Lina is a strong ranged hero, whose primary attribute is intelligence. She is known for her powerful abilities and burst damage, capable of quickly farming creep waves and killing enemy heroes. She is mostly chosen for the midlane role.

In this Lina Dota 2 guide, we will help you understand this hero and select the best strategy to maximize her potential.

Hero Basics

Lina is a versatile nuker with abilities that have relatively low cooldowns (except for her ultimate). However, she can also deal significant right-click damage thanks to her passive ability, which increases her movement and attack speed.

The hero mainly relies on mana to frequently use her abilities and requires certain items to maintain her survivability and effectiveness in combat.

Lina's Strengths:

• Versatility: Lina can be picked for any position in the game, as her abilities allow her to perform in various roles. However, midlane and support remain the most prioritized positions.

• Lane Clear/Farming Potential: She can easily and quickly farm creep waves and then move into the jungle, rapidly increasing her GPM and EPM.

• High Burst Damage: With her abilities and right-clicks, Lina can kill enemy heroes in the early game, especially with her ultimate, which deals massive damage.

• Crowd Control: One of her abilities can stun multiple enemies at once if aimed correctly.

• Good Harassment: Lina can comfortably stay in lane, constantly harassing enemies with her abilities and long-range attacks, making it difficult for the enemy to remain in lane.

Lina's Weaknesses:

• Mana Dependency: Lina's abilities consume a lot of mana, so she needs to increase her mana pool or have items that regenerate this resource for continuous use.

• Low Durability: Lina has relatively low health, making her easy to kill if caught in a mistake. Her stun (Light Strike Array) can help her escape, but only if used correctly.

• Positioning: Correct positioning in fights is crucial for Lina. Otherwise, she becomes a prime target for enemy heroes.

• Vulnerability to Silence: Silence effects severely cripple Lina, since she relies heavily on her abilities in fights.

• Farm and Level Dependency: Without sufficient gold and experience, Lina remains a weak hero who can't fully realize her potential.

Heroes Lina Counters

Heroes Who Counter Lina

Heroes with silence, control abilities, or those who can easily close the distance to Lina are dangerous for her, as they can prevent her from escaping. Some heroes can even turn Lina’s strengths against her.

Tips for Playing Lina in Dota 2

This Dota Lina guide focuses on midlane tips, since it’s the most suitable lane for her. Your primary goal in the midlane will be to harass the enemy hero and last-hit creeps with Dragon Slave and Light Strike Array. We've prepared key gameplay tips for Lina, especially during the laning stage:

Early Game:

• Focus on lane dominance by using Dragon Slave to push the wave and secure last hits.
• Harass the opponent with Dragon Slave and auto-attacks while continuing to last-hit enemy and deny your own creeps to solidify your lead.
• Control runes and buy a Bottle to sustain your health and mana, as Lina heavily relies on these resources.
• Use Light Strike Array to secure kills with your team if they rotate to assist you.
• Be cautious of ganks, as Lina is vulnerable to them.
• Assist allies when you get a good rune and have your ultimate ready.

Mid Game:

• By mid game, you should have Boots of Travel and Eul's Scepter or Gleipnir, which will allow you to move around the map and apply pressure on other lanes.
• Look for gank opportunities and assist in team fights whenever possible, but otherwise, focus on maximizing your farm.
• Use Laguna Blade wisely to quickly eliminate key enemies, especially supports or other fragile heroes.
• Push lanes with creeps to take down enemy towers.

Late Game:

• In late game, Lina becomes a hybrid hero, dealing tons of damage with both abilities and right-clicks.
• Focus on good positioning in team fights — Hero can be vulnerable if caught without an escape Dota 2 Lina mechanics. Otherwise, invest in survivability or escape items.
• Use Laguna Blade to eliminate high-priority targets or force enemies to retreat.
• Don’t hesitate to buy a BKB to ensure you can cast spells uninterrupted in team fights.

Dota 2 Lina Build

To fully unleash Lina’s potential, you need to know the optimal build. We will go over which abilities to level up and the items Lina needs.

Lina Facets

• Thermal Runaway: Using Lina’s ultimate (Laguna Blade) grants her passive charges from Fiery Soul.
• Slow Burn: Lina’s abilities deal additional periodic damage.

Most players prefer the first option as it grants immediate mobility after using the ultimate, which is more beneficial than extra damage. According to DotaBuff, Thermal Runaway has the highest pick and winrates.

Talents and Abilities

Lina Dota 2 Items

• Starting items: Tango, Faerie Fire, Observer Ward, Iron Branch (x4)
• Early Game: Null Talisman, Bottle, Boots of Speed, Falcon Blade, Wind Lace
• Mid Game: Maelstrom, Boots of Travel, Force Staff, Rod of Atos
• Late Game: Hurricane Pike, Daedalus, Satanic, Gleipnir, Black King Bar
• Situational Items: Aether Lens, Silver Edge, Nullifier, Aghanim’s Shard, Octarine Core, Scythe of Vyse
• Neutral Items: Arcane Ring, Grove Bow, Royal Jelly, Psychic Headband, Timeless Relic

Example Game of Lina in Dota 2

You can check out Raddan (Yatoro) playing Lina to see how to execute this hero, follow proper timings, and handle certain situations. This will give you a better understanding of specific aspects and help you adapt them to your own gameplay.

Conclusion

With this Dota 2 midlane guide on Lina, you’ll be able to build your hero properly and follow the tips to win your lane and secure victory in your match. You’ll gain additional insight into Lina’s strengths, weaknesses, and her optimal build.