry way or supportish:

Semi-carry you can just solo mid, gank, etc. and you won't "depend" much on your team (if you farm well)
Supporter Io depends on your team, and to be honest, unless i got a good player with a carry (or someone i know/friend playing with me), i rarely play Io, since while you might say "a good supporter can still help noobs do good", i'll simply say, due to personal experience, that some people simply can't be supported or carried at all

[WolfPackMama]

Io is extremely underrated. In fact, he's so underrated that when you pair him up with a pure glass cannon character like Traxex and go for the lifesteal build, you'll stomp and win the game because people don't know how to counter the combo. Try to go for the Wisp, and Traxex shreds you. Try to go for the Traxex, and Wisp will keep her HP permanently at maximum.

On the other hand, Io coupled with Bara or Spectre is just even more dreadful. Get vision, charge/haunt, relocate there to help, score a solo kill on the enemy carry and relocate both of you two back to safety.

[nitromon]

Very nice list, but I don't think Viper should be on it. Viper is a dangerous DPS and most people know that.

I absolutely love playing Batrider b/c most people don't know what to do with him early game.

But I'm perplexed why Wyvern is not on your list. Wyvern owns all image heroes and even Geo. I use him to almost every time I face a GEO b/c his ult gets stronger as the geo gets stronger. When played properly, WW's ult is actually better than Void's chronos.

[Letbell]

Very nice list, but I don't think Viper should be on it. Viper is a dangerous DPS and most people know that.

I absolutely love playing Batrider b/c most people don't know what to do with him early game.

But I'm perplexed why Wyvern is not on your list. Wyvern owns all image heroes and even Geo. I use him to almost every time I face a GEO b/c his ult gets stronger as the geo gets stronger. When played properly, WW's ult is actually better than Void's chronos.

Yeah, I probably have to change my perspective on Viper. He's really a decent carry that does a short-burst and kite damage against heroes that are weak to his kiting.

I havn't experience Wyvern's max potential yet, other than picking him against Meepo.
Any tips about Wyvern that I should take note?

[WolfPackMama]

Be extremely aggressive. People for some reason have this mindset of Winter being a reactive hero, while you can do so much more by having her as an initiating tool.

Come to underrated heroes, Lanaya.
In legit 95% of the cases I see a player instantly repick TA, and I think it's idiotical. She's a very specific hero, yes, but with some proper skills, she can very easily become a Three Hit KO character. On top of that, she's not solely a support killer. If you blink to a proper location, the spill damage from her passive can also 3 hit the enemy carry. The traps provide vision on key spots wards can reach, and are useful through entire game. Bad side of being a TA, she can not afford to be much versatile with her items, as she's extremely item dependent to be effective. That being sad, a blademail simply wrecks a misjudged attack - I've had cases when I crit on a support and one-shot both of us.
But, overall, a fun hero with no real skill cap ceiling.

[Burnt]

Bad side of being a TA, she can not afford to be much versatile with her items, as she's extremely item dependent to be effective. That being sad, a blademail simply wrecks a misjudged attack - I've had cases when I crit on a support and one-shot both of us.

so you managed to waste all refraction damage blocks and one shot someone with bmail on. pro

[Dhamma]

so you managed to waste all refraction damage blocks and one shot someone with bmail on. pro

I love this answer, talk about BURNT

TA is actually really powerful and popular in dota 2. Or at least she was when i last played around 2 years ago..... I haven't seen any effective plays in dota 1 tho

[WolfPackMama]

As per usual, @Burnt, your comments are just like waiting for a rain in the deserts. Not needed at all, and very disappointing. Truth to be told, I find people who're flaming/insulting others for no apparent reason full of their own insecurities. So go ahead and fire it up, child, who knows what illnesses and second thoughts you're having in your head? This lady can withstand one or two punches if it makes you feel a bit better and less insecure :)

On topic, yes, Lanaya is played often in D2 where there's a larger demand for characters with "high skill cap". Being one herself, she's picked due to her high risk - high reward status, and usually does very well in hands of an experienced player.

[Burnt]

Truth to be told, I find people who're flaming/insulting others for no apparent reason full of their own insecurities.

Is it flaming or insulting when you rephrase someone's own words?

[WolfPackMama]

Nah, it's insulting when you're a wannabe and you've no predispositions for being one.
Anyways, let's not steer it offtopic. I'm sure people aren't here to amuse themselves with you acting it up.

[nitromon]

I havn't experience Wyvern's max potential yet, other than picking him against Meepo.
Any tips about Wyvern that I should take note?

I actually play a lot of AI to test builds etc... some builds work only in AI and doesn't work in real play however. In sense of WW, again I build him very differently than most players. He's an int hero and your teammates will undoubtably expect you to go support. I've seen really good WW going orchid and other things. However, I like to match my items with the abilities of the heroes, often focus on 1 ability. In his case, I focus on his arctic burn.

Arctic Burn is not just a skadi, it actually does damage based on hp % which makes it really good and makes him a tank killer. To make it more effective, of course, you want to get IAS. So early boot is tread, not manaboot. You'll need a soulring early. WW himself already comes with 2 slows, the artic burn and his nuke. Add SNY + Skadi will give him 2 more slows, increase IAS and movement, health and mana. Basically I build him as a DPS/semi tank.

After that it really is up to the builder. Late game you will most likely go BoT, which you will lose the 30 IAS from the tread. This means you'll need another IAS item such as butterfly or mjolnir, or both if you like. I wouldn't recommend cuirass b/c the aura is not large enough to cover the arctic burn range. Last item is your choice of DPS weapon.

In this build, basically no one can really get close to him when he arctic burns with 4 slows. He attacks so fast it drains and kills anyone. This is all without even using his ult. I rarely build heroes around ults b/c the of CD time. If you get mjolnir, you can also use it on yourself or support your other tanks with it, so there are a few variety of ways to still play him in DPS build. There are rare instances where I would go either BM or lothar b/c the game demands it.

[EdgeOfChaos]

Like with other longrange such as sniper, that can be really effective, but it dies to good initiators. No need to crawl through Arctic Burn to get to them when you can blink attack as a Tiny or something.

[WolfPackMama]

I just don't get why people build Skadi on winter when it doesn't work during Arctic Burn, and you'll rarely get as close to as 400 range to attack someone to poke them during lategame and risk yourself out.
Mjolnir, yes, it works really nicely with both his ult and his Arctic Burn. But Skadi? The only good thing about Skadi on Winter is some extra stats it gives, but she can do just as well with hex or atos and orchid combo for that cash.

[Sylvanas]

I just don't get why people build Skadi on winter when it doesn't work during Arctic Burn, and you'll rarely get as close to as 400 range to attack someone to poke them during lategame and risk yourself out.
Mjolnir, yes, it works really nicely with both his ult and his Arctic Burn. But Skadi? The only good thing about Skadi on Winter is some extra stats it gives, but she can do just as well with hex or atos and orchid combo for that cash.

You sure about that? Different sources of slow normally stack until target reaches minimum move speed. For instance, blue dragon dk with skadi slows main target more than normal.