Steals enemy mana to fuel his own abilities
Lion gives enemies little chance to retaliate. Stunning targets with a damaging row of spikes, or temporarily transforming them into a harmless critter, even if his powerful spells aren't enough, he and his allies should still have all the time they need to slay their foes.
Win Rate 49.5%
Pick Rate 26.1%
Attributes
516 +52.8/lvl
303 +42.0/lvl
18 +2.4/lvl
15 +1.7/lvl
19 +3.5/lvl
Stats
Damage:
48 - 54 + 3.5/level (163 - 169 at level 30)
Range:
600
Armor:
2.5 + 0.3/level (13.1 at level 30)
Movement:
290
Roles
Carry
Durable
Nuker
Pusher
Support
Escape
Disabler
Initiator
Facets
Essence Eater
Win Rate: 49.9%
Pick Rate: 63.4%
Mana Drain deals damage equal to 100% of mana stolen.
Fist of Death
Win Rate: 48.8%
Pick Rate: 36.6%
Lion gains a strong Melee cleaving attack after casting Finger of Death.
Abilities
ABILITY: Passive
Lion gains 20% debuff duration and %spell_amp%% spell amplification for %duration%s after respawning.
LEVEL 15 TALENT: +15% To Hell And Back Debuff/Spell Amp
Earth Spike
AFFECTS: Unit
DAMAGE TYPE: Magical
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: No
DISPELLABLE: Strong Dispels Only
DEBUFF [E]: Yes
Rock spikes burst from the earth along a straight path. Enemy units are hurled into the air, then are stunned and take damage when they fall.
The spikes move at 2800 units per second.
Does not trigger spell block or spell reflect.
DAMAGE: 105 / 170 / 235 / 300
STUN DURATION: 1.3 / 1.6 / 1.9 / 2.2
14 / 13 / 12 / 11
90 / 110 / 130 / 150
650
LEVEL 25 TALENT: +600 Earth Spike cast range/travel distance
LEVEL 20 TALENT: Earth Spike affects a 30 degree cone
The Demon Witch exercises his demonic covenant, opening a fissure from hell.
Hex
AFFECTS: Unit
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: No
DISPELLABLE: Strong Dispels Only
DEBUFF [E]: Yes
Transforms an enemy unit into a harmless beast, with all special abilities disabled.
Instantly destroys illusions.
The target will have a base movement speed of 120, but buffs granting maximum movement speed won't be disabled.
DURATION: 2 / 2.4 / 2.8 / 3.2
24 / 20 / 16 / 12
125 / 150 / 175 / 200
575 / 600 / 625 / 650
LEVEL 25 TALENT: +250 AoE Hex
LEVEL 15 TALENT: -2.5s Hex Cooldown
Lion is compelled to share his transfiguration, twisting the essence of those who oppose him.
Mana Drain
AFFECTS: Unit
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: No
DEBUFF [E]: Yes
CHANNELED - Channels magical energy, taking mana and slowing enemies over time. If the enemy has no mana remaining, the slow is increased by 15%.
Can target allies to give them mana and movement speed at a %ally_pct%% rate.
Prevents heroes from going invisible.
CHANNEL TIME: 5
MANA PER SECOND: 20 / 40 / 60 / 120
BREAK DISTANCE: 1100
MOVEMENT SLOW/BONUS: 15% / 20% / 25% / 30%
15 / 12 / 9 / 6
850
FACET: Essence Eater
Mana Drain deals damage equal to 100% of mana stolen.
Aghanim's Shard
Causes Mana Drain to affect up to %shard_bonus_targets% additional enemies and increases break distance. Lion becomes Debuff Immune with %magic_resist%% magic resistance while channeling.
LEVEL 10 TALENT: +10% Mana Drain Slow
PATCH 7.38
No longer instantly kills enemy illusions
Lesser magi are nothing more than a source of magical restoration for the Demon Witch.
Finger of Death
AFFECTS: Unit and area
DAMAGE TYPE: Magical
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: No
Rips at an enemy unit, trying to turn it inside-out. Deals massive damage and grows stronger with each life it consumes.
Finger of Death has a 0.25 delay before the damage is applied after the spell is cast, allowing certain abilities to avoid the damage.
Finger of Death only gains damage if the enemy hero dies within 3 seconds of being affected by Finger of Death.
DAMAGE: 600 / 725 / 850
DAMAGE PER KILL: 40
COOLDOWN:
AREA OF EFFECT:
FIST DURATION:
FIST DAMAGE BONUS:
FIST DAMAGE BONUS PER STACK:
CLEAVE DAMAGE: %
140 / 90 / 40
200 / 400 / 600
900
FACET: Fist of Death
After casting Finger of Death, Lion switches from ranged to melee attacks and gains bonus damage and cleave. Enemy heroes killed within 3s of being punched will add Finger of Death stacks.
Aghanim's Scepter
Increases damage. Decreases cooldown. Finger of Death hits all units in a small area.
COOLDOWN:
AREA OF EFFECT:
FIST DURATION:
FIST DAMAGE BONUS:
FIST DAMAGE BONUS PER STACK:
CLEAVE DAMAGE: %
LEVEL 20 TALENT: +20 Finger of Death Damage Per Kill
Lion's disfigured hand is also the source of his greatest power, capable of flooding victims with malefic force.
Talents [E]
+250 AoE Hex
+600 Earth Spike cast range/travel distance
+ 3.0 %
Earth Spike affects a 30 degree cone
+ 0.8 %
+20 Finger of Death Damage Per Kill
+15% To Hell And Back Debuff/Spell Amp
-2.5s Hex Cooldown
+ 1.0 %
+20 Movement Speed
+10% Mana Drain Slow
+ 0.5 %
Win Rate
Pick Rate
PATCH 7.38
Level 10 Talent +65 Earth Spike Damage replaced with +20 Movement Speed
Strategy
Use Earth Spike strategically so that you can get extra right-clicks in, deny a creep or secure the ranged creep.
You can skill Hex on level 2 to score a kill.
Hex and Mana Drain destroy basic illusions instantly.
Make a move whenever you have Finger of Death available.
When Finger of Death is on cooldown, use the time to farm your Blink Dagger.
Initiate on enemies with your long lasting disables, so your allies can follow-up for a kill.
Fight around good vision, so you can land multi-hero Earth Spikes.
Aghanim's Shard is good at countering illusion-based heroes.
Keep an eye on the mana pool of allies around you and top them up with Mana Drain if they are low on mana.
With the Essence Eater facet, position yourself to get an uninterrupted Mana Drain as a follow up on Earth Spike to harass enemy heroes from a distance.
Counter Strategy
Use fog of war to cancel Lion's Mana Drain
Opt for anti-magic damage items against Lion
Be aware of Lion's level 6 Finger of Death. Infused Raindrop might help you to survive the burst
Lotus Orb is an effective item against Lion as all of his spells are targetable
Look to target Lion in team fights as he provides a lot of control and magic damage against your cores and is also a very squishy hero
Lore
Once a Grandmaster of the Demon Witch tradition of sorcery, Lion earned fame among his brethren for fighting on the side of light and righteousness. But adulation corrupts. With powers surpassed only by his ambition, the mage was seduced by a demon and turned to evil, trading his soul for prestige. After committing horrible crimes that marred his soul, he was abandoned. The demon betrayed him, striking better deals with his enemies. Such was Lion's rage that he followed the demon back to hell and slew it, ripping it limb from limb, taking its demonic hand for his own. However, such demonoplasty comes at a cost. Lion was transfigured by the process, his body transformed into something unrecognizable. He rose from hell, rage incarnate, slaying even those who had once called him master, and laying waste to the lands where he had once been so adored. He survives now as the sole practitioner of the Demon Witch tradition, and those who present themselves as acolytes or students are soon relieved of their mana and carried off by the faintest gust of wind.