Hero Compendium#

This page is the hero overview for Dota 2. Developed by Valve on the Source 2 engine, the game launched on Steam on July 9, 2013 as free-to-play, with a roster above 120 heroes that grows or reworks with every major patch.

That is why this page lists no snapshot hero data — exact numbers and win rates shift with every balance patch, and any snapshot expires. What this page covers are the fixed rules for “reading” a hero: position and farm priority, primary attributes and growth rules, skill-point milestones, the three-layer talent/Aghanim’s Shard/Facet growth systems, and how to build and audit a hero pool. For exact skill numbers, always defer to the in-game hero screen in the current version.

Where to Look Up Hero Info#

Five Positions and Representative Heroes#

The site’s overview divides matches into five positions; position determines farm priority and duty boundaries. Before picking a hero, decide your position, then start from its representative heroes:

Two usage notes:

• The same hero can switch positions with the draft, but farm priority caps its growth: position 1 takes the most resources and the most damage responsibility; position 5 donates resources to cores and trades skills and vision for team value.
• The table lists entry representatives per position only; browse the full hero list in-game by primary attribute and faction — no memorization needed.

Primary Attributes and Growth Rules#

Every hero belongs to exactly one of three primary attributes: Strength, Agility or Intelligence. The primary attribute decides the hero’s damage type and guides item direction:

Usage rule: to judge “what a hero deals damage with”, look at its primary attribute — Strength heroes lean frontline and control, Agility heroes lean sustained physical damage, Intelligence heroes lean skill bursts and team buffs; since every primary point converts to attack damage, the same stat item pays out completely differently across heroes — never copy builds verbatim.

Skill Points and Level Milestones#

• Each level grants 1 skill point, allocatable between skills and stats;
• Ultimates can only be leveled at 4, 8, 12 and 16 — align power spikes to these milestones: with ult versus without is often two different tiers of hero;
• Use the overview’s match-phase framework: laning roughly 0-10 minutes, mid game 10-25, late game 25-40, ultra-late beyond 40. Cores should check whether their levels and key items hit each phase’s rhythm markers, not just the gold number.

Talents, Aghanim’s Shard and Facets: Three Growth Layers#

None of these systems change a hero’s fundamental role; they change how the same hero plays. Choose by what the draft needs — never copy fixed combos:

The trend is worth noting: a hero’s expression space has grown from “one fixed skill set” to “layered customization across talents, items, shards and facets” — the same hero can play completely differently across branches. When studying a hero, read all four layers, not just the skill panel.

Is This Hero Right for You?#

Data Criteria#

Three things to remember when reading stats:

• Read win rate together with pick rate: a hero with very low pick rate and high win rate is usually carried by a few specialists — limited reference value;
• Prefer high-rank data: the higher the rank, the closer to the hero’s skill ceiling and true strength;
• Mind version freshness: balance patches directly change skill numbers — cross-version data doesn’t carry over; use the latest balance patch’s samples.

Feel Criteria#

Use the hero demo plus two or three normal matches to verify three things:

• Skill hit difficulty: targeted skills or skillshot prediction? Prediction skills demand more mechanics and game sense;
• Mechanical load: multi-unit control? Combo sequencing? Higher load means higher practice cost;
• Item and teammate dependence: the slower a hero comes online and the more it needs coordination, the more it wobbles in unstable games.

Draft Criteria#

Check the team’s gaps before picking; fill the gap, not your preference:

Power-Spike Criteria#

Building and Practicing Your Hero Pool#

Keep the pool narrow, not wide: main one position with 2-3 primary heroes plus 1-2 backups. Backups should differ mechanically from primaries as much as possible — that’s your fallback when primaries get banned or nerfed.

Whether you’re in Herald, Guardian or Ancient, Divine ranks, the route holds: master the position first, then widen the pool; the higher the rank, the harder opponents punish a shallow pool — one of the core gates of the rank ladder (Herald, Guardian, Crusader, Archon, Legend, Ancient, Divine, Immortal).

Self-audit: for every hero you’ve practiced, answer four questions — when does it spike, how does play change around ultimate levels, what do you protect when behind, and what do you fear most when it’s on the enemy team. Only when all four are answerable have you truly mastered it.

When to Shelve a Hero#

If any of the following happens, set the hero aside:

• After many games you still can’t reliably execute the basic combo — your hands and the hero don’t match;
• The hero’s win rate sits clearly below your overall average with no upward trend across games;
• Most of your attention goes to inputs with no room to watch the minimap — the load exceeds your current capacity.

Shelving isn’t deleting: after a rework or buff, re-evaluate in the demo — many heroes rotate back into strength.

FAQ#

Related Pages in This Section#

• Beginner’s Guide — positions, laning basics and last-hit fundamentals
• Controls Settings — key binds, quickcast and control groups
• Item System — build thinking and counters
• Tips Guide — micro essentials and teamfight coordination
• FAQ — high-frequency newcomer questions