Hero
Zeus
   19 + 2.1
11 + 1.2
22 + 3.3
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strikes enemies near and far with lightning. | |
| Charged with godly might emanating from his Lightning Hands. As the Lord of Heaven Jumping around, Zeus calls down Lightning Bolts to smite foes and reveal the surroundings, sends Arc of Lightning through his nearest enemies, and calls forth a terrifying Nimbus upon his enemies that repeatedly strikes enemies with Lightning Bolts. None can hide from Zeus, pointing his arms skyward to bring divine punishment down on each and every foe. Wherever they may be, none shall stand against the Thundergod's Wrath. | |
        | |
| Roles: |  Nuker  Carry
|
| Complexity: | 
|
| Adjectives: | Bearded, Blue, NicePecs, Parent, Nose Legs ( 2 )
|
Bio[]
Zeus, the Lord of Heaven▶️ "Immortality was overrated. This is much more interesting."
Lore:
Lord of Heaven, father of gods, Zeus treats all the Heroes as if they are his rambunctious, rebellious children. After being caught unnumbered times in the midst of trysts with countless mortal women, his divine wife finally gave him an ultimatum: 'If you love mortals so much, go and become one. If you can prove yourself faithful, then return to me as my immortal husband. Otherwise, go and die among your creatures.' Zeus found her logic (and her magic) irrefutable, and agreed to her plan. He has been on his best behavior ever since, being somewhat fonder of immortality than he is of mortals. But to prove himself worthy of his eternal spouse, he must continue to pursue victory on the field of battle.
Alias:
Lord of Heaven
Voice:
Abilities[]
Hurls a bolt of lightning that leaps through nearby enemy units.
Cast Range: 
850
850Bounce Distance: 500
500Number of Bounces: 5/7/9/15
Bounce Interval: 0.25
Base Damage: 85/110/135/160
Current Health as Damage: 3%/4%/5%/6% ( 9%/10%/11%/12%)
9%/10%/11%/12%)
1.6
75/
Modifiers [?]
modifier_zuus_arc_lightning
Undispellable
Arc Lightning is Zeus' favorite spell to use against puny mortals.
- The lightning bounces in 0.25-second intervals, so hitting all targets takes 1/1.5/2/3.5 seconds.
- Does not bounce on invisible units or units in the Fog of War.
- Can never hit the same unit twice per cast.
- All bounces together can deal up to 425/770/1215/2400 base damage (before reductions).
- The current health as damage is dealt together with the base damage as a single spell damage instance.
- The hidden buff is required for the lightning to jump.
- TALENTThe current health as damage increasing talent immediately update the current active instances.
Lightning Bolt
Calls down a bolt of lightning to strike an enemy unit, causing damage and a mini-stun. When cast, Lightning Bolt briefly provides unobstructed vision and True Sight around the target in a 750 radius. Can be cast on the ground, affecting the closest enemy hero in 325 range.
Cast Range: 700/750/800/850
700/750/800/850Search Radius: 325
325Vision/True Sight Radius: 750
750Damage: 125/200/275/350
Stun Duration: 0.35 ( 0.85)
0.85)Vision Duration: 5
True Sight Duration: 5
True Sight Linger Duration: 0.5
6
120/
Spell Block / Reflection Notes:
Stun and damage are blocked, no matter if directly targeted or not.
Vision is only blocked when directly targeted.
Despite removing unit-targeting, the talent does not affect the Spell Block interaction.
Modifiers [?]
modifier_zuus_lightningbolt_vision_thinker
Undispellable
modifier_stunned
modifier_truesight
Undispellable
A shocking punishment for rebellious heathen.
- Lightning Bolt first applies the damage, then the debuff.
- When unit-targeted, the 750 range flying vision and True Sight are provided at the target's position upon cast. The vision is stationary and does not follow the target.
- When ground-targeted, Lightning Bolt searches for any enemy unit within its area. Chooses the closest target to the center.
- Prioritizes heroes, including illusions, clones, and creep-heroes.
- It does not require any vision or True Sight to hit invisible or enemies in the Fog of War.
- With the cast range and search radius, it can hit an enemy up to 1025/1075/1125/1175 range away.
- When cast this way, the vision, and True Sight is always centered on the targeted point, regardless of hitting a unit.
- The flying vision and True Sight last for 5 seconds. The True Sight is provided by an aura, and its debuff lingers for 5 seconds.
- The lightning particles and sound effects during the cast time are visible and audible to everyone.
- TALENTThe area of effect talent turns Lightning Bolt into a 325 radius area-targeted ability, so that it cannot directly target units anymore.
- Lightning Bolt now hits every enemy unit within the search radius.
- Does not hit invulnerable or hidden enemies, but still hits invisible enemies and enemies inside the Fog of War.
- Does not upgrade the Lightning Bolts of Nimbus.
- The reveal aura is still created where his cursor points, not at every hit unit's location.
- Upon cast, both the primary and the secondary target are affected by 3 Lightning Bolts with the area of effect talent learned.
Zeus performs a Heavenly Jump shocking the closest visible nearby enemy (prioritizing heroes), dealing damage, reducing their movement, attack speed and increasing their cast time. If Zeus was moving forward, he will jump forwards that direction. Zeus gets 900 unobstructed vision around him for 3 seconds.
Search Radius: 700/800/900/1000
700/800/900/1000Leap Distance: 500
Number of Targets: 1 ( 2)
2)Damage: 25/50/75/100
Move Speed Slow: 80%
Attack Speed Slow: 100
Buff/Debuff Duration: 1.6
Leap Duration: 0.5
Move Speed Bonus: 30 26/
22/18/14/10) 50/
Modifiers [?]
modifier_zuus_heavenly_jump
Death
modifier_zuus_lightningbolt_vision_thinker
Undispellable
modifier_zuus_heavenly_jump_boost_buff
Death
modifier_zuus_static_field_slow
- Interrupts Zeus' channeling abilities upon cast.
- Leaps at a speed of 1000 over 0.5 seconds.
- Always leaps towards the direction Zeus is facing while locking his facing angle during the leap.
- Moves Zeus 250 range upwards over other units and over impassable terrain.
- During Leap, Zeus can attack, use items, and cast abilities.
- However, he cannot turn, so targeted abilities and items may only be used in the direction he is facing.
- Casting Heavenly Jump while already leaping has no effect, wasting the mana and cooldown.
- Heavenly Jump provides 900 radius flying vision for 3 seconds at the cast location upon cast.
- This vision is stationary and does not follow Zeus.
- 0.13 seconds after cast, Heavenly Jump deals damage and applies the debuff to 1 ( 2) closest enemies within its search radius.
- Can target any unit, but prioritizes heroes, including illusions, clones, and creep-heroes.
- Does not target invulnerable, invisible, or hidden enemies.
- Debuff and buff of successive casts do not stack but refresh its duration instead.
- TALENTIncreases Zeus' total movement speed to 345 upon cast.
- The buff is applied instantly upon cast, not upon landing.
- The buff of successive casts does not stack but refreshes its duration.
- Heavenly Jump first applies the debuff, the damage, and then movement speed increasing buff.
Creates a storm cloud anywhere on the map that automatically casts Lightning Bolt on nearby enemies.
Cast Range: Global
Radius: 450
450Melee Hero Attacks to Destroy: 4
Ranged Hero Attacks to Destroy: 8
Creep Attacks to Destroy: 16
Lightning Bolt Interval: 2.5
Duration: 30
45
325
Modifiers [?]
modifier_zuus_cloud
Death
modifier_kill
Death
modifier_zuus_lightningbolt_vision_thinker
Undispellable
modifier_stunned
modifier_truesight
Undispellable
Ability Draft Notes:
Lightning Bolt must be drafted as well for it to get applied.
Requires drafting Thundergod's Wrath to be unlocked.
Where the thunder god's ire grows, storm clouds quickly gather.
| Nimbus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summoned Ward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Requires Aghanim's Scepter to be unlocked.
- Treats attacks from clones as heroes, and attacks from creep-heroes and illusions as creeps.
- Casts a regular unit-targeted Lightning Bolt based on its current level on the closest valid enemy target.
- Fully applies the stun while providing vision and True Sight around the target.
- Lightning Bolt notes fully apply. If it is not learned, nothing happens.
- The damage source is the Nimbus itself, meaning certain on-damage effects react on the Nimbus rather than on Zeus (e.g. Blade Mail).
- This also means that damage manipulation sources on Zeus do not affect the Nimbus' bolt damage either.
- Starts striking immediately upon cast if an enemy is within the radius.
- Also strikes immediately when the last strike was longer than an interval ago and an enemy enters the area.
- Always strikes the closest valid target. There are no priorities. Cannot target wards or buildings.
- The Nimbus can strike invisible units and units inside the Fog of War.
- Can strike up to 13 times over its full duration, considering the default 2.5 strike interval.
- The strike interval is not affected by any cooldown reduction and cooldown reset sources.
- The visual effects on the ground that mark the Nimbus' radius are visible to everyone.
- Nimbus does not disappear, but stops casting Lightning Bolts upon losing the ability. Reacquiring Lightning Bolt or Nimbus causes Nimbus to cast Lightning Bolts again.
Lightning Hands
Passive Component
Self Attack Range Bonus: 100
Trigger Radius: 480
480Base Damage: 42.5/55/67.5/80
Current Health as Damage: 1.5%/2%/2.5%/3% ( 4.5%/5%/5.5%/6%)
4.5%/5%/5.5%/6%)
IllusionsBase Damage: 17/22/27/32
Current Health as Damage: 0.6%/0.8%/1%/1.2% ( 1.8%/2%/2.2%/2.4%)
1.8%/2%/2.2%/2.4%)Modifiers [?]
modifier_zuus_lightning_hands
Undispellable
Ability Draft Notes:
This ability is bound to Arc Lightning. Lightning Hands is hidden in the ability panel when Shard is acquired, but can be enabled and disabled by activating Autocast on Arc Lightning.
- Requires Aghanim's Shard to be unlocked.
- Increases Zeus' total attack range to 480.
- Grants attack range bonus based on the caster's attack range type.
- Toggling Off does not disable the attack range bonus.
- Zeus' attacks now passively casts Arc Lightning on the target based on its current level when toggled On.
- Arc Lightning applied by Lightning Hands does not trigger the cooldown and work while on cooldown and does not cost mana.
- It can be applied even if the ability itself is currently not castable.
- They do not proc on-cast effects either.
- Arc Lightning notes fully apply. If it is not learned, it is not passively applied.
- The passive Arc Lightning trigger when the normal attack impact. For melee unit, this is upon attack point. It does not require the normal attack to actually hit to trigger.
- In other word, the passive Arc Lightning triggers even if the normal attack misses or the target become attack immune upon attack projectile impacting.
- Disjointing the normal attack projectile immediately triggers the passive Arc Lightning.
- As long as the disjointing unit remains valid cast target for Arc Lightning (e.g. not invisible, invulnerable or hidden).
- Illusions' Arc Lightning damage is independent of the illusion's outgoing attack damage manipulation, and it can be defined as:
- expr ΣSpellDamage × 0.2
- Lightning Hands first applies the passive Arc Lightning cast, then the attack damage.
Strikes all enemy heroes with a bolt of lightning, no matter where they may be. Does a flat amount of damage and additional damage based on the max health of the target.
Thundergod's Wrath also provides True Sight around each hero struck. If an enemy hero is invisible, it takes no damage, but the True Sight is still created at that hero's location.
Thundergod's Wrath also provides True Sight around each hero struck. If an enemy hero is invisible, it takes no damage, but the True Sight is still created at that hero's location.
Effect Radius: Global
Vision Radius: 500
500True Sight Radius: 500
500Damage: 300/425/550 ( 450/575/700)
450/575/700)Max Health as Damage: 5%/7.5%/10%
Vision Duration: 3
True Sight Duration: 3
True Sight Aura Linger Duration: 0.5
120
250/
Grants the Nimbus ability.
Modifiers [?]
modifier_zuus_thundergodswrath_vision_thinker
Undispellable
modifier_truesight
Death
The Lord of Heaven smites all who oppose him, near or far.
- Only hits enemy heroes, including the Tempest Double, but excluding Meepo Clones, illusions and creep-heroes.
- Does not hit invulnerable or hidden enemies.
- Thundergod's Wrath first applies its damage and max health as damage in once damage instance, then provides its vision and True Sight.
- If an invisible enemy is not revealed beforehand, it only applies the vision and True Sight around them, but not the damage.
- The damage affects enemy heroes on the scoreboard from top to bottom.
- Thundergod's Wrath provides 500 radius flying vision and 500 radius True Sight around each struck hero.
- The vision and True Sight last for 3 seconds.
- The True Sight is provided by an aura, its debuff lingers for 3 seconds.
- Hitting all 5 enemy heroes collectively deals 1500/2125/2750 ( 2250/2875/3500) damage (before reductions).
- The visual and sound effects during the cast time are visible and audible to everyone.
- The sound effects upon cast are Global. Enemies can hear it when they have vision over Zeus, or else they can only hear the local hit sound.
- Shifts the lighting of the whole map for a split second, which is also visible to everyone.
Talents[]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
| +150 Thundergod's Wrath Damage | 25 | 325 AOE Lightning Bolt |
| +0.5s Lightning Bolt Ministun | 20 | +6% Arc Lightning Current Health As Damage |
| +1 Heavenly Jump Target | 15 | +30 Movement Speed after Heavenly Jump |
| +250 Health | 10 | -4s Heavenly Jump Cooldown |
Notes:
- The health talent increases the max health capacity and keeps the current health percentage.
Recent Changes[]
<div> <div class="updatetablehead"> <div id="version">Version</div><div id="description">Description</div> </div> <div class="updatetablebody">
- Increased Lightning Bolt creep damage multiplier from 1 to 2.
- Increased Lightning Bolt stun duration from 0.25 to 0.35.
- Thundergod's Wrath
- Reduced cooldown from 130/125/120 to 120 on each level.
- Reduced mana cost from 300/400/500 to 250/375/500.
- Thundergod's Wrath
- UReduced vision radius from 900 to 500.
- UReduced True Sight radius from 900 to 500.
- CHANGEDdamage from a fixed 350/500/650 to
300/425/550 + 5%/7.5%/10% * MaxHP.
- Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- CHANGEDLightning Hands ability functionality from Autocast to Toggling On / Off.
</div> </div>
Recommended Items[]
Starting items:
- Tango regenerates HP for Zeus to stay in lane.
- Enchanted Mango gives burst mana for Zeus to use abilities. Always get at least one or two.
- Clarity gives constant supply of mana for Zeus to farm with Arc Lightning.
- Iron Branch gives attributes, and Zeus can combine it with Tango for more heal.
Early game:
- Boots of Speed will make you faster, allowing for easier escapes and a better time catching up to enemy heroes.
- Bottle allows for lane control and sustainability through runes. Getting it early helps you to maintain your mana to get last hits consistently.
- Null Talisman gives more intelligence and maximum mana, allowing for a larger mana pool to spam his abilities.
Mid game:
- Arcane Boots sustain Zeus' high rate of spell casting and give him the mana pool necessary to remain relevant in longer engagements.
- Aether Lens makes you better at your job by dealing lots of magical damage from as far back as possible.
- Phylactery is reliably triggered by both of Zeus' primary nukes, and greatly improves his damage output.
- Kaya Gives you a cheap but much needed boost to mana regen and spell damage.
Late game:
- Kaya and Sange Makes you tankier and deal more spell damage, since it directly upgrades from Kaya. The added Status Resistance is amazing, especially against a debuff heavy enemy lineup.
- Octarine Core increases Zeus's damage output with its cooldown reduction and mana regeneration.
- Refresher Orb gives you much needed Mana Regen, doubles your damage output via Thundergod's Wrath and Nimbus and allows you to participate in larger teamfights from across the map.
- Boots of Travel gives great mobility and allows for more efficient teleports, allowing Zeus to shove out lanes at a rapid pace and still have the time to join fights, and can be upgraded to further enhance his global presence.
Situational items:
- Soul Ring can help with early mana issues.
- Glimmer Cape is a good pickup on support Zeus if you find that you or your teammates are dying very quickly in fights and need protection. Be mindful, however, of Dust of Appearance and Sentry Wards.
- Force Staff is a good choice for mobility and utility, very useful for evading carries and kiting spell immune targets. It can later be built into Hurricane Pike to synergize with Lightning Hands.
- Ghost Scepter can be a great choice if you find yourself getting blown up by physical damage. It can also be upgraded into an Ethereal Blade, which can be used to disable the enemy carry, save yourself and allies, and deal a massive amount of burst damage in combination with your spells.
- Bloodstone grants more health and more mana, which are very needed for Zeus, and Bloodpact grants a lot of health due to his high spell damage.
- Scythe of Vyse gives a much-needed boost to Zeus' mana and grants a hard disable to deal with troublesome enemies, particularly for shutting down Black King Bar users.
- Black King Bar allows a carry Zeus to dish out damage without fear of being shut down.
- Dagon can be considered on Zeus, especially with Ethereal Blade, to enhance his nuke damage and grant survivability through Spell Lifesteal.
- Blink Dagger and its upgrade Overwhelming Blink can be considered if you need more mobility. It allows Zeus to stay out of the way of initiations and engage on his own terms.
- Manta Style can be purchased after Aghanim's Shard for pushing and teamfighting, as the illusions can use Lightning Hands to put out area of effect damage.
- Moon Shard is an excellent item for a basic attack-focused build by letting Zeus trigger Lightning Hands much more frequently.
Dota Plus Progress[]
Main Article: Hero Challenges
Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.
| Relics | Voice Lines | |
|---|---|---|
 Bronze |
||
 Silver |
||
 Gold |
||
 Platinum |
| |
 Master |
| |
 Grandmaster |
| |
Equipment[]
| |||||||||||||||||
Trivia[]
- Zeus was the first hero to be implemented in Dota 2.
- Zeus is based on the Greek mythological god of the same name.
- As suggested by the game's files, Zeus's name was, at one time, Zuus. The possible reason is that "Zuus" is the correct pronunciation of his name "Zeus".
- Zeus' alternate/fun name in DotA was "Merlini", a tribute to a professional DotA player.
- Zeus' title in DotA was "Lord of Olympus".
- Static Field is most likely a reference to the Sorceress' skill of the same name in Diablo II. In Diablo II, the spell also reduced enemies' HP by a percentage within a short radius.
- Zeus' respawn line ▶️ "To err is human. To respawn, divine." is a reference to Alexander Pope, whose quote is "To err is human; to forgive, divine."
- Zeus' rival line towards Chen, ▶️ "Keep in mind, Chen, godliness is next to deadliness." is a reference to an old and well-known saying "Cleanliness is next to godliness.".
- ▶️ "In Me I Trust.", refers to the national motto of the United States – "In God We Trust".
- ▶️ "If I didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent me.", is a reference to a similar quote by French philosopher Voltaire: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."
- When using Bottle, ▶️ "Nature abhors an empty bottle.", is a reference to the Plenism postulate attributed to Aristotle, which states that nature contains no vacuums because the denser surrounding material continuum would immediately fill the rarity of an incipient void – "Nature abhors a vacuum.".
- ▶️ "Man proposes, God disposes.", is a reference to a painting by English artist Edwin Landseer with the same name, Man Proposes, God Disposes.
Gallery[]
Model and icons before December 16, 2015 Patch
Ability icon progress [?]
Hero icon progress
![Ability icon progress [?]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dota2_gamepedia/images/6/6e/Zeus_ability_icon_progress.png/revision/latest?cb=20220225102158){kind=icon}
