How to Play Lion in Dota 2 [Full Guide]

Lion is one of the most satisfying Dota 2 supports you can play, which is why he’s also one of the most popular heroes in the game. This bad boy is equipped with heavy lockdown and an ultimate that sends a message. If you want to go to Hell and back, and back to Hell and back, I’ll teach you how to play Lion in this Dota 2 guide. 

Lion Hero Overview

Lion is primarily played in the Dota 2 support role, mostly in the fourth position, to be exact. He’s equipped with two disabling abilities that allow him to control enemy heroes effectively in fights and also be a semi-initiator.

His iconic ability, named Finger of Death, provides heavy, single-target burst damage — making him great at providing extra damage in a hurry or finishing off low-health targets. 

However, Lion is one of the squishiest heroes in the game and barely has any survivability tools, which is why good positioning is extremely important when playing him; getting caught off guard can be very punishing. 

How to REALLY Use Lion’s Abilities

Lion’s ability kit is pretty easy to understand, but requires good execution. So, let’s understand what his abilities do and how you can use them to their full potential. 

Earth Spike (Q)

Lion’s first ability is Earth Spike, which is his primary stun. He impales the ground, creating a rock spike that stuns all units it passes through. This gives Lion the potential to stun multiple heroes in one cast.

Earth Spike travels in a straight line, so angling it properly is very important. You want to line up as many heroes as possible to get the maximum value out of your stun. 

Earth Spike can both be point-targeted or ground-targeted. You can simply click on an enemy hero, and the stun will travel directly towards the target. However, it’s typically better to ground-target the stun so you can manually line up where it’s going to go. Enemy heroes don’t necessarily need to be right on top of the Earth Spike – you can still catch enemies very close to it. 

Pro Tip: Though it doesn’t say it in the ability description, Earth Spike actually travels further when ground-targeted as opposed to point-targeted. This is why the best Dota 2 support players always manually aim their Earth Spikes and click on the ground. 

Hex (W)

Hex is Lion’s second source of disables. With it, he turns a single enemy unit into a frog for a couple of seconds. While in frog form, enemies cannot use items and abilities, and will suffer a significant movement speed reduction. With all of these effects, you can pretty much consider the target stunned.

Lion’s Hex works the exact same way as Shadow Shaman’s Hex and the Hex ability from buying Scythe of Vyse. It’s a very reliable disable as the enemy can’t really do anything in the duration. Using Hex on an illusion will instantly kill it.

The strongest aspect of Lion’s Hex is that the cast animation is instant – it’s impossible to react to, especially if Lion buys a Blink Dagger. Doing a simple Blink + Hex combo on an enemy hero is incredibly difficult to react to even if they have Black King Bar. 

Pro Tip: When casting Lion’s two disables in tandem, it is always better to start with Hex first, as it has a bigger cast range and has no cast animation. So, the typical combo is Hex into Earth Spike. 

Mana Drain (E)

Lion’s abilities cost a lot of mana, which is why he’s given a built-in mana regeneration tool. His third ability is Mana Drain, allowing him to drain mana from enemy units and steal it for himself. 

Mana Drain is a channeling ability, meaning you have to stand still while you’re giving enemies the Zucc. Like any other channel, moving, stopping, or getting interrupted will end the duration.

Mana Drain doesn’t only work on heroes, but creeps too. Lion can drain mana from any unit that has mana. This includes enemy ranged creeps and most neutral creeps in the game. Melee creeps don’t have mana, so you can’t cast it on them. 

Pro Tip: You can also cast Mana Drain on allied heroes. However, you’re not draining their mana. Instead, you’re draining your own mana and transferring it to them. 

Finger of Death (R)

Now, we arrive at Lion’s ultimate ability – Finger of Death, which is a pretty straightforward spell. You go full send on an enemy unit, dealing very heavy magical damage in less than half a second. This ability is one of the biggest single nukes in the entire game.

Finger of Death is a point-target spell, meaning you just click it on an enemy and let it rip. It is primarily used as follow-up damage, allowing you and your teammates to finish off enemies within the duration of your two disables.

Pro Tip: Lion can build up Finger of Death stacks, with each stack adding 40 damage to the next usage. You don’t necessarily need to be the one getting the kills – assists also count, though the enemy hero must die within 3 seconds of you using the ability on them. So, there’s infinite scaling potential.

Innate Ability: To Hell and Back

Lion’s innate ability is inspired by his very iconic Dota 2 voice line. To Hell and Back is a passive ability that grants Lion bonus spell amplification and debuff duration that lasts for 90 seconds after respawning.

So, if you’ve just respawned and the enemy team is diving your tower, you can teleport in knowing you have some pretty nifty buffs. 

Lion’s Aghanim’s Shard and Scepter Upgrades

Just like every other hero in the game, Lion is also equipped with Aghanim’s Shard and Scepter upgrades. Let’s check them out.

Aghanim’s Shard Upgrade Upgraded Mana Drain

Lion’s Dota 2 Aghanim’s Shard upgrade does two things to Mana Drain. First, he drains two additional enemies when casting the spell, meaning he can drain up to three units. You cast the spell on the main guy, then the ability will automatically search for any other units within the radius. Lion’s mana replenishment goes crazy fast if you’re draining three units.

Second, Lion becomes debuff immune while channeling this spell. So, you’re pretty much BKB’d while draining enemies. Some of the best Lion players even intentionally use Mana Drain to dodge an incoming stun. You can get very creative with this.

Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade: Upgraded Finger of Death

The most exciting upgrade is Lion’s Aghanim’s Scepter, upgrading his already-fun ultimate. Aghanim’s Scepter allows Finger of Death to hit all enemy units within a radius. This means it is now an Area of Effect spell.

On top of making Finger of Death an AoE spell, the Scepter also increases its damage and reduces the cooldown. You can even farm creep waves using the ability and not feel bad. 

Though this might sound absolutely busted at first glance, it’s not as game-changing as you might think. Sure, there are situations where this upgrade goes ham, but in 80% of games, it doesn’t really do much. Still, it’s a very fun item to buy – no debate there. 

Best Lion Ability Build

Lion is all about his abilities, so it’s important to follow the correct build order. His ability build is almost the same every game:

Earth Spike is always maxed out first, no questions asked. It is your most valuable ability, especially in the early game. It does a ton of damage early on. Mana Drain comes next – don’t underestimate how much mana you can steal from enemies. The mana replenish also saves you trips to the fountain so you can keep playing on the map. Hex comes last, as it doesn’t scale too well in the early game. 

Best Item Build for Lion

Lion is a support hero and doesn’t have the greatest farming potential in the world. It’s safe to say items are pretty scarce, but it’s still worth knowing what items you should buy. Let’s take a look. 

Early Game Items

Lion doesn’t need too many items in the early game, as he wants to get a Blink Dagger as soon as possible. Getting too many small items will just slow down the timing.

However, there are two items that help him get through the early game, which are:

• Tranquil Boots: Lion has an ability to replenish mana, so buying Tranquil Boots will put a check mark in the health department box as well. The regen from Tranquil Boots means you pretty much never have to go back to base. 
• Magic Stick: Lion is a very squishy hero who likes to skirmish. Spending 200 gold on an unupgraded Magic Stick is 100% a good investment. 

Core Items

Here are the items Lion players buy almost every single game and why:

• Blink Dagger: Lion’s Blink + Hex combo is extremely devastating. He suddenly turns into a viable initiator and becomes deadly in pickoffs. It also lets him position himself to line up multi-hero Earth Spikes in fights. 
• Force Staff: Lion is very, very squishy. If he gets caught with his pants down, he’s almost guaranteed to die. Getting Force Staff gives you some room for error and is also a good combination with Blink Dagger. You can blink in for a good stun and reposition with Force Staff.
• Glimmer Cape: Lion has some very useful spells, but he doesn’t have great tools to save his teammates. Glimmer Cape is always a nice contribution to the team, and can also be used to save himself. 
• Aether Lens: This item isn’t necessary if you’ve mastered positioning, but it’s still an item that never hurts to buy. Aether Lens also increases the range of your Blink Dagger, which is always nice. 

Luxury Items

Lion isn’t really a gold-printing machine, so it’s rare to see him reach luxury items. But if you manage to get there, here are some great options:

• Aeon Disk: Lion can be a very effective initiator in the late game, especially when he can start with an unreactable stun. However, this requires him to blink in, which can leave him exposed. Aeon Disk is just a great item to make sure you don’t die immediately in fights. 
• Black King Bar: Similar to Aeon Disk, the Dota 2 Black King Bar also lets you do a little bit of initiating without too much risk. It’s a very situational item, but it can make a huge difference in the right game. 
• Wind Waker: Lion is a bit of an “in-and-out” hero — you want to get multiple rounds of spells in. Wind Waker allows you to go in, throw out your spells, then get out and wait for your cooldowns to reset. 
• Aghanim’s Scepter: We’ve touched on Aghanim’s Scepter earlier. You can always buy it to increase your damage output and also farm creep waves easily. 

How to Play Lion by Phase

Finally, I’ll give you a solid game plan for how Lion should be played across all three stages of the game. Here are your main goals:

Early Game: Harass Lanes and Make Rotations

Lion isn’t the greatest laning hero in the game. You have low damage and health, but you do have pretty good attack range. Make sure you’re harassing enemies from very far away, making use of your superior attack range. Using Mana Drain on mana-dependent enemies is also a very annoying way of harassing them.

Lion’s Earth Spike is incredibly useful in the early game. You should look to make rotations, such as going to the river to help your mid laner secure a rune. Or, you can always use the Twin Gates to make plays on other lanes. 

Mid Game: Follow Your Strongest Hero Around and Find Pickoffs

Lion wants to fight. He doesn’t really have the best farming or split-pushing tools. He wants to keep looking for kills whenever Finger of Death is off cooldown.

The best way to secure pickoffs is to form a kill squad with your team’s strongest hero and your other support. At this stage, it’s usually the mid laner or the offlaner. You can try roaming around the map and hunting for kills. 

Lion generally wants to go for pickoffs at this point in the game – not full-on teamfights. Unless the whole team is looking for a fight, you’re just getting one kill and vanishing into thin air. 

Late Game: Play the “In-And-Out” Style

Lion is equipped with low-cooldown disables that can have a huge impact in fights. You ideally want to get multiple rounds of your spells in there, not just stun one person and immediately die afterwards.

The key is to play from long range and maximize your Blink Dagger usage. Blink in, use your stuns, then walk out of vision. You’re waiting for your Blink Dagger and stuns to go back off cooldown before going in again. Then, you just rinse and repeat.

Make instances of small commitments rather than one all-in play where you blink in the middle of everyone and get popped like a balloon. Always be aware of your positioning, which is why items like Blink Dagger and an additional Force Staff are highly recommended.