Techies

Squee, Spleen, and Spoon, the Techies, are a trio of ranged Intelligence heroes, known for laying deadly traps around the field with a wide array of mines.

Having little direct combat ability, the Techies have an unorthodox, if effective, method of dealing damage to the enemy team in the form of powerful laid explosive mines and stasis traps that enable other heroes to set up a gank or retreat. Their mines, set across key points of the map -and even less conventional locations- are an effective method of denying area and guaranteeing damage if enemies dare to initiate.

They have an even more bizarre ability in the form of their Suicide Squad, Attack! which causes them to violently explode and die but deal massive damage (at early - mid game) in a moderate area of effect.

The unique mechanics of the mines mean that the Techies utilise mechanics not used by any other hero, including preemptive mine concaves and such strong area denial that they actively play a large role in securing the area controlled by friendly heroes.

The Techies have statistics aligned to those of semi-carries, but play a largely passive, defensive role throughout the game. Since their Remote Mines have a large sight range and last longer, they can act as substitute Observer Wards, allowing the rest of the team to save money.

Tips

 * Try planting your mines on top of each other. With this, the enemy might not realize how many mines you actually have planted.
 * Plant your mines on spots that are hard to detect, such as uphill locations on the jungle or the Dire Secret Shop, and also the entrance of the Roshan's Pit. This way, you force the enemy to come close to it in order to get vision.
 * Keep track of your enemy inventory to see if they have a . If you see one, alert your allies and try to retrieve it as soon as possible.
 * and deal physical damage. They can be devastating versus low-armored heroes, but can also be uneffective against heavy-armored units.
 * This also means they will get weaker as the game progresses, with enemies building more armor., however, deal magical damage. Most enemies will not increase their magic resistance in the same rate as their armor, which makes more effective than  on the late game.
 * will be triggered no matter who comes close to it. This makes it vulnerable to heroes with summons or illusions, including the units. Notable ones are, , , ,.
 * do not require you to detonate them. do. This means when you're making a stack of, you need to be alert for enemies coming close to them.
 * You can place an to give vision over the area you're planting your . This makes it easier to spot enemies coming close to your mines.
 * provide a small vision around them, so they can be used to scout enemies.
 * When planting a mine stack, look at your enemies. Planting 3 from the start or 4 to 5 early in the game should be enough to deal with most heroes, but some of them might resist with high HP (like, , ), high armor (for , like , , ) or high magic resistance (for , like , ).
 * Carry a sentry to deward enemy sentry wards. However, do NOT buy a gem if you plan to deward, as your natural squishiness and make it easy for the enemy to take your gem and destroy your mines.

Trivia

 * Before their release, Techies were showcased at the All-Star match of The International 2014, used by Artour "Arteezy" Babaev. He originally picked, but right before the picking phase ended, his pick got replaced by , fireworks were launched in the arena, Techies' portrait was shown on all screens and this Techies super explosion.mp3 sound effect played.
 * Techies' lines tech rival 11.mp3 "They're going to have to glue you back together! Yeah, in Hell!" and tech lose 06.mp3 "We're a sorry buncha losers. You said it" are references to similar lines lines spoken by the Demoman from Team Fortress 2 (as heard here and here).
 * The flavor text of "Kablooey!" is a direct reference to the line "Kabloeey!" spoken by the Demoman from Team Fortress 2.
 * Many of their lines also reference Counter-Strike, such as tech lose 03.mp3 "Counter-Techies Win", Tech remotemines 01.mp3 "Bomb has been planted" or tech failure 02.mp3 "Bomb has been defused. Darn!".
 * Techies' attack line tech attack 09.mp3 "See! Fore!" is a pun on the plastic explosive C4.
 * The line tech rare 05.mp3 "Who said we couldn't count to three, huh?" is a reference to a joke about the fact that Valve has not released a single game with the number three in the title (Half-Life 3, Left 4 Dead 3, Portal 3 etc.).
 * The line tech lasthit 02.mp3 "Continue testing." is a reference to GLaDOS, a character of Valve's Portal series.
 * The line tech items 15.mp3 "Claymore! But not that kind of claymore" is a reference to a Claymore mine used by the U.S. military.
 * The gag about Spoon being hidden in a barrel without the other two knowing is a reference to DotA, where only some time after Techies were released did people realize that there were actually three of them instead of two; the third one's feet could barely be seen under the barrel behind the other two (Techies used to be named "Squee and Spleen" and eventually became "Squee, Spleen and Spoon").
 * The name "Spoon" may be a reference to a scene from the movie Matrix where a boy bends a spoon with his mind and then says to Neo "Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead, only try to realise the thruth", followed by Neo asking: "What truth?" and the boy answering it with "There is no spoon. Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself."
 * Squee and Spleen think that Spoon died to the explosion in their workshop, so they thought "there is no Spoon" anymore and the voice is only in their heads Tech rare 02.mp3.
 * The names of the original two Techies most likely came from Magic the Gathering. Squee is a legendary goblin from Magic the Gathering lore, while Spleen was probably named after the flavor text on the Goblin Soothsayer card ("I see a great victory and rivers of blood. And . . . hmm, looks like a spleen.")
 * There is a hidden trollface in the Remote Mines icon.
 * According to Techies' in-game lip synching, Squee is the one sitting on the cart with the rocket launcher and the cigar. He has the deep voice and Spleen is the big one pushing the cart, with the high voice.
 * Spleen's design may be a reference to the soldier from Team Fortress 2, as his eyes are covered by a helmet, and he wields what appears to be a rocket launcher.