Dota 2 is a continuation of the legendary team tactical-strategic game with elements of a role-playing game, in which each player controls one hero, and, if the hero has the appropriate abilities, a number of additional creatures.
Dota 2 Hero Tier List: Best Meta Picks in Each Position (February 2023)
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If you're trying to figure out which Dota 2 heroes you should be playing right now in the current meta, we'll give you some great recommendations for each position in this guide.
Dota 2 is a complex game with many heroes - 122 to be exact. Not only do they have different skills that differ from each other, they can also be detailed in different ways, making them suitable for multiple roles in different scenarios.
Moreover, the meta is constantly changing. For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to trends shaped by patches and professional players that eventually become the optimal way to play. This includes which heroes to pick and how to detail them.
Naturally, this means that it is important for Dota 2 players to know which heroes are currently strong in the meta and why. To make this process easier for you, we have compiled a list of the best Dota 2 heroes in the current meta.
The Dota 2 meta is constantly changing and some heroes are getting better than others with every patch.
List of Dota 2 heroes: Best characters in each role
| Position 1 (Safe) | Position 2 (Middle) | Position 3 (Offline) | Position 4 (soft support) | Position 5 (Hard support) |
| Ursa | tinker | Lycan | Nyx Assassin | Ogre magi |
| Lifestyler | Templar Assassin | Death prophet | mirana | Bane |
| Medusa | Puck | Beast Master | Review | Treant Protector |
The Best Dota 2 Heroes to Use in Any Position
Position 1 (Carry)
Ursa
Ursa is a simple hero, but effective - especially in the current meta. Fury Swipes allows him to deal a fair amount of damage in quick succession, especially when used with successive Overpower throws and Blink Dagger.
Earthshock also gives him some agility, while his ultimate, Enrage, removes all existing debuffs and provides a massive increase in damage reduction and status resistance, making him a nightmare to deal with when active.
Lifestyler
Lifestealer is another simple hero that is strong in the meta right now. The feast allows him to deal additional damage and heal a portion of his health with each hit. Ghoul Frenzy increases attack speed and also causes his attacks to also slow enemies.
Fury also causes him to become spell immune and gain increased movement speed, making him the perfect tool for escaping with the well-timed use of a teleport scroll or simply knocking down an enemy in the heat of battle.
His trickiest ability, Infest, causes him to infect a target unit (either a creep or an ally) and become stealthy. It also heals a portion of health every second while inside and can be used to explode, dealing damage to nearby enemies.
Medusa
Medusa is one of the strongest late players in the game. The premise behind it is simple: Mana Shield causes her to lose some of her mana instead of health when attacking, while Mystic Coil damages enemies and also steals some of their mana.
Additionally, Split Shot allows her to hit multiple creeps or enemies with each right click, and her ultimate, Stone Gaze, causes all enemies in front of her to turn to stone.
What makes her so powerful is the use of items in coordination with these abilities. For example, when equipped with the Eye of Skadi, she slows every enemy she hits with the right talent, and once she gets tanky, she's hard to take down.
Position 2 (Mid)
tinker
Tinker is a mid lane hero with a lot of magic damage and unique gameplay. The basis of the game for Tinker is the ultimate ability Rearm. It allows you to reset the cooldown of all abilities and almost any items after a certain delay. Proper use of this spell is the key to victory. Laser deals pure damage to the target enemy and blinds them, causing them to miss their attacks. By constantly recharging this skill, Tinker both deals a lot of damage and seriously interferes with enemy carries. With Aghanim's ScepterLaser, it will affect multiple enemies at once. Heat-Seeking Missile fires homing missiles at all enemies in a large radius, dealing damage. Tinker is able to literally throw missiles at the enemy, and thanks to the ability's high range, he does it from a safe distance. Purchasing Aghanim's Shard will unlock the March of the Machines. When using the ability, small robots will start running in the area around the hero, which will explode on contact with the enemy. This makes just being in a fight painful for the enemy team, and it also speeds up the clearing of jungle camps. A very important ability for your hero is Keen Conveyance. With it, you will not need to spend money on replenishing the Town Portal Scroll or buying Boots of Travel, because you can teleport to the fountain at any time to replenish your mana and health, and then quickly return to the fight. The ultimate also allows you to recharge Blink Dagger even after taking damage, making it very suitable for Tinker gameplay, allowing you to take advantage of positions or move away from danger. Purchasing a Soul Ring will increase your active mana, allowing you to stay in combat longer without recharging.
Templar Assassin
The Templar Assassin has always been a solid choice as a mid hero thanks to how easy she is to taunt enemies with Refraction, how well she can farm with Psi Blades, and how easy it is to manipulate runes with some well-placed psionic traps.
However, she is not only engaged in farming. When equipped with Dragon Lance, Blink Dagger, Desolator, Black King Bar and more, players can jump to the back lanes, pop Meld and mow down enemies with ease.
Puck
Park is currently meta due to how well he can initiate and control enemies with Illusory Orb, Decreasing Rift, and Dream Coil, as well as his ability to move in and out of combat thanks to Phase Shift and clever use of Blink Dagger.
However, it's not just about how well he can move around. Puck can also deal an amazing amount of damage with items like the Witchblade, Kaya, and Sange, making him a well-rounded mid-laner that can do it all.
Position 3 (Offline)
Lycan
Lycan had strong results on The International 10, and since then, he has remained relatively strong in the meta as an offlaner.
Not only can he push well with Summon Wolves, Feral Impulse, and Howl, but he can also use his ultimate, Shapeshift, to stalk his prey.
Once you've buffed it with items like Dominator's Helm, Vladimir's Offering, Cuirass Assault, you can also grab Aghanim's scepter and use Wolf Bite to Shapeshift an ally's core, giving enemies double trouble.
Death prophet
The Prophet of Death has been all over the map in the last few metas. She was traditionally used as a midlaner. However, she has found a new home as a soft support and she is now mainly used as an offlaner.
Swam's crypt allows her to farm and advance the path with ease, especially when paired with tower exorcisms. Spirit Siphon and Silence also make her a powerhouse in teamfights. Just don't forget to buy Eul's Divinity Scepter to play to her strengths.
Beast Master
Beastmaster is harder to play than other heroes on this list due to Call of the Wild Boar and Call of the Wild Hawk, which require players to control an additional unit. But if that doesn't phase you, he's a solid choice.
Not only can he stalk enemies and scout the map with these units, but he can also deal a lot of damage with Inner Beast and Wild Axes. Primal Roar is also a fantastic initiation ability in teamfights when paired with the Blink Dagger.
Position 4 (soft support)
Nyx Assassin
Nyx Assassin is an absolute threat as a soft support at the moment. Not only can he stun multiple enemies with Impale and Spiked Carapace, but he can also drain mana and deal damage with Mana Burn.
However, his biggest power is his ultimate vendetta, which allows him to turn invisible and scout the map or sneak up on unsuspecting opponents to deal some burst damage. Follow up on the initial attack with stuns to help your team secure kills.
mirana
Mirana has always been one of the most popular heroes in Dota 2. However, she is a solid choice in the soft support role right now due to how well she can roam the map and shoot enemies with her Sacred Arrow.
Ideally, you want to coordinate with your teammates and use it for a subsequent stun. In this way, you can reliably hit the enemy at the maximum distance, which makes it more effective.
Feel free to jump in and out of combat when chasing enemies, and use her ultimate, Moon Shadow, to initiate ganks and help allies escape from messy situations.
Review
Weaver has proven to be an extremely powerful soft support hero in the current meta. It's all thanks to the agility offered by Shuhuchi and the pursuit potential of The Swarm and Germinate Attack.
The swarm can also be used to reveal invisible units, which can save you the hassle of buying guardhouses and dust in some cases. Also, when in doubt, feel free to use his ultimate, Time Lapse, to rewind time and regenerate health.
Position 5 (Hard support)
Ogre magi
Ogre Magi is the hottest hard support hero in the current meta right now. In addition to the damage spell (Ignite), single-target stun (Fireblast), and damage to carry it (Bloodlust), he also has a high base regen, making him a solid lane chaser.
His best asset, however, is his ultimate, Multicast, which allows him to perform any of these spells multiple times depending on how lucky you are. Add Veil of Discord to the mix to boost his damage.
Bane
Bane is incredibly strong at the moment due to the crowd control he offers both in the laning phase and in teamfights. Nightmare and Fiend's Grip can be used to hold targets in place as the perfect setup for another stun.
Brain Juice allows Bane to sustain himself by chasing enemies in an alleyway. He can reliably win one-on-one battles with support on the opposing team, and can even use Nightmare to hold them in place when they over-expand.
Treant Protector
The Treant Protector is a strong choice as a hard support right now due to the sheer brutality it offers in the landing phase. Leech Seed and Nature's Grasp, combined with its high right-click damage, are perfect harassing tools.
What's more, Living Armor provides healing and armor to any target ally on the map, regardless of their position. It can also be used to heal towers. Last but not least, his ultimate, Overgrowth, is a wonderful asset in teamfights.
The Dota 2 meta is based on what professional players do in their games.
This almost sums up our list of the best Dota 2 heroes in the current meta. There are many other candidates as well. However, you can't go wrong with the ones we've mentioned on this list - at least in most games.
It is also important to remember that you will need to detail these heroes on a case by case basis. You can access the best community item guides in the game by clicking on a store and selecting one from the dropdown.
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