The Heroes in Dota 2 - An Introductory Guide for Tidehunter

Dota 2 is a MOBA game that brings together millions of people from all over the world. However, unlike some of the other games from this genre, there are many mechanics here that make it a lot harder. That’s why you can often see people giving on on the game after just a couple of months. If you don’t want to be one of those people, you have to learn what each hero has to offer. Although this might look impossible at first, once you play around 100 games, everything should be easy to comprehend. However, your learning curve doesn’t end there. There are many mechanics that you also need to eventually know how they work, especially if you want to get better at the game.

Having said that, today, we will take a look at one hero that is very important to learn in-depth because he can be a hidden gem.
 

Basic information about Tindehunter

Often referred to as the best offlaner, this hero is capable of ripping through every melee carry. That’s why you can often see people picking him, especially when they want to win the offlane at all costs.

Tidehunter is a melee, strength hero that deals with a lot of physical and some magical damage. Although he can become very dangerous during the later stages of the game in terms of physical damage, he is mostly known for his tankiness which can sometimes be absolutely broken. Thanks to his Kraken Shell ability, he can lane easily against most triple lanes.

Once it gets hard for him, he can simply go to the jungle and continue to farm there. Needless to say, not every single hero has the potential to do this. Let’s check what abilities does this beast of a hero has to offer:

• Gush is a very interesting spell that deals damage, removes armor, and slows down the enemies of Tidehunter. While it might seem kind of weak at first, it is actually an amazing ability to use whenever you are on the hunt or trying to escape. Apart from the damage, the armor reduction scales very well, especially during the later stages of the game.
• Kraken Shell is the spell that defines Tidehunter. Apart from just shear damage reduction, this ability allows Tidehunter to even remove certain effects from himself if they go over a specific amount of damage. In other words, this hero has the potential to soak up tons of damage.
• Anchor Smash is a great tool to use during the laning stage and after it. It deals with a lot of physical damage but at the same time, it also reduces the attack damage of the enemy it strikes. That’s why Tidehunter is a huge nightmare to lane against if you’re a melee carry. You have to constantly be on the lookout and try to avoid this skill. Once it hits you, you won’t be able to score those last hits for at least a couple of seconds.
• Last, but definitely not least, we have the big ultimate - Ravage. This is one of the most iconic spells in Dota 2 mainly because of the awesome animation. However, even without it, this ult still remains one of the best all-rounders ultimates in the game. It can completely change the course of a team fight in a blink of an eye, which makes Tidehunter a very scary hero.
  

Items and Counters

As an offlaner, pretty much every single team-based item will do the job. In other words, an item such as Guardian Greeves, Pipe, etc is very good. However, there are two items that definitely shine on this hero:

• Blink Dagger is an absolute must because, without it, this hero is just not as mobile and strong during team fights. The sooner you get it, the better.
• Shiva’s Guard is an awesome team fight item yet again but it’s a little bit more expensive which makes it a luxury.
• Aghanim’s Scepter is an item that allows Gush to become an AoE spell, which means that Tidehunder begins to deal  a lot more damage in team fights.
  

When it comes down to counters, there are just a handful of heroes that are capable of dealing with Tudehunter:

• Timbersaw is undoubtedly the biggest counter of Tide. He is capable of killing this hero with little to no effort, especially once he gets to level 6.
• Ursa is also very good because she can quickly burst down her enemies. Despite having Kraken shell, it is usually not enough to keep Tide alive.