The Heroes in Dota 2 - An Introductory Guide for Queen of Pain

Introduction

With over 120 different heroes to choose from, it's easy to see why Dota 2 is considered to be one of the hardest games in the world. Despite that, this MOBA still has millions of players from all over the world. In addition to the casual scene, Dota 2 is also one of the biggest esports that as tournaments in nearly every part of the world. Not only are they extremely interesting to watch, but they are also very profitable for the players because they can reach as much as $34,000,000.

One of the critical things for every new Dota 2 player is to learn what each hero does in the game. Although this might seem easy, the truth is that it can take a lot of time. With that said, today, we will take a look at one of the most iconic Dota 2 heroes - Queen of Pain. Let's see everything we need to know about this pesky mid laner.

Basic information about the Queen of Pain

Often considered as one of the most annoying heroes in Dota 2, Akasha (Queen of Pain's DotA Name) is a ranged intelligence hero. Although she can be played anywhere from position four to position one, she definitely shines the most when she is put in the mid lane. Using her significant damage and massive range, this hero can easily out-lane most mid laners in a 1v1 scenario. When you combine this with her annoying Q, you can easily see why so many people love to play her.

Here are QoP's abilities:

• Shadow Strike is by far one of the most annoying and also most active spells during the laning stage. It has a low cooldown, average mana cost, and decent damage, which makes it ideal for spamming. That's why every single player who picks Queen of Pain always emphasizes on getting early levels in Shadow Strike. You can quickly pressure your enemy and force him to use tons of regeneration if he wants to stay on the lane.
  Apart from doing damage, this ability also slows a lot, which makes it very strong when QoP is chasing someone.
• Blink - similar to Anti-Mage's ability, this one allows Queen of Pain to blink in different directions. Needless to say, this skill can be used both offensively and defensively, depending on the situation. During the laning stage, an early blink allows QoP to be very hard to kill, which means that it's very unlikely for her to be ganked. However, players need to be very careful when they use it because if the enemy is right, he will immediately start to pressure her once she used the blink. 
• Scream of Pain is an AoE ability that does a relatively decent amount of damage. It's ideal for flash farming, as well as securing kills. It has a low cooldown and an average mana cost, which makes it perfect for clearing stacks or just getting last hits on heroes. To make it even better, there is a special talent that allows Scream of Pain also to fear QoP's enemies. This makes it a very reliable escape mechanism.
• Sonic Wave - last, but definitely not least, we have Queen of Pain's ultimate ability. This is one of the strongest ultimates in the game because it has a massive Area of Effect, and it also deals with pure damage. This makes it viable at all stages of the game, especially later on when the pure damage is invaluable.
  Having said that, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when you use this ult. First, it has a minimal cast time, which means that it is possible actually to miss with it. Although this seems like a tough thing to do, every single QoP player experienced this at least once. Another thing that we advise is to get an Aghanim Scepter as it increases the capabilities of this ultimate by a lot. 

Items and Counters

Similar to other heroes in Dota 2, Queen of Pain can be played in two main ways - either as a spellcaster or as a physical damage dealer. Both work fine, but we can safely say that the caster QoP is by far the more popular option. With that said, here are some of the most common items you will for on every QoP:

• Eul's Scepter of Divinity - this item is relatively cheap, and it provides movement speed and mana regen. Even though it mostly has a defensive vibe to it, it can also be used offensively whenever it's needed.
• Aghanim's Scepter - as we mentioned above, this is one of the best items for QoP because it buffs her ultimate by a lot.
• Orchid Malevolence/Bloodthorn are two of the most popular items that are bought in 90% of the games. Both items allow QoP to be a lot more aggressive and dangerous, especially during the early to mid-game.
• Linkin's Sphere is a good all-rounder because it provides mana regen and stats. In addition, the effect of this item allows QoP to be even harder to kill.
• Scythe of Vyse is an obvious choice for every single spellcaster in Dota 2. It gives tons of intelligence and mana regen, which is just what QoP needs.

When it comes down to counters, there are a couple of very notable heroes to be careful of:

• Storm Spirit - even though QoP wins the laning stage against Storm, once Raijin gets a couple of items, he can easily hunt you down.
• Anti-Mage is another obvious counter here because he deals insane amounts of damage. What's more, your blink won't be as useful here because he has a Blink of his own.
• Legion Commander is also a huge pain to deal with because he can lock you down with his ult and kill you very fast.