Keeper of the Light mid-position gameplay

Keeper of the Light is a Dota 2 hero, conceived initially to play for a support position, but as we all know, sometimes Dota 2 developers update a patch and add a hidden imba to the game. We believe that it was in patch 7.31 that the mid-KOTL became imba. KOTL only seems like a weak pick at first, but do not be surprised why you don't have a throne in the 35th minute.

Everyone should understand that the main strength of the mid-KOTL is in unrealistic magical damage, which erases even the densest heroes in Dota 2. Having typed the necessary items, the opponents do not have enough time to continue to resist this imba, and only one outcome awaits them - minus 30 MMR points. Cyber-sport.io describes a complete review of this hero, with the help of which you will better know the pros and cons of this char.

Early game (till 15 min)

Starting purchase: it will usually be the same (see screenshot). The purchase includes necessarily Tango, Circlet, and 2 Branches. After installing the Ward, you can convey to yourself the upgraded Sticks while leaving yourself one Branch. It will also not be wrong to purchase a Fairy fire. In some cases, you can buy (upgrade) a Bracer to stand on the line more confidently to hit the enemy mid-player.

Slots: buy Boots of Speed, go to Travel Boots - to quickly move around the map, push lanes, farm the forest and help the team. Usually, an Urn of Shadows is taken further to increase spam damage from all possible skills, the Urn perfectly stacks with our abilities and increases DPS, and already at this stage (7-8 level), KOTL can do about 700 magic damage. After a few minutes, it is worth upgrading Urn into Spirit Vessel, which will boost the damage from our procast, respectively.

The next slot is optional, it must be selected by looking at the enemy heroes. It may well be the choice of Black King Bar at an early stage of the game, which gives us almost complete immortality if we correctly choose the position in the fights and ganks on the side lanes. Often, the Eul’s Scepter / Force staff - is taken further - for pumping mobility, possibly dropping unpleasant skills from oneself and a little control.

You can also take Kaya to increase stats and damage and low cooldowns. Then buy an Orchid for even more convenient control of the opponent and increased magic damage, but now I take it much less often than other artifacts because it is not very playable in this patch. If you wish, you can buy Dagon or Ethereal Blade.

Skill build: it is worth max skills according to the principle of the 1st and 3rd up to the 6th level. Then, of course, we take Ult. After that, you can take the second skill once to additionally slow down the opponent and reduce his magic resistance, increasing our kill potential.

Laning Stage: constant harassment, farming creeps, wildly ranged with Illuminate. The ideal scenario is when you give a couple of hits to all creeps, blow with Illuminate, take all the creeps, and damage the enemy.

Mid-game (15-30 min)

Here we continue gradually building up our power, buying the necessary slots for the current situation. It is worth buying all the essential items to dominate your opponent, and often your cost and skill build at 25-30 minutes will look like this.

Of course, you can choose other items, as I mentioned above. However, in most cases, acquiring an Ethereal blade and a maximum level of Dagon is mandatory because combining these items with our skills gives an incredible 2500 magic damage.

Our gameplay remains the same: we farm lanes, neutral creeps, and roam the opponent. 

We need maximum DPS on solo targets, preferably in core heroes. One of the problems at this stage is the appearance of BKB in enemy cores, so we turn our attention to other available targets. It is worth it because the skill cooldown of the KOTL will allow us to use procast a couple of times in fights.

Late game (30+ min)

Still, if you are in this position in the game, you must acquire powerful items (like those shown in the screenshot) and keep frightening your enemies by maximizing magic DPS with the least amount of CD. At this point, with total dominance, the enemy cannot make a comeback. 

The heroes with built-in BKB (Lifestealer), mobility, and escape (QOP, Storm Spirit, Puck), the heroes with the highest tempo (Huskar, Void Spirit), and the heroes with high-range disables (Faceless Void, LC, Silencer, Skymag) will be the main counter picks for KOTL.

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