When to use Portal Key?

[Mepperr]

Hello, I'm completely new to HoN/DotA style games. I was reading up build guides, and I noticed for most innitiators, it's advised that you get a Portal Key. Maybe this sounds like a complete scrub question, but in which situations would you use portal key as an initiator?

Thanks

(I tried googling, couldn't find anything)

[[CITS]fenroxx]

You'll want to get a PK on initiator heroes which have great AOE damage/stun abilities with no range. Hellbringer doesn't need a pk to initiate as his ult has huge range. But heroes like pestilence etc need a pk in order to get their stun of perfectly.

There are some exceptions on " no range" though. One example of that is hammerstorm.

are examples of heroes where portal key is "vital"

[Mepperr]

Ok, so you'd PK into/close to the enemy group of heroes, and cast an AoE stun?

[[CITS]fenroxx]

Ok, so you'd PK into/close to the enemy group of heroes, and cast an AoE stun?

Yeah, or a great ability to start a fight with, as most fights often goes in favour for the initiating team.

For example, a well placed pestilence stun on 2-3 heroes can really make you win the fight. As it allows your team to follow up while they are disabled, thus giving your team 1-2 seconds on the other team.

[[L4ST]innova3]

I will show you an example:
you're pestilence, and you have a pk. You see some enemies together (+-radius of his stun).
You blink in and stun and them your team should follow you if they're good.
The initiation thing is the fact that your team should follow the initiation.

[Mepperr]

I see, thanks a lot ^^

[PandaBeer]

Lego is another example. PK in, then use your taunt so all heroes attack you. Then, of course, your team comes in.

Basically use it in cases where the hero has a skill that requires good position to pull off (positioning being the PK's bread-and-butter).

But there are more situations. Bubbles, for example, can shell surf in, silence the take cover. Soon as his take cover is done, you can PK out (so good for some mobility situations, as well).

[[butt]Ancorehraq]

but in which situations would you use portal key as an initiator?

You use it when you know you are going to win a fight Ideally, you want to blink in when your team is just entering stun range. The timing and positioning depends on skill level.

At lower tiers, enemies won't expect you, but you need to convince your team to actually go in instead of waiting two screens away. At higher tiers, teams will spread out and anticipate initiation. There might be half a second window in which all enemies are clustered in stun range and your team can come and follow up.

[[CtoC]Dredrick]

If your a Legionare or Moraxus, then you're effectively immortal, and your stun is in an AOE around you, so you blink into as many opponents as you can, create as much chaos as you can, and buy time for your team to follow you up, as well as create chaos so that your teamates are more safe.

If your a Pyromancer or a Witch Slayer, then you're much less safe, so you want to blink on to the edge of the enemies (for teamfights) and usually not until someone else has "initiated." If you try to jump into the middle with an weak hero like that then you're just going to die, when you could have cast 2-4 more disables over the course of your life.

[yyr_]

You really have to think of portal key not as an item, but an spell that makes you get somewhere really fast. When do you want to get somewhere /fast/?
I) When your opponents are standing all clumped together and you have AoE. This means you can do some savage damage. If you didnt get their /fast/ they could move and you missed a good opportunity.
II) When somebody is chasing you and you dont want to fight. Getting away /fast/ could save your ass.
III) Cleaning up a gank/fight regardless of health. Example. I am a pyromancer (nuker) but im on 37hp and 400 mp with all spells off cooldown and running away near the end of a teamfight, i see an enemy legionnaire also running away on like ~600health. I know that i can safely blink in, cast all my **** to kill him and because he cant attack me (melee) i can kill him before he hits me once with anything to kill me. Same goes with saves, good players will come back into a fight an inch from death to throw in crucial stuns that turn the rest of the fight. If i was to walk in, they would see me coming and be able to try autoattack me as i walked into range, with blinking i can choose WHERE (positioning) i come in from and i can chain my spells together to make sure it doesnt fail (using Shift).

[Khrrck]

As above:

1. Used on heroes where being in the right place is very important. need melee range to use their skills effectively, for example. needs to charge up his ult at a safe distance, and then get to melee range very quickly. These things are hard to do without assistance from teammates or a Portal Key.

2. On heroes which benefit from surprise. Heroes like can solo kill a surprised enemy or change the course of a teamfight reliably, but have difficulty doing it if the enemy sees them coming. Portal Key lets them get in kill range before the enemy can see them and/or react.

3. For mobility. Getting away from a hero with a Portal Key is difficult, and escaping when you have a Portal Key is much easier. For example, a with a portal key is VERY hard to kill, so people often buy one for him even though he already has a movement ability. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQEkb80TB7I

4. Finally, although it's not really a reason to get a Portal Key on its own, using a Portal Key disjoints you, causing all incoming projectiles (from spells OR autoattacks) to miss completely. With practice you can dodge a lot of stuff that would stun or kill you using a Portal Key (or one of the hero abilities that causes disjoint)