Guide to Gorgon

Medusa The Gorgon
By Omni_Cookie

I know that some of you will find this guide long and drawn out. I am going to try to be as complete as I possibly can with this guide. Hopefully it will help someone to understand this amazing hero just a little bit better.

• Basic Info & Background
  
• Skills
  
• Pro & Con
  
• Skill builds with descussion
  
• Item build and descussion
  
• Strat
  
• Partners and Counters
  
• Conclusion
  

Basic Information and Background

Medusa - The Gorgon
Range: 600 | Move Speed: 300
Primary: AGI
Str: 14 + 1.85 | Agi: 20 + 2.5 | Int: 19 + 2.25
Damage: 44 – 50 | HP: 416 | Mana: 247
HP Regen: 0.67 | Mana Regen: 0.77
Attack Speed: 1.42 | Armor: 2

An insidious creature that dwelled for eons in the underwater prisons of Nazjatar, the Gorgon was unwittingly freed during the war waged between King Arthas's Scourge and the Naga on the icy shores of Northrend. Plagued by undeath in the aftermath, Medusa welcomed the blessing of immortality. Gifted with a keen sense of archery and affinity to magic at birth, she has honed her skills over the ages – striking multiple foes with a single volley of arrows, debilitating them with jolts of lightning, and even conjuring a protective barrier of mana. Like her namesake, Medusa instills paralyzing fear into all that dare cross her path.

Skills

Split Shot (T)
Medusa magically splits her shot into three arrows. These arrows deal a lower percent of her
normal damage.
Level 1 - 45% damage
Level 2 - 55% damage
Level 3 - 65% damage
Level 4 - 75% damage
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A
This skill will be very dependant on the role she will be playing.
Just remember when attacking a hero to de-activate to get max damage from your attack.

Chain Lightning (C)
Hurls a bolt of damaging lightning at a target enemy that jumps to nearby enemies. Each jump deals
less damage.
Level 1 - 75 damage, jumps 3 times.
Level 2 - 150 damage, jumps 5 times.
Level 3 - 225 damage, jumps 7 times.
Level 4 - 300 damage, jumps 9 times.
Mana Cost: 90/ 105/ 125/ 145
Cooldown: 11 seconds
This is our only nuke, its got a quick cool down and moderate damage. We
will howerver not be spamming it. It will mostly be used to get last hits on fleeing hero's as we will be needing our mana for other things.

Mana Shield (E)
Creates a shield that absorbs 50% of the incoming damage by using Medusa's mana.
Level 1 - .75 damage per point of mana.
Level 2 - 1.25 damage per point of mana.
Level 3 - 1.5 damage per point of mana.
Level 4 - 2 damage per point of mana.
Mana Cost: 0
Cooldown: 10 seconds
This is what makes Gorgon the only Agility tank in the game. This skill
will also mostly depend on what role we will be playing.

Purge (G)
Casts a powerful anti-magic buff at a target enemy unit. Slows movement and attack speeds for 5
seconds.
Level 1 - Slows speed by a factor of 2.
Level 2 - Slows speed by a factor of 3.
Level 3 - Slows speed by a factor of 5.
Mana Cost: 60
Cooldown: 12/11/10 seconds
Deals 600 damage to summoned units.
Finally we get to Medusa's bread and butter skill, Purge. With its quick
cool down and low mana cost we will be spamming this almost round the clock

Pro & Con


Pro

• Very versatile and can fit many roles
  
• Strong disable and anti buff
  

Con

• Very Item dependent
  
• Horrible attack animation
  
• Vulnerable without mana shield
  
• Gets focus fired alot
  

From that pro and con list it looks like Gorgon should be a very weak hero, but that would only be if we were to play her without any items. We will address all the con's with our item and skill builds and take advantage of her pro's especially the the disable. The only way to get past the bad attack animation is simply to practise with her,
and that is something that you'll have to do with any hero that you plan on playing decently. So lets get right to the fun part the builds.

Skill builds and discussion

Well here we come to the first real important choice you will make when you play Medusa, what role will you be playing in the team. Medusa can easily gang, carry or tank. And i'll explain the different builds we will be using for each of these rolls so lets get started.

Early game

1. Chain Lightning
2. Stats
3. Chain Lightning
4. Stats
5. Chain Lightning
6. Purge
7. Chain Lightning

This will be the base for all roles. If you are having a really hard lane you can use you CL to grab a few creep kills. But make sure to not just get creep kills but also harrass the opposing hero in the process, otherwise its just a waste of mana. And you'll need that for purge and mana shield a bit later. Because of Medusa's poor base damage, we are boosting it by taking stats, and at the same time we are boosting mana and health pools for a easier earlygame.

Carry build

8. Split Shot
9. Stat
10. Split Shot
11. Purge
12. Mana Shield
13. Split Shot
14. Mana Shield
15. Split Shot
16. Purge
17. Mana Shield
18. Stat
19. Mana Shield
20-25. Stat

With this build we will be pushing back mana shield a bit, as we dont intend on tanking anything soon, but will rather be trying to maximize our farming capability , hence split shot. Its not viable early game as your base damage is bad and it will push the waves to much. But at this stage we should have some form of damage item to boost the damage and bushing is also an option with split shot.

Tanking build/Gang build

8. Mana Shield
9. Stat
10. Mana Shield
11. Purge
12. Mana Shield
13. Stat/Split Shot
14. Mana Shield
15. Stat/Split Shot
16. Purge
17. Stat/Split Shot
18. Stat/Split Shot
19. Stat
20. Stat
21. Stat
22-25. Split Shot/stats

Tank

Here we will be having a little bit of a choice, Since we are going to be tanking we would definately want to max Shield asap after maxing Lightning so that we can start taking some of the beating for our teamies. And on the tanking one we will be leveling split sooner. This will be to make sure that we take aggro because we will be hurting multiple hero's in a team fight.

Gang

With our gang build, split shot will not be needed at all. As we will be ganging with our teamates and wont be needing the aoe but rather the focused damage to single targets. Shield is still taken early to help if a gang goes sour. And stats will help not only boosting damage, but also survivabilty in gangs.

Item builds and discussion

So after looking at Gorgon, we've seen that she doesn't have the best stats in the game, which means, poor health and mana, but she does have potential as she has a decent int and agi gain. And those are the main stats that we'll need. So lets jump right in shall we.

Carry build

Ok, so this is going to be a very expensive build. But if you do manage to complete it, it will make you almost unstoppable. And it is possible to complete if you farm farm farm, and neutral as well when lanes are pushed. Just dont forget to help your team every now and then with a gank or 2.

Early game

2 x tango
2 x clarity
2 x slippers of agility or gauntlet of strength
finish 2 x wraith bands or bracers
1 x boots of speed.

Ok this is going to be my standard starting build for most roles, but if you want you can swap the tango's and clarities for other consumables you might want, thats just my preference. Ok moving on.

Mid Game

1 x Gloves of haste
1 x Boots of elvenskin
finish power treads or skip previous 2 items and get boots of travel
1 x Boots of elvenskin
1 x Mithril Hammer
Finish Maelstrom

Ok I will leave the choice of treads vs travels too you. But my feeling is since you have purge you dont really need the extra speed that travels provide, eventhough the teleport is very good. Next we are getting maelstrom to help with attack speed, damage, and farming. Plus it will still proc lightning while split shot is active.

Late game

1 x Eagle horn(auto completes Mjollnir)
1 x Quater staff
1 x Eagle horn
Complete Butterfly

As you can see this is a very, very expensive build. But you have the advantage of split shot. As you see I also leave an open slot at the end for an item of your choice, but i'd suggest having TP scrolls handy if you didn't go travels. This build does not provide much in the line of survival, unless you count the old saying of the best defence is a good offence. This just maximizes damage. If you dont get TP scrolls I'd suggest Crystalis -> Buriza for last slot. But in clannies the game should have been over by then.

Tanking build

Early game Same as Carry

Mid Game

1 x Ring of health
1 x Void Stone(auto builds perserverance)
1 x Boots of elvenskin
1 x Gloves of haste
Finish power treads
1 x Ulti Orb
Finish Linkins Sphere

This is to max your mana regen and mana capasity, why would you do that you ask, Mana shield. This is what makes you a tank, you can soak up lots of damage and linkins' spell negation also prevents some nasty stuns.

Late game

1 x Quater staff
1 x Eagle horn
finish butterfly
or
1 x Sacred relic
Finish radiance.

1 x Mask of death
1 x Helm of iron will(auto completes Helm of Dominator)
1 x Messersmidts Reaver
Finish Satanic

Ok, you can choose betweet radiance or butterfly, both give good damage and a little evasion which helps your mana shield take less damage form attacks. Radience also gives the sparkles for more aoe damage with Split shot. Then if you can you can get lifesteal to make you almost impossible to kill.

Gang build

Early game same as carry

Mid and Late game

1 x Ring of Health
1 x Void Stone(auto completes perserverance)
1 x Ogre axe
1 x belt of giant strength
Finish Sange
1 x Blades of Alacrity
1 x Boots of elvenskin
finish Yasha
Finish Sange And Yasha
1 x Ulti Orb
Finish linkins
Finish Boots of travel

This build does not have to be done in the order i specified. In it we get linkins for some survivability if a gang goes sour, we get sange and yasha for the maim, as and ms buff, and we get travels so we can TP to gang or help defend. And Once more I leave the last slot open for your own choice.

Strategy

Here I will outline how I think she sould be played in her different roles. And some general tips on playing her in the lane etc.

General Tips

If you are in a difficult lane where you cant last hit and deny decently, try to stay back a bit and then use your chain lightning to grab a few creep kills. But dont forget to harrass the hero at the same time. After one or two chains the hero should be in mid health and you can either call for a gang. Or you can co-ordinate with your lane partner and kill him.

Purging

In team fights, always try to purge the enemy with the highest dps, as purge will really cut that down, and your team should be able to take them down quickly. Other uses for purge includes slowing a fleeing enemy. And something lots of people forget about is removing buffs. If you see a Sven activating God streangth immediately use purge on him, and he becomes just another creep again. Same goes for Broodmother, she relies on her ulti for the insane lifesteal and damage. That too can just be purged away. If you get a negative buff, you can purge that most of the time as well, the nice thing about purge is the low mana cost and cooldown, so this really can be spammed to either kill or support your team.

Carry

When playing medusa as the carry for the team, you'll be trying to maximize your farming. So you stick to your lane and you dont take as much chances as your teamates, If the lane your farming gets pushed up, I'd suggest you go to the bush unless there is a bushing hero on your team. Because of this I'd suggest the top or bottem lanes, so that you have easy access to the neutrals, and it should be decently warded to warn you of gangs. As carry you cant afford to loose too much gold, as the team will be looking to you to farm the expensive items and to carry the team in the late game with massive damage.

Tanking

For the tank, try to get the teams initiator to start the team battle, then you just activate split shot and start dpsing their team. Dont forget to purge the dps of the other team. You will mostly get a lot of focus fire when you do this, as you will be doing lots of damage to 3 of the enemy hero's. Luckily you will have linkins to ward of a nasty nuke or stun every 60 seconds, and you will be able to take a massive beating thanks to mana shield. If your shield breaks and you really start taking damage, that would be the time for you to get out of the battle, but if all went well your team should have been mopping up the enemy while you were being focused.

Ganging


To me this is the most fun way to play Medusa. I'd suggest sticking to your lane till you hit lvl 6 or so. That means you will have purge at your disposal. Play a little aggressive, either kill the hero in your lane, or run back to base to heal. That will make the enemy think you just went to heal. Now, find out from your teamates who needs a gang in their lane. Try to move in behind the enemy you are going to gang. Remember to warn your allies as to what you are doing and then purge your target. With your allies keep hitting the enemy while he is purged. As soon as purge ends your ally will hopefully have a stun to hit him with. Keep hitting him and finish with chain lightning. This will usually be the order of things in a gang. You will lead with purge and your ally should follow up with a stun. The reason you initiate a gang, is since you will later have linkins, you will mostly be able to negate the first spell and you will be the target as the initiator. Thus saving your ally from a stun etc. With sange and yasha, you should get a maim proc on an enemy while he is purged, and that pretty much spells doom for him unless he has a long disable or can go invis. Keep ganging around the map and try to get the runes as they spawn, as they can make any gang come out successful.

Partners and counters

Most hero's that have a stun work well with Medusa, other hero's would be someone who can take advantage of the heavy slow to an enemy. Another combo is Naga siren. She sleeps the enemy team and then gorgon purges the enemy dps. Leaving him to fight your team alone.

Partners

• Ursa Worrior
  
• Rogue Knight
  
• Chen
  
• Naga Siren
  

Enemies

• Anti-Mage
  
• Nerubian Assasin
  

These two hero's are your worst nightmare, not only do they do heavy damage to you, but by draining your mana they leave you virtually defenseless. And both have an escape mechanism to get them away from you if you purge them.

Conclusion

Well I'm sure that you're all tired of me babbling on about this hero. But if this helps any one of you to either play better with her or maybe just to know what she is capable of when you fight against her then this guide would have achieved its goal. I will be editing this guide as time comes. For now this is just a rough draft. But all comments will be apprechiated

did u create this guide or COPY/PASTE ? just asking... if copied paste pls state the source incase of copyright inringement

Good Mod... i is Good Mod

I did all of it myself. The only part copied and pasted was the basic information and background which was gotten off of dota-allstars hero information. The rest is all original baby

no wonder its crap.

JOKEZ

nicely layd out n well said n damn too long! WP GG

Awesome. Our first proudly Clan D4rk , hero guide. Good work omni, looks like you went to quite a bit of effort.

Would be nice if you could put some pics in there to break up the wall of text.

Another thing you could possible add is a list of uses of purge and what all it can counter: eg: you can purge repel (omni knight), purge treant's eyes from trees. Also you can purge negative effects like Axe's battle hunger from your teamies. Also I think purge might cancel BKB but don't quote me on that one, I might be wrong. In which case a list of effect that purge won't cancel would also be useful.

Another cool combo I came across is with Naga's sleep ulti. In a team battle naga sleeps their whole team, then purge their main dps hero and wake him up, then your whole team is free to blast the shit out of him

Anyway let me know if you have any troubles editing your posts in the future.

edit: only just saw your other post about adding pics, ignore above comment

Cool, will do. Nice combo with siren
What i will do is add a link to uses of purge guide on Dota-allstars. Since they have a brilliant guide on purge