DOTA Hero Tips: Tinker

Tinker can be a very dangerous hero if controlled by a player with fast hands and given the right items. This hero’s strength entirely relies on his ability to cast his spells multiple times in succession. Tinker’s ultimate skill can be compared to refresher orb without the cooldown. The mana cost may be high but it won’t be a problem particularly during the late part of the game where Tinker’s mana pool is high enough to support all his skills. Most active items are affected by Tinker’s ultimate skill so he can cast a Force Staff, Kelen’s Dagger, Boots of Travel, etc in succession. This made Tinker one of the hardest DOTA heroes to kill. However, efficiently controlling this hero is not as easy as it sounds. Good hand and eye coordination is imperative. Tinker has very low hit points so one wrong move could mean his death. Here are some DOTA hero tips that can help you bring out the true offensive and defensive potential of Boush the Tinker.

Laser

This is Tinker’s main offensive skill. Aside from damage, the skill blinds its target and enemies near him making them miss 100% for a small duration of time. This effect can be very useful especially during late game clashes where having even the slightest game advantage could decide everything. This skill also has a very low cooldown time so spamming it early on to harass enemy heroes is possible.

Heat Seeking Missile

A lot of Tinker users focus their skill points on this skill and you can’t blame them. This spell doesn’t need to be targeted as the missiles will hit the two nearest heroes at level 4. Aside from boasting a considerable amount of damage, you can cast this skill multiple times using Tinker’s last skill so it’s not something enemy heroes can simply disregard.

March of the Machines

Farming is not a problem for Tinker with his third skill. It can eliminate an entire wave of enemy creeps at level 4. Some claim that this skill also affects structures but I observed that it doesn’t. The skill has a substantial cooldown time but it won’t be a problem with Tinker’s ultimate skill always ready. Aside from farming, this skill is also effective during early and mid game team clashes.

Rearm

This is the bread and butter skill of tinker. It allows him to ready all his skills and items at cooldown. Despite its great effect, you should carefully cast this skill. It can be interrupted by any disabling skill or cancelled if you move. You’ll use up all your mana points by simply casting this skill wrong four to five times. Tinker is an intelligence type hero who entirely relies on mana to attack and escape so using up all his mana points could render him useless.

Early Game

Tinker is highly effective during the early game. Only a few heroes can survive his first and second skill combo given most enemy heroes don’t have times that can boost their hit points. In most cases, the mid lane is assigned to Tinker. In any case a Bottle and Crow combination is a must as it can support your great need for mana. Rushing a Boots of Travel should be your main priority. The sooner you get this item, the better. With this type of boots you can teleport back to the fountain and regenerate mana points. With your ultimate skill, you can eliminate the boots’ cooldown time and teleport straight back to the battlefield without wasting time. This technique is great for farming and regaining control over a lane. You can simply cast Tinker’s third skill two times and kill an entire wave of enemy creeps then teleport back to the fountain. Use his ultimate skill and teleport to another lane. Do the same process over and over again to gather enough gold. By following this technique, only a few heroes can hunt you down as you leave enemies behind in terms of gold and experience. Buying a Kelen’s Dagger or Force Staff is a must as well since these items can make Tinker almost impossible to kill.

Mid Game

If you don’t want to stress out your hand with the previous technique discussed earlier, you can settle with a Dagon Scepter build. With Tinker’s last skill, you can cast Dagon Scepter multiple times in succession. At Level 5, Dagon Scepter boasts 800 spell damage. Casting it four times on a target would mean 3,200 spell damage. Even the mightiest DOTA tankers will find it hard to survive such an absurd amount of spell damage. Probably the only thing missing on Tinker’s offensive arsenal is a disabling skill. This is the main reason why most Tinker users prioritize Guinsoo’s Scythe after purchasing a Boots of Travel. You can cast the Scythe multiple times with Tinker’s ultimate skill so disabling numerous enemy heroes is possible. Experienced Tinker users are very hard to counter. Tinker may not be a very good ganker as he lacks innate disabling skills but he can still provide enough damaging spells to eliminate heroes during the mid part of the game with ease.

Late Game

Tinker is a peculiar intelligence type hero as he excels during the late game. He can spam all his skills in a surprising speed to wreak havoc enemy ranks. He can act an assassin to focus all his skill on the enemy carry. Going in and out of battle won’t be a problem for Tinker as well since you can use Force Staff and Kelen’s Dagger any time. With both versatility and offensive prowess, Tinker is an intelligence hero that can lead his allies toward victory. However, one can’t use Tinker effectively without constant practice. Remapping your keyboard so you can easily access skill shortcuts is also a good move. Remember to always be sensitive about Tinker’s health points during a team clash as he doesn’t have so much. Like what I previously mentioned, one wrong move could get Tinker killed so be observant and cast any escaping items at once if you noticed impending danger drawing near.