Medusa is an agile hero who can be used as a safe lane carry because she has many skills that make her perfect for the role. As of Dota 2 Update 7.33, however, Medusa’s skill has been reworked, giving her a whole new way to play.
Notably, she has no base strength or gain at all. In return, she gains more intelligence and has a passive ability that makes her last longer by using her mana pool.
- She can hit up to 4 targets with her basic attacks, using her Split Shot ability.
- She can damage up to 6 opponents and steal their mana using her Mystic Snake ability.
- Her Mana Shield is now a passive skill, where she can use her mana to block 98% of incoming damage in Patch 7.33.
- When purchasing Aghanim’s Shard, she gains a new passive skill, Cold Blooded, which triggers a Mystic Snake onto her opponents when she is targeted with a single-target spell.
- As her ultimate, she can force enemies to look away from her and stop attacking for 5/5.5/6 seconds, using her Stone Gaze ability.
What Items to Build on Medusa
- Magic Wand: this is a sustainable laning item on any hero.
- Power Treads: offers decent stats whilst movement speed all heroes need. Additionally, it can be a power move to toggle Treads according to the situation, such as more mana with Intelligence or higher damage with Agility.
- Hurricane Pike: Building from Dragon Lance, it offers further attack range for Medusa to deal damage around her. It also serves as a mobility item to either distance yourself from the enemy or initiate on the enemy team with your ultimate.
- Manta Style: allows you to defensively remove most debuffs and confuse your enemies. It also gives a nice boost in raw stats on top of her Medusa’s illusions benefiting from Mana Shield themselves.
- Eye of Skadi: gives you even more stats and an attack modifier that slows your enemies’ attack and movement speed.
- BKB: Besides the stats, BKB lets Medusa dispel most negative debuffs while offering resistance against various damage types.
- Linken’s Sphere: While mostly situational, Linken is viable when you do not want your opponent to use a devastating single-target spell on you. Additionally, it provides mana and health regen.
- Aghanim’s Scepter: Applies a new effect on Mystic Snake to stun enemies for 1 second when hit.
- Divine Rapier: in super late-game scenarios, especially when having to defend your base, this item can be the perfect choice for this hero.
Medusa Abilities Explained
Split Shot
Allows you to attack 3 bonus targets, dealing 55%/65%/75%/85% of your main attack’s damage on each of them. The search radius for the additional targets is 750 units.
Mystic Snake
Throws an energy snake at a target. The snake then jumps to nearby targets, returning to Medusa and replenishing her mana after it hits the last one. The snake deals 85/130/175/220 magical damage. Enemies who Stone Gaze petrifies take pure damage instead. The damage increases by 35% per bounce.
The snake can hit up to 3/4/5/6 targets. Each target loses 16%/18%/20%/22% of their maximum mana.
This ability can be upgraded by purchasing an Aghanim’s Scepter. This item makes it stone targets for 1 second plus 0.2 seconds per bounce.
Mana Shield
As of Patch 7.33, it absorbs 98% of all incoming damage at the cost of your mana instead of your health. The damage absorbed per unit of mana is 2/2.5/3/3.5/4. Additionally, it also provides bonus mana of 200/225/250/275/300 mana.
What Talents to Take on Medusa
+5% Stone Gaze Bonus Physical Damage / +15% Mystic Snake Slow Movement and Turn Speed—The second choice is much better because Mystic Snake is your repeat skill to damage your opponents and steal their mana.
-3 seconds of Mystic Snake cooldown and an extra 10% damage from split shots – The second skill grows better because it lets Medusa’s Split Shots do more damage.
+2s for Stone Gaze and +2 for Mystic Snake Bounce. Each skill is useful in its own way. The first skill is useful if you need to stay in control of a fight longer, while the second is even better for keeping Medusa’s mana pool full.
Use the suggested attack boost items, like Eye of Skadi, when you choose the first talent for Level 25. Split Shot does +1.3 Mana Shield Damage per Mana. The problem with Medusa’s Split Shot is fixed, but it’s less powerful now that it doesn’t have a factor.
The Correct Skill Build
You should start with a point in Mystic Snake and then switch to Split Shot until both of your points are full. Your skill build should be 3-4-0-0 at level 7. After that, you get Stone Gaze and the rest of the talents on Mana Shield, always taking the suggested talents.
In an ideal world, Medusa won’t have to fight for a while, so neither Stone Gaze nor a defense are needed. Instead, Medusa needs to farm quickly, which she can do with Split Shot and the high-damage Mystic Snake to get rid of the neutral camps that are stacked up.
When to Pick the Hero
Based on Patch 7.33b, Medusa is a great choice. In 22 official ESL One Berlin Major 2023 matches, she has won 77.27% of them. She is also banned up to 42 games during the major because she is tough and can score late in games.
Medusa is a great choice if your team has mana sources, like Keeper of the Light. But Medusa can use it on more than just allies that give her extra attack damage. She is very tanky and can beat most carries, but her partner needs to give her a lot of help and freedom to reach her full potential.
In Dota 2 games, Medusa can work well with and against most hero groups. Just don’t pick her against heroes like Anti-Mage or Doom that can quickly drain her mana, because most of her active skills to heal herself will not work on them.
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A Good Farm Wins the Game
Medusa is a very strong carry who is also great at farming and fighting. Her main flaw is that she depends on items for everything, which is why you should farm Split Shot and Mystic Snake first. Ask your friends to stack the jungle camps as well, especially the Ancient Camp.