General Discussion

General Discussioncore dark willow

core dark willow in General Discussion
father

    any tips on playing core dw? so i played her yesterday as midlaner, even though in late game her dps is really high, she is really easy to kill. and also to get the lvl 25 talent and aghs is a really long way since she could barely farm creep at all. any tips on item build? which lane should i go if i play her, what should i do during laning stage? its really hard for her to take lasthits and i dont think her ability to harras is really good

    '96 Neve Campbell

      Top tip: dont bother. DW is best as a pos 3/4 offlaner. Pos 5 is crap cause she needs items to be super effective and pos 1/2 is bad cause she simply wont carry hard enough most games. You are best off just building utility items such as blind, spirit vessels, euls. Etc.

      I think her aghs is situationally strong but I can imagine it requiring some set up to execute that simply doesnt exist outside of higher tier games. Also ur wrong on both accounts re: her laning. Dark Willow has great lane harass and has a very low attack point making her a super easy hero to last hit and deny with.

      Цей коментар був відредагований
      Soggy Bottom Boy

        Dark Willow is best at position 4. You want something else from an offlaner. Rushing aghs is not so good tbh. I agree with parmaviolets that she needs utility items. I think a good early item build on Willow is Magic Wand, Urn of Shadows, Tranquil Boots. You can upgrade to Spirit Vessel later or go for a Force Staff (best support item in dota), Eul's or maybe a Pipe if needed. If the game goes long you'll get the 120 gpm talent and can get the aghs later. Team items > aghs for sure.

        Cptn.Canuck

          I spammed willow 3 a ton when she first came out, gave her a single shot since the patch and had a blast: https://www.dotabuff.com/matches/4787934491

          I think your core on her is a couple null talis, treads, and a veil, then into blink after. Aghs makes a pretty situationally good 4th item provided you have a team you can comfortably stand behind and throw bombs of magic damage from. If not, you may need to go more defensive. Euls is a great option, as is linkens, Aeon disk, or even shadow blade.

          You want to play Willow like you'd play Puck. Never really take a head on fight, abuse the fact that you have a get out of jail free card, and play to the edges of fights always.

          fx

            Isnt she really slow? Why not get a fking phase

            Subaru

              She is not good as core because
              1. She has no regen (except if you buy mom or tranquil)
              2. She has no flash farm ability (yeah even with ult and skill 2 with aghanim)
              3. She is too squishy if you dont build utility item
              The thing is bro, as i have played plenty willow game (enough to get from 3k to 3.5k) she is best played as supp, moreover as pos 4 because no matter how fat u are as willow, you cannot outcarry enemy carry. Well that is my advice go on if you wanna build her as carry mid, it just means easier mmr for people who know how to exploit that haha XD

              Moranague

                People are overreacting over Darkwillow's Aghs. It was pretty strong in 7.22 when you had 1.3 BAT, 200 AS level 25 talent, but it's pretty weak now in the 7.22b era with the nerfs to the talent and BAT. It adds like at max 90dps considering that you only get about 90 damage from Shadow Realm in 1 second in conjuction with probably having about a .5s attacking speed later in the game. It is nice that it doesn't take you out of shadow realm, so it's like a stronger ghost sceptor, but the DPS itself is lackluster, especially since it's magic damage.

                *Edited*

                I have tested this since, and realize I'm very wrong with the way i thought the charge up damage works. The DPS is great, but still not enough of a reason to go the Aghs build and go core in normal games. In turbo though, she's a monster.

                Цей коментар був відредагований
                DaRealWillow

                  Hi. I play Dark Willow as core mid position 2 . Just need to train your last hit well. Build Mjolnir to solve farming issue. Of course there are many ways to play Willow so dont limit yourself.

                  You can outplay enemy carry if you play well, and with good disable items. I usually go for veil as 1st item, mjolnir 2nd, nullifier 3rd. Finally Skadi. They provide Willow good hp regen, armor ans damage.

                  thisbe666

                    except if you buy mom

                    what

                    kalimoo⭕⃤

                      How does one have 149 games on dark willow and not have over 50% win rate?

                      LucaManny

                        >149 games
                        >4.81 KDA
                        >49% winrate
                        >Crusader V

                        This is enough reason why u dont go core willow

                        Grimm

                          I'm a better exemple than this guy if you want some games to look at

                          Цей коментар був відредагований
                          Androgynous

                            you have 35% winrate in vhs. you queue with a crusader 5 who brings the average mmr down and then you play mid vs someone who's probably 3k mmr below you, you could win regardless of what items you built.

                            Grimm

                              most of my vhs games are on support willow
                              Anyway most of you aren't immortal or divine so this build will work just fine

                              DaRealWillow

                                I just expose my matchmaking data recently so in fact i have 700+ matches as Dark Willow and reach 400 wins. Of course the winrate is more than 50 percent.
                                Just want to share my m idea since many people think core mid Willow dont work. xD

                                Цей коментар був відредагований
                                Grimm

                                  There are two major willow builds for mid i'd say : phase midas veil pike into late game items with your 25
                                  basilius brown into midas/aghs into mjollnir and the game should be over already

                                  Decros

                                    not a single the biggest oversight? and u call urselves dota players?!

                                    Цей коментар був відредагований
                                    smurfs = no balls

                                      yes i have good advice for u: dont play it. She is not a core hero since she does not scale well. Just because she has AS talent and aghs that 1k ppl think is op does not mean she should be played as core. if u rly wanna tho magic build is better than maelstorm deso shit so just go kaya veil some shit i dont know