Dota 2 hero roster - Find the character that's right for you

Phantom Lancer

Doppelwalk: Renders Phantom Lancer invisible, while generating a duplicate image to confuse enemies. Lasts 8 seconds and grants 15% bonus movespeed.

Juxtapose: Phantom Lancer's attacks have a 12% chance to create illusions (up to 2/4/6/8) to confuse enemies.

Phantom Edge: Phantom Lancer hones his abilities. Improves chance (2/4/6%) of Juxtaposing, and the Juxtapose illusions have a chance (3/5/7%) to create their own illusions. Phantom Edge also increases Phantom Lancer's magic resistance.

Roles: Pusher, Carry, Escape
Difficulty: Hard

Razor

Static Link: Creates a charged link between Razor and an enemy Hero, stealing damage (7/14/21/28) each second from the target and giving it to Razor. Lasts up to 8 seconds.

Unstable Current: As Razor moves with increased speed (3%/6%/9%/12%), any abilites targeted on him are countered with an instant jolt of damaging (40/70/100/130) and slowing electricity.

Eye of the Storm: A powerful lightning storm strikes out at enemy units with the lowest health, dealing damage (37.5/50/62.5) and reducing their armor by 1 per strike.

Roles: Carry, Nuker, Durable
Difficulty: Medium

Riki

Blink Strike: Teleports behind the target unit, striking for bonus damage (30/60/90/120) if it is an enemy.

Backstab: If Riki attacks from behind, bonus damage (0.5/0.75/1.0/1.25 Agility) is applied based on his current agility.

Permanent Invisibility: Riki fades into the shadows, staying permanently invisible except while attacking or using abilities. While silenced, Riki will be visible.

Roles: Carry, Escape
Difficulty: Medium

Shadow Fiend

Necromastery: Shadow Fiend steals the soul from units he kills (with a maximum of 12/20/28/36), gaining 2 bonus damage per soul. If the killed unit is a hero, he gains 6 souls. On death, he releases half of them from bondage.

Presence of the Dark Lord: Shadow Fiend's presence reduces the armor of nearby enemies (2/3/4/5).

Requiem of Souls: Captured souls are released to deal massive damage, as well as slowing and reducing the attack damage of nearby enemy units. Requiem of Souls creates one wave of damage for every 2 souls stored by Necromastery. The closest enemy units are hit the hardest. Requiem has a 1 second cast time before it is activated.

Roles: Carry, Nuker
Difficulty: Hard

Sniper

Headshot: Sniper increases his accuracy, giving a chance (25%/30%/35%/40%) to deal extra damage (30/40/50/60) and mini-stun (0.01/0.1/0.2/0.2).

Take Aim: Extends the attack range of Sniper's rifle with each level. Past level 3, Sniper will outrange towers.

Assassinate: Sniper locks onto a target enemy unit, and after 1.7 seconds, fires a devastating shot that deals huge damage (355/505/655) at long range.

Roles: Carry
Difficulty: Easy

Spectre

Desolate: Deals bonus pure damage (20/30/40/50) when Spectre attacks an enemy hero with no nearby allied units.

Dispersion: Damage done to Spectre is reflected (10%/14%/18%/22%) on her enemies, leaving her unharmed. The effect lessens with distance.

Haunt: Creates a spectral nemesis to attack each enemy hero after a short delay. Haunts are uncontrollable, take double damage, and deal 40% of Spectres damage. At any moment during the duration, Spectre can take the place of a given illusion.

Roles: Carry, Durable
Difficulty: Medium

Ursa

Overpower: Using his skill in combat, Ursa gains increased attack speed for a set number of attacks (3/4/5/6) or until the 15 second duration expires.

Fury Swipes: Ursa's claws dig deeper wounds in the enemy, causing consecutive attacks to the same enemy to deal more damage. Each hit on the same target within 6 seconds, including the first hit, deals damage (15/20/25/30 per attack) and increases the damage taken by subsequent attacks. If the same target is not attacked after 6 seconds, the bonus damage is lost.

Enrage: Ursa goes into a frenzy, gaining a percentage (5%/6%/7%) of his current health as bonus damage. Lasts 15 seconds.

Roles: Carry, Jungler, Durable
Difficulty: Easy

Vengeful Spirit

Wave of Terror: Vengeful Spirit lets loose a wicked cry, weakening the armor (2/3/4/5) of enemies and giving vision of the path.

Vengeance Aura: Vengeful Spirit's presence increases nearby friendly units' physical damage (12%/20%/28%/36%).

Nether Swap: Instantaneously swaps positions with a target Hero, friend or enemy. Range increases with level.

Roles: Support, Lane Support, Disabler, Initiator
Difficulty: Hard

Venomancer

Poison Sting: Adds poison damage to Venomancer's normal attacks, slowing movement speed (11%/12%/13%/14%) and dealing damage (5/10/15/20 per second) for 7 seconds.

Plague Ward: Summons a plague ward with (11/21/32/42) damage and (75/200/325/450) health to attack enemy units and structures. The ward is immune to magic and lasts 40 seconds.

Poison Nova: A spreading ring of poison that does damage over time (36/58/81 every second for 12/14/15 seconds) to enemy units around Venomancer. Poison Nova's effect cannot bring units below 1 HP.

Roles: Initiator, Support, Nuker, Pusher
Difficulty: Easy

Viper

Nethertoxin: Nethertoxin causes Viper's normal attack to deal bonus damage (2/4/6/8) to units based on how much health they are missing. The bonus damage doubles for each 20% of health missing from the target, up to a maximum (32/64/96/128). Nethertoxin deals half damage to creeps and buildings.

Corrosive Skin: Viper exudes an infectious toxin that damages (10/15/20/25) and slows the movement speed and attack speed (10%/15%/20%/25%) any enemy that attacks it. The acid exudate also increases Viper's resistance (10%/15%/20%/25%) to spells.

Viper Strike: Viper slows (40%/60%/80%) the targeted enemy unit's movement and attack speed while also dealing poison damage (60/100/145) over 5.1 seconds. The slowing effect reduces over the duration of the poison.

Roles: Carry, Durable
Difficulty: Easy

Lucas Sullivan

Lucas Sullivan is the former US Managing Editor of GamesRadar+. Lucas spent seven years working for GR, starting as an Associate Editor in 2012 before climbing the ranks. He left us in 2019 to pursue a career path on the other side of the fence, joining 2K Games as a Global Content Manager. Lucas doesn't get to write about games like Borderlands and Mafia anymore, but he does get to help make and market them.