Dota 2 is quite a demanding game to play in terms of skill. There are over 120 heroes in the game and a number of mechanics to remember if you want to successfully play and win a match. While the game is certainly not very beginner-friendly, steps have been taken by Valve to make the game easier and more appealing to newer players.
This has ensured a steady player count for the game since its inception, with new players recently joining the fray to see how the game works.
The tutorial systems in the game have been overhauled to ensure a smoother learning curve for players just starting out. While most of the mechanics are covered in the tutorials, a very important part of playing the game is identifying which heroes from the massive hero pool are right for you. No two heroes have the same skills and mechanics, so knowing which ones to play is integral.
Some heroes tend to be more complex than others, but there is a pool of easier heroes that beginners can pick up and play fairly easily. We have listed out the heroes that require minimum skill to understand and would be perfect for beginners.
Best low-skill heroes to play in Dota 2
The heroes listed here are mechanically easier to play because their skills are fairly straightforward. A hero generally has four skills to level up over time, but some of them tend to have more. There are also passive skills that account for a hero’s skillset that doesn’t need to be manually used and are active as long as the hero is alive.
These factors determine if a hero is considered to be easy or difficult to play. The more passive skills a hero has, the less new players have to keep track and worry about, which is why you will see a lot of passive-oriented heroes in this list going forward.
Axe
Axe is a Dota 2 staple hero and has been iconic since the days of the original Defense of the Ancients. One glance at this hero’s skills will probably tell you that he loves to fight, and you would be right. Having a literal skill named Battle Hunger shows this hero is all about fighting, damaging enemy units that cannot fight back or kill a unit to get rid of the debuff.
If Axe’s enemies still refuse to fight him, Berserker’s Call will make sure they do. This skill taunts all enemies in an area around him into a frenzy, prompting them to attack Axe for a few seconds. While this may sound dangerous for the Axe player, his passive ability, Counter Helix, allows him to counterattack all targets that attack him, dealing damage that goes through all armor and resistances.
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Once the skirmishes end, if the enemies’ health drops low enough around Axe, it is unlikely they will survive thanks to his ultimate ability, Culling Blade. When their health reaches a certain threshold, Culling Blade instantly kills the enemy, regardless of how much damage they can block. This ensures that nobody who fights Axe face-to-face will come out unscathed.
Bristleback
This spiny fiend is an easy pickup for anyone who wants to fight early in the game. Bristleback fires quills in every direction with his iconic Quill Spray ability, which starts off quite weak. This ability is fairly cheap in terms of mana cost with a short cooldown so, provided you have the mana to sustain it, you can constantly fire off quills at all enemies around you.
The damage keeps stacking based on how many quills you have fired onto them, which means the longer the fight lasts, the more damage Bristleback will do. This is further increased by Bristleback’s passive ability, also named Bristleback, which releases quills automatically with no mana cost when his back takes enough damage. These quills stack with the Quill Spray, dealing even more damage.
The easiest solution would be to just run away then, right? Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen with his Viscous Nasal Goo, which applies a stacking debuff that slows enemies and reduces their armor. To make matters worse for his enemies, every quill or goo that Bristleback triggers activates his ultimate ability, Warpath, which gives him bonus damage and movement speed to chase and finish them off.
Dragon Knight
You might know this hero from the DOTA: Dragon’s Blood show on Netflix. Dragon Knight Davion is one of the most familiar faces in Dota 2, with a skill set that has been largely unchanged over time. His passive ability, Dragon’s Blood, allows him to stay in lane for as long as he wishes, with bonus armor to defend himself and bonus HP regen to keep him alive through any gank.
Having the power of a dragon, Davion can Breathe Fire to damage the enemies in front of him and reduce their incoming damage, making him even tankier. He can also stun his enemies with a swipe of his Dragon Tail, leaving them helpless to follow-up damage. Finally, he can also awaken the dragon’s blood within him with his ultimate ability, transforming him into a full-fledged dragon.
This Dragon Form grants him bonus attack range, increased cast range on his Dragon Tail, and bonus damage based on which Dragon Form he takes.
- The Green Dragon breathes corrosive acid that melts enemies and structures.
- The Red Dragon breathes flames so powerful that they splash on enemies around them.
- The Blue Dragon breathes a freezing chill that slows down enemies.
- The most powerful form, the Black Dragon, gives him all of the above, bonus magic resistance, and the ability to fly over terrain as he wishes.
Juggernaut
Juggernaut is probably a lot of players’ first hero starting out. He is simple to play, deals high damage at all stages of the game, and is just inherently fun. His biggest sources of damage are both physical and magical. The magic damage comes from his Blade Fury, which turns him into a mini whirlwind, constantly damaging all enemies around him. He can’t be stopped by most heroes while spinning.
The physical damage comes from his passive ability, Blade Dance, which allows him to deal double damage on his attacks with a chance to trigger. This directly ties into his ultimate ability, Omnislash, which sends Juggernaut into a frenzy, slashing every enemy in the area for a few seconds till it ends. Juggernaut moves so fast that he becomes immune to all damage in this state.
Since Juggernaut is always in the thick of things, it’s no surprise he gets wounded often once the battle ends. His Healing Ward ability allows him to sustain through most of the damage, allowing him to heal his wounded allies as well, making it a very potent team ability. If there is a hero that you want to start the game with, Juggernaut would be an ideal one.
Phantom Assassin
Phantom Assassin is all about damage. If assassinating your enemies in a quick and timely fashion is your play style, then look no further. Her ultimate ability, Coup de Grace, grants her a chance to deal over four times her normal damage per attack. It is a passive ability that affects her other abilities as well. Building up her damage over time with items is the key to success with her.
Stifling Dagger allows her to slow down her enemies while also dealing a portion of her physical damage. Coup de Grace has a chance to trigger from Stifling Dagger as well. To kill her enemies quickly and trigger Coup de Grace often, her Phantom Strike allows Phantom Assassin to jump onto a target, attacking it with bonus attack speed and recovering health based on the damage dealt.
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Like a true assassin, Phantom Assassin can hide in the shadows with Blur, allowing her to stay hidden from enemies until they come close to her. Blur also passively allows her to evade almost half of the physical attacks coming her way, which makes fighting her one-on-one a difficult task without the right items. Assassination is her forte and it can be yours too when you play Phantom Assassin.
Tidehunter
The final hero on this list is the Kraken hunter himself, Tidehunter. This mythical sea beast brings the power of the deep sea with him, launching torrents of water at his enemies with his Gush ability. Gush deals damage, slows his enemies, and even reduces their armor, opening them up to further damage. This pairs well with the other two abilities that Tidehunter possesses.
Kraken Shell allows him to block a fixed amount of physical damage from all sources. Apart from not feeling that damage, he also gets rid of any negative effects on him once his Kraken Shell absorbs a certain amount of damage. His Anchor Smash hits all targets around him, dealing physical damage and reducing their damage even further, with synergizes great with Gush and Kraken Shell.
And finally, the ability that Tidehunter is most known for. His ultimate ability, Ravage, fires out tentacles in all directions in a massive area around Tidehunter. These tentacles stun and damage all enemies in the area, setting up fights for your teammates or allowing them to disengage from a difficult situation. If controlling the fights is what you like doing, Tidehunter is the hero for you.
While there are other heroes that are relatively easy to play as well, you can’t go wrong starting out with any of these heroes. With the game ever-expanding, including the much larger map we have now, it is a good time as any to begin. If you’re a returning player or want to increase your hero pool, it might help to know the best heroes in this current meta.
Once you get used to the game, you can follow a more comprehensive item and skill guide to continue your progress with these heroes and others.
