Lion

Lion the Demon Witch is a ranged intelligence hero who is adept at disabling and nuking his enemies, as well as being a strong lane support. Although his abilities do not scale into the lategame, his offensive power can destroy enemies during the early game and remain somewhat useful throughout the later game.

Lion is famous for his outstanding ability combos, making him a solid and versatile choice in any team composition. He has the ability to drain mana from enemy heroes with his Mana Drain ability and his complement of disables makes him an effective team-fighter and support in any stage of the game.

Tips

 * Earth Spike works as both a nuke and a stun, and can hit multiple enemies. Targeting Earth Spike on the ground can be less accurate, but is necessary to utilize the ability's max range.
 * Level 4 Earth Spike does approximately the same damage and stun as a level 2 Ravage, with only a 12-second cooldown. While it's obviously much harder to land a multi-hero Earth Spike, this can be Lion's most important spell when used effectively. Positional items, particularly Blink Dagger, make it much easier to land Earth Spike on multiple heroes.
 * As a pure disable spell, Hex doesn't deal damage but lasts longer than Earth Spike. It also has an instant cast time, making it a more secure standard opening spell when going on the offensive in a gank (rather than risking a swift enemy reaction to Earth Spike).
 * Use your disables one after the other so you maximize potential disable time.
 * Using Mana Drain on enemy heroes is a very good form of harrassment, and it maximises killing potential for laning partners like Anti-Mage.
 * Whether leveling Mana Drain as a semi-carry is more or less effective is dependent on the situation. If Hex and Earth Spike are leveled and Arcane Boots are built (with an optional Attribute Bonus) Lion will be much harder to kill, and still have enough mana at any time. However, some enemy heroes will be impaired by having their mana stolen from them, and some allied ones will be facilitated. Let the hero lineup on both sides inform your decision. For example, if there is a Storm Spirit or Leshrac on the opposing team, leveling Mana Drain is wise as these heroes are crippled horribly by accelerated loss of mana. However, if the enemy team has an Outworld Devourer or a Keeper of the Light, leveling Mana Drain is fairly pointless as these heroes have abilities which replenish mana for themselves and others.
 * Mana Drain is still useful if left for late-game, as it greatly reduces Lion's need to return to base.
 * Mana Drain also pops Linken's Sphere, which makes Lion an excellent hero for catching and focusing down elusive heroes that commonly carry Linken's Sphere like Weaver, Puck, and Storm Spirit. At level 4, it has a 5-second cooldown, which means it should always be available when you need it.
 * Finger of Death is a very powerful nuke, especially considering Lion's largely supportive role. Use it to help damage enemy carries or to eliminate supports; but try not to use it for a sure kill unless a carry is unable to execute it themselves, as they require kills much more than Lion does. Combined with Dagon, it deals enough damage to one-shot many heroes throughout most of the game, but its best to resist this to allow allies to level.
 * The low cooldown of Hex and Mana Drain are good for dispelling Linken's Sphere and any illusions.
 * Lion combos exceptionally well with Lina and Shadow Shaman as his disable will allow Lina to land Light Strike Array not to mention that together they can cut down even high HP heroes within moments. With Shadow Shaman due to the fact that both possess two disable abilities they can effectively disable a hero indefinitely or for a very lengthy duration.
 * It is not uncommon to see support heroes such as Lion to purchase Ghost Scepter in order to protect themselves from DPS heroes in team fights. If the game is going well you might even consider completing the item into an Ethereal Blade as it not only makes you impervious to physical attacks it allows you to greatly increase the damage output of your spells. Be wary however to not use the Ethereal Blade on a hero your team carry is about to kill as it impedes your own team's dps heroes from attacking your target.
 * Force Staff is a good alternate to Blink Dagger, it gives more mobility and initiate options, especially if the enemy team has a Radiance.
 * Phase Boots on a roaming support Lion, when paired with a Bottle, give better chasing and kill potential.
 * Eul's Scepter of Divinity should also be considered if you are constantly out of mana or need the additional movement speed and disable, and you can not afford Scythe of Vyse.

Trivia

 * In the transition from DotA to Dota 2, the names of two of Lion's abilities were changed. Impale changed to Earth Spike and Voodoo changed to Hex.
 * Upon killing, Lion says, " lion_killspecial_01.mp3 All we need now is a wardrobe." This is a reference to the high fantasy novel The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.