Anti-Mage No fun in depth guide

Hello, this is my second guide for dota 2 heroes, (you can find my first one for Luna here http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=291291404 )

In this guide i will try to tell you how to properly play with Anti-Mage and carry your team to victory

Introduction

Anti-Mage is one the strongest late game carries and one of the fastest farmers in the game. Great hero for splitpushing who also has great mobility because of his blink. Used many times in 4 protect 1 strategies where you babysit an Anti-Mage waiting him to be a farmed beast

Base stats

568HP and 195 MP
49-53 Damage
2.08 Armor

22 strength with 1.2 str gained/level
22 agility with 2.8 agi gained/level
15 intelligence with 1.8 int gained/level

Additional Stats

Movement Speed 315
Sight Range 1800(day) / 800(night)
Attack range 128 (melee)
Attack Duration 0.3 (Attack Point) + 0.6 (Backswing)
Cast Duartion 0.3 (Cast Point) + 0.47 (Backswing)
Base Attack Time 1,19
Turn Rate 0,5

Lore

The monks of Turstarkuri watched the rugged valleys below their mountain monastery as wave after wave of invaders swept through the lower kingdoms. Ascetic and pragmatic, in their remote monastic eyrie they remained aloof from mundane strife, wrapped in meditation that knew no gods or elements of magic. Then came the Legion of the Dead God, crusaders with a sinister mandate to replace all local worship with their Unliving Lord's poisonous nihilosophy. From a landscape that had known nothing but blood and battle for a thousand years, they tore the souls and bones of countless fallen legions and pitched them against Turstarkuri. The monastery stood scarcely a fortnight against the assault, and the few monks who bothered to surface from their meditations believed the invaders were but demonic visions sent to distract them from meditation. They died where they sat on their silken cushions. Only one youth survived—a pilgrim who had come as an acolyte, seeking wisdom, but had yet to be admitted to the monastery. He watched in horror as the monks to whom he had served tea and nettles were first slaughtered, then raised to join the ranks of the Dead God's priesthood. With nothing but a few of Turstarkuri's prized dogmatic scrolls, he crept away to the comparative safety of other lands, swearing to obliterate not only the Dead God's magic users—but to put an end to magic altogether.

Skills

Mana Break




Burns 28/40/52/64 the enemy's mana per level with each attack. It also deals 60% of the mana burned as extra damage to the target


Notes:

• Anti-Mage's illusions also have this ability.
  
• Doesnt affect Magic Immune targets
  
• The bonus damage from mana burn still counts for lifesteal auras

Blink



For 60 mana Anti-Mage blinks anywhere near 1000/1075/1150/1150 range per level. The cooldown is 12/9/7/5 seconds per level


Notes:

• This skill is the reason Antimage is one of the fastest farmers and most elusive heroes in the game
  
• Can disjoint some projectiles (like Wraith King's stun)
  
• Blink has also a minimum range of 200 units

Spell Shield



Increases Anti-Mage's magic resistance by 26% /34% /42% /50% per level



Notes

• Anti-Mage's total Magic Resistance per level is 44.5% / 50.5% / 56.5% / 62.5%
  
• Illusions get to have this ability too

Mana Void

0.6 / 0.85 / 1.1 damage per level is dealt to the enemy hero and his surroundings for every point of mana they are missing dealing a ministun. The mana cost per level is 125/200/275 while the cooldown is 70seconds and the cast range is 600 units


Notes

• Ministun duration per level is 0.1/ 0.2 /0.3
  
• The damage dealt to the initial target is also dealt to every other hero within 500 radious
  
• The spell can be cast on magic immune heroes but 0 damage will be dealt. However the ministun will still trigger making mana void a great way for cancelling channeling spells made by heroes who have BKB (like Black Hole)
  
• Linken's sphere only blocks the damage to the primary target and not his surroundings between 500aoe

Special Note

• The fun ends here

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Flash Farmer: Because of his Blink Antimage can move fast between jungle camps and the lane thus increasing his farm speed by huge amounts. If he also build Battlefury he is definately one of the fastest farmers in the game
  
  
• High Survivability: Blink makes a great escape mechanism for anti mage making it impossible to catch him unless you have some lockdown or a silence. Moreover, his spell shield makes him extremely durable against any magic spell used at him making him one of the hardest targets to kill
  
  
• Huge Carry Potential Anti-Mage scales great in the late game with a lot of items. His flash farm ability makes it even easier for him to get those items. He can outfarm almost any other carry in the mid-late game having much more items than the enemy carry
  
  
• Good Laner: His decent armor, great attack animation and survivability make him a great laner. He could make do with one support which is harassing the enemy offlane. Sometimes after level 3 where he has a point in each of his spells he can even stay solo in the lane without problems if the enemy offlaner is not too strong
  
  
• Strong against nukes In the early game most of the heroes depend on magic nuke damage in order to kill you, but Anti-Mage because of his Spell Shield has huge Magic Resistance. He can also punish heroes with huge mana pools by burning their mana and then killing them off with his ultimate

Cons

• Hugely item Dependant Anti Mage needs tons of farm before he can be effective. He needs at least a battlefury and one more item (usually manta) in order to be able to fight, without those he is pretty much useless having to offer his ultimate and a couple of manaburn hits in the fights. Thats why it is so important to give huge space to this hero
  
  
• Not so good ultra late game Anti-Mage's strength lies in his flash farm ability, to have more items than the enemy carry. His full effectiveness is in the mid-late game when he usually has 1-2 more items than enemy carry. If the game is prolonged for even more and the enemy carry catches up to him he loses to many harder carries like Spectre or Naga
  
  
• Standard Playstyle Anti-Mage can only be played with one style which is farm safe till you get your battlefury and then split-push and jungle farm until you have more items. This makes him really predictable as a hero making things easier in order to think of ways to counter him

Skill Builds

1st Build- Max Blink and Stats

This build is 1/1/1 and then you max blink for maximum mobility and farming speed. After the blink you levelup stats to further increase your farm and make you more survivable. You level up mana break pretty late in the game cause usually you dont expect to fight until then. This build is great when you are free farming

2nd Build - Typical

This build allows you to harass much more effectively in the early game thus increasing your damage output. It is great against heroes who are heavily mana dependant however you are more squishy with this build plus you farm slower



Note
As for the Spell Shield, the first value point is a 'must' on level 3, but after that the skill doesnt scale that well. So if your enemies do not rely heavily on magic damage you could max it last, even after the stats. This applies to both builds.

Generally the Anti-Mage's skill build can vary from game to game, as for whether to max Spell Shield last or whether you should max mana break or blink first. The previous skill builds i wrote you are the most common ones but they could easily be changed depending on the game

Starting Items

The most standard starting items for Anti-Mage are those




2 GG branches for good stats, stout shield so as not to get harassed easily and the basic consumables. Standard stuff.
You can upgrade the 2 GG branches to a magic stick later on


Its that or the greedier item build




Build this when you are 100% sure that you will be free farming, otherwise you will be harassed out of the lane too easily.

Core Items

If your game is not horrible and you farm ok or even better go for this build

Power Treads

By far the best boots for Anti-Mage give all that he needs. Survivability and Attack Speed. You should also swap them to Intelligence when you blink (because you blink A LOT) to save mana

Magic Wand

Upgrade it from the GG branches you got from the start. Always useful.


Battlefury

Your MUST item, the one which will turn you into a farming beast to punish all magic. Sometimes people get this before treads if they feel safe enough. The ideal battlefury timing should be between 13-16minutes with treads

Manta Style

Another great item for Anti-Mage. Helps you dispell every silence the enemy team could possibly have and make 2 more illusions of you which by the way also have mana break and spell shield. They deal much more damage than you think. It also provides all the necessary stats that Anti-Mage needs. When build it be sure to first buy the Yasha to speed up you farm even more

Situational/Luxury items

So, with those 3 items as your standard ones you get to choose the other 3 from those options below based on the game situation you are in


Vladimirs Offering

If your purpose is to split push the enemy team to death then go for it just after your battlefury. The damage and armor auras help you and your creeps push much better and the lifesteal allows you to farm non stop without needing to go back. Keep in mind that at some point you will also have to sell it to get a much better more late game item. But still it remains a really good investment

Butterfly

A great item for Anti-Mage in general as he is an agility carry. This item is almost core on every Anti-Mage but one more reason to buy it is when the enemy team has some heavy right click heroes which are a pain in the ass for you

Abyssal Blade

When your team lacks the lockdowns needed to kill someone, especially if your enemies have BKB's then abyssal is your choice. You can Blink-Abyssal stun and solo kill pretty much anyone considering also you manta illusions and the mana break. Good stuff

Heart of Tarasque

Another pretty much core item for Anti-Mage. Makes him almost impossible to kill. Build it when you need extra HP and regeneration. It wont dissapoint you


Black King Bar

When your team needs you here and now to fight with them and not doing your rat stuff go for BKB. Remember that BKB is a situational item you should build only when you absolutely must fight and the enemy team has a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of lockdowns

Monkey King Bar

Build it when the enemy heroes have evasion skills and spells (like Phantom Assassin or Brewmasta) or a butterfly. Remember that MKB doesnt work on Void's Backtrack. Dont buy it if the enemy doesnt have any form of evasion.

Assault Cuirass

Not your go to Anti-Mage item but if your up against some serious right click damage and noone else in your team can afford it go for it. It will help your a lot in teamfights with its armor and attack speed aura. Its an extremelly situational item although

Divine Rapier

When you are one step away from losing and all hope is gone build the rapier. Considering that you have some defensive items like butterfly or heart it could give you some realistic chances to get back on game. An aegis also wouldnt be bad either with a rapier ^_^

Early Game Strategy

Your early game is really passive, in order of importance you should

1. Farm, farm and farm
2. Harass the enemy heroes in your lane with mana break
3. Look for kills

and of course dont die!!

Farm mainly in your lane but when it is pushed or there are many enemy heroes on it go to the jungle and afk farm until you have your battlefury. Its really hard to find kills early on cause you have zero kill potential especially without your ulti. So focus on farming.

Oh and i forgot to mention that all you should do in the early game is farm

Mid-Late Game Strategy

During the Mid game

• If your team is holding fairly well on its own build vladimirs and manta after battlefury and start splitpushing and farming even more. The more you do this, the more the difference in net worth will be between you and the enemy heroes
  
  
• If your team is losing hard and needs you start helping them. Considering that you have Battlefury and Manta you are quite a force to be reckoned with. If this is not enough too build a BKB and start staying with them as much as possible

This phase is really important cause if your team needs your help and you keep farming you wont be enough to stop the enemies from killing you and your team later on when you start joining the fights. Dont forget to kill Roshan as many times as you can

Late game is based on the mid game so the strategy you need to follow is unique in every game generally keep killing Roshan as many times as you can, start pushing or counter pushing with all the items you are going to have. Generally late game is where you must stop farming and help your team win the game, as theoretically you will have farmed the needed items to break their base and try to finish the game before the enemy carry catches up to your farm cause you will be 6slotted and pointless to farm even more

Best Allies

Every hero that does not depend heavily on farming is a good ally for Anti-Mage. Especially heroes that create space for him and can hold enemies in one place. Heroes like that are:

Batrider Storm Spirit and Clockwerk








Special Mention:
Magnus

Reverse Polarity holds the enemies in one place giving you the perfect setup for a great ulti and some great damage beacuse of the cleave you get from empower and battlefury. U REK SON

Worst Enemies

Any heavy ganker is troubles for you. Heroes with stuns, disables and silence are your nightmare. In this category are included heroes that build Orchid too Some of the worst are

Disruptor

He can bring you back after you blinked to safety with his infinite range glimpe into his ultimate that silences you and after that you are easy kill without a BKB






Doom



For the same reason, if you are doomed you pretty much do nothing



Void



He uses Chrono on you, and bam you are dead especially if he has followups

Recap

For many Anti-Mage is a generally boring hero to play cause during most of the game all you do is farm. However his strength to outfarm almost any enemy carry and his huge carry potential make him one of the most potent carries in the game.


Please send me feedback of everything you noticed and you didnt like or forgot to mention in my guide so i can change it. I am open to any criticism and any changes. Thank you everyone for your time :)

[Stewie2K]

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nixuya ne ponyatno :c

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[76561198138175812]

Good Guide : D

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[Chappy]

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[Josip]

good guide

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