Heroes are the essential main characters of Dota 2, controlled by the players. Heroes possess the three attributes, strength, agility and intelligence, from which one may be their primary attribute. Those without a primary attribute are regarded as Universal and benefit from all three attributes. Heroes are capable of leveling up through the means of experience, up to level 30, gaining additional attribute points, and ability points which can be spent to level up abilities or gain even more attributes. Heroes are also able to spend gold to purchase items.
Complexity[]
Hero complexity is a difficulty rating for heroes as set by Valve using unknown criteria. Generally, heroes with high complexity are less reliable to be useful, especially when played unproperly, compared to those with low complexity.
Heroes with the maximum complexity have unique mechanisms, "hard-to-understand" abilities, or include multi-unit control.
| Complexity | Heroes
|
|---|---|
|
                                              
|
|
|
                                            
|
|
|
  
|
Spawning[]
All heroes spawn once at the beginning of the match after the picking phase, but only if the player locked in their pick. They are always spawned facing 45° toward the northeast ( Radiant) or southwest ( Dire) based on their respective factions.
Clones[]
Like heroes, these clones do not disappear when dying (or expiring). Meepo Clones respawn like regular heroes, while Arc Warden's and Monkey King's clones respawn whenever Tempest Double or Wukong's Command is cast again. These hero clones are almost fully treated like regular heroes, with a few special interactions with some spells for fairness. However, since Meepo's clones and Arc Warden's clone work fundamentally differently (Meepo clones being permanent like heroes, and death to one means death to all, while Arc Warden's clone is rather similar to a summon or an illusion), each have different unique interactions. Monkey King's clones rather act like a spell effect and cannot be interacted with in any way. They stand at set locations and attack nearby enemy heroes automatically until the spell expires.
The only heroes which spawn later on are hero clones, which can only be created by 4 heroes at the moment as follows:
Create a temporary self that can use abilities and items. It expires like a regular summon.-
Create permanent clones of himself, when any of them die, including the Meepo Prime, they all die together.
-
Create an army of uncontrollable, temporary clones who only attack heroes.
-
Passively spawns a Wukong's Command Soldier that can utilize Jingu Mastery based on a charge replenish timer.
-
Muerta precisely shoots a hero in their soul, separating it from their physical body. Disables and applies a generic incoming damage reduction on the affected target.
Illusions[]
Illusions are also hero-type units, but unlike heroes, they do not respawn, but despawn completely after dying, like other units and summons. Each spell which creates illusions spawns completely new illusions on recast. Illusions are basically hero-based summons, copying the hero, but acting like a summon.
Killing and Dying[]
The killing streak banner as seen in-game.
The multi-kill banner as seen in-game.
Killing a hero grants players much bigger bonuses than killing almost any other unit. Heroes grant scaling Gold 
based on their level and their current killing streak, and scaling Experience 
based on their level. Heroes also gain killing streaks upon killing heroes. A killing streak increases the hero's bounty, increasing its value for the enemy. A killing streak starts with 3 hero kills without any deaths in-between, and is capped at 10 kills. A streak longer than 10 has the same worth as a 10 killing streak. A hero's current streak is globally announced whenever it makes a kill.
The very first hero kill of the match, called the ▶️ First Blood!, also grants an additional 1350 to the killing hero.
A hero is only granted this gold if it actually killed the enemy (i.e. did killing blow). Otherwise, the hero either only gets assist gold and experience, or no gold and experience at all, based on how much time passed since the last time it damaged the target, and how far away the hero is if too much time passed.
Killing a hero also grants experience based on the hero's level. The higher the hero level, the higher the possible currentXP bounty is given. Although a hero can level up to 30, the experience bounty is out at level 25.
A table showing how much gold a hero grants and loses on death can be found here. A table showing how much experience a hero grants on death can be found here.
Killing multiple heroes in quick succession also results in a multi-kill. However, unlike a killing streak, a multi-kill has no gameplay influence and merely serves for aesthetics. Multi-kills do not require the hero to stay alive in-between the kills, if the hero dies, the multi-kill can still continue. A multi-kill occurs when killing a second hero within 22 seconds of the first kill. The multi-kill can be extended by killing even more heroes, all within 22 seconds of the previous kill. Like a killing streak, a multi-kill has no limit, but is "soft-capped" at 5, repeating the same line for 5 and more kills. The multi-kill stages are:
| Kills | Announcement | Announcement with killing streak | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2 | ▶️ | Player got a double kill! | ... with a double kill! |
| 3 | ▶️ | Player has a TRIPLE kill! | ... with a TRIPLE kill! |
| 4 | ▶️ | Player earned an ULTRA KILL! | ... with an ULTRA KILL! |
| 5+ | ▶️ | RAMPAGE!!! | ...RAMPAGE!!! |
| Announcer responses are customizable | |||
A hero's death has a much bigger impact than the death of almost any other unit. When a hero dies, it stays dead for an amount of time based on its level and the player loses gold based on the player's . There is no way to directly reduce or avoid this gold loss. However, only unreliable gold is lost, reliable gold is not lost on death, meaning if a hero has almost no unreliable gold but a lot of reliable gold, dying does not cost as much as it would with much unreliable gold and little reliable gold. Dying also results in the loss of any ongoing killing streak the hero has. Heroes do not lose experience on death. As mentioned before, a death also grants gold and experience to nearby enemies and the killer. However, gold and experience are only granted to the enemy, and streaks are only lost when dying to an enemy.
Dying to neutral creeps, or getting denied by an ally or oneself neither grants the enemy any bounty nor ends the current killing streak.
Hero kills sounds for Ultra Kill and Rampage were added in 6.60.
Respawning[]
An invulnerable Primal Beast upon respawning.
After the first spawn, a hero is not created again. However, it respawns. After a hero dies, it comes back to life after an amount of time, based on its level. The maximum respawn time is reached on level 25. Only the following units can respawn: Heroes, Couriers and Roshan.
Upon respawning, the hero gets instantly moved to the fountain area, facing 45° toward the northeast or the southwest, if they belong to the Radiant or Dire faction respectively. The hero's health and mana are replenished. Cooldowns are unaffected and buffs and debuffs are not cleared upon respawning.
The hero also turns invulnerable and untargetable, which lasts until the respawning hero is issued a command, preventing spawn-camping. The invulnerability is provided by Rejuvenation Aura. Commands include any regular unit orders like moving, attacking, and casting abilities, as well as shop interactions like buying and selling items.
Respawn Time[]
- Total respawn time can be defined as
- Base Respawn Time [?]
- Set Respawn Time [?]
- + Buyback Respawn Time Increase
- ± Other Flat Bonus Respawn Time
- Base Respawn Time [?]
The hero respawn times can be seen in the following table, starting from 12s and increasing up until level 25, which will be at 100s.
Respawn time is 25% faster in Turbo Mode.
| LVL | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default Respawn Time |
12s | 15s | 18s | 21s | 24s | 26s | 28s | 30s | 32s | 34s | 36s | 44s | 46s | 48s | 50s | 52s | 54s | 65s | 70s | 75s | 80s | 85s | 90s | 95s | 100s |
| Turbo Respawn Time |
9s | 12s | 14s | 16s | 18s | 20s | 21s | 23s | 24s | 26s | 27s | 33s | 35s | 36s | 38s | 39s | 41s | 49s | 53s | 57s | 60s | 64s | 68s | 72s | 75s |
-
Next Respawn Time Increase: 25
Neutral Set Respawn Time: 26
The buyback penalty is applied on top of the respawn time, unless affected by the aforementioned Reincarnation sources. Furthermore, dying to neutral creeps sets respawn time to a minimum of 26s. -
-
The 26 seconds minimum respawn time does not apply to Meepo if a clone dies to neutral creeps.
-
Duration: Respawn Time
Upon death, Vengeful Spirit creates a strong illusion that deals and takes full damage and can cast all of her abilities. If the illusion is alive when Vengeful Spirit respawn, she will take its place. The illusion disappears once Vengeful Spirit respawns, or when it reaches the normal death duration. The buyback time increase penalty does not increase the illusion's duration. -
Respawn Time Reduction: 10%
Affected ally heroes have their respawn time reduced by 10%.
Buyback[]
- The buyback button appears on the hero portrait while the hero is dead.
- Cannot be used while the hero is stunned while dead (e.g. Toss, Walrus PUNCH!, Walrus Kick, Winter's Curse, which persist through death).
- Cannot be used while reincarnating.
- Buyback only takes from reliable gold first, and then from unreliable gold.
- Buyback has a base cost of 200 , plus a fraction of the hero's networth, rounded down, using the following formula:
- The respawn time increase affects the next respawn time. Does not count deaths with Reincarnation.
Displays[]
Buyback status is displayed in 3 different locations, on the HP bar while dead, in the gold tooltip at any time, and below the hero icon while dead
The BUYBACK button is only accessible while dead. It is located on the right side of the death bar. The death bar replaces the HP bar while the hero is dead and shows the respawn time. On its right, the Buyback button is located.
The button has 3 different statuses:
- When ready, the button is grey and heightened. On the button, it reads BUYBACK in white, and it also displays the current buyback Gold cost.
- When having not enough gold, the button is red and pushed back. The BUYBACK text turns red, and it still displays the current Gold cost.
- When on cooldown, it looks like when having not enough gold, but the gold cost is replaced by a cooldown timer, showing the remaining cooldown.
Alt+
Right Click a hero's portrait above prints the respawn time if the hero is dead.
The buyback status can also be seen by allies, below the hero icon at the top bar. If the flag has a golden border, that hero has buyback ready and can use it. If there is no golden border, the player has either does not enough gold or is on cooldown. Like the death bar, this is only visible while dead.
Lastly, the buyback status is also displayed in the gold tooltip, which can be accessed by hovering the mouse over the gold. It displays the currently required amount of gold for the buyback, its cooldown status, how much gold the player still needs for the buyback, or how much surplus gold they have.
When a hero buys back, a string sound plays which is audible to everyone, and a gold stack icon appears below the hero's top bar icon, which stays there for several seconds, visible to everyone. The hero also responds to the buyback. Unlike their responses on a regular respawn, which are only audible to the player, a buyback response is audible to everyone. This means no matter what setting a player uses, there is always a cue revealing that a hero bought back.
Leveling[]
Several heroes leveling up, indicated by the light beam on them.
▶️ Level up sound
Every hero starts off at level 1 and can level up 29 times, up to level 30. Each new level grants the hero some 
/ 
/ 
attribute points (different values for each hero). Ability points are gained up to level 25 which they can use to level up abilities or a 
talent. Some abilities require the hero to be on certain levels to be learned or leveled up further. Most basic abilities have 4 ability levels and can be leveled on level 1, 3, 5 and 7. Talents can be upgraded at levels 10, 15, 20, and 25. Ultimates usually have 3 levels and can usually be leveled up at level 6, 12 and 18. The exceptions are Meepo, who requires different levels for his ultimate, and Invoker, who has unique different ability scheme.
Heroes level up through the means of experience, which is gained by killing enemy units, or by being within proximity of an enemy unit while an ally kills that enemy unit. The required distance to gain experience is 1500 if the kill is not done by the hero, or if the killed unit was not a hero. Killing other heroes always grants experience, regardless of distance. When multiple heroes are within range of an enemy unit which gets killed, the experience gets evenly split among the heroes. This includes every single clone of Meepo, but excludes Arc Warden's Tempest Double and Monkey King's Wukong's Command clones. If a hero is already on max level, it still gets its share of experience when within range, even though it has no use for it anymore, causing it to get wasted. A hero cannot gain and does not get its share of experience while dead. An exception to this is Vengeful Spirit after acquiring Aghanim's Scepter.
A ▶️ level up is indicated by a visual effect, an angled yellow light beam from the sky shining on the hero. This light beam is visible to everyone. A sound effect is also played, which is only audible to the player.
Ability Interactions[]
Just like any other unit type, the hero unit type causes several different interactions with abilities. Some abilities cannot affect heroes at all, while others have altered effects or different values when used on heroes.
The following abilities cannot be cast on, or cannot affect heroes:
- Battle Fury – Quell
- Doom – Devour
- Lua error: Found no Cargo data for "Enigma - Demonic Conversion".
- Hand of Midas – Transmute
- Helm of the Dominator – Dominate
- Quelling Blade – Quell
On the other side, these abilities can only target or affect heroes:
- Abaddon – Borrowed Time
- Alchemist – Unstable Concoction
- Alchemist – Aghanim's Scepter Synth
- Ancient Apparition – Chilling Touch
- Bloodseeker – Thirst
- Bottle – Regenerate
- Chaos Knight – Phantasm
- Clarity – Replenish
- Crimson Guard – Guard
- Dark Seer – Wall of Replica
- Dazzle – Shallow Grave
- Disruptor – Glimpse
- Earth Spirit – Enchant Remnant
- Enchanted Mango – Eat Mango
- Forged Spirit – Melting Strike
- Glimmer Cape – Glimmer
- Healing Salve – Salve
- Io – Relocate
- Kunkka – X Marks the Spot
- Legion Commander – Duel
- Linken's Sphere – Transfer Spellblock
- Lotus Orb – Echo Shell
- Luna – Lunar Blessing
- Magnus – Skewer
- Mirana – Moonlight Shadow
- Monkey King – Jingu Mastery
- Monkey King – Wukong's Command
- Moon Shard – Consume
- Morphling – Morph
- Necrophos – Reaper's Scythe
- Nyx Assassin – Mind Flare
- Oracle – False Promise
- Outworld Destroyer – Sanity's Eclipse
- Puck – Dream Coil
- Razor – Static Link
- Riki – Tricks of the Trade
- Rubick – Spell Steal
- Shadow Amulet – Fade
- Shadow Demon – Disruption
- Slark – Pounce
- Slark – Shadow Dance
- Spectre – Haunt
- Sven – God's Strength
- Tango – Devour
- Terrorblade – Reflection
- Terrorblade – Sunder
- Lua error: Found no Cargo data for "Tinker - Heat-Seeking Missile".
- Troll Warlord – Battle Trance
- Urn of Shadows – Soul Release
- Weaver – Time Lapse
- Witch Doctor – Maledict
- Witch Doctor – Death Ward
- Wraith King – Wraith Delay Aura
- Zeus – Thundergod's Wrath
The following abilities interact differently with heroes:
-
Can place the Frostbite debuff only on heroes. Can damage other units on impact.
-
Does not go on cooldown when killing a hero.
-
Deals full damage against heroes.
-
When upgraded, only chooses heroes as secondary targets.
-
Cannot target heroes on level 1, but can on level 2.
-
Can only be cast on heroes. The speed bonus can affect other units.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Can damage any unit. The aura from the talent affects allied heroes only.
-
Besides own creeps, only heals allied heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Does not root heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Only reacts on nearby heroes. Splinter arrows work against other units.
-
Stops upon colliding with heroes. Damage and slow can affect other units.
-
Cannot be cast on heroes, unless Aghanim's Shard is learned. Can damage and silence heroes and other units.
-
Grants more attack damage and movement speed from hit heroes.
-
Grants a fixed attack damage bonus upon striking heroes, while reducing attack damage by a percentage when striking creeps.
-
Slows heroes, instead of converting them. Still converts illusions.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
The boost when below the health threshold affects heroes only.
-
The missile can only be damaged by heroes and buildings.
-
Restores mana to Invoker only for hit heroes.
-
Explodes when colliding with heroes, instead of passing through.
- Keeper of the Light - [[Keeper of the Light#|]]Increases max mana pool of heroes only.
-
Rum buff and the dragging from Aghanim's Scepter can only affect heroes. Damage and stun can hit other units.
-
Grants more movement speed from hit enemy heroes. Hit heroes increase the area damage more than other units.
-
Can be cast on allied heroes, but not on enemy heroes. Can be cast on other units, regardless of alliance.
-
When upgraded, deals full damage to heroes upon returning.
-
Does not instantly kill heroes.
-
When upgraded, spawns Greater Treants from heroes dying while debuffed, instead of regular Treants.
-
Grants more stacks from killing heroes.
-
Autocast only targets heroes.
-
Only reacts on nearby heroes.
-
When upgraded, can only be cast on heroes. Only heroes can damage the sun.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Mana degen aura only affects heroes. Heroes require fewer attacks to destroy the ward.
-
Restores mana only when the unit damaged by Life Drain is a hero.
-
Can be toggled to only affect heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Reduces more attack damage on hit heroes.
-
When upgraded, places the Caustic Finale debuff on heroes only.
-
Gains more souls from killed heroes.
-
When upgraded, only heals from hit heroes.
-
When Aghanim's Scepter upgraded, the secondary targeting prioritizes heroes.
-
The projectile can only target heroes. When Aghanim's Scepter upgraded, the secondary targeting can target creeps, but prioritizes heroes.
-
Only reduces magic resistance of heroes. When Aghanim's Scepter upgraded, the secondary targeting prioritizes heroes.
-
Only damages heroes. When Aghanim's Scepter upgraded, the secondary targeting can target creeps (still only damaging heroes), but prioritizes heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Breaks only to hero proximity. Can disguise non-hero units.
-
Can only directly target heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes. When upgraded, jumps only on heroes.
-
When ground-targeting, only heroes (and buildings) are considered.
-
Only added heroes increase Snowball damage.
-
Dying heroes grant more attack damage than other units.
-
Heroes require fewer attacks to destroy the Tombstone and to kill a Zombie.
-
Heals more for dying heroes than other units.
-
Negative aura only transfers to heroes.
-
Can only be cast on heroes when not upgraded.
-
Lasts shorter on heroes.
-
Only counts damage done to heroes. When double-strike talent is chosen, the secondary targeting prioritizes heroes.
-
Heroes require fewer attacks to destroy a Beetle.
-
Lasts shorter on and deals less damage to heroes.
-
Can be toggled to only affect heroes.
-
Only searches for heroes when targeting the ground.
Gallery[]
Unused Buyback icon
