Lina

Lina 20 + 2.4 23 + 2.1 30 + 3.7
	+20HP and +0.1HP regeneration/point.
	+0.17 armor and 1 attack speed/point.
	+12MP and +0.05MP regeneration/point.; +1 main attack damage/point.
L0	Base Hero Values
L1	⤷ + Base Attributes
L15	⤷ + Attribute Gain
L25	⤷ + 6 levels of Attribute Bonus
L30	⤷ + 7 levels of Attribute Bonus
	All values shown are without talent bonuses.

Hero

Strategy

Counters

Lina, the Slayer, is a ranged intelligence hero, adept at destroying enemy heroes quickly by delivering massive bursts of magical damage, making her one of the most effective gankers in the game. She possesses immense damaging capabilities all throughout the game, but is very fragile. Two of her fiery spells are her main source of damage, Dragon Slave sends a wave of fire to burn enemies in her path while Light Strike Array stuns them with a concentrated pillar of solar flame. Each of her spells deals great damage early on and has a low cooldown. Her Fiery Soul bolsters her attack and movement speed every time she casts a spell, which gives her scaling damage for the later game. Laguna Blade, her ultimate, is her ace in the hole. Lina fires off a huge bolt of lightning at a single target, dealing colossal damage. Laguna Blade's damage is staggering in early-mid game, and late game is still enough to destroy frail enemy heroes. Dragon Slave, Light Strike Array, and Laguna Blade are incredible flaming nukes that can incinerate her target instantly, and Fiery Soul allows her to transition into a strong and fast physical attacker. Though her power falls from its peak late game, mana-boosting and damage-increasing items can be purchased to keep herself up.

Bio[]

Lina, the Slayer

▶️ "Fire makes a fine servant, but a harsh mistress."

Lore:

The sibling rivalries between Lina the Slayer, and her younger sister Rylai, the Crystal Maiden, were the stuff of legend in the temperate region where they spent their quarrelsome childhoods together. Lina always had the advantage, however, for while Crystal was guileless and naive, Lina's fiery ardor was tempered by cleverness and conniving. The exasperated parents of these incompatible offspring went through half a dozen homesteads, losing one to fire, the next to ice, before they realized life would be simpler if the children were separated. As the oldest, Lina was sent far south to live with a patient aunt in the blazing Desert of Misrule, a climate that proved more than comfortable for the fiery Slayer. Her arrival made quite an impression on the somnolent locals, and more than one would-be suitor scorched his fingers or went away with singed eyebrows, his advances spurned. Lina is proud and confident, and nothing can dampen her flame.

Voice:

Jen Taylor (Responses)

Abilities[]

Dragon Slave

▶️

▶️QD

Ability
Target Point / Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Lina channels the breath of a dragon, sending out a wave of fire that scorches every enemy in its path.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 800

Starting Radius: 275

Travel Distance: 1075

End Radius: 200

Damage: 85/160/235/310

9 (

5.5)

100/115/130/145

In the scorched barren of Misrule, Lina learned to manipulate the fiery breath of the Desert Wyrm as a form of entertainment.

Notes:

Dragon Slave travels at a speed of 1200, taking 0.9 seconds to travel the full distance.

With the travel distance and end radius, it can hit units up to 1275 range away.

The complete area is shaped like a cone.

Light Strike Array

▶️

▶️WT

Ability
Target Area

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Summons a column of flames that damages and stuns enemies.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 625

Effect Radius: 250

Effect Delay: 0.5

Damage: 80/130/180/230 (

210/260/310/360)

Stun Duration: 1.6/1.9/2.2/2.5

13/11/9/7

100/105/110/115

Modifiers

modifier_lina_light_strike_array: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.

Lina's essence allows her to focus the sun's energies, causing air to combust at will.

Notes:

Light Strike Array first applies the debuff, then the damage.

Light Strike Array destroys trees within its radius.

The visual effects and the sound during the 0.5-second effect delay are only visible and audible to allies.

Lina has two different animations for this spell, leading to two possible cast backswing durations.

Fiery Soul

EF

Ability
Passive

Affects
Self

Grants bonus attack and movement speed each time Lina casts a spell. Stacks with itself. Lasts 12 seconds.

Max Stacks: 3

Move Speed Bonus per Stack: 4%/5%/6%/7% (

6%/7%/8%/9%)

Attack Speed Bonus per Stack: 30/50/70/90 (

60/80/100/120)

Stack Duration: 12

Prevents gaining new stacks. Already existing stacks still provide bonus attack and movement speed.

Modifiers

modifier_lina_fiery_soul: Undispellable. Persists death.

Dancing flames embody Lina's playful nature, bringing out her true blazing self.

Notes:

Does not trigger on active item abilities, on abilities with 0 cooldown, or on abilities which do not trigger on-cast effects.

Each ability cast refreshes the duration of the whole stack, making it theoretically possible to permanently have max stacks on.
- 2 Stacks: 8%/10%/12%/14% ( 12%/14%/16%/18%) movement speed and 60/100/140/180 ( 120/160/200/240) attack speed.
- 3 Stacks: 12%/15%/18%/21% ( 18%/21%/24%/27%) movement speed and 90/150/210/270 ( 180/240/300/360) attack speed.

Laguna Blade

▶️

▶️RG

Ability
Target Unit
(

Target Point)

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical
(

Pure)

Fires off a bolt of lightning at a single enemy unit, dealing massive damage.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 600 (

850)

Effect Delay: 0.25 (

0)

Damage: 500/700/900

Damage Length: 850

Damage Width: 125

70/60/50 (

45/35/25)

250/400/550 (

150/300/450)

Changes Laguna Blade's damage type to Pure, and allows it to slice through spell immunity.

Increases Laguna Blade's cast range by 250 and causes it to go the full cast length and hit all units along the way. Can be ground targeted. Additionally reduces Laguna Blade Mana Cost by 100

Cannot be cast on spell immune enemies, but pierces spell immunity when turning spell immune after cast. Fully pierces spell immunity when reflected.
Can be cast on spell immune enemies.

Blocked upon cast. Particles still visually appear.
Fully ignores Spell Block.

Modifiers

modifier_lina_laguna_blade_line: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_lina_laguna_blade: Dispellable with death only.

The air around Lina becomes so intensely torrid that it scorches a foe that came too close with white-hot lightning.

Notes:

Places a debuff on the target, which applies the damage upon expiring. The debuff lasts 0.25 seconds.
- This means the ability can be avoided by being invulnerable or hidden as the debuff expires.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, Laguna Blade's damage changes from magical to pure, and allows it to slice through spell immunity.

With Aghanim's Shard, Laguna Blade always affects a line in front of Lina, no matter how it is targeted.
- When targeting a unit, the lightning is released towards its current location upon cast and still goes the full length.
- With the travel distance and damage width, it can hit units up to 975 range away.
- Places a hidden modifier on Lina upon cast, which applies the damage on all enemies within range of the lightning upon being placed.

Talents[]

Hero Talents
+125 Attack Range	25	-25s Laguna Blade Cooldown
+30/2% Fiery Soul Per Stack	20	+11% Spell Amplification
+130 Light Strike Array Damage	15	+350 Health
-3.5s Dragon Slave Cooldown	10	+25 Damage

Notes:

This attack damage talent is added as bonus attack damage.
- Does not benefit illusions and is not affected by most percentage-based damage increasing or reducing effects.

The health talent increases maximum health capacity, and keeps the current health percentage.

Recent Changes[]

Main Article: Lina/Changelogs

Version

Description

7.30e

Increased Dragon Slave cooldown from 8 to 9.
Reduced Fiery Soul movement speed bonus per stack from 5%/6%/7%/8% to 4%/5%/6%/7%.
Talents:

Level 10 left talent: -2.5s

Dragon Slave cooldown increased to -3.5s.

Level 10 right talent: +30 attack damage reduced to +25.

7.30c

Increased Light Strike Array cooldown from 10/9/8/7 to 13/11/9/7.
Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Now also reduces Laguna Blade mana cost by 100.
Talents:

Level 25 left talent: +150 attack range reduced to +125.

7.30

Increased health regeneration from 0 to 0.25.
Increased base attack damage from 19-27 to 21-29.
Reduced Fiery Soul attack speed bonus per stack from 40/60/80/100 to 30/50/70/90.

Recommended Items[]

Starting items:

Tango restores health to keep Lina in lane.
Null Talisman gives attributes so Lina can get last hits.
Iron Branch provides cheap attributes; it also gives more healing out of Tango.
Clarity sustains mana so Lina can keep using abilities, threatening enemies more.

Early game:

Magic Stick is useful since Lina is squishy and has multiple high-cost low-cooldown spells picking up Magic Stick can increase her early staying power greatly.
Boots of Speed helps Lina get into position to land her abilities while avoiding danger zones.
Bottle is a common pickup for Lina when playing in the mid lane.

Mid game:

Phase Boots's attack damage complements Fiery Soul to increase Lina's damage output.
Arcane Boots is a viable alternative, especially for a more support oriented Lina.
Bloodstone can solve Lina's mana issues while also improving her low HP pool. With enough charges, she can keep up her full stacks of Fiery Soul without having to worry about being out of mana during the next team fight.
Eul's Scepter of Divinity enhances Lina's positioning even further and greatly boosts her mana-regeneration because of her high base Intelligence and Intelligence gain. It can also be used to set up Light Strike Array fairly reliably.

Late game:

Blink Dagger gives Lina the ability to stay back in safety, then blink in at an opportune moment to cast her Light Strike Array before the enemy can see it coming and evade it.

Situational items:

Aghanim's Scepter roughly boosts Lina's Laguna Blade damage by another ability point, increases her survivability because of the increase to her attributes, and lets her damage stay relevant even against Black King Bar users in the mid or late game.
Drum of Endurance improves her own positioning and all attributes for relatively low cost and also benefits her team.
Shadow Blade can be useful for a carry Lina, as it helps her to cast Light Strike Array while invisible, and also provides her with an escape mechanism.
Scythe of Vyse gives her team an important disable that also helps to ensure she lands Light Strike Array. Furthermore, its attribute bonuses will make her a bit more survivable and drastically improve her mana regeneration.
Crystalys provides a good damage boost when playing as a semi-carry Lina, and can be upgraded to Daedalus.
Black King Bar is sometimes picked up when Lina is carrying, especially against teams with many disables.
Shiva's Guard both helps with Lina's mana regeneration problems as well as her low armor value while also benefiting her team with Shiva's Guard's aura and active ability.
Rod of Atos provides Lina with a larger mana pool that becomes more important as teamfights expand and Laguna Blade becomes more mana-intensive, as well as a significant boost to her low HP pool. Its active effect can also greatly assist in landing her stun, and has a low enough cooldown to do so almost as soon as Light Strike Array comes off cooldown again.
Octarine Core's extra range gives more survival potential in teamfights. Also, it gives a huge intelligence boost, as well as a greater ability to spam spells.
Ethereal Blade is a decent luxury item if the farm is available. It allows Lina to amplify her magical nukes, and slows enemies to help her land them. Using the active on herself is also a good escape mechanism against late game carries.

Gameplay[]


Roles:	Support Carry Nuker Disabler
Complexity:	★☆☆
Playstyle:	Like her younger sister, Lina's elemental affinity was the source of many headaches. Sent south to live with a patient aunt, she learned to master her Fiery Soul in the blazing Desert of Misrule. Channeling the breath of Desert Wyrms, she unleashes her Dragon Slave to burn a path before her. Attuned to fire, Lina ignites the ground with Light Strike Array, incinerating foes in a column of flame. Even the hardiest of heroes fear the Slayer's signature spell: The Laguna Blade. Focusing every bit of heat around her, Lina fires a condensed bolt of white-hot energy, instantly terminating her opponent with minimal struggle or effort.

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio[]

Responses

Sounds

History[]

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment[]

Trivia[]

The original Lina Inverse "The Slayer" was modeled after the main character from the novels/anime/manga Slayers where Light Strike Array, Dragon Slave and Laguna Blade are all spells used by the original Lina Inverse.^[1]
Lina's line ▶️ "Better to burn out than fade away" is a reference to the Neil Young song, My, My, Hey, Hey.
- The line also appears in the suicide note of Kurt Cobain.
The line ▶️ "Turn me over... I'm done." is a reference to Lawrence of Rome who was roasted alive on a giant grill and joked, "Turn me over — I'm done on this side."
Lina's rival response towards Batrider ▶️ "Why'd you stop? This isn't Batrider country." is a reference to a line in the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.^[2]
In older versions of DotA, Lina was a male hero that used the Blood Mage model, also used by the Invoker. In these versions, Lina was known as Link Inverse.
Lina's line ▶️ "It's not the heat, it's the humiliation." is a reference to "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." a quote from Yogi Berra.
Lina's coils around her neck are possibly a representation of Kayan Lahwi women in Myanmar, who are also referred to as "dragon women".