eric_is_cool
25th June 2011, 11:40 PM
Crystal Maiden Guide
By: eric_is_cool
*I'll upload some photos later, and this is more of a rough draft.
Introduction
Crystal Maiden is the most basic support hero in the game. If you can’t play cm as a support, you can’t play any other support hero well. CM is also one of the most widely used, and useful supports. As a DotA player, if there is one competitive hero you must master, it is CM.
Skill build
1. Nova
2. Frostbite
3. Aura
4. Aura
5. Aura
6. Nova/Frostbite (Frostbite is usually preferred to maxing first)
7. Aura
8. Frostbite/Nova
9. Nova/Frostbite
10. Freezing Field
11. Freezing Field
12. Frostbite/Nova
13. Nova/Frostbite
14. Frostbite/Nova
15. Stats
16. Freezing Field
17. Stats
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats
Item Build
Starting: Chick/wards, gauntlets of strength, tangoes x1, clarity x1, branches x2
Beginning items in order: Bird, bracers, wards, boots of speed, bracers
Later items: Urn (Optional), Ancient Janggo of Endurance, power treads (strength), force staff, ghost scepter (against heroes such as lycan, naix)
If you’re really rich, you can buy an aghanim and then hex
Early game
In competitive DotA, the trilane is standard. Crystal Maiden is almost ALWAYS in a trilane, usually with a semi-supporter and a carry. There are two scenarios you have to face – you are facing a trilane or a solo hero. If you face a solo hero, you and the other supporter have to stay in front of the creeps and spam your spells as much as possible. Do not attempt to intentionally get ANY cs unless your carry is already fat and allows you to. You gain approximately one gold per second, so in approximately three minutes you can buy a set of wards, the only item a support requires. When you and another support go up against and spam a solo hero, the solo in the lane will stay at level 1 for a long time as long as you be careful not to push the lane. If you are laned with a hard carry, do NOT push the lane by autoattacking creeps. Just focus on denying and spamming the opposite hero. If you are laned with a pusher like dirge, try to spam the enemy hero to low hp first before pushing, because a high hp solo enemy will gain a lot of experience if he just tower hugs and knows he cannot die.
If you are faced against a trilane, you and the other supporter have to kill as much as possible and harass the enemy supports so they don’t harass your carry. It is important to let your carry outfarm the opponents’ as much as possible if you can. If you want to do this, usually you have to focus on the supports first. If the supports have low hp, then they can’t do shit to your carry and then their carry has to proceed with caution. I suggest initiating fights and spamming your opponents with nova, because nova at level 1 has lower mana cost than frostbite and a longer range you can cast it on. With one nova, your other support will probably cast his own stun or attack, and both of you can get two autoattacks on one hero. This is important because this combo deals probably around 400 damage to any opponent, and in early game that is more than 2/3rds of somebody’s hp. Remember, in early game you are the initiator, so always cast your slow first before your ally casts his spell.
A new strategy that I've played around with for a few games is a dual lane mid when opponents have a strong solo mid, which means that you have to baby sit your solo mid for a few levels. To do this make sure you place your wards accordingly and just harass with your nova and stay in front of the creeps. (if your opponent is a heavy nuker then you and the hero you babysit just go in front together, there's hardly any way one hero can take down two of you)
Let’s just say that you are raping the lane and you are confident that your carry can sustain the lane by himself, then it is time for you and the other support to go roam and gank other lanes. Mid is probably the best to gank. They probably have wards in the river to prevent this from happening, so you must go around the wards by proceeding from the forest for most successful ganks. If your mid is being dominated, you and the other supporter can go stay on top of the hills to scare the enemy – although they will know you’re here, they can’t do shit to you because it’s 1v3. This allows your mid solo to gain valuable gold and exp that can turn the tide around in mid game.
Essentially, your crystal maiden functions as a trilaner in mid. Also, if you do decide to gank mid, make sure you do not stack your slow and stun, meaning that you initiate with slow first (ideally), then you wait 3-4 seconds THEN cast your stun. This will allow the greatest effects of both your spells to take place and the enemy will almost surely be killed like this.
If you decide to gank bot, just teleport from your lane and proceed from either the forest or the lane, depending on where your lane partners are. A successful gank on another lane like this depends on your own discretion only, but just remember to initiate with nova unless the opponent is tping or channeling a spell.
Mid game
Now that mid game is here, your spells will no longer deal as much damage and your role drastically changes. You become a ganker rather than a lane bitch. The fun part about being a support hero is that in ideal cases, you get to participate in almost every teamfight. Participating in teamfights is important, so you MUST have tp with you at ALL TIMES. Many games have been won or lost because of one successful or failed teleport. I won’t go into warding in this guide, but you should read a warding guide to help boost your game with CM, but in mid game warding becomes very different from early game and you must pay attention to whether you are winning or losing, and where the opponents want to do. Also, with the appearance of the smoke of deceit, you should have as many smokes on you as possible. A successful smoke can take down at least one important enemy hero, and it is very hard to predict where the opposite team will smoke because the entire team is invisible. Just band with the 2 other non carries and go smoke around the map and you can usually turn the tide around for your team if you are losing.
In teamfights, your ultimate is always underestimated but very hard to position. Try not to go between your enemies and ulti unless you have no other option or the enemy team has casted all its disables. Try to go to a place where the enemy cannot easily see or find you or ult when they’re distracted by your teammates. Your ulti does A LOT of damage to a large AOE, so use it wisely. A force staff in mid game greatly boosts your teamfight potential and initiating power, but always get it after janggo because the 5 percent ms and as bonus (10 percent with activated) is crucial to your team.
In competitive dota nowadays, the game usually ends at around 40 minutes, which means there is usually no “late game” anymore. If you push offensively, always stay in the back so you do NOT get picked off by your opponents. That’s the job of your tank or initiator. (although cm, if somewhat strong, can initiate midgame) In this time you just stay back and slow/stun and when a good position is achieved cast your ult or chase. If your carry is being chased and you can save him, go save him even if you will die yourself, but if a fellow support is being chased, fuck him :D.
Also it is worth noting that on creeps, frostbite has a 10 second duration and can be used on fountain. This means that while you're traveling to a gank you can cast the spell and just leave right after, and this will allow you to kill one weaker camp's creep easily without you having to stay attacking the camp.
Late game
In the unlikely event that the game will last an hour or more, you have outlasted your usefulness as a fighter in teamfights because everyone will have BKBs and 3000+ hp. In this situation, you are useful as a warder and to defend your base. For example, if you have two pushed rax and are scared that the enemy will come finish the last one while the rest of your team is pushing, you stay back and defend. In late game you place both defensive AND offensive wards, unlike early and mid game where the tide of the game decides what wards are placed to ensure maximum safety. If you participate in teamfights, just know to ALWAYS (even more importantly than earlier on) carry a TP. A TP can help you defend your base when the opponent decides to backdoor. (which is legal now) The rest of late game is essentially the same as in mid game.
Conlusion
Oh well, I hope that after reading this guide you will no longer be a noob pubber support, but a respectable ally to your team. If you follow this guide correctly, your team will not have any reason to blame support if you lose, and will probably praise you if you win. I hope you enjoy this guide and absorb all the information I put on it.
By: eric_is_cool
*I'll upload some photos later, and this is more of a rough draft.
Introduction
Crystal Maiden is the most basic support hero in the game. If you can’t play cm as a support, you can’t play any other support hero well. CM is also one of the most widely used, and useful supports. As a DotA player, if there is one competitive hero you must master, it is CM.
Skill build
1. Nova
2. Frostbite
3. Aura
4. Aura
5. Aura
6. Nova/Frostbite (Frostbite is usually preferred to maxing first)
7. Aura
8. Frostbite/Nova
9. Nova/Frostbite
10. Freezing Field
11. Freezing Field
12. Frostbite/Nova
13. Nova/Frostbite
14. Frostbite/Nova
15. Stats
16. Freezing Field
17. Stats
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats
Item Build
Starting: Chick/wards, gauntlets of strength, tangoes x1, clarity x1, branches x2
Beginning items in order: Bird, bracers, wards, boots of speed, bracers
Later items: Urn (Optional), Ancient Janggo of Endurance, power treads (strength), force staff, ghost scepter (against heroes such as lycan, naix)
If you’re really rich, you can buy an aghanim and then hex
Early game
In competitive DotA, the trilane is standard. Crystal Maiden is almost ALWAYS in a trilane, usually with a semi-supporter and a carry. There are two scenarios you have to face – you are facing a trilane or a solo hero. If you face a solo hero, you and the other supporter have to stay in front of the creeps and spam your spells as much as possible. Do not attempt to intentionally get ANY cs unless your carry is already fat and allows you to. You gain approximately one gold per second, so in approximately three minutes you can buy a set of wards, the only item a support requires. When you and another support go up against and spam a solo hero, the solo in the lane will stay at level 1 for a long time as long as you be careful not to push the lane. If you are laned with a hard carry, do NOT push the lane by autoattacking creeps. Just focus on denying and spamming the opposite hero. If you are laned with a pusher like dirge, try to spam the enemy hero to low hp first before pushing, because a high hp solo enemy will gain a lot of experience if he just tower hugs and knows he cannot die.
If you are faced against a trilane, you and the other supporter have to kill as much as possible and harass the enemy supports so they don’t harass your carry. It is important to let your carry outfarm the opponents’ as much as possible if you can. If you want to do this, usually you have to focus on the supports first. If the supports have low hp, then they can’t do shit to your carry and then their carry has to proceed with caution. I suggest initiating fights and spamming your opponents with nova, because nova at level 1 has lower mana cost than frostbite and a longer range you can cast it on. With one nova, your other support will probably cast his own stun or attack, and both of you can get two autoattacks on one hero. This is important because this combo deals probably around 400 damage to any opponent, and in early game that is more than 2/3rds of somebody’s hp. Remember, in early game you are the initiator, so always cast your slow first before your ally casts his spell.
A new strategy that I've played around with for a few games is a dual lane mid when opponents have a strong solo mid, which means that you have to baby sit your solo mid for a few levels. To do this make sure you place your wards accordingly and just harass with your nova and stay in front of the creeps. (if your opponent is a heavy nuker then you and the hero you babysit just go in front together, there's hardly any way one hero can take down two of you)
Let’s just say that you are raping the lane and you are confident that your carry can sustain the lane by himself, then it is time for you and the other support to go roam and gank other lanes. Mid is probably the best to gank. They probably have wards in the river to prevent this from happening, so you must go around the wards by proceeding from the forest for most successful ganks. If your mid is being dominated, you and the other supporter can go stay on top of the hills to scare the enemy – although they will know you’re here, they can’t do shit to you because it’s 1v3. This allows your mid solo to gain valuable gold and exp that can turn the tide around in mid game.
Essentially, your crystal maiden functions as a trilaner in mid. Also, if you do decide to gank mid, make sure you do not stack your slow and stun, meaning that you initiate with slow first (ideally), then you wait 3-4 seconds THEN cast your stun. This will allow the greatest effects of both your spells to take place and the enemy will almost surely be killed like this.
If you decide to gank bot, just teleport from your lane and proceed from either the forest or the lane, depending on where your lane partners are. A successful gank on another lane like this depends on your own discretion only, but just remember to initiate with nova unless the opponent is tping or channeling a spell.
Mid game
Now that mid game is here, your spells will no longer deal as much damage and your role drastically changes. You become a ganker rather than a lane bitch. The fun part about being a support hero is that in ideal cases, you get to participate in almost every teamfight. Participating in teamfights is important, so you MUST have tp with you at ALL TIMES. Many games have been won or lost because of one successful or failed teleport. I won’t go into warding in this guide, but you should read a warding guide to help boost your game with CM, but in mid game warding becomes very different from early game and you must pay attention to whether you are winning or losing, and where the opponents want to do. Also, with the appearance of the smoke of deceit, you should have as many smokes on you as possible. A successful smoke can take down at least one important enemy hero, and it is very hard to predict where the opposite team will smoke because the entire team is invisible. Just band with the 2 other non carries and go smoke around the map and you can usually turn the tide around for your team if you are losing.
In teamfights, your ultimate is always underestimated but very hard to position. Try not to go between your enemies and ulti unless you have no other option or the enemy team has casted all its disables. Try to go to a place where the enemy cannot easily see or find you or ult when they’re distracted by your teammates. Your ulti does A LOT of damage to a large AOE, so use it wisely. A force staff in mid game greatly boosts your teamfight potential and initiating power, but always get it after janggo because the 5 percent ms and as bonus (10 percent with activated) is crucial to your team.
In competitive dota nowadays, the game usually ends at around 40 minutes, which means there is usually no “late game” anymore. If you push offensively, always stay in the back so you do NOT get picked off by your opponents. That’s the job of your tank or initiator. (although cm, if somewhat strong, can initiate midgame) In this time you just stay back and slow/stun and when a good position is achieved cast your ult or chase. If your carry is being chased and you can save him, go save him even if you will die yourself, but if a fellow support is being chased, fuck him :D.
Also it is worth noting that on creeps, frostbite has a 10 second duration and can be used on fountain. This means that while you're traveling to a gank you can cast the spell and just leave right after, and this will allow you to kill one weaker camp's creep easily without you having to stay attacking the camp.
Late game
In the unlikely event that the game will last an hour or more, you have outlasted your usefulness as a fighter in teamfights because everyone will have BKBs and 3000+ hp. In this situation, you are useful as a warder and to defend your base. For example, if you have two pushed rax and are scared that the enemy will come finish the last one while the rest of your team is pushing, you stay back and defend. In late game you place both defensive AND offensive wards, unlike early and mid game where the tide of the game decides what wards are placed to ensure maximum safety. If you participate in teamfights, just know to ALWAYS (even more importantly than earlier on) carry a TP. A TP can help you defend your base when the opponent decides to backdoor. (which is legal now) The rest of late game is essentially the same as in mid game.
Conlusion
Oh well, I hope that after reading this guide you will no longer be a noob pubber support, but a respectable ally to your team. If you follow this guide correctly, your team will not have any reason to blame support if you lose, and will probably praise you if you win. I hope you enjoy this guide and absorb all the information I put on it.