Heroes

Heroes are the essential element of Dota 2, as the course of the match is dependent on their intervention. During a match, two opposing teams select five out of heroes that accumulate experience and gold to grow stronger and gain new abilities in order to destroy the opponent's Ancient. Most heroes have a distinct role that defines how they affect the battlefield, though many heroes can perform multiple roles. A hero's appearance can be modified with equipment.

For a table of heroes sorted by attributes and mechanics, see table of hero attributes.

Heroes
Heroes have one of three primary attributes:  Strength ,  Agility , and  Intelligence . Every point added to a hero's primary attribute increases that hero's attack damage.

Icon Str selected.png Strength
Strength heroes are tough warriors and can withstand more damage than other heroes. These heroes have the greatest natural health and can regenerate quickly, keeping them in the fight and dealing damage. Strength heroes can fit a variety of roles, with many being initiators or heavy disablers, and are almost always melee heroes.

Icon Agi selected.png Agility
Agility heroes are finessed and dexterous, making them masters of weapons and fighting techniques. These heroes have high attack speed and armor, and focus on using their regular attacks in conjunction with the items they have equipped, but can fall back on their abilities in a pinch. Agility heroes are often played in carry and ganker roles, because of how well they scale.

Icon Int selected.png Intelligence
Intelligence heroes are masters of spells and abilities. They tend to have larger mana pools and much greater mana regeneration than other heroes. Because of this, they often rely on their abilities to help allies and harm enemies rather than physical attacks, although some of them utilize their magical powers to heavily enhance their attack capabilities. Most intelligence heroes are fragile ranged heroes, though this does not necessarily mean they are easy to kill. As a result, they are often played in support, ganker, and pusher roles, while some are played as carries.

Trivia

 * In DotA lore, heroes were divided into the Sentinel and Scourge factions ( and in Dota 2). Although Valve has removed this distinction, the division can still be seen on the hero selection screen.