Dota 2 Techies Guide
| Tags: Dota 2
| Author The Old One
Unleash mischief to the battlefield with the bombastic sapping trio and their eruptive arsenal of explosives with our Dota 2 Techies Guide
Ready to blow up the competition, Squee, Spleen and Spoon, aka Techies Demolition, have an explosive reputation. With an arsenal of powerful bombs mixed with a bit of deranged genius and madness, they are even willing to take the meaning of ‘do it yourself’ literally to get the job done. So, tread lightly and mind the gaps, or you may just go BOOM!
The Techies trio is a ranged Universal Hero with a low Health pool of 538 but a plentiful Mana pool of 375. Although their 44 attack damage is very low, they have the highest base attack range of 700. They also have good armor of 4.3 and a movement speed of 300.
Techies Demolition (TD) is quite an unusual Hero, as their main playstyle is about placing traps and doing explosive Area of Effect (AoE) damage to enemies who do not mind their step. Thanks to these, Techies is a nuisance in teamfights and excels at pushing or defending pushes. Squishy in nature and highly dependent on Mana, they are the most impactful in the hands of a Dota 2 pro who excels at reading enemy movement. Their impact in the early to mid-game is unmatched, and they usually tend to try to end their game by then.
Contents
Abilities
Let’s understand the madness of TD and their arsenal of unique and high-damaging explosives and abilities.
- Sticky Bomb – Techies throw a bomb towards a target area, which rests at or latches on to an enemy in a 250 radius (375 with level 20 talent). When latched, the bomb slows the enemy target by 55% for 2 seconds before exploding for up to 320 AoE damage in a 300 radius (425 with level 20 talent) and applying a second slow of up to 45% for 3 seconds.
- Reactive Tazer – TD triggers a tazer that gives him a stunning electric shield and bonus movement speed of up to 30% for 6 seconds. All enemies attacking them during the duration are disarmed for up to 3.3 seconds, and after 6 seconds, the shield bursts, disarming all enemies in a 400 radius. The ability can also be detonated early after a 0.5s cast delay during its effect to cause an AoE explosion. This ability can be upgraded by Aghanim’s Shard.
- Aghanim’s Shard Upgrade – Allows Reactive Tazer to be cast on allies, adding a bonus 300 damage on detonation or to all enemies attacking the affected ally.
- Blast Off! – Techies hurl themselves at a target location after a 0.75 channel time to deal a massive AoE damage of up to 500 (700 with level 15 talent) and stun enemies in a 400 radius for up to 1.4 seconds. The damage is dealt upon landing and TD also loses as low as 20% of their health in non-lethal damage.
- Minefield Sign (Unique) – Plants a maximum of 1 warning sign that causes mines in a 500 radius to be invulnerable. The sign lasts for 60 seconds and is permanently phased. This ability can also be upgraded by Aghanim’s Scepter.
- Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade – Increases the effect radius to 1000 and duration to 240 seconds. When an enemy Hero walks within 200 distance of the sign, the 1000 radius area around it becomes a mind field for 10 seconds, dealing 300 damage for every 200 distance the enemy moves. The sign is destroyed after this effect.
- Proximity Mines – Techies plant an invisible mine undetected by True Sight. When an enemy moves within 500 distance of the mine, it triggers after 1 second, dealing full damage in a 150 radius for up to 750 and lesser damage within a 500 radius for up to 375. The explosion also deals 30% damage to buildings and reduces the enemy’s magic resistance by up to 25% for 5 seconds. The mines have a maximum of 3 charges that replenish at the lowest of every 15 seconds (12 with level 10 talent).
Talents
- Level 10 – -3 Proximity Mines Cooldown or +20% Magic Resistance
- Level 15 – +3 Mana Regen or +200 Blast Off! Damage
- Level 20 – -15s Blast Off! Cooldown or +125 Sticky Bomb Latch/Explosion Radius
- Level 25 – -0.8s Proximity Mines Activation Delay or +252 Damage
Dota 2 Techies Guide – Tips
Techies Demolition brings powerful explosives to every game, ready to keep enemies at the edge throughout the game. Be it the Sticky Bomb that latches on and slows the enemy trying to run away, or the crazy and devasting Blast Off! ability nuking them down, TD giggles throughout the entire encounter. Try to punish them and they will activate their Reactive Tazer, zapping and disarming any attacker. Their Minefield Sign adds insult to injury, as it innocently hides devastating Proximity Mines that will make you wish you never approached Techies’ minefield sign.
As a Nuker or Disabler, TD is usually good at almost every position other than hard carry. His powerful and high-damaging abilities make him difficult to lane against, as some early attribute-based items can give him enough Mana to spam his spells and a bit more right-click damage to harass easily with his incredible attack range. Pushing is also fairly easy, as is defending, and they are great at creating space for their carry to come online.
Techies is not too dependent on farm, and as long as he has enough Mana pool and basic attribute items, he can be effective till mid-game. He can easily farm with his abilities and high attack range, and with proper game sense, he can easily place Proximity Mines to secure his farm to mid-game.
Dota 2 Techies – Pros and Cons
Here are some of TD’s expertise and lackings.
Pros:
- Highest base attack range
- Excellent base armor
- Does need teamfights to be effective
- Great at halting enemy map control
- High magic damage nuke
- Great at defending high ground
Cons:
- Suffers from Mana issue early
- Low Health poll
- Low attack damage
- Mines can be exploded by summons
- Blast-Off! hurts TD’s health and positioning
How to play Techies
Become a master sapper and learn the bombastic ways of Techies Demolition with our short guide.
Starting Items
Head into your lane with a Tango and Healing Salve for basic HP regen and Clarity and Enchanted Mango for Mana regen. You can also pick up Blood Grenade for more aggressive plays.
Starting with a Null Talisman is also feasible, as it gives you attributes, Mana and more damage for last-hits. Furthermore, you can also pick up a Magic Stick if facing a spell-spamming enemy lineup.
Early Game
Focus on getting your levels in the early game, as your abilities are very powerful. Pick up Boots of Speed and upgrade it to Arcane Boots as soon as possible. You can also pick up a Soul Ring, which will help you spam your abilities more. Keep Town Portal Scrolls on you at all times.
If playing as a core, you should also be able to farm or be close to items like Force Staff or Aether Lens, which will help you with better positioning and your Mana pool.
Mid Game
Riddle the map with your mines and try to join teamfights if you are close by, as your Blast Off! will do incredible damage. Combining it with Reactive Tazer will turn every fight in your favor. If you are having trouble surviving, you can get items like Ghost Scepter, Glimmer Cape or Eul’s Scepter of Divinity, the last of which will also give you Mana regeneration.
If you want to increase your damage output, getting a Veil of Discord is a great idea. For more cheeky plays, you can also resort to getting a Dagon. You can also get a Rod of Atos to help you lock down and Blast Off! on targets more easily.
Late Game
As a Techies, your job in the lategame is to stick with your team and take teamfights or pushes. If you are on the losing side, placing mines on your side of the map and defending high ground is the only way for you to create space for your carry to come online. You should have your Aghanim’s Scepter by now and an Octarine Core for spamming your abilities.
If you are leading, try to pick up more disables for your team, including items like Orchid of Malevolence or Scythe of Vyse for the extra single-target debuffs. Getting a Shiva’s Guard will also be perfect for combining with your Blast Off!
Dota 2 Techies Counters
Here are Heroes that can easily extinguish the Trio’s fuse.
- Anti-Mage – His Counterspell’s magic resistance helps him survive most of TD’s combos. He can also blink over mines and, with his Manta illusions, can quickly drain Techies’ Mana and Mana Void them.
- Juggernaut – He can easily Blade Fury over the Proximity Mines, and even dodge Sticky Bombs and Blast Off! damage with the magic immunity. His Omnislash also ignores Reactive Tazer’s disarm.
- Templar Assassin – Her Refraction is extremely useful for TD’s nuke damage and can trigger Proximity Mines safely. Furthermore, well-placed Psionic Traps can see Techies’ movement and hint allies of probable mines.
- Abaddon – His Aphotic Shield is great at helping allies survive TD’s high nuke damage, and even debuff disarms and stuns. Furthermore, his Borrowed Time can be used to walk over Proximity Mines and detonate them to heal himself.
Conclusion
We regularly upload guides for your favorite Heroes, so watch for more to come.