Dota 2 Queen of Pain Guide – Items, Tips & Counters

This in-depth Dota 2 Queen of Pain guide will reveal why this is one of the most popular cores.

Queen of Pain is one of those heroes that has always been a part of the Dota 2 meta. Even though there are patches where she shines more, generally speaking, QoP is a solid pick. This is especially true for pub games, where this is one of the most dominant heroes in the game.

What you will notice before reading this Queen of Pain Dota 2 guide is that the hero starts with 3.7 armor and 51-57 damage. Furthermore, she has 290 movement speed and 550 range. These stats are pretty good and allow her to be one of the stronger laners in Dota 2.

Before checking the Queen of Pain pro tracker and learning more about it, let’s go through other important things about the hero. 

Abilities

Before analyzing the top Dota 2 Queen of Pain build, we need to share some details regarding the hero’s abilities.

• Shadow Strike – This ability allows QoP to deal 120 damage, slow down a target by 65% and deal 80 damage per tick for 15s. During that time, QoP heals from the damage.
• Blink – Allows the hero to teleport on a 6s cooldown.
• Scream of Pain – An AoE ability that deals 300 damage.
• Sonic Wave – This ultimate deals 650 Pure damage and knocks back units. The damage will be applied gradually over 1.4s, which is the knockback's duration (the latter is undisplayable).

People interested in QoP’s Shard will be able to deal 125 damage and silence a target for 1.8s when they blink (in both locations). As for the Aghanim’s Scepter, players who get this item will get an AoE Shadow Strike that will do more damage. Moreover, once the ability is over or re-applied, the target will emit a Scream of Pain, which will hit nearby enemies. 

Talents

The next important thing to help you decide which Queen of Pain Dota 2 build you’ll focus on is the talents.

• Level 10 – +8 STR or +15 Damage
• Level 15 – +30 Attack Speed or – 0.7s damage intervals for Shadow Strike
• Level 20 – Sonic Wave Cooldown -40s or +100 Scream of Pain damage
• Level 25 – Sonic Wave +200 damage or Blink Cooldown -2s

Dota 2 Queen of Pain Guide – Tips

Before you get the Dota 2 Queen of Pain Arcana and start playing, it’s worth knowing that this hero is almost always the midder. Yet, there are instances where QoP can be the offlaner or even a Position 1, depending on the pick.

Once you pick QoP and you have a core role, the next important thing to decide is whether you want to use the physical or magical damage item build. Your gameplay will depend a lot on it because people who choose the latter need to be more active and take part in fights early on.

QoP is incredibly powerful in the mid-game because she’s among the best Nukers. She can easily hunt the squishy heroes on the enemy team and even land solo kills. Moreover, thanks to Blink, the hero can be a lot more aggressive than usual, especially when there are no disables on the enemy team.

In an ideal game, Queen of Pain will be able to get a couple of kills and use them to snowball out of control. The hero can farm pretty fast and can also clear neutral camps. She can also, like most mid-lane matchups, which is very important, especially in PUBs.

Queen of Pain Dota 2 Guide – Pros and Cons

This hero has many positives besides the Dota 2 Queen of Pain skins, so let’s learn more about it.

Pros:

• Very mobile
• Good nuker
• Can lane well against most heroes
• Good at killing squishy heroes
• Farms fast

Cons:

• Vulnerable against heroes with disables
• She may not be that good in the late game, depending on her item build

Queen of Pain Dota 2 Item Build

After reading the Dota 1 Queen of Pain lore and decide to play with the hero, the most important thing you need to think of is the item build. As mentioned, there are two big options you can go for – the magical or physical damage build. Some people also decide to try a hybrid version and it can work, but it all depends in the meta.

Starting items

Like all core heroes, QoP needs some HP regen and stats. She can get that by purchasing Tangoes and getting things like Iron Branches or a Circlet.

Early game

In the early game, QoP must have at least a Boots of Speed and one Null Talisman. Players should also get a Bottle because it will allow them to gank more and have extra regen.

Mid game

QoP’s mid game items can vary, depending on what item build she goes for. Usually, the hero has Power Treads and Witch Blade, but she may decide to rush Desolator. Players who wany more magical damage and utility can also go for a Veil of Discord, ORchid Malevolence, or Aghs.

Late game

Pretty much every big item will work well for Queen of Pain in the late game. Magical damage fans can get Aghs, followed by Refresher and Octarine Core, whereas those who prefer Physical damage can get Assault, Bloodthorn, MKB, BKB, and so on. Scythe of Vyse is a pretty good item too and it can work with both item builds.

Dota 2 Queen of Pain Guide – Counters

Even though this hero can work against pretty much anything, there is a Dota 2 Queen of Pain counter you need to be aware of.

• Anti-Mage – AM can kill QoP in a matter of seconds, and she can’t escape from him because the latter also has blink.
• Bloodseeker – His ultimate prevents QoP from using her Blink, making her an easy target.
• Nyx Assassin – Nyx’s ability to sun and deal damage to INT heroes makes him highly effective versus QoP.
• Puck – Puck is very similar to QoP in ways, but the hero is much stronger in a direct clash.

Conclusion

If you take a look at the Queen of Pain Dota 2 wiki or something else, you will see that this hero is way more popular than many other midders. She works exceptionally well in a variety of situations and is always a solid pick for the pub scene. No wonder her pick rate is among the highest in the game.