Lone Druid counter and synergy picks
Pick Lone Druid with Vengeful Spirit to increase win-rate from 50.9% to 57.6% or against Doom to increase win-rate to 58.4% in Patch 7.39c.
Good with...
...based on stats [7.39c]
| Hero | Change in Win Rate ▼ |
|---|---|
6.7% | |
5.0% | |
4.8% | |
4.7% | |
4.0% | |
3.6% | |
3.6% | |
3.2% | |
3.2% | |
3.2% | |
3.1% | |
2.9% | |
2.6% | |
2.3% | |
2.3% |
...based on gameplay [7.39c]
Shadow Shaman provides lockdown for early tower sieges. His Mass Serpent Ward combined with the Bear enables fast objective control. Druid protects Shaman while he channels spells, and they both excel in 5-man pushes.
Beastmaster’s aura amps the Bear , and Primal Roar gives reliable control to lock down targets while the Bear tears them apart. The vision from Hawk also enables split pushing and Bear dives.
Treant sustains pushes with Living Armor, protecting towers and Lone Druid's Bear. Overgrowth roots enemies in place while the Bear shreds through them. Treant’s global map presence synergizes with Druid's early aggression.
Mana regen from Arcane Aura allows Druid to spam Savage Roar without worrying about downtime. CM’s root and slow help keep enemies within range of the Bear’s claws.
Chen accelerates Druid’s early timing by grouping up with creeps. Druid pushes and offers regen, while creeps tank towers. Their synergy is perfect for mid-game deathballing.
Oracle keeps Lone Druid alive with False Promise, letting him dive confidently. Fate’s Edict protects from magic nukes, and Purifying Flames plus Bear damage finishes kills fast. It’s a sustain-burst combo.
Warlock offers healing sustain through Shadow Word, and Chaotic Offering punishes anyone trying to burst Lone Druid or the Bear. During teamfights, Druid has cover to hit freely while Warlock slows fights.
Snapfire’s Lil’ Shredder amps physical DPS and helps Bear win trades. Her Mortimer Kisses add ranged magic damage, and Gobble Up can launch the Bear into backlines for surprise initiations.
Bloodlust massively buffs the Bear’s attack speed and movement, pushing its damage to insane levels. Ogre’s tanky front line lets Druid focus on objectives while Ogre stuns and brawls with the enemy frontliners.
Both want to push fast and fight early. Exorcism combined with the Bear overwhelms towers and objectives.
...core items [7.39c]
A core item on your Spirit Bear to dominate the lane with more tankiness and attack speed while slowing enemy heroes to stay on top of them. Works well against lifesteal and high HP regen on enemy heroes to reduce their tankiness. Also provides some DPS to siege enemy towers.
A core item on your Spirit Bear to do more damage with stats and slow down enemy heroes to stay on top of them. Can be upgraded to 
Disperser later in the game.
A core 
Boots of Speed upgrade on your Spirit Bear to give it more damage and tankiness with armor. Also lets you chase down heroes and get an entangle proc on them with the Phase active.
A core item for both your Spirit Bear and hero that boosts their mobility. The Boots on your bear get upgraded to 
Phase Boots while Lone Druid can get 
Tranquil Boots later in the game. With the Bear Necessities facet, you should get 
Power Treads on your hero.
A core item on your hero to have a dispel as well as movement and attack speed buffs for your team with Savage Roar. The 
Aghanim's Shard on your Spirit Bear is a late game pick up that helps as another form of lockdown to bring an enemy hero closer to your team.
An upgrade for 
Echo Sabre on your Spirit Bear to bring it closer to an enemy hero and burst them down with right clicks and a potential root.
An aura item that boosts your physical damage against enemy heroes and buildings while tanking up with armor to reduce the enemy physical damage. Improves the potential of running at towers as well as 
Roshan with minus armor.
An upgrade for 
Skull Basher to have reliable lockdown on your Spirit Bear against elusive enemy heroes.
A core item on your Spirit Bear in the late game to fight away from your hero for better split push and kill potential. The 
Aghanim's Scepter on your hero is a luxury item that can be used to save an allied hero in fights.
Good against...
...based on stats [7.39c]
| Hero | Change in Win Rate ▼ |
|---|---|
7.4% | |
5.7% | |
5.1% | |
5.1% | |
5.0% | |
4.8% | |
4.7% | |
4.4% | |
4.4% | |
4.4% | |
4.4% | |
4.2% | |
4.0% | |
3.3% | |
3.2% |
...based on gameplay [7.39c]
If you Doom the Spirit Bear LD can just resummon it if it happens to die, if you Doom LD then the Spirit Bear runs rampant. True Form's transformation time does not get interrupted by Doom and is not considered a heal, providing its HP bonus despite Doom's healing negation.
Lone Druid DESTROYS Ember in lane and completely shuts down his early game as he deals too much damage and has too much sustain for Ember to deal with. Ember's best bet is to try and get as much resources as possible from the lane and leave as the matchup only gets worse for him troughout the entirety of the laning stage. His Entangling Claws render Ember unable to use both his Sleight of Fist and Activate Fire Remnant.
LD can pick up an Aghanim's Shard and when combined with his level 15 talent for Savage Roar can have a low cooldown dispel for both Fate's Edict's disarm and Fortune's End's root for both LD and the Spirit Bear, that almost matches Fate's Edict cooldown. This makes it hard for Oracle to stop LD and Spirit Bear to run rampart.
Void Spirit struggles to escape when rooted by Entangling Claws, and he can't tank the physical onslaught. Lone Druid’s burst DPS and early item timings prevent Void from snowballing and punish his weak laning phase.
Earth Spirit has no tools to stop Lone Druid's bear pressure. His low armor and lack of escape from roots make him easy to bring down. He also lacks wave clear to contest Lone Druid's early tower pressure.
Visage’s summons get shredded by the Bear, and Living Armor or Gravekeeper’s Cloak are not effective against Lone Druid’s fast-paced push. Lone Druid also out-scales Visage in physical teamfights.
Lone Druid doesn't rely on traditional spell casting, making Puck’s silences and Dream Coil less threatening. The Bear can force Puck into bad fights with root lockdown and high burst DPS. Puck can’t stop the siege pressure either.
Arc Warden suffers from Lone Druid’s fast push. His clone can't contest objectives alone, and the Bear shrugs off Arc’s poke with early armor. The Bear also dives backlines, reaching Arc before he can disengage.
Storm’s single-target burst is ineffective against the Bear and the tanky Druid. A root mid-zip often leads to his death, and Lone Druid can easily threaten towers before Storm comes online with items.
Lone Druid’s Bear can interrupt Black Hole if microed correctly. Also, the Bear can solo Enigma or destroy his Eidolons easily. Druid’s early siege power crushes Enigma’s slow-farming timings.
Bad against...
...based on stats [7.39c]
| Hero | Change in Win Rate ▲ |
|---|---|
-5.4% | |
-4.8% | |
-4.4% | |
-4.2% | |
-4.1% | |
-3.7% | |
-3.7% | |
-3.6% | |
-3.6% | |
-3.4% | |
-3.3% | |
-2.9% | |
-2.8% | |
-2.8% | |
-2.5% |
...based on gameplay [7.39c]
Ghost Ship mitigates Lone Druid’s burst damage, and X Mark locks down the Druid or the Bear. The cleave from Tidebringer clears the Bear and Druid if they clump, making Kunkka a consistent teamfight counter.
Pango’s Rolling Thunder stuns both the Druid and Bear repeatedly, stopping them from attacking. Shield Crash reduces incoming damage, and Swashbuckle bypasses the Bear’s root. His control overwhelms Lone Druid in fights.
Chain Frost punishes Lone Druid’s tendency to group with his Bear. Frost Shield also reduces Bear damage and slows push tempo. Lich is great at punishing melee-centric heroes with AoE.
Viper melts the Bear quickly with Nethertoxin, removing its passive. He slows the Druid down with Poison Attack, and Viper Strike cripples any attempt to disengage. A classic lane and mid-game counter.
Underlord’s Pit of Malice controls both the Bear and Druid. Firestorm melts their HP pools, and Atrophy Aura cripples their damage. Lone Druid struggles to take objectives through Underlord’s wave clear.
The Bear can’t keep up with PL illusions. Lone Druid’s kit is built around focusing a single target, so he struggles to identify and kill the real PL, especially post-Manta and Heart. PL also burns through the Bear with Diffusal Blade.
Jakiro has strong push stall with Liquid Fire and Macropyre. He chips at the Bear’s HP with DoT, and Ice Path stops Bear initiations. Lone Druid’s push gets delayed significantly.
Monkey King uses tree vision to avoid fights and punishes Bear initiations with Wukong’s Command. The Bear gets shredded inside the arena, and Monkey’s armor and crit scaling allow him to trade better in extended fights.
Ion Shell kills waves instantly and punishes clumping. Vacuum + Wall destroys both Druid and Bear in tight areas. The Bear clone from Wall of Replica is a dangerous threat that turns Druid’s strength against him.
Winter’s Curse turns Lone Druid’s Bear into a team killer. The Bear often stays near his allies, making Wyvern’s ult devastating. Her Arctic Burn and Splinter Blast also stall pushes and kite the Bear.
...counter items [7.39c]
Gives you movement speed to keep away from Spirit Bear to avoid his Entangling Roots. Also lets you close the gap on Lone Druid.
Gives you movement speed to keep away from Spirit Bear to avoid his Entangling Roots. Also lets you close the gap on Lone Druid.
Gives you HP sustain to stay in the lane and not get zoned by constant right clicks from Spirit Bear and Lone Druid.
Gives you tankiness to take less damage from Spirit Bear's and Lone Druid's right clicks to trade HP more effectively.
Gives you HP sustain to stay in the lane and not get zoned by constant right clicks from Spirit Bear and Lone Druid.
Gives you HP sustain and tankiness to take less damage from Spirit Bear's and Lone Druid's right clicks.
Significantly lowers the lifesteal on Lone Druid from Spirit Link with Soul Release charges.
Gives your team and buildings a barrier to take less damage from Spirit Bear's and Lone Druid's right clicks to nullify their kill and push potential.
Lets you kite Spirit Bear by putting some distance between it and yourself with Hurricane Thrust and hit it from range. Also lets you close the gap on Lone Druid.
Lets you kite Spirit Bear and Lone Druid by protecting yourself or an ally against their right clicks through invisibility.
Lets you kite Spirit Bear and Lone Druid by pushing yourself or an ally away from them.
Lets you kite Spirit Bear and Lone Druid by protecting yourself against their right clicks in Ethereal form.
Gives you an instant disable against Lone Druid to burst him down in its duration before he can use True Form or Savage Roar to survive.
Lowers the cooldown on your 
Town Portal Scroll and lets you teleport on ally creeps to counter the split push and rat potential from Spirit Bear upgraded with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Gives you an instant lockdown against Lone Druid and potential to burst him down with chain stun before he can use True Form or Savage Roar to survive.
Gives armor to your team and buildings to take less damage from Spirit Bear's and Lone Druid's right clicks to nullify their kill and push potential.
Gives you an instant silence and massive burst damage against Lone Druid in True Form to kill him before he can cast Savage Roar.
Gives you armor and evasion to defend yourself against Spirit Bear's and Lone Druid's right clicks with the tankiness and miss chance.
Bad with...
...based on stats [7.39c]
| Hero | Change in Win Rate ▲ |
|---|---|
-8.9% | |
-8.0% | |
-7.5% | |
-6.9% | |
-6.6% | |
-6.3% | |
-6.1% | |
-5.4% | |
-5.2% | |
-5.1% | |
-5.1% | |
-4.9% | |
-4.8% | |
-4.7% | |
-4.5% |
