Witch Slayer Help!

[stevenChen`]

So I been playing with this hero for quit a while now. Witch is a really slow, at the beginning, and fragile hero. Last hitting and deny for :witc: is not that easy especially. There are couple questions I wonder if the community can help me on.

1) During a teammate fight your stun is defiantly a key to win. But how do you ensure a perfectly good one or at least not bad? Of the last game I played, I failed my stun two times. It was bad, and my teammates were mad at me.

2) The same kind of question, but one level up. Now you have your magical portal. You are thinking of going in and stun and be the one who initiate. But you are extremely fragile.

In addition, I will be VERY VERY VERY Happy to hear any tip you guys have on :witc:.

Thank you.

[Triumph`117]

You're playing casual mode. Witch isn't a hero who does well in that game mode.

[Quinnal]

For your first issue ws stun can target either a hero or you can choose to cast it manually (clicking on the ground) so if you are having trouble landing ur stun just click right on the enemy hero and you should be fine.

For your second issue initiating with witch can work in smaller team fights or ganks but for 5 v 5 it's dangerous because of ur lower hp pool. If you have a hero like behemoth or tree for example, they would initiate first with you blinking in and using ur spells behind them. I say ur good for going into smaller team fights or gangs because you have enough spells to disable 2 or more heroes allowing your teammates to jump in. It's very important to let your team know ur going in, rushing things will only get you killed.

Hope this helped!!

[stevenChen`]

@ Quinnal. You made a good point there about not initiating with a 5vs 5 play.

[Kudryavka]

Usually in 5v5 teamfights, Witch wants to TP in after the real initiator. In skirmishes and ganks, however, he's the go-to guy for initiation stuns.

[stevenChen`]

Correct me if I am wrong, for often I am.

But portal is NOT a Core item for witch. Sure if your farm is good and you got some gank money before 20:00 mark, sure buy a portal, but other than that, forget about it.

I have been doing this for a while and realize this now. In a team fight, if for example, behmeth stun maybe 3, and you just port in. I don't care how many of them you got, it is just pliantly stupid because what happens next is that they are going to all aim at you.


I fully agree with Kudrayvka.

I think the right way for Witch is a kind of back store strategy. Where it is in almost middle of the fight, you kinda of go back door, because at that time, in pub at least, players tend to aim one after the other so they are close to each other, and stun that way is much easier. Don't portal and stun right away unless you got like 1900+PSR or professional or crazy fast reaction.


Am I right? What do you think?

[DorkBasher]

witch slayer is a support hero so that means your ability to play with your team is key to your performance. so when it comes time to fight roll with your homies and watch their movements very carefully. WS stuns last around 3 seconds, that means to be 80% effective you need to have your dps carry come in within 0.6 seconds of your disable. practice moving as one with your team and the fact that you are squishy should no longer be of concern.

[Triumph`117]

I have been doing this for a while and realize this now. In a team fight, if for example, behmeth stun maybe 3, and you just port in. I don't care how many of them you got, it is just pliantly stupid because what happens next is that they are going to all aim at you.If those idiots are aiming you after you've burned 3 spells, who cares? You'd rather they wasted effort taking you down than going after your carry, who's going to kill them.

Stun, minimise, ult the highest priority target, then try to back off. If you extricate yourself successfully don't run too far, be ready to go back in as soon as your stun is off CD again. If you die? No big loss if you managed to draw some heavy fire off your teammates, as long as you managed to hit several high priority targets with your initial 3 spells then you've already been highly effective. It's up to your team to make the most of your set up.

You're playing support so get used to getting beat up in teamfights late into the game.

[stevenChen`]

Great deeds you all have done for me here. And especially @Porchape. Thanks a lot man. Ye, I realized that recently and been playing A LOT of no stat with Witch and trying to move in and out of teammate fight and do the right thing at the right time. Thanks again.

[Tetsuji]

1) First of all if you want to get good at playing ws do what you are supposed to do, buy either a courier / ward. Second of all level your 2 first skills (level mana drain last)

And about your stun, If they are in target of your stun then target them with your stun, that way you cant miss. if your not close enough you could target the ground that means your stun gets a little bit longer range. Also in teamfights if people are lined up try to hit the ground and hit multiple people. Your second skill can be used to counter channeling spells suchs as pollywoggs grip, tempest ultimate etc.

2) THis isnt only up to you, only initiate if your team is ready or if you can kill their carry or a keyplayer alone, only then its worth it. you want to blink use graveyard, then let your team come in for support (use your second skill if needed to) You should also use your ult at the start of the fight to get as much burst damage out as possible)

People often tend to level mana drain in early levels on ws, its wrong, you get 10 times more out of levling up your crowd controll abilities.

The key to mastering a good ws it to know when you should initiate, when to target the player / the ground with your graveyard stun. Even though your ult does damage dont be afreid to use it, allways try to get it off before you die to get in as much burst as possible.

Gl using ws

[Anakha]

Treads->PK is about as core as it gets. I like an early Ring of the Teacher as well, for general pushing and making sure your wave doesn't die from bashing on the tower, which you get the opportunity to at least a few times in the game.

Mana Drain is situational, and never really worth it in a sidelane except against terribad lanes. Mana Drain over Mini is a solo mid only thing, and only worth doing against certain opponents (dr, tb, bomb).

If initiating on a lone target, use Mini first. Not Graveyard. Graveyard is for the oshi- more coming! moments after initiating a gank on someone, and Mini makes hitting Graveyard about 10x easier, and gives you more opportunity to line up more people to hit with Graveyard if they happen to be nearby.

Know when to use treadswapping, especially when using Mana Drain on neutrals/Bottle/Chalice if you have it.

[stevenChen`]

@ Anakha. Why is portal key "as core as it gets". I am somewhat hesitating on that, for it really depending on how are you fighting with.

For example, I just had a game where we have on our team a pebble. he got a portal key. I bought one too, but think back it is really a waste of money. He ports in, stun, and that is about 3 sec or 4, anyway, enough for me to go line up, and stun, almost perfect every time in a 3v4 or 5v5 team fight. $2100 is just a waste of money at that moment.

[DorkBasher]

no problem OP, witch slayer was the first hero i ever learned and only after a long while did i learn how important his stuns and coordination are. i always laugh when someone on my team has a portal key and just abruptly teleports 1200 units away into a group of enemies and then gets pwned and QQ's at us because we weren't there with him. its not like we can instantly teleport or even read his mind as to what he is doing. nowadays if i feel like my team is not on the same playing field as me and i plan on initiating i give a little break down as to what i am going to do when we are all grouped up and ready to go. HON is all about team work and WS is definitely one of those heroes that can bring everything together. its a really great feeling when you play well with your team and everything flows. happy gg's

[Anakha]

Are you saying that there is no point to positioning yourself and your stuns perfectly in any given situation?

[Triumph`117]

Depends what you're doing. If you're playing the ward ***** then don't go for a PK. Pick up all the cheap survivability you can find, and then build a tablet or something. You're never going to farm a PK in any useful amount of time anyway.

Now on the other hand if a handy dandy Glacius is taking care of the warding for you then you can try and farm a PK, and some other nice toys.

The point of a PK is the second you see the enemy form up into a bad position (i.e. 3 of them line up diagonally for a second) you can blink in and capitalise on the error by hitting all 3 of them. You can't do that just running into a fight. And often stunning half the team instead of 1 of them can make or break a team fight.

[DorkBasher]

@anakha what you suggest is a gross exaggeration of what was a very considerate and reserved remark about determining your item build based on your team makeup. of course one wants to "stun perfectly" and position themselves correctly but sometimes your team makeup is such that a pk offers such marginal benefit to your team fight ability that the money is better spent elsewhere.

[Vulpes]

Porchape, an example of such a lineup please.

[DorkBasher]

hmm okay, you have Keeper on your team or valkyrie for invis initiation. perhaps you and your homie playing pebs like to roll together and you would rather save the 2.1k and put it towards your prodex (in this case it is assumed pebs has a pk or likes to toss you LOL). bubbles has great range initiation which will hold the team in place for you to casually walk up and stun like the pimp slayer you are. or maybe the other team has a tb or sw that screws with your initiation which would put your pk on cd in big team fights. maybe your team has a really great pk initiator but your carries are fragile and low mobility(archna, FA, swiftblade, MQ), in this case you would want to stay very near to your carries and move up after the behe.

end of the day though you have to judge your teams and the opposing teams ability and play style and make decisions on a game by game basis.

/edit

with all this being said, however, i play to win and have fun. and PK's IMO are FUN

[Vinki]

PK is the next best item right after wards. With good positioning you dont need HP/STR items, movement/juking/initiating/escaping is so much better with it.

PK is useful for any role WS has to do.

[Distrust]

First of all, when you first learn to play...:pause for emphasis:

DO NOT BURDEN YOURSELF BY BUYING WARDS OR CHICKEN

There. I said it.

You're a new player, you need every advantage you can get in order to develop your skills. Yeah, your team might flame you. But honestly, don't pay attention to that. These people are also low rated for a reason. Remember that just because you're a certain hero doesn't mean you have to do certain things. I have seen plenty of games where "support heroes" carry the games. e.g. Witch Slayer, Pyro, Zeus, Succubus and many more...

Now, let's talk about your hero.

Witch Slayer is a fragile hero that has 2 disables, a mana drain and an ultimate.

Here is my skill build:
Impale (Your first skill, it's an AOE stun. I don't know the name)
Stats
Impale
Stats
Impale
Ultimate
Impale

Why am I recommending stats? Because your current mana pool can NOT support two highly mana intensive skills. (It's like Starcraft. You don't build 6 barracks on one base because you CANNOT support it with your resources.)

A feature about Impale is that it is activated by clicking on the enemy hero. A common mistake I see new players do is "whiffing" the stun by clicking the ground near the enemy hero.

Don't do it. It's better to guarantee that your stun hits.

At lvl 6, you are almost guaranteed to get a kill. (At your current MMR level anyways) Try this: At level 4 or 5, use your stun and auto attack an enemy hero in your lane. Try not to aggro too many creeps and take hits. Once the creep wave is over and you hit level 6, you should have enough mana remaining to combo a stun/ultimate the hurt hero for a kill. Rinse and repeat. Do NOT hesitate to use your ultimate to "kill steal". There's no such thing. (Well... in a higher level game, try and give your kills to Sand Wrath or something. But right now don't worry about it, that low MMR Sand Wrath or Scout probably fails anyways)

Witch Slayer is a great solo mid hero. Although I guarantee your team won't let you because they don't know any better, just know that in the off-chance that you do get a chance to solo... DO IT. You'll dominate the game. Anyways, you'll mostly be forced top or bottom. Just pick any. Would be nice if your partner has a stun/slow.

Strategy in lane: Abuse the range. Abuse the attack animation.

Witch Slayer's attack is surprisingly strong. If you're facing two melee heroes, or one melee hero, you're in a great position. Attack once, run away from creeps. Attack again, run away from creeps.

Tip: To gain the aggressive pressure in the lane, use your stun when he does not have creep support and attack him. Keep him scared that he may die at any moment.

Anyways, add me in game if you want to 1v1 no stats me for practice.

[Triumph`117]

First of all, when you first learn to play...:pause for emphasis:

DO NOT BURDEN YOURSELF BY BUYING WARDS OR CHICKEN

There. I said it.

You're a new player, you need every advantage you can get in order to develop your skills. Yeah, your team might flame you. But honestly, don't pay attention to that. These people are also low rated for a reason. Remember that just because you're a certain hero doesn't mean you have to do certain things. I have seen plenty of games where "support heroes" carry the games. e.g. Witch Slayer, Pyro, Zeus, Succubus and many more...Tbh I think that's pretty bad advice.

What happens when he stops playing like an ass and starts helping his team? He'll be forced to cope with no money and no items, and if he's not used to doing this and not capable of doing this he'll just feed, drag his team down, and throw matches.

And wind up right back where he started again.

And I'll also point out you've got another thing coming if you classify no courier/wards as an "advantage". They're so vital even carry players will chip in for some if their supports are being dickheads and not buying them.

Also, Thunderbringer, not a support hero. Never has been and certainly not after spellshards was introduced to the game. Why? Because if you give him farm he goes off his tits DPSwise. Witchslayer does not.

[KillBei]

That's terrible advice. Buy wards and courier. It's easy to play support heroes when you're not actually supporting. Because you don't buy wards you can get PK, Glowstone, loads of HP, movement items, stormspirits, tablets, sheepsticks... then you survive fights even if you stun badly or miniaturize the wrong target, you kill someone with ulti and you think you're doing a good job, when in fact you aren't really. Your carry can use that gold so much more, and someone else who might have sucked it up to buy wards can most likely use the gold more. The only argument I might agree with on this is that if you have a jester (i.e. another support) then you can get away with no wards (but chip in for the courier + upgrade at the beginning).

[HoRRoR]

problems with lasthitting ? ur not supposed to lasthit
u dont know which hero to stun (and when) ?

its the 1+1 in hon,...

is there a temp in the enemy team ? get him or just wait till he ults and stun ?!?!

is ur carry in danger ?!?! help him ??

theres rly no question needed for that

u ve a pk ? u see a chance to initiate and to stun an important hero of their lineup? get him

the BIGGEST problem -low psr/mmr players- have is that they always think too much, they are scared to do something wrong and thats why they ll always fail and wont improve - if ur under 1800 then it doesnt matter if u fall to 1600 or to 1200,.. just play ur game and dont be afraid +.+

[Anakha]

@anakha what you suggest is a gross exaggeration of what was a very considerate and reserved remark about determining your item build based on your team makeup. of course one wants to "stun perfectly" and position themselves correctly but sometimes your team makeup is such that a pk offers such marginal benefit to your team fight ability that the money is better spent elsewhere.
Gross exaggeration? I really don't think you understand how good a Portal Key is on someone who has 2 disables, one of them AoE. Portal Key is not just for the positioning; it is also about the timing of such a stun.

Witch Slayer is exactly like Tempest in this respect. They can both function without Portal Key; but work so optimally with one that it is considered a core item. Witch Slayer obv works a lot better without a Portal Key, but both of the heroes function well without it and optimally with it.
Landing that perfect stun on 3-4 heroes means very little if there isn't a way to take advantage of it.


/snip

Most of your examples are against a completely braindead team that are otherwise all mass disabled for you and not able or willing to disable you back.
This is rarely the case even in any kind of pub game.

As for the Pebbles example, PK allows you to keep up with him. How is this bad in any way? :/

[DorkBasher]

money doesnt grow on trees bro

[Jwag]

I don't know if you watched any/all of the recent $3000 HON tournament finals, but one of the teams had a WS during either the 1st or 3rd game. The WS's role was to buy wards all game, and always lagged behind the rest of the team by around 4 levels. He was considered successful if he could get off his stun+minimize+ultimate ONCE in a teamfight before being blown up. His team ended up winning.

IMO, for <1500psr... if the game is going well in your favor, buy a pk. If you're struggling for money, buy stiders, run up to enemies, use your disables and throw out your ultimate, then run away until your spells cool.

[Epidemilk]

buy stiders, run up to enemies

they crap out when you're within 900 yards of an enemy now

i ****ing hate striders. with a passion. almost every time i've bought them i've told myself "never again!" as they don't come with any kind of stats/survival and you never have the speed when you actually need it. the only exception was on pyro a couple days ago, but it was alright cus i picked up a pk :P

imo when in doubt go plated, they are a touch faster than steams, much faster than striders (at least they are when it matters, in a combat situation), provide a bit of stats+armor, and are the cheapest of the good boots

[stevenChen`]

@Distrust, definitely I will.

[stevenChen`]

@Porchap. I firmly agree with you on the importance of Witch's first ability. In late games especially you must value his first second ability even some time more than his ulti.

I just played two games today, 1 no stat, 1 stat, decent score, but not superior in my opinon on witch, so here is some of my opinion for the community to hear.

1) Know what you teammates' abilities are. And like you said coordination.

The best example I can give for this on Witch is in my second game with Mymordone. (I am not sure I spelled that right, but that is not the point here).

And it goes like this.
Mymor stun. WS auto attack. Mymor grass grasp (a habit I think it has been for players). WS auto attack. WS miniaturize. Mymor auto attack. WS Stun (pretty much dead)

I think the key is to really value his second ability.

@Anakha, for noobie like me who only enters no stat and 1600+ rooms, I just completely forget about the portal key business. In my opinion, WS if do portal elevates' its difficulty much more. 1st, your stun is not like tempest, it is a straight line. It is much harder. And of all the demo's I have watched, and some from EG's Fujiapple, who play a lot of WS, I had never seen him do that.

@Everybody else. WS have to by ward and chicken. That is a 100%. But the mistake that is commonly made is Warding for WHAT! You don't have to light up the whole map. 6 min ward, that is a must, and that is still for rune.

Warding takes some management. If your team have hard carries, and they need farm, ward top jungle, and focus there. If they have carry, when there is a teammate fight, bring some ward, and just put in their jungle.

There are players who just do wards like crazy, and late games there is hardly any wards in stock.

WS is not easy to play if you want to play it well. And that is why it has continuously appeared on the professional scene.

[Jwag]

they crap out when you're within 900 yards of an enemy now

i ****ing hate striders. with a passion. almost every time i've bought them i've told myself "never again!" as they don't come with any kind of stats/survival and you never have the speed when you actually need it. the only exception was on pyro a couple days ago, but it was alright cus i picked up a pk :P

imo when in doubt go plated, they are a touch faster than steams, much faster than striders (at least they are when it matters, in a combat situation), provide a bit of stats+armor, and are the cheapest of the good boots

Striders are meant to provide a way to quickly travel the map... which is good for support like WS. Saves you money on TPs. My point was that if your game isn't going good, you're never going to afford a PK, so you'll want something that will allow you to travel fast where you're needed most at lowest cost.

[el_alcazar]

Generell you buy most of the times striders. If your farm is somewhat good you can also go steamboots, never buy ghostmarchers. PK is good, but only as long as your team can follow it up. In generell you also have to get stats after you maxed your two stuns or you will not be able to combo effective with a pk.

If your team has no real initiation besides you, you might better of with buying just normal supportitems.

Btw PK is only core if you play ws mid.

[Coolica]

First of all, when you first learn to play...:pause for emphasis:

DO NOT BURDEN YOURSELF BY BUYING WARDS OR CHICKEN

There. I said it.

You're a new player, you need every advantage you can get in order to develop your skills. Yeah, your team might flame you. But honestly, don't pay attention to that. These people are also low rated for a reason. Remember that just because you're a certain hero doesn't mean you have to do certain things. I have seen plenty of games where "support heroes" carry the games. e.g. Witch Slayer, Pyro, Zeus, Succubus and many more...

Now, let's talk about your hero.

Witch Slayer is a fragile hero that has 2 disables, a mana drain and an ultimate.

Here is my skill build:
Impale (Your first skill, it's an AOE stun. I don't know the name)
Stats
Impale
Stats
Impale
Ultimate
Impale

Why am I recommending stats? Because your current mana pool can NOT support two highly mana intensive skills. (It's like Starcraft. You don't build 6 barracks on one base because you CANNOT support it with your resources.)

A feature about Impale is that it is activated by clicking on the enemy hero. A common mistake I see new players do is "whiffing" the stun by clicking the ground near the enemy hero.

Don't do it. It's better to guarantee that your stun hits.

At lvl 6, you are almost guaranteed to get a kill. (At your current MMR level anyways) Try this: At level 4 or 5, use your stun and auto attack an enemy hero in your lane. Try not to aggro too many creeps and take hits. Once the creep wave is over and you hit level 6, you should have enough mana remaining to combo a stun/ultimate the hurt hero for a kill. Rinse and repeat. Do NOT hesitate to use your ultimate to "kill steal". There's no such thing. (Well... in a higher level game, try and give your kills to Sand Wrath or something. But right now don't worry about it, that low MMR Sand Wrath or Scout probably fails anyways)

Witch Slayer is a great solo mid hero. Although I guarantee your team won't let you because they don't know any better, just know that in the off-chance that you do get a chance to solo... DO IT. You'll dominate the game. Anyways, you'll mostly be forced top or bottom. Just pick any. Would be nice if your partner has a stun/slow.

Strategy in lane: Abuse the range. Abuse the attack animation.

Witch Slayer's attack is surprisingly strong. If you're facing two melee heroes, or one melee hero, you're in a great position. Attack once, run away from creeps. Attack again, run away from creeps.

Tip: To gain the aggressive pressure in the lane, use your stun when he does not have creep support and attack him. Keep him scared that he may die at any moment.

Anyways, add me in game if you want to 1v1 no stats me for practice.
Not sure if you're serious...

[Anakha]

money doesnt grow on trees bro
2150 is expensive, ye? Farming isn't the only way to get money bro.


I don't know if you watched any/all of the recent $3000 HON tournament finals, but one of the teams had a WS during either the 1st or 3rd game. The WS's role was to buy wards all game, and always lagged behind the rest of the team by around 4 levels. He was considered successful if he could get off his stun+minimize+ultimate ONCE in a teamfight before being blown up. His team ended up winning.
There have also been cases where Lion was actually the focus of the tri-lane to get him an early PK, much like Hammerstorm. What's your point?


@Anakha, for noobie like me who only enters no stat and 1600+ rooms, I just completely forget about the portal key business. In my opinion, WS if do portal elevates' its difficulty much more. 1st, your stun is not like tempest, it is a straight line. It is much harder. And of all the demo's I have watched, and some from EG's Fujiapple, who play a lot of WS, I had never seen him do that.
Fogged is one person I've seen utilize a Portal Key with a decent early-game. You'll rarely see it in HoN as people don't put Witch Slayer mid like DotA players put Lion solo mid.

As for being harder than Tempest's ult to land, is that a joke? How on earth is giving yourself an additional tool to land a decent stun making it HARDER?
Logic fail much?
I think this account is at 1500 now, and even I can use a pk to stun. Get better.

[andzero]

Yes, PK gives WS much more advantage, be it ganking, or escaping.
But, it is not the best option for learning IMO..

So here's my suggestion:
Once game starts, buy courier if you are going for short lane ( lane with pullable neutral camps ), and buy 2 wards of sight for long lane, plug them at rune spot and at enemy's pullable neutral camp.

As a support hero, teammates will be expecting wards from you. However, for early - mid game, i personally think that 2 wards up is enough. One ward is always put at rune spot, and you plug the other one depends on situation. Plug it at enemy's jungle if you are pushing, and your own jungle if you are defending, or stalling the game.

For early - mid item build, go for survival items IMO. Maybe two bracers and striders for boots is enough. However, always bring TP scrolls with you, so you can help teammates if they are getting ganked or getting pushed.

ground-targeting the Graveyard skill gives you more advantage of stunning more heroes. However, it has a decent miss probability if not timed or targeted well. Single-clicking a graveyard may not give you the best result but it stuns at least one enemy. So i'd recommend you by learning to accurately single click a graveyard :D

Hope this helps.

[Vulpes]

Lane with pullable camp is Long Lane. Guys, can we just say Hard and Easy? Then I won't have to get angry reading that **** anymore.

[Anakha]

Either way, this is the point. He's 1639 PSR and 1569 MMR with over 80% Witch Slayer played.

To be brutally honest, if you can't figure out the mechanics behind using a Portal Key "because it's too hard" at that point, maybe that hero or this game isn't for you. Buy the damn thing, and even if you don't use it once, when the situation comes up that you need it, you'll have it. Bleh.

[Landmines]

A thing which has not been mentioned yet but gets more and more important as you get higher in MMR is to judge your mana pool. If you are being the ward ***** and fairly underleveled compared to your allies, then your mana pool might not be large since you probably won't have enough farm. In this case, you must also judge whether or not to use your ultimate in team fights.

When I say this, I mean scenarios where you are able to avoid dying immediately from the onslaught of enemy spells and attacks after using your initial stun and miniturize. Now, do you use the rest of your mana to ult or do you back off into the fog of war while your allies are in the fight so that the cooldown for the stun and miniturize are complete so that you can come back into the fight to stun again? Slowly, your ability to judge for such scenarios will improve your gameplay.

Also, as a tip for portal key use, consider flanking your opponents. Usually, teams face off and the squishy heroes are positioned towards the back. Well, if you know there's going to be a faceoff, you could preemptively portal key into the woods off to the side. Now, they won't expect an enemy coming from the side as much from spots that you normally can't juke into and you aren't as likely to be hit by an aoe and can more easily reach the back of the enemy group to disable a key enemy such as a behemoth or hellbringer who is just waiting for your allies to initiate. Of course, this requires good team coordination.

[stevenChen`]

A thing which has not been mentioned yet but gets more and more important as you get higher in MMR is to judge your mana pool. If you are being the ward ***** and fairly underleveled compared to your allies, then your mana pool might not be large since you probably won't have enough farm. In this case, you must also judge whether or not to use your ultimate in team fights.

When I say this, I mean scenarios where you are able to avoid dying immediately from the onslaught of enemy spells and attacks after using your initial stun and miniturize. Now, do you use the rest of your mana to ult or do you back off into the fog of war while your allies are in the fight so that the cooldown for the stun and miniturize are complete so that you can come back into the fight to stun again? Slowly, your ability to judge for such scenarios will improve your gameplay.

Also, as a tip for portal key use, consider flanking your opponents. Usually, teams face off and the squishy heroes are positioned towards the back. Well, if you know there's going to be a faceoff, you could preemptively portal key into the woods off to the side. Now, they won't expect an enemy coming from the side as much from spots that you normally can't juke into and you aren't as likely to be hit by an aoe and can more easily reach the back of the enemy group to disable a key enemy such as a behemoth or hellbringer who is just waiting for your allies to initiate. Of course, this requires good team coordination.

The best I have discovered so far. Something that is actually REALLY good. I am not saying others are not good, but this is defiantly something. Thank you very much!